Kitanna
Chapter 250: TALE ONLY YOU CAN TELL

Chapter 250: TALE ONLY YOU CAN TELL

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: GENERASIAN ~ LIM KIM]

Axilla groaned, rubbing her forehead slightly, her head still aching as she struggled to see clearly. The young girl rubbed her eyes, trying to accustom them to her environment.

"Sleeping beauty is finally awake," Venantius grinned, fondling with his hair as he observed the girl.

Axilla coughed, holding her chest. When she raised her face, she glared at the man. "If you’re caught, you’ll get punished," she remarked.

Venantius pushed open his window, letting the gentle breeze flow in. He shifted his gaze to the girl and chuckled dryly, "I wonder who is brave enough to punish a king," he replied.

Axilla knitted her brows. A king? This man was a king? She asked herself internally.

Venantius noticed the confused expression on the girl and tsked playfully. "You didn’t think Cortez would have an ordinary father, now did you? Let’s introduce ourselves formally if we are going to be family in the future." The man stretched forward his hand.

"I am Supreme King Venantius Harlem, father of Cortez Harlem."

Axilla moved her eyes to look at the man’s stretched hand, then she looked at him pitifully. "Don’t you feel sorry for Cortez and ashamed of yourself? How could you appear before him after all these years and go as low as to abduct me? Did you take me to get Cortez to accept you? No child would ever accept someone like you," the girl retorted with anger.

Venantius waved the hand that he had stretched out for the girl to shake which she didn’t. "That’s a peculiar way of introducing yourself, but I’ll let it slide because my son loves you, and I’m trying to rebuild our relationship. And who said I abducted you to make Cortez accept me. I want to pay back an old debt," the man said reclining on the carriage couch, holding up his chin with one hand, he smiled.

"You know, you sound so much like your mother. You both are always so quick to dish out judgments on other people’s lives. Maybe I should mold you into perfect beings that should sit close to the heavenly king," the man tutted.

Axilla raised her brow. This man knew her mother? Her mother was alive? Axilla thought to herself, but she didn’t voice it out.

Venantius grinned. "I know that look. It was the same look your mother had when I told her about you. How come you didn’t recognize her? Fate is very funny. I hope you say the same thing to her when she finally comes to ask for you back," the man remarked.

"We are here. Welcome to my kingdom."

Axilla stepped foot on Badukeh. She didn’t know how long they had traveled, but the kingdom looked different. Even the guards looked like war forces rather than ordinary palace guards. The girl gulped. Escaping from here was suicide.

As they led her inside the palace, her gown made ruffling sounds on the marble floor. Yes, she was abducted, but Axilla couldn’t help but notice how well-decorated the palace looked.

"Don’t you think you have to give Cortez a chance to choose what he wants? Abducting me is like forcing him to choose you," Axilla said in a low voice when they had entered the palace.

Venantius hummed thoughtfully. "I did think of that option, but no child would accept a father that tried to kill him countless times. I was even cursed by his mother, and I still remember it like it was yesterday. If Cortez is really my son, he would have his mother’s stubbornness and my pride. I have to take it by force, don’t you think?"

Axilla shook her head. "Even if he comes here, it doesn’t mean he has accepted you. Don’t you want him to accept you fully with his heart?" The girl asked.

Venantius chuckled. "How convenient. People like us don’t enjoy the leisure of acceptance and love. I don’t care as long as he comes back to reclaim his position as my heir. I’m good, I’m not greedy you see? I know my place."

"Doesn’t look like you do," Axilla murmured under her breath.

Venantius inched his ear closer. "What did you say?" But the girl threw her face sideways without replying. The man nodded his head.

"An apple can never fall far from the tree. Just like your mother, you don’t fear the crown on my head, and you speak the way you please. But like I said, you’re here because I want to repay an old debt," the man twitched his lips.

Axilla stopped in her steps. "How do you know my mother? And how come it’s you of all persons that know? If you’re trying to taunt me and make me feel bad, then stop it already. I know I don’t have my parents, but please don’t tease me about them or try to bring up my mother."

"Oh, look at that. I don’t know why it’s taking you so long to recognize her when she realized it was you the moment I told her an old story. I told her for free because I used to have a soft spot in my heart for her, but for you? I’ll tell you for a penny," Venantius said with a small smile.

Axilla was no longer finding any of this funny. This man was trying to make her angry with his words. "Let my mother rest in peace, and don’t ever mention her name with your mouth again," the girl said, now fuming with anger. She was tired of people reminding her that she didn’t have a mother.

"Aha!" Venantius exclaimed. "Could it be that the reason you failed to recognize her even while she was in front of you all this while is because of your hatred for her? Yes, you were just a child, but you would have felt being abandoned by your own mother. Without knowing, the hatred ran deep in your blood, making you erase her from your mind. That’s lovely then! I’m not the only one being hated by their offspring. We are alike," the king nodded his head.

Axilla bit her lips. "If you know who my mother is, then tell me. I don’t hate her for any reason," the girl replied, gripping her gown tightly.

Venantius furrowed his brow. "What can we do? I’m a petty man by nature. I have to make you hate her so we can be on the same boat. She always claims to be mighty and perfect. I’ll tell you about your mother for free and how your fate was twisted with the Cortez you love so much."

Getting to one of the rooms, Venantius pushed the door open and moved to the side, letting the young woman step in first.

"Dominique, get us something to drink. I’ll have something strong, and my daughter-in-law would take something delicate as her. Even though I’ll suggest she takes something strong she will need it by the time she is done listening to the story I have for her," Venantius raised his brow slightly.

Axilla scoffed. "I’m not thirsty."

Venantius nodded. "You will be after we are done talking." He waved for his aide to leave.

Now comfortable on the chair, Axilla stared at the man, waiting for him to speak what he knew. The girl was in between anxious and scared. A part of her doubted the man, another part wanted to believe the words he was going to say.

Venantius relaxed on his couch, his lip still graced with a small smile. "I won’t twist words for you. Not like I don’t have other stories up my sleeves, but I prefer to make it straightforward just for you. A gift from your beloved father-in-law," the man teased.

Axilla scowled. "If you keep stalling, it’ll only make me believe you have nothing to say," the girl replied.

Venantius hummed. "Okay, here goes something. As everyone knows, I’m the scummiest father that would ever go down in history. I tried to kill my own seed, but it was a way of protecting them. I had so many kingdoms that were out for my neck and throne. What do you think would happen if they should get my own child?"

"You’re a coward. You were afraid of having a weakness," Axilla said curtly.

Venantius nodded. "I’m glad we now see from the same eyes because when this story is done, you will say the same about your own mother." The man grinned before he continued.

"While everyone knows that I kill my offspring to remove every weakness, one day, one of the women who stayed beside me as my favorite courtesan tried to escape with my seed inside of her, which was now sprouting. I caught her and sent her to be executed. She cursed me, but somehow she survived and had the child. The first child that ever survived. Cortez is special, you see?" The man paused, giving the girl a wide grin, but Axilla didn’t pay him any mind.

"I found out about it, then I chased after her and the child. When I found them, the woman was begging this brave merchant to help them out, but guess what? This merchant, who happens to be your mother, didn’t help them. Your mother turned her back on the same Cortez you claim so much to love. She decided that it was better to have wealth than interfere in something she knew nothing about," Venantius said in a judging tone.

Axilla gripped her gown tightly. "You’re lying. My mother would never do that."

The Supreme King nodded. "Yes, she wouldn’t because the next day she went to save the child after taking my offer for help. Ha! A very nosy woman, but that’s her charm. She tried to hide from me after that, but fate decided to punish her for meddling in my family. She lost her husband and her sight."

The description sounded very familiar to Axilla. She raised her eyes in shock. "W--what?"

Venantius nodded. "Yes, I’m glad you’re as smart as your mother. Hash is your mother who abandoned you to take care of my own child. Your mother is that hypocrite who watched the mother of the man you loved die just so she could acquire wealth. She is only hovering around Cortez to pay for her past sins. Now, how is she different from me?"

Axilla stood there, her shoulders stiffened. It was too much information flooding at the same time. She didn’t know how to process it. Lady Hash was her mother? She watched Cortez get stabbed, and she had abandoned her in the past. The girl’s lashes blinked as she stared back at the Supreme King, her hands cold and trembling. Her throat now felt dry, Axilla picked up the glass of water on the table and downed it in one gulp.

Venantius grinned, "Told you, you’ll feel thirsty after we are done talking."