Chapter 113: What Happened

  It has been a few days after that night.

  The sunlight that filtered through the curtains of the palace guest room felt intrusive, too bright for the somber quiet within. Yukari sat on a stool beside the bed, her hands resting lightly on the pristine white sheets.

  Raito lay still. His chest rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm, his face peaceful, almost innocent in repose. The healer had come and gone, their diagnosis maddeningly simple: “There is nothing wrong with him. We are not sure why he is still sleeping. For now, keep a watchful eyes on him.”

  Yet, Yukari thought, her gaze tracing the line of his jaw, I know there is something incredibly wrong.

  The memory was a jagged shard in her mind, replaying on an endless, torturous loop. The alleyway. The flickering lantern light. Raito, her Raito—the boy who complained about heat, who made silly costumes, who hesitated to hurt a fly—holding Kaden by the collar. The dull thud of his fist connecting with flesh. The cold, empty look in his eyes as he punched him repeatedly, devoid of anger, devoid of mercy, devoid of him.

  That is not Raito, she thought, her stomach twisting. The Raito I know will never do that. But why? How can Raito change that much?

  She remembered the black flame. The way it had devoured Zhu’s fire. The way it seemed to feed on Raito's own warmth, leaving behind only a chilling void.

  I hate myself for not being able to do anything right now, she thought bitterly. She reached out and took his hand, his fingers limp and cool in hers. She squeezed tight, as if she could transfer her own strength, her own will, back into him. Wake up, idiot. Please.

  At the same time, in the deepest, most secure level of the Kah-Kamun dungeon, the air was damp and cold.

  A heavy iron bar swung open with a screech of rusted metal. Four figures stepped into the dim light of the cell: Tanvir, Zhu Lihua, King Ahmed, and Bob.

  In the center of the cell, chained to the wall, sat a figure wrapped almost entirely in bandages. Only his eyes and mouth were visible. Kaden—the man formerly known as Dr. Kadiem—slumped against the stone, his breathing ragged. Most people wouldn't be able to identify him beneath the layers of gauze, a testament to the brutality he had endured.

  "Are you ready to talk?" Tanvir asked, his voice echoing in the small space. He crossed his massive arms, looming over the prisoner.

  Kaden lifted his head slowly. His visible eye was swollen, but the glint of defiance remained.

  "After what that kid did to me?" Kaden rasped, his voice weak and dry. He let out a harsh, wheezing laugh. "Of course not. This place hasn't changed after all. Brutality hidden behind royal walls."

  "I'm going to ask anyway," Tanvir said, ignoring the jab. He stepped closer. "What were you planning to do with Nezhat that night?"

  Kaden went still.

  "You drugged her," Tanvir stated flatly. "With a very strong sleeping potion. She slept like a log through the entire commotion. Through your arrest. Through the fight. She only woke up recently."

  Tanvir leaned down, his face inches from Kaden's bandaged form. "And worst of all... the first thing she did was ask for you. She was worried. She was looking for you."

  Kaden stared at the floor. For a long moment, there was only the sound of dripping water in the cell.

  "Is that so?" Kaden whispered finally. "That woman is a fool."

  "Were all those connections to Nezhat... just part of your ruse?" Tanvir asked, his voice low, tinged with a hard edge of judgment.

  Kaden scoffed, the sound wet and ugly. "Of course," he spat. "Why would I—someone who hates this place with all my being—fall in love with someone from here? It was a means to an end. Nothing more."

  Tanvir stood up straight, his expression unreadable. He turned his head toward the heavy iron door of the cell.

  "You hear that?" Tanvir called out. "That is the truth."

  The door creaked open further. A figure stepped out from the shadows of the corridor.

  It was Dr. Nezhat. The Fox Sacred looked small and frail, her usually immaculate fur matted, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen. She stared at the man chained to the wall, her hands trembling by her sides.

  "So..." she whispered, her voice cracking. "Your warmth... everything... it was all a lie?"

  Kaden looked up, meeting her gaze with cold indifference. "Yes, you fool," he said, his voice dripping with venom. "All of it. You made a perfect alibi for me. A lonely widow, desperate for connection... you were easy."

  He leaned his head back against the stone wall. "If only I had killed you an hour earlier, I would have gotten away. That meddling kid wouldn't have caught me if I hadn't been wasting time pretending to care about your feelings."

  Nezhat let out a choked sob. She rushed forward, her hand raising.

  SMACK.

