Tyrant of the Ruined Sun-Chapter 172: Nights of Masquerade 15

A mere hour before Nicholas’ awakening and subsequent familial swarming, my own family and retainers had also gathered around our usual breakfast table, yet unlike usual where the air was one of cheer and harmony, today it was of jitter and expectation, as they all awaited my arrival, or more accurately to say, the arrival of my companion.

Yet when I finally entered the dining hall and they all stood up in anticipation, only to find the space next to me vacant, I could practically see the confusion and disappointment dripping from their sour expressions.

"Brother, where is sister in law?!" Cyrus exclaimed, his palms slamming onto the table before him, rattling and spilling some of the glassware upon it and on the white sheets below.

"Calm down, Cyrus." I instantly scolded, when seeing him make such a mess, as I then took my usual seat at the head of the table and explained "She needed to resolve a couple of pending matters today, so she took her leave in the early hours of the mourning, but she will be back by the start of today’s Banquet celebration."

"My emperor, does this mean...?" It was the one who sat to my direct right, the great Grand Vizier of the empire, Darius, who suddenly then asked, his tone not trying to hide his immense anticipation.

"Yes, she agreed." I happily announced with a small, warm smile.

Instantly a hail of praise and well wishing congratulations engulfed the room, as even the usually silent maids gathered their courage and offered kind words as well, all of which were gladly accepted, as they rung like musical hymns in my ears.

"Seems like we will be returning with an empress after all!" Leonid teasingly said, as he humorously lifted his tea cup above his head, as if he were toasting with a whole flagon of ale after winning a hard fought victory.

"Of course we are! Or did you doubt our emperor’s charm!" Horus jokingly retorted, his tone a slightly playful mix of faux anger and elated laughs.

"I’m just glad that the empty position of empress is finally being filled again." Darius then sighingly said, his tone more relieved than ecstatic like the rest, but I did not miss the nearly imperceptible lamentations in his voice, which were clearly a product of his remaining worry over the issue of succession, despite my earlier assurances, which I did not entirely fault him for still maintaining, as it did sound inconceivable to most, and especially so to those who were as intimately familiar with this world’s history as him.

"Mother will be beside herself with joy when she hears of this." Nizam then happily remarked, his ordinarily reserved expressions twisting into an ever widening grin.

"No brother, don’t tell her! I want to surprise her when we arrive!" Cyrus immediately leapt from his seat when he heard this, rushing to halt his brother’s obvious intention of quickly relaying the joyful news to our awaiting mother, as he smirking hollered with a wickedly evil cheshire smile.

"What an excellent idea!" I instantly endorsed his words, chuckling as I thought of my mother’s face if we did so.

"Yes!" Cyrus erupted in glee, his excited grin growing more expectant at my encouragement, as he then enthusiastically added "Especially if we also bring along news of not only your own marriage big brother, but of Nizam’s as well!"

Our rolling liveliness abruptly halted then, nearly bringing many of us whiplash by it’s suddenness, as our previous joviality turned to shocked silence, like a surging avalanche charging down hill with ever ascending momentum, suddenly stopped by crashing into a previously non-existent, apposing mountainside.

"...What?" The word involuntarily seeped from my mouth before I could even fully wrap my mind around what Cyrus had said, especially as I recalled that neither of my brothers had ever seemed too invested in the idea of marriage or romance, beyond their willingness to oblige their duty as members of the ruling family, whether it had been in this life or the last.

"Cyrus... you idiot." Nizam muttered, his right hand’s thumb and index fingers gently massaging the spot between his eyes in sheer exasperation.

"...Oh." Finally realizing what he’d done, he awkwardly uttered, forcing out a guilty giggle, with his eyes quickly swerving to flee our gaze, as he gingerly scratched his chin with his index finger, and apologetically saying as he glanced at Nizam "I’m sorry."

"Just be quiet." Nizam resignedly replied, his voice an instrument of vacated struggled and chagrined acceptance.

"Understood." Cyrus instantly sat back down, like a child just caught red handed and now desperately attempting to avoid earning more of their parents’ ire, in the hope of escaping further rebuke and punishment.

But who in their right mind would allow such a thing to be casually swept under the rug with such ease, so I swiftly commanded, leaving no room in my voice for denial or the ability to skirt around the topic "Explain."

Sighing, Nizam looked me in the eye and said "I didn’t wish to hide it from you brother, I just wanted to find a way to be of assistance to you and our nation, without piling on any additional weights on you; at least until I could be sure that no complications or further woes would be born from it."

"I have already told you time and again that nothing concerning you, or any of our family members would ever be an unbearable weight to me." I sternly said, though it was clear that I spoke from a place of affection, as I continued "I have also stressed more than once to not overexert yourselves with thoughts and responsibilities you need not concern yourself with for now, as I would not shy away from calling upon you when the time is right."

"Yes, brother." He said with his head hung low, but I knew that my word alone would not so simply make him change his ways; he was surprisingly stubborn in such matters.

Then like a lightning bolt striking the earth, a sudden realization appeared to me, as I exclaimed with widened eyes "Wait, is that why on the first few days of the Banquet I saw you associating with so many groups you would have ordinarily shunned or stayed clear of?"

"Yes." He honestly answered. "I was gathering as much information as I could about the gathered candidates, before deciding which would be the optimal choice."

"Yes... optimal." Cyrus suddenly snickered to the side, his voice causing the stoic Nizam to almost flinch, as his cheeks suddenly became coloured with a embarrassed blush, all the while Cyrus’ mischievous eyes bored into him with a satisfied light and a knowing gleam of information still unsaid.

"And is this where you and he were disappearing to every night?" I interrogated again, finally aligning several pieces of the puzzle next to each other to form a coherent picture of the past events.

"Yes." Nizam answered quickly, as if to escape the shame of Cyrus’ words, who’d now completely forgotten his earlier fault and returned to his usual confident self, happily poking fun of his bashful older brother.

Which made me think ’Seems the guess I made on that first night they both vanished from my side and returned with such odd moods was indeed correct. Cyrus must’ve incidentally caught Nizam talking to her, and used it as ammunition to tease him.’

"Who is she?" I finally asked, wanting to know who managed to catch my meticulous brother’s eye.

"...Princess Ziyi of the Yue Dynasty." He answered a second later, his tone audibly softer than normal, but so taken aback I was with the uttered name, that this brief abnormality completely slipped past my recognition, as each and everyone of us, who had heard of the War Dragon’s words no more than a few days ago, began glancing at one another in trepidation.

An anomalous action that easily caught the eyes of my little brothers, who instantly knitted their brows in worry upon seeing this, as they asked "Is something the matter?"

Everyone’s eyes did not wander this time, but instead all simultaneously coalesced on me this time, as I contemplated revealing to them the contents of that fateful meeting for a few agonizing seconds, wherein they all sat in an uncomfortably pregnant silence, before I eventually released them from it’s bonds with a chillingly grim voice "Whatever I speak to you today in this hall must never be repeated beyond it, understand?"

The two looked shocked at my words, but then they instantly nodded with an iron sense of resolution, their eyes clearly showing their earlier carefreeness now wiped clean from their bodies, as their eyes were once again lit with that same burning ember that was created after their ordeal four years ago, when those foolish nobles tried assassinating them on the road to the Genesis Hills.

Nodding in acceptance to their wordless vow, I quickly explained to them all we know of the current ongoings occurring within the eastern empire, and all it may entail.

*Author’s Note*

I know this isn’t up to par with my usual work, but I’m slightly rushed for time today, so I had to make do with this Chapter.

My apologies.