Chapter 26: Through the Throne Room Doors
Hajin kept his hands shoved deep into his pockets as they walked down the wide, incredibly quiet hallways of the palace. The doors of the throne room were still a long walk away, but the distance wasn’t making him feel any better.
’So he is really here,’ he thought, his eyes tracking the intricate patterns on the floor without really seeing them.
His mind started working fast, piecing together the small details he had picked up over the last day. When he ran into Kenny on the road outside the forest, his annoyingly arrogant cousin had bragged about having a Gate to clear.
Now, Elina the maid had just confird that the head of the Flint family was currently sitting in the throne room for a royal summons regarding a new Gate assignnt.
’Kenny isn’t the type of person who just finds a Gate on his own,’ he thought, his eyes narrowing slightly. ’Which ans the King explicitly gave it to them.’
He wanted to be absolutely sure before he walked into that room.
"Your Highness," he said, keeping his voice quiet enough that the sound didn’t echo off the high walls.
Didi didn’t slow her pace, but she tilted her head slightly to show she was listening. Juna stayed close behind them, her ears twitching nervously at every small sound the palace made.
"Elina ntioned a Gate assignnt," he continued, looking directly at the side of Didi’s face. "Do you know exactly why my father was summoned here today?"
She was quiet for a second, her boots clicking softly against the floor.
"A few days ago, a new Gate manifested only a few miles from the capital walls," she replied, her tone turning completely business-like.
"It caused a heavy debate in the royal eting. So wanted to send my father’s elite forces to crush it imdiately, while others believed sending our core knights into an unknown anomaly was too risky if it turned out to be highly unstable."
Hajin nodded slowly, understanding the politics imdiately. ’So they didn’t want to risk their own n.’
"I obviously offered to go," she said, before completely dropping her regal, ice-cold persona without any warning.
she grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him closer, whining loudly. "But the Council completely ignored ! They said I lacked the experience! My own father stood there and told
I wasn’t ready to enter an unknown Gate, like I am just so fragile doll!"
Hajin stumbled a step as she actively yanked him away from Juna, his eyes widening in total confusion.
’Did she seriously just start whining to ?’ he thought, staring at the sudden, massive shift in her personality.
Walking a few steps behind them, Elina totally froze, staring at the Princess with an expression of sheer, unadulterated shock. She had never seen Her Highness act like a complaining child in front of anyone, let alone a boy dressed in dirty clothes.
Juna, however, was not shocked at all. Her ears pinned flat against her head, and a low, highly irritated growl vibrated in the back of her throat. She absolutely hated the way Didi had just casually dragged him away from her.
’Well, considering how easily that monster almost killed you, they weren’t exactly wrong,’ he thought, carefully prying his sleeve out of Didi’s tight grip before Juna decided to bite soone.
"Right, so what did they decide instead?"
She crossed her arms, instantly snapping back into her perfectly composed, ice-cold persona like the last ten seconds never even happened.
"Eventually, one of the ministers suggested outsourcing the problem," she said smoothly, completely ignoring Elina’s highly confused staring.
"The Great Families possess enormous strength, and they are always starving for the glory and rewards that co from clearing a Gate right next to the capital. My father agreed and sent a formal summons to the Flint family to offer them the clearing rights."
’So that is why Kenny was heading out there,’ he thought, making the final connection. ’My father probably accepted the summons today, secured the rights, and sent Kenny’s detachnt straight to the location.’
A sense of irony settled in his chest. The family that threw him out for being completely talentless was currently inside, being rewarded by the King, while he was walking in to be honored as a national savior.
"Does your father know you are from the Flint family?" She asked, her eyes narrowing slightly as she studied his reaction.
Hajin gave her a very flat look, genuinely confused by the question.
’Does the man who personally signed my exile papers know I am from his family?’ he thought, blinking a few tis. ’Only the actual head of a noble house has the legal authority to banish a blood relative into the slums. She should definitely know how noble laws work, so why would she even ask sothing so dumb?’
He didn’t voice the insult out loud, instead letting out a slow, tired sigh.
"Yes, he knows who I am," he said plainly. "He is the one who threw
out. As far as he is concerned, I am just a talentless stain on his perfect reputation. That is exactly why I really don’t want to go in there right now."
He stopped walking for a second, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Look, I already told you, I really don’t need a royal reward for this," he added, trying one last ti to find an easy exit. "I just wanted to make sure you got back safely. I can just leave right now, and you can tell the King whatever you want."
Didi simply reached out, grabbed his sleeve again, and physically pulled him forward.
"It is way too late to back out now," she said, her voice dropping all traces of her earlier whining as the massive double doors of the throne room finally ca into full view at the end of the hall.
"My father is completely expecting to et the person who saved my life. If you run away now, he will just send his guards to hunt you down anyway."
He stumbled forward, following her lead while his boots dragged slightly against the floor.
He looked up at the towering doors, guarded by heavily armored knights who were already reaching out to push the handles open.
He felt his heart pounding like crazy against, the sheer anxiety of facing the Patriarch drowning out almost everything else.
’Fuck,’ he thought, his hands clenching into tight fists inside his pockets as the doors slowly opened. ’There is really no other choice, huh.’
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