  She slapped Kaden across his bandaged face. It wasn't a strong blow, but the sound echoed like a gunshot in the silent cell.

  She stared at him for one heartbeat longer, her eyes filled with a mixture of heartbreak and hatred. Then, she turned and ran, fleeing the cell and the monster she had thought she loved, never looking back.

  The silence that followed was heavy.

  "You are one cruel person," King Ahmed commented, his voice shaking with suppressed rage. "You know that, right?"

  Kaden turned his head slowly toward the King. He gathered the saliva in his mouth and spat, a glob of blood and spittle landing on the toe of the King's velvet boot.

  "Like you are one to talk," Kaden laughed, a gurgling, manic sound. "Hahaha!"

  He glared up at the royal brothers. "Did you royalty really not know the darkness that exists in this city? Don't act all innocent on me right now."

  "Darkness?" Bob stepped forward, his jovial face unusually stern. "What are you talking about? Kah-Kamun is a beautiful and prosperous city! My brother is one of the best rulers I know. We have peace. We have culture."

  "Are you sure?" Kaden hissed. "Why don't you two twins ask your father?"

  His eye gleamed with a malicious light. "Oh, wait. He died. And he brought the secret down with him to the grave, didn't he?"

  "YOU..." King Ahmed roared, stepping forward with his hand raised, ready to strike the prisoner himself.

  "Stop," Tanvir said, his arm shooting out to block the King's path.

  "Talk! Now!" Tanvir demanded, his voice a low rumble. "Before I make sure you never walk again."

  "Another threat, another demand," Kaden scoffed, shaking his head slightly despite the pain. "Like I thought... still the same old Kah-Kamun."

  "It's related to your daughter, right?" Zhu Lihua finally spoke, stepping out of the shadows where she had been observing silently. Her gaze was piercing. "The one in the picture with Tseh."

  Kaden froze. His one visible eye widened, the defiance momentarily faltering.

  "What made you think of that? Is it that obvious?" Kaden's voice cracked, raw with emotion he could no longer hide. "Of course it is for my daughter! A lone, twelve-year-old girl whose death was swept under the rug! Hidden from everyone! Even her own grandfather accepted the circumstances just because of a bribe!"

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  He strained against his chains, shouting now, spittle flying from his lips. "Tseh deserve to rot in hell!"

  "Then please," Bob knelt down near Kaden, his massive frame radiating a gentle sorrow rather than intimidation. "Tell us what happened. We mean you no harm. Help us understand. We promise to find you any help if possible."

  Kaden looked at Bob, his breathing ragged. "Will your help bring my daughter back?" he asked, his voice hollow.

  Bob couldn't answer. He lowered his gaze, the silence stretching between them.

  "Of course not," Kaden whispered. "Only Master can do it. Hahaha!" His laugh was broken, desperate.

  "Who is this Master?" Tanvir asked again, stepping closer. "Who is behind all of this? Talk!"

  Kaden looked at them—the King, the Merchant, the Lord, and the Warrior. He sighed, a sound of utter defeat.

  "Fine. I'll talk," he said. "But not to help you guys. But only because I know you all will die soon anyway."

  He leaned his head back against the cold stone wall, staring up at the damp ceiling as if seeing a ghost.

  "So hear it," Kaden began, his voice taking on the cadence of a storyteller recounting a tragedy. "My story. And King Tamun Said... your father's darkness."

  "The story began more than a century ago," Kaden said, his gaze distant. "In a humble abode of a lone Tortoise Sacred named Tseh and his Half-Sacred child named Kaden."

  He let out a small, bitter chuckle. "I wasn't always like this. I was more... let's say, whimsical. Just like any other kid. Nothing special. I grew up with Tseh, who was a single parent. It was a simple life."

  His visible eye softened for a moment. "I met a Human girl. Fell in love. Married. And we had our lovely daughter, Miri." He smiled, a genuine expression that looked strange on his battered face. "We were not the richest family, but we had just enough money to get by."

  "Sounds peaceful," Bob commented softly.

  "It was," Kaden agreed. "And how beautiful it was."

  Then, his face twisted. The smile vanished, replaced by a sinister scowl. "Until it all came crashing down."

  He looked at the King. "My wife... she fell ill. Died soon after, leaving me to look after my daughter with Tseh."

  "I'm so sorry for that," Bob commented again, his voice thick with empathy. "What kind of illness, if I may ask?"

  "Heh," Kaden laughed dryly. "Sorry? Now? In my current state? What a joke."

  He shook his head. "But I'll tell you anyway. No idea. No one could diagnose it. No one knew. The only symptoms were the skin turning a pale, sickly blue and a terrible coughing. Soon, the patient turned weak, unable to breathe... and then passed away soon after."

  "A mysterious illness that no one could identify," Kaden spat. "Just my luck."

  "It does have a name," Zhu Lihua interjected, stepping forward. Her expression was unreadable.

  Kaden looked at her, surprised. "Are you some kind of expert, lady?"

  "No," Zhu said quietly. "But I know those symptoms. My old friend passed away from one such disease." She looked him in the eye. "In Ruhong, we called it 'Lotus Frost Disease'."

  "Lotus Frost, eh?" Kaden mused, rolling the name around in his mouth. "Not a bad name."

  He sneered. "So, for royalty, you guys get a name. But for a commoner? Everyone lacks knowledge. Very peculiar coincidence. What a twisted world indeed."

  He strained against his chains, his voice rising in volume. "That is precisely why I went to Volnear!"

  He slammed his wrists against the wall. "I swore to study as much medicine as there could be! So that no family could befall the same tragedy as mine! I dedicated my life to saving others!"

  He slumped, his energy draining away, leaving only a dark void.

  "But what is my reward?" he whispered. "My daughter killed. And erased."

  He began to cackle, a maniacal, broken sound that echoed off the damp stones. "HAHAHAHAH!"

  "Get to the point," Tanvir growled, his patience wearing thin.

  "Patience, O powerful Lord," Kaden mocked, his visible eye glinting with malice. "I'm getting there."

  He took a ragged breath. "Upon my return from Volnear, four years after I left... I went around, asking where my daughter was. I expected a welcome. A hug. Instead... no one answered. Everyone looked away, scared of something. They acted like she did not exist."

  Kaden's voice trembled. "I immediately ran to the museum. Met with my father, working his dead-end job as usual. I kept pestering him about Miri, but like the rest, he did not answer. Just feigned ignorance. 'She's away,' he said. 'She's safe,' he lied."

  He leaned forward as far as the chains would allow. "Until we got home. He finally cracked. He broke down, showed me the bribe money, telling me that he felt guilty. I asked what happened."

  Kaden’s eye locked onto King Ahmed. "He told me everything. About the accident. The statue display at the museum... a malfunction that resulted in a massive stone carving falling down. And crushing my daughter."

  A gasp echoed in the cell.

  "Not wanting this massive incompetence to be reported everywhere... not wanting a scandal to tarnish the grand opening..." Kaden spat the words. "The old museum director—the one before you, Tanvir—and the King... they bribed everyone who saw it. Swept the incident under the rug. Erased her records. Buried her in an unmarked grave."

  He cackled again, a sound of pure bitterness. "All to keep this image of the great Kah-Kamun Museum intact!"

  "You are lying!" King Ahmed shouted, pointing a shaking finger at Kaden. "Our father is an honorable man! He would never do something like that!"

  "Are you sure?" Kaden asked softly, his voice cutting through the King's denial. "Perhaps you don't know everything about your own family. Then tell me... how come my daughter does not exist in any records? How about the incident 70 years ago? Have you checked the archive? I can guarantee there will be nothing there."

  The King faltered, doubt creeping into his eyes.

  "All this place can do is force everyone to keep their twisted image," Kaden sneered. "A public appearance, as they say. Even when the core is rotten."

  "We get that this is revenge for your daughter," Tanvir interjected, his voice grim. "But why become a traitor? Why the allegiance with Volnear? Why target the current royal family?"

  "Because Master promised me," Kaden whispered, a fervent light entering his eye. "If I did most of the dirty work for him... he would bring my daughter back. And he would give me the opportunity for revenge."

  "Bringing someone back from the dead is impossible," Zhu said, shaking her head. "It is a taboo. A sin against nature."

  "For you," Kaden retorted. "But Master is beyond your comprehension. He is a being far beyond Lords and the God Silas. Soon... everything will belong to him."

  "Who is this Master?!" Tanvir shouted, stepping forward until he was almost touching Kaden. "Talk!"

  Kaden looked at them, a twisted smile stretching beneath his bandages. He opened his mouth to speak, his eye gleaming with a final, desperate truth.

  "The Master is—"

  HACK.

  The words were cut off by a violent, wet cough. Kaden jerked forward, his body seizing up. Fresh, bright red blood blossomed rapidly across the white bandages covering his chest, spreading like a gruesome flower.

