Chapter 119

"Um, I can't do that."

The child just cut it off and refused.

"My father told me to never tell the story of the island to outsiders. The world's order will change and it becomes dangerous."

I don't know what you mean, but I don't want that.

The child threw the leftover skewers into the campfire and shook his head.

'Ohh.'

She thought he would go fall for the cake and say it all, but it was a surprisingly straightforward answer.

Even though Aria knew it was a dream in her heart, she almost petted the child. But when she realized that the other person was a distant ancestor, she stopped.

'So what the hell is that kidnapper talking about.......'

A villain who whispers to a child to sell the secrets of the kingdom with a cake as collateral.

'Is it an imperial noble?'

Because Atlantis became a vassal of the Fineta Empire. She looked at Raymond with squinted eyes.

"The order of the world... You mean that there is a great power here that can disturb the order."

Although he was rejected, the man still had a gentle smile on his face.

"People are usually afraid of change. But I was just curious about the story behind the beautiful island."

Then suddenly a man waved his hand towards them.

"Hey, Ca... whatever! Tell me about your whole country!"

"It's Cavendish."

Raymond began to explain more about the developed civilization in which he lived.

Then people gathered around him and listened. Having lived on the island for the rest of their lives, they seemed to be very interested in the mystical stories outside the island.

After some time, the people dispersed.

"I want to ride a horse-drawn carriage, too."

Raymond said to the boy who, seduced by his words, had his eyes lit up like stars.

"Come on, look. Prince. Everyone loves stories."

"......"

"Just as the islanders want to hear my stories, I also want to hear the stories of this place."

I'm not hurting anyone. He added so, shrugged his shoulders and gave a harmless smile.

The child was deep in thought.

"There is something that Shadra has entrusted."

"Who is Shadra?"

"You don't even know the name of God?"

"You said you gave a name to a God? No, secondly, can you call the name of God as you please?"

"Shadra gave Shadra's name. And why can't you call your friend's name?"

"Huh, really..."

Raymond burst out laughing as if he didn't know which part to point out.

"I didn't think there's just one or two surprises."

Muttering like that.

"So, what has God entrusted to you?"

"Feelings."

"God's... feelings?"

"Yes."

"Does God have feelings?"

"What the hell do you know?"

Where in the world is there no emotion? The child said so and rebuked him.

"Hmm, if God certainly has feelings, it must be very important..."

Raymond murmured.

Joy, sadness, anger, patience, and others. If the same emotions as humans exist in God.......

'I'm afraid just imagining it.'

Aria, who was listening to the story from the side, suddenly thought of that.

If God treats living beings on earth emotionally, the existence of a human will depend on God's feelings.

'But God left the feelings to humans.'

It showed how much God loved humans. The reason God entrusted the feelings to humans means that no matter how angry a human being, God will leave the feelings behind.

"That's why my father said that this island, which contains God's feelings, must be preserved intact.

"Isn't there a mysterious power inherited from God or something like that?"

"Where is that? Why does Shadra give us powers? If we covet a power that doesn't match our means, we're only doomed."

Even as the child said those words, he didn't seem to know what that meant. Of course, though. He was simply reciting the words of his father, the king who ruled this island.

"I thought you were loved by God."

"God's love overflows everywhere."

The child pointed to the sky incredulously. He pointed to the ground. He pointed to the abundance of food that they could enjoy at the feast. Finally, he pointed to people who were singing and dancing.

"Singing is a gift from God."

"Ah, the song."

Raymond's voice was imbued with indifference. He tilted his head so that the child couldn't see and smirked.

"Did the prince want a cake instead of fish and fruit from nature, where God's love overflows?"

"Ummm... yes."

"It's true that we are human. Once we taste it, we can't go back to the past."

It's not human's fault. It is God who gave us this desire, but isn't it strange to tell us not to be greedy?

He asked, covering the corner of his mouth with his hand as he couldn't hide his twisted smile.

