As Eldra heard the voice inside her head, she immediately dropped her hands from the wall and stared at it with wide-open eyes.
It was cold and empty, just like the voice which had just commanded her to kill the only person she had ever had the grace of calling a friend.
Ever since she had had that conversation with her mother before she died, she had been fixated on this idea of getting rid of the oath.
She had worked tirelessly toward that end, as she hated the feeling of having to answer to someone.
Yet, to have to kill someone so close in order to accomplish this?
Was it worth it?
As soon as this thought appeared in her head, she felt the urge to stick to her decision of ridding herself of the status of a puppet, no matter what it took.
Where was this urge coming from?
She asked herself this, but, of course, there was no answer.
All she could feel was that it was getting stronger, and she even started considering whether to do it.
However, she suddenly remembered that moment of clarity, when she had freed the elf children from their captivity.
Their expressions of pure joy had become one of the major motivations for her, and now, if she chose to kill the elf maid who had actually had a similar past, it meant that she would be defiling that memory forever.
That…would basically mean that she would become an entirely different person, which was the objective of the spell that that voice in her head had told her about in the first place.
An internal turmoil started at this moment, and if anyone looked at her face and her twitching ears whose sharp ends looked like they were quivering wildly, they would know just how torn she was.
Two opposing forces fought, and each seemed to be equal for quite a long while, until finally, a single realization made one side win.
If she did this, she would be no different than her mother.
This thought was so revolting, so vile, so horrifying that Eldra immediately recoiled, making the side that didn"t want to kill her friend win.
At the same moment, the other side disappeared, and because it was all in her own mind, she didn"t pay much attention to it, a.s.suming that it just might be because of her decision.
With the same determined expression she had had when she had ordered the execution of her own mother, Eldra put her hands on the wall and was going to say something, but she was interrupted by the voice which spoke in a pleasing tone.
"My child, why did you sever the connection so abruptly? I was still speaking! I was going to say that if you want the spell to finish right now, then you must do this. Otherwise, there"s a different way. An oath binds the ethereal consciousness of a person, so the only way to break or bend one is to bring a drastic change in that consciousness, which would allow one to "loosen" the binding. Killing your friend will result in the most abrupt change, which would allow you to break free right away. But if you do not wish to do that and follow in your mother"s footsteps, then you simply need to insult that maid using all the personal things she told you. Twist them to make sure that they will break her, and when you succeed, although the spell won"t finish, you will be just one step away. Choose, my child."
Hearing this, Eldra"s eyebrows rose.
"It did not seem at all that you were going to continue."
"You are mistaken, my child."
Something was wrong here.
The phrasing and the tone had been very clear before, so now, seeing the complete 180 by the voice, Eldra started to suspect whether there might be something going on that she didn"t know about.
However, those whispers returned, and this time, they were successful in allaying her suspicion.
As for the choice regarding whether to follow the second path, although Eldra wished that there was a different way, the desire inside her to get away from the control of that man was too strong. Besides, the whispers were pus.h.i.+ng her a lot, too.
Finally, she decided, and left the room to carry out the deed.
However, as soon as the door closed, a vase was thrown across the room, which smashed on the door and broke into pieces before magically coming back together and floating back to its s.p.a.ce.
A sound of extreme vexation and frustration was heard, before silence returned, resulting in the room becoming calm once again.
…
Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Lanthanor, Daneel was in the treasury, gazing at the enormous pile of Ker Gems in front of him.
He had a very difficult decision to make: he could directly use these resources to hasten the training of key personnel in Lanthanor, but if he did that, he would be running a very big risk.
Ker Gems were highly coveted resources that would make any Kingdom go crazy. With that being the case, if someone found out that the Kingdom of Lanthanor was handing out Ker Gems freely for soldiers and commanders to train in, then there would definitely be a continent-wide riot that might result in a joint invasion of his Kingdom.
Of course, that was the worst case, but he couldn"t rule it out.
Besides, this would also draw attention from the Big 4, who might start questioning him, which was something that Daneel didn"t want to handle at the moment.
