Hero Or Villaness

First and foremost, Amaranthos has a son. What is more, he is coming to his office at this very moment. And the Emperor of the Dragosten Empire does not know what to do.

"Your Majesty, Young master Athan has arrived. " His head butler, Darius announced. Amaranthos felt his heart race. Feeling his pulse, he could not help but sigh.

He gritted his teeth and replied in a rather cold manner, "Come in."

The large door of his office swung open before him, revealing his son. Now that he had an actual proper look at him, he looks just like his younger self.

Yes, some features are from Arista like the small lips or subtle eyebrows

besides those tiny things, Amaranthos can confidently say that the rest came from him.

It seems his genes are much stronger.

"Your Majesty?" Darius called him back to the present.

"Oh, it seems like I was staring for too long. I apologize. " Amaranthos said, turning to his son, smiling a little. He held back a sigh as he stood up while holding all kinds of doc.u.ments and files along with him.

Now, what is he supposed to be doing?

Should he even show all these things to his son? Yes, it is common sense to IF he is the official Crown Prince of the Dragosten Empire yet he is not.

"Ath-" Stopping himself from saying his real name, he coughed abruptly, making a fool of himself in front of him.

This is going to be difficult. What's more, is that Athan knows that he is his father.

What is with this melodrama?!?

A headache coming forth, he began to think everything would be uncomplicated if Arista just explained what is going on here. But she did not because all she said when he overheard their conversation is:

"I became the Evil Empress to protect not only the entire kingdom but you and your father from my mistake."

What did she even mean by her mistake? Did something in the past happen besides her mass killing of the citizens of the Empire? Something even more than that she made his father go nuts?!

SOMETHING MORE THAN THAT SHE KILLED BOTH OF HIS PARENTS?!

What else???

What else could it even be?

Because all that he knows from back then is that Arista became different after that

single night. The day before the festival of the Goddesses.

"Ah, I did it again. " Amaranthos gave out a tired laugh and waved at Darius to go out.

Darius, understanding the signal, gave a small bow, and left the room quietly. Finally, leaving the father and son alone.

The once stable yet awkward atmosphere from earlier left the room like a thief in the night, replacing the fragile tressure into a cold and tense one.

"I am sorry for my late greetings, your majesty. I am Ethan Lanes Ackerman, son of Sheila Lanes Ackerman. May the Empire live on forever. " Amaranthos heard Athan said as he clenched his fists.

He knows he should probably be grave right now yet his voice is so cute!!!!!!!!!!! Completely ignoring that Athan and Arista has a fake official identification, his inner thoughts said only one thing:

HIS GENES ARE AMAZING!!!

He should pat himself in the shoulder for this. His son not only has the looks but also, the voice. Yikes, he will be such a lady's man. Is this what you call pride in being a parent?

Wait. What is he even doing? No, no, no.

How he is even reacting to the situation is wrong. Even so, he still cannot shake off this feeling inside of him.

Turning away to control himself to hide the horrible expression he has on his

face, Amaranthos heard Athan spoke up once again:

"Your Majesty, are you alright?"

No, he isn't.

"Y-yes, I am. And s-since you have arrived, let us establish some things." Ah, yes. This is what he should be doing right now. Giving Athan a calculating stare, the atmosphere once again began to change into something else. "But first and foremost, have a

seat."

Without any other words, Athan sat down right across his father did not say another word.

As Amaranthos could not bear saying the words in front of his son, he grabbed a piece of paper and pretended to work.

"You know you are the top candidate of the Empire yet never let that get into your head. Do you understand what I am implying?"

"Yes, your majesty. You are telling me to stay in my place and do not worry I will for I know it myself that I am a mere commoner." At that one moment, a beast ate a part of Amaranthos' heart, leaving it to bleed in the open.

He started to think about how could a five or six years old say such a thing.

Nevertheless, he could not bear to look into his eyes at the moment because he

needs to say these things. He needs to be ruthless for the tragedy of his mother would not happen to him.

In the end, this is the responsibility of the members of the Royal family to bear.

"Good. Next, do not expect me to be lenient with you because there is a possibility you will become the next crown prince. Acknowledge that there is no room for relaxation because of this, I do not care any less how old you are. You will follow the rules and regulations in the palace and do know that there will be severe challenges if you do not do this." Amaranthos said as he gained the courage to look up at Athan.

Then and there, the beast devoured his entire heart. This is-

His hands trembled before him as his heart continued to beat. Revealing an ancient fact that he learned with this boy's mother, and that is: The heart continues to beat even though it broke into two.

"You are so much like her," Amaranthos whispered, looking at Athan's lifeless eyes, reminding him countless of memories from the past as he unconsciously dropped the piece of paper.

Then one particular memory struck him frozen, showing Arista's lifeless eyes, crying right in front of him when he confronted her to stop.

What has he done?

This isn't how he wanted to act if he had a child. He did not want to be indifferent to him. Still, this is the appropriate thing to do, isn't it?

Considering the grave circ.u.mstances that his son is in, this is the right thing. Additionally, Amaranthos ever since he heard the conversation that Arista and Athan had decided to do something, and that is to let everything go.

He had a whole day to reflect yesterday, and thanks to that Amaranthos could compose himself.

Arista had already learned her lesson, so it is okay to let her free. Plus, it has been eight years since then. Even though he had a lot of questions in his mind, it seemed like Arista decided to live quietly. Probably repenting heavily.

Another thing is that their son has nothing to do with this. So, he should not pass on the grudge he has on his mother on him.

Yes, the judgment he made is the most rational thing to do for the peace of the Empire. And that decision is to let Athan and Arista somehow escape. Before that, of course, Amaranthos would like to do one selfish thing.

Then he would let them go, finally completing this chapter in their lives peacefully.

So for his plan to happen, he should not let himself get attached to his son at all. Nor his son with him-

Amaranthos train of thoughts came into an abrupt halt all of sudden due to seeing Athan fidgeting with his fingers.

'I see he has the same habit as his mother.' That is all that Amaranthos thought as he held Athan's hand swiftly, making Athan suppress a bewildered gasp.

Discerning this Amaranthos gave a small chuckle, saying, "You don't have to be so surprised."

And isn't it natural for a father to hold his child's hand?

"And do you want to give you a tip?" asking Athan, he held his breath, waiting for his reply. Huh? Why does he feel so nervous right now?

Maybe it is because he understands that Athan would think his sudden change of tone is weird? Or is it because this his first time holding his hand?

Gently stroking his hand to help his son calm down, Amaranthos felt his pulse, and further continued, "It is not good to have this habit, you know. People can see easily if you are nervous or not. So take note of this because it is not suited for someone who might be the 'Emperor' of the Dragosten Empire."

"Yes, your Majesty. I will take note of this." Athan replied to his father, and in an instant, he could not help but think of Arista, making another beast take an extra bite of his heart.

Yet besides that, Amaranthos did not hold himself back and pinched his cheeks. "Pfft, I am sure some people will tell you that you are hard to read. But you know what expect the opposite from me because look at the face you are making right now."

Then and there, the Emperor of the Dragosten Empire burst out and laughed with all his might. As for the Crown Prince? Well, just to say he did the same.

And let me tell you one thing, if a painter is right in front of them at this moment, his or her paintbrush will fall instantly. Why you may ask?

𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉.