The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 108: A cursed boy

Chapter 108: A cursed boy

’Why does she also have black hair?’

’Is she the Witch?’

’Is she my m...?’

Questions after question rose in his mind as he stared blankly at the robed lady in the air. His heart thumped loudly in his chest. He hoped there was no connection between him and the Witch but events of the past popped at random before his eyes.

He saw the image of the past when he was thrown out of the cloister at the age of twelve, just before the finals of the Youth Championship. The crowd was jeering, the other kids laughed, and Clannad sneered, but nothing hurt him more than the indifferent gaze of the man who had decided his fate with a few words.

’Was this the reason?’

’But why bring me back? Why take me in, train me, heck even give the Knight’s Path? Why not leave me to rot in the dark chasms of the mountains?’

His blank mind filled with confusion then with sadness, followed by anger, ending finally in feeling lost.

"Hex?"

"HEX?"

A vague voice that turned louder and louder called him. Hex suddenly sensed he was being shaken. With a start he looked around, becoming conscious of his surroundings.

Wallen stood beside him, with his hands on his shoulders. Behind him, he saw Lira still giggling and making stupid faces at the infant. No debris had fallen there.

Seeing him look behind him, Wallen let Hex go. "The space there is locked. We can’t enter it at the moment. The divinity of a deity is not easily dispersed."

"Divinity?" Hex stared wide-eyed at the infant shining with golden light. "Is that a god?"

Wallen shrugged. "Yes. And we need to destroy it if we want to defeat the Witch. That’s where I need your assistance."

Hex nodded but then hesitated. He looked at Wallen and asked the thing bothering him.

"She...she has black hair," he said softly. Wallen, however, heard him perfectly. He stared at him for a moment and then sighed.

"Yes. She has. Like you have. You inherited it when she created you," Wallen said, sighing once again. He basically confirmed Hex’s doubt, causing him to feel heavy on the inside.

Hex had longed to learn about his heritage but knowing that he came from someone who caused death and destruction, he felt depressed. His entire life people said that his black hair was evidence of evilness in him but he had shrugged it off as superstition. Realizing that they had been right, depressed him. It affected him so much that he didn’t truly grasp the meaning behind Wallen’s words.

"I hoped you would be spared all this. I tried to stop it but Briella’s betrayal came out of the blue," Wallen said. Despite the state he was in, Hex noticed that the puppet-like man seemed more humane than ever before. His eyes were filled with pity and sadness.

"Although if I am being truthful then I could have noticed her illusion. But it was the first time I was going against the baron’s order so my mind was a mess. I wasn’t focused enough."

Hex felt the regret in Wallen’s voice. The butler who had never shown much emotion had trouble keeping them in.

"What orders?" Hex asked, trying to make sense of everything around him.

Wallen closed his eyes as if he was undergoing an internal struggle. He clenched his fist so tight, that his knuckles whitened.

The sky rumbled loudly. Looking up, they saw all three people in the air disappear in the dark clouds. Lightning flashed inside the clouds.

"I was supposed to remain inside the castle...after leaving the door of the tower unlocked."

"What?" Hex exclaimed in shock. "You mean the baron colluded with the Dawnbringers?" Hex refused to believe it. He realized that he knew even less than he already assumed but somehow he couldn’t see the baron as someone evil.

Wallen shook his head immediately. "No. He merely didn’t stop them. Do you think someone like him wouldn’t notice the changes in the council? Couldn’t he stop everyone and everything before this?"

"Why?" Hex asked defeated. Wallen’s words were true. He had struggled with similar doubts but he accepted all half-hearted explanations the baron gave.

"Years ago he managed to defeat the Witch. But he didn’t do so alone. His wife helped him. She used her soul to link with the Witch’s soul, weakening her. Only then did his sword wound and nearly kill the Witch. If he used his golden flame then he would be able to kill the Witch. But he couldn’t," Wallen said. "In that state, the souls of the Witch and the baroness would be destroyed by the Heavens."

"So, to save his wife he allowed evil to persist. Many people have died. Many will die. All so he could save his deceased wife’s soul?"

Hex clenched his fists as he shouted at Wallen. He understood the reason behind the baron’s actions but it didn’t mean he approved of it. To him, it was the same as the reason why the Dawnbringers didn’t mind killing others, just so they could have their Divine Lord.

"Yes," Wallen said, turning towards the remnants of the container. "And to save her, we need you."

Only when Wallen pointed at the container, did Hex look in that direction. There were broken glass and a cylindrical stone. On the stone he saw a woman, looking peaceful and at rest.

Hex nearly exclaimed. The woman looked almost identical to the Witch. Even her hair was dark. In the faint light, he noticed it was dark brown instead of black but the woman’s features resembled the Witch. He turned towards Wallen.

"They are twins. Mistress was the older sister. Their bond as twins was the reason why she was able to link with her sister’s soul," Wallen said, dropping another bomb.

"S-so, the baron is my uncle and she is my aunt?" Hex asked.

Wallen looked at him with sympathy and shook his head. "I hate to tell you so many things. But no one else will. I guess I am disobeying my master again."

He looked older and tired when he turned towards Hex.

"No. She isn’t your aunt. She is the one who gave you life."

Hex didn’t look shocked or dejected. He just looked at Wallen. In just a few minutes the butler had thrown so many mind-blowing facts at him, that he was becoming numb to shock.

"I have two mothers?" He asked with a shrug, willing to accept everything at this point.

"Kind of. One created you, one gave you life."

Hex didn’t miss the word used by Wallen this time. It was a strange way to describe someone’s birth.

"Created?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. You aren’t birthed. You were created by the Witch’s Hex."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.