Chapter 1587 - 224 - Titania’s Regret (2)
Leon’s POV
Titania was leaving for Bethlan.
After hearing everything from me, she decided that returning home immediately was the only thing she could do. I had already told her that her father had collapsed, and I didn’t want to give her a false sense of hope by hiding the truth from her. Because of that, I chose to tell her everything that both the King of Bethlan and I already knew.
He had personally admitted to me that he was dying.
His condition had continued getting worse with every passing day, to the point where it had become painfully obvious that it would only be a matter of time before the inevitable finally arrived. I told Titania the entire truth because I wanted her to have the chance to see her father one last time before... well, before that day eventually came.
Her father was slowly dying.
Even though I had told him that I was more than willing to search for some kind of cure, he simply smiled before refusing my offer without the slightest hesitation.
He said that he wanted this death.
To him, extending his life any further would only be unfair to all the people who had already passed away before him. He didn’t want to cheat death, nor did he want to cling desperately to the little time he had left. Instead, he had accepted his fate and chosen to embrace it with the dignity of a king who had already lived a long and meaningful life.
Even after hearing those words directly from him, I still couldn’t bring myself to simply accept that answer and walk away.
I continued researching possible methods that might cure his condition, and although I managed to make some remarkable progress in that field, it unfortunately wasn’t something that could be completed overnight. The research was promising, but promises weren’t enough when time itself had become the greatest enemy. Whatever solution I eventually discovered would simply arrive far too late for someone whose life was already slipping away.
"Do you want me to come with you?" I asked while quietly looking at her face.
Titania gave me a gentle smile before slowly shaking her head in response.
"No, it’s alright. You still have things you need to take care of here, don’t you? Just focus on what you need to do. I can manage over there by myself."
She said those words so calmly that almost anyone listening would probably believe her without questioning them.
Unfortunately, I knew her far too well for that.
It didn’t take someone who was especially good at reading expressions to realize she was forcing herself to look alright.
Her smile looked convincing.
Her voice remained steady.
Her eyes barely changed.
Still, none of those things managed to fool me for even a second.
She was holding herself together through nothing but sheer determination, and I could tell she was putting every ounce of strength she had into keeping that calm expression on her face. If she had already decided to wear that kind of smile, then she’d probably made up her mind long before this conversation that she wanted to make this journey alone, no matter how much pain it caused her.
Standing nearby, Trill, Zeruel, Yr, and even Isiliraiellyn watched her with obvious concern written all over their faces.
Anybody could see they wanted to go with her.
Their concern wasn’t exactly subtle either.
Unfortunately, Titania had insisted on making the trip alone, and because she was so stubborn once she’d made up her mind, none of them seemed capable of convincing her otherwise.
"Well then... goodbye, everyone. I’ll see you all again soon."
She gave all of us one final smile before climbing into the waiting carriage.
I simply stood there and watched as the carriage slowly began moving away from us.
Little by little, it rolled farther down the road while the distance between us continued growing.
I kept watching until it gradually disappeared from sight along the road that would eventually lead her back to Bethlan.
She didn’t look back.
She simply kept going.
That alone somehow made the farewell feel even heavier than it already was.
There wasn’t really anything I could do at that moment.
She had already told me herself that she’d be fine on her own.
"Are you really going to let her leave like this, Leon?" Zeruel suddenly asked as she looked at me.
"Huh?" I answered while turning toward her with a confused expression.
"You can already see it yourself," she continued quietly. "You know that Nia is struggling right now. I honestly don’t think she’ll be able to handle everything if... if she’s all alone."
After hearing those words, I couldn’t help falling completely silent for several long moments.
For some reason, I couldn’t stop imagining Titania standing there all by herself after arriving home.
I could almost picture her trying to stay strong while her heart slowly broke apart behind that brave smile she always showed everyone else.
Somehow, that image refused to leave my head.
If that happened...
Then she’d have nobody beside her.
Nobody would be there to hug her.
Nobody would be there to tell her that everything would eventually be alright, even if those words couldn’t magically fix anything. Sometimes people simply needed someone beside them, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that Titania needed exactly that right now.
"She told me herself that she’d be fine, even if she had to go alone."
"Come on, Leon," Trill said while letting out a helpless sigh. "Are you seriously going to believe her just because she said that? You’ve known her for this long already."
As she looked directly at me, I could practically see the plea hidden inside her eyes.
She wanted me to chase after Titania.
She didn’t even need to say those exact words.
Her expression alone already told me everything.
"She’s right, Leon," Yr said softly while rubbing one of her sleepy eyes. "Just now... Nia looked like she was about to cry."
Coming from Yr, those words carried even more weight than they normally would have.
She was almost always half asleep.
Her speech usually dragged on lazily.
Her words were often slurred together.
This time, though, she spoke clearly from beginning to end without stumbling over a single word.
That alone told me just how serious she believed the situation really was.
"That’s right, Leon!" Isiliraiellyn said while nodding so quickly that I almost laughed, even though the situation right now wasn’t really that comical. "You should definitely go after her! She really shouldn’t be by herself right now."
After hearing all four of them speak one after another, I couldn’t help letting out a quiet laugh.
Back then, they had been such an unusual group of people that I honestly couldn’t imagine them ever becoming close enough to stand together like this. If someone had told me we’d end up here one day, I probably would’ve laughed and asked what kind of fantasy they were reading.
Looking at them now, though, the whole thing somehow felt perfectly natural.
I genuinely found the sight heartwarming.
They truly cared about one another.
That much couldn’t have been any more obvious.
"I’m going," I finally said with a smile that felt much more genuine than before.
The moment those words left my mouth, all four of them immediately smiled as well.
Without wasting another second, they rushed toward me and wrapped me in a hug from all directions at once.
Honestly, getting tackled by four people at the same time wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to stay standing through, but I wasn’t about to complain. It was strangely comforting in its own way, even if I was pretty sure one of them almost knocked the wind out of me.
The preparations for the coming war were almost completely finished.
Although I still had absolutely no idea when either the Empire or the Republic would finally make their move, everything that needed to be prepared was already nearing completion. Most of the important work had already been done, and whatever remained could wait a little longer.
Even with all of that waiting for me...
I couldn’t just stay here and continue working while one of the people I loved was carrying such a heavy burden all by herself.
Right now, I was probably the only person Titania truly felt she could lean on whenever things became too painful to bear.
Whether she admitted that herself or stubbornly denied it didn’t really matter anymore.
I wasn’t going to leave her alone.
Even if she tried to stop me herself, I had already made up my mind that I would be there for her when she needed someone the most.