A faint, ghostly smile appeared on Cassian's lips, only to disappear almost immediately like smoke in the wind. "He looked up at me with his failing eyes and laughed softly. He said to me, 'Cassian, a king who protects only the strong and discards the weak has already failed as a sovereign.'"
Lin Wan watched his stoic side profile, her heart aching slightly for the heavy weight the young boy must have felt carrying those final words.
"So..." Cassian turned his head slowly to look directly into her eyes. "Since that dark day... I stopped believing that brute strength alone could preserve and protect a kingdom."
Lin Wan asked gently, "What protects it then?"
"Responsibility does," he answered without hesitation. "Absolute, unwavering responsibility."
Lin Wan didn't answer immediately. She had fully expected him to deliver another stern lecture about kingdom security, rules, or power dynamics.
