“We couldn’t accept what happened and so we hid him. Because we believed that once Jin Woo was imprisoned, the real people behind the death of his boss would kill him there since he was the only witness to the crime. He knew the real murderer which happened to be the mayor of our province. Jin Woo later confessed that his boss was involved in drug trafficking. But he could not resign from his job because of his high salary. That was the reason why our family was on the run when we met your father. At that time, we were so terrified. Your grandfather was bleeding and so was your Uncle. They had both been shot by the assassins that the mayor sent us. We could not go to the hospital because it would be easy for others to track us there. Ageddon saved us. He saved my family.”
“But in order to do that, he had to destroy someone else’s family. It was funny how he was a hero to you and your family, but a murderer to other people. What a tough love, I must say,” I commented, my face was devoid of any emotion. Even if my mother had not told me yet about her involvement in Crono’s ordeal, I could already guess it. It was hard not to see through things when I was born almost as powerful as my Mother. “You, of all people, knew how it felt to be wrongfully accused. And yet, you did it to others, too.”
“We did not want to do it, son. We did not mean to. Please forgive us,” my mother replied. Her voice broke.
“I am not Crono, my Queen. I also did not belong to the people who were affected by the tragedy. I have nothing to forgive.” I ran a hand through my hair. It took my parents eighteen years to confess.
My whole life, I could not understand why I had to be perfect in the eyes of the public, why I was not allowed to live like most people my age, and why I had to surpass the other princes. I could not understand why my father was stricter compared to the other parents and why I was not allowed to make a single mistake.
All I knew was that I needed to be spotless for my family’s sake. I needed to accomplish many things because they said I “need” to be the next King to maintain our family’s social standing, our connection, and our power so that the Council would have to think twice before stabbing us in the back. And finally discovering the answer to all my hows and whys made me regret ever asking them. Because it made me… hate myself all the more.
“You should not apologize, Soo Mi. Because I was the one who committed a sin. If you have someone you want to blame, Alexandros, then blame me and not your mother,” Dad interrupted in a low voice. His eyes welled up. “It was me who betrayed Crono, his family, and our entire nation, Alexandros. I am not proud of what I did, but that was the path I chose at that time which you need to know now. Your Mother and your relatives wanted to tell you the truth many times before but I stopped them. I sealed their lips with magic so they would not be able to reveal the truth to anyone else. I could not let them do so. I also could not let them die, especially your Mother who was the very first woman who made my heart feel alive.”
“I did a lot of things that I regretted doing but I never regretted escaping from Arameth for a while to take a break. I never regretted going to the human world. Because that was how I met your mother. I could have transferred them someplace else which was still inside the mortal world. But I was not allowed to weave magic there without being detected by the Council. I already meddled with the lives of Soo Mi’s family. If I performed a greater magic at that time, I would have ended up interfering with other humans’ fates and lives. And that was another heinous crime.”
“And so you let your best friend’s family die thus, creating this problem that none of us can ever solve. You tried your damnest not to commit a greater sin against the humans but you could not avoid doing that inside your own realm. Forgive the sarcasm, my King. But I could be real somehow, right? After all, only the three of us are here at the moment,” I said blatantly when my father stopped as if he could no longer continue his story.
Right at this very minute, I was not seeing my parents in them. I could only see the King and Queen in front of me. I also felt like I was not sitting here as their son. But as an Armethian citizen. And upon hearing the truth, just like any ordinary citizen, I felt wronged. I felt cheated and betrayed by our respected king and queen.
My mother wept. It was so loud that it was almost deafening. My father quickly went to her side to comfort her. I tried hard not to be affected by my mother’s tears this time. Instead, I clenched my hands to stop them from reaching out to wipe her tears. If not for their decisions in the past, I would not have been born. But I could not find the gratitude in my heart to be alive knowing how we all lived our lives miserably after the incident with Crono. It was as if we had been cursed.
If not for it, we would not have been stuck in this situation. My family would not have lived in fear and anxiety. My Mother’s tears would never be enough to compensate the lives others had lost. I was not blaming her. I just did not know what exactly I should feel. A part of me was resentful. A big part of me felt sorry for Crono and for all the victims of my parents’ choices. But a part of me also wanted so badly to understand them.