Chapitre 104: The Domain: Chapter 102
Looking into her eyes, I could not help but wonder for all the words that came out of my mouth that night.
The night when I told her the truth about me, about my role to them, my people…only to be disregarded as if I was a liar….a fool.
To see her now, I can't help but wonder why she came here. It must have been just a coincidence, so without any intention to talk, I will simply choose to walk away.
"...Hamil."
But she called out to me.
"...Iris."
And in return, I could not help but look to her with a doubtful expression.
"What do you want?" I said in a rather disinterested tone.
"...I…I wanted to apologize." she said.
"Apologize?…I see, then say your piece and leave." I said as looked to her with my head held high.
With me being a bit taller than her, it would be no surprise to find that she would look up…but instead she remained with her head facing low.
"...You said that you were a King…A Ruler…What does that mean?" she asked, unable to look me directly in the eye.
As she spoke, the three owls by my side remained a bit cautious of her existence. Their eyes looked ever so predatory…as if they could easily tear her apart with their claws and beak, yet they remained still and observing, waiting for my call of order.
"...Why are you asking me this?"
"...Because!…I…I don't know what it is…but I can't help but wonder why I feel so perplexed by your words. They never left me! Ever since you said that you were A king…a king for us…I can't just believe it as it is …but I also can't deny it…and I don't why!" she seemed frustrated…as if she could not fully cooperate with herself because of the complicating thoughts and emotions within her.
It hurts for me to see one of my people like this…but it is also a bit perplexing to find that they deny my role as a Ruler…To completely destroy this sense of doubt, I have to prove myself to her right here…the only question is how.
How do I show her my role…my position…my authority…anything to showcase that I am what I am.
My mark…My Domain of Power…
…My Domain…The Ruler's Domain.
[As a Ruler, do you wish to Invite this subject to the Ruler's Domain?]
And all of a sudden, a screen only visible to me was shown in front.
The system…for a long time, this screen has only ever showed up to me whenever I wanted to see what progress in strength. It had showed nothing about a test or a quest for any matter at all since the day I left the Ruler's Domain. But now, it showed before me an option to invite someone into the Ruler's Domain and I wondered why…Why now?
Was it because of my will? My wish?…it doesn't matter. All that matters is for me to show her the truth.
"...Iris, As my Authority as a Ruler…I'll show you the truth."
As I said these words, I lend out my hand.
"..." She stood confused and hesitant by my hand…unwilling to do anything because of her fear.
But I did not lower my hand in response to her anxiety, instead I looked to her with more authority and Will to show to her that I am a King.
"Why are you so willing to do this?" she asked.
"Because I don't lie to my people."
"..." in hearing my response, she was shook, and it lead her to move her hands to grasp mine.
As her hand was getting closer and closer, the marks all over my body began to react.
They glowed and showed themselves to her…
"!?" she was a bit shocked.
"What are those?" she asked.
"...These are the marks that prove who I am…the marks of Acknowledgement given by the past Rulers."
"Past Rulers, You told me of them…"
"I did and I want you to believe in them…The Four Rulers, The Intrepid, The Blind, The Resolute And The Arduous."
"...How can I believe you without proof?"
"I'll show you. Take my hand and I'll show you the Domain where they all stood."
"..." She looked to my arm…and as hesitant as she could, she finally took the courage to move forward.
As she came closer, I move to take her hand…and as she came to hold mine, the system reacted.
[Iris Dragonfold has been invited to the Ruler's Domain]
***
As I came to grab his hand, his gaze remained unfazed by my touch. I could feel the callus in his hands, how rugged and rough they were from always holding a weapon into a gate or test. I recognize that he was probably a person of great potential…and by recognizing that, I was sent to a dark void for in a way as if my mind was being dragged by a great force that I could not touch nor feel…but I do know its there.
"!!"
The my eyes could not see in this darkness…and it made me panic as to what happened. Why am I here? Where am I?
I could feel that something was beneath my feet, so it made me calm down a bit for knowing this information.
My hands on the other hand were no longer in touch with Hamil.
I tried to look around, but to no avail, darkness was all there was in this place.
"..." but all of a sudden, a bright light began to show from behind…and there in the distance, Hamil was found carrying an orb of light on his palm.
"...Hamil, where are we?" I asked.
"Welcome to the Ruler's Domain."
He then began to raise the light on his palm and it floated up above until it met with a ceiling. As it touched the top, it blew into many parts….there it began to show everything about this darkness.
In four direction, four statues remained to stand ever so magnanimously.
A man who carried a spear by his hand, where by his posture, it felt like he was a man who could never miss nor be stopped by any obstacle with the use of the spear on his hand.
