“Your Highness, the Emperor is waiting for you in his study.”

Band Two had just returned from the trip to the palace. Having to be discreet, he had not been able to see the Emperor for at least an hour. Then, the Emperor had gladly wanted to see Matthew as soon as he had finished what he was doing.

Band Two was even surprised at how quickly the emperor wanted to see Matthew, his head nodding and brightened eyes, was not the normal way he had seen the Emperor prior to this day…

Matthew was already in his study, dressed and waiting for his return. “Very well, Band Three. Ten minutes!”

Without taking a carriage, or a horse, Matthew, instead, jumped and glided and got to the palace within fifteen minutes. He was supposedly on the run, so he stayed out of sight, using the darkness of night to conceal himself…

Having gone back to his own estate, two of the Crowned Prince’s spies had been killed and Matthew had rushed to make sure that he had everything ready, so that he did not have to return back to his estate for a time.

While Band Two had been away, he had Band Three call upon the other ‘slayers’, to take three bundles of information from the estate. Two bundles didn’t matter and were more of a confusion for the enemy, but one bundle was quite important to Matthew’s plan!

Having one bundle sent south and another sent north, to hidden hideouts…The last bundle was sent to the eastern part of the capital. From here, Band Three was to stay with the real information and protect it.

Knowing that the spy’s deaths will be known sometime soon, Matthew already knew he could not return to his own estate, until the Crowned Prince’s crimes have been spoken of and his name was declared innocent.

Having given ten minutes to Band Three, the estate had become empty, once again, showing that no one had even been there in the first place…

***

“My son? You’re back?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The emperor couldn’t help a smile show on his lips, as he walked towards Matthew, “My son, this King was worried.”

Saying these words, the emperor had not just stated that he had been worried about Matthew, but other matters as well…

Without meaning to, the emperor grabbed onto Matthew’s sleeve and felt a tiny bit of relief. He knew of the way Emperors are supposed to act, but at this moment, he needed some alleviation.

Matthew frowned, then stated, “There is no need, this Prince had written that I would return…Your Majesty…”

The emperor sighed and said, “Yes, this King sent someone to watch the letter…And also had my person watch further and know of whom it is that is behind it all…”

Matthew bowed his head in silence, but a glint in his eye appeared. The emperor looked at his son and wanted to shout out his worry…Yet he was the emperor…

The emperor became fidgety, but still continued on, as formally as he could, “This King has not done anything, as of yet, but some of the Ministers have waited impatiently for me to declare your guilt of this false charge. I am not sure how much longer I can hold them off, my son.”

Actually, my son, this Emperor needs your help!

Matthew raised his head and nodded, “Your Majesty, this Prince has made you wait too long.”

Yes! You have!

The emperor tried to act normal, “This King has indeed waited for you, and now that my person has seen it and reported back to me, you have this Emperor behind you!”

This is what the emperor had decided, but it had really taken its toll on him. Having taken in a new consort, some time ago, he had already known that she was trouble…

Having even fallen for a scheme of having an aphrodisiac, the emperor had scarcely kept his life!

He had even written three decrees to guards, stating that he is to be chained up discreetly, if he was to ever step one foot in the new consort’s courtyard!

He had only done these decrees to make himself feel better, but…It had come to pass that he had woken up in chains!

Someone had taken over his mind twice already and the emperor was having troubles trying to act as an Emperor should, even when he was surrounded by Ministers! He already had lost his sanity for much of the time that he was alone!

There was most definitely someone else behind the Crowned Prince! And this person was not weak, on the contrary, the person behind the Crowned Prince must be at least as strong as the Second Prince!

Even though it had hurt him, to find out that he was not strong enough to handle these things on his own, he had been impatiently waiting for Matthew to return!

Unable to eat normally, or even sleep properly, the emperor had taken trips away, mostly to hot baths just outside the capital, to try to calm himself down. His guards had tripled, but that had not made him feel any better!

He had waited all this time, for shelter!

Wanting to do things earlier, back when Matthew had left, it had taken at least a week to find that the Crowned Prince was behind the people in the prison. After that week, the emperor was already keeping the Minister’s at bay and had been wondering how he could make this work into his advantage.

He wasn’t stupid, as he could also see that all of this could be reversed. As long as Matthew wasn’t captured, he was willing to wait and put all his faith in him.

Even knowing that the consequences of the Crowned Prince will be quite astronomical, the emperor had spent some time to adjust, to think that his eldest son had lost the right to be the Crowned Prince!

Already accepting that his eldest son could even be beheaded, once he has been trailed for his crimes, the emperor no longer treated him as his son. He no longer called for him, and if the Crowned Prince forgets to attend some sort of meetings or gatherings, the emperor does not care. Knowing to not show such disinterest in public, the emperor let’s all the flaws of the Crowned Prince become known to the Ministers, in which he would normally stop the eunuchs calls or prevents matters to be released beforehand. Through doing all of this the emperor faked his anger, but he was really filled with disgust instead…And to a certain point, even glad that the Crowned Prince wouldn’t attend these important events, thinking that it should be easier for others to accept his impending demotion from being the ‘Crowned Prince’ because of this.

Sadly, though, half of the Ministers didn’t seem to mind the Crowned Prince not attending and would protect him, making the emperor even more disgusted…

But…When he had found out that the new consort, that was coming from the Rolland Estate, was going to kill him…

Things changed for desperate measures!

For quite some time now, he had not been able to trust anybody, or anything!

It has been very hard to not show how much of his stability had crumbled in the last couple of weeks!

One of the biggest things that he was taught, for being an Emperor…Was patience. Of course, there were other major factors, but if one could be patient, then one will have most of the facts. Commoners weren’t always in the wrong, yet they were normally the last that could have their say. Matthew, his great son, was in the wrong, yet he had not had a say. It was the same, and it was a simple strategy of making the best of every problem.

And, what else was he to do, besides having patience and wait for his only strong ally to return to him to save him!

Of all the times that he had to be patient, this was most definitely the worst experience he had to endure!

The emperor was sure that his son will make everything clear, even without his help. Yet, he knew that his son had asked for his help personally, for watching that letter. So now, he had to make certain that his son knew that he will do as what must be done!

Giving the Emperor’s power to Matthew, was not only the emperor’s plans, but it was Matthew’s as well…Well, to a certain degree…

“Your Majesty, this Prince has many issues with the Crowned Prince, does this mean you are willing to see them all?” Matthew didn’t completely trust the emperor. But he also knew of his main agenda. That being the ‘law’!

Knowing this, Matthew went straight to the point and asked the emperor bluntly, wanting to find where his limits may lie!

The emperor did look away, but nodded soon after, “This King knows of many faults already, my son. If one is to be the monarch of this country, they must know that the laws are there for a reason!”

Matthew smiled. His gamble had indeed paid off!

“Then this Prince will gather the information and witnesses for you, Your Majesty. First, though, Your Majesty, I’d like to clear my name.”

Nodding, the Emperor agreed, “Yes, how can you fight back when you are known as a criminal. Clear your name and many people will already be on your side, my son!”

“Then this subject will only need a short time and hope you can hold on for a while longer, Your Majesty.”

The emperor was unhappy, he didn’t want to wait!

Knowing of what he was going to ask next, the emperor nearly stayed silent…But his overwhelming anxiety won out…

“This King…Will gladly wait for what is needed…If my son can do something in return about Consort Moon, who had come from Rolland Estate.”

Matthew frowned, “Consort Moon?”

The emperor nodded, “Her reasoning to enter the palace was to kill this King! The person who watched the letter, also became aware of this and has made this King wary. If this news had not been found out…”

Suddenly, Matthew’s eyes brightened.

Things finally make sense! The reason why the Eldest Young Master of the Rolland Estate didn’t kill any of his family, was to bring in an assassin into the palace, to kill the emperor! Then the Crowned Prince could rise to the throne!

Nodding his head, Matthew agreed with the emperor, “Yes, Consort Moon needs to be taken care of!”

Silence filled the room, as Matthew tried to think of a practical way. Obviously, he couldn’t just kill her, if that could be done, then the Emperor would have done it before he would have returned…It may be great, to have a ruler who abided strictly by the laws, but it could also be a flaw…For the most part, the Emperor’s hands were clean, if one was to take the consorts life...It wouldn’t be him with either the knife or the idea…

The emperor was gladly satisfied to have finally spoken of his problem, so he stayed silent and smiled at Matthew in relief.

“...This Prince might have heard a rumor, that Consort Moon may have contracted some spreadable disease…Your Majesty…”

The emperor’s eyes lightened up, as he wondered why he had never had thought of it before. “Yes, I’ll write a decree to quarantine her…”

“I’ll get someone to secretly apply this to her, no one else should be in danger, if your decree is applied tonight.”

“…And if people ask how this King had known so quickly?” The emperor asks, hesitantly. He knows this is against his own position and thoughts, but he had to remind himself that he knew of her wanting to kill him.

“Then let them see her! If they have the courage, that is…” Matthew didn’t care if people will want to make this an event that could have been ‘forced upon’. Consort Moon will no longer be able to do harm if she is outside of the palace. And there is probably even a way to have her speak on her own. Matthew pondered a little further on whether it would be a good idea to get scribers, to write down words that she may let out, while under the agony of this ‘disease’.

“Band Two. Rush to catch up with Band Three and tell him we need…That potion…”

The reason Matthew didn’t say its name, is because it would most likely kill Consort Moon. Knowing the Emperor was very strict and that this ‘potion’ might kill her, he may be against it, but Matthew didn’t want to take chances! Even if he couldn’t get the consort to admit to her scheme, this was most certainly a way to keep her from doing her ‘deed’!

“This potion you speak of…” The emperor asks.

Sighing, Matthew looked at the emperor and stated bluntly, “This ‘potion’ is one that this Prince saved you from taking three years ago…The Crowned Prince…”

“Enough! Give it to her!” The emperor yelled angrily. It was coming to a point that he couldn’t wait to see justice to this person! If the Crowned Prince didn’t have so many people behind him, the emperor would have personally given lashes to him with his own whip! How could his own son be like this!

It really was unimaginable to the current Emperor, as he was certain that he had given the Crowned Prince so many chances, to see and change into what an Emperor must be!

The idea of spreading a disease in the palace and having it start from the emperor himself! Outrageous! How could his own son think of such an act!?