23. The weight of the crown---For the Budo Brothers of Mobu [9/10]
Dreams are magical things.
It represents another world that life will dream about when it is resting. In the dream, no matter how absurd the fantasy is, it will become a reality. There is no order in the conventional sense in that world, it is a world of complete freedom.
In the concept of magic, some monastic schools regard dreams as a real plane. They believe that mortal dreams are a process of connecting the spirit into another plane, and are not unreasonable illusions. They believe that
, the plane of dreams is a higher level plane than reality. Therefore, mortals can only temporarily enter it after meeting certain conditions.
Of course, this too idealistic statement is not widely recognized by magicians. So far, there is no specific conclusion as to what the truth of dreams is.
But this does not stop every intelligent being from continuing to dream...especially when they are exhausted.
Kael'thas Sunstrider, the Sun King of the High Elves, was a young and powerful mage. When the war in Elre'Thalas calmed down, Tortheldrin's mangled body was also discovered, and the last stubborn wave of resistance
After the upper elf army was also wiped out, he could finally enjoy a moment of rest after a busy day.
In the concave, warm and gentle embrace of his queen, the beautiful and sexy magic swordsman Ms. Lannathel, Kael'thas, who was equally exhausted physically and mentally, slowly came to his aid amid a wave of vague calls.
fell into sleep.
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"Buzz"
Kael'thas suddenly opened his eyes, but what he saw was not the simple yet cozy hut of him and Lana'thel, but a scene he was very familiar with.
In Silver Moon City, in a trance, he seemed to have returned to the place where he lived as a child. In front of him, there was a red gauze blowing in the wind, and there was the crisp and sweet sound of wind chimes. He raised his head and felt the warmth of the afternoon.
The sunlight covered his body, making him feel comfortable.
This should be a dream.
Kael'thas told himself that as a powerful mage, he could still maintain his sanity even in a trance dream. He could escape from the dream with just one thought, but he did not do so.
Because behind the red gauze in front of him, there seemed to be a voice calling him, much like the tricks of some evil gods, but Kael'thas felt that he should go and take a look.
He took steps forward, stretched out his hand to brush away the gorgeous red gauze, and walked on the luxurious carpet of the deserted Zhuri Palace. He moved forward with a familiar path. No one knew the structure of this palace better than him, because he
I grew up here.
After passing through the King's Hall, Kael'thas came to the garden in the palace. This was the place he visited most when he was a child. Here, he often played with his peers.
In this trance dream, when Kael'thas walked into the garden, he heard the light laughter of the children. He slowed down, hid behind the branches of the garden, and looked at the sand on the ground.
Playing with some children.
The one in the floral skirt should be Alleria! She was carrying a small bucket and building a small tower with her sister Shiva on the edge of the sand. Next to them, several boys were chasing and playing.
Kael'thas found his childhood self in it. He was wearing a beautiful little hunting suit and was fighting with several children. He accidentally crashed the small tower Alleria had built while running.
The next moment, while Sylvanas was crying, the fierce Windrunner sister screamed and knocked Kael'thas to the ground as a child. She sat on the prince and kept grabbing his face with her hands.
, and behind her, the little Lannathel was trying to help Kael'thas. The children made a fuss, and the guards nearby wanted to come up to help, but were stopped by several nobles who were watching.
This scene made Kael'thas, who was in his dream, couldn't help laughing. He raised his head and searched among the crowd. Soon, he found the guy he was looking for... Behind the crowd, behind
On the swing under the vines, a slightly lonely black-haired boy was sitting there alone, listlessly flipping through a history book.
That's... that's the Tyrion in his memory... the Tyrion of his childhood. The Blade of Dawn, a guy who has been out of touch with others since he was a child.
"When you were a child, you were often bullied by girls. At that time, you were not good at speaking. Although you had pure Sun Chaser blood, you did not behave like a qualified prince. At that time, you were not among your peers.
The leader is more like a follower."
A gentle and low voice sounded behind Kael'thas, causing Kael'thas who was peeking at the dream to turn his head suddenly, and then he saw his father.
Anastarian Sunstrider.
The Sun King who appeared in Kael'thas' dream was younger than when he died in battle, but his long hair had still turned pale. As Kael'thas watched silently, the vivid father held the
Holding two wine glasses filled with wine, he handed the wine glass in his left hand to Kael'thas as if he were alive.
"Come on, son, have a drink with your old father."
Kael'thas took the wine glass silently and took a sip of the golden wine. The taste in his mouth was exactly the same as the taste of Quel'Thalas fruit wine in his memory. It was not like a dream at all.
He raised his head and looked at his smiling father. It was an expression that rarely appeared on his father's face in his memory. He couldn't help but ask:
"Is this... is this really a dream?"
"Um?"
Facing Kael'thas' question, Anastarian waved his finger, and everything around him stopped. The children's play, the laughter of the nobles, and even the wind in the air stopped at this moment.
.
"Of course, this is a dream, my son, so speak freely. You seem to have something on your mind. Come... talk to your old father."
Kael'thas instinctively felt that something was wrong, but another voice kept telling him in his heart that this was just a dream, don't take it seriously, this is an illusion in your mind... Let go of those heavy things for the time being,
Enjoy this quiet moment.
What the voice said was so reasonable that Kael'thas couldn't help but let down his inner vigilance. He followed his father to the small lake nearby. The two Sun Kings before and after him had no kingly temperament at all and sat casually.
On the two rocks, Kael'thas looked at his father in his memory. Soon, with the surge of emotions in his heart, he told his father everything that had happened recently.
"Fuck...I don't know what to do, father. I don't know whether it is right or wrong to continue to use Immortal's magic. I blocked the news. I know that I can't let the people know the truth. This will
It caused panic, and although the ministers were opposed to this action, they could not come up with a better way."
While drinking fruit wine, Kael'thas confided gloomily:
"I know that this is a very risky decision. Once the people accept the evil magic, even if it is the evil magic that has been purified layer by layer, no one can predict what will happen. Maybe my decision will be completely
Destroy our civilization, but I have to do it... You once told me that the most basic task of a king is to satisfy the needs of the people..."
He raised his head and looked at his father, who was listening carefully to his troubles. Kael'thas was silent for a moment, drank all the wine in the glass, and said:
"I'm in pain, father. The pressure on my shoulders makes me about to collapse, but I know that I can't collapse. The people are watching me and they need me... I can't relax even for a second, but it's too tiring.
Yes, father...have you ever been so tired?"
"How shall I answer you, my son?"
Anastarian in the dream shook the wine glass in his hand, looked at the endlessly flowing golden liquid, and said softly:
"Maybe I should say that you did a good job, maybe I should scold you for making a mistake, but I know that this is not the answer you want... You are at a loss in your heart, facing a difficult choice, even if you have already made it
decision, it still makes you feel uneasy, fearing that your decision will lead to more terrible consequences...I can only tell you that this is normal."
The old Sun King threw his wine glass and the wine into the still pond in front of him. He looked at his son with a trace of scrutiny and pride in his eyes:
"2800 years ago, our country faced the threat of powerful forest trolls. At that time, I was as young as you. I had just taken over the throne from my father. I stayed on the city wall and looked at the hair-raising thing.
The giant troll army is entrenched outside Silvery Moon City, and I can’t sleep every night, for fear that those trolls will break through the city wall and rush into the city...but I can’t show any fear.”
Anastarion looked at Kael'thas:
"Guess why?"
Kael'thas was no longer a prince who knew nothing. He replied:
"Because the king's fear will trigger even more terrible fears among the people. The consequence of the leader not being firm enough is that the courage in the people's hearts begins to weaken... The people are blind. The more they face a crisis, the more they need a pillar. The king is the heart of the people.
the pillars of.”
"Yes! Very good!"
Anastarian closed his eyes and said:
"Even if I'm as panicked as they are, I still have to show that I have everything under control. I walk out of the palace every day to meet with the people, encourage them to continue to persevere, and tell them that victory will definitely come, even if I don't have the slightest idea of victory in my heart.
We were not sure, but we persisted in the end, and we finally found humans as allies, attacking the forest trolls from both front and back, and completely defeated their empire."
"That was a brilliant victory, my son, but even on the eve of victory, I still maintained the fear of failure in my heart. Who could have guessed what would happen before I actually saw the victory?"
The old father opened his eyes and patted Kael'thas's shoulder with his left hand. He looked at his grown-up son and said:
“The people can be shaken, the people can be fearful, but the king cannot, the king must move forward, the king must stand firm, the king must be decisive and courageous, the king must shoulder the risk... Anyone can question your decision, my son, but only you
If you can't do it yourself, this is the weight of the crown. Once you put it on, you are no longer just you, and every move you make will directly affect the entire kingdom."
"You must become a certain belief, you must be the embodiment of some hope, you must be a fire bearer who leads the people forward in the darkness, even if you are afraid of the darkness, but you must walk in front of them... This is the meaning of the king,
The right to enjoy comes from the obligations assumed. What is right? What is wrong?"
Anastarian stepped forward and gave his son a warm hug. In Kael'thas' ear, he said in a deep voice:
"The wisdom you have can give you the ability to distinguish right from wrong, and the courage you have can give you the motivation to move forward bravely. Therefore, my son, if you think it is right, then do it bravely.
...Be brave and lead the people on your own glorious path."
"In addition, your rule is still unstable. My son, the ministers oppose you because they are worried about the inheritance of royal power..."
"What should I do, Father?"
Kael'thas also hugged his father. He asked his question, and then heard Anastarian's clear laughter. The old father patted his son on the shoulder and said softly:
"Go give me a grandson... to ensure that the Sun Chaser's royal power is passed on... Also, Meng, it's time to wake up..."
"Shua"
The next second, Kael'thas's eyes suddenly opened. He sat up from the bed like a spring. In the darkness, he breathed heavily. The remnants of the dream just now quickly dissipated in his mind.
This abnormal reaction represented the weirdness of the dream just now. Before those images disappeared, he tried his best to remember the words his father left for him and his father's last expectations.
A warm, perfect body hugged Kael'thas from behind. The queen who was awakened put her face behind the Sun King in a daze, and Lana Thel asked softly:
"What's wrong? Your Majesty, are you having a nightmare?"
"No, it's not a nightmare."
Kael'thas lay back on the soft bed. He reached out and held Lana'thel in his arms. In the darkness, his eyes widened as he looked at the rough murals on the roof. After a while, Kael'thas
Si leaned over and kissed Lana Seer on the forehead. He said softly:
"Call me Kael'thas... Also, my Lanna... let's... let's have a child..."
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After Kael'thas disappeared, the strange dream did not dissipate in another dimension. Anastarian stood by the pond where time stood still, looking at the frozen water, not knowing what he was thinking.
something.
Behind him, on the swing under the vines, Tyrion, a young man who had been frozen in time, suddenly blinked his eyes. He leaned on the swing that began to shake and looked back at Anastarian's back.
He said in a deep voice:
"I thought you were going to tell your son about the things Dailin just discovered in the Broken Islands. You should know how important the things we discovered in Suramar are to the current high elves.
..”
It was very strange for a teenager to make an adult voice, but Anastarian didn't care. Facing Tyrion's question, the Sunstrider Lich casually shook his hand and said:
"I believe that my son will eventually discover those... There is enough evidence in Eresalas to lead him to his final destination. Besides, as a supervisor of civilization, I cannot cross the line... Great Lord, I just didn't
Thinking that you will also appear here, are you here to supervise me? "
"No!"
The young man Tyrion shook his head. He jumped off the swing, walked to the frozen dream, stood in front of the childhood Alleria, helped the crazy girl tidy up her hair, and then said:
"After I heard that the Wither Druids successfully purified Drustvar's Emerald Dream, I wanted to come and see this magnificent "World Dream". Coming here was just an accident... You and your son
I didn’t hear a word of what was said...really."
"However, the high elves' civilizational ruling has entered its final stages. My great lich... I look forward to seeing the results of your own civilization's ruling..."
