Chapter 184: 184: Love...?
"Shut up. You don’t have to speak," Queen Lea said.
She then turned to the king and said, calming him down, "Don’t stress too much about it. Kids make mistakes and it’s natural. We just have to accept our faults for entrusting such tasks to kids..."
She said this while staring at Lysander.
The king sighed again, and after a moment of silence said, "Send off a troop immediately. Let them set off and search the whole place in search of him."
"I’ll have that done," Elvis assured.
"This time," King Edward stared at Elvis as he spoke, "make sure you don’t come back with that bastard alive. I want to see his head here instead."
Lysander gasped in shock at the order. "Father! Why would you want to have him dead?! What did he do wrong? He’s not the evil guy here..."
"Shut up!" Queen Lea snapped. "Stop embarrassing me." She rolled her eyes.
"But Mum, he didn’t do anything wrong," Lysander was still defending him.
The king glared at Lysander. "I guess I’ve doted on you a little bit too much that you’ve begun to act so stupidly."
"Father, I..." Lysander was still defending.
"Shut up," Queen Lea snapped as she turned to the king. "Forgive him. He’s not in his right mind now. That stupid wizard must have charmed him or something. I’ll make sure he gets to his right senses."
"I’ll do as you say," Elvis said. "I’ll make sure I bring his head when I find him. I promise."
Lysander stared at Elvis in shock. "Why would you... no... he didn’t do anything wrong. He’s a good person. Why would you want to take the head of an innocent man?"
The king ignored Lysander as he said to Elvis, "Remember your words. And remember to keep them. I won’t sit back and watch you make another mess..."
"I promise," Elvis assured.
"Now leave," King Edward said. "Have the troops set out immediately and begin the search. I don’t want any stones left unturned."
Soon, Elvis and Lysander left the king’s presence, and he was left with Queen Lea.
He was frustrated over the idea of losing Eden. He had already boasted to the emperor about having him in his grip. It had become his source of pride.
And now it was lost. He didn’t know if he’d even be able to find him again.
"I knew he was a bad option for holding onto the wizard of EL," Queen Lea said. "We should have worked hard to kill him off; now he’s nowhere to be seen."
King Edward sighed.
Queen Lea added, "Are you really going to leave it all in his hands? What if he finds him and doesn’t kill him off immediately? Then what?"
"I’m not trusting him with such an important task anymore," King Edward said. "I’ll send someone to follow him and keep an eye on him. If he finds that wizard and doesn’t take his head, I’ll have this person do the job immediately."
Queen Lea smiled. "Then that’s good, then. That’s perfect. We can’t prolong this any further," she smiled.
******
As Elvis walked out of the room, Lysander followed behind closely.
"Hey, Elvis..." he called while following him.
Elvis didn’t stop for him. He continued walking as if no one was calling him, ignoring his calls.
"Hey..." Lysander followed him till he got to his room.
Elvis walked into his room and he followed behind as well.
Both of them were now in the room, with Elvis’s butler standing by the door side.
He saw the two princes might have something important to talk about, so he turned and left the room, closing the door for them.
Elvis sighed as he stared at Lysander. "And what’s it now? Why are you pestering me?"
"You’re not going to kill him, right?" Lysander questioned him.
Elvis paused. "And what’s it to you?"
"You can’t kill him. He’s innocent. He’s a victim. He didn’t do anything wrong. So you can’t kill him," Lysander said.
Elvis sighed. "I told you not to be too naive. You can’t always believe what he says..."
"I don’t believe anything. I just know it. So I hope you do too..." Lysander was serious now.
He wasn’t the kid Elvis knew who always pestered him. He was now speaking like an adult—an adult with commands.
Elvis observed as he stared at him.
Lysander added, "You can’t always judge him based off what people say..."
Elvis sighed. "You’re just still a kid. You’ll know more when you grow," he insisted.
"I’m not," Lysander defended. "And I’m more than sure of what I’m saying. He’s a nice person and that’s it. He isn’t like you all make him out to be."
Elvis stared at Lysander, now confused. He wondered where Lysander got so much confidence in Eden and why.
"What’s up with you?" Elvis asked. "Why do you trust him so much? It’s not like you two are even that close."
"We are." Lysander didn’t wait for him to finish. "We are more than close."
"How close?" And strangely Elvis felt the need to know how close they were. He didn’t expect them to be that close. But now it seemed they were.
And a part of him wasn’t at ease with that.
"Too close," Lysander said nevertheless.
Elvis hesitated before he said, "That also doesn’t mean you can fully trust him."
"If I don’t trust the one I love, then I wonder who else I’m meant to trust." Lysander’s words came plain and sharp.
And it came with silence which temporarily filled the room. Elvis’s expression went complex.
He didn’t know how to react to the words Lysander spilled. He didn’t know how to break it, talk more of interpreting it.
All he could do was ask, "Love...?"
"Yes. Love," Lysander said. And like a kid in rage, his words came pouring out. "I love him. And he loves me. We love each other. So shouldn’t we completely trust each other?"
"..." Elvis was short of words.