Chapter 448: The Cycle

“Did you find anything?”

After the announcement ended and the news about the Divine Rations not appearing because someone broke the Faith spread amongst the Velmourns, Aelindra rushed to Kael and questioned with a nervous look on her face.

As the Warden of Provisions, the fact that she didn’t have to worry about her people starving was a big relief for her, but now that the Divine Rations had disappeared, all her worries had returned—this time, stronger than before.

At this point, she was prepared to drop everything and use all her available resources to find the one responsible for it.

She was desperate, and Kael could sense her desperation very clearly but—

“Not yet.”

He shook his head.

“Almost everyone is shaken by the news, they are panicking, worrying about their future, so it is difficult to single out a single culprit based on how much they are panicking.

We need to wait a little, a few days maybe, before they show an out-of-the-ordinary reaction. Till then, we need to ensure people continue talking about the disappeared rations and how catching the one responsible for it is important for everyone’s future.”

The Dragon Rider explained.

Aelindra lowered her head, imagining everything in her head, and with an uncertain look on her face, she stared back at Kael and—

“Are you sure this will work…? What if we are unable to find him? What if he doesn’t react the way we want him to?”

She questioned.

Kael, however, shook his head with a certain look on his face.

“Even if he doesn’t act out of guilt, the more people mention the Divine Rations, the more chances my eyes will have to get a reaction out of him. That will be all we need.”

“…alright.”

Aelindra nodded in a low voice.

“Mhm.”

Kael nodded back, staring at Aelindra—it was almost as if he was waiting for her to say something.

Aelindra, however, failed to notice his gaze and—

“I should leave now. I will have my men keep the rumors alive, just as you said.”

“Hm.”

Kael nodded again, and Aelindra, ignoring his expression, walked out.

“…”

“…”

Silence fell in the room until—

“I told you, didn’t I? She wouldn’t say anything.”

Lavinia glanced at Kael with a heavy smile on her face, as if she knew this was going to happen but was hoping to be wrong.

Soon, however, she shook her head and gently touched Kael’s cheek.

“You don’t have to feel guilty. We are doing this out of necessity, not because we crave power.”

Kael stared at her with a somewhat lost look on his face and—

“…it might have skipped her mind because she is so worried.”

He countered.

“I do not deny that.”

Lavinia nodded.

“That is possible.”

“…”

Kael swallowed his words. Lavinia, however, knew what he was thinking, so she knew she couldn’t stay silent here.

“Do not forget, Morvain was the one who ordered that. We warned them, we told them it was better to be careful and keep our men inside the Walls, but they didn’t listen.

And even now, they haven’t informed us about the hunting party that Commander Korvath sent out today.”

“Maybe they thought we knew?”

Kael suggested.

“Again, that is possible.”

Lavinia nodded.

“But they still went against our words, and I am not saying they are wrong in doing so. They heard our words and decided to do what they thought was best; if I were in their place, I might have done the same.

However…”

A strict look then appeared on Lavinia’s face and—

“It isn’t a situation where they can think logically or independently.

The Velmourns are too used to just surviving; they do not have the correct mindset needed to face their true enemies, and we cannot instill that mindset into them with time—we do not have enough time. So the only way forward from this situation is complete submission.”

The Mage spoke, her purple eyes shining intensely.

Kael stared at her with an uncertain look on his face.

Complete Submission.

Those were grand words—arrogant even.

After all, even if they had done everything they had for the Velmourns, at the end of the day, they were still outsiders.

Completely submitting to people who had only been here for a few weeks… no sane force would do something so foolish.

It was honestly foolish to even assume that this would happen.

But—

“…this is why we must do what we are doing.”

Lavinia continued, holding Kael’s hand as if telling him that she was standing with him, prepared to watch it all to the very end.

And Kael—

“…so we let people starve…?”

He questioned in a low voice.

“We are not starving anyone. We gave the elderlies the rations—enough for them to fill their bellies.”

“And what about Vandra?”

Kael raised his voice, looking at Lavinia.

