CH109
Tsunco
I clenched my fists, the realization sending a fresh wave of anger through me.
Had he been behind that idiot’s access to poison?
What other strings had he been pulling in the palace all this time?
I turned sharply, heading back toward my office, my mind racing ahead. If the funds were being funneled to Elia, that meant there was a trail. He would have left traces, contacts, payments, something that could lead me directly to where he was staying. I didn’t want to have to wait for news about Ari to reach him, assuming that he cared about her at all.
This time, he wouldn’t be so lucky as to just vanish into wilderness of the celestial realm.
I was going to exile him in the most painful way possible so he could live the rest of his life with his phoenix.
When I reached my office, I closed the door behind me. I opened the door between my and my father’s office. Sota hadn’t moved from his spot, but he was still working. Good.
He was probably working toward some sort of leniency.
Hours passed, and the tension between my eyebrows was building at a steady pace. A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts. Sota was still working quietly and Renji hadn’t come to see me.
“Enter,” I said, my voice cold and steady.
The whole of my father’s harem harem members entered my office. I wasn’t surprised. They were
most likely here to co
about the seizure of their treasury keys.
Lady Maro glared at me. “You overstep your place.”
“And yet you have come to speak to me,” I said. “I assume my father told you that you are to deal
with me and not him.”
She flushed.
“The King refuses to see us,” one of them whined, her voice filled with a mixture of entitlement and petulance. “It is our right.”
1/5
CH109
“Not if he does not grant you an audience,” I said. “What do you want?”
“Not that you would know anything about what a Husband and wife talk about.”
I smirked. “I know plenty. You are a concubine not his wife.
She snarled. “You think you have power now, but when-
“My father has more important things to do than to entertain you. He is exhausted,” I replied, my voice firm. “He needs rest,”
“But we are his wives, one of them protested, her voice rising. “He has a duty to us.”
I shook my head, my eyes filled with a mixture of frustration and determination. “My father is the
king,” I replied, my voice barely a whisper. “He has a duty to the kingdom. There is no kingdom
with hini and his health. He will see you when he feels he is able to.”
“You will return our treasury keys to us. We have things to purchase for our comforts.”
“Based on the ledgers, you all are more than comfortable,” I said. “Get out.”
“Wait until the king hears about this!”
I scoffed and stood. “Fine, since you wish to be so obstinate.”
I rounded the table. “I would rather be done with this.”
I pushed past them and led them all to my father’s chambers. As I grew nearer, I started to slow. There was something telling me that he wasn’t in his rooms.
The guards seemed unusually quiet, their eyes filled with a mixture of fear and concern.
“Is everything alright?”
One of the guards hesitated, his eyes darting nervously from side to side. “We haven’t seen the King in days,” he replied. “It is… unlike him to at least come out and take a walk, especially at
night.”
My heart sank and started to race. Had something happened to my father?
“He hasn’t… come out in all this time?”
They shook their head.
2/5
CH109
“Food?”
They shook their heads. “The servants bring food bit by the time of the next meal it is still there.”
I pushed past them into my father’s chambers, opening the doors quickly, searching for him.
He is not here, Tsuneo, Tarofu said calmly.
Where is he?
Whatever his response was seemed lost in the panic. I turned back to the guards.
“Find him.” I commanded, my voice barely a whisper. “Find him now, and be discreet.”
They nodded and one of them left. The other remained. I looked at the concubines and signaled for another guard.
“Escort them back to their quarters.”
“But-
“Do as I say or you will be escorted to the dungeons.”
They flinched, but they turned and followed the guards.
I watched them go, my heart pounding in my chest. I had to find my father, I had to know he was safe. I couldn’t even hear Tarofu’s voice at the back of my head. I joined the search, but with each passing moment, dread settled heavy in my gut. Where could my father be? Had something happened to him?
There was no sign of him having left the palace at all. I considered that he might be in the chamber where my mother was. I willed myself to go there, but I couldn’t. I checked the gardens he usually went to, but he wasn’t there.
This was bad, very bad. The king was the heart and soul of the kingdom. Without him, we were lost. I could not manage the Convening without him. I would not manage it.
I checked every room, every hallway, every hidden corner. But there was no sign of my father.
Desperation was beginning to set in. I was running out of options, but I had to appear calm.
“He is likely just asleep in some parlor,” I said. “Trying to catch a bit of peace. He probably used a secret passage. Keep looking.”
3/5
CH109
The guards seemed comforted by that though, but was not. And then, I heard it or felt it like a call running through my whole body.
Tsuneo!
It was Tarofu’s voice. Calm yourself. Your father is fine.
I swallowed and closed my eyes.
If you lose yourself to your panic, your anxiety, your fear, I cannot reach you, you understand?
Where is he?
My body shimmered and melted into shadow. Tarofu had taken over and sent us drifting through the halls in and out of shadows until we reached the garden around the Pools.
Then, I saw him. He was sitting on a bench, his head in his hands. His shoulders trembling.
Weeping.
I had never seen my father weep in my whole life.
“Father?” I called out, my voice barely a whisper.
He looked up, his eyes wet with tears. They seemed less tired, yet more drained, world–weary. The scales on his neck were seemingly growing back into their original pattern. He looked rested yet
distraught.
‘Tsuneo,” he replied, his voice barely a whisper. “I… I’m so sorry.”
rushed towards him, my heart filled with a sense of relief. He was alive, and he was safe.
Where were you?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. “How did you even… get here?”
My father hesitated, his eyes filled with a mixture of shame and embarrassment.
Here, and there’s a passage that leads from the altar where your mother lies.” He shook his head, viping his face. “And I was hiding.”
