The Hidden King

Chapter 28

Milia extended a dinner invitation to everyone, including the busy Liam, who, along with Ethan and Alec, had visited the camp and had a conversation with Annina, now living back at the villa.

Together with Heidi, Milia prepared a spread of grilled steaks, stew, and meat soup, pouring each guest a glass of newly brewed berry wine. She raised her glass in gratitude. Liam, savoring the wine, forked a piece of steak into his mouth, murmuring, "That woman is remarkable. She admitted being an elf, saying she was appointed by the gods to treat those exiled in Newcastle."

"But regardless, she made the poisoned sweet soup," Heidi said, displeased.

"True, but she could deny it, claiming she left the room, so she wasn't the one who poisoned it," Liam said, sighing.

Milia gathered her emotions, determined to speak. "I plan to appeal for Morrison's innocence of murder." Everyone was surprised. "Are you going to claim he's insane?" Heidi asked, knowing this would conflict with Milia's conscience.

"Why help him?" Ethan asked, puzzled.

"He's not Morrison. His name is Odessa," Milia took a deep breath. "Odessa is my father. Many years ago, the one who was judged to have committed suicide by jumping off a cliff was Morrison, Annina's real father."

Everyone paused, astonished. "So your father didn't die but became Annina's father?" Liam asked, intrigued. Heidi, familiar with Milia's past, slammed the table. "So he faked his death, fled, and let you, an orphan, bear the consequences?"

Ethan frowned, recalling Milia's childhood story of her father's suicide and her subsequent solitary wanderings. He felt a pang of heartache. What emotional turmoil must she have been enduring, meeting her supposedly deceased father as a murderer? What irony.

"Annina found Odessa, my father, and used him to kill Newcastle," Milia said calmly, tears flickering in her eyes. "My father faked his death by falling off a cliff. The body under the cliff was Annina's father, Morrison, who fell during the struggle."

"I thought my father had committed suicide, but I can't deny that I might actually remember him returning to tell me that only death could bring me peace. His death might have been a deliberate deception, and I might have been aware. When I arrived in Lawrence, I lied to the old leader, Dadasa, making him believe I was an abandoned orphan, and Odessa's guilt went unpunished."

This was the truth Annina wanted to reveal.

Milia shared the burden that had weighed on her for years with her friends, feeling a wave of relief wash over her.

Ethan raised his glass in a toast to Milia. "Don't be too hard on your younger self. Back then, you had nothing and were seeking a safe haven. And," Ethan took a sip of his wine, "now I understand. As a father bearing the stigma of a criminal, someone without a stable life, he truly wished for you to have a better future, which is why he didn't come forward to acknowledge you."

"So, are you planning to treat his madness? Or are you trying to absolve him of murder by claiming insanity?" Heidi was visibly angry. "He abandoned you when you were most helpless, and went to serve that Annina. He doesn't deserve to be your father again. Are you really going to save him? To fall into Annina's trap?"

"I believe he is innocent. He just followed Annina's instructions to feed Morrison a bowl of sweet soup," Milia affirmed. "And he didn't premeditate to impersonate his friend Morrison; that must have been a later development due to some accident."

"You're too naive," Heidi slammed the table again and stood up. "If you're really going to save this Morrison, count me out." With that, she grabbed her coat and stormed out, Alec following quickly after, unable to stop her.