SHATTERED REALM: FORGOTTEN ECHOES-Chapter 198: You should never meet him again.

Lynnor stretched, rolling her shoulders. "That was exhausting."

She turned to leave. "Let me show you your rooms."

Aramith’s eyes never left Lynnor as many thoughts went through his mind.

Unreadable.

In a luxurious palace, a man of striking beauty sat upon a throne that mirrored his authority.

He wore a beautiful red and gold robe, and on his head, he wore a crown that confirmed his authority as ruler. His lips curved up in a lazy smile that cemented his appearance, giving him an otherworldly, charismatic look.

Before him stood a boy who tried his best in all futility to appear as small as he could, but it was just impossible to hide from the piercing gaze of he who sat upon the throne.

His instincts screamed at him to kneel.

Despite the coolness of the room, a few drops of sweat rolled off his forehead, dropping to the floor.

He discreetly wiped it with his foot, removing its presence altogether.

Looking at him, it was quite interesting.

He wore rich robes that only an aristocrat, noble, or royal would wear, but the fear made one wonder what his background was.

The ’calm and gentle’ smile on the king’s face made it clear he wasn’t there to be judged or punished, yet why did he fear so much?

A sudden knock made him jump up in shock, his poor and pitiful heart almost jumped out of his small body.

Without waiting for permission, the doors opened, and two characters made their way in.

The smile on the king’s face extended to his eyes as he stood up and made his way to them, going down on one knee before the girl in the lead, who unfortunately sat in a wheelchair.

Her face glowed as much as her flaxen hair, and a slight resemblance could be noticed if one looked at the king and her. She was, in fact, his daughter.

Behind her stood a frosty beauty as well, whose white dress matched Lia’s.

Her red lips were pursed, as if waiting for confirmation to smile or frown.

The king playfully pinched her cheek and looked at her dotingly with all the love any father could muster for his only daughter.

"You actually left your father to explore. Do you know how much this lonely man missed you? Hmm? Lia?"

"Oh, but it wasn’t long at all," she feigned a serious expression and looked away.

He placed a hand on his chest for dramatic effect.

"Oh my poor heart! To be rejected by my own daughter! Kill me already!"

Lia rolled her eyes and, after a second, burst into laughter, looking at how silly he looked.

He joined her, and their laughter filled the room.

Kesha couldn’t help but smile, her shoulders finally relaxing as she looked at Lia’s genuine smile.

Only she knew how much hurt the girl’s heart had been lately.

She suddenly noticed a gaze and turned, but the owner of the gaze quickly looked away and tried to hide, even though he was painfully standing in the center of the room.

Kesha’s lips twitched.

Wait, isn’t that the useless prince of the Bone Kingdom...Hordin?

She turned to Henndar, and her eyes narrowed. What is he planning now?

Henndar suddenly turned to her, still smiling.

"I’m glad you came by, but I thought you were heading to the Glacial Empire?"

Kesha clenched her fists as a scene flashed in her mind.

She didn’t miss the hidden meaning behind his words.

I don’t want you here at this moment.

But that wasn’t the reason why she hesitated to answer.

She wanted to glance at Lia to know what expression the girl had, but knowing how sharp Henndar was, he’d immediately sense something was wrong and sniff it out immediately.

"I just wanted to see the gardens a little more before continuing, Father," Lia looked up at him, a little shy.

Henndar chuckled and ruffled her head a little.

"Of course you can."

"Th-thank you for understanding."

Henndar ruffled her hair again.

"How was it? Winning must be boring all the time, right?" Henndar asked.

Kesha felt a burn in her chest, then quickly hid the look that appeared on her face. Henndar raised an eyebrow, and Kesha nodded.

"It was alright," she replied, a sudden discomfort arising within her as she remembered all she was trying hard not to focus on. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Kesha’s pretty strong, right?" but Lia, who was supposed to answer the question was silent.

Her downcast gaze made Kesha’s heartbeat quicken.

This is bad...

Henndar frowned. "Is something wrong?" He quickly inferred that she only became quiet after he asked about Kesha’s performance, which meant...

"What happened during the tournament?" His voice had turned serious now.

Kesha bit her lip. What will he do if he finds out Lia met her banished brother? His own banished son.

Hordin looked at them, his legs shaking at what he was seeing.

The reason why he was so afraid of Henndar wasn’t because Henndar was a King, or that he had committed any crime. No, it was something far greater than that.

He had an ability. One that was useless, as it gave him no way to fight, but he was able to see people’s powers no matter their level, he could see their weakness if he tried really hard, and above all, he could gauge just how powerful they were.

Three people fazed him when he tried to see what their abilities were.

They were Lia, Aramith, and Mozrael.

THeir abilities had been shrouded in mystery, and it intrigued him.

But Henndar...

When he looked at Henndar, he saw a beast.

Henndar’s powers were like a mountain that stood towering before him. It couldn’t be moved or touched, and within that mountain, he felt the overbearing presence of a great force.

What terrified him most wasn’t how overbearing the power was. It was the control he had.

Henndar was suppressing it deliberately and without effort. Releasing even a fraction of it would be...dangerous.

Someone could die by such a mistake. Someone like him.

And at the moment, when Henndar turned serious and asked the question, the force seemed to have increased. It leaked a little, but that little he saw could very well crush the whole imperial city if he allowed it.

What kind of monster was this man?

Hordin could easily tell that Henndar only needed to lift a finger to extinguish armies.

For a moment, he wasn’t sure if his legs would obey him if he tried to move

Lia remained still, as if contemplating what to say.

The silence stretched, suddenly becoming a heavy blanket that weighed upon them all.

Then she raised her head and ’met Henndar’s gaze’

She ’looked at him’ with seriousness, then said a simple sentence that had Henndar shocked.

"I met Aramith."

The air in the room tightened.