Chapter 269: Heart I

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    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.”

    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.

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