Chapter 1411: Shaddad
"Your Majesty!!" Robin cried out, his voice sharp with alarm.
"Would you please, stop blurting out my secret identity? If I wanted every random soul I met to know who I really was, I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of crafting a secret persona in the first place!"
Althera turned to him, her expression calm and unreadable, carved from stone.
"Relax. Shaddad simply needs to know who you are, so he can request your aid with an open heart—and so he can be ready to support you if the time ever comes that you need it. Otherwise, that bear of a man carries a pride as towering as a mountain, one that flares up before any other Chosen. You saw it yourself, just moments ago."
"And who exactly decided that I’ll need help? Or that he’ll ever ask anything of me?" Robin countered, exasperated.
"Please, stop making decisions on behalf of others. The man standing here is a brilliant Truth Chosen, someone who has carved his own legacy with sweat and brilliance. He is a person worthy of respect and recognition, and he needs no favors from me—or anyone."
Robin gestured toward Shaddad with a firm motion, then turned to him with a respectful, apologetic tone:
"I apologize for this confusion. Please continue the excellent work you’ve been doing. I didn’t come here to threaten your standing. I’m just passing through—quietly, for a few days, and then I’ll be gone like the wind."
He already knew what to expect: curious eyes, uneasy glances, perhaps even subtle hostility in the days ahead. People would wonder why he moved freely through the library, why he was allowed access to the restricted archives.
The last thing he wanted was for a Truth Chosen to see him as some kind of rival.
Step... step...
Shaddad took two strides forward—massive steps from his towering frame that swallowed the distance between them in an instant—and then, in a voice like rolling thunder, he asked: