NOVGO.NET Chapter 344: Merisa
Chapter 344: Merisa
King Julius did not look away from the scales.
His gaze remained fixed on the crimson ring, still dragging the pan downward as if the crown he had ruled with for decades weighed nothing in comparison. The artifact he trusted more than any adviser, more than any sea lord, more than even his own judgment, had spoken clearly.
Only then did he lift his eyes to Razeal.
“What is that marble?” he asked bluntly.
There was no mockery in his tone now, no casual arrogance. It was a king’s voice stripped down to raw curiosity and suspicion. Julius fully trusted the Scales of Veridion. If they judged the ring as heavier in worth, then it was. Yet no matter how deeply he examined it.. through knowledge, experience, instinct he could not perceive anything extraordinary about the small blue core embedded in the ring. It radiated no overwhelming mana. No divine pressure. No aura of ancient will or anything.
It was… quiet.
That unsettled him far more than any blazing relica ever could.
Though Razeal did not answer.
Instead he just smiled.
Not wide or mocking.. Just a small, infuriatingly calm curve of the lips, paired with eyes that carried a faint hint of amusement. He slowly crossed his arms, posture relaxed, as though the entire colosseum, the scales, the king himself.. none of it demanded even a fraction of his tension.
That smile froze Julius in place.
This little shit… Is he looking down on him?
The realization scraped against Julius’ pride like a blade. He leaned forward slightly, the weight of his presence pressing outward as he waved one hand dismissively, trying to reclaim the upper ground.
“Whatever,” he said, voice hardening again. “You must have been fortunate enough to stumble upon something unusually precious. Luck favors fools sometimes.. Just like how you got your hands on my daughter.” His eyes narrowed. “But if you think that alone means you can win against me, you’re dreaming.”
He straightened.
Then he waved his hand again.
The air rippled.
A deep blue stone tablet materialized in his grasp, heavy and dignified, its surface carved with elegant, ancient engravings. The royal crest of Atlantis dominated its center.. a trident framed by gold-lined borders, every curve and line saturated with history. not flashy nor it had any need to be.
A slow, confident smile spread across King Julius’ face as he looked down at the tablet. The light in his eyes was unmistakable.. certainty. Triumph. As though the outcome had already been decided.
Sofia’s breath caught.
Her eyes widened instantly as recognition struck.
“Father.. no.. That’s cheating.”
She stepped forward, her voice sharp and urgent, finger lifting to point directly at the object in his hand.. replaced by genuine alarm.
“That’s too much,” she said, words spilling out faster now. “That’s the Key to the Royal Treasury of Atlantis. Every treasure collected since the founding of our Atlantis.. hundreds of thousands of years of wealth.. everything is bound to that seal.”
She looked at him in disbelief, anger flaring in her eyes.
“You have no right to use that here. None. That isn’t just your wealth. That’s the accumulated legacy of Atlantis itself.” Her voice trembled with outrage. “You know better than anyone that even throughout your entire reign, you haven’t amassed even a fraction of what that tablet represents. Putting that against him.. against a boy who’s barely sixteen or seventeen is wrong. Completely wrong.”
She shook her head.
“Put it back. I won’t accept this.”
King Julius turned slowly to face her.
For a moment, he just stared.
Then dark lines crept across his face as irritation boiled over. He raised his own finger and pointed it straight back at her, voice sharp with disbelief and offense.
“It hasn’t even been a minute,” he snapped, “since I allowed you to marry him, and you’re already taking his side?”
His words cut like waves crashing against stone.
“You stand against your own father now? The man who has watched over you for twenty years? Defending your husband already?” His lip curled. “Have some shame, daughter.”
There was something raw beneath his anger.. something wounded.
Competition was one thing. Pride another. But this?
This felt personal.
His gaze flicked briefly to Razeal, standing there with crossed arms, silent and infuriatingly composed.
What did this bastard do? Julius wondered darkly. What did he do to make my daughter look at him like that?
Then he looked back at Sofia.
Or was it that his daughter had always been this… ungrateful?
Sofia did not flinch.
Her eyes burned, unyielding.
“I’m not taking anyone’s side,” she said firmly. “I’m calling wrong for what it is. And what you’re doing right now is wrong.”
