CHAPTER 36: THE GREAT TRAGEDY

Xavier seemed offended and his pale face turned red from anger. Now, one might think it was because Aegon called him an illegitimate son, but he would beg to differ. And he was proven right the very next second.

"How can you call my handsome face ugly?" Xavier shouted at him. "The Moon Goddess sent her best stonemason from the heavens to carve out this face. You just have no taste."

"Please, you look like ’Thank you, Next.’ Also, I’m not interested in men, either way," Aegon said, wondering how his brain even worked. "Anyways, make sure you don’t mess up next time, otherwise I’ll drown you in the Moon River myself."

"You aren’t giving up on me?" Xavier was surprised.

"I’m a stubborn mule," Aegon said, as he turned towards the sky, which still held a giant burning scar that seemed to be splitting the heavens apart.

Even after a decade, the scar remained in the sky as the remainder of what had transpired during his awakening. Most of the people knew it was related to him because of the Dragon.

The fortunate thing was that they hadn’t seen his face, so as long as he covered his golden eyes well, he could wander around without a problem. Though, he had never once left the capital.

"I knew you’re really my brother. Even if the world abandons me, you’ll be there for me," Xavier laughed and said.

"Nah, I’ll be the one to make the world hate you," Aegon chuckled to himself.

Xavier stayed silent on that, and Aegon didn’t press any further. They just stayed like that for some time, enjoying the cool breeze of early winter as the noon sun sprayed warm light across the capital.

"I’ll miss you!" Xavier said all of a sudden, making Aegon turn his head towards him. "Even though I don’t say it much, I really consider you as my brother. When I go back to the Academy, I’ll miss you again. I’ll miss the fun we have here."

His voice carried his true heartfelt feelings. Anyone could see that he truly meant what he said. Aegon had also come to realize that Xavier was an emotional man, so it didn’t come off as a surprise.

Still, there was something wrong here...

He smacked the back of Xavier’s head, making him cry out in pain as he glared in return, "What the hell was that for?"

"For you being an idiot!" Aegon replied as he rolled his eyes at him.

"Woah! So all my love and care for you is a joke! I’m an idiot for doing that?" Xavier really seemed offended this time.

"Stop spending time with Cali. You’re being way too overdramatic," Aegon sighed.

"Now me opening up to you is being overdramatic," Xavier said, sadness dripping from his voice. "Mama was right. I shouldn’t make friends with someone of your status."

"First of all, Aunt Sansa would never say that, so stop dragging other people’s names into this," Aegon really felt like punching him again. "Also, the reason I’m calling you an idiot is because I’m coming with you to the Academy, idiot."

"Wait! What?" Xavier blurted out in shock.

"Don’t tell me you forgot?" Aegon was speechless.

"Umm, I’m pretty sure you didn’t tell me," Xavier averted his eyes and tried to defend himself miserably.

"Why did I even expect anything from you?" Aegon sighed and stood up. "I am going to the Academy too, remember? That’s literally the reason why you’re back to the Kingdom, idiot."

Xavier scratched his head and said, "My bad! I’ll remember it next time. Also, stop calling me idiot, you big idiot."

Aegon ignored his whining, kicked him lightly and said, "Get up, you jerk! We’ll take a detour around the city and then enter the palace again. I don’t want to face Xiu today, so I’ll sleep at your place."

"Oh, that’s a good idea. Mom will be thrilled to have you for dinner," Xavier said, as he jumped to his feet.

The two of them began to walk along the steep slopes of the Moon River while the river itself stretched long and wide down in the distance.

They forgot about their earlier arguments just like always and began to talk about mundane things. That was when they noticed an old man carrying wooden buckets going down the slope. His hunched figure, along with his fading hairline, didn’t match the heavy work he was doing.

Aegon and Xavier looked at each other before they went towards the old man. They were quite fast with their running, so they arrived near him in no time.

Before they called out to him, both of them tapped on their earrings which held the enchantment to mask their appearance to some extent.

Aegon’s golden orb-like eyes turned deep black like his hair, and Xavier’s blue hair transformed to match Aegon’s, so they looked like real brothers.

"Hello, Senior," Xavier called out. "Give us the buckets. We’ll help you."

The old man stopped and turned towards the two of them. "Really? I didn’t think the younger generation still had it in them. Then, I’ll be grateful to you two."

Xavier smiled and took the buckets which were connected to a wooden block that helped one carry more buckets in one go. He took the smaller one while he threw the bigger one at Aegon.

As the three of them began to go downward, the old man spoke with an amiable smile on his face, "You can call me Old Bai. I’m really thankful you two decided to help me, otherwise, my back wouldn’t have survived today."

"I’m Xav, and he’s Gon," Xavier continued the conversation. "But why are you bringing water from here, Old Bai? Don’t we have ways to bring water to every house?"

"It’s not for domestic work," Old Bai said. "It’s for my farms. I need to carry them back to the fields."

"Huh? That makes even less sense, though," Aegon said. "We have canals that supply water from the Moon River to all farms."

Old Bai regarded them with his old, knowing eyes and said, "You two aren’t from here, are you?"

Unfazed, Xavier raised an eyebrow and asked, "That’s true, but how do you know?"

"Because of your lack of common knowledge," Old Bai said, and his voice seemed to carry exhaustion as well. "How do you not know our Kingdom is experiencing a great tragedy?"