ALL NOVEL Chapter 169: Reminiscences
In front of one of the rooms in the castle of the kingdom of Erela, Leal knocked on the door and remained silent as he waited for the person on the other side to open it for him. His eyes dwelled on the wooden sign hanging at the door with a name written on it that said 'Lei'. After a few repetitions, he slowly spun the golden doorknob of the door and gently opened it while sticking his head into the room.
After a few seconds of looking around, he exhaled as he gently closed the door. "Kuro is not here."
He walked away from the room and walked down the corridor while expressing a stoic expression on his beautiful face. After a few minutes, he reached the exit of the castle and roamed toward the capital of the kingdom. As he walked around, his stoic expression remained despite the disdainful gazes that he was receiving from the citizens of the kingdom he passed through.
"The treacherous prince." Said one of the elven citizens while staring at Leal with disdain on her face.
"Former prince." Said the other one correcting what just said.
However, Leal did not even show any reaction to what he just heard and continued walking on his path as if he did not hear anything. Without saying a word or even batting an eye he just walked through the waves of people towards the boundary of the kingdom and the great forest of Fiora.
At the very edge of the kingdom where nothing could be found but the thick forest, where the nearest infrastructure was very far and without any person walking around.
Upon reaching a certain forest opening, he went inside that part of the forest and traveled through the thickness of the trees and tall grasses that had been acting as harsh obstacles to anyone who tried to pass. However, despite the sharp grasses and spiky woods on his way, Leal passed through the difficult path very smoothly. Without even getting harmed or slowed down.
As he got out of the thorny forest after several minutes of navigating through it. What greeted him next at the end of the path was a cliffy mountainous area that at first glance was a very dangerous place to go. However, Leal, without even changing his expression, walked to the side of the cliffy mountain while leaning his back against the wall, ignoring the dangerous high cliff in front of him.
And without a hint of struggle, Leal reached the other side of the cliff. He clapped his hand to remove the dirt in his hands as he walked into the deeper part of the forest on the other side of the cliff. After passing through a small river and arduous rocky path, he stopped right in front of a cave. The cave was completely hidden thanks to the trees and tall grass concealing the place.
He put his hand on his hips as he smiled while staring at the entrance of the cave. "It's been a while." He said in a very gentle manner as if he was talking to the cave.
He walked toward the entrance of the cave and went inside. Inside the cave was a small and dark chamber that had just enough light coming from the outside for Leal to properly see the place. What was inside was a rug-like fabric that seemed used to be a white silky blanket that was dirtied by the wild animals that used this place as shelter over the course of the years due to this place being abandoned. In the corner of the cave was a pillow that still had some hint of its former white color.
Leal picked up the blanket and properly folded it before putting it over the pillow. He sat on the floor and wandered his eyes throughout the place with a gentle smile on his face. His eyes stopped at the large stone lying in the corner of the chamber. Over it were pairs of wooden plates and wooden cups. Next to them was a wooden bucket. And hanging on the wall was a worn-out torch that still had the black stain above it.
"This place has not changed at all." He lay down while ignoring the dirt all over the floor. He closed his eyes as he slowly inhaled and exhaled. "It still feels like home."
He stayed lying on the floor while staring at the ceiling of the cave that had a lot of spider webs in it. Total silence occurred and the only thing that could be heard was the gentle wind outside. He closed his eyes and fell asleep while being lullabied by the gentle hymns of the forest. The moment he opened his eyes again, it had been hours. As he woke up, he walked out of the cave and walked back to where he came from.
However, before he turned in the direction of the stiff cliff towards the capital of the kingdom. He walked further towards the edge of the cliff next to the waterfall. It's the same cliff that could be seen back then when he was with Casimir. Leal stood right at the edge of the cliff that had not even a single grass in it, just shiny and slippery stones. He looked down and stared beneath, a very high cliff that had nothing but spiky stones at the very bottom guiding the falling water on its route. And also, dangerous enough to instantly kill anyone unfortunate enough to fall in it.
Leal's gentle smile became much softer as he stared at the cliff. "This is where it's all started." He said in a very soft manner, with a tone filled with tenderness.
He shifted his gaze to the part of the cliff next to him. And saw a certain memory in the past.
An image of a beautiful girl with long black hair and dazzling pair of jet-black eyes handing her hand to an aristocratic blonde-haired boy struggling while hanging at the edge of the cliff with his hands. Screaming hateful words and looking at her with disgust while ignoring her hand.
Then... the girl screamed with a voice filled with irritation.
"Listen to me, you annoying, awful prince!"