The Villain’s Aide Has Run Away - Chapter 117.2
The boy still looked like a child, but at the same time, he bore the weight of being a prince.
It was hard to just watch the sulking child, yet Leslun did not try to soothe him.
Even though he was young, he was a prince.
And he had come running to his older brother for help.
At least, if he had not come without thinking…
“I do not want to.”
Cassian lifted his head sharply.
“I do not want to become the Emperor.”
Kailos’s gaze turned cold.
“Some people spend their whole lives striving for a position, yet you refuse it so easily. Are you too young to understand, or is this just a tantrum?”
Kailos’s presence seemed to overwhelm the young Cassian.
Leslun stepped back, releasing Cassian from his arms, and moved closer to Blue.
Blue leaned slightly against Leslun’s warm body. Leslun, in turn, leaned into that warmth.
The dawn wind was cold, but in that moment, they felt no chill.
Blue, now fully grown, was no longer a small creature. The warm breath from his larger body enveloped Leslun’s shoulders and strangely calmed the anxious mind that had been shaking.
Cassian still lowered his head, while Kailos looked down at his younger brother, closing his lips firmly.
“Cassian, it is not too late. Go back. Help the Empress and push me away. If you do not, I will become Emperor and cast you out.”
Kailos’s words were no lie.
In the past, he had actually exiled Cassian abroad. He had not killed him, but he had issued the harsh command never to return.
Cassian stood there, somewhat deflated compared to earlier, yet he did not step back. On the contrary, he clenched his small fists tightly. His tiny fingers turned white from the force.
Leslun was not the only one who noticed the reaction. Kailos also did not miss it. His gaze paused briefly at the tips of his brother’s fingers before returning to his face.
“Empress Tera has committed a crime she should not have. No matter the cause, it cannot be justified.”
Cassian’s voice rang clearly and firmly.
Leslun read a conviction in the small, round face of Cassian that he had never noticed before.
The voice rejecting a position he had been destined to devote his life to was not a tantrum. It was the voice of a prince choosing his own path.
“I, too, would become Emperor through proper procedure, but I hate such cowardly methods. So, Brother, you must step in and correct it.”
“You still mean to oppose me even after I said I would cast you out?”
“If that is the reason it is unjust, then I will resist you at that time.”
When the boy looked up squarely and spoke, his voice carried a determination that belied his age.
The tension in Kailos’s face slowly softened.
He was neither glaring nor scolding. The pressure he had exerted over Cassian vanished as if by magic.
“If you speak like that, casting you out will not be so easy.”
A short remark, yet it was a declaration of acceptance of his brother’s will.
Cassian stared at him in surprise for a moment, then tears welled in his eyes, and he dashed forward, clinging to him.
“Brother!”
Kailos looked down awkwardly at the sibling clinging to his waist. Just as he had seemed displeased when Cassian had been in Leslun’s arms, his expression showed he was equally unsure about this.
Blue, sensing the strange tension between them, slowly swished his tail and spoke as if mediating.
[In the end, it is a choice. The throne, fate, all of it must be decided by yourselves.]
Fate is not easily changed, but it is not entirely fixed either.
Those words gradually reached Leslun.
“I liked you, Brother.”
Cassian confessed his feelings, voice trembling.
“Did I not say this is not the time? I told you it was urgent.”
Leslun’s voice was reproachful. Yet Kailos did not push Cassian away. Instead, he held onto the arms that wrapped around his waist.
“Actually, I wanted to spend more time with you, Brother.”
The boy’s eyes sparkled.
“But we have no common ground. Could I drink with a child like you, or play at your level?”
Kailos spoke cynically, yet there was a trace of playfulness.
In response, Leslun’s tension began to ease. This was the Kailos he had always known best.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