All in all, it would be a bad idea, even if he invested heavily in putting a clamp on all information. In some or the other way, it would definitely leak out and bring him a host of problems.
So, after sinking into deep thought, Daneel finally got an idea.
With the system"s help, Daneel began a small project that took him a whole day.
After he was done, he was quite proud of the result, and as he stood there smiling to himself, he realized that he was slowly becoming quite the narcissist.
Chuckling at the notion, Daneel headed to his parents" room.
His father had asked for him anyway, and he might as well begin his explanation from there.
As soon as he entered, however, he found a very angry Mary waiting for him.
"Daneel, did I raise you to be a show-off? I heard from your father that you upset so many people today! Son, humility is the best policy! No one likes a braggart!"
As he heard his mother admonis.h.i.+ng him in this way, the King of Lanthanor only hung his head and didn"t say anything.
Emperor, King or even a d.a.m.n Hero- no matter who they were, they would only find themselves undertaking similar actions in front of their mothers.
Thinking like so and smiling slightly, Daneel said, "I"ll take care, mom!" which quietened her complaints and made her lead him to where his father was sitting.
It was the balcony, and as he saw his son approaching, Robert got a stiff expression on his face.
"Dad, I just wanted to casually tell you all about it. I had no intention to-"
Raising his hand, Robert interrupted his son and shook his head.
They were in a balcony which overlooked the sprawling grounds and the Inner City beyond the high walls, which was a breath-taking view that was only reserved for the best rooms.
Daneel could tell that his father was in a very pensive mood, so he just stayed silent and waited for Robert to speak.
After looking at Lanthanor for a few minutes more, Robert spoke with a wistful tone.
"I know, son. It was just that…after I regained my powers and found out that I had become an Exalted Human, I was excited because I thought that I might be able to help you, as your equal. I know, I know, it was preposterous. But it was just a small wish which took ahold of me. Fathers are supposed to protect their sons- it"s not supposed to be the other way around. I guess you could say that I was clinging on to what little pride I had left, after subjecting our family to such wretched conditions. Finding out that that will never be possible was just a blow that I need time to recover from."
As Daneel heard this, he sighed.
In the memories he had acquired from the original Daneel, he remembered just how proud a man his father had been. He was never too arrogant or overtly egoistic, but he took pleasure in being powerful enough to protect everything he held dear.
Right now, in front of him was a man who had been beaten down one too many times.
He knew that his father was proud of him for achieving everything so far, but he could also tell that he was a man who had his own wishes.
What was wrong with wanting to fight beside his own son, or to be his equal so that he could protect him if the time came?
What was wrong in being heartbroken after finding out that he could no longer aspire for such a thing?
"Follow me," said Daneel, before leading his father to one of the bathrooms in the large room that his parents were staying in.
Before Robert got any strange notions, Daneel raised his hands on top of a washbasin for a few seconds before opening the tap.
With a gasp, Robert watched as a thick, white mist gushed through the tap instead of water.
"Father, this is your opportunity to achieve everything you want. This is a special Energy which will hurt when absorbed, but it will greatly hasten your training speed, allowing you to reach the peak of the Exalted Human realm as fast as possible. Who knows? Maybe, in a few months, you, too, could become a Warrior like Elanev! And after that, believe in your son to find ways to both increase your training speed, and to increase mom"s longevity. You and Mom are the reason that I was able to become who I am. Without your support and upbringing, I might never have dreamed about stepping forth and becoming the King at all. Now, please do not feel ashamed to accept everything I give you. No matter how much I repay you, it will never be enough."
Daneel had taken inspiration from many of the speeches he had seen on TV, but his emotions were true.
He wanted to do these things, and he hoped that his father would accept.
Thankfully, after thinking for a bit, a smile broke out on Robert"s face before he stepped forward to hug his son.
However, at the same moment, a notification sounded in Daneel"s mind which made him raise his eyebrows in surprise.
[Minuscule modification of Oath-link between host and target "Eldra" has been detected.]