“That woman did not eat lunch because she is blaming herself for everything we did, and she is fully prepared to starve herself to death because she believes that is the only way she could seek ’forgiveness’ and for the Divine Rations to ’bless’ their people again.

Is this… what you want? Is instilling the false belief that I am a God inside the people’s heads so important that we have to go this far?”

He asked more questions—questions that he thought would make Lavinia take a step back but—

“Yes.”

The woman nodded.

“It is that important, Kael.”

The Mage spoke.

She then held Kael’s hand even tighter and—

“The Velmourns do not have the correct mindset.”

She began.

“They do not have enough knowledge; they do not have enough resources. They have lived in this isolated space for so long that they have forgotten that a far wider world exists outside it. None of them have even seen the world beyond.

Their days are spent with one and one thought alone—

Survival.

And while they have done a good job surviving this far—

This mentality will not help them any further, not when they have accepted us and offended Shadow Regent Zephyr.”

Lavinia spoke with a grim look on her face.

Kael, too, couldn’t counter her words. Although he had not interacted with Zephyr many times, the man was the right-hand man of the King of Drakthar—one of the most powerful men in the world.

You do not reach that level by coincidence.

Kael knew Zephyr was a resourceful, dangerous man—even Veylara, who was a few levels higher than him, told him to be careful of him in particular.

If Zephyr was truly coming for the Velmourns, which, according to Lavinia, he would for certain since he still hadn’t gained what he wanted, the Velmourns wouldn’t have an easy time surviving—especially if they still stuck to their old means, means that Zephyr probably knew everything about.

“We are the only ones who can help them.”

The Mage continued.

“We have what they lack; we have resources that would surprise even Zephyr. We have the Power to go against even the strongest, and we have… the correct mindset.”

“Do we?”

Kael asked, a little unsure. After all, he had barely started standing up for himself.

“We do.”

Lavinia, however, nodded with an assuring look on her face.

“The current Velmourns are not fit to rule themselves.

We are the only ones who can do it. And because they won’t be directly handing us the power to do so,

We need to do this through Faith, through the ’Divine Rations,’ through the name ’Dragon God.’”

The Mage declared, revealing her intention, and Kael…

He just stared into the woman’s ambitious eyes, then at the Spirits flying behind her and—

’Is she still the pure-hearted princess she once was?’

He couldn’t help but wonder. It felt especially strange when he noticed how close the Spirits and Lavinia were.

After all, for beings who only got close to pure-hearted, gentle souls, choosing Lavinia… truly did not feel like a correct choice, especially considering how thorough the Mage’s plans truly were.

His Lavinia was everything, but… Kael highly doubted he could call her… pure-hearted.

’You are confusing a pure heart with a naïve one, Father.’

Suddenly, Kael heard a voice.

It was his firstborn.

’Igni?’

Kael frowned.

’I can tell what you are thinking, and you understood it wrong.’

The Dragon started explaining.

’Being pure-hearted doesn’t mean being naïve. Lavinia’s plan may seem harsh, forceful even, but in the end, they are what’s best for the people, herself, and… you. As she said, it is a necessity—the only way you can survive with minimal casualties and flourish further.

If anything, doing all this makes Lavinia an even kinder, or a more noble person.’

’What…?’

Kael didn’t understand.

’Pure-hearted or kind people are often weak—this is especially true in humans. While some kind humans do stand against injustice and suppression, because they detest the dirty games other humans play and refuse to participate in them, they usually do not have the power to make an impact.

They are easily suppressed, used, silenced, and in some cases, even corrupted, turning into what they hate the most.

This is also the reason that humans, through evolution, have fallen into a dirtier, selfish, power-hungry mindset, making pure-hearted, kind humans a rarity.

Lavinia is changing that cycle.

She is gaining power while keeping her heart pure—like other advanced races, like Dragons, do.’

’Like Dragons…?’

Kael blinked.

’Yes.’

Igni nodded.

And Kael…

“…”

He stayed silent. He did not know if Igni was right. But as he looked at Lavinia’s steady eyes—he wanted to believe he was.

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