Chapter 333 - Consoling him

Chapter 333: Chapter 333 - Consoling him

The Emperor was in his chambers when the report arrived.

He had been sitting beside Clara’s healing chamber, watching the faint golden light ripple through the specialized liquid surrounding her body. The healers had assured him that her condition was stable, but he still found it difficult to leave her alone. After so many years of believing he’d lost her forever, even stepping away for a few hours made him uneasy.

A royal guard entered and knelt.

"Your Majesty, Prince Dican has ordered the arrest of Prince Consort Bian."

The Emperor turned sharply.

"What?"

"The prince personally apprehended him in his chambers. He has also ordered Lord Nansich’s release."

For a moment, the Emperor simply stared at the soldier.

Only yesterday, he’d learned that Dican had been poisoned and that Nansich was being investigated. Now his second son had apparently arrested his own husband.

What on Gia was happening?

"Where is Dican?"

"In the western detention wing, Your Majesty."

The Emperor immediately stood.

He instructed the attendants to continue monitoring Clara and hurried out, barely waiting for his guards to follow.

He had known Dican was investigating the poison in his blood, but he hadn’t expected matters to escalate so quickly. Arresting both his mates within such a short period was hardly normal behavior, even for someone as impulsive as Dican had occasionally been.

As he descended the broad staircase leading toward the detention wing, an uncomfortable thought occurred to him.

He hadn’t spoken properly to Dican since their discussion about the poisoning.

Most of his time had been spent beside Clara. He had barely left her healing chamber, leaving the palace affairs to Celaus and assuming Dican would come to him if something important happened.

It was an old habit.

One he’d developed long before Clara returned.

The Emperor slowed as voices reached him from the corridor below.

"...Father has always been like that since we lost Mother."

He stopped.

That was Dican’s voice.

"He was so consumed by grief that he barely noticed anything around him. Celaus had his duties, Jian was gone, and I..."

Dican’s voice faltered.

"I had no one, Nansich. No one who noticed how much I’d changed."

The Emperor froze on the staircase.

His hand instinctively reached for the wall.

He gripped the crystalline surface so tightly that tiny fragments cracked beneath his fingers and scattered across the steps.

For several seconds, he couldn’t move.

He remembered Dican as a cheerful little boy who had always followed him around the palace, eager to show him his latest drawings or tell him about something he’d discovered.

Even after Clara disappeared, Dican had continued smiling.

Whenever the Emperor asked whether he was doing well, his son always answered that everything was fine.

And the Emperor had believed him.

It had been easier to believe him.

He’d spent so many years grieving his wife that he’d convinced himself his children were managing without him. Celaus was responsible and capable. Dican was cheerful and independent. Jian had been lost to them, and thinking about him had been almost unbearable.

So he’d withdrawn further into himself.

He had never considered that Dican’s constant smiles might have been hiding loneliness.

Worse, when those smiles changed into something unnatural over the past five years, he hadn’t noticed that either.

The Emperor slowly descended the remaining steps.

At the end of the corridor, he found Dican clinging to Nansich.

His tall, proud son was crying against the human’s shoulder, while Nansich awkwardly rubbed his back and murmured something the Emperor couldn’t quite hear.

The sight made his chest tighten.

He had never seen Dican look so helpless.

The Emperor took another step forward.

Nansich noticed him first.

His eyes widened.

"Ah, shit."

He immediately pushed Dican away.

Dican stumbled backward, startled by the sudden rejection. His already tearful expression crumpled.

"Even you..."

His voice cracked.

"Even you don’t want me?"

Nansich stared at him in horror.

"What? No! That’s not why I—"

Dican lowered his head, fresh tears spilling down his cheeks.

Nansich looked utterly panicked.

"Oh, for fuck’s sake!"

He grabbed Dican’s face between his hands, pinched his mouth shut before he could say anything else and forcibly turned his head toward the corridor.

"Look! Your father!"

Dican blinked.

The Emperor stood only a few steps away.

Dican’s entire body stiffened.

He immediately pulled away from Nansich and hurriedly wiped his face with his sleeves.

"F-Father..."

He straightened his disheveled robe and lowered his head respectfully.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were here. I apologize for letting you see me behaving so disgracefully. I was just—"

He couldn’t finish.

The Emperor crossed the remaining distance and pulled him into a tight embrace.

Dican froze.

His father hadn’t hugged him like this in years.

For a moment, he didn’t know what to do with his hands.

Then he heard the Emperor’s trembling voice beside his ear.

"I’m sorry, my son."

