The passage follows Pyramus, a young boy, who wakes up to find his father, Xerxes, leaving the room in the middle of the night. Fearing the worst, he follows him with his younger brother, Maximus, who is fast asleep in his arms. They find their father by the ocean, where Xerxes, consumed by grief over the loss of his wife, is contemplating suicide. He’s yelling at the moon and the sea, overcome with sorrow and despair.

When Pyramus cries out and begs him not to leave, Xerxes tries to send him away, but his son’s pleas and the sudden crying of the younger brother, Maximus, make him realize what he is about to do. Pyramus, seeing his father’s hesitation, intentionally pinches Maximus to make him cry louder, knowing that the sound of his child’s tears is something his father cannot ignore.

This act of desperation works. Xerxes, shocked back to reality, remembers his late wife’s dying wish: that he care for their children. He turns back from the water, running to embrace his sons. He apologizes profusely, filled with regret and gratitude. The family returns to the palace, their hearts now filled with hope instead of despair.

The second part of the story, Chapter IV, jumps forward in time. Pyramus is now a 16-year-old young man, and Xerxes has become a powerful and successful king, expanding his kingdom. However, Pyramus has grown up to be arrogant and moody, while his younger brother Maximus is cheerful and talented. The chapter concludes with a scene where Maximus plays a flute for his father, a skill he learned from his grandfather, King Driother. Xerxes is so proud that he decides to reward a loyal, but poor, soldier named Vethor, whose son is Maximus’s friend. This decision sparks a complaint from one of his men, but Xerxes stands by his decision, highlighting his sense of justice and fairness.

Deep English Translation

Part 1: The Ocean Encounter

Pyramus felt scared and anxious at that moment, so to ease it, they went to their father to sleep beside him. But he was surprised to see his father leave the room, so to find out where he was going, he followed him, bringing his brother with him. They didn’t show themselves or give any hint that they were following their father, so they successfully reached the place without their father knowing they were there, watching. But as they followed Xerxes, many questions entered Pyramus’s mind. Even at his young age, he had learned to understand events, especially their father’s suspicious actions. And even if these challenges were difficult for him.

“What is father going to do here, is he going to kill himself? Does he not love us?” His tears started to flow as those questions came out of his mouth.

The ocean was quiet; there were no roaring waves, and only the moonlight prevailed in that gloomy place. Xerxes ran towards the water, but his foot slipped on the sand, which caused him to fall. Already unlucky in life, and now clumsy. So he was extremely annoyed at that moment, as if he couldn’t explain it. He could do nothing but hit the sand in front of him, but then he just cried. The intense turmoil in his mind led him to a bad desire: to kill himself. After that, his anger and grief began to voice themselves.

“My love, why did you leave me?” The sound was trembling because the night was getting colder and deeper. “If I can’t be with you, it’s better that you just take me!” he shouted. “It would be a joy to be gone from this world! I am so, so tired. My heart is tired, too.” His body was aching when he said that. “For goodness’ sake, talk to me… I am tired of continuously pleading with you.” He dropped to his knees in the sand, to say he was surrendering his life. He looked up at the sky while tears streamed down his face. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, he took a deep breath and said, “It’s better to end this!” He stood up even though he was wobbly and moved a bit intoxicated. He took one step after another towards the ocean water. He couldn’t think of anything else but that, and he continued to walk. But, a sobbing shout dominated the silence.

“Father, don’t leave us!” Pyramus’s cheeks were soaked with tears, and some of them fell on Maximus’s face. “Are you, too, going to leave us, father?”

“Pyramus, what are you doing here?” Xerxes was surprised at that moment, as if he had come to his senses, but his bad intention had not yet subsided.

“Don’t you love us? Have mercy on us, father.” Pyramus said tremblingly. Pyramus stepped towards the water, but his father stopped him just as his feet were about to get wet. “Don’t come near, just stay there!” he stopped his son. “For goodness’ sake, son, leave! Just think you no longer have a father.” He was pushing his son away.

“You don’t love us? But father, don’t go through with this.” Pyramus still pleaded. Pyramus’s body was trembling with fear; he didn’t know where to go or what to do. Pyramus cried loudly because he truly didn’t know what to do.

Xerxes took more steps, until the water was chest-deep, so he was quite far from his son. But Xerxes spoke. “When you grow up, don’t be like me.”

“Father! Don’t leave us.” Pyramus pleaded until he was almost hoarse from shouting. At that moment, Maximus woke up because of the noise and the fresh tears that fell on his face. But he immediately became quiet when Pyramus hugged him. But with those cries, it was as if Xerxes came to his senses again.

“Where did those cries come from? Maximus? My son?” Xerxes wondered as he stopped. But it seemed he realized that it was just a hallucination and a figment of his imagination. He looked at Pyramus, but it became dark at that moment because the clouds covered the moon. So he couldn’t tell if his son Maximus was with him.

Pyramus saw how worried his father was when he heard that cry. Especially when he stopped. It reminded him of the moments when his father was completely dejected, back when he himself cried. He remembered that Xerxes easily felt pity for children, especially his son, who was still innocent in the world. He quickly came up with an idea on how he could bring back his father’s positive thinking. To make Maximus cry, he pinched him on the arm for a long time until he truly cried out loud. He regretted what he did, but it was also for their father.

Pyramus was not wrong in his idea, so he succeeded, but he had to use Maximus just to bring his father back from the bad intent of despair. Xerxes was reminded of Maviel’s last wish that he not neglect their children. At last, the cries that were filled with anger and frustration in Xerxes’s mind stopped, and now they were replaced with worry.

