Drac knocked on the door of Eric’s room, but there was no response. He could sense Eric’s presence inside but Eric wasn’t responding.

Drac sighed and pushed the door open walking inside.

Eric sat on the edge of his bed, shoulders slumped, head lowered, arms resting over his thighs loosely and his communication brooch resting in his palm.

Drac looked once at the communication device and asked, "Did you contact Master?"

Eric shook his head lightly, and Drac asked, "Are you going to?"

Eric didn’t respond.

"You really think asking Master for help in this state will help you? Do you really think Master will help you?" Drac asked.

Eric knew well what the answer was, which was why he couldn’t do it. He had been sitting with the communication brooch in his hand for an hour now but couldn’t gather enough courage to pour his mana into it to reach out to Ocean.

He knew Ocean would listen and might even give him a hint on what could be done. But that would also disappoint Ocean to a great length. Ocean had chosen Eric to become the King and he had asked Eric to work hard if he was willing to reach that goal. Eric and his mother were the ones who had promised to keep their side while Ocean would keep his.

But now that things had come down to this where Eric didn’t have tutelage from Ocean he was flailing like a newborn.

"I can’t do it..." He mumbled, "I’m not like Master... I can’t solve it... I’ve ruined it... I failed Master..."

Drac heard Eric mutter gloomily before he curled his fingers into a fist and then said.

"Pardon me, Your Highness."

Eric didn’t realise what he meant until the next second that Drac’s large and heavy fist collided against his head making him nearly fall to the ground. The darkness pinched at the corners of his vision and his ears started ringing. Eric fell to his knees, grabbing his throbbing skull, clenching his teeth while Drac stood before him with an indifferent expression.

"God damn... That hurt, you bastard!" Eric shouted, glaring up at Drac.

"Are you back to your senses now?" Drac asked instead.

Eric scowled and Drac continued, "Master didn’t choose you to become another Master. He wants you to be the King, you don’t have to be like him for that. You just need to do what you’re the best at."

Eric stared at Drac for a moment and Drac added, "Besides, whatever you choose to do, I will always support you."

Eric remained silently in his place for a moment before Drac reached out and Eric grabbed his hand before nearly jumping up and smashing their foreheads together. He expected Drac to feel the same kind of pain but instead he fell back grabbing his own forehead and grunting and cursing in pain.

"The hell is your forehead made of?! Stone? Steel?" Eric grunted angrily.

A rare laugh escaped Drac’s lips as he said in a matter of fact tone, "Dragon’s scales."

The two young men looked at each other for a moment before they ended up laughing and Eric brushed his tender forehead which was growing a red angry bump.

"Let’s go then." Eric said.

"Where?"

Eric smiled as he pinned the brooch to his vest, "Shoveling."

Eric and Drac put on their cloaks- the custom made special cloaks that acted like raincoats and also temperature regulators, given to them by Ocean Ryujin.

The two rode their horses to the Lowmere fields, Drac wondered why they had to shovel in the rain but since he had learned not to question Eric’s judgement so, he asked in a different way.

"How will shoveling help the farms in this rain?"

Eric glanced at him, the water droplets ran down his face, "The Lowmere fields have been dry for months, and it’s only recently that they have started getting irrigation from the Casmere river. This summer shower is unexpectedly heavy, if we don’t make drainage trenches, the rain water will cause trouble for the farms."

"What kind of trouble?" Drac asked over the whooshing wind.

"Quite a bit of trouble, the fields could get waterlogged, the topsoil could erode and it will also affect the fertility of the fields."

Drac didn’t quite understand it, but he had seen Eric reading books about farming and agriculture in Earl Castermere’s library till late at night so, he trusted that it was a necessary step.

The two reached the farmlands a few minutes later and Eric pulled the hood over his head as the wind and rain was making it a little hard. He stepped ahead with Drac beside him when Drac suddenly stopped staring right ahead, seemingly unfazed by the rain.

"Did you call for assistance?" Drac suddenly asked.

Eric looked at him, squinting, "Huh? No, I just thought of it after we talked."

Drac who was staring right ahead, gestured ahead with his chin as he said, "Then what’s going on there?"

Eric followed his line of sight and noticed a group of people already gathered near the fields and they all were working.

