CHAPTER 373: CHAPTER 373: TOO AMBITIOUS TO SETTLE FOR DEATH

Kael’s eyes scanned the body of the dead Veggie Lion, it was hard to tell what emotions were contained within them.

His face was nearly expressionless, nothing could be read from his demeanor. He looked very calm at the moment.

Marcus side-glanced at the blonde-haired king, noticing the absent-minded look the king had in his eyes.

It was a look that he had been seeing too often these days.

*Sigh*

Olivia sighed, bringing a little bit of attention down to her.

Uncle was Zabita’s biological father, this truth couldn’t be hidden.

Left to Kael, he would not have allowed his consorts to get close to these two. He didn’t feel comfortable having Uncle close to Priya or Father close to Nalii and Diane.

The only reason Uncle’s body was here is that this was where he died, on the peach island.

In the last months of his life, Uncle had been brought here so that he could contribute his power to the growth and strength of the regime.

And before he died, he had indeed assisted in the development of some peach trees.

Now that he was dead, nothing would change at all, everything would continue just the way it is. The world barely noticed his existence when he was alive, it wouldn’t give a damn now that he was dead.

The only ones who cared about him right now were those who knew him before he died, Father.

Nalii didn’t really care, although she was a bit emotional, which made it appear as though she was bothered. She was just paying her last respects, so was everyone else.

As for Kael’s brother, Burdo, and others who knew about him. If they weren’t here now, they may come later.

No one was going to wait for a funeral too, they’ll just come to see the grave and go back to what they were doing.

Priya herself would probably want to come later once the news was delivered.

Although Kael was uncomfortable, he knew he had nothing to worry about. The contracts would instantly kill them if Priya and Nalii had tried to do anything funny.

In a way, it was good. There was no point in keeping a consort alive if she couldn’t keep herself for him and him alone. With Kael’s character, if the contract didn’t kill them, he would do it himself.

But there was nothing to worry about.

Kael would make sure there was nothing to worry about.

Perhaps, some methods could save Uncle and Father’s lives. He was sure that if N’bayé and other Magus creatures were focused, they could find a solution.

But Kael didn’t want that.

He was secretly relieved that Uncle was dead, and somewhat delighted that his father would soon follow.

He didn’t hate them, he appreciated them for the experience they provided him while growing up, watching the rise of a Primordial Lion was their privilege.

But it was also because of the experiences that they provided that Kael couldn’t think of living more years with them alive. It would just make the interaction between them and the consorts weird.

And so, Kael would wait until the day his father died.

It was a selfish reason, but Kale didn’t care, that was how it wanted it.

Staring at the dead body, Kael couldn’t help but imagine something.

He imagined himself in that same spot, inside the grave that Uncle was currently in. He imagined that it was a golden lion that was curled up in a fetal position eight feet under.

His death.

Kael’s heart shook and his eyebrows furrowed.

Kael didn’t want to die, he was terrified of death. He didn’t want to know what it felt like to sink into that eternal rest.

He was too ambitious to settle for death

’If only I could reach that tier of true immortality,’ Kael thought to himself as he balled his hand into a fist.

Exalon had mentioned multiple times that a lion could reach a tier where they would become immortal, undying as long as they weren’t killed or kept on sustaining themselves with food.

Kael yearned for that kind of power and was willing to sacrifice anything to get to it, even his kingdom.

But that was just a thought that he would probably never share with anyone. And hopefully, it would never come to that.

The first thing Kael cared about was his life. The second thing he cared about was those that directly enhanced the quality of his life, his consorts. The third thing he cared about were those entities that served as an extension of his power, namely his children, caste leaders, and the kingdom.

"Kael," An elderly voice spoke out telepathically, alerting everyone.

It was the King’s father who had spoken.

Kael raised his head slightly, aligning his glowing, beautiful golden eyes with his father’s fiery red ones.

"Yes," Kael responded. Others would have to call him King or Your Majesty, but he was always willing to let it slide for his Father.

"Can we talk?" Father asked, his elderly voice sounding extremely pitiful in Kael’s mind. Kael resisted the urge to sigh and shake his head.

Kael was about to answer when something caught his eye. The sky behind his father, far beyond the edge of the cliff, Kael saw some black dots moving and getting closer.

He narrowed his eyes, knowing that it was probably Burdo or Priya, coming to pay their last respect.

The knowledge that Uncle was already dead and Father was in his way reduced that primal jealousy that wanted to rear its head in his heart.

Kael nodded his head, "Okay,"

Suddenly, Kael and Father, who were originally standing on the other side of the grave, vanished.

They were gone, teleported.

The onlookers were a little stunned but it wasn’t surprising.

Nalii looked into the distance, observing the dots that were rapidly getting bigger.

Her face scrunched up into a frown as she quickly identified one of the dots as Burdo’s personal shuttle.

###

Far away from the funeral, Kael and Father appeared on the other side of the island.

For Kael, doing something like this was easy, he didn’t even need the power of the arkship to do it. Even Katari could do it.

Father looked around, stunned.

The place they had appeared was a different landscape. Instead of a cliff edge, there was a small beach.

The sand that lay between the peach forest and the ocean water was barely fifty meters wide.

Father looked down, feeling the grains of sand in his paws. He sighed.

"What did you want to talk about," Kael asked, looking nonchalantly at the distant horizon where the water met the sky.

Kael knew that there was nothing his father could say that could remotely be of interest to him. He had been the reigning dictator of his kingdom, ruling intelligent beings for a while now.

It would be hard for Father to gain his interest with a few words of closure.

That was all there was to it, closure. His Father just wanted closure.

Kael was bored enough to give it to him respectfully.

Seeing that there was no one around, the elderly lion began to transform. He changed into his humanoid form.

What stood before Kael was a very old man with faded red hair and sunken eyes. He bore a striking resemblance to Kael, like a red-haired Middle Eastern old man.

His red eyes were faded, they had lost that heat and burn that he had in his prime.

To Kael, it was like looking at a mirror, an older and broken mirror.

"You don’t seem that concerned that your Uncle died," He said with a forced chuckle.

Kael didn’t return the humor, he didn’t smile or smirk.

"I never really cared that much about him in the first place," Kael said.

"I see, as cold as ever," Father nodded his head and said. He slowly moved, heading toward the wet sand and the little waves.

"When you heard that Pavel was dead, you also didn’t seem bothered. I don’t remember Pavel making much trouble for you when you were a cub," Father said as he slowly let his wrinkled feet get soaked in the salty water that washed up.

"I never really had any strong relationship with him," Kael responded nonchalantly.

Father shook his head, "And when you found out that the reason why he died was because he was killed by another lion who challenged him for the Pride Leader position, you didn’t react much.

That day, your uncle assumed you would be furious and immediately use your power to order the execution of that lion that dared to kill your brother.

But you didn’t, you just sat there, looking absent-minded, something more important had your attention then,"

Kael shook his head, finally allowing the edge of his lips to curve up slightly, "Pavel was the one who took away your position, why do you care so much about me avenging him?"

"It’s nothing, I’m just curious..." Father stared at the horizon, having his old and desolate back to Kael, "...how would you feel if I died tomorrow?"

Kael gazed at his father’s back with steady eyes, not flinching or changing his expression the slightest.

"I wouldn’t feel anything,"