Chapter 190- Discussion
"At the very least, do not make this relationship public, yet," Emilia said as she started rubbing her forehead as if she was suffering from a severe headache. Truthfully, she was so worried about the future that she could barely keep her composure at the moment.
"Why?" Rin tilted his head confusedly. Why would making it public or not matter? He thought.
"It's obviously what you should do! Not only are you two under the eyes of many kingdoms now, but if the fact that you are lovers leaked to our enemies, they could use it against you."
"That's possible," Elise muttered as she fell into deep thought.
"Hm, if that's the case then it's fine by me," Rin replied.
"Me too. It's not even that important to let others know."
"Good. Sigh, now, I need to go since I have many things to do. Cleaning after this mess will be a huge hassle. Hopefully, no unwanted people will hear about this or we will be in for a ride." Emilia said as a flash of coldness appeared in her eyes before vanishing quickly.
Leaving them alone in the room, Rin finally sighed and slumped back on the bed with his eyes closed. Looking at him, Elise asked.
"What are you thinking of?"
However, Rin didn't reply immediately. Instead, he opened his eyes again and looked at Elise with a serious look.
"I'm just worried."
"We are all worried, aren't we?" She asked in a light tone. Even though she knew what Rin was thinking of yet she didn't want to burden his mind with such a topic now, especially when he just woke up from a slumber where his body was recovering.
"Losing my ability to use mana now. I never thought it would feel this crippling." He added as he looked down at his hand.
"It's as if I have hands yet I can't use them." With a wry smile, Rin murmured.
"Don't think about it this way. You will recover-"
"What if I don't recover before the start of the war?" He cut her off and asked.
"No need to think about it, Rin. Whatever happens, I will always be here beside you. Besides, we had been through things way worse than this and yet we made miracles happen." Holding his hand, Elise stared directly at him.
"But, if I end up being a burden through the war, we could lose. Months of training could be lost with me just sitting quietly on a bed! I don't want to see you fight alone, Elise. I didn't work hard just to let you face all of this alone."
Rin was really conflicted. On one hand, he had his health that was not allowing him to do what needed to be done. But, on the other hand, urgent matters needed him to be in his peak form. Either thing required him to sacrifice something and the decision was harder than ever. Either risk his health and prioritize what he needed to do or take care of his health and risk putting Elise in danger.
"We have gone through hell and back multiple times. Don't start talking as if miracles aren't already one of the things we need to consistently pull off. What we expect from ourselves is already too big, Rin." Her serious tone and the gentle squeeze she gave Rin's hand made his eyes widen slightly.
"..."
"Take care of yourself, recover, and at that time, I'm sure you will be able to shine brighter than anyone else. I'm certain of it."
"You are really mature, Elise. I can never compare to you when it comes to this." Rin said with a sad smile.
"I'm also bad at understanding others and how to think of my own benefit. That's why you are here for me, to stop me when I'm thinking way too logically." She explained.
"Hahaha, I guess that's true." Chuckling, Rin didn't push the matter any further as he knew that he would only make Elise worry.
"How long did master say it would take for me to heal completely?"
"From a few weeks to a few months."
"I see…" Murmuring, Rin's mind started working again.
"Two weeks…" He then said.
"Two weeks?" Elise tilted her head in confusion.
"I will definitely heal completely in two weeks. I can do that."
"What do you mean? Do you have a plan? If it's something reckless, I won't allow it." Elise asked.
"It is slightly reckless. But, I'm sure it's not that risky… Hopefully."
"I will be the judge of that. Now, tell me what you want to do."
****
Meanwhile, in a different part of the world inside a huge conference room. The kings of most kingdoms in Divine Sapphire were sitting down at a meeting.
All of them heard of the news about the demons and they quickly arranged a meeting to discuss what happened. The situation was extremely sticky and everyone was on edge.
That's the main reason for the heavy the extremely heavy atmosphere weighing down on the room.
'This is really bad.' Between the kings and queens, sat a young man that stood out like a sore thumb. He was by far the youngest king out of everyone present. His name was Arthur Aviresion, the previous prince and current king of the Aviresion empire.
After his father's death and the retreat of his sister from the conflict for succession, he had to take matters into his hands and become the king. However, even though he was the oldest, becoming a king basically overnight wasn't something a young man could handle properly.
Political, economic and even social problems fell down on his back, almost crushing him. However, by sheer luck and dedication, he was able to learn his way through these problems and was able to miraculously stabilize his kingdom, for the time being at least.
However, when the matter of the demons occurred and he heard about his sister being involved in it, he almost had a heart attack. Not only did he know how horrible it could be if the other kings started accusing him of being related to demons, but he also was aware of the impact of his sister's problem on the world would be.
'Why did you do all of that, Elise? Not only did you leave me to struggle while you enjoy your time at the academy but you also drag me into your problems. Goddamit!' He thought as he nervously tapped his fingers together. Even before the meeting started, some people were already giving him glances.
"Is everyone here?" Then, a man spoke as he looked around. He was Talif, the king and ruler of Ignosia, a behemoth of a kingdom that had the biggest area of control over any other kingdom. It was the strongest empire in the whole of Divine Sapphire.
Ruling Ignosia needed someone capable enough and Talif was the man for the job. Boasting great strength, impressive leadership skills, and a record of great achievements, no one can deny how great he was even between kings and queens.
"Let the meeting start. As I assume, all of you heard about the news."
The moment he said that everyone frowned slightly. Every time they heard the word 'demon' a bad taste would linger on their tongues that made them look bitter.
Looking around, Talif continued.
"I understand how bad the situation is. Everyone is suspicious of everyone. However, you all should know the consequences of accusations. We are supposed to work together against a mutual enemy. The academy had already sent out formal letters to every kingdom, making sure they don't initiate internal conflicts."
"But, Talif, we are really in a pinch. Demons could be roaming our cities and scheming their return. Coupled with the fact that we are already on the edge of a war with the new rising cult. We can't deal with backstabbing now." One of the people present said.
"I agree. We must get rid of every demon before they start escaping and grouping up."
However, Talif shook his head.
"That won't work. These demons are now capable of using mana and if I'm correct about this. We won't be able to get rid of them completely. In fact, if some of them had already run away and they heard about their race being exterminated, I fear that we might end up digging our own graves."
"Then, what do you suggest, Talif? We should just shut up and let them do whatever they want?"
"No, that won't work either. We must first gather as much information as possible about this demon that was able to run away. We are analyzing its corpse. Meanwhile…" His eyes then went straight to Arthur.
"I need to pay a visit to certain two people." His voice was deep and cold but also carried a hint of interest in it.
(A//N: I'm back :3!! Welcome me, mortals! Ehem, I mean, sorry for the long hiatus. I had to deal with some problems and also write for my newest book 'Supreme Warlock'. However, now, I'm hopefully back and I shouldn't stop writing for SM anytime soon.)