Book 3. The Long Journey. Chapter 207. Incomprehensible Result.

Anna, having been taught by experience at an early age that raising a loud, emotional objection with her father would lead her nowhere, forced herself to keep her lips tightly pursed. She had no confidence at all in changing her father’s mind once he decided on doing something since neither she nor anyone she knew had ever accomplished such a feat. She had heard quite a few stories about her father’s younger days, too, but even from back then the times when her father would declare something and have his mind changed afterwards could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

So, she could only direct her gaze towards Laien and plead with her eyes for him to back down just this once. Under more normal circumstances, she would have simply ‘calmly advised’ someone to do as her father wished or face consequences, but it wasn’t like she was unaware of how strong and stubborn Laien’s character was, either. She had seen with her own eyes how far this youth was willing to go to achieve his goals and she had seen him face death repeatedly within the past twenty-four hours. If someone like that happened to be unyielding in his beliefs, too, then getting that person to lower their head when they were convinced they were in the right would be impossible.

“Apologize?” Laien shook his head with a mocking smile on his lips. “For what should I apologize?” he asked disdainfully. “Should I apologize for ridiculing you after you exploded on me as if I was a servant of yours? Or should I apologize for you refusing to listen to my words and insisting that I wholeheartedly submit to your authority? Or maybe even before that, for not prostrating myself on the ground the very second you were benevolent enough to grace me with your presence?” he asked repeatedly, speaking his mind without reservations. It had been a long time he had lost patience with anyone to such a degree, but Emeric was too insufferable for him to keep his mouth shut.

“Impertinent fool,” Emeric spat the words out, anger fading from his eyes as it was exchanged by indifference. “If you’re unwilling to let go of your folly pride, then just remember that with how our Holy Union is constructed, neither Azuresky nor anyone else will be able to get you out of the trouble you’ve caused. As long as even one of us four Kings doesn’t agree with a person or a group entering our lands, it will not happen. You can forget about sailing north by the sea, too, just so you know,” he stated flat-out, by this point not intending to forgive Laien even if he apologized. He wasn’t about to give in to his daughter’s requests, either, since he had made up his mind and that was it.

“Amazing.” Yet, much to Emeric’s further displeasure, Laien showed no signs of being intimidated by his threats. “I never thought I’d see a King who behaves like a backstreet hoodlum, but I guess there’s a first for everything,” Laien said with a shrug. To be fair, he did feel a bit bad for not ‘acting like an adult’, but it was Emeric who went off on him first, all out of the blue! He understood that getting into a conflict with Emeric for such a silly reason was detrimental to not only his plans but to the plans of many of his friends and allies. Yet, when even Yin was starting to feel like telling Emeric a piece of his own mind, how could he be expected to keep calm and remain perfectly respectful?

While Laien and Emeric arrived at a dead-end, it were Casimir, Anna, and many of the others from the Euleanian side who were the most stressed over the entire situation. As for Casimir, who was about to try to give his shot at negotiating a peace deal between the two, he really wished that he wouldn’t have to ride over on his horse in order to talk with everyone. The fact that practically all of them were mounted and even Mustafa had gotten on his horse in the meanwhile, taking Arslan with himself, meant that he couldn’t very well ask everybody to dismount and talk it all out peacefully.

“Laien,” Casimir began saying, having given the approach a good moment of consideration beforehand. Given Emeric’s personality, he was sure that the man would ask if he was talking to him and not to Laien because he believes that Laien’s in the right. The moment Emeric pointed that out, even in bad faith, the discussion would be done and dusted. Comparatively speaking, he felt that he had higher chances of getting through to Laien than to Emeric. “I can see there’s a difference of opinions between you and King Emeric, but couldn’t you take a step back for everyone’s sake? In the end, we are about to into the Holy Union’s territory, so we should play by its rules,” he implored, minding to keep both his voice and body language as reserved and non-forceful as possible. After all, while he did think it would be easier to convince Laien, he never thought it would be easy.

