Survive As The Brute's Wife-Chapter 171: Sprout Of Hope

"You’ve turned pathetic, Arimelda," Iorhael said with disappointment. "Do you even know the spell I put in this bowl?"

Alexandra let out a sigh. Her confidence has gone to the bottom after knowing the truth surrounding her. She felt hopeless and abandoned. And the patronizing tone Iorhael used on her didn’t help.

Could she get angry at him for looking down at her? No! All her life, she never cared to know what others around her are doing. She always tried to be of help to others and didn’t bother with what was done to her.

And haven’t she taught lessons now? She cannot trust anyone. Not even her family or even herself!

"It’s the energizing spell and the endurance spell," Alexandra answered. She was desperate, but she is still thinking.

"Hmm..." Iorhael exhaled. "I thought you weren’t paying attention because I mentioned your husband. You always forget everything around you when you are concentrating on your beloved. You should learn to be aware of your surroundings, Arimelda. You no longer have the advantages of a demigod. You’ve chosen the life of a human."

"Yes, I know," Alexandra smiled. She was happy Iorhael’s seemingly patronizing words came out of his care for her. And she didn’t fail to notice the subtle way he tried to change her mind about it.

And one thing was odd for her. Everyone thinks of her as a human. She does feel the change in her. But why was she shown that other planet filled with humans who needed help? Was she supposed to live among them and die as one of them?

But before that, she needs to handle Inanis and settle Maximus’ issue. She cannot kill him for whatever reason. She would die before that.

"You’ll have to kill him to save him."

Iorhael’s gentle voice fell like a bolt of lightning on her head.

"What?" she asked, almost jumping down from the bed.

"Your husband... To save him, you will have to kill him. You know how sharp your sword is Arimelda. " Iorhael repeated, holding her hand.

She is smart and she will have to take the decision.

Alexandra gulped rubbing her throat. She felt like her chest is burning. The stress is making her feel sick. But Iorhael makes sense. She thought she cannot separate or kill part of Maximus’ soul that is corrupted by Inanis. She thought he won’t survive that.

But she can try. Like how a surgeon would remove the damaged flesh and save the rest to save the person, she will have to be precise in destroying the darkness in Maximus’ soul. He cannot live with that darkness. It needs to be removed from him.

But the vision she saw played in her mind again. She felt Maximus’ heart stop beating. She wouldn’t call that a successful operation. And everything that followed...

That cannot happen.

[Maybe I should leave Maximus be... Maybe after I show everyone that I am the Rose Knight and that the Great King was a bad guy, he won’t be consumed by darkness anymore. I will take him away from the tricksters and the warmongers and we can live on the farm, happily. I won’t have to take that tricky and dangerous maneuver to help Maximus rid of the darkness.]

"If you think that he could live with the darkness inside his soul, then you are wrong, Arimelda," Iorhael said.

He has seen the future. He has seen a lot of possibilities. And none of them ended up good for anyone. It doesn’t involve him or his family since they belong to a different world now. But he is sad to lose the world his best friend loves. She won’t be happy to lose the world of her mother. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

He risked his everything and took her to the Tree of Life just to figure out if there is another way this can be handled.

He still has hope. This is Arimelda here. She is the strongest person he knows. She will find a way. He will help her find a way.

Alexandra looked at Iorhael. "What did you see, Iorhael?" she wiped the corners of her eyes. She knew he can see the future to an extent. "Did you see different? Was there happiness?"

Iorhael was silent. And his silence told her everything she wanted to know.

"I saw darkness, Iorhael. Maximus died, and darkness swept over everything. There was no light left, Iorhael. Only I was left...Is there still hope?" She asked, squeezing the fabric of her skirt.

"I see no hope..."

"I do," Iorhael said. "I trust that you will find a way, Arimelda. The future never is determined. It is dynamic. So do not lose hope."

Alexandra bowed her head. She didn’t want to answer him. What would she say?

"I trust you too, Your Royal Highness!"

