Novel Full Chapter 408: Repeating Tragedy
Chapter 408: Repeating Tragedy
***
{Inside The Projection}
The interview was already over.
If Malik had to be honest, he’d already approved of him.
Still, he kept playing along, needing to at least put up a front.
“I’m sure you’re telling the truth, now—”
“I am telling the truth!”
Azeem almost shot out of the chair, hands slightly raised like a man on trial.
“Believe me, my Lord!”
Malik raised a hand, a slow palm facing forward.
The boy sat back down, cheeks still pink, looking like he wanted to crawl under the rug and vanish.
Malik nodded once, trying to appear understanding.
But in his mind: ’Oh, this kid’ll be fun to tease.’
…Or so he wished.
That flicker of amusement vanished quickly, replaced by the same blank weight he always carried, a result of his always active internal defense mechanism.
There was no joy behind his eyes anymore; even the smallest sparks fizzled before they could become anything.
Malik couldn’t function in any other way; if he did, any word out of his mouth would be incomprehensible, no different than the Hollow King in that trial, repeatedly calling everyone unworthy.
“Azeem…”
He folded his hands atop the desk.
“Tell me about yourself.”
Taking in a deep breath, Azeem’s back straightened, and suddenly, everything about him shifted, the panic fading as the softness in his features hardened, replaced by a sharper, older version of himself, a demeanor that had Sinbad secretly nod his little head.
“My name is Azeem, son of Kareem. My family has no tribe or land. My father was killed during his travels to the East, leaving me to care for my mother. She worked for years to support me, allowing me to try my best and focus completely on my career. It was very hard on her, so it was only natural that we eventually failed to pay our dues on time. Still, after Court, the Former Sultan allowed us to remain in our home for one entire generation, as reparations for my father’s passing. No longer worried about losing a home, I went all out, studying wherever I could, training wherever someone would teach me, and scraping for certifications and records to meet the requirements for court application, no matter how many times I’m rejected or kicked out. I never thought I’d ever stand in front of the Golden Throne, let alone in your presence, my Lord.”
He exhaled and lowered his eyes in humility.
“Even being granted this interview… I’m grateful.”
Malik tilted his head slightly.
“I’m sure you know my reputation. You know how I took the throne. Do you still think this meeting is something to be grateful for?”
He leaned forward and added:
“The man who helped you, who kept your home—he’s the one I assassinated.”
The room went quiet again, save for the soft scratch of Sinbad’s talon against the wooden edge.
“…I know.”
Azeem’s expression didn’t change.
“I heard the rumors. I heard what happened on your coronation day, too.”
“And?”
“Nothing you say will change how I feel about this.”
Malik blinked.
“…Really?”
That one actually made him pause.
“Yes, my Lord.”
Azeem smiled faintly.
“And if it’ll help you accept my sincerity, I’d like to ask something in return.”
Malik gestured with his hand, a little “Go on.”
“Did you kill the Former Sultan just to sit on the Golden Throne?”
Malik shook his head.
“Then… is there more to the story?”
Malik nodded.
“So…
Azeem’s eyes softened further, his voice turning quieter:
“Are you a good man, Lord Malik?”
That question hung heavy in the room as Malik took a moment.
“I…”
When he spoke, the words crawled out slowly.
“I don’t know.”
Azeem nodded, the answer being what he expected.
“That’s answer enough for me, my Lord.”
He stood up quietly, then knelt before the desk.
“Please… allow me to serve you.”
Before silence could return, Sinbad clicked his beak and waddled closer.
He looked down at the boy with his sharp little eyes, blinked once, then spread his right wing, giving a small flap toward the kneeling man.
“You will.”
***
{Outside The Projection}
Azeem’s eyes stayed fixed on the projection, but the warmth from before was gone.
His expression now carried sadness, one that completely overshadowed his happiness.
Right… this was the last time his Lord had ever teased him.
Back then, he’d told himself that Malik must have grown bored with it, that maybe his Lord was never the kind for long games or banter. But now, watching with the eyes of the present, he knew the truth.
Malik’s mind was simply too fractured for such things to survive.
Any light that tried to spark in him was smothered before it had a chance to burn.
And there was something else in that moment that made Azeem’s chest tighten—the sight of Sinbad revealing himself. That wasn’t something the owl did freely; it was an honorable privilege, one he had only granted to him, to Dunya, and later to Layla after she became Malik’s wife.
It was a rare trust, an unspoken bond.
Which was why, and again, standing on the opposite side of him now…
It hurt more than words could carry.
***
{Inside The Projection}
“You will.”
The candlelight in Malik’s chambers swayed a little as a voice that shouldn’t have belonged to an owl echoed, his feathers shifting lightly as he took a step closer.
Azeem nearly flinched out of his own skin, hands pressing into his knees as he stared wide-eyed at the bird.
“You—you spoke?”
Sinbad chuckled, the sound warm but still carrying that refined air he always had.
“Of course I did. And since you are now among us, you ought to know—I am not merely an owl.”
His monocle glinted faintly.
“I am Lord Malik’s younger brother… in a manner that does not require your concern. Let that mystery remain so. It is… an old and peculiar story.”
Azeem swallowed, still blinking as though his mind was struggling to catch up.
“Y-Yes… yes, I see. Forgive me, I… I wasn’t expecting—”
“There is little in this Court you will expect.”
Sinbad cut in.
“Learn to accept what is before you, and you may yet thrive here.”
Azeem gave a short, stuttered nod, eyes flicking between the two brothers.
“I… thank you for your trust.”
Malik hadn’t moved much through the exchange, eyes watching without any visible emotion.
Above his desk, something shimmered into being—thin lines of light twisting until a massive rolled scroll materialized on it, unfurling right in between them.
“Look here.”
The ’scroll’ was a map.
“Your work begins now.”
Azeem hesitated only a breath before stepping closer, peering at the scroll, head tilted in slight confusion.
“What work, my Lord?”
Malik’s eyes drifted to the side, a small sigh escaping him as though the question had pulled him from a deeper place.
“Hm.”
His fingers brushed the parchment once before he looked back at the young man.
“Do you know about the Fall?”
***
{Outside The Projection}
The Fall waited for nobody.
Azeem’s very first job…
It was his most important.
And now… the world was about to see it.
They were about to see what took most of Malik’s time.
Layla was about to see how her husband was forced to repeat the same tragedy.
The tragedy that never allowed their relationship to take a proper step forward.