CHAPTER 408: FOR HIM... ALWAYS, FOR HIM

[KAWAI]

King Zaffuto knew he had to be the leader who had not been seen for a while. He had to decide the fate of everyone, and he couldn’t let the past repeat itself. That was too high a price to pay for the present.

Maybe he was overthinking it all, or maybe he was trying to make peace with something that shouldn’t have been happening again, but then there was no time for skewed chances, and time was also running out.

The king knew it so well.

He had expected it for months and years.

He was aware that there was only so much he could do to buy time back then, and frankly, regrets were not part of it all, which was why he was not surprised at the invasion, but he had not wanted it to happen when his son was here.

That, too, was something that Zaffuto hated to the core.

But he would fix it.

Gods, he would make it all right.

He would make sure Kawai was the home his son thrived in, not fought endless battles in.

His precious son deserved peace, and the mad king would do everything possible to make that a reality. He would make sure his son’s happiness was never derailed again, even if he had to fight the moon goddess himself.

But now with everything that was going on, after everything that had happened, the king had one thing in mind. To stop history from repeating itself. Maybe he was trying to hide, but there wasn’t a choice for him.

After all, the mad king was not just the king of Kawai this time.

He was a father.

A man who had lost his son years back and who wasn’t going to let anyone take his son from him. Not even the bastard of Grealor, who had dared to breach the Kawai borders. King Zaffuto would put an end to all this.

"Papa," the Lycan Prince called to his father.

He knew what this meant to Kawai and the risks that lingered. There was no hiding behind anyone or anything because the prince truly understood the pain, anger, and desire for vengeance that radiated off his father.

King Zaffuto would never let his people go back to that horrible time.

Perhaps that was why everyone here knew they had to be at their best, not just for themselves but for the sanity of the Lycan king, because if they lost this version of the king again this time, there was no telling who’d come back in his place.

As it was, the Kingdom of Kawai had seen the worst version of the worst king already.

They couldn’t afford to see another inhumane version of him left behind from war that they would win and lose at the same time. They couldn’t afford to have a devil king again. They couldn’t afford to see the mad king turn away from their whole lives.

It would be too cruel, perhaps, that is why the Prince spoke up again.

"What is it, kid?" the king asked.

"If they want war, we’ll give it to them. I don’t see the point of thinking too hard about this. I know what Gabriel might want this time. I’m not willing to give it to him. I’ll never be willing to give him up. So, we have to fight.

"We have to protect our loved ones. We have to protect our own, and we have to make sure the rest of the kingdom is happy. I can’t lose him, even if it means fighting him on my own. I can’t be the reason Kawai loses again.

"I’ll join you and fight this to the very end. It doesn’t matter how long it will take, but I’ll be there to protect what’s mine. The man who saved me, loved me, and who stayed loyal to me despite everything," the Kawai prince said determinedly.

It was almost surreal how determined he was.

This was a man who’d been to a few battles and was relatively new to the art of war. Yet, as he stood there, his Erasthai in his arms, protectively like a man who had everything to lose, the kawa prince had made his declaration.

Maybe the prince needed time to think, but there was no time; a reality that everyone understood. None more than the council that the prince had set up for himself.

He could see their leader staring, and that didn’t matter to Tamiko, because at the end of this, his Kosta would be okay.

That was all that mattered.

Floki looked at the Prince, then at the Chief.

He could tell that this was not an easy feat, especially when everyone could see Kosta shifting back into the barbarian everyone had once known. He, along with the rest of the council, watched the Prince’s eyes go blank.

Prince Tamiko had promised never to let Kosta go to the battlefield again, yet today, here in front of everyone, Tamiko was seeing his Erasthai change again. The love of his life went from being the delicate omega everyone had somewhat gotten used to...

To Igor Konstantin, the barbarian who killed without mercy.

Granted, Tamiko knew he’d always known that Kosta was a monster himself, but that didn’t make it any easier for him. He was supposed to be the protector of their bond, and he failed spectacularly.

Now, his Kosta was readying himself again for a battlefield that he wouldn’t have been on if Tamiko had been a good Erasthai instead of staying away for ten years. Maybe they would have been happier.

Maybe their lives would have changed for the better. Maybe they wouldn’t have had to deal with invasions, and maybe at the end of the day, they wouldn’t have to worry about all that had happened back there and now.

There was only so much they could deal with, and Floki, for all his power as the head of the royal council, wasn’t sure what he could say to this.

So, he watched the king quietly, waiting to hear what the mad king had to say, while hoping that this was the chance to remind the realm of who the people of Kawai were.

Of what Kawai had always meant since before the first invasion that had ripped their hearts apart.

Would any of this even matter eventually, though?

Or they were going to make it on the battlefield against a pack that had so much to lose, yet one that would lead a dance... one that would have them pay a price so high the universe wouldn’t even have a way to get it back?

"They are attacking us because they believe the Prince and the chief have gotten soft. They think that after everything, you guys quit and left. There haven’t been any fights in the Kingdom, so it’s understandable that they would try to think like that.

"But even this doesn’t make it any easier. We have to wait it out. We have to think and be smart about this before we can act," Floki said, his suggestion rippling through the walls of the throne room.

Maybe he was right for this.

Maybe he was wrong.

Nevertheless, the decision to move or not to move lay within the King’s grasp. And as the mad king looked at his son and his Erasthai, the mad king was certain he would do anything for his son.

And so the decision was made.

Kawai was going to war.