26. Chatting With Stepmother.

"I'm ecstatic, I feel great. It's the best feeling I've ever had in years."

Lucretia giggled, seeing his reaction as similar to a child who had just received a wonderful gift on his birthday. "I can see how happy you are. No wonder Lilith was so excited when she brought the vial to me."

Just like Mia, Lucretia also knew how much Lilith cared for Orion.

Listening to Lucretia's words, Orion couldn't help smiling as he stared at his hands. "I'm really glad I awoke my bloodline, I just hope I'll become strong enough in time to turn the kingdom's fortune around," Orion revealed, as his smile slowly turned into a frown.

Lucretia stretched her hands towards Orion and held his hands. "You will, you just need to believe in yourself and those closest to you."

"I will."

Lucretia nodded with a wistful smile. "I'm so happy for you Orion. I know your father would be so proud of you if he were here right now."

Unlike Orion, his father, Roland 'The Great', never awoke his dragon bloodline. Many wondered why he was unable to do this, but even though he couldn't awaken his bloodline, there was no one in the entire kingdom whose strength surpassed that of Roland.

However, the same couldn't be said about other kingdoms across the empire which had rulers of equal or even more formidable strength than Roland.

Aside from Orion who had awoken his bloodline, the only people who had awakened a dragon bloodline before him were his late grandfather and Roland's late sister.

Orion smiled back at his stepmother as he also knew how proud his father had been of him, even though Orion was born with a weak body.

However, unbeknownst to Orion, there was a particular reason why he was born with a weak body and why his late mother and father never harbored any hatred towards him for being born with such a body.

"Speaking of your father, I'm certain you know what caused his death."

"I do. He was killed by the king of the Western kingdom during one of the many battles between our kingdoms."

The only reason why the king of the Western kingdom was able to behead Roland 'The Great' was because Orion's father decided to fight even though he was afflicted with the dungeon illness which had already corrupted his mana core and weakened him critically.

"Yes, you're right and that's why we need to be ready for when the King of the West arrives."

Orion remained silent, sensing the fury emanating from Lucretia when she mentioned 'the King of the West'.

Anger swelled within Orion as well. After all, the King of the West was the one who mercilessly took the life of his father.

Lucretia continued, "Once I'm all better, I want us to gather as many men as we can and raid the..."

"That won't be necessary," Orion interrupted her. He understood why she wanted to seek retribution now. Rumors had circulated about the King of the West being gravely injured, leading to a delay in further attacks on the Hearthstone kingdom.

However, Orion knew the truth behind those rumors. It was most likely a ploy orchestrated by a conniving noble within their very own kingdom, to deceive Lucretia into a false sense of security while the Western kingdom would lie in wait while planning a covert conquest of the Hearthstone kingdom.

But what Orion wasn't sure of was if the Western kingdom was working alone or in hand with the nobles of their kingdom.

If the nobles were working with the king of the West, then Orion wondered how many of the nobles had given their allegiance to the King Of The West.

"What do you mean that won't be necessary?" Lucretia inquired, puzzled as to why her stepson wouldn't want to seek revenge for his own father.

"I think our worries right now should be focused on our kingdom," He revealed to her.

According to the game plot, Lucretia would be killed by the nobles who were planning a revolt, and not the king of the West, this was why he wasn't interested in the king of the West right now.

All that mattered to him was to make sure that nothing happened to Lucretia, hence why his primary goal was to eliminate the nobles.

Lucretia sighed deeply. She was still furious at what the King of the West did to her late husband, but she remembered that Jarvis had said something similar to what Orion just said.

"Do you also think the nobles are trying to cause a revolt against us?"

"Yes, but how did you know?"

"It was Jarvis. He said something about noticing some crafty movements among the nobles. I don't really know the details but I think you should talk to him."

"Hmmm, I will."

"Even so, I still believe our focus should be on the military sector of the kingdom."

Orion shook his head in response to his stepmother's suggestion. "As appealing as that sounds, it's not our current priority."

Lucretia furrowed her brows at his response. "Considering the risk of the nobles' unrest, shouldn't the military be our primary concern?"

"No."

"No? And why not?" She inquired.

"Consider this, stepmother. If we prioritize rebuilding our military, which mind you, has lost faith in its leadership, what will happen if we neglect pressing domestic issues like food shortage, rising crime rates, and lack of basic necessities for those affected by the war?"

"Our military revival efforts would be in vain," Lucretia mumbled, grasping his point.

"Exactly. Without addressing our internal challenges, we risk losing the people's support and creating an opening for the Western kingdom to exploit our citizens' discontent, leaving our kingdom vulnerable."

Lucretia's eyes widened at Orion's insight. "Do you believe the King of the West could incite a revolt among our people?"

"Yes."

"That's preposterous! The people are loyal to our kingdom."

Orion smiled faintly. "My dear stepmother, that's an optimistic view. You should never forget that when people become hungry, morals and virtues vanish, and you can't show concern for others if you have no breathing room for yourself."

Lucretia was left speechless by Orion's words. Just listening to how composed he was while talking made Lucretia recall her time with Orion's mother, Aurora.

The conversation she was having with Orion made her feel like she was talking to Aurora who, to Lucretia, was the smartest person she had ever conversed with until now.

Her lips widened into a smile and Lucretia could only wish that Aurora was here to witness the person her son had become.