Chapter 22

"Mom! We've come to see you!" Sophie and Nathan abruptly entered Aunty Solina's office and crashed on one of the couches, both very much barely breathing as they had just finished training.

"Oh?~ looks like this daughter of mine finally remembered she has a lonely Mother waiting for her visit.~" Solina didn't seem worried about their battered and bruised appearance, teasing them even.

"Oh don't say that Aunty! You can clearly see that Grandpa is not going easy on us at all!" Nathan protested.

"I can definitely see that. So? What bring you here?" She moved over and sat across them, while Nathan and Sophie were leaning on each other, too tired to sit properly.

Nathan's obsidian black eyes shone with determination, "I want her to know and give her the choice."

Aunty Solina was surprised at first but then she sighed in a defeated manner, "I guess I should have seen this coming a long time ago. Although your path is filled with danger, I won't intervene in her decision. Explain it to her and I will fill in the blanks… but remember, her safety will be your responsibility!"

"I am already burdened with many lives as I am…" Nathan sighed. Not a single night has passed without him thinking about the responsibilities placed on him, the many lives who relied on him and saw him as a beacon of hope.

"What are you two talking about? Choice? Danger? Come on!~ tell me! The curiosity is killing me!" Nathan had already accepted that it was impossible to empty Sophie's reserve of positive energy.

"Sophie, what I want to tell you now is the truth. Your Father was a captain of The Twilight Guardians. An elite Order of Knights who have sworn service to The Path of Darkness…" Nathan explained slowly to give Sophie time to digest the truths she will learn of today.

"My Father is a member of The Path of Darkness…? Was he someone evil…?" She asked doubtfully.

"No." Her Mother took over, "The Path of Darkness is not evil. They are The Guardians of our Universe, sworn to protect it from any harm. But they were betrayed and were forced into hiding. Of course this part of history was erased by those traitors."

"Oh! Then Father is someone great, right?!"

Aunty Solina moved and sat next to her and caressed her daughter's head, "Yes, he is."

Nathan continued, "Five years ago, The Path of Darkness selected five chosen Princes and Princesses and secretly sent them to Everguard so they can grow and become the pillars that would rise The Path from the ground."

"During the birth of one Prince, an incident occurred and he was discovered by The Church. They quickly found him, taking the child who was barely one week old from his parents and off to The Holy Capital. Your Father, along with three other subordinates set off to save the child from a fate worse than death."

"He and two of his subordinates killed off The Church's Emissaries and ran off in different directions as a distraction, while the last subordinate took the child and hid back in the city the child was born in."

Nathan looked Sophie directly in the eye, "Grandpa Morwag is the last subordinate…"

Sophie's eyes widened in shock! "If Grandpa is the last subordinate then…?"

"Yes, I am the Prince whom they saved."

Sophie was still in disbelief. "Wh-what happened to my Father and the others…?"

Aunty Solina sighed, "Unfortunately, we do not know. They cut off anything that could be tracked back to here…"

Sophie turned to look at Nathan, having calmed down slightly now that her Father may be alive, "Why did you tell me this?"

'What a strong girl! She recovered from these shocking truths so fast. It seems she takes after her Father…' Aunty Solina looked at her daughter with pride.

"I wanted you to know the truth. I am not a Prince of Darkness." Nathan replied.

"Huh? What do you mean?" It was Aunty Solina that was confused.

"I… am The Crown Prince."

"WHAT!!!" Aunty Solina abruptly stood up, unable to believe what she just heard.

"Why are you telling me this now!? No! No way! I am not allowing my daughter to follow a walking calamity!" Aunty Solina completely freaked out. Few knew the difference between a Prince and Crown Prince of Darkness, and she was one of them.

Nathan took her outburst head on. Although he expected it, he still felt hurt a little, but he steeled his heart. This is nothing in front of the trials he will have to face in the future.

"MOM! Calm down! Can't you see you're hurting Nate!?" Sophie was angered by her Mother's words.