A man who carried a shield by his two arms, where by his stand, it felt like he could carry the whole world by his strength alone and where he could have the honesty to protect everyone he loved.
And a blindfolded woman who carried a bow. Where by her figure and beauty, she was probably a woman who was praised and loved by everyone and saw nothing because of her lack of view from the world…but it sought her the right to judge the world without inequality.
And finally, a man who wielded a sword that felt so familiar to me…there with his weapon, I felt fear but also safety, I felt power but also a guilty feeling of abandonment…where if his sword was ever pointed at me, I would have accepted my life as a hurdle for him to pass…but I also felt like I needed his forgiveness…his mercy.
As I stared at the man who carried a weapon that can split the world, tears began to fall from my eyes…and the feeling of guilt began to grow ever so strongly…as if I was in the wrong, as if I was not worthy of standing in this place, in front of these four statues.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"You stand in the center…in the place where the last remaining evidence of the Rulers stand…you are in the Ruler's Domain."
"How is this possible?"
"This is the place where I took the test to attain their acknowledgement…the place where I proved myself worthy of becoming a Ruler. It is only possible that you're here because of me."
"..." my silence was ever so quiet but loud at the same time.
Out of these four statues, the one who wielded the sword was the one who gave me a sense of guilt the most.
Without hesitation, I wanted to come closer to the Ruler who carried the sword, but before I could, Hamil stood in my way.
"I brought you here to prove to you the truth..The History…The Kingdom that was lost because of a war."
"...How does it come to us…why me?"
"Because I told you before. You and the rest of the people who retained the undying mark of betrayal throughout the years are connected to this kingdom. The star mark behind that neck of yours is proof of that as well as the nightmares that comes with it."
As he spoke, I unconsciously remembered about the mark behind my neck…the same star that my father also had in his body. It made me wonder why this mark continuous to linger with me and my father…and why it connects to how nightmares are made because of it.
"Nightmares?"
"The mark of betrayal was a curse laid upon by the people who decided to abandon the Ruler's kingdom when the war was on its way…fifteen families…fifteen generations that still now remains to hold the kingdom's blood."
"...I…then what do you want from me? Why are you telling me this? I'm only one of the fifteen families, why me!?"
"Because I want you to follow me…to stand with me when I come to a moment when I will decide to start building the kingdom once again."
"..."
"Offer your loyalty to me…to the Rulers."
"..." Im scared…by every word that he has said, everything felt so heavy that I could never imagined the weight of it all…the Responsibilities that comes with it, it feels like its too much for me.
But he…he alone stood to grab this chance to face me…to lend his hand so that I could see the truth.
I know that he means well…that he speaks the truth, but I doubt that he could ever…
"Are you scared Iris?"
"...I am."
"Do you fear the death of this path? The problems that will come with it? The obstacles that will come our way?"
"..."
"...I see, well, it does not matter."
"...What?"
"Come or don't come…it won't matter to me if I can't attain the full loyalty of my people. It will only resort to history repeating itself…it is your choice that matters Iris…you decide whether or not you will be joining me in a path of rebuilding my kingdom in the future."
After that, he moved out of the way from the path to the Ruler with the big sword. Telling me to go and do my business…
I was unconsciously lured in by this statue…I realized that this statue was the same figure of a man who haunted my dreams. The same man who was capable tearing down everything in his path. I wanted to say my piece and ask for a bit of forgiveness…
"..."But I hesitated in stepping forward.
I felt like something was wrong in this moment.
I looked to the statue…and then I looked to Hamil…
It dawned on me…this place where I stood…it is a holy place…a place meant for kings to stand together…
And I was invited here…by Hamil...
A person who had the authority to invite…
I felt guilty not to just the Statue but to Hamil…with how I acted today…my hesitation, my fear…I felt like I disrespected him.
And I did.
It lingered in my heart…this guilt.
And I don't know how to fix it…
"I've done my piece…If you don't plan on going Iris, we should go back." he said as he saw me hesitating on moving forward.
"...Okay." and I agreed. I was not ready to ask for a bit of forgiveness from the statue…and I also felt sick for not apologizing to Hamil on his invitation to walk with him on the path.
Having left with nothing done, Hamil simply looked away and began to disappear from my sights. And the darkness swallowed me yet again…
"..." when I awoke, I was found standing in the same place as he was. In the hallway near a bathroom. And with him, the three man-sized owls were still standing on him with the same killing intent as before.
"..." it felt like only seconds have passed since we entered his domain.
"...Goodbye Iris." he said as he began walking away immediately.
But I remained in place…
I remained with this unsettling feeling inside of me.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone