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The blaze on that day burnt for an entire day. In spite of it being daytime, the flames and cinder was clearly visible from Hilles City. I stood at the edge of the hot spring and looked up at all the cinder floating in the sky similarly to a black snowstorm. What resembled black snowflakes were actually the final traces of burnt corpses. The colourful dye flowers squirmed with all of their might as if they were trying to get out of the ground and leave the hell on Earth. The ashes pelted down on every petal; the beautiful flowers couldn’t prop up.
I sat down on a boulder and looked up at Troy City, which was ablaze and softly said, “If God truly exists, God would have viewed me as a demon from hell from a long time ago, wouldn’t he?”
Mommy Elizabeth sat down next to me. She took a light hold of my hand then looked into my eyes: “I would be the demon from hell, then. Not you. Son, it’s all right. You don’t need to blame yourself for anything. It wasn’t your fault. To the contrary, you released them from their misery and protected the entire continent. You didn’t do anything wrong. Sometimes, nonetheless, there’s a price to pay. Mommy understands. What you’re going through is the same as what Mommy went through back then. As long as you know and ensure that you’re in the right, then you have nothing to take responsibility for.”
I didn’t respond. Mom helplessly smiled then rubbed my head: “Mommy will help you rebuild Troy City. It’s Mommy’s present for you. It’s named after you, my most beloved son; therefore, Mommy will never allow it to disappear. No matter how many times Troy City is destroyed, Mommy will rebuild it. Your name must go down in history. Your name must remain standing there.”
I shook my head and, in a sombre mood, responded, “There’s no need to do that, Mom. I will personally rebuild Troy City. The fault is mine; it had nothing to do with you. There’s no reason for you to help me. I must rebuild Troy City bit by bit with my own strength. I’ll rebuild it brick by brick. Even if our alliance is no longer withstanding, I’ll run back and forth between Duargana and Hilles City to let you be together again. I could sacrifice thirty thousand lives for this continent, so what else can’t I sacrifice?”
“Son
” Mom went onto her knees and straightened up her back to pull my head into her chest. She affectionately stroked my head and gently heaved a big breath: “Son, that’s precisely why Mommy feels a little lonely. You’re Mommy’s son. Right now, Mommy only has worthless pride. Mommy only knows how outstanding you are as a person and King; however, Mommy doesn’t have a sense of satisfaction. In front of Mommy is an outstanding King and child, but why? Why does Mommy not have any memory of raising you? That feeling makes Mommy feel very lonely.”
“Mom
”
I accepted Mom’s kind gesture this time. The warmth of her embrace allowed me to ignore the black smoke outside for a while. Mom’s embrace was my impregnable castle. Only in her embrace could I momentarily forget everything I did, and everything I was worried about.  All I needed was her embrace.
“I thought something happened when I saw the huge blaze at Troy City. I never expected to witness this scene when I arrived, right, Elizabeth? When will you ever learn to stop stealing, you thief? First it was my brother, and now it’s my son? Provide me with an acceptable explanation. What exactly happened at Troy City? Why has Troy City been reduced to that?”
Mommy Vyvyan aggressively pulled Mommy Elizabeth aside out of the blue. Mom screamed as she was hurled into the hot spring behind us. My voice went unheard due to Mommy Elizabeth’s big splash in the water. Mommy Vyvyan immediately hugged me: “Did something happen inside Troy City, Son?”
“Yeah.”
I recounted what happened to Mommy Vyvyan, I dipped my hand into the hot spring to pull Mommy Elizabeth out. Mommy Elizabeth pulled off her soaked cape and lividly threw it aside. She howled, “What was that for?! If we were in humanity’s lands, I’d kill right now!!”
“Think about it: If you saw a rodent steal your food, shouldn’t you throw it into the water to drown it to death?”
“I’m not that cruel!”
“You can kill so many of us elves without batting an eye, yet you can’t bear to kill a rodent? You’re using your kindness in the wrong place, aren’t you? Son, I’m glad to see you so calm. I thought you’d feel guilty, but raise your head. You did the right thing. Not everyone will agree that you are right. You just need to keep the end result in mind. If it’s better for the majority, then your decision is correct. You may be a King, but a King’s job isn’t to make everyone happy. It’s to make the majority happy. And that’s all you have to live. It seems you’ve comprehended that. Your gaze no longer shows that you’re lost. Son, don’t worry, and do what you believe to be right.”
Mommy Vyvyan cheerfully rubbed my head. I looked at my two moms: “Thirty thousand people died and a city was destroyed. Why do you two look so happy? You make me feel stupid for feeling down. Thirty thousand people’s deaths are covering the sky, yet you’re smiling? That’s everyone’s ashes, you know?”
“Think about it from another perspective. You saved the entire continent, you know? It’s in the past now, Son. Don’t think about it anymore.”
Just as she was speaking, Mommy Vyvyan’s smile suddenly vanished from sight. Next thing I heard was a scream and a loud splash of water. Mommy Elizabeth stood where Mommy Vyvyan just stood with a smug look. She gave Vyvyan, who was struggling in the water, a grin: “Now you know how it feels, right?”
“What did you just say
? How dare you do this to me?!”
There was a thick layer of ash on the ground, all of which came from Troy City. When the ash littered the hot spring, I think I tasted ashes for the first time. The ashes were bitter and tasted burnt, bringing me to tears