SON OF THE HERO KING

As if totally unfazed by what happened earlier, Sol approached Nent, who slightly flinched when he placed his hand on her shoulder.

She was still scared by her earlier outburst and realized once again that not commercializing this drink might have been one of the most sensible decisions she had ever made in her life.

The results otherwise would have been very dangerous for the world as a whole.

She was brought back to the ensuing reality by Sol\'s words. She was surprised by how calm and unfazed he was by this whole situation.

She even wondered if she had dreamed the whole thing in a drunken haze but the smell of ozone and petrichor in the air made her perfectly understand that this was indeed reality— a reality she dreaded.

“I personally know nothing about loss. Nor can I understand what you might be feeling.”

This was the usual truth. After all, Mars and Blaze meant very little to him. He might feel a little sorry for their demise, they were his parents at the end of the day, but it was hard to really feel invested in them.

Furthermore, thanks to Skuld\'s assistance, he did not have to go through the same pain as his other self. He was able to change the future and walk a new path. A path toward true happiness.

Surely, he was the least qualified to talk about loss with Nent. He was so unqualified that it was even hypocritical of him to do so.

But… what of it?

Sol always knew that he was a hypocritical bastard whose best strength was none other than his sophistry and his self-confidence that had no place to exist when talking with people who lived for so much longer and experienced so much more than him. It was a long winded thought process that led to the conclusion that he was nothing but sanctimonious ingrate.

However, if he had to walk a path filled with lies and hypocrisy that was completely essential in order to protect their hearts, he would gladly continue to do so with no hesitation whatsoever.

“I knew you would not really hurt me.”

He was partially lying. He indeed knew that Nent would not really hurt him, even if under the control of alcohol overdose.

But even she wanted to harm him, there was nothing she could have done.

By simply entering his dimension, he could make it so she could not even catch him, much less hurt him.

By partially phasing, he could become intangible and escape her grasp.

By using dimensional encroachment, he could have created an infinite distance between the two of them, completely reducing her speed advantage to null.

By simply shouting ‘Help!’ he was sure that Tiamat would have struck Nent down immediately before she could even make a single move.

Hell, even if she killed him, he could simply come back to life using Nirvana.

There were so many possible ways for him to get out of this mess, that it was simply laughable. This made him realize once again just how much of a cockroach he had become.

A truly and completely sober Nent would have realized that he was never at any risk.

Sadly, in her current state, Nent did not have the mental capacity to proceed with all that information. This was the sad thing with alcohol. When drunk, even someone as quick-witted and smart as her would see her overall mental capacity drop tremendously…

Of course, this was to his advantage since it made his shock therapy much more effective.

“Sol… I am sorry… I…I shouldn’t have…”

Nent was so shocked that all she could do was mumble and try to form complete sentences but fail inevitably. Her incoherent words were stopped by a gentle kiss from his.

Their kiss lasted a few seconds before he hugged her tightly against his chest. It was impossible to guess that such a frail body could hold so much power.

“Do you remember the deal we made back then?”

Her head against his chest, Nent could feel the powerful beating of his heart, the rhythm of which caused her own heart to slowly calm down as it synchronized with him.

Feeling her change in mental state, he continued unhurriedly…

“On that night. The two of us struck a deal. We are more than simple lovers. Our relationship goes beyond the simple pleasure of the flesh. We are partners in crime who decided to stand and fight together. Was I wrong to think like that?”

Sol\'s words contained a strength so compelling that all Nent could do was listen…

“I do not know your pain. I cannot understand you and I am sorry I cannot give you comforting words. After all, Drei might have been a friend for you but he was simply an enemy to me.”

Sol had no love for Drei, merely hatred. The man had even killed one of Milia\'s few friends and used his body as a puppet to infiltrate Lustburg.

There was simply no way he could feel any kind of sadness at the situation.

“Even then, the Nent I know is a strong woman who refused to give up and walked her own road even though she was continually despised for it.”

The road Nent took was not one that could be accepted by many and Sol could never personally accept it.

Still, there was a strength and reason to it.

Despair and pain might have changed her forever, but the proud phoenix decided to not fall down without punching back.

“Mourn your loss all you want. Cry all your heart out. But… Please, do not show such a despondent sight to me ever again.”

Sol respected and even admired the version of Nent who, with her cold pragmatism, continued to walk unhindered.

Anubis might say that her soul was filthy back then, but there was a strength to it like no other.

This was why seeing her so down was even more unacceptable.

‘I am sorry for being so harsh.’

Sol couldn’t help but smile bitterly at his own words.

“If you wish to share your pain, I will always be there for you. I do not know much, and I may not necessarily be able to give you the best advice. But I will always have a shoulder for you to cry on and lend you an ear to listen to all your fear and worries.”

‘I am really trash.’

Moments like this made him hate himself all the more.

Even though he was supposed to completely focus on comforting her, he was also using a godsend occasion to tie her even more to him.

To become an anchor and make her so dependent on him that she would never let go of him or even think about it.

[AN: I always feel a little squeamish when I approach problems that can happen in everyday life. Topic like suicide, early pregnancy, and now alcohol addiction. I always fear that I might trigger or hurt readers who suffered from such problems in real life.

I do not think that waking up someone who is drowning in alcohol is so easy in real life. It can take years of therapy and still end with no good results. Addiction is scary. I admit freely that my way is incredibly simplistic. But this is why we read fantasy. I personally don’t read fantasy to face an even shittier world, reality is already bad enough. I read to see a world where all problems can be easily resolved with just a discussion or by being the strongest.]