Alexandra looked at the door where the soft, but resolute voice came from.

"Marcus, are you awake already?" Alexandra asked, looking at the window. "It is still dark outside."

Marcus walked near her and knelt in front of her.

"I saw the future, Your Royal Highness. The one that Calantar showed me. I saw the death of our Emperor, I saw darkness covering everything... I saw destruction all around..." With red-rimmed eyes, Marcus looked at her.

Alexandra held his hand. This small boy is feeling this much sorrow and she could do nothing to say to help him. This is exactly what she saw too.

"But then there was light, Your Royal Highness. There was you. The darkness retreated and everything was back to how it was. The Emperor was alive and..."

Alexandra smiled. She didn’t know if this little boy is lying to give her hope. And even if he is saying the truth, the vision he saw through Calantar should be taken with a pinch of salt.

"And what?" Iorhael leaned at Marcus and placed his hand over his shoulder. Alexandra could see that Iorhael is excited.

"And... I... I don’t know... I know it’s impossible and-"

"Speak, Boy!" Iorhael clenched his hand over Marcus’ shoulder. Alexandra patted Iorhael’s hand to stop him from hurting Marcus.

"I am sorry! I have no right to become the Emperor!" Marcus shouted covering his face with his hands.

Iorhael leaned back. Alexandra let out a sigh.

"You saw yourself as the Emperor?" she asked.

Marcus started to sniff. "I am sorry, Your Royal Highness. I never ever thought about that. I don’t know why I..."

"No, don’t apologize, Marcus," she hugged him. "It is not wrong. It was the vision. You did nothing wrong," she patted his back to calm him. He was shaking.

The moment she learned from Iorhael that Marcus is a Lukyan, she did think of that possibility. Maximus is no longer suited to be the Emperor. The moment he brought his personal vendetta and used his people to satisfy his desire for vengeance, he stopped being a good king. He needs to be deposed.

But that would cause a lot of trouble and needless blood spills. Maximus does not have children and leaving the throne empty would create all sorts of trouble. Not to mention, some people consider Maximus as their hero, and rightfully so. He is a good warrior. But he is not a good ruler. A good ruler should prioritize his people more than his wishes and desires.

But if it is Marcus... Marcus would be able to handle the duties of an Emperor well. He is someone with a good heart, and he is willing to learn from his mistakes. He wants to help people and he will be a good King.

With Lord Zoros’ backing, no one could oppose the appointment of Marcus as the successor of Maximus.

That’s what she thought before. She never talked about it to Marcus. But if he saw that vision...

[There is hope! This can happen! There should be a way!]

"He doesn’t desire the throne, Arimelda," Iorhael spoke in the ancient Alash language only for Alexandra to understand. "That’s why Calantar showed him the vision, to corrupt his heart against you for murdering his liege. Calantar wouldn’t have allowed him to see your husband surviving your blade. It must be his pure soul that saw through Calantar’s deception and see far beyond." He held her hand. "And now we have hope."

"We do!" Alexandra smiled widely. She felt energized.

"Didn’t I tell you, Arimelda?" Iorhael grinned. "You have the best people around you. This boy is the most resilient and the most pure-hearted human I’ve come across in a long time. And of course, he is loyal to you. You always attract people with the best qualities, Arimelda! You are smart..."

Iorhael was very happy and he started stacking praises on Alexandra while she smiled and accepted his praises. She does have good people around her. And the one wrong person she ever trusted was Lukyan and that too cannot be blamed entirely on her.

Marcus blinked as he didn’t understand what was spoken.

"Marcus, you’re such a smart boy!" Alexandra hugged him.

"Thank you, Your Royal Highness," Marcus smiled awkwardly. He didn’t understand why he is getting praised when all he did was speak the truth he hid till now.

But seeing the smile on everyone’s face, he was happy. He knew everything will end up well.

"Arimelda, tell me what you saw exactly. Let’s dissect what happened," Iorhael asked.

"Yes," Alexandra started to describe everything she saw happen in the desert in detail.