“Eh,” Laien sighed, beginning to feel all the more guilty. He really was making quite a scene here even though he could have just pretended to apologize in the very beginning and had it all be over with. Even Casimir was asking him politely without forcing his hand by mentioning that he did owe him a great favour, but as he pondered his answer, he could only sigh again. “I can pretend nothing happened if King Emeric does the same, but I won’t apologize to him,” he said in the end. He could show some flexibility for Casimir’s and everyone’s sake, but as a cultivator, he wasn’t willing to act against his heart. If he compromised himself in a matter as seemingly small as this one, then he feared that this one event would become a crack in his mentality. As time went on, that one crack could very well evolve into a Heart Demon and cause him immense trouble with cultivation.

“That’s not going to happen.” Alas, before Casimir could even shift his attention to Emeric, the golden-haired man shot down the idea without a second thought. He wasn’t intending to forgive Laien with any standard apology since he wanted to make Laien experience the consequences of his actions, so how could he accept the idea of ‘pretending that nothing happened’?

Facing the two unyieldingly stubborn parties, Casimir had to exert his full effort to keep all the frustration he was experiencing from showing on his face. As experienced a negotiator as he was, he honestly had no idea how to approach a discussion with those two extremely pig-headed people. What made the matters worse, there was nothing he could offer to either of them to entice the desired outcome and if he were to try to ask for a favour or a return of the debt, he feared that he would not only fail to settle the ongoing argument but hurt his relationship with those two, too.

Thus, left with only one choice, Casimir once again spoke to Laien. “Are you sure you couldn’t apologize? This argument started from you and King Emeric having different perspectives at what’s appropriate, so it’s not like you’ll be admitting you were in the wrong if you do,” he tried to persuade by aiming for the middle group, but not only was Laien’s response to give him a helpless smirk, Emeric also proceeded to shut the suggestion down just like before.

“He was, though,” Emeric pointed out, almost causing Casimir’s expression to crumble. “What he should have apologized for was being in the wrong, not only for having a misunderstanding. Also, an apology should have been followed up by the proper behaviour that was expected of him, in the first place. Not that any of it matters anymore.” Emeric elaborated in a dry tone. To him, a half-hearted apology was even more worthless than no apology at all, so he saw no point in indulging this line of discussion and wasting everyone’s time, even if Casimir were to somehow convince Laien.

“Just why,” Casimir uttered in resignation, just about ready to admit defeat. “Why do the two of you have to be so stubborn about it? Is it really worth to be so stubborn in light of all the trouble this argument will cause?” he asked, not knowing where else to take this discussion. He couldn’t arrive at a compromise and he had no idea how to convince either of the parties in any other way. To be honest, this stupid argument was proving to be the toughest nut to crack in his entire life.

Emeric, met with the defeated look on Casimir’s face and the saddened look his own daughter was giving him, shook his head and decided to make an exception just this once. He wasn’t one to explain his reasoning when asked, but since those two youths were bound to get married sooner rather than later, he assumed that he could give them some preferential treatment. “If you need to know, it’s about the principle. I never tolerated people who don’t respect my rules and I’m not about to start doing so now. This little child was given more than one chance to apologize, but he took none of them. Whatever happens from now on, he can only blame himself for it.”

“Quite a hypocritical approach,” Laien commented with a disdainful laugh. “You mean to say, King Emeric, that everyone you meet has to play by whatever rules you create and if they don’t, then it’s their own fault? I’m sorry to say that but if that’s your attitude, then you should forget about making allies or conquering new lands for your country. I bet that if it wasn’t for your friendship with Warrior-King Azuresky, you would have never joined something like the Holy Union, either,” he stated casually, thought compared to before his tone of voice was less combative. He wasn’t about to lower his head to Emeric, but he felt no need to keep aggravating the man at every step.

