171 Ch. 171 'The Truth'

"I can't believe it. The old man twisted my words and turned me into a criminal. What a shameless old man!"

Lionel and Kazuto stunned as it was the first time seeing the girl cursed at someone.

Kazuto patted Niken on the back gently to ease his lover's emotions. He giggled, seeing this was the first time Niken ranting on and say a bad thing about someone behind his back.

"Niken, you know that is how he maintains his position in this country. There's nothing we can do but wait." Lionel continued while sipping the warm tea provided by the host.

Now the lord has prepared a pleasant residence for them to live in so that they don't have to stay in a lodge. More precisely, the lord wanted to monitor their movements and prevent them from doing anything that would damage his business profits.

Kazuto could also hear that at least a dozen Elementalists were guarding their house. Kazuto didn't know if these Elementalists were there to protect them or to prevent them from leaving. Presently they are no different from criminal prisoners. The difference is, they are not held in prison cells, but they are detained in the house.

"Until when do we have to wait?"

"This place has been going for more than five hundred years since the mermaid lake's invasion. I don't think it would matter if this place waited a little longer. We have to be patient." Kazuto persuaded in a soft tone making Niken no longer able to comment.

"If you say so."

What Kazuto said was accurate as it was. Currently, the familiar sea spirit is looking for ancient artifacts that might be hidden in the Mermaladia kingdom. Whereas they don't know what happened to Zehell and can't do anything if the battle between the two wizards will happen again.

Elementalists couldn't interfere in the conflict between fellow wizards and vice versa. They also couldn't make a fuss and trigger a battle which would only tell their enemy where they were.

Before they found the ancient artifact and purified the lake's water, they could do nothing but wait.

"What do you think happened to sir Zehell?" Niken hopes that at least Zehell is in better shape than them.

"He'll be fine." came the nonchalant answer from Kazuto.

But unfortunately, what was expected did not happen. Currently, Zehell is not much different from those detained in the house. In fact, he was even worse because he was locked up in an impressive array prison owned by Eryl, Uzzarc's eldest son, and half brother of Zehell and Shakina.

Not only was Zehell locked up, but even Shakina was also locked up in the same array in the same room. Shakina glanced sarcastically at her brother with a look of extreme anger and annoyance.

"Don't glance at me like that. Don't blame me if your eyesight is damaged later."

Shakina growled in an annoyed tone at her brother's sneered.

"How did you escape from my astral dimension?" he growled. "I'm sure I was fighting you and managed to trap you inside my place. Plus, what did you do? Why did Eryl lock us up?!"

Zehell closed his eyes, pretending to sleep and didn't listen to his younger sister's endless nagging.

Not long after, the door opened and entered two same silver-haired men but with different eye colors. One was red, while the other one was emerald green like Zehell and Shakina. The red eyes undoubtedly belonged to Uzzarc while the green ones were Eryl's.

Shakina looked at her father with an investigating gaze. Her father was as scary as ever as she remembered him. His aura and energy force were equally intimidating. But strangely, she did not feel the magic vibe from that man as if her father had no magic at all.

In addition, the way his father walked seemed tired and less stiff. Is it true that her brother, Zehell defeat their father?

How is it possible? How strong is Zehell to be able to defeat the most potent pureblood wizard second to Zephyr?

Uzzarc sat on a chair casually then looked at his disobedient son, who was still lying casually with his eyes closed.

"Are you satisfied? Even if you beat me, this place won't change. Everything you do is pointless."

There was still no answer from Zehell while Shakina was getting more and more confused, trying to digest whatever her father's words said.

"I'm curious about something. If you want to repay me for selling your mother, why don't you kill me?"

For the first time since Uzzarc walked into the room, Zehell opened his eyes. But he did not look at his father but stared at the ceiling, remembering the year he had caught up with his mother.

"Mother does not want me to have a grudge on you. Even at the end of her last breath, she could still say she loved you."

Shakina's jaw fell upon hearing this. What did his brother mean? Does that mean Zehell was by their mother's side in their mother's final moments?

Uzzarc also did not know that Zehell had caught up with his second wife, so his forehead frowned at his son's answer.

"What do you mean?"

"One hundred and fifty years ago, I managed to locate my mother. I wanted to save her, but when I came, she was already dying. At that time, I wanted so badly to kill you, and all my blood cells were boiling because of how much I wanted to kill you. But…"

***

Flashback one hundred and fifty years ago...

"Zehell, don't make a face like that. I know right now you hate your father, but please don't hate him."

"Why? Why are you still thinking about that heartless man? He dumped you, even sold you. Why?"

"No. He didn't sell me. I chose to go. "

"Mother…" Zehell did not understand why his mother was still lying to cover up his father's wrongdoings?

"Really. Don't blame your father. He was forced to do it too. From the very beginning, your father and I were already in a relationship. Your father doesn't know I'm a mermaid, but he knows I have blood from the water dragon clan. That's why my age is running slowly like the dragon clan and wolf clan. But when we decided to get married, the lord forced your father to destroy the mermaid empire in exchange for a hiding place in the North. Your father knew that sooner or later, Zeed's kingdom would meet its demise, so he cooperated with the lord to allow him to hide in the North for a few years."

"You let him? You let him destroy the kingdom where you were born?"

"Sorry. It's all my fault, so don't blame your dad. I left because I couldn't bear to see the suffering of my family members. Also, the lord's family… your father made me his second wife because the lord forced him to marry his granddaughter. Her family hated me and my offspring. Moreover, I gave birth to two children while your father didn't want to have any more kids from his first wife. This made the pressure on your father while your father couldn't fight them because of that rule. That's why I chose to go."

"But… why did someone spread the rumor about dad sold you? I don't understand…" Tears were pouring down Zehell's cheeks.

Gently, the mother raised her weak hand, wiping away her son's tears.

"I didn't know if there were rumors like that. I think the rumors were spread so that your father's reputation would be taken down. Try to understand your father's condition. He probably did wrong and acted cruelly by destroying my birthplace. I did blame him for not saying anything to me, but I couldn't hate him. I love him very much, and even though he has many flaws… he is the perfect man for me."

The mother seemed to be having trouble catching her breath, making Zehell's heart even more ached. His hand gripped his mother's frail hand as he kept shedding tears.

"My only regret in the world is not able to see you guys grow up. I hope you and Shakina… can live happily. Please, don't hate... your father... "

Zehell's cry became even more sorrowful as his mother breathed her last.

***

Hearing Zehell's explanation, Shakina lowered her head in low-spirit. She never met her mother because her mother was sold by her father once she was born in this world. Shakina hated her father for taking her mother from her. She did not think that the news about her father selling her mother was just a game from her stepmother's family.

As for Uzzarc, he didn't have any expression. One would think the cold-hearted man was not affected by the true story about his wife. But Zehell could still see the grieved gaze on his father's look. If there was no one around his father, would that man have shed tears?