She gestured toward Razeal without even looking at him.
“You’re bullying your own son-in-law.”
The words hit harder than any insult.
King Julius’ expression twisted.
“And I don’t care,” he shot back. “He could be my mother reincarnated, and I still wouldn’t give a damn.” His grip tightened on the tablet. “That treasury is under my name. It’s mine. Inherited, claimed, ruled.. it doesn’t matter. Ownership is ownership.”
He spread his hands slightly, mockery lacing his tone.
“Just because something is inherited doesn’t mean it isn’t mine. And I will put it here. If he fails, that’s not my responsibility. That’s his weakness.”
His gaze swept the arena.
“But I will do this,” he declared. “And if anyone here thinks they can stop me.. Try.”
Silence rippled outward.
Sofia couldn’t bring herself to argue anymore.
She simply lifted one hand and buried her face in her palm, fingers pressing lightly against her forehead as if that alone might contain the embarrassment, the frustration, and the sheer exhaustion piling up inside her chest. Her father’s stubbornness had crossed into something else entirely now, something bordering on shamelessness, and she knew.. arguing further would only fan the flames.
Razeal watched the exchange from the side, expression unreadable. King and daughter were locked in a pointless clash of pride, neither willing to yield, neither truly listening. It irritated him more than he cared to admit.
“Alright,” he said at last, voice calm but edged with impatience. “Go on. Not like it’s going to matter.”
His gaze shifted back to King Julius, steady and unflinching, as though this entire confrontation had already reached its conclusion in his mind.
The king’s eyes narrowed slightly at the tone.
“You’re really confident, kid,” King Julius said, lifting the blue stone tablet in his hand and letting the light catch along its engraved edges. “That confidence can only come from ignorance. Since you don’t understand what this means.”
He shook his head slowly, a grin creeping onto his face, one filled with absolute certainty. “In simple terms, this means your defeat.”
Without another word, he stepped forward and placed the blue stone tablet onto his side of the Scales of Veridion, setting it down beside the crown of Atlantis with deliberate care. The artifact gleamed as it touched the pan, ancient authority pressing outward, as though the accumulated wealth, history, and power of Atlantis itself had just been added to the measure.
King Julius straightened, already convinced of the outcome.
But then..
His hand froze in midair.
The pan on the opposite side, the one holding Razeal’s crimson ring, didn’t move.
It didn’t even trembled actually.
It didn’t even acknowledge the tablet’s presence.
The scales remained exactly as they were, Razeal’s side still sunk low, the king’s side suspended above it as if weighed down by nothing at all.
For a brief moment, the world seemed to stall.
“Huh…?”
The confusion was unmistakable on King Julius’ face now. His brows furrowed as he leaned forward, eyes darting between the two pans. That wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be. He had just placed the key to the Royal Treasury of Atlantis? An object representing hundreds of thousands of years of accumulated wealth.. onto the scales.
And yet… nothing had changed.
Had he made a mistake?
His gaze snapped to the tablet, then to the crown, then back to the Scales of Veridion themselves. No.. everything was correct. The artifact hadn’t malfunctioned. It hadn’t misjudged.
Which meant only one thing.
What he had placed on the scale… wasn’t worth enough.
The realization struck him hard, sending a chill down his spine.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, King Julius lifted his eyes toward the ring resting on Razeal’s side of the scales. The small crimson band sat there quietly, the deep blue core embedded within it catching the light with a soft, almost indifferent glow.
Just what was that thing?
The king’s expression changed.. confidence draining away, replaced by a deep, unsettling seriousness. He had spent centuries surrounded by priceless relicas, sacred treasures, artifacts that nations would bleed for. And yet, here was an object so valuable that the entirety of Atlantis’ royal wealth barely registered in comparison.
The thought was almost absurd.
Almost.
And yet… the Scales did not lie.
Even he could accept that much.
His grip tightened unconsciously around the trident in his right hand. His gaze flicked downward to the sacred weapon.. the Trident of the Sea.. before returning to the ring. There were things in this world that transcended gold, jewels, and empires. Objects whose value could not be quantified by kingdoms or history.
Sacred treasures.
Things which even gods themselves would wage war for.
This had to be one of them.
And that was what unsettled him the most.
