Chapter 266: Chapter 266: The Truth

Ares didn’t dare relax his tense body until he had left Sofie Manor and returned to his car. The news he had learned from Her Majesty the Queen today had hit him with a massive shock.

As calm as he usually was, he found what he had just witnessed almost too much to bear.

He couldn’t help but wonder if he had simply been too young and misremembered. ’Maybe I never saw a similar portrait before,’ he thought. ’Or even if I did, it wasn’t my Father. It wasn’t the same person.’

How could his Father be Prince Li Ke?

But at the same time, a flood of previously ignored details surfaced one by one after his meeting with Her Majesty the Queen.

Why did Buck never go to the Emperor Star? Why did he sometimes sit alone in the courtyard late at night, drinking himself into a stupor? And who was in that lone photograph—taken from behind—in his study drawer?

All the questions he had once been curious about but could never answer now flooded his memory.

Ares didn’t contact Buck right away. He couldn’t calm his heart, and besides, he wasn’t sure if Her Majesty the Queen would grow suspicious of him and have him followed.

If his Father was indeed Prince Li Ke, then how on earth did he leave the Emperor Star all those years ago? And what did that make him?

There were simply too many questions that needed answers. Ares felt like his entire world had been thrown into chaos.

In that moment, all he wanted was to see Lu Xiao.

So, he drove directly to the Fifth Research Institute.

When Lu Xiao learned that Ares was outside, she froze for a moment. She hadn’t expected him to come in person. After snapping out of it, she said a quick goodbye to Teacher Ai Li and rushed out the door.

Seeing Ares standing in front of his hovercar waiting for her, Lu Xiao ran over and threw herself into his arms. “Ares, are you okay? Her Majesty the Queen didn’t give you a hard time, did she?”

“No, Her Majesty the Queen just asked me a few things,” Ares said, hugging her back. “But Xiao Xiao, I really need you right now.”

At his words, Lu Xiao looked into Ares’s eyes and saw a plea for help. Her heart clenched. It was the first time she had ever seen such an expression on his face, and it instantly put her on edge.

“What’s wrong, Ares? What happened?”

Ares opened the car door. Once they were both inside, he told Lu Xiao everything that had happened during his meeting with Her Majesty the Queen.

After listening intently to Ares’s story, Lu Xiao’s eyes widened in shock. “So, your Father could be the late Prince Li Ke?”

Ares nodded. “I don’t want to believe it, but… the resemblance in that portrait was uncanny.”

He couldn’t convince himself with the excuse that he was just a child and had misremembered.

Because the instant he saw that portrait, he had recognized his Father.

He had lived with his father for more than a decade; how could he possibly fail to recognize his face? Even though Buck’s appearance had changed greatly over the years, this was the man who had raised him. He couldn’t be mistaken.

Lu Xiao knew exactly what it would mean if everything Ares had told her today was true.

’It means Prince Li Ke didn’t die back then. He deceived everyone, left this place, and started a new life. And Ares… he’s the male cub from the stories who supposedly died in infancy. In other words, Prince Li Ke planned everything from the very beginning. Does that mean he saw through Her Majesty the Queen long ago, and that’s why he orchestrated this whole escape?’

’That explains it,’ she thought. ’After meeting Old Buck, I just couldn’t see him as the type of male to be abandoned by his female partner, no matter his personality. The other way around, however, seemed entirely possible.’

The reality was, he faked his own death just to abandon Her Majesty the Queen, and he didn’t even leave the child behind for her.

’What a ruthless man.’

“You should contact your Father about this,” she said. “If it’s true, he must have been mentally preparing for this.” This situation had developed to a point where it could no longer be kept secret.

Lu Xiao even suspected that Old Buck had been preparing for this day ever since Ares joined the military.

As Ares’s career progressed, it was only a matter of time before he caught Her Majesty the Queen’s attention.

And as the mother who had given birth to Ares, she was bound to recognize her own child eventually.

With Lu Xiao by his side, Ares felt a great sense of relief. He squeezed her hand. “Thank you. I feel much better.”

Lu Xiao knew that no one could remain calm after experiencing something like this. Ares was handling it remarkably well.

She leaned over, hugged him, and gently patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. No matter what happens, I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

Ares held her tight and replied, “Okay!”

Instead of sending Old Buck a message, he initiated a voice call.

The call connected almost instantly.

“What is it, Ares? Shouldn’t you be at work at this hour?” Old Buck’s steady voice came from the other end.

Ares steadied himself and said, “Father, I met with Her Majesty the Queen today. I saw a portrait of you at her residence. What’s going on?”

He held nothing back, recounting his entire meeting with the Queen. Throughout his story, Buck remained silent on the other end, seemingly listening intently.

Only after Ares had finished did the other end remain silent for a long moment before Buck finally spoke. “I didn’t expect this day to come quite so soon. Ares, your suspicions are correct. This won’t affect your and Xiao Xiao’s wedding. I’ll handle it. You and Xiao Xiao don’t need to worry.”

“Father, are you really… him?” Ares asked, as if unable to believe it, desperate for confirmation.

“Yes, I am. Ares, I never meant to hide this from you, but there was no benefit in you knowing the truth too early. You once asked me who your birth mother was. Now that you’ve met her today, how do you feel?”

“I don’t know. My head is a mess, and my feelings are all over the place. But to be honest, I’m not as excited about her appearing in my life as I would have been.” He was past the age of needing a mother, past the age of envying other children who had one. He didn’t need one anymore.

So even upon learning that Her Majesty the Queen was likely the birth mother he had constantly thought of and searched for throughout his childhood, he found he could accept the fact with surprising calmness.

“I’m sorry, Ares. I’m sorry that you’re only learning the truth now, learning who your birth mother is. It’s my fault for taking matters into my own hands. You have every right to blame me. I won’t say that I did it all for your own good—even if that is the truth—because my selfishness is what separated mother and son. I bear the responsibility for that.”

“I’ve never blamed you, Father. Especially now that I know the truth. I can understand that you had your reasons, and that what you did made sense. I get it. You don’t need to apologize.” ’Perhaps he would have blamed him in the past,’ he thought, ’but his time with Lu Xiao had taught him so much. He knew with certainty that his Father’s choice had been the right one. It’s better to leave than to waste feelings and time on someone who isn’t worth it.’

’Life is too short to waste on people who don’t matter. It’s just not worth it.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep