Your Past - Drago Walsroder
“Drago, I have a favor to ask of you.”
The human king Eida once told me so.
'twas the night after the Lispia Council meeting had been held.
“I shall see it done, if 'tis something I am able to do.”
I boldly agreed to his wish.
Yet King Eida continues with a bitter expression.
“I will surely make a mistake in the future.
When that time comes, Drago, I want you to end my life.”
At first, I thought of it as another one of his jokes, but his stern expression says otherwise.
“Please do not jest so, King Eida.
You are the greatest ruler I’ve ever met.”
I said that not as mere flattery. That is how I genuinely think about him.
Never in my life have I imagined the day where kings and queens of all five races took each other’s hand and signed a peace agreement. And yet yesterday, it happened.
That is unmistakably due to King Eida’s skill in managing politics.
He is not called the “King of Salvation” for nothing.
He dreamt about the future of all races living together in harmony,
and worked so hard to make it a reality.
3 months ago, he quietly sneaked into my residence alone.
A move so bold I had cold sweats just by remembering it.
He asked me if I want to see a world where all five races live together in harmony,
and asked me to join the next Lispia Council meeting.
I trust that the one’s coming will be just me and him alone, and that won’t make a peace agreement of any worth to the other races... is what I told him after hearing his proposal.
But he actually had invited all the other race representatives in advance, and they all agreed to come.
The last race he invited was us, the dragon race.
What a miracle, I thought, and gladly accepted his invitation.
Never have I thought the meeting would proceed so smoothly, and ultimately leads to the agreement of peace from all five races. Although it’s only on paper, that alone is already a huge feat.
King Eida spoke to me again, in a voice as meek as a whisper.
“In life, nothing is eternal.
Humans and demi-humans, with time their thinking can change drastically.
And I am in no way an exception. There’s no guarantee I will remain like this forever.”
Indeed, this world is always ever-changing.
There will ultimately be a time where this moment of peace is over.
And King Eida might take a turn to the wrong path as well. Such possibilities always exist.
After taking a short time to think, I gave him my answer;
“Then I promise you, King Eida.
If in the future I find you smeared in evil, I shall take your life away.
A just king should die while remaining as a just king.”
With hesitation, I uttered those words to him.
And he smiled ever so softly.
“You are always dependable, Drago.
Rather than your own emotion, you prioritize what’s best for everyone.”
Seeing him, I realized that I haven’t laughed at all in the past dozens of years or so.
Indeed. To hold high our pride, we the dragon race had decided to not show our emotions so easily to others.
This might have been one of the reasons why the other demi-human races had been avoiding us.
We possess power mighty enough to eradicate all other races.
Were we to abuse that power, we will be no different from monsters.
'tis exactly why we hold the belief of maintaining order so sternly in our hearts, regardless of our own emotions.
To live rightly with everyone else, we must control our enormous power.
“The result of this peace agreement will surely bear fruit in the 10 years to come.
I hope one day, the world will become a place where you can smile more freely.
O king of dragons, Drago. One day, I will save you.”
He spoke with a warm smile.
Soon, it’ll be exactly 10 years after that faithful council meeting.
King Eida gathers the race representative once more to a meeting he calls “Recouncil.”
Will a time where I could smile as warmly as King Eida truly come, I wonder.
After 10 years of not stepping my foot there, I head towards the Loden castle where King Eida lives.