"Then the prince must know where God's feelings are, right?"

The scene changed in an instant.

The night sky, which was beautiful as if it were pouring stars, was dyed ominously dark red. The peaceful sound of singing suddenly ceased. Screams and sobs echoed from all directions.

Aria, startled by the sudden fire blocking her way, stepped backwards. But when she touched the fire, she realized that it was not hot, and she quickly ran into the fire.

The forest was burning hot.

Everything disappeared in the flames.

"Cavendish..."

The child, who had grown into a boy, shouted and coughed up blood.

A sword was pierced through the boy's shoulder. He clenched his teeth and grabbed the handle of the dagger embedded in his shoulder and pulled it out in a snap.

"Damn it! I told you that coveting power that matches your means will bring doom!"

The boy let out a bloody cry.

Regret, resentment, guilt, anger, and all kinds of emotions swirled in his black, dead eyes.

Burning houses, people being dragged away. Those who resist were brutally murdered and piled up like a mountain in one place.

"You've been living in peace without any threats. So, sharing food means you're talking about family and all that nonsense."

Raymond was as old as the child had grown into a boy. He looked down at the boy in the splendid uniform normally worn by nobles, unlike before, when he was wearing an old shirt.

"This......."

The boy clenched his teeth and rushed in. But the soldiers came, trampled on the boy's back, and held their sword to his neck.

Raymond looked down numbly at the rampaging boy, then bent one knee to meet him.

"Last descendants of Atlantis. I'll give you a piece of advice."

"......"

"God is not something to be worshiped and thanked for. God is the greatest threat to humans, who are supposed to be top predators. I'm just trying to get ahead before that happens."

"......"

"It wouldn't hurt to live as a hostage, rather than this wretched island."

Raymond left only those words and left without any regrets.

The boy looked up at the burning houses, people, and the castle with empty eyes, and closed his eyes tightly. Hot tears ran down his cheeks.

"Shadra... I'm sorry. I ended up getting lost because of my foolishness."

Aria looked up at all the burning things before waking up and heard the boy's voice muttering.

"Now everything will crumble, right? But Shadra, don't give up. I know I'm not worthy to say this, but please don't give up on us humans..."

Sparks falling from the flames soaring high in the sky were like tears of blood.

The boy put them all in his eyes and engraved them in his brain, muttering to himself.

"I'll put everything back. If I don't make it, my descendants will one day..."

He took what looked like a jewel from his arms and put it in his mouth. And he swallowed it.

That was the end of the dream.

"Cavendish?"

Vincent seemed to trace his memory for a moment.

Aria, waking up from her thoughts upon hearing his voice, stared intently at him.

"I think I've heard of it somewhere..."

He wrapped his head up for a while, groaned, and screamed as if he remembered it too late.

"Ah! A family that existed when the Fineta Empire was still a kingdom."

"An imperial nobleman?"

"Yes. I heard that they were the first contributor to the founding of the empire, but they were accused of treason and annihilated, and all three generations were annihilated."

It was a pretty miserable past. Of course, now that Atlantis was in the hands of the Empire, they thought they had become a considerable powerhouse now.

She thought that only the family name had been changed and that they would still have passed on from generation to generation.

'I thought it might be the current imperial family.'

But to think they would have been annihilated for treason. It had an unexpected ending.

Can this be called causal retribution? Aria felt uncomfortable.

It seemed like there were more things behind the dream that she couldn't confirm yet.

"But I don't think it's treason. For that, there's no data related to that family. Every single line of the family's name was left off the history books."

Usually, no matter how much treason, they don't burn everything about the family.

Vincent added,

"So, you're saying the Emperor killed the dog after hunting?"

"Rather than killing the dog after hunting, it should be said that evidence was destroyed, right?"

If so, they didn't have to go to the sea to get information related to it.

Aria came to a conclusion calmly.

"I'm going to the Imperial Palace."