Arin Helev pulled back a bit when he heard Iria. "You don't know what you're saying, Iria. Fulfilling my dream and creating a better Qalagon... do you think I'll be able to go on if the price turns out to be so high? You know how much you mean to me."
"Your father trust in you," Iria argued. "That's means you're capable of letting it happen. You only need faith."
Until a while ago, Arin Helev used to believe that he will be able to take the risk but... that assassination attempt made him insecure.
That incident was like an eye-opener for him. A reminder of how unwilling he was to live on without her in case something happened.
"You know what I did last time," he muttered. "It doesn't need much for some people to change and I'm one of those people, Iria. If you happen to suffer for my decision, I don't know what I would do."
He looked at her and continued, "You know that you're the only one who can drag me back to the right path if I started losing my way. That means if you're not here, there will be no one to stop me. Can you imagine that?"
The Queen maintained her silence for a while as she thought of what to say. "Do you know the belief I always hold on to while I was the Commander of the Alewine Army?" she finally asked and continued, "We can't say it's impossible unless we try it ourselves."
She slightly smiled and added, "I hope you can give it a try. Besides, I don't want to be someone who holds you back from fulfilling your dream. Instead, I wish to be someone who helps you in fulfilling that dream.
"We can achieve anything as long as we work together. That's what you always told me."
Staring at her smile, Arin sighed. "I should be careful with what I said. With that extraordinary memory of yours, I feel like I will always end up stuck in my own words."
Iria laughed at his words. "It's because I always believe what you said. Don't twist it the wrong way." She made him lift his palm and press it against hers. "Promise me that you will try."
Though the King maintained his silence for a while, he eventually gave in like he always did. "Fine. I promise you."
* * *
In Helsia, Crown Prince Andres and Orius were meeting the ex-officials for the second time.
Just as the cousins expected, the result was good and every official who came last time agreed to their proposal. This time, each one of them signed a pledge.
A pledge that tied them down, a pledge that promised no betrayal no matter what, a pledge to move forward until the end.
To assure them, Andres Francia also signed a pledge where he promised to give back the throne to the Helsians once they succeed.
After the Crown Prince promised to rescue all the imprisoned officials, the ex-officials left the abandoned mansion where the meeting took place.
"What do you say?" Andres Francia muttered, looking at Orius who was standing beside him. "Shall we go and take a look at the security of the prison before we make a plan to rescue the ex-officials?"
"You should let the spies do," Orius responded. "It's dangerous. If anything happens, your life will be in danger."
"You talk as if I'll be the only one in danger," Andres frowned.
"You should remember that you're the heir to the throne of Cedore. You can't afford to risk your life for such a trivial matter," Orius argued.
Sometimes, he couldn't understand his cousin.
He was always too energetic.
"You talk just like Iria," Andres remarked and clicked his tongue.
"We're twins. Do you expect me to be much different?"
"I only say to look around, not to sneak in," the Crown Prince retorted, dragging the topic back to the security of the prison.
Orius looked at his cousin and simply smiled. "Do you forget that I'm the one who imprisoned those ex-officials? I know the structure of the prison very well. No need to observe."
"Then why do you only say it now?" Andres uttered bluntly. "You even argue with me not to go there."
"Because I know that observing is just an excuse. You want to roam around in the name of observing," Orius simply stated.
"Then you should come with me," the Crown Prince said, not even bothering to deny. "I still plan to go alone if you don't come."
Orius turned to his cousin with a hopeless expression and sighed. Andres was always too stubborn!
"Fine then. Let's go. But Zane and the other guards should come too. They can keep their distance."
It's not like he can let him go alone. If anything happened to the Crown Prince... he didn't even want to think about it.
"Alright."
With that said, the cousins left the abandoned mansion with the guards.
Soon enough, Orius and Andres were on the crowded streets with Zane and other guards following them a few steps behind.
"It seems like things are going normal for the people," Andres Francia said as he glanced around the market which was very lively despite being night.
In Cedore, everyone knew him and he could never roam around freely. But in Helsia, it was the complete opposite and it was the reason why he was so eager to roam around.
"Iria never allows innocent people to suffer," Orius stated. "When we conquered this kingdom, she begged the late King Tobias not to harm the people. It's funny, right? These people thought that the Masked Commander was the one who destroyed their kingdom but it was King Rozalez who destroyed his own kingdom. If it's not for Iria, many of them will already be slaves."
Andres nodded. "It's not easy to show mercy. Look at Nardodia and Qalagon. Arin showed mercy but it only bounce back at him."
"Maybe Zaro Aventine is trying to learn from Arin's mistake. He is too eager to eliminate the powerful remnants of Helsia," Orius Alewine muttered with disdain more than evident in his tone.
When Andres didn't say anything, Orius looked at him, only to find out that his cousin's attention was on somewhere else but... when his gaze trailed in the direction where Andres was looking, he saw Zaro Aventine standing with some of his soldiers at a distance.
Orius face turned sour at the sight.. "Speaking of the devil."
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