Three giant dragons crouched at the crater's edge, each with its eyes closed as it rested.
The entire Red Castle bustled with activity. All the residents were welcoming King Ares's arrival. Perhaps there was friction among the upper ranks of the state, but to ordinary people, a Dragon Knight was the most honored guest in the world.
Inside the Inner Castle's great hall.
Count Merlin, Marquis Arno, and the others had all gone to busy themselves with the welcoming banquet, leaving King Ares alone with Princess Anxia and her mother.
With no outsiders present, King Ares's tone softened slightly. "Anxia, you've suffered all these years."
Caught off guard by those gentle words, Princess Anxia froze for a moment. Then she felt a block of ice melt within her heart, and her hatred for King Ares faded without her noticing. "Father, perhaps this is Anxia's fate."
"There is no fate in this world. Every person's life is shaped by their own choices," King Ares said.
Princess Anxia gave a self-mocking smile. "Father, do you think I ever had the right to choose?"
King Ares fell silent, but soon said, "Our parents gave us life, the land nurtures us, the people support us... A person must take responsibility for her actions. Anxia, even I, your father, have duties that I must fulfill."
"Then isn't that fate?"
"If you insist on seeing it that way, then call it fate." King Ares did not continue arguing.
Princess Anxia took two breaths before continuing, "I do not understand affairs of the world, nor can I bear the responsibility of a nation. Father, I have accepted my fate. I only wanted to stay with Kunstan and Kunlaya... Now Kunstan is gone, and only Kunlaya remains."
She stared deeply at King Ares and asked with difficulty, "Father,