No matter how intently he examined it, no matter how he strained his senses or drew upon centuries of knowledge, he could not recognize it. Something of this caliber should have been known. Named. Recorded in legends or whispered about in myths.
But this… was unfamiliar.
And that silence, that absence of recognition, was far more terrifying than if he had known what it was.
King Julius said nothing. He simply stared.
Sofia, standing just behind him, slowly lifted her head from her hand. Her eyes drifted to the scales, then to Razeal’s side of the pan, still unmoving, still dominant. A quiet breath escaped her lips.
So… she really had been worried for nothing.
Yet that relief was quickly replaced by something else.. Confusion and max level shock hitting her.
Something more precious than the treasury of Atlantis?
Something capable of dwarfing wealth accumulated over millennia?
Her gaze slid back to Razeal, studying him now with narrowed eyes. Questions swirled in her mind, each more unsettling than the last.
Maria had mentioned it before.. that he came from a powerful background. Was this something he had inherited? But again would any family, no matter how powerful, entrust an object like that to a child? Even her own father would never hand her the royal treasury key so casually.
And yet…
She remembered of what maria had said? As how strained his relationship with his family was.. distant and broken. If that was the case, then inheritance didn’t quite add up either.
Could it be his own possession?
That seemed impossible.
But again… here it was.
Her thoughts tangled, unable to find a satisfactory explanation. In the end, she let out a slow breath and shook her head faintly, eyes lingering on him a moment longer.
Seems like my husband is rich too, she thought wryly, a flicker of amusement cutting through the confusion despite herself.
Arthur stared at the scales, then at the ring, then back at the king’s frozen expression. His mouth hung slightly open, the earlier tears he’d shed now nothing more than a distant embarrassment he’d already forgotten already.
“Wooowww…” he muttered, genuine awe dripping from his voice. “He’s got some very valuable artifact or something, right? What even is that?”
He leaned closer, almost subconsciously, until he was standing right beside Maria, eyes fixed on the unmoving scales as if staring harder might make the truth spill out. “Do you know? Like… anything?”
Maria though didn’t answer immediately.
Her gaze remained locked on Razeal, on the calm way he stood there while the King of Atlantis visibly unraveled in front of him. She looked at Arthur only after a long second, her eyes flat, unreadable.
“I don’t,” she said simply.
Arthur blinked, clearly unsatisfied. “That’s it? You don’t know where he got it? I mean.. if I knew where someone picked up that kind of thing, I’d go there myself. Who knows, maybe I’d find another one.” He grinned slightly, lowering his voice conspiratorially. “I’d even give you a share.. Think about it.”
Maria finally turned her head fully toward him.
“I don’t know,” she repeated, this time colder, sharper, deliberately shutting the door on the conversation.
Arthur pouted, cheeks puffing slightly, clearly annoyed she wasn’t playing along. But he didn’t push further. Whatever irritation he felt was quickly drowned out by curiosity as his attention drifted back to the arena.
Maria, meanwhile, didn’t look away from Razeal again.
She was curious.. deeply so but she refused to show it. She couldn’t remember him stopping anywhere unusual, couldn’t recall any moment where he might’ve picked up something like that. And yet here he was, casually pulling out an object so valuable it made Atlantis’s accumulated wealth look insignificant.
He’d always been like this.
Mysterious.. Unreadable and too calm for someone his age.
Even back then. She thought.. Her fingers curled slightly at her side
And now that she also remember the item.. That magical heart.. he’d given her before, the way it had changed things, the way she’d felt its power sink into her bones. Changing her totally..
She was sure that was a… Priceless tresure too.. Which now made her more curious now.. As where is he getting all this stuff from.
Arthur, having given up on extracting answers from her, turned his attention fully back to the king.
King Julius stood rigid before the scales now, his earlier confidence completely gone.
“Well…” he said at last, forcing his voice steady as he lifted his gaze to meet Razeal’s. “You truly possess something… extremely good.”
There was no mockery left in his tone. No condescension. Only a strained honesty.
“I’ll admit,” he continued, eyes narrowing slightly, “I feel a bit ashamed doing this. But I’ll also admit.. I’m going to be selfish.” His lips curved into a thin, controlled smile. “So let’s end this properly. You should feel honored. Not many get to see me go all out.”
The atmosphere shifted.
Sofia felt it instantly. The air itself seemed to tighten, pressure pressing against her skin as her father’s aura changed. This wasn’t pride anymore or stubbornness.
This was resolve.
Without another word, King Julius adjusted his grip on the Trident of the Sea. The golden weapon gleamed as he lifted it, water-like light rippling faintly along its edges. Slowly, deliberately, he brought it forward and placed it onto his side of the Scales of Veridion, laying it carefully atop the blue stone tablet and the crown.
The trident.. the sacred treasure that ruled the tides, the symbol of Atlantis’s absolute authority.
Surely now.
Surely now…
The king inhaled sharply.
But
The pan did not move.
Not even a fraction.
The plate beneath his treasures didn’t sink. The opposing plate holding the crimson ring didn’t rise. The scales remained exactly as they had been before, unmoved, indifferent.
King Julius’ hand trembled where it rested against the trident’s shaft.
A forced smile stretched across his face, muscles twitching as if resisting a seizure. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple. His eyes flicked between the plates, then locked onto the ring again, wider now, disbelief bleeding through the cracks of his composure.
“This…” His voice wavered. “…this is impossible.”
He stared at the scales as if they’d betrayed him.
The Trident of the Sea.
The artifact that commanded storms, bent oceans, and defined Atlantis itself.
And it wasn’t enough.
It didn’t even register.
It felt.. no, it looked as though the ring outweighed everything he’d placed on the scales combined. As though, instead of a small crimson band, an entire world sat on that pan, unmoved by crowns, treasuries, or sacred weapons.
King Julius swallowed hard.
His gaze dropped briefly to the trident still resting under his hand. He knew its power. He’d wielded it for centuries. He knew what it meant.
And yet, against that ring… it was nothing.
Something like fear crept into his chest.
Sofia stood frozen, her shock complete now. Her eyes were wide, her lips parted, her breath shallow. She looked from the trident to the ring and back again, struggling to reconcile what she was seeing.
More precious than the Trident of the Sea?
That shouldn’t exist.
And yet it did.
Her gaze slowly lifted to Razeal, searching his face, trying to find answers there. But he stood as he always did.. calm, composed, eyes steady. As if this outcome had been inevitable.
As if this world simply hadn’t caught up yet.
King Julius finally straightened, shoulders heavy, pride cracked but not yet broken. He lifted his eyes to Razeal again, and this time there was no challenge in them.
Only solemn respect.
“That artifact…” he said slowly, voice quieter now, reverent despite himself. “A sacred treasure of such caliber… I have never seen its like.”
He paused, then inclined his head slightly.. a gesture no one in the arena had ever seen him make so sincerely.
“May I have the honor,” he asked, “of knowing its name?”
Sofia also turned her head toward Razeal now.. Very shocked and beyond surprise.. And even more curious now.. It even trampled over Trident of sea now??
Razeal though was momentarily taken aback by the shift in King Julius’ tone.
Respect sat strangely on the king’s voice.. heavy, deliberate and earned. It wasn’t something Julius might gave lightly, and Razeal could feel that weight settling in the space between them. For a brief second, he considered deflecting, brushing it off with half-truths or silence the way he usually do.
But there was no real reason to not say anything here.
He nodded once, slow and calm, meeting the king’s gaze without arrogance, without submission.
“It’s called Star,” Razeal said simply, a faint smile touching his lips.
He didn’t elaborate. He didn’t say it was a real star.. or whatever he should.. condensed, bound, reduced to something that could be worn. He already knew how absurd it would sound to anyone standing on this stage. Truth did not always need to be complete to remain truth.. Not that anyone would beleive it more like just laugh at absurdity.
King Julius though didn’t laugh.
Instead, the king’s eyes drifted back to the small crimson ring resting on the pan, his expression tightening not with disbelief, but with something closer to contemplation. He studied it as if trying to feel its gravity through sight alone.
“A star…” Julius murmured, then nodded slowly. “A fitting name.. I’d say.”
His voice carried no mockery. If anything, there was a strange solemnity to it.
“It even feels like one,” he continued, almost to himself. “Absolute and Unmoving.. As if the world itself could lean against it and still fail to make it tremble.”
He exhaled through his nose, the sound sharp, edged with stubborn pride.
“But I still don’t believe it,” he said, lifting his gaze back to Razeal, fire rekindling behind his eyes.
The atmosphere tightened again.
“That no matter how precious something is,” Julius went on, his voice growing firmer, louder, “Nothing should remain unmoved forever.. Tday even If I must empty every vault Atlantis has ever built, then so be it.. But ill definitely make it move.”
There was no humor in his face now. This was no longer about marriage or pride alone. This was about a king’s worldview cracking under the weight of something he could not control.
With a sharp motion of his hand, Julius summoned treasure after treasure.
Gold and artifacts shimmered into existence.. ancient relics infused with history, weapons that had ended wars, jewels that had bought entire nations into silence. Each one landed on his side of the scales with a dull, resonant sound. One by one, he placed them down, his movements growing more forceful, more personal, as if daring the universe to contradict him.
But
Each time, the scales remained unchanged.
The ring did not rise.
The king’s side did not sink.
Not even a quiver.
Every treasure that would have driven emperors mad with greed meant nothing here.
The colosseum had fallen into a silence so deep it felt unnatural, like the sea itself had stopped breathing.
Above, in the VVIP chamber, the stillness was even heavier.
Merisa sat upon her throne, one leg crossed over the other, posture flawless, expression unreadable. Her eyes remained fixed on the arena below, but there was no visible reaction.., no tension or pride.
At her side, Yograj knelt, his hands resting loosely on his thighs.
He had been watching quietly for a long time now, but this… this was different.
That kid is really something else haa..? Yograj thought, a faint shake of his head betraying the awe he refused to voice aloud.
Eventually, his gaze shifted upward.. to Merisa.
She hadn’t moved.
Not even when the trident failed.
Not even when Atlantis’ wealth was rendered meaningless.
Yograj hesitated.
Speaking to her was never easy. Not because she inspired fear.. he’d long outgrown that but because every word spoken to her felt like stepping onto thin ice stretched over something bottomless.. Honestly, all this time, Yograj had wanted to say something. But he didn’t. He hesitated again and again… until now. Since it was already about to end, he thought to himself, Now or never.. He should remind her.
He inhaled slowly, then spoke.
“Don’t you think you should go down now?”
His voice was steady, unafraid, carrying neither accusation nor reverence.. just blunt honesty.
“I mean… it looks like your son would win.” He glanced briefly toward the arena before returning his attention to her. “And this isn’t just about victory. It’s his marriage.”
Silence answered him.
“You’re his mother,” Yograj continued, undeterred. “You should be there. Sitting here won’t change anything.”
He paused, then added dryly, “And if you’re worried that old man might run.. don’t be. I won’t. Not that I could even if I wanted to.”
Yograj was being straightforward with her. That was simply his nature never fearful. Yes, he was weaker than her, and yes, he had been defeated by her. But he did not fear her. Moreover, he was far older than her closer to the age of her father so he chose honesty.. And straight forwardly say it.
At his words, the room fell into an even stranger, heavier silence.
Merisa still said nothing. She continued to look down, her expression blank, her legs crossed calmly over one another.
“Heeey… are you even listening to what I’m saying?” he asked, leaning forward slightly, his brows drawn together. “This is important. If you just sit here like this, doing nothing, it’s going to turn bad. Really bad.”
Merisa though still didn’t respond.
Her posture remained unchanged back straight, chin lifted, hands resting lightly against the armrests of the throne. From the outside, she looked like the same woman she had always been: composed, untouchable, distant enough to feel carved from something harder than flesh.
Yograj exhaled through his nose and continued anyway, because stopping now would only mean giving up.
“And I heard.. you didn’t even know about this marriage until just now.” he went on, his tone no longer sharp, but heavy with something closer to concern. “As a mother… don’t you think you should have some say in this?”
Still nothing.
“I know,” he added quickly, as if anticipating an argument that never came, “I mean yeah i am not experienced in this… thing… But even I can tell.. this isn’t a small thing.”
He gestured vaguely toward the arena below, where the distant clash of wills and treasures continued, unseen but felt.
“You should be down there. You should participate. I know you and the kid..” he hesitated, then corrected himself, “your son, have something bad between you. Family issues kr whatever they are. But that doesn’t mean you just… disappear when it matters.”
“He’s still a kid,” Yograj said quietly. “Strong, yes. Smart maybe. But still a kid. He won’t always know what’s right or wrong. Marriage sounds good on the surface.. powerful princess, strong alliance yeah.. but there will be complications. Political ones and Emotional ones.”
He paused, choosing his words carefully.
“So maybe you should go down there,” he said. “Even if all you do is speak once. Even if it’s just to warn him. Or bless him. Something.. Just do it..”
He looked up at her..
“If you don’t,” he finished, voice low, “this might tear whatever is left between you two even further apart. This could be your chance.”
The silence that followed was deeper than before.
No ambient sound. No movement. Even Yograj felt as though the air itself had thickened, pressing in on his chest.
Merisa still didn’t answer.
Yograj’s shoulders sagged slightly.
“…Yeah,” he muttered under his breath after a few seconds, shaking his head. “Figures.”
He leaned back a little, gaze dropping away from her. In his mind, the conclusion had already formed: she wasn’t going to move. She had made her choice.. to stay silent, distant, untouched by the mess below.
Guess she won’t listen, he thought, a trace of disappointment slipping through despite himself.
Then..
“I want to.”
The words were quiet. Almost too quiet.
Yograj froze.
He looked up sharply, unsure if he had heard correctly.
Merisa had finally spoken.
“I want to go,” she said again, her voice low, restrained, nothing like the commanding tone she used when issuing orders or passing judgment. This voice carried hesitation.. something raw and unguarded.
She slowly turned her gaze downward, toward the arena far below, where Razeal stood with his arms crossed, calm and unmoved, while King Julius piled treasure upon treasure onto the scale.
“I want to stand beside him,” she continued. “And act… like a mother too.”
The words felt heavy as they left her lips, as if each one had to be forced past something lodged in her chest.
Yograj blinked.
“…Then why aren’t you?” he asked, genuinely confused now.
Merisa’s fingers curled slightly against the armrest.
“Because I’m scared.”
The admission landed like a crack in glass.
Yograj stiffened, his eyes twitching violently. “You scared?”
“I know,” she said, her voice trembling.. not much, but enough. “I know that if I go down there… it’ll only make things worse.”
“And If I try to say anything.. if I try to give advice, or even just a blessings ..he’ll just look at me and ask… what right do I have.”
Her gaze wavered, fixed somewhere between the arena and the floor.
Her breathing grew uneven, the steady rhythm she always maintained faltering for the first time.
“What makes me sad,” she continued, more quietly now, “is that I don’t have an answer for that. I.. I don’t have anything to say except…” Her voice broke for the briefest moment. “…except that I am his mother.”
The words sounded hollow to her own ears.
“I…” She hesitated, then pressed on, as if afraid she’d lose the courage if she stopped. “I can’t remember anything big that I’ve done for him. Anything that proves I deserve that title.”
Her hand tightened, knuckles whitening.
“I don’t know what to do,” Merisa admitted. “Because I know him. I know he’ll say it. He’ll ask me why I think I have the right to interfere now, after everything.”
Her shoulders drew inward slightly.. an unconscious motion, small but telling.
“And I don’t know what I’ll do,” she whispered, “if he really says that.”
For the first time, Merisa turned her gaze away from the arena and down toward Yograj.
Her eyes were unsteady.
Not furious. Not cold.
Uncertain.
Wet.
Yograj felt his breath catch.
He stared at her, truly stared, searching her face for confirmation of what his instincts were screaming at him. The faint shimmer along her lower lashes. The way her eyes reflected the light a little too brightly.
Before he could fully process it, she turned her head away again, presenting him with the sharp, composed profile he was used to.
But it was too late.
He had seen it.
…Were her eyes teary?
The thought struck him so hard it felt unreal.
Merisa Virelan.. crying?
The idea alone made his chest feel strange, tight in a way he didn’t like. He had known her for far too long. Known her as a conqueror, a ruler, a force of will so overwhelming it bent others into submission without effort.
This version of her didn’t fit any image he carried.
For a moment, Yograj wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him.
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