Chapter 907 - The Boy Who Died, So That Others May Live
"Are you Human?"
After hearing Adele"s first question, a smile appeared on William"s face. He had already introduced himself, but it was quite obvious that Belle"s parents didn"t believe him.
Now, they were starting to entertain the notion that he might not really be an ordinary Human, which was very obvious from Adele"s question.
"Half Human," William replied. "Half Elf. therefore I"m a Half-Elf."
William even playfully touched his ears to make his point across. It was also at that moment when Adele"s and Raymond"s expressions became serious.
"So, you didn"t lie the first time." Adele nodded in acknowledgement.
"There"s no need to lie." William commented. "After all, even if I tell the truth, both of you will not believe me."
Adele glanced at her husband, but Raymond"s gaze never left William. He was trying to scrutinize the Half-Elf in front of him and looking for the faintest of changes in the boy"s expression.
"A year ago, you met my daughter in the countryside," Adele stated. "However, according to the information I gathered from our servants taking care of our villa, who Belle met was a boy who was around fourteen to fifteen years old."
Adele showed a picture of William and Belle wearing pirate costumes, which they had worn during the festival.
"Yes." William nodded. "That"s me."
"But, you look older now?"
"Time flows differently in my world and this world."
Adele frowned. She could tell that William wasn"t lying. As a smart individual, she was able to connect the dots and came to the conclusion that William really came from another world.
"What is the name of your world?" Adele asked. "And, how did you manage to come to Earth?"
William leaned back on his chair as he crossed his arms over his chest. The moment Adele asked the first question whether he was Human or not, he knew that this was a turning point for him and Belle.
"The name of my world is Hestia," William replied. "As to how I managed to appear here on Earth… even I do not know its specifics."
"Can you freely travel from your world to this world?"
"No."
Adele"s frown deepened as her gaze locked on the red-headed teenager in front of her. If William couldn"t travel freely from his world, to their world, wouldn"t that mean that his comings and goings would be uncertain?
"You said you want to marry my daughter, correct?" Adele asked.
William nodded. "Yes."
"I"m sorry, but I think I will not be able to agree to your request," Adele stated in a firm tone. "Don"t get me wrong, William. I want my daughter to be happy, and I can see that being with you makes her happy. However, the fact that you can"t freely travel from your world to ours is a big problem."
Raymond, who was only listening to Adele"s one-sided questioning, glanced at his wife. He didn"t expect that his wife, who was fully supportive of William"s and Belle"s relations.h.i.+p, would be decisive enough to reject the Half-Elf"s proposal.
To their surprise, William nodded his head as if acknowledging Adele"s words.
"It is true that I am unable to freely travel from our world to this world at this moment," William replied, "but that doesn"t change the fact that I have come here twice already. This means that there is a way for me to come here, but I still haven"t discovered how it is done."
Adele reluctantly nodded her head because William did have a point.
"Even so, I can"t allow my daughter to keep hoping until her hair turns white," Adele countered. "Let"s say the two of you get married then you suddenly disappear to return to your world. We don"t know how many years it will take for you to find your way back here, or if there will be a way for you to return here.
"In that case, wouldn"t that mean that my daughter will become a widow? As a mother, I don"t want to see this happen. It will be very heartbreaking, not only for her, but for us as well. So, unless you can discover a surefire way to come and go between the two worlds, I cannot give the two of you my blessing."
William sighed internally. The way to travel from Hestia to Earth was something that he hadn"t discovered as of yet. To be perfectly honest, it was something that he couldn"t deal with at the moment.
His priority was to break the curses from Est"s, Ashe"s, and Isaac"s bodies, so his attention had been focused on his mission. If not for the fact that his Job Upgrade in the Hall of Thunder had allowed him to come back to Earth, he wouldn"t have met Belle, or her parents, at this point in time.
It was at this moment when the door of the library was forcefully opened. Belle entered the room holding a key in her hand.
She often visited the library to read, so she was given a duplicate key by her parents. This was something that Raymond and Adele had completely forgotten, so they didn"t expect that their daughter would suddenly appear in the middle of their meeting with William.
The black-haired beauty didn"t say a word and simply sat on William"s lap.
The Half-Elf"s hand wrapped around her waist to support her, holding her in place.
An awkward silence descended inside the library. Belle"s sudden appearance had disrupted the flow of the conversation, and even Adele, who was adept in her social skills, didn"t know how to proceed.
Suddenly, Raymond cleared his throat which caught everyone"s attention.
"Tell me, William," Raymond said in a calm and even tone. "Have we met before?"
William nodded.
"Was it three years ago?"
Once again, William nodded his head. His gaze never wavered as he stared at Belle"s father whose eyes never left his face.
"Unbelievable." Raymond sighed.
Adele, who didn"t understand what her husband meant, lightly tapped his arm as she gave him an inquiring look.
"I think Fate is playing with us." Raymond sighed for the second time before glancing at his wife. "Do you remember the name of the boy who had donated his heart to Belle?"
"Of course," Adele answered. Suddenly her body stiffened as her eyes widened in shock. She stared at her husband in disbelief, before s.h.i.+fting her gaze back to the boy who was currently hugging her daughter.
Seeing her gaze, William nodded.
"Your guess is right, Mother," William said. "My name is William. The boy who died, so that others may live."