Summary: The Pale King talks to Ze'mer about the infection. Hollow has a few things to say to the Pale King. The both of them visit the City of Tears again.

(Author's note: Arghl, I felt like I wanted to have this chapter earlier, but I am still busy with finishing up some WIPs for other fandoms, that are my top priority. Still, because I don't have to work right now, I managed to finish that chapter rather quickly. I hope you enjoy!)

"As you know, your highness.", Ze'mer started. "We knights have been send to different corners of the kingdom to help out with the infection. Che' hast met up with our allies, the Mantis."

"Please continue.", the Pale King said as Ze'mer was interrupting herself, she seemed to be at a loss of words. She slowly started to speak again.

"It should be to your knowledge that the three Mantis Lords also have a brother. Because of the matriarchic nature of the Mantis Tribe, he decided to start a family. His daughter... became a very very close friend to che'."

"I don't think that the Mantis Tribe approved of your relationship.", the White Lady said. "They tend to stay to themselves. That is why they are merely allies and not a part of the kingdom of Hallownest."

"Our lady speaks words of truth.", the Pale King said. "The Mantis Tribe is very proud. The only way to get their respect is defeating them in battle and even that doesn't mean that they would approve of close friendships with bugs from outside their clan."

"Sadly, it is true.", Ze'mer said. "The Mantis Tribe isn't approving of the close bond che' shares with her, but that is an issue for another time. The important thing is..." Ze'mer took a deep breath. "The father of che' friend shows early signs of the infection. He talks about things he has seen in his dreams, about power that he never could have if he stayed with the tribe and it sounds like he wants to embrace the infection willingly. Che's... afraid. What if he would hurt meled'l... meled'precious friend? Che' couldst not bare anything happening to hear. Che' wouldst do anything to protect her!"

The Pale King glanced to the White Lady and they shared a moment of wordless understanding. Ze'mer had corrected herself in the last moment, but she wanted to say "meled'love", which was the same as "my love" in her dialect. If her relationship with the mantis girl was on the romantic side, the Mantis Tribe surely would approve even less of it.

"That's why... why che' can understand your actions, your majesty.", Ze'mer said. "Che' can't say that che' approves of them, but knowing what che' wouldst do to protect those dear to che', che' don't feel like che' can judge. Che' might have acted the same in your position."

The Pale King stood up from his throne and walked a few steps towards Ze'mer, his hands folded behind his back. "Ze'mer, we thank you for telling us the truth.", he said. "In return, you deserve to know the truth about the infection." He took a deep breath and glanced to his Root who just gave him a nod.

"The truth is, the infection comes from another Higher Being.", he said. Ze'mer antennas twitched in surprise, but she put her composure back on quickly. "When we came to Hallownest as a young wyrm, we were unaware that it already had been claimed by another Higher Being.", the Pale King continued. "We tried to negotiate with them, but they didn't want to listen. Their method of ruling had been to enthrall ever single bug into their hive mind while our method of ruling was to give bugs their own mind and let them decide for themselves."

The Pale King slowly walked over to a window and looked outside at the courtxyard. Some Royal Retainers were scurrying around and some Kingsmoulds were patrolling.

"We were unable to win a fight of strength against them, so we took the fight into who was able to gain more followers. We won that fight, but unknown to even ourselves, even their most loyal followers turned away from them, stripping them of their power as a Higher Being."

The Pale King sighed as he continued: "We thought that they had left. That they wouldn't be able to get their power back, but they found a way to break out. They try to use their light to force their hive mind again, however it is lacking any control. This is what we call the infection."

The Pale King turned around and faced Ze'mer, who had quietly listened so far, knowing that she shouldn't speak when her king was talking. "That is where Hollow came into place. A vessel born of god and void, its only purpose to seal the infection." He noticed that he started shivering. "We now know, how wrong we have been..."

As Ze'mer still didn't said anything, the Pale King sat back down on his throne and said: "You may speak now, Ze'mer of the five great knights."

"So, in other words, the other Higher Being is a sore loser.", Ze'mer said and the Pale King noticed how his Root was chuckling next to him.

"That isn't funny, Root.", he said.

"Oh, I am sorry, Wyrm, the mental image was just too delightful.", she said.

"Can che' do anything to help?", Ze'mer asked. "Che' wouldst like to help to stop the source of the infection."

"I am afraid that you can't do much.", the Pale King said. Even he himself had barely an idea how to handle the Radiance outside of the vessel plan. "Of course you can feel free to research on your own."

"Their followers... the most loyal ones who have turned away, who hast they been?", Ze'mer asked.

"The moth clan...", the Pale King said. "We are pretty sure that there aren't any moths alive anymore however."

"Thank you, your majesty.", Ze'mer said. "Che' wouldst like to go and talk to the other great knights. They just need to get over their first shock. Che' will help them understand. "

"You are dismissed.", the Pale King said and Ze'mer deeply bowed to him and his Root and then left.

"What do you plan on doing now, Wyrm?", the White Lady asked.

"Going into my workshop.", the Pale King said. "I don't have the feeling that anyone wants to see me right now."

"You don't want to check on Hollow?", his Root asked.

"They are probably the least person who want to see me right now.", he sighed and stood up from his throne, slowly walking to the door and making his way to the workshop.

Once he was there, he tried to concentrate on the spells he experimented with to seal the infection, but he couldn't concentrate. Hollow's tearful face and them asking if they had been the reason for the fight was still in his mind, as well as how angry Ogrim had been with him. However, the worst thing was, he had let his child down. He didn't want to make them cry ever again and it happened over and over and over.

A knock on his door interrupted him. "No disturbance.", he said, annoying that someone event ried to get in. He had told the Royal Retainers to not get him, no matter what. He expected that whoever wanted his attention would just go away, but instead the door opened. The Pale King turned around, ready to put whoever ignored his orders back into place, but any words died in his throat when it was Hollow who carefully came teetering into his workshop. They didn't stop until they were at the board and then wrote four single words.

"I don't hate you."

"...Why?", the Pale King asked. The question was out before he could even think about. For all he had done, for all he still was doing to them, they should loathe him. He couldn't understand. Why did they love him? He wasn't deserving of their love.

The sound of chalk squeaking at the board got his attention and he laid his eyes on words that he hadn't expected and somehow expected at the same time: "I wanted to be the Pure Vessel."

"Hollow, please...", the Pale King sighed. "We have been over this. It was me who forced you into that role, you didn't even had a single say in it. This whole plan has turned into the biggest regret of my life."

More squeaking. The Pale King looked anxiously at the board as the words appeared: "No. It's not like that. I wanted to be the Pure Vessel. To protect. You and mother. The five great knights. The royal retainers. The kingdom you never visited, but always spoke fondly about. I knew that I had the power to make everything right. So it pains me. That I can't fulfil the role I had devoted myself to. I have disappointed everybody already, so I don't want to make others upset over me anymore..."

"Hollow, is that true?", the Pale King asked, even though he knew they barely were capable of lying to him. He would have noticed. What they had written on this board was hundred percent the truth. They still felt the need to give him a nod, not aware that his question had been a rhetorical one.

"Since when have you felt this way?", the Pale King asked. "Since when did you realize that you weren't empty?"

Hollow looked at him for a good while and then laid the chalk down in favour of signing: "Since the Path of Pain." They fidgeted with their hands a bit and then signed: "No, earlier even."

"How could I have been so blind to overlook?", the Pale King said, sitting down in a chair. "You have been very convincing in making me believe that you were void of thoughts and emotions, Hollow."

"It was hard.", Hollow signed. "Every day was a struggle."

"And that is why I can hardly believe that you don't hate me.", the Pale King said. "Hollow, I am so sorry about what happened today with the great five knights. I didn't want to make you cry. I shouldn't have taken you in there with me."

"I am not mad.", Hollow signed. "Isma and Quirrel stayed with me until I calmed down. Dryya too."

The five great knights... the Pale King had to deal with them sooner or later. With the four of them that hadn't been very understanding. Ze'mer had went to talk to them, but when he thought about Ogrim's reaction... he had the feeling he should maybe keep his distance until a rational conversation was possible.

"What are you planning to do now, Hollow?", the Pale King asked. It was more to distract himself, because he had barely been able to do anything, his "confession" and the bad reaction to it still to prevalent in his mind.

"Father.", they signed. "Can we go see the rain?"

"The rain...?", the Pale King was a bit confused, they didn't had anything like weather down here, but then it hit him. "Oh, you want to visit the City of Tears."

Hollow shyly nodded, as if they had asked something far more embarrassing than just going out. The Pale King considered their proposal. They surely both could use some distraction and in the city there wasn't a lot of danger to run into any of the knights. Besides, it was a good opportunity to fix Hollow's robe.

"Alright, let's go.", he said and got up. "You need to get a new robe anyway."

Gladly on the way out of the palace, the two of them didn't cross paths with any of the five great knights. The Pale King informed one of his royal retainers about his absence and that he wanted his wife to be informed, only to learn that she had went into her garden with Dryya. Apparently they would have liked to tell him earlier, but his orders had been clear, to not disturb him under any circumstances. The Pale King hoped that his Root managed to talk with Dryya about the conference in the morning. Dryya was as loyal to his Root as Hollow was to him, so he had the feeling, that his Root would be able to make her understand. Dryya always had been one of the more level headed knights.

The trip to the City of Tears was equally uneventful. Hollow was able to walk better, but climbing up the vertical shaft was still difficult for them, so the Pale King helped them out several times, especially when they tried to start teleporting up, until they managed to reach the city. As Hollow had said, they wanted to see the rain and so the Pale King was standing next to them as they marvelled over the sight. He had the feeling they would never get tired of it and he would never get tired of seeing how much joy his child got out of something so simple.

The Pale King noticed that every bug that crossed them, bowed down and actually didn't move any further. This went so far until a small crowd had gathered and he sighed and gave them the permission to move on. They probably were wondering. It was the second time in only a few weeks, that the Pale King visited the city, when he would normally stay in the palace for months. Also, Hollow was with him again. They would start to wonder just who they were, just like the knights. Though, thinking about the negative reaction of his knights, he was hesitating introducing Hollow as his heir to the public. Even though they didn't knew about the vessel plan, only that he had some plan to combat the infection, it felt awkward and some of the scholars would probably question why the Pale King would keep his child a secret for so long and not having introduced them right after hatching.

After the Pale King had to break up a crowd around him and Hollow for the third time, he nudged at them and said: "Hollow, let's move on. It's time for you to get your robes fixed."

Hollow nodded and stared longingly at the rain for one last second. There were places in the city that weren't covered. Maybe the Pale King should bring them to one later, so that they could feel the rain. They were so utterly fascinated by it, it was adorable. Of course the rain wouldn't be there always, the menderbugs would fix the roof again and again, but it would break again and again. If one day they would put down their work, the rain in the City of Tears would never stop.

Asides from the bugs that bowed, but moved one once he passed them, thanks for his thrall not being able to influence them when he moved out of their way, the way to the tailor was rather uneventful. Once the Pale King and Hollow stepped in, the tailor turned around with a smile, saying: "Welco... oh, your majesty." She then, like everyone else, bowed deeply.

"Please rise.", the Pale King said. "We require your services."

The tailor obeyed and once her eyes fell on Hollow, she said: "Oh, I see what he problem is. The robe has been busted. I will fix it up right away."

"Please prepare a second robe too.", the Pale King said. "Hollow, take off your robes and hand it to her."

Hollow slipped out of the robe, wrapping their wings around them for modesty and handed it to the tailor, who took it and bowed again, then her eyes seemed to glisten as he saw just with what the robe had been fixed. "Weaver's silk?! That is a material that you never see around this parts!"

"The robe has been destroyed in Deepnest.", the Pale King said, not providing any more context.

"Your majesty, would you allow me to keep this silk?", the tailor asked. "I won't charge anything, the silk is easily worth my services. More even."

"Feel free to keep the silk.", the Pale King said. "We don't have any use for it."

"Thank you, your majesty.", the tailor said and she looked so happy. "This will take a while, so please take a seat." She pointed at a table where tea and snacks were prepared. The Pale King walked over to it, hearing that Hollow followed him, but once he sat down, he noticed that they had stopped midway and stared at something on a mannequin. It was a dress.

"Hollow... are you interested in trying on that dress?", the Pale King asked. Hollow cocked their head and looked at him, then back at the dress. Then they nodded.

"Every dress on display is for sale.", the tailor said. "Feel free to try them all on, dear." That had been directed to Hollow.

"Well then.", the Pale King said. "Let's see how you look in this dress."

"Oh, just one moment.", the tailor said. "Let me get my sister to assist you while I am busy working." She shuffled in the backroom and not much later a bug appeared that looked almost identically to her, save for another outfit and shorter antennas, which fell into the usual bow once she spotted the Pale King.

"Rise.", the Pale King said, feeling tired. As much as he wanted to escape the palace, that he never could walk through the city without everyone bowing to him got on his nerves.

"Our ch.. companion would like to try on this dress.", that had been close, he almost had said child. "Could you please help them out? They never have worn a dress before."

"Of course, of course.", the tailor's sister said and eyed Hollow. "My, aren't you a dashing one, with that size at your age and those horns. Can you even walk straight?"

Hollow actually shook their head at his question, making the tailor's sister chuckle. "Oh, don't worry, we will take care that you won't fall over. Let me get that dress for you."

The dress turned out to be elegantly tailored and was from a deep black colour, being from a mid length, not going over Hollow's knees. However, the problem was, that it pretty much melted into the natural colour of their body.

"This won't do.", the tailor's sister said, "It looks like it is invisible. I have never seen a bug with such pure black as a colour. It seems like even light gets devoured by it."

Oh, how close she was to the truth, the Pale King thought to himself. Their body was void after all.

"Try a dress with more vibrant colours.", the Pale King encouraged Hollow and the tailor's sister gasped as she scurried away and came away shortly, having several dresses draped over her arm.

"All of these must look marvellous on you.", she said and presented one dress after the other to Hollow. Soon, they had tried on several ones, all with different colours and cuts. In the span of several minutes, Hollow had been put into a frilly white dress, in a puffy yellow one, in a blue one that could only be described as a gown and then in a loosely cut pink one. The tailor's sister was currently brooding over it while Hollow was busy looking at themselves in the mirror, the way they moved implied that they were happy with how they looked.

"It fits well, but something is missing...", the tailor's sister said and then shot up. "Oh, I know!", she ran into a corner of the shop and rummaged through a cupboard, coming back with two ribbons which she bound around Hollow's horns. "There.", she said. "That is perfect."

Hollow twirled around and looked at the Pale King, the way they cocked their head and wrung their fingers implying that they wanted to know his opinion.

"You look stunning, Hollow.", he said. "Just wait till your mother sees you like that."

It had been out before he had thought about that they weren't alone, because as soon as the words were out, he heard a big gasp and the tailor's sister just stared at the both of them with an open mouth. "They are your child, your majesty?!", she asked, her voice was half disbelief and half excitement.

"N.. no, that was not what we wanted to, uh, say.", the Pale King stammered, just how should he get out of this. "They... they are a candidate for the position of knight and they have stayed in the palace with their mother..."

"They are still a child. I doubt a child would be permitted to be a knight.", the tailor's sister said. Oh, if only she knew what the Pale King had expected from Hollow from a far younger age. She looked at him with an expression that seemed to scream at him, wanting to know just why he kept his own child secret.

"Don't tell anybody about it.", he said. "Not even your sister. There is a good reason for why we kept their existence hidden, that is all we can say about that matter."

"I won't say anything. I mean, it is not like I have a choice.", the tailor's sister said. "You surely have more than enough methods to keep me silent. I won't question it any further, just allow me to say one thing, your majesty. The population of Hallownest surely would welcome to know that an heir to its king has been born."

She then proceeded to clean up all the dresses and put them back on the mannequins, chirping to herself. Hollow came back to the Pale King and sat down. He pushed a cup of tea in their direction and they took a few sips, then put it back down and signed: "Why keep me a secret?"

The Pale King signed back, not wanting that the tailor's sister listened into their conversation. "You know why."

"Because I am... was... the Vessel.", Hollow signed back, looking down at the table. Then, they raised her head again and signed another thing: "Father, I can really keep the dress?"

"Yes, you deserve it.", the Pale King signed back. "After all I put you through, you surely deserve it."

The tailor's sister finished cleaning up the dresses and was in the process of sweeping the room, the Pale King had the feeling she was glancing at Hollow now and then, when the tailor entered the room again, two robes over her arms. As she saw Hollow, she chirped in delight.

"Oh, look at you, isn't that adorable? And those ribbons in your horns, they set just the right accent to the outfit." She laid both robes on the table and the Pale King couldn't even tell which one was the fixed and which one the new one, they looked identical. "Like I said, I won't charge anything, the weaver's silk is more than enough payment."

"Thank you very much.", the Pale King said. "What do we owe you for the dress?"

"Nothing. The weaver's silk is more than enough for it too. Just take it with you. Actually...", she eyed Hollow. "I think I have some ideas for an even better dress. That should be enough to reach the silk's worth. If you allow me, your majesty, I would like to sew it."

"What do you say, Hollow?", the Pale King asked, but from the excitement in their signing he knew that they were delighted. "We will allow it.", the Pale King said. "Send a messenger once it is done."

"Surely.", the tailor said. "It has been a pleasure working with you and your child, your majesty." The Pale King felt like his heart would stop and he heard himself say: "What have you just said?!"

"That it was a pleasure working with you and the child.", the tailor repeated. Ah, he had misheard her and here he thought, it had become obvious that Hollow was his child.

As they left the shop, Hollow bowed and then waved, stepping out on light feet. They seemed happy. "Hollow, before we head back, there is a place I want to show you.", he said. Hollow cocked their head and then followed him, without questioning of course. Soon they had arrived at a huge empty square, where the rain poured down unhindered. The square kind of always had bothered the Pale King, it felt like something should be there, like a statue or a fountain, but he hadn't found the right idea just what to put there. Yet.

Hollow looked at him, seemingly unsure what to do. "It's the rain, Hollow.", the Pale King said. "I wanted to give you the possibility to feel it."

Hollow turned their head around and stared at the rain for must have been a full minute, before they took a slow shaky step from under the roof and extended their hands. As soon as the rain touched it, they retreated. "Wet.", they signed. "Like water."

"That is what the rain is.", the Pale King said. "It's water, pouring down from above."

Hollow looked at the rain again and the next time they moved, it wasn't only their hands, but their whole body moved into the rain. They extended their arms and looked up and if they would have been able to emote, the Pale King was sure that they would smile. They simply stood in the rain, it ran down their shell and their void body and the Pale King thought that they felt at ease.

After a few minutes he called them back however, not that they would get sick. Could they even get sick? Better not take any chances. Unfortunately during their time in the rain, their new dress also had got soaked, the Pale King should have let them take it off first, so he spend a good while drying it and them with his magic. Once they were done, Hollow suddenly hugged him.

"Hollow.. not in such a public place.", the Pale King said and carefully removed them. Gladly, because of the pouring rain, not many bugs were present, but he still hoped that nobody had seen it. The two of them probably already were the case of rumours. It wouldn't take long for the population to pick up on what the great knights already had.

"Let's go back.", the Pale King said and Hollow nodded so hard that they fell over. "Ah well, was the first time today.", the Pale King said, helping them up and dusting off their dress. He then decided to subtlety take their hand, the more excited they were, the worse their balance problems.

On their way back, Hollow stared at the same sweet stand they had passed the last time and it wasn't exactly subtlety, so the Pale King went to get them some sweets, everyone in the line leaving him through again. When he returned to Hollow, he noticed that their attention had shifted to a small crowd. The crowd happened to have gathered around a butterfly girl who was singing a song.

"Do you want to listen, Hollow?", the Pale King asked and handed them the sweets. It was a snack coated in honey and the Pale King already planned to get more honey from the hive, Hollow seemed to enjoy it.

At his question, Hollow nodded and the Pale King stood next to them as they watched the singer, slowly nibbling at their sweets. The butterfly girl had a beautiful voice and the Pale King considered if he should summon her into the Palace to sing there, it surely would lift the mood of the great knights and the royal retainers. After a good while of them watching, Hollow nudged the Pale King and once they got his attention, they signed: "What is she doing?"

"She is singing.", the Pale King replied, heart sinking into his chest, about that he never bothered to teach Hollow about the joys of life such as music. They never would have needed to know what it is, they never would have been able to enjoy it, being a creature void of emotions. That is why he only ever had them taught how to fight and to be the Vessel. The Pale King had the feeling he needed to explain it more closely. "Singing is when someone uses their voice to form a melody.", he said. "They sing along lyrics and wrap their voice around it to make it sound more enjoyable as if someone would just be talking. It is called music and singing is a form of it."

"I see.", Hollow signed and then didn't say anything anymore. In fact, they nudged the Pale King again and implied that they wanted to go now. The Pale King didn't had any troubles with their desire, he just was a bit confused. It seemed like they had enjoyed listening to the singing of the butterfly, he didn't knew what suddenly had changed.

On their way back, Hollow seemed to fall behind and it wasn't because of balance, when the Pale King looked back, they seemed to have their gaze on the ground, but didn't struggle a lot and when, they managed to catch themselves. However, they dragged their feet and the Pale King could practically feel a gloomy aura around them.

"What's wrong, Hollow?", he asked.

They stopped and raised both hands, thinking a bit and then signed: "I can never do that."

"What can you never do?", the Pale King asked, confused. He knew that he would give them the chance to do anything they wanted, as long as if they didn't want to be the Vessel again.

" G.", Hollow signed out every letter of the word, clearly not knowing the sign language for it yet.

The Pale King stared at Hollow for a while. So far, they never had complained about not having a voice. So far, the Pale King had been under the impression that their missing voice didn't bother them. They had learned how to articulate themselves with a different method, so why should they be upset about it, when everyone could understand what they wanted to say? That the simple act of not being able to sing bothered them so much, surprised the Pale King as well as let a pang in his chest appear, because he was the reason for them to not have a voice. It was even worse when he saw tears welling up at their eyeholes again and right when he had sworn to him to not make them cry anymore.

"Oh, Hollow, please don't cry.", the Pale King crossed the short distance between them and hugged his child. "Singing is just one form of music. You may not be able to do it, but there exist many instruments that can be played with your hands. Would you maybe like to try it out?"

The Pale King slowly released Hollow from his hugs, holding them at their shoulders still and looked into their eyeholes. Slowly, very slowly, Hollow nodded. They raised their hand and wiped the tears away, then signed: "I want to try."

"I am sure we will find an instrument that will suit you.", the Pale King said and took their hand again. "There are many different kinds, like the piano, the violin or the harp..." On their way back, the Pale King taught Hollow all about what he knew about instruments, but had to admit that he didn't knew too much. He always had been the logical type, not the creative type. Did he know someone that played an instrument? Lurien probably. When he remembered correctly, the watcher would sometimes play the violin. It wouldn't hurt to bring Hollow there, he had the feeling the once dreamers should meet them anyway.

Hollow listened intently to everything he had to said. Apparently, the concept of music and instruments seemed to fascinate them. It was a good sign for the Pale King, anything that would help them getting their mind of being the Vessel, would be a good thing.

Back at the palace, the Pale King saw Isma and Hegemol standing and his heart sank again. He had hoped to avoid this conversation, even though he knew it had to happen.

"Look at you, Hollow, you are adorable.", Isma said as she spotted them in their new dress. "I am glad that you feel better now."

"The ribbons are perfect.", Hegemol added. "They make your horns look even more stunning."

Hollow bowed to the both of them in thanks and then Isma turned to the Pale King. "You know why we are here, but we refuse talking about it in front of Hollow."

"Hollow, go inside.", the Pale King said. "See if your mother is back."

Hollow nodded and then went away. As soon as they were out of sight, Isma sighed and said: "Ze'mer talked to us."

"She was saying that much this morning.", the Pale King said, waiting for what Isma had to say further.

"Your majesty, you have to know, that we don't condone your actions regarding Hollow. They have been wrong and I barely can grasp that you have been willing to sacrifice your own child."

Hegemol nodded along to Isma's words as the Pale King's heart sunk even further down. He agreed with them. There was nothing he could do to defend himself, because every word they said was true.

"However, Ze'mer made us see your decision in a new light.", Isma said. "First, you did it because you tried to save thousands of innocent bugs from the infection."

"Second.", Hegemol said. "You were under the impression that Hollow was void of emotion, nothing but a construct."

"That is correct...", the Pale King said. "We have been wrong about Hollow being void of emotion. They have tried so hard to appear as if they really were, that they even deceived us. We deeply regret that we haven't picked up on it sooner."

"Which brings us to our next point.", Isma said. "We don't condone your actions, but we can understand what has you driven to them. The most important part is, that you stopped. That you strife to do better. The hurt inflicted on Hollow can never be reversed, but they truly love you and view you as their father. Your majesty, I don't speak as your knight when I say this, but as a potential mother, never ever hurt Hollow like this again." She looked at Hegemol. "Hegemol has the same opinion as me."

Hegemol added and said: "We have told Hollow that they can come to us whenever it would become too much for them. Like Isma said, we can't condone your actions, but we can understand why you felt the need to act them out. We... will need some time to come to terms with everything, but we would like to stay in your service and help as best as we can to combat the infection."

The Pale King almost felt himself tear up, a thing that couldn't happen in front of his knights. Isma, Hegemol, your words mean a lot to us.", he said. "Thank you." In the back of his head, the thought of what would happen when the knights knew just how many dead children he had in the abyss lingered, but he didn't want to think about this right now. A lot of the children would have been born dead even outside the influence of the void. The mortality rate of them was too high.

"What about Ogrim?", the Pale King asked, having the impression that the White Defender would personally kill him if he knew about the abyss.

"...He didn't want to listen.", Isma said. "I will try and talk to him, but I am under the impression he needs more time. He can't understand your actions at all and was rather disgusted by them."

"He's not the only one.", the Pale King whispered, with a voice as quiet as him, there was no way that his knights would be able to hear him. He was disgusted by himself, by the fact that he had sacrificed so many of his own children and expected the only living one to become a living prison for the Radiance. It was time to end the infection, once and for all.

"We will leave Ogrim time.", he said. "For now, return to your posts. We need to get back to our workshop."

"Very well.", Isma and Hegemol said in unsion, bowed to him and then went off. With a heart as heavy as stone, the Pale King walked into the direction of his workshop. The conversation with Ogrim, if it would ever happen, would be a tough one. For now, he finally needed to tackle the infection.

Especially before Hollow would one day decide to be the Vessel without him having a say in it.

(Author's note: I did my best with Ze'mer's dialect. Give me a break, Hollow Knight, english isn't even my first language and then you let Ze'mer speak like that?!

I have the feeling, this chapter feels a bit like filler. I want to get the plot going finally and hope I can start with it in the next chapter. I have a lot of things planned still.

Anyway, please write me your opinions in the comments. Thank you very much.)