Eric and Drac exchanged glances before the two walked over to the people noticing that they weren’t Lowmere farmers.

"Don’t let it pool over there!" Frank Rovers who stood at the embankment shouted orders holding his straw hat over his head while the others worked in the fields.

"Don’t dig it too deep! Good, make it go downstream!"

Eric and Drac made their way to him and Frank turned as Eric placed his hand over his shoulder.

"Elder Rovers, what are you all doing here?" Eric asked.

Frank glanced at him, with the expression that was a mixture of stoicism and guilt.

"Fixing what we failed the last time." He simply said and then turned back.

Drac noticed that among the workers below were Reggie and some of his friends who were shoveling and then scooping away the excess mud.

"And what about Hillford fields?" Eric asked.

"There are others already working on them, but Lowmere fields were dry for a long time, we thought they would need help... They might curse or start a brawl but this might help the fields since there wasn’t much time before the rainwater would flood their fields." Frank explained.

"For a farmer, his land is his lifeline... We were shortsighted so we realised it late that we are connected to the same land after all."

A small, guilty smile graced Frank’s face, deepening his wrinkles and Eric found himself smiling back, feeling relieved and also encouraged.

"Shall we lend a hand?" Eric asked placing his shovel over his shoulder and Frank’s smile deepened.

"We do need some help down there."

Eric grinned at Drac before the two jumped down in the fields to help the other people.

The betrayal from the Hillford people and the feelings of angst had momentarily distracted the Lowmere people from realising that the rain that was supposed be a light drizzle had suddenly turned out to be a heavy downpour that could harm the lands. And till the time they realised and came running they were shocked to see the field drains already dug in every field and the group of people standing by the last field.

"Wha-What are you all doing there?" One of the Lowmere farmer shouted realising that they were Hillford people.

"Is there anything left for you to ruin?"

"What are you doing to our fields?!"

The Hillford people remained silent for a while, glancing at Eric who understood their plea and stepped ahead.

"Since the rain was heavy, they all came to help dig these trenches to keep the fields from flooding." He explained.

"Lies! If they cared even a little they wouldn’t have stolen water and betrayed us in the first place!"

"We have all been thinking we were suffering drought because of the nature, but it was these scum who were responsible for that!"

The accusations seemed to have triggered the Hillford’s youngsters as they angrily stepped ahead.

"It wasn’t exactly our fault!"

"Yes, even our fields were barely making it!"

Eric watched both the sides before Frank Rovers raised his hand stopping his side.

Eric continued, "I understand that you all are upset about being wronged but, for once, I will ask you all to calm down and put yourselves in their shoes. If you were in Hillford’s place, when the river was drying up- would you have thought about morals first?"

"Of course-" one of the farmers almost blurted out.

"B-But it still doesn’t mean that-"

"Put your hands on your hearts and tell me honestly." Eric said and the Lowmere people went quiet.

Eric smiled softly and then gestured to the Hillford people, "They are also people who want their families to survive and acted like humans..I understand it was selfish, and it was wrong- but in that moment, it felt necessary to them."

"But what about the damage we suffered during that time?"

"Our fields and families suffered so much because of that!"

Before Eric could say anything, Frank Rovers stepped ahead and lowered his head before the Lowmere people.

"On behalf of all Hillford, I, Frank Rovers apologise to Lowmere people... It was indeed our selfishness that led to your suffering, no matter what we say, it won’t change that we wronged you. That’s why, we will accept any punishment that you all wish to give us."

The Lowmere people were slightly taken aback to see the usual Frank Rovers who was known for his stoic and stone wall-like personality to bow his head and apologise.

Eric patted Frank’s shoulder gently and Frank slowly straightened up feeling his back aching slightly.

"They all realised their mistake that’s why they were here this time to keep the damage from happening to your fields." Eric said.

"Mistakes happen to everyone, but choosing to forgive and living in harmony is one of the traits of humanity."

The people stared at Eric as the sudden and heavy summer shower started to ease as erratically as it had arrived. The first rays of sun that broke through the clouds hit Eric’s blonde hair casting a faint golden glow around his head that momentarily mesmerized people.

It almost felt as though the rain itself had come to ease the strain in the bonds between the two villages. Water was their problem and ultimately water became something that solved it.