Moonlight Ball - Chapter 81

“You sure grew up soft.”

Portwall smiled at Mutarion’s sarcastic remark. “You lived a similar life as your closest friend to the king. So don’t think that your life was rough, man.” Portwall said as he patted Mutarion’s shoulders, and bid his goodbye as he made his way to Sidrain’s office.

“What did you order to Retendon, Your Majesty?”

Portwall came in asking. He constantly asked Sidrain numerous things as if they were nothing, owing to the close bond between them. They were best of friends; no, they were brothers. Both of them believed that they were brothers. Portwall didn’t harbor any trust for his blood-siblings and neither did Sidrain. When they had been chosen to be a part in the suicide mission, they knew they were abandoned by their family. Since then, they didn’t believe in their own blood.

“I told him to find out about Iris Elaine at the guild,” replied Sidrain.

“Sid, is the Queen really Iris Elaine?”

Iris hadn’t bothered hiding her magic abilities. Portwall, who knew Rosemary very well, asked Sidrain then what had happened. How Sidrain, who hated Rosemary with passion, came to love her, and at the same time, how the queen was able to perform magic. As he asked strongly, Sidrain eventually told him the truth.

“Yes.”

As Sidrain answered while looking at the document, Portwell sighed.

“The princess of the Magic Tower is our Queen?”

“It has pros and cons.”

Portwell let out a ridiculed laugh at Sidrain’s words.

“You put her crazy father as the con, right Sid? If Elaine knows, we’ll be damned. Elaine’s love for his students, especially Iris, is known to the people. There’s no way he would let Iris become the Queen. And if he knows that we know, the Magic Tower will fight.”

“She is my queen.”

Sidrain had told Portwall from the beginning: the story of how they met when they’re sixteen. Since then, Sidrain couldn’t forget his first love. Portwall finally understood what Sidrain meant when he spat out “She’s my first love” during the crazy spring party.

“You’ve only met her once, Sid. Just once. You didn’t even see her face!” Portwall had said as if it was the most ridiculous thing he’d heard from his brother.

“I know. Just once. I didn’t see her face,” Sidrain had replied.

“But?”

“I heard her voice through the light. I felt her presence behind the door. The first time I felt there was an obstacle, she allowed me to overcome it. I don’t believe in Ruthna. I never felt her presence. But that day I felt the presence of a goddess. From very close. I found out what a goddess is.”

At Sidrain’s words, Portwall could no longer stifle his utter disbelief and had said, “Oh my god, Sid. Are you crazy?”

“I lived by logic. I didn’t go find her and I didn’t reveal myself to her. I was going to bury the memory. I buried it! But she came to me! She came into my wife’s body and into my embrace…. Damn, now that I met her again, she’s become more lovely. What can I do?”

Sidrain had looked with complete sincerity and seriousness to his brother that Portwall could not help but scream the words “Your Majesty!” to Sidrain, begging him to return to his senses. He was a King, and the King need not such hopeless dreams! But Sidrain had merely shaken his head.

“I did all what I had to do. I killed the dragon and became a king and attended to all my responsibilities. I can’t let this woman go, Pow.” Sidrain had declared. “I will not lose this woman. My Queen, I swear to Ruthna, is only this woman, Iris Elaine. I will put my fate on it.”

Portwall knew that day that his friend, his brother, his King, had become crazy. It took him a couple of days to accept it. There was nothing he could do. If the King had lost his mind, what could he possibly do? If Sidrain has gone crazy, I’ll just have to make the world crazy too!

Pow Portwall was Sidrain’s true brother. The fact that they were both foolish boys made them brothers.

Portwall shrugged his shoulders, “If Your Majesty says that then she is our Queen. But the Queen doesn’t seem to have any intention of hiding nor is good at lying. We’re going to be caught and you’ll have to prepare for a confrontation with the Magic Tower.”

But if Iris was willing to return to the Magic Tower, which once had been her home, it would be an entirely different story.

Sidrain swallowed his nervousness. There was no denying that Iris would make such a choice. He still couldn’t even forget the shock of her challenging him to a duel.

“I’ll prepare the lawyers. This will become the trial of the century,” Sidrain said.

Portwall scratched his head. Well, it might be a good choice to accept the princess of the Magic Tower as Queen. She held a vast amount of magic power and was one of the pride of the Magic Tower. To take her away was like taking an entire sword away from the Magic Tower.

Portwall could see the future where the master of Magic Tower, Elaine, breathes fire like a dragon once he discovers the truth, but he chose to look at the good side. More so, he promised himself to beat Mutarion at the boxing match tonight.

***

A week later, when Sidrain discovered the story of Iris’ childhood, he furiously threw the report from the guild. Portwall had been with Sidrain, and he thought that it had been a while since he saw Sidrain livid. He picked up papers from the ground and skimmed through the documents. Portwall then knew that his rage wouldn’t calm easily.