The Extra of The Lunerra

Are you sure?

This question had shaken the remaining supports holding Faelan Aroniel together. So, there was nothing left for me to do but wait. That’s why I left the room without saying anything to him. And he didn’t stop me.

I was going to go back to my room and wait for the fruits of the chaos I had created.

And so I did.

I waited, waited... and waited.

I didn’t do simply nothing, though.

Even though everyone else thought I was doing so... there was one specific thing I was doing.

And that was gathering information. Gathering information from my room, from where I was sitting. To find out what was happening, to have an idea of how the situation was progressing.

How?

Spirits.

Spirits who show an abnormal interest in the prince, who are willing to do anything for him.

And for the same reason, they agreed to work with me.

"King Faelan told the queen everything!"

"They haven’t left their chambers today!

"The king’s intuition is too good, he tripled the security!"

"The princess is practicing to the point of fainting from exhaustion..."

"Prince Alith continues to wait in his cell."

"The King said he’s canceling the meeting!"

"He almost caught me, he sensed my presence! We have to be more careful"

And so on and so forth.

So I was constantly updated about what was going on.

Other than me... Adrian, Alysia, and Julian were a bit on the unlucky side.

I couldn’t tell them anything because of the prince’s position in the situation, and when the meeting was canceled... they were left with nothing to do but wait. R̃Ἀ₦öʙÊṧ

For a week.

With literally nothing to do...

It wasn’t much of a problem for Alysia, though. I never saw her frown or complain. She was content.

The real problem was Adrian and Julian.

They both had a certain amount of patience, but... there was a limit. And they were slowly approaching that limit.

Adrian had come here to take a very important step for his future.

Julian was excited about the many things he could learn.

So it was not surprising that they were a bit... disappointed.

But their turn would come, just as it had come with the first meeting. Their task here wasn’t over yet. We were just in the middle of something that was taking longer than I thought it would.

So, on the last day of the first week... there was finally a change.

"The Queen says she wants to see Prince Alith!"

The change I had been waiting for finally came.

And whereas up to now I had listened attentively to every report, but was a bit relaxed... this time I was particularly upright, focused on the spirit in front of me.

"Please tell me everything in real-time."

Today... this whole ’Alith’ situation will be resolved

The second time I found myself in front of Alith’s cell, I inevitably looked in the direction of Aranel.

She had been calm all the way here. Her eyes had regained their clarity. But now... she was going back to that again.

Even though she knew what was behind the door, she was scared.

And I could understand that.

"We can go back if you want, you can wait a little longer. We don’t need to hurry."

So I asked her one last time.

And she... didn’t even turn to me. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and waited for a while. Then, she let the breath out. She opened her eyes again and looked at the door in front of her with eyes that couldn’t stop shaking.

"No. I want it... now."

At this point, there was nothing else I could say.

"All right."

And so, I turned to the guards in front of me.

"Everyone... out of the prince’s cell. I want no one to come near here until I order otherwise."

The guards stood to attention very quickly and nodded their heads in a stiff salute. Immediately after my words, the cell door opened, and all the guards who had heard what I had said quickly left the room. All they left behind was a half-open door that did not reveal what was inside.

Aranel didn’t wait for me. She went on her own, gently pushing the door with her own hands. As if something bad would happen if she took a step, she waited outside until the door was fully open, revealing the scene behind her.

And when she finally saw the person in chains, her ’son’, she suddenly stiffened even though she had been expecting it.

Because Alith, who had realized from the movements of the guards that something was going on, was looking straight at us.

And he too was stunned.

Aranel first involuntarily covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes watering slightly, and reflexively took a step backward. But she bumped into me, I held her with my hands on her shoulders.

"Aranel..."

But she didn’t answer me. She just... kept looking in front of her, toward Alith.

Finally, the first reaction came not from her... but from Alith.

Alith slowly tore his eyes away from her and turned them back to me, just behind her. Then back to Aranel and then back to me. And then... he bit his lip, tore his eyes away from both of us, and turned them to the floor.

Aranel... stepped out of my hands and took a single step forward, toward Alith. And then another, and then another...

I did nothing but watch, silently, standing outside the cell. And Aranel... kept going until she was right in front of Alith. In the end, as if her legs could no longer support her body, she collapsed to the ground, taking Alith’s face in her hands, who was still keeping his eyes on the floor.

