NOVPUBIn Puranay’s special cell, a brief silence followed. The Great Love Poet still hadn’t responded to Puranay’s question of "Why did you choose me?"
The figure with black hair and green eyes just gave a soft smile.
"Why are you laughing?"
"I’m remembering something pleasant."
The Great Love Poet replied, acknowledging that Puranay had never met a truly useless disgraceful demon.
"Did my appearance give you cause for laughter?"
"It might be somewhat related to what you just said, but that only accounts for ten percent."
"..."
The Love Poet’s response puzzled Puranay, but he felt that the king wasn’t really mocking him but rejecting his words in some way, making him understand that he wasn’t a useless Great Demon Clan member.
Finally.
"My Lord, I only have one question. Can’t we just escape to the South Continent now and return after a hundred years instead of getting entangled in the whirlpool of the Protoss Empire? It’s a chance for us to quickly realize our long-standing wish, but the risks are too great."
Puranay did not lift his head immediately, talking in a low voice to the Great Love Poet.
"Unfortunately, I cannot accede to this request or lie to you about it."
The Love Poet swiftly answered his question.
Hence, Puranay sank back into silence.
Giving Puranay some time to think, the Great Love Poet spoke again.
"Puranay, the more skilled you are at calculating, the more you’ll find that you cannot outsmart change. Even with foresight, it’s not possible. Even the Goddess of Destiny can’t control it. If she could, there wouldn’t be a Rebirth Church in this world. You should understand this principle better than I do."
The Great Love Poet sat in front of Puranay, his hands gently resting on his knees, as he spoke to himself.
"Sometimes, the closer safety you come to securing, the more fear it causes, doesn’t it? Yet you also recognise that there’s no such thing as absolute safety in this world. Have you ever considered whether you can truly find inner peace by remaining in this prison?"
The Great Love Poet’s demeanor radiated a gentle and unyielding quality, reassuring enough to penetrate Puranay’s inner turmoil and pain.
"..."
Puranay fell silent again, his head still bowed in thought.
"In your world, pain and challenges are inevitable, but the more you obsess over them, the more insecurity they bring. Beside me, you can lay down all your burdens and depend on me, enjoying the pure peace of the present."
The Love Poet continued.
"But... to be at peace, I need to let go of my obsession. But my anxiety prevents me from letting go of this obsession,"
Puranay shared his inner conflict with the New King.
By the New King’s side, he seemed to be able to find a level of tranquility he had never known before.
But if he accepted the New King’s words, he would be going against his own principles. He was scared that venturing too far into unknown theories and trials would throw him into true despair.
"So Puranay, could you first tell me what inner peace is to you? And when can you usually feel this inner peace?"
The Great Love Poet asked gently.
"..."
Puranay was at a loss for words.
"I’m not sure. Maybe I’ve never truly experienced inner peace."
Puranay answered softly.
"After the decline of the Demon World, you’ve been striving to find inner peace, right?"
The Great Love Poet gently clasped his hands, like he had found the root of the problem, and said to Puranay,
"You’ve been trying to repress your desires. I can see it. It may sound unnatural for a demon to suppress their desires, but unfortunately, most tragedies are caused by desires, isn’t the destruction of the Demon World proof of this?"
"You want to achieve a tranquil mind undisturbed by emotions and desires, to reach an ideal state of safety."
"..."
Realizing that Puranay didn’t want to speak and would rather listen, the Love Poet carried on.
"Or perhaps returning to the basics of the pleasure principle, not indulging excessively in pleasure, but maintaining the bare necessities: enough food and drink, warm clothing, or just the most basic living conditions. By rejecting excessive luxury and vanity, you can derive immense satisfaction from a simple life and attain inner peace."
"At present, you’ve successfully reached both these states of mind here in Herram Prison. So, what comes next? Have you ever thought, do you truly feel any peace inside?"
The Great Love Poet stopped speaking at this point, waiting for Puranay’s response.
"I don’t feel it."
Puranay admitted, his voice somewhat weak,
"Every day of these hundred years, I’ve been in pain. To be honest, today’s the happiest day I’ve had."
He awaited the Love Poet’s laughter at his words.
However, the Great Love Poet didn’t laugh this time, he just nodded earnestly.
"Your continued pursuit of inner peace is admirable. As for what inner peace means to me, it’s a challenging question too because we each face different problems due to our unique positions. Consequently, our understandings of inner peace vary."
The Great Love Poet’s voice was gentle but firm, each word filled with encouragement.
"I spoke a lot without your request, for which I apologize. Truthfully, I want to know what inner peace means to you."
Even though he had finished speaking, Puranay could almost hear the next sentence—
I want to help you achieve it.
"Puranay, even if you don’t want to leave today, I still hope to be friends with you. We may meet again someday, but if you choose to go with me, I’ll keep you safe and try to keep you away from fights. And if you do have to fight, the only circumstances under which I would allow it would be ones where you’re guaranteed to win."
The Love Poet’s voice was very soft, he didn’t want to pressure Puranay,
"By my side, if an enemy threatened the peace inside your mind, I would die before letting them get to you."
This time Puranay finally looked up. His eyes were filled with a complex mixture of emotions as he gazed at the figure with black hair and green eyes.
In this unbroken darkness, there was a glimmer of light.
He wanted to say something or ask the New King why he was treating him this way, but realized he had already posed that question earlier.
The figure reflected in his vibrant green eyes wore an expression full of regret and resentment.
"So you want me to repeat why I’m interested in a ’useless’ and ’disgraceful’ demon like you, right?"
The Great Love Poet asked Puranay, a broad smile on his face.
"Yes... I want a straight answer, not another consolation."
Puranay’s voice carried a rare determination. It was as if he was resolved to understand whether he could live up to the New King’s expectations.
"Don’t miss out on realizing what you already possess, Puranay, in your yearning for what you do not have."
The Great Love Poet spoke earnestly,
"You have a keen sense of your own crisis and want to redress it, which is very commendable. However, it is equally important to invest the same effort in reevaluating your own strengths. You’d find that identifying your strengths is far more rewarding than constantly focusing on your biggest weaknesses."
Following these words, Puranay’s eyes finally lit up.
