Upon hearing about the bow, it seemed as though her sad memories of her deceased husband returned. In fact, she was slowly recovering from the overwhelming melancholy. But when she heard about the bow, which had been the cause of her husband's death, a strong suspicion arose within her again. She thought that anyone with a bow was somehow involved in her husband's death, which is why she was so suspicious.
"Summon them at once!" the king roared, as if burning with anger. Everyone was surprised by the sudden change in the king's demeanor; just moments ago, there was no trace of unkindness on his face, but now he seemed fiercer than a lion.
"Catana!" Matheros called out. In truth, Catana had been waiting behind the wide doors for a while, so when she heard her name called, the two guards immediately opened them for her. Upon entering, she saw soldiers standing on each side of the path. As she stepped on the golden floor, she felt as though she had entered a paradise. It glittered, especially since a ray of sunlight shone in from outside just as she entered. She was initially embarrassed as she stepped on the floor because her sandals were dusty. When she entered, the people inside were dazzled by the light, so they didn't immediately notice Catana's face.
Before Xerxez could see her fully, he was already hallucinating that he was about to face the man who had killed his wife. But when he opened his eyes from the glare of the sunlight, he saw the beautiful and glistening charm of a woman. He had expected to face a man, so he doubted this was his enemy, but all that doubt vanished when he saw the woman's figure. She was beautiful and tall, making her very captivating. The men there were left with their mouths agape. They shrieked and stared. But Matheros shattered the moment.
"She has two children, Your Majesty," Matheros said, noticing that everyone's attention was being slowly consumed by her. The men there all swallowed hard at the sound of the words. "What a waste," that was the last thing Matheros heard during the moment of silence. The king's anger and suspicion also disappeared the moment he saw the woman.
"Why didn't you tell me you were bringing a woman to us, Matheros?" Xerxez asked, but he was answered with a simple word. "Surprise!"
"I am delighted to see you, Your Majesty," Catana responded, kneeling at that moment. "I ask for your blessing, and I am ready to serve you. I am from the district of Regil, and currently the leader of the women's soldiers."
"Your arrival is timely, for I need additional servants because we now have many territories. With your help, we can reduce the slowness and stubbornness of our soldiers," Xerxez answered directly. He did not ask for a thorough investigation because he knew Matheros had already done it.
"I will not fail you, Your Majesty," Catana replied happily.
"Well! You better not!" Phalleon added.
"Father. Is there going to be a war in our kingdom? Things seem serious; it's like you're really preparing for it. Is this a war that will happen?" Pyramus said, a worried expression on his face.
The two princes were seated on either side of Xerxez, Maximus on the right and Pyramus on the left. Xerxez's mouth briefly closed when he heard his son mention war, but he didn't want his children to worry. "This isn't an impending war, son, but merely a conflict between Ossibus and Thallerion."
"They have a lot of nerve to cause trouble in our country, father," Pyramus replied.
"I know you're studying politics and leadership, so you know the nature of the Ossibians."
"They have the nature of a crow, taking advantage of an opportunity. So, father, don't give countries like them a chance."
"Your son Pyramus is very capable, he seems to have inherited your brilliance," Matheros said. "He is far from the old Pyramus. You've also changed. But, I hope you never return to those days of twilight."
"You can count on it," Xerxez said. He remembered a memory from the time he was just beginning to recover from his despair.
On that day, while Xerxez was preoccupied with problems and could do nothing but sigh, he slightly covered his face with his hands, a gesture of sadness over the problems he was thinking about. He was quiet in the room for a while until he heard giggling. He snapped out of his trance and was drawn to the cheerful laughter of two children. He felt they were playing a game of tag because he heard their voices getting closer and closer to where he was. He was delighted to hear the noises of the two of them, so he was overjoyed when he finally saw them.
"My children! Come to me and give me a hug. I know you have something to tell me." Xerxez greeted his children with a smile.
"Father, we're so happy you're here because we've been looking for you. It's a good thing we saw the kings and asked them where the king of Thallerion was," Maximus said. Maximus was about four years old here, but he was already very talkative even though he had difficulty pronouncing some words.
"Why are you looking for the king of Thallerion?" He smiled playfully. He knew his children were being mischievous, so he played along to get his mind off the kingdom's problems. "What are you going to do to the king?" he asked playfully. Pyramus immediately answered his question.
"We're going to catch him! To imprison him in our love," Pyramus said.
"Love?" Xerxez said. Maximus immediately chimed in, pretending to have an old voice. "That's what we're going to do to him, so tell us where the king of Thallerion is hiding."
"What if I tell you that I am the king of Thallerion! Will you capture someone like me?" he said, pretending to be brave. The three of them were just role-playing.
"We regret to inform you that we will not proceed with his capture," Pyramus said. Xerxez immediately threw a question back. "Why?"
"Because we didn't expect that we would be facing such a brave king. However, if you surrender your life, we will imprison you in the cage of love and happiness," Pyramus said with a meaningful response.
"I surrender. I am ready to accept any punishment you give me, to be imprisoned in the cage," Xerxez quickly agreed. The two children were also surprised.
"You gave up so quickly?" Maximus said. "I thought the king of Thallerion was very brave?"
"I'd rather be imprisoned in a cage with happiness than be free without joy," Xerxez said emotionally. He was happy to see his children, so he couldn't resist hugging and kissing them on the forehead.
"Come here by my side," he called to the two. They immediately came to him. Pyramus just sat beside his father, while Xerxez placed Maximus on his lap.
"I'm truly lucky to have you in my life, by my side," Xerxez said happily. "You know, no amount of wealth can ever be better than having you here. Just being with you really makes my day happy," he smiled again. "What use is being a king if you're far away from me? You are my only strength, and also my life. Because you are my joy, my love is in both of you. So whoever dares to hurt you and take you away from me, I will truly punish them."
"Really, father?" Maximus said in awe.
"Of course, my son, I will do everything for you. I will make a spectacle of anyone who dares to hurt you. I will make them suffer more and more. Even if they cry tears of blood, I will never forgive them."
"Oh! You're scary, father!" he said in awe.
"You know, Maximus, those people are nothing compared to father," Pyramus added. They just had fun, enjoying their jokes until Xerxez's two children fell asleep. Xerxez was happy with his children and had no regrets that they were his.
The Mysterious Being
One day, Pyramus and Maximus went for a stroll in the woods, escaping from the guards to roam in the forest. Even though Pyramus was sixteen, he was still the one who initiated the plan. But it was not far from the land of Betelgeuse, which was near the border of Wendlock. Maximus had no idea what they were going to do there, except that Pyramus had said they were just going for a walk. In Maximus's opinion, as they were walking, it was a violation of their father's orders.
"Father will be mad when he finds out we escaped," Maximus said.
"Come on, this is what I used to do when I was your age. I know this place by heart," Pyramus said cheerfully.
"Now that we're here, we'll swim in the Cirtax River. Then we'll get some fruit over there. It's sweet," he added. "You know, when I get bored of studying, I escape and come here."
"Isn't that what father hates the most?"
"Yes," Pyramus said. While he was undressing and was naked. "If you get caught."
"You're talented, and I'm smart!" Pyramus said. "So I have a lot of excuses. So hurry up, we have a lot more to do now." Pyramus immediately jumped into the river and swam. Maximus was also forced to swim in the river. The river was very clean, and Maximus saw many small fish swimming around.