Dragon Monarch System

Chapter 1162: Chapter 1162:- Forgiveness

The reason Rin had not brought anyone else into the spiritual realm while Aditya was being scolded was simple. She did not want others to see the Dragon Monarch sitting on the floor while receiving a lecture from his mother.

Aditya had his dignity as an Emperor to maintain, and although his future wives had already witnessed the scene, Rin did not want his subordinates or other members of the family to see him in such a position and make him lose face.

There was another reason Rin had deliberately waited. After Elena finished scolding Aditya, she wanted to give their family some private time together. Alen and Elena had been separated from their son for far too long, and Rin felt that they deserved some time with Aditya and his future wives before everyone else arrived.

Only after the introductions were finished and Elena had properly welcomed the girls into the family did Rin begin bringing the others into the spiritual realm.

Malakor Harrington was among the first to appear, followed by Wahid and his wives, Zahira and Yuna. Nathan and Spencer soon appeared as well, along with the others who had been invited to tonight’s preplanned meeting.

The moment Malakor appeared, his eyes immediately moved around the unfamiliar living room. Although he had never personally entered this place before, he was not confused about what had happened. Aditya had already explained the existence of the spiritual realm to everyone beforehand, and tonight’s meeting had been planned in advance.

Still, Malakor could not hide his curiosity as he examined the room around him. Everything felt strangely real despite knowing that his physical body was still somewhere else.

“Where is this place?” Malakor asked while continuing to observe his surroundings.

“This is an imitation of the Dragon Palace.” Aditya explained. “This entire place was created to resemble the Dragon Palace of the Istarin Empire. This is what my home looks like back there.”

Hearing that, Malakor looked around the living room once again, this time with greater interest. Although they were currently inside a spiritual realm, the surroundings gave him his first proper glimpse of the home Aditya had built for himself in the Istarin Empire.

“Ohhh…!” Malakor Harrington, Wahid, Zahira, and Yuna took a moment to look around the living room and admire the beauty of the Dragon Palace. Even though this was only an imitation created within the spiritual realm, the details were impressive enough to give them a clear idea of what Aditya’s home in the Istarin Empire actually looked like.

However, Malakor’s attention did not remain on the surroundings for very long. As his gaze moved across the room, it suddenly stopped on a familiar figure standing not too far away.

‘Elena…’

The moment Malakor recognized his daughter, everything else around him seemed to lose importance. His shoulders began to tremble slightly as he stared at her without even blinking. He had almost forgotten how long it had been since he had last properly seen his daughter. Nearly a decade had passed, yet to Malakor, she still looked almost exactly the same.

“Daughter!”

No matter how old Elena became, Malakor could never look at her merely as Aditya’s mother or the wife of an Emperor. In his eyes, she would always remain the sweet and innocent little girl he had raised with his own hands. Looking at her now reminded him of the child who used to follow him everywhere, always remaining close to her father whenever she had the opportunity.

“Father!” Elena froze the moment she saw him.

Her eyes immediately reddened as memories of everything that had happened between them returned to her. Unlike Malakor, who was overwhelmed by finally seeing his daughter again, Elena’s happiness was mixed with a deep sense of guilt. She remembered the horrible things she had said to her father while her mind had been under Ren’s control.

Elena knew those words had never truly come from her heart. Her real consciousness had been trapped inside her own mind while her body and actions were controlled by someone else. Yet knowing that did not completely remove the pain she felt whenever she remembered how she had treated her father.

Even if she had been controlled, those cruel words had still come from her mouth, and Malakor had been the one forced to hear them.That was especially painful because Elena knew better than anyone how much her father had loved and protected her throughout her life.

Growing up, Malakor had given his daughter everything he possibly could. Elena had been so protected and sheltered by him that even the Emperor himself would have thought twice before doing anything that could hurt her. Whenever she needed something, her father was there. Whenever she faced a problem, Malakor stood behind her.

He had raised her with so much love and care that Elena knew she could spend the rest of her life trying and still never fully repay everything he had done for her.

Yet after receiving all that love from him, their relationship had been torn apart because of Ren’s control over her mind.

Even though Elena understood that she had never willingly betrayed her father, she still carried the pain of what had happened. She could never imagine saying such horrible things to the man who had loved her since the moment she was born.

And now, after all those years of separation and everything that had happened between them, father and daughter were finally standing face-to-face again.

“Dad! I am so sorry.”

As Malakor approached her, Elena could no longer hold back the guilt she had been carrying. Before her father could even reach her, she bent her body nearly ninety degrees and deeply bowed her head to him.

