Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 539

Chapter 539: Chapter 539 - Taming the Fourth Year: Discovery

The words hung in the air between them, carrying the weight of two years of silence. Julius could see Ren getting tense at his sister’s name.

Ren looked up from where he had been examining the crystalline structures, his attention now completely focused on Julius.

"She hasn’t gone once to see the statue in the two years."

The statement confused Ren. His eyes widened, and Julius could see the reaction playing across his features.

"What do you mean?" Ren asked quietly.

"Exactly what I said. I go regularly to keep the place monitored, to look at the rings on the door, the rings on our king’s hand, make sure no one can remove them..." Julius gestured vaguely toward where he knew his father’s crystallized form waited.

"Though my concern has proven unnecessary. My old man and the corruption made sure to leave ridiculously hard crystals. Removing the relics from there is impossible for anyone right now."

The casual reference to his father carried layers of emotion. Julius had learned to speak of Dragarion with matter-of-fact acceptance, but the slight tension in his voice suggested the wound was still fresh beneath the exterior.

Julius stopped, realizing he was rambling to avoid the real point of the conversation.

"But getting back to the point," he continued, meeting Ren’s eyes directly, "I understand her. I myself feel great sadness every time I see the statue... And surely she would feel something similar seeing you too."

Ren’s face was unreadable, but Julius could sense the internal struggle happening behind his eyes.

"Because of Larissa’s way of being," Julius continued carefully, "many might think she’s very mature, brilliant, always in control. But in reality, she’s also just a child. Most of that is an act, a character like the ones we all create to survive in the world around us."

Julius paused, choosing his words even more carefully.

"Underneath all that, she’s just a dedicated girl with too many responsibilities who pretends to be tough to defend herself in the unpleasant world of us nobles. But in reality, she’s just afraid of being seen crying, of having the facade of power fall and our world devouring her."

The observation carried the weight of personal experience.

Ren’s breathing had become slightly irregular, his hands clenching and unclenching as he processed this information.

"Maybe that’s why she’s a bit afraid of you," Julius said gently. "Though, if I tell you the truth, her private tutor says she knows you too well, even though she’s never seen you..."

How could that be? The answer lay in the obsessive attention to secondhand information that characterized someone trying to stay connected while maintaining distance.

Julius took a deep breath before continuing with the most important part.

"Even though she’s afraid, even though she won’t accept it openly, I think she misses you. Liora and Luna visit her often, and according to what they’ve told me, she always ends up discretely and roundabout asking what they do on expeditions with you just to know more about you. How you are, what you’ve been doing, if you’ve mentioned her at all..."

Julius met Ren’s eyes directly.

"Just... don’t tell her I told you this, okay? She’d surely kill me if she knew I was gossiping about her insecurities."

The admission was both revelation and plea. Julius was crossing boundaries he had maintained for two years, risking his sister’s trust to bridge a gap that was hurting everyone involved.

Throughout this information dump, Ren had strangely relaxed while also examining the crystallized statues of monsters surrounding them, maybe as a soft form of escapism. It was a ridiculous quantity... thousands upon thousands of creatures, all frozen at the same moment.

All were exactly like those in the chamber where the final battle had occurred, and despite being frozen, all had identical mana signatures to the other monsters in that chamber. Even the King had a mana mark, though different...

But while Julius spoke, and now that he was less worried, Ren realized something crucial.

The changes in mana he had been sensing, the fluctuations that had been concerning him for months... weren’t coming from here.

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