Aiden rode out of the palace in the middle of the night, only to find that it had rained outside.
His heart was in a panic. He whipped his horse all the way, rushing to the front of the Brett Temple, only to feel his heart contract sharply.
“——Brother!!”
Langmuir had already collapsed. From a distance, that figure lay in front of the charred ruins of the temple, the corner of his robe soaked in the accumulated rainwater, like a white lotus that had been trampled and dirtied.
Aiden could no longer restrain himself. He rolled off his horse and rushed over in a panic. He held Langmuir’s cold body in his arms, kneeling on the ground and crying out in pain.
Why did it turn out like this, why did you have to do this…!
Aiden was even somewhat unable to understand. With Langmuir’s Mana, even if he was seriously injured, couldn’t he resist the bullying of the common people?
Even at this point, would the Holy Monarch rather endure humiliation than raise his hand against the common people…
Suddenly, Langmuir moved a bit. He struggled to open his eyes, a faint light in their depths. “……Aiden?”
“You’re here, I’ve been waiting for you……”
“Yes, brother, it’s me.”
Aiden wished he could slap himself, he was too late…
Tears of bitterness welled up in his eyes again, he could only force a smile, trying hard to wipe the mud and grime off the Holy Monarch’s face with his sleeve.
“It’s okay, brother, all the bad things are over… Look, the Brett Temple has fallen, you’ve accomplished what you wanted to do…”
As he spoke, he choked up again, a surge of resentment rising in his throat.
When he was pointed at by thousands, did the Holy Monarch ever despair, did his heart ever grow cold? The things he once wanted to do, now that they’ve been done, does he regret it?
Aiden gritted his teeth, not daring to mention the temple again, and said in a soft voice, “Come, I’ll call the carriage, let’s go back to the palace. Brother, you should get some sleep first, I’ll go and reveal all the truth to the public. When you wake up tomorrow, all those ungrateful white-eyed wolves will——”
“……Aiden.”
A cold finger suddenly stroked the young man’s face. Langmuir weakly curved his eyes, gentle but somewhat helpless, “Don’t be like this.”
He struggled to reach out, touching his brother’s cheek, and said, “I’ve told you, haven’t I?”
“No matter what I suffer, it’s the retribution I deserve. It was me who provoked the anger of the people, how can I blame the burning heat afterwards?”
Aiden widened his eyes in shock, “You……”
Langmuir slowly sat up, smiling with his eyebrows drooping.
His eyes were no longer dim, but rather clear, as if this past night’s rain had washed away all his scars.
How strange, he had clearly fallen from the clouds and been trampled into the mud, but on this night, the Holy Monarch’s eyes were brighter than any moon.
“Cough…Can you do me one last favor?”
Langmuir blinked gently and said, “I want to do something. I don’t know if I can do it… but whether I succeed or not, Aiden.”
“After the aftermath of the war has subsided… please find those who knew about the Gasuo battle back then, at the right time, maybe two or three years later… tell the truth about the demons two hundred years ago to the people…”
“Brother!”
Aiden suddenly became frightened, as if he was about to lose something. He grabbed Langmuir’s shoulder forcefully, “No, don’t think about those things yet, okay? You first come with me…”
But Langmuir held Aiden’s hand in return, very forcefully, very firmly, “I want you, to tell my…no, tell your people.”
“The Goddess is real, eternally existing above the heads and in the hearts of the righteous, but the path to the Sun Kingdom must be walked by people;
“Therefore, the Brett Temple is false, all attempts to manipulate the people by acting on behalf of the divine will are despicable, and the Son of God should perish…Do you understand?”
Aiden shook his head in panic, “Brother, I…”
“There’s no need to vindicate me, that may not necessarily be a good thing. Besides, I did indeed take advantage of the people’s true feelings, I am not innocent.”
Langmuir repeated, “Aiden, do you understand?”
Aiden could only stiffen up, trembling as he said he understood.
“I left the last magic array here.”
Langmuir continued, “In case, the path I took from the beginning was wrong…In the future, those who crawl out of the abyss will no longer be our brethren, but demons…”
“Brother! Enough, brother!!” Aiden’s voice carried a sob, this kind of last words really scared him.
“You stop talking, you’re too tired. I beg you, really, you need to rest now, we’ll deal with other things tomorrow——”
“Tired?” But Langmuir laughed in surprise. Rainwater fell from his wet, deep golden hair, he held his brother’s hand, “No, how could it be?”
The Holy Monarch looked towards the distant city tower. The dark night sky hung there like silk, and the stars were like shining diamonds.
He said gently, “I feel very relaxed. It seems that I haven’t been this relaxed in seven years.”
After a night of heavy rain, the Holy Monarch mysteriously disappeared.
That was the third night of the Holy Monarch’s kneeling confession. At that time, people’s anger had mostly vented, there were no more fists and kicks, and the slander, defamation, and insults had also greatly reduced.
According to the holy teachings, the confession text must be recited for three days, so people subconsciously thought that the Holy Monarch’s kneeling confession had come to an end.
After kneeling that night, the farce was probably over, they thought.
But Langmuir disappeared.
It was said that Prince Aiden was originally going to take his brother back to the palace. But when he came back with the carriage, there was no trace of the Holy Monarch in front of the Brett Temple.
“He must have run away.”
“Heh, coward!”
In the golden autumn season, people were preparing for the coming winter while quietly discussing after meals.
“Maybe he went with the demon army and became a traitor.”
“Do you really believe those nonsense, no matter how bad the Holy Monarch is, he can’t really be a traitor.”
“A few days ago, wasn’t the whole city scolding him for being a traitor? If I were so accused, I might as well really…”
The war ended without danger, and peace returned to the land.
It was said that the demon army was retreating to the abyss. It was a cause for celebration, those demons finally realized that the land bathed in light was not to be trifled with.
But where did Langmuir Brett go?
“It must be Prince Aiden who hid him, His Highness has always revered the Holy Monarch since he was a child.”
“No, it’s not His Highness, it’s His Majesty now.”
“Yes, look at me, I forgot again, it’s His Majesty.”
“But I see, the new monarch was still anxiously looking for the Holy Monarch with his guards this morning, it doesn’t look like he’s pretending.”
In a corner of the large royal city, the bustling market street, the shouting was endless. Mixed in the noise, someone muttered.
“Do you guys really hate Langmuir that much?”
In the blacksmith’s shop, the clanging of hammers was continuous. These two days, many people decided to melt down the Goddess statues in their homes into other things.
His Majesty Aiden said, ‘the Goddess has not left, She is always above the heads and in the hearts of the righteous’.
“Langmuir deceived the people who loved him, shouldn’t he be hated?”
“But after all, the Holy Monarch personally fought with the Demon King.”
“He is a monarch, he could have hidden in the deepest part of the inner city, behind the shields of all the knights.”
“Like the false prophet?”
“Yes, just like the false prophet.”
“…”
In the tavern, a half-drunk uncle put down his wooden wine cup, squinted his eyes, and slurred.
“I, I think, although His Majesty also deceived us, but… but…”
But what?
The uncle didn’t finish, he fell drunk on the table, and started snoring loudly.
“Think about it, the Son of God was taken into the temple from birth, he was raised by the false prophet, what can we demand from him?”
“At least, the alms of the Son of God over the years were real! He personally cured my illness…”
“Hey you! You! Why didn’t you speak up those days?”
Outside the old site of the Brett Temple, the townspeople looked at each other, complained for a while, and suddenly all fell silent.
The sun was setting in the west, and another day was passing.
After a while, someone sighed with mixed emotions.
“You say, this Holy Monarch, why didn’t he run earlier, the confession text was recited, and he had knelt for three days, why run now…”
“From beginning to end, none of us said we were going to put him on the stake to burn.”
……..
The next day, people silently removed the charred bodies from the city wall and moved the stake at the city gate.
It seemed to be subtly hinting at something.
They quietly hoped in their hearts that when the thick fog wiped away the night, perhaps a figure would pass through the city gate in a cloak.
The guards at the city gate would pretend not to recognize him, and so would the guards in the inner city. So a few months later, Holy Monarch Langmuir would appear in front of the palace again.
By then he must have learned enough lessons, suffered enough hardships, and deeply reflected. So at that time, seeing that the Holy Monarch had once cared for his people, people would generously forgive him…
But the next morning, the guards looked worried and shook their heads at the townspeople who came to inquire.
No one entered the city last night.
The third day. The traces of fighting on the city wall were repaired, and the broken and uneven land outside the city gate was leveled.
People stared at the bricks soaked in blood and silently washed them away with clean water.
They suddenly realized that it was the blood of a monarch shed for his city, his people.
Even if that monarch did something wrong and deserved punishment, should his sacrifice also be praised?
But there was none, that day they shouted: [He betrayed the country, he is a traitor!]