“Hoh.” As he listened to Laien, Emeric revealed a slight smile of contempt. “Since you’re so sure of your own convictions, then how about you explain them in front of everyone here? You could begin by telling us why you insist on not bowing your head to me,” he suggested, mostly for Casimir and Anna’s sake. The two youths would inevitably play a large role in the management of their countries in the future, so he saw it as a good enough opportunity to broaden their perspectives. As for Laien, he had lost both anger and interest in his person, so he no longer cared much about his words.

“There are a few reasons,” Laien replied, shrugging his shoulders. In a way, he too felt that it was a good opportunity to express his mind, though for different reasons than Emeric. “But most should be obvious enough for me not to waste breath on them. What you’re asking about is probably if it’s my pride that’s not letting me concede ground and admit a mistake? To that, my answer would be no. I’d be more than happy to apologize if you, or anyone else at that matter, convinced me that I was in the wrong. However, for me to act against my own heart in order to appease someone and avoid some trouble would be to act against my own principles and beliefs. Once I compromised my principles once, what would stop me from doing it the second, the third, the hundredth time?” he explained calmly, putting what had been on his mind this entire time into a set of proper words. Then, after a second of consideration, he smiled more to himself than to anyone else and added lightheartedly.

“If I were to try and put it in simple words… yes, as a cultivator, it would be akin to me going against my own Dao Heart.”

When Laien finished speaking and proceeded to look at Emeric, who still wore the same expressionless look on his face from before, those around were beginning to chew on Laien’s words. Some felt that he was being too grandiose and was only making excuses instead of admitting that he was too prideful to admit a mistake, while others sympathized with him in the context of the situation but weren’t too convinced by Laien’s attitude towards life. To them, people who were unwilling to bend were bound to break since life, even for those luckiest ones, wasn’t a bed of roses. There would be times when you would have to do something you didn’t like for the sake of the greater good and often most, bearing with those difficulties would lead to good outcomes.

Yet, amongst all those experts were two men whose thoughts were clearly shaken by Laien’s seemingly simple statement. Those two were both concealing how they felt since even they felt surprised by how much their hearts had been stirred by the words of a young boy who confidently declared that it was most important him to stay true to his heart. Perhaps because those two men ruled countries of their own or perhaps because they had lived their entire lives in a very similar fashion to what Laien acclaimed, they had to clench their fists to hide the trembling of their hands. The moment they had given Laien a benefit of the doubt, they both realized that all of the most powerful experts they knew, including themselves, shared one particular trait.

Whether it was for good or bad, all of the truly powerful people they knew had well-defined characters and they would rarely, if ever, act against them. If they were to borrow Laien’s words, all the young and old cultivators with the potential to become the greatest had a strong Dao Heart of their own. Be it Mustafa or Azuresky, they both felt that they were being a bit too far-fetched by acclaiming those set of rules to the ongoing situation, but somehow, they couldn’t help but do so.

“Well, you made your point,” Emeric said after a few seconds, though neither his tone nor his expression changed one bit. “What else do you have to say?” he asked sourly, waiting for Laien to keep speaking. Least to be said, from how he was acting just about anyone could tell that he wasn’t all that impressed.

“Just one thing,” Laien responded casually. “As far as I’m concerned, if your country conquers any land in your ongoing northern campaign, then if you follow those rules of yours when subjugating them, all you will get is a rebellion at the first sign of the Yali Kingdom’s weakness. Your rules might work for you and your countrymen since they naturally accept you as the supreme leader, but those around the world won’t share all of your beliefs. Of course, I can’t be sure, but you making a great scene out of me stirring a little trouble seems like a good enough indication,” he said and shrugged his shoulders again. Maybe the northern tribes were different, but if Emeric were to somehow conquer the south of the continent, then people would never accept him as their King. Not when he would attempt to push his own principles and way of life onto them in an uncompromising way.

“What else would you suggest then?” Emeric asked flatly, adding to the already high tension that could be felt in the air. “According to your own words, wouldn’t me going against my own beliefs to accommodate you be synonymous to acting against my so-called ‘Dao Heart’?” he asked and smirked at Laien, curious to see if the boy had even thought his words through before speaking them.

“Of course,” Laien said with an amused smile, causing the slight smile to immediately disappear from Emeric’s face. “Some people simply aren’t fit to be rulers,” he stated, causing Emeric to open his eyes wide as his facial muscles trembled in pure shock. Moreover, little did Laien know, but this one sentence spoken by him had similar results to a strike of lightning that happened without a warning as most of the elites in the area could only hold their breaths as they froze without any movement.

Out of everyone, only Azuresky, Mustafa, Julien, and a few other high-ranking officers from their camps showed their teeth as they smiled in disbelief. To tell a King as powerful as Emeric straight to his face that he wasn’t suited to be a ruler, in from of all those people, no matter if it was foolishness or bravery, it was an incredible act in of itself.

“Naturally.” Yet, as if oblivious to the silent stir of emotions he had caused, Laien continued speaking as if nothing had happened. “With my Dao Heart, I’m not suited to be a ruler either since I would be unwilling to forsake my Dao Heart for the interest of the country. As far as I’m concerned, there are only very few people who are naturally suited to be rulers while staying true to themselves, thus being destined to be both powerful practitioner and Great Kings. As for those who are more prone to putting their own preferences above the grand concepts like the greater good or the greater interest of their own countries, like me and as it seems, like you, King Emeric, those people are not suitable to become a King of anything or anyone,” he elaborated, at one point having forgotten about the presence of the hundreds of elites around him and even about the argument he was having with Emeric. In fact, he felt that he was beginning to understand himself better as he verbalized the thoughts and convictions which usually rested hidden in the back of his mind.

“Do you not change, then?” Emeric asked in his usual tone, his eyes centered on Laien to the degree that he too was failing to notice how ridiculously nervous the atmosphere around them had become. “Is that Dao Heart you speak of the ultimate judge of whether someone can become a great ruler? If it doesn’t conform, can it only be discarded?” he asked strongly enough for his words to put pressure on everyone nearby and not just on Laien to whom he was speaking to.

“It depends,” Laien replied honestly and smiled at Emeric. “On my own example, my beliefs keep changing as I learn and experience new things, as I interact with other people and as I make new friends and new enemies. The foundation of my Dao Heart is to stay true to myself so if I had a genuine desire to create and rule my own country, then my behaviour would change, too. In a scenario like that one, even though my day-to-day behaviour would have changed, I would have still stayed true to my Dao Heart. As for other people, I can’t be all that sure, but I believe that the crux of things is in the balance between their principles and their desires,” he explained, unknowingly have gotten so excited about the discussion that a happy and relaxed smile blossomed on his face.

“Again in my own case,” Laien kept speaking eagerly, for some reason feeling quite warm deep inside, as if his soul was being soothed by the experience. “I wouldn’t be willing to, for example, slaughter a village of innocents in order to save someone dear to me. That’s the case when I’m unwilling to break my principles to achieve my goals. However, if I had to, for example, prostrate myself and beg before someone I hated if it was the only thing that could save someone important to me, I would do it. In both cases, even though the superficial results are the opposite, I would have stayed true to my Dao Heart,” he explained in a hurry, as if there was too little time to speak all the words that were swirling in his head. Then, to sum up, he added a few more sentences.

“Overall, I think it’s about the foundation on which one’s Dao Heart is built. If they are of the mind that they should adapt and learn in order to achieve what they want in the best possible way, then it will be easier for them to change. On the other hand, those who tend to believe themselves to always be right or those who only follow their immediate emotions will find changing to be difficult.”

“Staying true to yourself, huh,” Emeric muttered, though with how acute the hearing of everyone gathered was and how silent the place had become, his words were still audible to them all. “And the balance between one’s principles and his desires, all leading to shaping one’s Dao Heart,” he added quietly, his gaze leaving Laien for the first time in a good while. Under everybody’s anxious looks, he proceeded to ponder Laien’s entire explanation for a moment, to then raise his eyes back up.

