~~~

Qing Guo knocks on the door, but no one answers.

The palace is full of activity nowadays. Strategy and logistics are discussed daily, and messengers arrive with news every other hour. Even the nobles can be seen dashing through the halls, forgoing their usual decorum. Everyone has something to do, somewhere to go, something to say.

Everyone except them.

“Father,” Qing Guo tries again after several minutes have passed. “The servants left your food outside. You have not touched it yet. It has been days, father.”

A cultivator in the Heaven Realm no longer needs to eat for sustenance, but there is a reason why most still choose to eat despite that. Indulging in the whims of mortality helps center the mind. Without them, it is easy to get lost in continuous existence. Seclusion can be a powerful tool, but it requires a prepared mind.

His father’s mind is very much in an unprepared state.

“Father,” he tries again, knocking more insistently.

Qing Guo knows he’s doing something pointless. If he really wanted to see his father, he’d have forced the door open by now. What can wood, regardless of its quality, do against the strength of someone in the True Realm? It’d be easy to rip the door from his hinges. Once he does, he’ll be face-to-face with his father.

He wouldn’t know what to do.

Qing Guo looks down and sighs before walking away. His steps are loud on the empty corridor. That is how it is nowadays. All the people around him have vanished overnight. Now that his cousin is the Emperor, they have no reason to care for him.

Qing Guo’s face twists as he thinks about his cousin. Day after day, the number of positive things people have to say about him increases. The new Emperor has the allegiance of the Lei Clan. The new Emperor has secured the aid of the Divine Frozen Palace. The new Emperor is on friendly terms with the Elders of the Eternal Flame Clan. He talks with people older and stronger than he is, yet the young Emperor’s wisdom and intelligence always shines through.

It is enough to make Qing Guo want to cough blood!

However… How can Qing Guo deny what he noticed during their first meeting? Compared to Qing Jin, he is woefully lacking. Now that Qing Jin is here, he’ll probably never be the Emperor of the Storm Dragon Empire.

It does not make him as sad as he thought it would be.

Just lonely.

The dog that his cousin made lightly headbutts his knee in what is probably some inane attempt at comfort. These days, the dog is the only one who has remained at his side. His presence is such a constant that Qing Guo sometimes forgets he is there.

“Prince Qing Guo, I have been looking for you.”

Qing Guo nearly jumps out of his skin when his cousin appears around the corner. While Qing Guo had not failed to hear the footsteps approaching, he had expected to see a servant. Qing Jin’s Qi had been so well hidden that Qing Guo had not recognized him!

“You!” Qing Guo hisses, putting a hand over his beating heart.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“My apologies,” Qing Jin says. “I did not mean to scare you. I was wondering if we could talk?”

“Talk?” Qing Guo’s chest rises and falls as he tries to get his breathing under control. A bitter smile appears on his face. “Is saying no to the Emperor really an option?”

“Absolutely.”

Qing Guo stares at him, but no matter how hard he does, Qing Jin’s expression does not change.

“Fine,” Qing Guo says, looking away. He glances in the direction of his father’s room. “We should do it elsewhere. Your presence could agitate my father.”

Wait… Is that why Qing Jin is keeping his Qi hidden?

Qing Guo does not find the courage to ask that question. The two cousins walk away from the former Emperor’s room in silence. It takes Qing Guo a while to realize that Qing Jin has no specific location in mind for this and is letting him take the lead.

The knowledge leaves him with mixed feelings.

“It should be fine here,” Qing Guo says, stopping in a small courtyard few people frequent. As a child, he often came to this place when his lessons grew too tedious. “What is so important that the Emperor wants to speak to me in person? Is it not enough that your hound keeps track of my every move?”

The way his impossibly stoic cousin flinches brings him no small amount of satisfaction. Qing Guo might not have noticed it at first, but even he can assemble clues if given enough time. No matter how skilled his cousin might be, the creatures of the Death Fashioning Scripture are not alive. The dog is no different. It might act based on whatever rudimentary impulses are left in whatever it has that might be called a brain, but it cannot truly think or feel. It cannot truly grow attached.

If it has taken to following him around, it is simply because his cousin willed it.

“Were you worried I might try something?” Qing Guo asks. “Is that why you were spying on me?”

“Somewhat,” Qing Jin admits. “I was worried someone might try to influence you or, worse, kill you in some attempt to gain favor with me.”

Qing Guo laughs bitterly. “Apparently, I’m not even worth that much. The worst part is I cannot fault them for it. General He Bin was the only thing keeping my father’s rule stable. We lost the trust of the people years ago. You have seen my father. He’s broken.”

Maybe he was always broken.

He just hadn’t wanted to see it.

“Has he said anything to you at all?”

“Not a word.”

“I see,” Liu Jin says with a deep frown. “His experiences with the Black Dragon… They marked him severely. My father never bore him any ill will, but I fear he might have underestimated the terror he instilled in him.”

Qing Guo chokes back a laugh.

“Underestimated? Is that all you have to say?” Qing Guo yells. “My father is broken because yours underestimated how much of a monster he was?”

Qing Guo regrets his words immediately. Not because he doesn’t mean them, but because the person in front of him is the Emperor. People have died for far less serious offenses than insulting the Emperor’s father to his face.

However, Qing Jin does not call for guards or kill him with the force of his gaze–a feat Qing Guo believes is entirely within his cousin’s capabilities. Qing Jin just shakes his head sadly and looks down.

“I do not want us to end up like that.”

“What?”

“I do not want us to end like our fathers,” Liu Jin says. “That is what I wanted to talk to you about. I am not sure if I can ask you to treat me like family. I definitely do not deserve it. I have come to your home and made a mess of things. I’d understand it if you hated me. Nevertheless… Do you think there is any chance for us?”

A part of Qing Guo, a petty and vindictive part, wants to take the offer of peace and throw it in his cousin’s face just to have at least one win. However, even as he thinks that, Qing Guo realizes how small that desire makes him.

Besides, if he rejects Qing Jin’s offer, what else is there for him?

Who else is there for him?

“At the very least,” he says slowly. “I do not think it would be possible for us to end up worse than our fathers. I… I don’t want to end up locked in my own room because I’m scared of the ghosts of my past. Getting along with you… I don’t think it would be the worst thing possible.”

For the first time, he sees his cousin smile.

It is a victory of a different sort.

~~~