Thinking about it, how could it be possible?
It was just a moment of venting, just venting.
On the fourth day, a wreath made of lilies, roses, and olive branches appeared outside the city gate, just like the style that the Son of God would wear during festival celebrations.
The big road outside the royal city became flat and clean, without a single stone that could stub a person’s toe. Just like what the expectant people would do before the Son of God set out in the old days.
It was the townspeople silently calling for the missing Holy Monarch——
We don’t blame you anymore, you can come home.
Come back. Come back.
But the Holy Monarch still did not return.
Some people started to get restless.
They said, ‘the Holy Monarch had experienced such a fierce battle, and had knelt outside the temple for three days in the rain, even a body of iron couldn’t withstand such torment. Could it be that he couldn’t hold on halfway through his escape and fainted in the wilderness?’
Others said, ‘could His Majesty have been captured by the fleeing demons, locked up with the captives, and currently suffering the enemy’s humiliation and torture?’
On the morning of the fifth day, thousands of commoners appeared at the city gate.
They surrounded the guards who were out searching as usual, and His Majesty Aiden, whose eyes were dark and face was haggard.
“Your Majesty!” A middle-aged man with a flushed face, stammered for a long time in shame, and finally spoke.
“We…we should go…go and bring back…bring back His Majesty the Holy Monarch, shall we?”
“Your Majesty the Holy Monarch——!”
“Your Majesty the Holy Monarch——!”
The autumn wind gradually cooled. The people’s calls drifted outside the city, like red leaves drifting into the stream.
“Holy Monarch, where are you!”
“No one blames you anymore, you can come back…”
Some people shouted too hard, their throats were hoarse, but they were still shouting desperately.
The city was far away, those calls drifted in the sunlight, drifted among the wild grass and idle flowers.
“Brother…Brother!!”
Tears streamed down Aiden’s face, he whipped his horse desperately in the autumn wind, and shouted loudly with the people, chasing the road where the demon army retreated.
For the first time in these days, a glimmer of hope emerged in his heart. He thought, if this call could reach Langmuir’s ears, perhaps the soft-hearted Holy Monarch would be willing to return.
Brother, turn back and listen, this is your people calling you…
Whether it’s the words of insult and contempt, the eyes of hatred and disdain, or the unreasonable slander, they were all just venting in the excitement of the crowd. They were the messy footprints on the sandy beach, and once washed by the tide, they became smooth again.
But those years of sincere protection, the Son of God giving alms while walking down every long street, the Holy Monarch’s dedicated protection of every city, they were the stones worn away by dripping water, forever silently and firmly hidden in the heart.
Don’t be sad, don’t leave, come back and take another look.
You are not without a way home, many of the people in this kingdom, they actually still love you.
Suddenly, small black dots appeared on the horizon ahead, quickly converging into a dense crowd of figures.
People cried out the names of their loved ones in screams of joy — those approaching were the human soldiers and civilians who had been captured by the demon army!
The Demon King had released the human captives!
That was the demon among demons, the embodiment of filth and evil, a cruel monster that fed on slaughter…such a being, would it really release its captives?
In the face of reunion after death, such doubts were too trivial and were quickly ignored.
Soon, both groups of people began to run towards each other, crying and patting each other’s backs for comfort, rejoicing in their escape from death.
Some people were even more anxious to find Langmuir. Since these captives had been returned, His Majesty the Holy Monarch must be among them, right?
So, they searched and called out. From the open road, all the way to the barrier cliff; from daylight, all the way to the sunset accompanied by colorful clouds.
But Langmuir’s figure never appeared, and the regretful people couldn’t find him no matter how hard they tried. No one knew where the kind young monarch had gone.
Finally, someone cried out, saying that the Holy Monarch must have been heartbroken and no longer wanted to see them, so he hid.
……..
It wasn’t until later, according to the jumbled memories of the released captives.
When the demon army retreated to the abyss, the Demon King took only one human with him, as his trophy and slave.
Because they were so far away, the captives didn’t see the face of the sacrificer who had exchanged himself for all of them. They only said that he was wearing the simplest linen robe, walking barefoot all the way, bloody and battered, like the Goddess of Light in the world.
But a few people claimed that the sacrificer was not any goddess in the world.
He was thin, pale, and his wet golden hair hung desolately behind him; he had a pair of violet eyes, and before parting, he had smiled at the released captives from a distance. His eyes were bright and clear, but with a touch of sadness.
He was very much like the Holy Monarch who once lived in the temple.