"You don't understand Sophie!!!" Aunty Solina turned to Nathan, "You have overstayed your welcome here. You need to leave!"

"MOM!!!" Sophie was in disbelief! Was this truly her Mother!?

"… I had already anticipated this. Very well, this is probably goodbye then… I guess you wouldn't want to see me anymore…" Nathan was feeling very much hurt, but he didn't show anything on his face. But the reddening of his eyes clearly showed his feeling on this matter.

"NATE! Wait! MOM! What has gotten into you!?" Sophie was going through a whirlpool of emotions right now, but the strong girl didn't get overwhelmed by them.

"You don't understand! A Prince of Darkness would at most be searched for by the lower ranking members of The Church. BUT! A Crown Prince!? Even Gods are searching for him as we speak! Should they get even the smallest clue that he is here, the entire Kingdom will disappear!" Aunty Solina barely managed to make a coherent explanation from all the chaotic emotions she was feeling.

"Doesn't that mean that we should support him all the more!? Why are you acting like this!?" Sophie was on the verge of tears. There is only so much a five year old can handle.

"I have already made my decision! Leave!" Aunty Solina shouted.

Nathan sighed and turned to leave. He knew he was risking everything by telling them the truth but he still decided to do it. He returned to his room and prepared his stuff to leave,

'I guess this is what I should expect from now on… everything that I touch is marked for doom. I already knew this would probably be a lonely path, but I thought maybe some people would at least stand by me. Clearly, I was wrong…'

"Where to young Prince?"

"Oh. Grandpa. You are back. I was told to leave by Aunty Solina…" Nathan was truly hurt by what had transpired. He knew this Aunty for as long as he could remember.

"Surely, she wouldn't say such a thing so abruptly…"

"I told them the truth."Nathan said flatly.

"Oh. Come with me Young Prince." Said Grandpa without a single change in his tone.

Grandpa turned around without another word and walked toward Aunty Solina's office with Nathan following him closely.

When they entered, they saw a crying Sophie and an enraged Aunty Solina breaking everything she could get her hands on.

Sophie raised her head and looked toward the door, her eyes blurry from crying so much yet she could still recognize the person she saw, "*sniff* *sniff* Nate…?"

Her voice sounded so broken that Nathan couldn't stop himself and moved over and hugged her, giving her back rubs to calm her down. Her eyes were puffed as she was crying for quite a while now.

Grandpa was staring at Aunty Solina from the moment he entered. He watched as she completely ignored him, seemingly falling deeper and deeper into insanity.

He moved with such speed that Nathan couldn't even catch a blur and knocked her out by the side of his palm. He caught her body before it could hit the ground.

Sophie, who had calmed down, raised her head from Nathan's embrace, "Grandpa? What is wrong with my Mother?"

"Don't worry little Sophie. We are lucky that this whole situation occurred. Your Mother is being plagued by a curse. It has already rooted itself deeply within her, and a little shock was all that was needed to reveal it. But since your Mother is always coolheaded, it was never discovered. Looks like young Prince's identity was a strong enough shock for her."

Sophie was a little relieved that everything that just happened was because of a curse, "Can you remove the curse, Grandpa?" She asked with clear hope in her voice.

"Unfortunately, the curse is too deeply rooted and I don't have the knowledge to remove such a curse. The best I can do is seal the curse… until a feasible solution is found." Grandpa looked very serious at the moment.

He turned to Nathan and continued, "The curse has already been sealed and the danger is removed so no need to worry. As long as young Prince grows strong enough, you would be able to remove this curse easily by utilizing your authority."

"Huh?" Nathan was both confused and amazed at such a possibility.

"Indeed. This curse is of Dark nature. That doesn't mean it was placed by someone of The Path of Darkness. Many people are capable of using Dark energies but only those of our path are able to master them. As long as young Prince grows to a sufficient degree, all he will have to do is will it and the curse will comply."

Nathan nodded his head, "Very well. If that is all it takes then I will do it. For now, let's take her to her room and wait for her to wake up."