Dican’s breath caught.

The Emperor held him tighter.

"I heard what you said."

"Father..."

"You were right."

Dican tried to pull back, but the Emperor gently held his shoulders.

"I abandoned you when you needed me. I told myself you were doing well because you always smiled whenever I saw you. I never stopped to ask whether those smiles were genuine."

His voice grew strained.

"Every time I looked at you, I saw your mother. Your eyes, your hair, even the way you smiled when you were younger... You reminded me so much of Clara that sometimes I couldn’t bear it."

Dican stared at him.

The Emperor’s eyes had turned red.

"That was my weakness, Dican. Not yours. I should have been there for you, but instead I allowed my grief to become an excuse to neglect my own children."

He cupped Dican’s face and gently wiped away the tears still clinging to his cheeks.

"And when you began changing, I didn’t notice. You were suffering right in front of me, and I failed to protect you."

Dican’s lips trembled.

"Father, I..."

"I’m sorry."

The Emperor’s voice broke.

"I’m so sorry, my boy."

Dican suddenly threw his arms around him.

The Emperor caught him immediately.

For several moments, Dican couldn’t speak. He simply buried his face against his father’s shoulder, crying with an intensity that made the Emperor’s heart ache.

Eventually, he managed to whisper, "You’re here now, Father. That’s all that matters."

The Emperor closed his eyes and stroked his son’s hair.

"I won’t leave you alone again."

"Goodness gracious."

Both men stiffened.

Nansich was standing beside them with his arms crossed, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

"That’s all that matters?" he repeated incredulously. "Seriously?"

Dican lifted his head.

"Nansich..."

"No, wait a minute." Nansich pointed at the Emperor. "You’re telling me this man ignored you for years, didn’t notice you were being poisoned by your own husband, and all he has to do is hug you and say sorry?"

The Emperor blinked.

Dican looked horrified.

"Nansich, that’s my father."

"I can see that!"

"He’s also the Emperor!"

"And?"

The nearby guards went rigid.

Nansich turned toward the Emperor.

"Your Majesty, with all due respect, what the hell were you doing for five years?"

Dican nearly choked.

"Nansich!"

But Nansich was already furious.

"You have an entire palace filled with soldiers, servants and healers. Your son was being drugged for five years, and nobody noticed? Didn’t anyone think it was strange that he suddenly started behaving differently?"

The Emperor slowly lowered his gaze.

"No. We should have noticed."

"Exactly! And now he’s standing here blaming himself for things he did while someone else was controlling him!"

Nansich gestured toward Dican.

"Look at him! He’s been crying his eyes out because he thinks nobody cared enough to notice!"

Dican’s face turned bright red.

"Nansich, please..."

"No! You don’t get to defend him already!"

The Emperor raised a hand, stopping Dican from interrupting.

"Let him speak."

Nansich paused, surprised.

The Emperor turned toward him and lowered his head.

"You’re right. I failed my son, and there is no excuse for that."

The guards looked as though they might faint.

Their Emperor was apologizing to a human.

Nansich hadn’t expected that either.

He scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"Well... good. At least you understand."

The Emperor bowed his head a little further.

"Thank you for staying beside Dican when he needed someone."

Nansich suddenly felt uncomfortable.

"Ah... don’t mention it."

Dican stared between them, still tearful but now thoroughly embarrassed.

"Father, you really don’t need to bow to him."

The Emperor straightened and glanced at his son.

"Why not? He seems to care about you very much."

Nansich immediately stiffened.

"Hold on. Don’t misunderstand anything!"

But the Emperor was already looking at him with a strange warmth.

After all, this was the human whom Dican’s second mate bond had chosen.

And judging by the way Nansich had just scolded the ruler of Gia without the slightest concern for his own safety, he certainly wasn’t afraid to defend Dican.

The Emperor smiled faintly.

"I’m glad my son has someone like you."

Nansich opened his mouth, then closed it.

Dican, despite his swollen jaw and tear-stained face, finally let out a small laugh.

Nansich turned toward him with a glare.

"What are you laughing at? I’m defending you, idiot!"

"I know."

Dican wiped his cheeks and smiled weakly.

"Thank you, Nansich."

Nansich looked away, his ears growing slightly warm.

"Whatever. Just don’t make me regret it."

The Emperor watched them quietly before placing a hand on Dican’s shoulder.

There was still much to investigate, and Bian’s arrest would undoubtedly bring trouble to the royal family. But for the moment, the Emperor was grateful that someone had been there to hold his son when he himself had not.