As Sion stood by Janet's bedside, watching her sleep peacefully after the storm, the stillness of the room clashed violently with the roar inside his heart. His clenched fists trembled not from fear, but restraint.
Raphael's voice echoed softly beside him, her halo dimmed in empathy. "Calm down a bit, Sion. I know you're angry, but there's something you must understand about Duke John. He's not the man you think he is—he's kind, but also a monster. A quiet one."
Sion turned slowly, his voice like steel dragged through fire. "You've seen what they did to her. In my kingdom… if any knight dared do such things, I'd have them hung by sunrise and their banners burned by dusk."
"You're not just Sion," Raphael replied gently, wings folded. "You're still King Allen inside. That justice, that fire—it didn't die with your old body."
"Then let me ask you this," Sion growled, pacing slowly. "If Duke John truly cared, why let it come to this? Why let her cry for help while cowards laughed?"
Raphael floated beside him, her small face unusually serious. "Because he's trapped by power. Your father—Duke John Ragnar—is the second most powerful man in the Clover Kingdom. A grandmaster of the sword. Feared by his enemies. But he made a choice… a bitter one."
Sion's expression hardened.
"He married Mary—your mother—because he loved her," Raphael continued. "But she was the daughter of Count Jacob, a man accused of plotting to kill the prince. When Jacob was executed, your mother was branded a traitor's seed. And because of that, enemies began to circle John's household like wolves."
"He could've fought back," Sion snapped. "He could've crushed them."
"And made you all targets?" Raphael said, her voice rising with rare emotion. "He buried his love, hid his affection, played the villain to protect you all from the shadows. Every knight who ever harmed you or Janet… he killed. Silently. He kept his hands clean before the court, but his blade was never idle."
Sion was silent.
"He hoped you would grow strong—strong enough to one day walk beside him as an equal. But when he saw no spark in your magic, no strength in your body… he gave up. Not out of hatred, but grief. He thought he had failed as a father, and so he shut down."
Sion turned back toward Janet, the words carving deeper than any sword. "He didn't fail," he whispered. "He just… forgot how to fight for hope."
For a moment, the old king in him stirred—the man who had lost a brother to betrayal, a throne to blood. King Allen would've razed a city for less. But now, standing in a world not his own, he was offered a second path.
"I won't walk the road he did," Sion said, voice low but fierce. "I will never hide. If I must become a monster, I'll be one that stands in the open."
Raphael nodded, light flickering in her eyes. "That's what makes you different. That's why you were chosen."