As Ray continued to drag me forward, we finally arrived in front of a dark room, dimly illuminated by the flickering glow of candles. The air was different was it cold or hot? I couldn't quite grasp the strange atmosphere surrounding it. My gaze shifting to the sides of the door, where two guards stood tall, exuding a chilling presence. They acknowledged our presence with a nod before greeting us.
Ray stepped forward, addressing one of the guards in a respectful tone.
"Go inform Father that I and the Third Prince have come to meet him."
After delivering his request, he returned to stand beside me as one of the guards disappeared into the room. A few moments later, the door creaked open, and the guard reappeared, his demeanor composed.
"Please," he said, gesturing for us to enter with a slight nod.
With that, Ray and I stepped inside. As soon as we took a few steps forward, the guards outside shut the door behind us, plunging the room into near darkness. Only four people stood in that cold, oppressive space. My eyes instinctively locked onto the imposing figure of the king standing ahead. Beside him stood another man the guard from before.
"Valenor," I muttered under my breath.
Ray and I bowed in greeting, and for a moment, silence hung in the air. Then, the king stepped forward to spoke.
"Rudra... why are you already moving around? Don't you know you need time to recover?" His voice was laced with concern. His eyes narrowed. "Did Ray drag you here?"
I was about to respond when Ray cut in before I could utter a word.
"Father!" he pouted, puffing out his cheeks.
The king chuckled at his childish expression before turning his gaze back to me. "How are you feeling, Rudra?"
Without wasting a moment, I put on a fake smile. "I think I've recovered completely."
The king sighed at my obvious lie, but before he could say anything, Ray interrupted with urgency. "Father, we have something more important to discuss." He shot a glance in my direction, clearly still annoyed with me.
I shook my head and remained silent, letting Ray continue.
With a calm voice, he began, "Father, this is about Rudra. Whatever I'm about to say, please don't question it. This is my request." As the words left his mouth, he once again made that ridiculous puffy face.
I couldn't help but smile at his antics, but the king let out a loud laugh. "Alright, alright, my cutie."
Ray's expression turned serious. "You already know about the unknown mark on his face. Because of it, he's going to vanish again in nearly eight hours." He took a deep breath before continuing. "He needs to prepare. Please, give the order to open the weapon house."
A long silence followed as Ray stared at the king, waiting for a response. Then, finally, the king spoke.
"What is that place?"
Ray was about to argue, but before he could, I interjected in a playful tone.
"The place I'm going to end up after vanishing from here... will be filled with nothing but monsters."
Once again, silence swallowed the room.
The king turned his gaze to Valenor, who stepped closer and whispered something into his ear. After a brief exchange, Valenor straightened and spoke in a composed tone.
"My prince, the lord wishes to speak with Rudra alone."
"Father" Ray started, but I placed a hand on his shoulder, silencing him with a smile. "Wait outside," I told him gently.
Ray let out a reluctant sigh but obeyed, stepping out of the room with Valenor following behind him.
And just like that, only the king and I remained in the room The silence between us stretched for a moment before he finally broke it.
"Do you know why you're here?"
His voice had changed. It was no longer warm or amused. It was sharp like a blade poised to strike.
I attempted to reply in my usual playful tone, but before I could speak, he cut me off.
"You can drop the act now. There's no one else here."
I met his gaze, my expression remain the same. After a brief hesitation, I let my true face show a face devoid of emotion. My dead eyes stared back at him, cold and indifferent. Just an empty, flat expression.
A single word escaped the king's lips.
"Even now, you look just as beautiful as before... only a little scarier."
A cold, detached voice slipped from my mouth.
"What?"
I didn't have much time. If he had nothing to give me, I could handle things on my own.
The king chuckled. "You're always in such a hurry."
I turned to leave.
"Hey, you brat! Do you have no manners? I am the king here."
I stopped in my tracks and shot him a cold glance.
The king let out a long sigh. "Valenor has gone to retrieve something for you. It might be useful, so just wait a little longer."
I stood in silence, unwilling to waste my breath.
After another pause, the king spoke again.
"Do you know why we accepted you into our family?"
His gaze bore into me, expecting an answer.
Flatly, I replied, "Because of Ray."
"So you do understand…"
His eyes softened slightly. "How do you see Ray?"
I studied the king's face. He looked worried. Deeply worried.
I exhaled before answering, "He's a cheerful kid. Exceptionally talented. He cares a lot about others."
The king looked at me as if expecting more.
I continued. "But inside, he's terrified of something. He puts on an act, pretending everything is fine."
The king smiled bitterly. "That's true."
I sighed. "When he's with me, though… I feel some genuineness from him."
The king laughed. "Why is that?"
"I don't know."
The king's voice dropped to a near whisper. "Even when he's with us, he can't truly open up. Even when he laughs, we all know it's fake. But still, we laugh with him."
He paused, his gaze darkening.
"And yet, when he's with you… he smiles for real. When I asked him why he trusted you so much, do you know what he said?"
I remained silent.
"He said, 'I feel safe around him.'"
Safe. Around me? A kid who could barely protect himself?
The king let out a heavy sigh. "As time passed, I just accepted it. Your existence in his life."
Silence filled the room once more.
Then, the king spoke again.
"I had my worries… What will happen to him when you're gone?"
I kept my tone flat. "How much longer will Valenor take?"
The king smiled, then suddenly asked in a serious tone, "How long will it take for you to return?"
I tilted my head slightly. "I don't know. I don't even know if I'll survive there."
That much was the truth. I barely knew anything about that unknown world. Even Jaipa only had fragments of knowledge. What I needed was more than scattered information I needed proper equipment.
If answering the king's questions meant getting something useful, then I had no reason to refuse.
The king fell silent for a moment before shaking his head.
"Only 14 days left before you enter 'The World of Sins,'" he finally said.
A question formed in my mind, and for the first time, I willingly joined the conversation.
"Why do new key holders have to enter 'The World of Sins'?"
The king looked at me in surprise. "You don't know?"
I shook my head. "I don't."
The king suddenly burst into laughter before speaking.
"To live."
"…What?"
"Do you know the lifespan of a human without a key?"
I remained silent.
" forty ," the king said before i could even answer
A single word ringing in the hall.
Without a key, a normal human being would die at the age of forty , Once they surpassed that age, their body would age at an accelerated rate, and within a month, they would die of old age.
"But if you hold a key, your lifespan depends on it," the king continued. "Some humans live for five hundred years. Some for a thousand. And some even for three thousand."
"In the World of Keys… what you need to do is gain the strength."