  "Urgh..." Kaden gasped, his eye widening in panic. He tried to inhale, but only a gurgling sound came out.

  "Hey! Hold on!" Tanvir shouted. He grabbed Kaden’s shoulders to steady him, but the man went limp in his grip.

  "Medic! Get a medic in here!" King Ahmed yelled, rushing to the cell door.

  But it was too late. Kaden convulsed once, his hand reaching out toward empty air, grasping for a daughter who wasn't there. Then, his arm fell. His eye glazed over, staring unseeingly at the damp ceiling.

  The cell fell silent.

  Tanvir pressed two fingers to Kaden’s neck. He waited for a beat, then two. He slowly pulled his hand away, his expression grim.

  "Tch! We lost him!" Tanvir muttered.

  "What happened?" Bob asked, his face pale. "Did he take a poison?"

  "No," Tanvir said, unbuttoning the top of Kaden's bandages to reveal the bruising underneath. The skin was black and blue, the chest caved in slightly. "Internal bleeding. His ribs are pulverized. One of them must have punctured a lung or his heart when he started shouting. His injuries killed him."

  Zhu Lihua frowned. "The injuries that the kid inflicted..."

  "The kid," Tanvir said quietly, looking at the bruised knuckles of the dead man. "He is dangerous, we have to find way to contain him.”

  A heavy silence descended on the group.

  "He took the secret to the grave," King Ahmed whispered, looking at the body. "We still don't know who this Master is."

  "He is just a grieving father," Bob commented, his voice heavy with sorrow. He looked at the broken body. "Twisted into something he should not be. He was on a bright path."

  King Ahmed stumbled back, leaning against the cold stone wall for support. He looked pale, shaken to his core.

  "Brother," he whispered, looking at Bob with wide, fearful eyes. "Do you believe he was telling the truth? You know... about Father?"

  Bob looked at his brother, then at the dead man. He sighed, a long, weary sound.

  "I don't know," Bob admitted quietly. "But as someone who lost something as well... I don't think I can lie about something heavy like that."

  "Then, Tanvir, old friend," King Ahmed said, straightening his spine though his eyes remained haunted. "Will you be willing to help me check if his words are true? Check about the hidden darkness of this place... see if the nostalgia is just clouding my judgment?"

  "Yes, Ahmed," Tanvir answered solemnly, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I will be there with you. We will tear those archives apart."

  Zhu Lihua watched them for a moment, then bowed her head slightly. "Then pardon me, Your Majesty. I need to check on Linlin and that kid." She turned toward the exit, excusing herself from the heavy atmosphere of the dungeon.

  "Wait, Lady Lihua," Bob called out, stepping away from the wall. "I will also come with you. I also want to be there for those two."

  Zhu nodded. "Let's go."

  The two of them made their way out of the damp dungeon, leaving the King and Tanvir to confront the ghosts of the past in the library archives.

  Inside the palace guest room, the air was still and warm.

  Raito stirred. His eyelids fluttered, heavy as lead, and slowly opened. The white ceiling swum into focus. He blinked, confusion clouding his mind as he pushed himself up.

  He yawned, a deep, jaw-cracking sound that seemed to pull him further into wakefulness.

  "Where am I?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

  "Raito!"

  The shout was immediate and loud. Yukari stood up so fast her chair nearly toppled over. She stared at him, her eyes wide with a mixture of relief and lingering fear.

  "Hmm?" Raito looked at her, blinking. "Yukari? What happened? I don't really remember..."

  He rubbed his temples, wincing at a dull throb. "The last thing I know is that we were going to the infirmary to confront Kaden," he muttered, holding his head. "Did we catch him?"

  Yukari didn't answer. She moved forward, abandoning all pretense of composure, and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him fiercely.

  "Idiot," she whispered into his shoulder, her voice thick with emotion. "Welcome back. I was so worried you wouldn't wake up."

  "Won't wake up?" Raito asked, patting her back awkwardly, confused by the intensity of her embrace. "What is going on? I don't understand."

  "No, nothing," Yukari said quickly, shaking her head against him. She tightened her hold, unwilling to let go just yet. "Just... nothing. For now, just let me be like this."

  Raito hesitated, then relaxed, sensing that something significant had happened, even if he couldn't recall it. He scratched his head with his free hand, a small, confused smile touching his lips.

  "O... okay," he responded softly.