[BL]The Hero and his Party Won't Let Me Go-Chapter 187: Ch : Cursed Blessing - Part 1

The sky was gloomy today. Shuu looked at the sky, but not a hint of sun could be seen. But there seemed to be no sign of rain either.

"How ominous. Is this feeling really something I should ignore...?"

Shuu asked himself, but he did not get an answer. He looked at Kaiden to see if he would say anything, but the emperor seemed busy enjoying his time holding Shuu. Unlike Shuu, he did not seem to be bothered by what was happening.

"Agh, do we need to head back? I don’t want to go back to doing paperwork so soon."

Emperor Kaiden complained, and his hold tightened. Shuu sighed and rubbed the arms holding him hostage. His attention only made the emperor hold on to him even harder.

"I know that you don’t want to go back, Kaiden. But you have responsibilities that you cannot abandon. Please pull yourself together for my sake."

That did the trick. Kaiden finally pulled away from Shuu and sighed.

"Alright, I get it. Now, let’s go back."

He told Shuu and took his hand. Shuu allowed him to wrap their fingers together before they headed back to the Imperial Palace.

The guards noticed them instantly, and they straightened their backs and welcomed them both.

"E-Emperor Kaiden...Companion Shuu, welcome back. I will go and inform the others that you are finally back."

One of the guards ran inside while the others accompanied them back.

Everyone stopped and noticed that they were back, but the tension in the air only increased more and more each second. Shuu could feel the tension pressing down on him, but he still forced his way through without hesitation.

He finally stopped when Kaiden did, and something immediately collided with his legs.

Two pairs of adorable eyes looked at him with unwavering gazes. Both Caelis and Rin had decided to greet him with enthusiasm.

"Shuu, you are back!"

"Back!"

The kids looked beyond happy, and Shuu immediately turned his attention toward them.

He noticed Lady Canarie standing in front of the crowd and right behind Prince Yunn with a sullen expression and an overly expensive dress that he recalled seeing in Princess Danielle’s wardrobe.

Their eyes met when Canarie turned his way, and he almost flinched at the look in her eyes. Fortunately, Lady Canarie turned her head away from him pretty quickly, and her attention went back to Emperor Kaiden.

"Welcome back, brother. Did you enjoy your vacation?"

Prince Yunn asked, and Shuu flinched at his tone. The young prince did not sound happy to have his brother ditch him in the middle of the busy working season.

But the person being scolded did not even seem to notice.

Emperor Kaiden placed a hand on Yunn’s shoulder and beamed at him with the brightest smile on his face.

"Ah, you cannot imagine how good I had it during this small break. Not only was Shuu with me the whole time, but getting to wake up beside Shuu every morning and being with him all the time was so good. It really felt like we were a married couple..."

Shuu’s face felt hot at all these compliments. He did not know whether he wanted to close his ears or close Kaiden’s mouth. Somehow, both did not feel like the right option.

"I...see...how fortunate, brother. I am glad you managed to get the experience of married life before you got married. But now it is time to get back to work."

Yunn reminded Kaiden, and the emperor pouted.

"Can I not—"

"That is not an option. There are files waiting for you to read and sign them. We cannot delay this any longer."

In the end, Emperor Kaiden was pulled away, and Shuu was left behind. He decided to head inside as well, and the two kids clutching his pants finally let go and grabbed his hand instead.

"Shuu, play!"

"Yes, play!"

The two kids quickly dragged Shuu inside, and Shuu followed them. But not before he felt a sharp presence looking at him from behind. Shuu looked back, only for his eyes to meet Lady Canarie’s.

She was not saying anything, but her eyes conveyed more than enough for Shuu to feel worried. But since he was in a public place, he knew that he would not be hurt.

’But I better keep an eye on things while I can. I have a bad feeling about being back here...and also, where is Princess Danielle? Where did she go?’

Shuu had a lot of questions, but unfortunately, he did not have that many answers.

__________

While everyone was busy welcoming Emperor Kaiden and Shuu back, Princess Danielle had some work of her own to do. She quickly entered the dungeon where Lady Elysia was being kept and noticed the sharp stench of blood coming from the cell.

"Tsk, what happened here? How did Lady Elysia kill herself? And did she say anything at the end?"

Princess Danielle asked in a rushed voice. Her eyes looked at Lady Elysia’s corpse, which had remained untouched.

The guard in charge of her was immediately caught as soon as this news reached Danielle, but he did not seem to know anything. This situation was getting tricky.

"I apologize, Princess. Unfortunately, we were not able to find anything of substance. As far as we know, Lady Elysia died on her own without any apparent cause."

That did not make sense. But this was where all of the evidence was pointing. Princess Danielle was about to check further when she felt a sudden sensation on the back of her hand.

She clutched it, and suddenly memories and emotions that were not her own started to enter her mind.

"Ugh, what is this..."

She staggered as she tried to brace her body against the wall. But it did not help her at all and only caused her even more pain.

"Princess, are you alright? What happened? Was it a curse after all?"

The guard asked as he watched Princess Danielle suffer.

"W-Wait...I am fine...I just...need a little bit of time to gather myself."