She did this in front of everyone in the room without caring about her status or reputation. At this moment, she was neither the former Empress nor Aditya’s mother. She was simply a daughter apologizing to the father whom she had deeply hurt.

Elena knew that everything that had happened between them could not simply be erased with a single apology. The horrible words she had spoken and the pain Malakor had endured because of her actions would not disappear just because she asked for forgiveness.

However, an apology could at least become the starting point for making amends and rebuilding the relationship that had been damaged over the years.

“Daughter…!” Malakor stared at Elena as she remained deeply bowed before him.

“I hurt you so much. I said such horrible things to you even after everything you had done for me.” Elena’s voice trembled as tears continued falling from her eyes. “Please forgive me, Dad.”

Seeing his wife apologizing alone, Alen could not remain where he was. Whatever had happened in the past involved him as well, and he had no intention of allowing Elena to shoulder all the guilt by herself. Alen walked forward and stood beside his wife before lowering his head and deeply bowing to his father-in-law.

“Dad, please forgive us.”

Neither Elena nor Alen cared about their reputation at this moment. Their son was watching them, Aditya’s future wives were present, and several other important people were standing inside the room, but none of that mattered.

They did not care that others were seeing the former Emperor and Empress bowing their heads. All they wanted was to sincerely apologize to an old man who had loved both of them like his own children, only to be deeply hurt by their actions.

Malakor remained silent as he looked at the two bowing before him.

The truth was that he had already forgiven them.

The moment Malakor learned that Elena and Alen had been under the mind control of Ren and the mysterious Organisation, whatever resentment he still carried toward them had disappeared.

He understood that the daughter he had raised would never willingly say those cruel things to him. The same applied to Alen. Their real consciousness had been trapped while their actions and words were being controlled by someone else.

Because of that, Malakor no longer held any grudge against either of them for what had happened in the past.

The sadness, anger, humiliation, and hatred that had accumulated inside him over the years had simply found their true targets once the truth was revealed. Every negative emotion that Malakor once mistakenly directed toward his daughter and son-in-law was now aimed at Ren and the mysterious Organisation responsible for destroying their family.

Especially Ren.

To Malakor, Ren was no longer merely the man sitting on the throne of the Celestial Dragon Empire. He was the Fake Emperor, a core member of the Organisation, and the person who had taken control of Alen and Elena’s minds before using them to tear their own family apart.

Malakor had already forgiven the two people bowing before him. The ones he could never forgive were the people who had forced them into this situation in the first place.

“Both of you, raise your heads.” Hearing Malakor’s words, Alen and Elena slowly straightened their bodies and looked at him.

Neither of them knew what kind of response to expect, but the moment they raised their heads, they saw a gentle smile on the old man’s face. There was no anger in his eyes, nor was there any resentment toward either of them.

“I already know the truth from Aditya. I hold no grudge against either of you.” Malakor spoke gently while looking at his daughter and son-in-law.

“I know that everything you said and everything you did happened while your minds were under someone else’s control. Those actions were never truly your own.”

Malakor had already accepted this truth in his heart. Although the things that happened in the past had hurt him deeply, he now knew that blaming Alen or Elena would be no different from blaming victims for something they had no control over.

“So there is no reason for either of you to feel guilty or continue apologizing to me. You don’t owe me an apology for something that you never willingly did.”

However, Elena immediately shook her head. Even if her father did not blame her, she could not forgive herself so easily. “No, Dad. We should still make amends. Even if we were being controlled, it was our mistake that allowed everything to reach this point. What happened because of us affected the lives of almost every single person standing in this room right now.”

Her eyes remained filled with tears as she spoke. Malakor could tell that his daughter had been carrying this guilt inside her ever since she learned the truth.

“Silly girl. Stop thinking about that.” Malakor replied with the same gentle smile.

He stepped closer before raising his hand and placing it on Elena’s head. Just like he had done countless times when she was still a child, Malakor gently patted his daughter’s head.

“To me, you will always be my sweet little Elena.”

Those simple words completely broke the last bit of control Elena had over her emotions.

The moment she felt her father’s familiar hand gently patting her head, tears began flowing freely down her cheeks. For a moment, Elena felt as though all those years had disappeared. She was no longer an Empress, a mother, or a woman carrying the guilt of everything that had happened to her family.

In front of Malakor, she was simply his daughter again. Elena lowered her head slightly as she continued crying, allowing her father to gently pat her just as he had done when she was a little girl.

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