"A- Alith..."

Alith clenched his teeth, his whole body trembled as his shackled hands balled into a fist.

"Alith..."

Aranel was no different. She too was trembling, unable to let a word out of her mouth.

She paused, sniffled, tears welling up in her eyes. She waited for a while, doing nothing. Alith... tried so hard to avert his eyes from her, not to look in her direction that they turned to the wall.

Nevertheless.

"I am- I am sorry, dear..."

Her next words made both him and me forget for a moment where we were, what we were doing.

"I’m sorry... for not noticing, for not seeing... I’m sorry... I’m so sorry..."

Alith... reluctantly withdrew his eyes from the wall next to him and slowly turned them in front of him... toward his mother.

"H- huh?"

Aranel removed her hands from his face. She pushed herself forward and pulled him to her, hugging him.

"I’m sorry... I’m sorry... I’m sorry..."

Why... was she apologizing?

Or, a better question...

Who was she apologizing to?

That was the question that was going through my mind as I watched what was happening.

Was she apologizing to the dead son whom she couldn’t protect... trying to hold on to the only thing that was left of him?

Or was she apologizing to the person in front of her, knowing what he had been through and what kind of person he was, because I had told her everything?

...

Or is it both?

"I... failed to protect you... I failed as a mother, I’m sorry..."

...

"I- I hated you... I wanted to kill you with my own hands, I thought terrible things in my anger and sadness... I’m so sorry..."

Ah...

"I didn’t realize what you were going through, I didn’t see the pain you were going through, I didn’t understand what responsibilities and dilemmas you were overwhelmed with... I’m sorry..."

It’s... actually both.

And not just that, but more.

"I’m a failure, as a mother. I... I am so sorry for leaving you alone all this time..."

Alith... clenched his teeth even more, trying to get out of the shock. I saw him tear his lip slightly, but he didn’t stop.

He just...

"D- don’t..."

Continued to break himself apart.

"Don’t do this... Just hate me... that’s what you have to do..."

Both physically...

"I’m a monster in your son’s body. I killed him, I took his place! I pretended to be him all these years! I... I don’t even deserve to exist!"

And mentally.

"So... d- don’t do this. Just... just hate me..."

But Aranel didn’t even listen to him. Or she did, and chose to ignore him. She just... hugged him even tighter.

This, though, only angered Alith even more.

"Don’t hug me... Don’t! Stay away, look at me with disgust! Because... Because I’m a murderer, a traitor!"

His eyes trembled more than ever. Tears rolled down his cheeks and down his chin.

"Just... don’t do this..."

After a while, he couldn’t even look ahead. He just closed his eyes and buried his head in Aranel’s, his mother’s, shoulder.

"I... don’t... deserve... anything..."

And yet he got no answer.

And then... he fell silent too, just like his mother.

They both cried silently, trembling and shaking, and the silence was so deep... the air was heavy around them... that I couldn’t move from where I was for a while.

In the end, though... all the pieces came together one by one in my mind.

"Ah..."

Aranel... felt so much guilt that she could never hate him, never blame him... She just loved him.

Even if she hated him, even if she blamed him... she knew from listening to what he had been through that he was not a bad person, that he was not guilty of anything.

Even if the person in front of her was a... monster... implanted in the body of his dead son...

He was still her son, even now.

They had spent years together, just like I had thought before. They had laughed together, spent time as mother and son, and did so much more.

She knew that the last twelve years they had spent together were no lie. She knew that Alith... wasn’t pretending or fooling us in those moments. She knew that... even if he was not the real ’Alith’, even if her real son no longer existed in this world... he had no choice but to be ’Alith’.

And...

I swallowed slightly, slowly entering the cell that I was afraid to enter.

And, just like Aranel the first time, I approached them step by step.

Aware of the choice that Aranel had made.

Finally, when I was right in front of them, I paused.

I crouched down slowly and raised my hand, but they were so shaky that I hesitated for a moment.

And then... I just let it go.

I put one hand on Aranel’s shoulder and the other on Alith’s back.

I held them together... without saying anything... to the sound of both of them sobbing softly.

And, all the while... neither the ’father’ in me nor the ’king’ got in the way of my thoughts.

They were both... silent.

As if they accepted my cho-

No.

Our, choice.

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