“You do have a point,” Emeric stated without beating around the bush. “I can’t say I’m fully convinced yet, but what you said doesn’t seem like a load of crap, at the very least,” he added and much to everyone’s bafflement, he smiled at Laien in a non-offensive manner, one that could even be called to be fairly amicable. However, it were only the words which he said next that almost caused hundreds of the present martial and spiritual masters to have a heart attack.

“While I still don’t appreciate you trying to stir trouble between me and Azuresky with that silly question, I admit I shouldn’t have reacted as I have. For that, I apologize.”

Even before Emeric finished speaking, the likes of Anna and Alicia started feeling lightheaded and came to the verge of losing consciousness, all because of how unbelievable Emeric’s words were to them. That self-centered, ridiculously stubborn and all-knowing Emeric had suddenly changed his mind and apologized?! Even they weren’t entirely convinced by Laien’s little speech, but Emeric went as far as to admit that he had been in the wrong and even lowered his head, both metaphorically and literally, to a thirteen-year-old child?! Were Anna, Alicia, and many dozens of others from the Euleanian Camp not been sitting on their horses, they would have likely collapsed to the ground!

“I apologize, too,” Laien said with a smile, cupped his hands and bowed to Emeric, delivering a second round of shock to all those watching, by this point literally causing quite a few of them to blank out from sheer discrepancy between their perceived reality and the events that were happening. “I don’t dislike people I can talk things out with, so I apologize for all the disrespectful words I said. I hope you won’t mind, King Emeric,” he said honestly, thinking that Emeric wasn’t as bad as he had seemed. The man was rather stubborn, but he himself was very stubborn, too, so he couldn’t really blame Emeric for the entirety of the unpleasant beginning of their argument.

“Let it be,” Emeric responded with a smile and waved his hand dismissingly, as if all the harsh words he and Laien had exchanged been nothing but a lie. “Do you think we could meet in the middle, though, and you could mind formalities around me a bit more?” he inquired and raised an eyebrow, his half-joking half-serious tone causing dozens of those around him to open their mouths wide.

“Will do,” Laien said with a grin, then cupped his hands and bowed again. “Let me thank you for coming to our rescue, King Emeric. I assure you that it won’t be mere words, but actions through which I will show my gratitude,” he said and raised his head, then chuckled when he saw that Emeric wore a smile that seemed to be saying that he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, whether to be angry over Laien’s apparent half-formal attitude or glad for the agreeable content of his words.

“Thank you too,” Laien looked at Azuresky and repeated the cupping and bowing gesture. “Thank you, Warrior-King Azuresky. I also promise to show you how grateful I am with actions rather than with words,” he said cheekily and here, as he expected, he received a grin from Azuresky. By the looks of it, the Warrior-King was most pleased by how the matter at hand had concluded.

“Enough is enough,” Emeric stated, trying to return to his original emotionless tone but failing to contain the trace of helpless amusement resounding from his words. “Let us get going to our Holy Union’s Academy City. For our intents and purposes, that place will be the best,” he said and sent Laien a meaningful glance, then rolled his eyes when Laien chuckled and nodded at him. Pretending to be offended, he led his horse forward and ordered everybody to start setting out.

“Casimir.” Meanwhile, Anna uttered in a weak voice without even moving her head to look at Casimir. “What just happened?” she asked, failing to comprehend the events which had taken place. She knew she should be getting going since her father, Azuresky, Mustafa, and even Laien and Yin had started moving to the head of the formation to leave the old Marble Mine, but she was too flabbergasted to react in any sensible way. To her, the world as she knew did a one hundred and eighty and flipped itself over on top of its head, becoming something totally incomprehensible.

“Hell if I know,” Casimir replied blankly. He was just about as confused by the events of the past minutes as Anna, so how could he possibly explain them?