Chapter 324 - Truly Sorry

"Call me brother, for now, my little one..."

Alistair's voice and appearance looked complicated as he said this that Ara almost giggled if she hadn't just stopped crying. Even if she had seen him like this as her father back in the Celestial Plane, she'd never seen her "brother" looking so troubled before now. In her memories of Alistair, the Ritz King had always been so cool and aloof – except for that one time she almost had been killed by a Minotaur.  

In all honesty, it was very endearing to see him exhibit such a human side to him – this was what she thought.

"Well, you're too young to be called father, so I think it's okay," she agreed with a sigh, and almost smiled at Alistair's instantly depressed look.

There was a momentary silence after this, while each busied themselves with their thoughts. The servants attended to them with more refreshments. It was already too late to have a full meal and so, just some traditional sweets and tea would do. Homemade alcohol was served as well for the group.

Ara was going to help herself with the wine but was immediately stopped by both her husband and father.

"NO."

Eh?

She stared dumbfounded at the two most important men in her life and she felt wronged. "Why?"

Because they spoke at the same time, Alistair and Ryuu were both startled as well that they couldn't speak immediately. It's why Kazehaya Gin was the one who answered.

"Because you're a bad drunk," the uncle stated matter-of-factly. He unabashedly took the ceramic flask away from his niece and handed her a glass of tea instead.  

Ara wanted to protest but in the end, some memories flashed in her mind, and yes, she had no choice but to agree. She was truly a bad drunk – and she got drunk so easily as she's a lightweight.

"You can have some alcohol some other time. Alright?" Alistair told her cajolingly as he patted her head.

The gesture was a very nostalgic one that made a small ache echo in her heart. It's really been a while…

On another note, she reckoned she couldn't get drunk today as they had some important things to talk about. Alistair was not just anybody. He was a King in Ged. He couldn't stay in this world for long or their kingdom would suffer greatly.

It wasn't a secret that in the years that passed, Ritz's power had declined tremendously as the divine inheritance of the monarch had dwindled. They never had any Returner to Ancestry in the royal family until now – and Ara was sure that her "brother" kept his real identity a secret. This made the kingdom vulnerable to attacks.

Ivan was here too. If other kingdoms became aware of the absence of both the Emperor of Kres and the King of Ritz, her country would be attacked. So, Alistair couldn't stay here for long. They had to discuss whatever needed to be discussed here and Alistair had to return immediately.

Ara had no idea how she looked like while these thoughts ran through her mind. She just realized that she had spaced out too long when a hand patted her head familiarly once more. When she looked up, Alistair was smiling at her.

"Relax, my little one. Ritz will be fine," Alistair told her softly as if reading her mind.

Huh? How would it be fine? Unless…

Ara's eyes widened as she stared at Alistair's face as if searching for an answer. Her father knew her too well, and so indulged her unspoken question.  

"They know," he told her and her eyes widened some more as her jaw dropped in surprise.

"They… know?"

Ara turned her quizzing gaze from her father to Ivan as if asking for confirmation. The Emperor of Kres nodded his head in the affirmative and smiled.

"Yes. I've always known about it since I met him. But now, everyone in Ged also knows that Ritz is the Returner to Ancestry, Perun," Ivan informed everyone at the table.

"You've known about it for a long time?"

This time, it was Ryuu who asked Ivan.

"Yes, grandpa. I –"

Ryuu raised his hand to interrupt Ivan's words. "Stop calling me grandpa. Either call me Kresnik or Ryuu."

"But –" Ivan wanted to protest, but seeing the intense look on the Koutaishidenka's face he closed his mouth.

"You call my father-in-law, Ritz without any problem," Ryuu reminded the redhead.

"But we grew up together. That's different, no?" Ivan murmured as he scratched his head.

"Kres, just do it," Alistair prompted and the other followed without question.

"Er… Kre – Ryuu," Ivan's words came tumbling out. He opted to call Ryuu with that name instead of Kresnik as he couldn't separate that name with "grandpa". At least with his name here in the mortal world, he could pretend that he's another person.

Ivan then told them about how he discovered Alistair's real identity and how everyone else found out as well. Upon learning that Alistair revealed his status as a Returner to Ancestry when he punished everyone who conspired to kill Alinea and her team, Ara's eyes glistened with tears as well.

Hearing the events made her remember her last moments with her friends and her last moments in the cave. However, there was no longer resentment in her heart towards Alistair as the King and her brother because her mind finally cleared from the influence of the shadow lurker. Everything's distinct now in her head. She could also now remember even the memories the dark part of her removed from the rest of her before.

The "death" of Suzuki Ara…

Ara was now aware and could remember clearly that it was the spawn who had forced Ara to drive her car despite knowing that it had been tampered with. She did not commit suicide at all. The spawn had to make her experience "death" in order to pull the piece from the other world towards Earth so it would be easier for it to reunite with her. It was no longer a mystery and an issue.

"So we were right," Gin commented after hearing Ivan's story. "Ryuu and I believed that Ara was set up by someone else and not by her brother as she initially thought. She was caught in a political conspiracy."

"That's right," Ivan agreed. "Those greedy people in the noble faction got rid of Ali because the enemy party was going to use her to revolt against Ritz and replace him as the ruler."

"I'm happy they're gone," Ara stated in anger. She would never forgive those fools how killed her friends.

Sensing her emotions, Alistair took her hand and squeezed it before speaking with a heavy heart. "I'm so sorry…"

"Why are you apologizing, father? It was not you who did it – and you had to keep me away because the Immortal War has just finished but the year hasn't ended and so Czernobog could still control the spawn and make me the harbinger of catastrophe."

Alistair smiled sadly then. "It's true. But still, you were hurt and I couldn't protect you and your friends in the end. You suffered so much my little one. For that, I'm truly sorry…"