"Really?"
King Kessel's voice came from across the long table, icy cold.
"Is this what you've been obsessing over?"
The king's shadow stretched across the wall behind him in the firelight. Faint mockery surfaced in his eyes.
"Your... mother?"
Tales gazed deeply at King Kessel.
Seranjelana.
High Priest Licia, Queen Koya, Old Crow, and Grivo—nearly everyone who had known his mother—had entirely different opinions of the woman.
Then what about his father?
"Don't forget," the Prince said softly.
"I inherited her name."
Or perhaps more than that.
The king snorted lightly.
"Gilbert should never have let you choose that Middle Name."
He spoke slowly, but every word was cold as ice.
"Meaningless."
Tales smiled faintly as well and shook his head.
"As far as I know, you were the one who told Gilbert her name."
"Then what did you expect?"
The king replied swiftly, his tone cold.
"Did you expect your mother to be an extraordinary woman of distinguished origins? A learned, talented female scholar, a noble-born lady, or a brave and fearless Female Warrior? Someone who would make you proud and give you something to rely on?"
Looking at King Kessel's expression, Tales was surprised to discover that this was one of the few subjects that could make the other man respond in long sentences.
The Prince tested the waters.
"Then was she?"
The king sneered, but his smile vanished at once.
"She was a whore."
Tales's expression changed slightly.
"Like most prostitutes," King Kessel said with an indifferent expression and disdain in his voice. "She was worldly and greedy, putting on airs before her customers every day, selling her body for payment—until she died."
"I don't even remember her face."
After hearing the king's words, Tales remained silent for a long time.
"A whore?"
Tales murmured absently.
"A