Aeren saw all three of them. Olivia looked puzzled by the reactions of both Aeren and the Empress. She had no choice but to side with her Empress, even though Aeren looked pathetic and weak to her. But his emotionless words and eyes made her body shiver.
Aeren thought of something and decided to ask them, "Listen, ladies and gentlemen. I want to ask you a riddle. If you answer correctly, I will stay with you forever."
The Real One doubted his words, but there was no harm in answering a simple riddle. He nodded his head. "Okay, what is it?"
Aeren turned his head to the Empress. Her expression looked doubtful as she thought for a moment, then she also nodded her head.
Aeren didn't turn his head to Olivia and ignored her completely. He thought for a moment, then began:
"When I was trying to find the reason for death, Loneliness came to me and saved me from slavery. I looked at Loneliness and said thanks for saving me, then I left her behind.
Loneliness followed me for months. She liked my uselessness and fell for me.
One day I disappeared, and Loneliness was left alone again.
I left Loneliness behind and found ghosts who didn't even know if they were alive or dead. I lived with them for two years, and then I felt alone, so I thought about meeting people.
So I left the ghosts behind, went to find people, sat in one place, and watched them.
When I was thinking about control, Loneliness came to me, sat beside me, and murmured 'control.'
When Loneliness and I sat together, some people came to us and mocked both me and her. They mocked Loneliness's ugly face and my appearance, but we listened and did nothing, and they left.
Loneliness invited me to her place, and I accepted.
I lived with Loneliness for two years, and then Greed came to me and killed me.
Loneliness saw me on the ground. She didn't believe in my death and stood like a statue.
Then some people came who desired me deeply. They saw me, understood the situation, and gave me a funeral, but Loneliness did not cry at my funeral.
After the funeral, Loneliness was left alone again, but this time she wanted me so badly that it made her decide to come to me.
Then Loneliness came to me, but she didn't see me there. Loneliness started crying and understood me, before leaving I had already given her a gift.
I returned to the ghosts and asked for help to find knowledge. They listened and gave me knowledge.
Years later, I gained something that was inside me from the beginning.
After that, I returned to Loneliness. I came to her, but this time Loneliness looked beautiful.
Loneliness saw me and kicked me, then told me how she had waited for me, so I patted her.
Then Loneliness introduced me to Love and told Love I was Loneliness's husband.
Love saw me and mocked me inside but didn't show his expression outwardly.
After that, I, Loneliness, and Love went inside Loneliness's house.
Then Peace came with Unknown.
Peace saw me and punched me, and after that, Loneliness revealed that I was his father.
Love was shocked by the statement and almost crumbled.
Peace asked for evidence, and I showed the evidence to Peace. Unknown entered my consciousness to know my identity but almost died because of it.
Peace and Unknown left us after knowing I was his real father, and Love never came to Loneliness again.
Once, when Loneliness and I were spending time together, I thought there was nothing here for me, so I told this to Loneliness.
After hearing me, Loneliness asked me for a favor—she wanted me to take her with me.
I agreed and took her heart with me, and I became cursed with Loneliness.
So I took away everything from everyone I had given to them before, and I came here.
Now, tell me: who am I?"
The Real One almost fell asleep during his story and didn't even hear Aeren fully. The other two went emotional for Loneliness, but they also didn't understand Aeren's meaning.
Olivia listened with passion, and the Empress also heard everything Aeren said.
Olivia thought about the entire story and raised her hand. "Can I ask a question?"
Aeren saw Olivia and raised his chin. "What is it?"
Olivia put her hand down and showed a polite expression on her face. "You said Loneliness was ugly, right? Who saw Loneliness as ugly?"
Aeren nodded at her question. "The world did, not me."
Olivia raised her hand again, her eyes telling Aeren 'choose me, choose me.'
So Aeren had no choice but to let her ask the question. "How did you know Peace was your real son?"
Aeren was surprised by her question but didn't really show it. He thought for a moment, looked at Olivia again, and said, "Because he had my essence in his eyes."
Olivia didn't understand Aeren. The Empress was thinking about the answer, and the Real One was also thinking.
Aeren found another rock and sat down on it, watching all three of them thinking deeply. They asked many questions about the riddle, and he answered all of them.
Aeren even told them the story three to four times.
The Empress struck like lightning with a thought and proudly said, "It is soul."
Aeren looked at her and smiled, saying, "No, wrong."
The Real One saw the Empress and started laughing. "HAHAHAHAHA, how can you be this stupid? The real answer is: you are truth."
Aeren was shocked by the Real One's answer and never thought he would be this close to finding the answer. The Real One saw Aeren's face and proudly thought he had won, but the next moment his mood shattered.
"No, wrong. But you were close to the answer."
Olivia hadn't answered Aeren's question yet, and he wanted to know her answer.
Aeren had expected much from her—she had asked good questions and might get the right answer.
Olivia had finally understood everything about Aeren's story and had finally thought of an answer. She raised her hand, and Aeren smiled, starting to expect something—maybe the right answer.
"You are hope."
All of Aeren's hopes shattered with her answer, and he didn't know what to say to her. He had believed in her, and she gave this terrible answer. Don't they think about me, or are they all idiots?
Aeren wanted to kill them now—they didn't even think about him.
Aeren felt sad, and his mood went down with her answer. He finally said to her:
"No, you're all wrong."
The Empress and Real One were shocked by his response.
"Then tell us the answer."
Aeren looked at them with cold eyes, all expectation gone from his face, and said:
"You all don't deserve to know the answer."
They stared at Aeren with anger and understood that he was just playing around with them, wasting their time.
They all took fighting stances, forgot about the answer, and prepared to attack.