Chapter 401
"Be honest." Keith strictly said, and Avriel tensed up some more.
"I am not lying," Avriel answered, and then continued, "I did not feel good. I just... did not feel bad either."
Keith allowed the silence to settle in, waiting patiently for her to come clean, and when she finally sighed, he smiled.
"Would you look down on me if I liked it?" She lightly asked.
"No."
She nodded to his answer and then met his eyes again.
"I felt nothing when I killed those people. No pity, no hesitation, no guilt. But I did feel satisfied knowing that I had eliminated potential threats. That wouldn't count as feeling good, right?"
"I see."
"Does that make me a bad person?"
"That's a curious question, but only you can find an answer to it. People's perception of good and bad varies, and a Hero in one's eyes could be a Villain in another's eyes."
"I want to know what you think of me." She got straight to the point and kept eye contact with him.
"No." He told her and found her body relaxing as soon as she heard him.
"I don't want to kill people." She lowered her head and meekly said. "I really don't."
"And yet you would not hesitate to kill someone if you see it fit." He smiled at her.
Avriel did not really feel comfortable with his words but nodded her head as she could not refute them.
Another period of silence descended between them, and this time, it lasted for minutes where the Princess collected her thoughts and finally smiled again.
"You were born this way. And it is not a result of anyone's influence that you are indifferent to death and killing."
She raised her head and met his eyes, curious at his words.
"You were born to rule, and your truth does not allow you to see death from the perspective of a Mortal." He mysteriously said and then glanced at the clock.
There was still some time in dinner, and he looked into her eyes, scrutinising them.
"Do you want to know your truth?" He asked. Discover new chapters at novelhall.com
"Yes." And she unhesitantly answered.
"It will come at a very steep price, Princess." He warned with a gentle smile, and she just smiled back at him.
"You want me."
Keith stopped again, this time, throwing her a teasing smile, and sure enough, she could not contain her curiosity this time.
"What happened to the family?"
"They had to accept her decision, and they realised that it was perhaps for the best." He told her what happened. "You see, the decisions of the two sisters allowed them to break free from the shackles of the Patheon they served, and since the Goddess they had chosen was not an enemy, it allowed them to survive the war that followed in which the Pantheon the Family served perished. The older sister had seen it coming, and only the younger sister who followed her lead understood her decision at that time."
"Who were they?" She curiously asked.
"Hecate and her younger sister, Mnemosyne. She is also called Moneta or Mneme."
"The Titaness that was Zeus's lover?" She frowned, remembering where she had read the name, and he could not help but chuckle at her first thought.
"She was never his lover. In fact, she died a maiden just like her sister. The Myths hold some truth, but mostly, they happen to be far from it."
"Oh..." She smiled. "The Goddess they chose to serve was Nyx?"
"Yes." He nodded to her.
"How did she die?"
"I can not tell you that."
Avriel kept looking into his eyes, and then a small smile settled on her face.
"I am Mneme's Inheritor?"
"Yes, you the Inheritor of the Goddess of Memories, Speech, Muses, and Time."
"Does Lady Rebecca know?"
"No." He shook his head.
"So, I am already her sister. I wonder how she would react to the news."
"Legacies don't work like that." He chuckled. "Hecate and Mnemosyne were independent Goddesses with their own set of Divinities which they did not share."
"I see." She nodded to him.
"Come. It's dinner time." He said and then patted her head as he walked past her.
When the two of them entered the Main Lounge, Avriel could not help but notice the curious glances that Ayesha and Nana were giving her, and for some reason, she had a hunch that they had overhead her conversation with Keith.
She subconsciously turned to look at Ingvild, and when their eyes met, she understood that her dear friend had also heard her conversation because there was a hint of excitement in her eyes.
However, even when they all sat down at the dining table, no one raised any questions about her conversation with Keith, and even Ingvild only engaged her in a miscellaneous chat. Just like everything was normal.