Supreme Magus

Chapter 3717: All Out of Anger (Part 2)

Valeron was also angry with Protheus for fooling him and with the rest of their step-siblings for never telling the baby boy the truth.

Valeron was angry with so many people that his little heart felt like it was going to explode. He was angry with all the people he loved, failing to understand the reason for their actions. Hating Lith was already hard due to the bond they had built.

Hating Lith after learning that he had just picked up things where Thrud had left them was even harder. Despite everything, Valeron the Second loved Thrud too much to hate her, yet if he didn’t hate her, his outrage at Lith’s actions became silly.

More confused than ever, his heart caught in a rumbling storm of affection and resentment, Valeron asked his question.

"Why?" He repeated, the rest expressed through the Dragon Scales.

"I entrusted you to Verhen because that’s what Father wanted." Protheus replied. "What mother wanted. Most importantly, because it was what you wanted. I-"

"What?" Valeron cut the Doppelganger short. "Mom? Mom wanted?"

"Yes." Protheus showed him a conversation that had taken place between him, Leegaain, and the Mad Queen after Jormun’s death but before the final battle.

Thrud still hated Lith’s guts but agreed that, if she were to lose the War of the Griffon, the Supreme Magus of the Kingdom was the person best suited for protecting and raising her son.

The Mad Queen hated Tyris for what she had done to Arthan and Leegaain for failing Jormun. The details of the meaning of both those phrases were blurred, letting Valeron understand the omission was meant to protect him from another painful truth.

In the memory, Thrud said that growing up with Lith’s child and under the tutelage of the Guardians was the best way to give Valeron the Second someone who could relate to his struggles and help him to master his bloodline abilities.

The mind link was cut off abruptly, to avoid showing Valeron Thrud’s cruel smile as she listed the terrible acts that she would have inflicted upon Lith and his family if she had won the war.

"Mom wanted?" Valeron started to cry, and it took him several minutes and a long nap from exhaustion before the conversation resumed.

"As I was saying, I wanted to give you a normal life and loving parents. I’m barely older than you, little brother, and there was no one with a shred of parental instinct among our siblings." Protheus glossed over Iata being the exception and dead.

"We couldn’t raise you properly and didn’t trust the Guardians. No offense, Grandfather."

"None taken." Leegaain sighed.

"Grandfather’s house is big, but it’s just a cage. You would have lived in a fake world where he makes the rules and grown up to be naïve and ignorant. Also, Grandfather is always busy with the Empire and his duties as a Guardian.

"He would have been a perfect host, but we doubted his skills as a parent."

"I resent that!" Leegaain snarled, conjuring Shargein by his side. "Ask him if I’m a good father. I dare you!"

"Dya! Dya!" The Wyrmling licked Leegaain’s face in excitement, clawing, grabbing, and biting him in affection. "Dad best dad! The best!"

"And if I challenge that statement, Shargein will cry, and Overlord Salaark will end me." Protheus pointed at the blazing aura roaring right behind the Wyrmling in a not-so-veiled threat.

"Hogwash! I’m a great father." Leegaain grunted. "Look at how happy my baby boy is!"

"Dad, play! Play!" Shargein licked the still flabbergasted Valeron the Second, covering him in slobber. "Play, Val!"

The Wyrmling was so happy and Valeron so afraid of offending one of the last friends he had left that he accepted the offer. After a long session of tussle and chase, Valeron was annoyed at Leegaain for the interruption, but also grateful.

Even though it had lasted only for a short while, Valeron had stopped thinking and suffering. Also, he was now so hungry that all his worries faded in the background.

"That’s why I did what I did, little brother." Protheus fed the baby boy with a bottle of Tyris’ milk. "I wasn’t following orders. I was following the collective desire of everyone who loved and cared for you.

"I’m sorry if it hurt your feelings, but if I had to, I’d do it all over again. At least you had over a year of peace and joy instead of pain and grief like now."

"Why Mom?" Valeron asked why his mother had gone to such lengths instead of giving up on conquering the Kingdom and taking care of her son.

"Mom was..." Protheus had a hard time finding the right words. "A flawed and complicated person. She did things, and I’ve helped her do things I’m not proud of.

"If I had been less naïve, if I knew back then what I know now, I would have still followed her to the end of Mogar, but I would have tried to convince her to stop. I would have tried to reason with her before... her actions led to her passing.

"She was my mother too, little brother. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss her and Father. I have lots of regrets, but entrusting you to Verhen is not among them."

Valeron’s rage grew and grew until it whimpered out of existence. He could feel Protheus’ sincerity through the Dragon Scales they shared. He could feel the Doppelganger’s love and sadness.

A sadness that matched Valeron’s own. Being angry with Protheus was no different than being angry with himself, and Valeron was already angry with too many people. His little heart had no more anger to spare, and without it, the emotional fatigue overcame him.

"Why Dad no leave? What Adya fault?" Valeron asked.

"I can’t tell you." Protheus shrugged. "I wasn’t with our parents from the beginning, little brother. Many things happened before I came to be, and all I know is hearsay. My words would lack conviction, and my memory wouldn’t feel truthful.

"You need to speak with someone like Ufyl. He was with them long before me."

"No Ufyl." Valeron’s eyes drooped as his words slurred into a yawn. "All. All."

"I’ll bring everyone to you, little brother." The Doppelganger nodded. "But it can wait until tomorrow. You need to rest."

"No rest. I..." The baby boy drifted into sleep without even noticing.

Protheus shapeshifted into Thrud’s form, singing him her favorite lullaby and bringing peace to Valeron’s slumber.

"Thanks, Protheus." Leegaain sighed, cradling Shargein in his arms. "He needed to hear that."

"Don’t thank me, Grandfather." Hearing those words coming out of Thrud’s mouth creeped the Guardian out. "It’s the least I can do. I’m the cause of Valeron’s pain as much as Verhen."

"Disagree." Leegaain replied. "If you have to keep that form, we need to hide you, or there will be a riot here."

A snap of his fingers brought them into an empty room in the Mansion.

"If anyone comes, take a normal appearance. I’ll be back as soon as I can."

***

"And that’s how things are right now." Leegaain said after he finished explaining the situation to Elina and Raaz.

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