“My sons!” He was dismayed when he saw that the water was neck-deep. “What am I doing? I don’t want my children to regret that I became their father if I am this miserably and negatively-minded in life.” Perhaps if Xerxes died, who would raise his children? Maybe they would live like slaves and be scorned by people, and that would really be the reason for his children to hate and resent him. But it was a good thing his mind changed. So he took a step back. “My sons! Pyramus! Maximus! Wait for me there!” he said joyfully, but he slipped and his body went under the water. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel-fire.net

“Father!” Pyramus shouted. ‘What happened to father?’ Pyramus was horrified. But that was immediately replaced when he saw his father standing again and was near them. “Father!” There was joy on Pyramus’s face when he said that. “It’s a good thing you changed. We love you, father. We don’t want to be separated from you; you are the only remaining strength for us to live in this world.” Pyramus was truly revived when he saw Xerxes return.

Xerxes was out of breath when he reached where Pyramus was standing, because he had tried to speed up his feet in the water. For the reason of longing to hug his children. From his eldest son, he kissed him over and over and then moved to the youngest. Xerxes had truly come to his senses because there was no longer any hesitation in his mind except to be with his children. “My sons!” he greeted with concern. “Forgive my mistake. I hurt your feelings, especially you, Pyramus.” He was crying, and even though his face was wet, you could still see the tears flowing. Pyramus felt sorry when he saw him, so he immediately met him with a gentle answer.

“Father, don’t think about that tragic experience anymore. What’s important is that you came back to our lives. You are alive, father, that is what’s most important of all!” Pyramus explained to his father that he wasn’t angry despite the horrifying moments. Xerxes took the child from his hands, and he lovingly let go of his brother towards his father.

“Give me Maximus.” the father said with longing. Pyramus also heard what his father said when the child was with him. “Maximus, my son. I’m sorry, I was really an idiot. I didn’t even think that I still had something to worry about, and that was you, my sons. Forgive me, Maximus, I neglected you.” Pyramus just looked at Xerxes and saw how much his father loved his brother. “Instead of me being the one to take care of you, I was negligent with you.”

They went home to the kingdom as if no grief had ever been etched in their hearts. Even the people there were surprised by Xerxes’s change.

Part 2: The New King

CHAPTER IV: The Good King and the Princes

Since Xerxes realized his mistakes, he didn’t think of anything else, especially remarrying, but instead focused on the administration of the palace and even the other surrounding countries. Even though many beautiful young women were still chasing after him. But even though many said that Xerxes was cursed because he was unlucky in love due to the beliefs of the elders of Thallerion, some still said they were ready to die just to marry Xerxes. However, Xerxes himself was the one who refused them. He improved his army and expanded the territory of Thallerion; he seized the entire land of Wendlock. Because of this, the kings saluted him. As a result, it led to conflict; the Ossibuz tribe, which was close to the land of Wendlock, got angry, so in response, their king, Matar, challenged Thallerion to leave the land of Wendlock because many of the Ossibuz tribe had already moved to the land of Wendlock. But Xerxes refused.

Pyramus was also sixteen; he was grown up and looked like a young man in his thinking, but he also had changed a lot; he became picky and easily angered, especially with his servants. He cut his once long hair, which he used to always have the servants comb, so his youthfulness was more apparent. Because he was of Peronican blood, his skin was very smooth without any blemish. His eyes were inherited from his mother, as was his skin tone. He also didn’t like his things scattered around, especially in his room. He was always annoyed with his brother, because he always bothered him, but all Maximus wanted was to play with him.

“Father, I have something to show you!” he shouted while rushing. This immediately got the attention of the people there, especially his father. Pyramus was there, too. ‘Where did he get that?’ Pyramus said to himself while following Maximus with a grumpy look. “What is he going to show, it’s probably just embarrassing!”

“I’m going to play for you.” the child happily answered. Everyone was smiling except for Pyramus. “It seems my son inherited from the king of Thartherus because he has a talent to show.” Xerxes happily replied. There was a moment of silence at that time, which only showed respect for the young prince. “Silence!” said one of them. The king was also waiting for what his son would do, and a moment later, he blew the instrument he was holding. From his mouth to the hole of the flute, a sweet and gentle sound came out. Everyone applauded what the prince showed. Everyone was amazed because they knew that no one had taught the child, and yet what they discovered was so skilled. So great, some said. “Truly Thartherus blood!”

“So good! Who taught you that?” the amazed father said. “Did King Driother teach you that?”

“Yes, father, grandfather visited me and brought me gifts, and he said he would teach me to play, so I learned to play the flute.”

“And also, I taught my friend, too.” He happily replied. “Caspard!” Pride was etched on his face for his friend.

“He’s Vethor’s son.” Xerxes said.

“Isn’t Vethor just a poor man? Why is a royal mingling with the son of a commoner?” People there whispered. “Be quiet!” Xerxes shouted. “Send for Vethor, right now.” But a delegated soldier, Phalleon, objected.

“That man has no wisdom. He doesn’t even know how to write. Why are you giving importance to people like that?” he complained. “It’s only right to command the ignorant to learn and become your soldiers.”

“A person who does good deeds should receive a reward.” Xerxes said, because in truth, Xerxes saw a lot of good in Vethor’s service as a soldier. “From the beginning, I’ve seen him as a good example to his fellow soldiers, so because his son also gets along well with my son, I have a special gift for Vethor.” The king emphasized.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep