Cherreads

Chapter 6 - 6. Mystery

Emerald was yet to find out that his brothers had also been murdered along with their father: The Emperor. But from her actions and reactions, she didn't have a clue, so he pulled her away from the entrance room to his sibling's quarters.

"Alright, there's something I have to tell you before you go in there.." he held her shoulders against the wall and stared inside her eyes with slight pain.

"And what would that be, Li Wei." She bit her lower lip, playing along with his game. 'What could he possibly want to tell me while holding me pinned to the wall like this..?'

'Emerald was close to them as much as she was close to me. The news might break her, but she has to hear it before going in there to get hurt even more.' Li Wei gave it a careful thought.

"My brothers were also killed during the assassination attempt on the Royal family. The only ones alive are The Empress, the princess's, and I." She said flat, without holding back any information from her.

At first, it seemed like she was fine after hearing the information. 'Wow, she seems…. Okay, with the information..'

Her eyes weren't watery, her expression remained the same, and her body movement seized. Her pupil never wavered from his, and her lips fell open.

"Wait… I know that reaction!." He pulled back, grabbing her by her buckled knee and lifting her feet above the ground.

'She's in shock!' He rushed her towards nearby room and commanded one of the maidens to rush to the clinic and bring the Royal doctor immediately for Emeralds sake.

With the little time he had before the doctor arrived, he placed her on the bed and had some maids bring a bucket of water and a towel.

With the wet towel, he rubbed it carefully on her face as an emergency response to her situation.. 'I haven't seen anyone freeze from an information before. She must have had so much confusion and pain at the same time that she had to fall into shock.'

He pulled off the armour she wore, allowing air to caress her skin and provide it with oxygen. He didn't stop wiping her body with the cold towel until the Royal doctor rushed into the room and saw her.

"Shift, boy. I'll take it from here before things get worse than it already is..!" the doctor requested, dropping his box case close to the mattress where Li Wei kept Emerald.

He was escorted out of the room so the doctor would focus on Emerald without answering his questions and losing focus on his task.

'Maybe I shouldn't have told her about it. But she would have found out about it one way or the other. We haven't told the masses about their death yet. That's probably why she didn't get the information while reaching here.'

'It's already tough on the people about the Emperor's death. What would happen when they found out the only successor left was him.. the insignificant prince, who couldn't hold his ground and prove himself as a leader to the people.'

She shook his head and glanced to the floor beside him, noticing more than one silhouette rushing towards his direction. He raised his head immediately and saw three figures: His two sisters and the Empress.

"The doctor said we should not disturb the procedure and wait out here until he is done with her. So he can focus without getting distracted." He said fluently to their hearing.

They all went by him, ignoring his presence, and rushed into the room without a second thought. Unlike him, he noticed the doctor hadn't chased them out yet.

'Right.. how could I forget my position in this place. Nothing's changed, and nothing will.' He sighed, walking out of the front door back to his quarters.

At his quarters, he continued staring out the window down below, watching the guards exchange positions every hour. 'The guards are more vigilant compared to before, but how did someone manage to get through them and hurt the Emperor and his sons?'

'Unless this was a planned attempt with the guards, but does the general overseer know about this? How incompetent his guards are?'

He walked out of the room, heading for the chambers downstairs. "I've got to have a word with him, I think i can get some information out of him," he grinned.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

The royal guards were controlled by the general overseer: Gordon, and he was a well trusted soldier of the Emperor. As of late, he had an important duty to perform and was sent out of the capital to complete it.

He was a close friend to the Emperor and a well trusted ally. He was in charge of the Royal army of the Empire, and his utmost priority or rather duty was to protect the Emperor, which he failed miserably.

'If I am going to become the next Emperor, then I must take care of this problem before things escalate out of hand.'

He rushed into the royal quarters of the Imperial guards. Their flag was raised high in front of their quarters, despite the Emperor being dead.

Li Wei scoffed and went in without permission because he didn't see a reason to have one. He entered the waiting room and sat on the softest cushion he saw, crossing his leg and ordering one of the guards.

"I need to speak to the General Overseer: Gordon this moment." He ordered, not considering the fact that he wasn't the Emperor yet, and he was still considered as an insignificant being in the house of the Emperor.

"Sorry, but he is currently busy and can not meet anyone at the moment." The guard answered back, glancing down at Li Wei briefly before averting his gaze.

"There's nothing more important than meeting the son of the Emperor, besides it something that concerns the entire Empire. Call him out or hand him this written message of mine. He will surely come out after reading it." He pulled out a folded, sealed paper with the Emperor's stamp on it.

In respect to the late Emperor, the guard took it and went into their quarters to deliver the message to him.

'Now, we must discover and gather our first clue in solving this mystery.'

More Chapters