The longing for answers was written plainly in Sinora's eyes. The Poet of Great Love did not shy away from meeting her gaze, nor did she dismiss her.
"Perhaps you're right, but perhaps that would only mark the beginning of yet another catastrophe—"
"Even if the demon race reclaimed their standing by conquering the Protos Empire, their desires would soon leave them unsatisfied. They would carve out their own territories and begin amassing power."
"The next step would be seizing the land of other realms. You understand this progression better than I do, don't you?"
The Poet of Great Love related the narrative in a calm, measured voice.
Sinora fell silent for a moment.
She truly understood the alternative possibility the Poet described, having witnessed it firsthand with painful clarity.
"Because what has been done will be done again; what has occurred will occur once more," the Poet of Great Love added.
"But who says history must repeat itself? We made a mistake once, but now that we've learned that lesson, wouldn't everything be fine if you ruled us?"
Sinora pressed a hand to her chest, voicing her question with renewed emotion.
As a conservative, what she hated most were those demons of the previous generation who had insisted on waging war to the bitter end. What she had awaited for so long was precisely a new ruler who could see through everything so clearly!
A trace of resentment flickered in her eyes.
What she hated to see even more was a new king who possessed such ability yet dared not shoulder the responsibility!
"When you are prepared to sacrifice yourself, it becomes far easier to sacrifice others. That holds true for you, and it holds true for me. So, what sort of leader do you expect me to be?"
As though reading Sinora's thoughts, the Poet of Great Love asked without the slightest trace of impatience.
"..."
At those words, Sinora swallowed in a daze.
She realized she had become a bit too impassioned and slightly disrespectful, and that her premise was contradictory.
Naturally, she wanted a new king who would be a leader considerate of subordinates.
Yet she also expected this new king to possess the most absolute, unyielding resolve.
It was, by its very nature, a greedy and unfair demand.
However, the Poet did not seem angered by her attitude. She gave Sinora time to think and had no intention of dodging the real question Sinora had raised.
"Even if I were to lead the demon race as you suggest, the vast majority of other living beings would still never feel they had too many resources or too much pleasure. Once they possessed the power, they would try every possible means—from raw malice to cloaking themselves in righteousness—to plunder all our resources. When that time came, should I expand my domain until the entire world was thoroughly conquered?"
The Poet of Great Love continued, "If you faced that situation, what would you choose?"
She smiled faintly.
"...I don't know."
Sinora's gaze shifted, growing dim, unable to answer Lanqi's question.
She could not fathom the mind of this demon who possessed the qualifications to become the new king. The other seemed to grasp the nature of living beings and the workings of the world far better than she ever could.
The longer she spoke with her, the more she felt she had taken a tremendous step closer to the true answer. Yet the more she learned and the more she pondered, the more she realized how little she actually knew.
A prolonged silence settled between them.
"Humans are always imagining the future, but that future should rightfully inspire fear," the Poet of Great Love said, her emerald eyes shimmering with a gentle light, as though she had long deliberated on this. "Yet most humans do not feel afraid, because they cannot comprehend the meaning behind it. And the demon race is no different."
"Then are we supposed to do nothing at all...? Stagnating here like this, how is that any different from remaining locked in a cell?" Sinora asked, certain that she could reach no conclusion of her own.
She was currently in a state of utter bewilderment.
She felt that what she had clung to for so long might indeed not be right, yet she could not find what was truly right either.
"..."
"Do not dwell endlessly on the past, and do not place excessive hope on the future. The past is gone, and the future has yet to arrive. The present—"
The Poet of Great Love paused, a subtle smile playing at the corners of her lips, as though savoring the faint slant of warm light filtering into the cell. "Seize the present. In this moment, nothing matters more than the now."
When she looked back at Sinora, she offered only one final line:
"And I will ensure you have the finest present possible."
Every word struck Sinora's heart like the weightiest chord on a piano.
A long silence blanketed the cell.
Standing in the shadows, Sinora lowered her head.
"I... can't quite understand your words right now. But I need time to think. Maybe I'll figure it out, maybe I won't..."
To simply let go of the past, shatter the future, and start anew—was that truly alright?
A nagging sense of guilt stirred in her heart, as if she were betraying the demon race.
Standing to the side, Antanas remained silent, sensing that Sinora's heart had truly begun to waver.
Earlier, when she heard the child beside her answer Sinora's initial question about restoring their realm with complete sincerity and without resorting to deceit, Antanas had felt immense relief.
Now, she only felt that it was utterly terrifying.
In just a few short minutes of conversation, Sinora had practically been brainwashed.
Antanas had no idea why this fellow beside her possessed such a bizarre, bewitching quality, capable of striking straight at the heart and conquering someone through ideology alone.
The bewildered Sinora was just one step away. All she lacked was a final push to make up her mind and take a step that defied all her previous convictions.
What could she still be missing?
Noticing Sinora's daze and Antanas standing idly by, the Poet of Great Love turned to chat with Antanas, granting Sinora space to think.
"To be honest, whenever I remember how Talia is living such a blissful and happy life, I can hardly bear to imagine the suffering you two have endured all these years in Herrom Prison," the Poet of Great Love whispered softly to Antanas.
Sinora's ears twitched, and her eyes locked onto the Poet of Great Love in a dead stare.
Talia was living a good life?
Judging by this black-haired, green-eyed girl, her father's talent and looks couldn't possibly be lacking. Given Talia's discerning eye, anyone who could win her heart had to be one in ten thousand.
"If Miss Sinora hadn't wasted these hundred years, she surely would have had an even better life than Talia. After all, by any measure, Miss Sinora is far more remarkable than Talia—she's clearly the type of woman who would be immensely popular. If she had to spend another hundred years locked away... sigh..."
The Poet of Great Love shook her head and sighed with lament.
"..."
Sinora's slender shoulders trembled.
Thinking carefully about her past century, she had squandered precious time in a prison cell, missing out on countless opportunities to enjoy life's wonders.
And compared to Talia...
She was practically grinding her teeth to dust with sheer jealousy!
She didn't even dare imagine what kind of life Talia was enjoying right now, or what Talia's husband looked like!
"Excuse me..." she finally spoke up.
"What is it, Miss Sinora?" The Poet of Great Love tilted her head in apparent confusion.
"Let's go. I want to seize the present—I won't waste another second!"
Sinora clenched her fists resolutely, her eyes now burning solely with the desire for happiness. She believed the new king had the power to fulfill this promise, and that the king's ideals and perspective were completely sound.
Though she had yet to see the new king's true form, she no longer cared. What she believed in was the beautiful soul she had just spoken with.
Never before had she imagined that someone so worthy of her allegiance would appear. Even if there were still matters she felt uncertain about, one thing was beyond doubt: every second spent communicating with this being was worthwhile. Without that exchange, without that guidance, she would only wander astray once more and squander the rest of her life.
"Very good," the Poet of Great Love smiled.
Having rescued yet another lost young woman, she felt deeply gratified.
"..."
The corner of Antanas's eye twitched. Having witnessed the entire spectacle, she subtly took a step back from the Poet of Great Love, finding this fellow increasingly alarming.
Is your innate magic brainwashing or something?
If you keep brainwashing the Protos Empire like this, Sinora's original demand was actually far too conservative. What you're doing is becoming the true evil god of Protos.
Chapter 432