This chapter may contain violent scenes that are unsettling to some readers. If you are easily disturbed by violence and death, please skip this chapter.

"Do not worry, [Name]. We will find him soon." The Emperor attempted to reassure your worried self even though his voice was just as concerned as you were looking. Eyebrows knit together and face contorted in dismay; you could barely keep yourself together. Why did Octavi always have to endure these sorts of things? It significantly stressed you out that Octavi was still in some kind of trouble. Now, it could be costing him his life and your sanity.

You and the Emperor were sat in his office, awaiting updates. Once again, the Emperor had to make the security of the palace even heavier. It was now late into the night: after you had found Octavi's bedroom empty and notified the Emperor straight away. You could not catch a wink of sleep even if you wanted to because all you were fretting about was Octavi. The Emperor's eyes were drowned with concern as his eyes were fixated on the door, seemingly begging for some good news to come through.

The two of you jumped as a knock finally interrupted the office's painful silence. Eli stepped into the office and bowed, proceeding to update the two of you on the current situation. "At the moment, the evidence is still being collected and processed. Sir Kirayo's elder sister has escaped earlier today from the asylum she was in and is now nowhere to be found. We have no idea if this has anything to do with Sir Kirayo's disappearance, but it most likely will since a coincidence like this is highly questionable. At the moment, there is an obvious sign of struggle in his private quarters, and it appears Sir Kirayo was taken against his own will," He stated.

"Sir Kirayo left as much evidence as he could of his attacker by the looks of things. There are several blood marks around the windows from the intruder that is yet to be identified. We tested the blood, and it does not match with Sir Kirayo's blood sample. There are strands of hair, small ripped pieces of clothing scattered across the place. We are working as diligently as we possibly can, your majesty." Eli finished before bowing his head once again and exiting the room. He had been ordered to give quick updates with each newly-discovered piece of information. He didn't wait for dismissal from the Emperor since he was drowning in work now that Kirayo had gone missing.

You could feel tears welling up in your eyes as you sat next to the Emperor on the leather chairs in his office. Seeing your miserable state, the Emperor's tense face eased up with pity and sadness as he gently held your face within your hands. You couldn't bear to look into the Emperor's eyes as small tears began to drop down your cheeks.

The Emperor leaned in dangerously close before his lips made contact with your skin. The Emperor gently kissed your tears away and pulled you to his torso. Thus you found yourself sitting slumped on top of the Emperor. Was this his way of comforting you? You had no idea whatsoever as the young man continued kissing your cheeks and cheekbones until all that was left were subtle tear stains.

"Dear [Name], precious little tailor. You are not to leave my side, do you understand? We can't have the same thing that happened to Octavi happening to you as well." The Emperor whispered in your ear as he now cradled you in his arms in such an awkward position. His hands rested on your waist and forcibly held you close, so you had no way to retreat from his affections this time.

"I understand, your majesty. The pain is too much for me to bear; I do not know how poorly you must feel if more people disappear." You responded. The Emperor took a deep breath in, inhaling your scent and gently nuzzling his nose into your [H/C] hair.

"If I lose you, I will lose my whole world [Name]. Do not go. Do not leave my side. Stay." The Emperor said, gripping onto you tighter by instinct. Soon, you were entrapped in the Emperor's snake-like embrace for several more moments before his grip finally loosened up, allowing you to return to your seat with reddish eyes.

"Your majesty, do you think Octavi will be okay?" You interrogated the Emperor, looking for more of a sense of comfort in this tough time. Your brows appeared permanently knit together as your eyes fixated on the Emperor's slender frame.

The Emperor opened his mouth to respond, only to be cut off by Eli bursting in through the doors of the office. "Your majesty, you must come to the interrogation room straight away!" Eli exclaimed, his face glued with shock and eyes as wide as saucers. He had sweat droplets coming off from the side of his face, making it evident that he had sprinted his way back to the office at the received shocking message.

"Of course, just look after my [Name]." The Emperor stated before gripping your chin as he stood up, dragging you up to your feet with him as he leaned in and gave you a gentle peck on the forehead. "I would eat your tempting lips if it weren't for the situation, [Name]. Your face is irresistible." He purred into your ear to not embarrass you in front of the first assistant standing at the door. Your cheeks boiled up, and he let go of your chin, allowing you to drop back onto your backside and on the chair behind you.

The Emperor then left the office, retreating out of your sight. Eli closed the door behind the Emperor and sat in his former place, to be around the same eye-level as you. "You must be worried sick [Name]. We all are. I ask you that you don't allow news of this to leave the palace walls. Do not even telephone your brother. A decision is still being made on whether or not the public should be informed. It could be beneficial and not in many different ways." He explained to you, information rolling off of his tongue slickly with ease. His yellow eyes were entrancing, and his head full of knowledge. You envied him - he knew so much more than you ever did. You were never able to receive higher education due to the fact you and Kai had fallen into immense poverty. That was when he began his business, and since then, things were looking up for the two of you.

"I understand, Eli. I'm just really concerned about Octavi. I hope he returns to the palace safe and sound." You murmured. You were visibly upset, and just the thought of Octavi made tears threaten to fall from your eyes again.

Eli sighed, "The palace truly does feel incomplete without him. He was like a brother to me." He confessed, looking down sorrowfully.

"He was the first friend I made at the palace. I should have treated him better. The last thing I ever did was scold him. I have so many regrets. I know he's not dead yet, but I can't help but think-"

You were cut off by Eli who completed your sentence, "What if? I understand what you mean [Name]. That is why the investigative palace staff and I are trying our best to find him as soon as possible. The more time that goes by, the less chance we have, so we are working as diligently as possible. Thankfully, he left as many clues as he could. From what we can tell, it has an association with the black snake group."

"I see.. why is the black snake group so persistent? I don't understand why they have to do this. What are they even trying to achieve?" You questioned.

"Well, the black snake group is part of the royal family. Many generations ago, there were a pair of twins who were born. Both were trained into becoming the future heir. They both excelled in just about everything, and just about everything they did had a similar result. There was no way to judge which one was more fit to be the heir of the throne. So, one night they both were forced to fight each other to the death by their father. Their father, the prevailing Emperor, was a dark man who saw Intuuin through its economy crash." He began the story.

"The kingdom suffered many losses because of him, so as a last attempt to put some good to his name in the history books, he wanted to produce an amazing heir to the throne. The brothers fought in the woods, only to find out one of the brothers had hired some bandits to help him cheat. The brother's twin was never seen again. When he had returned from the forest, his sword was drenched in blood." Eli continued.

"Did he kill his brother?!" You exclaimed, hands clasping over your mouth in horror.

"Hush, I'm getting to that part." Eli silenced you before proceeding with the story.

"The brother cheated his way onto the throne, but nobody knew at all until he confessed on his death bed. Little did he know, his twin brother managed to convince the bandits to take his side. The witty brother had brought money with him, expecting such a thing from his twin and bribed the bandits before they could kill him. From then, the brother who'd been betrayed by his own flesh and blood formed the black snake group. They have been trying for many generations to take the throne away and cause discord in Intuuin. They have killed hundreds of thousands of people and are the arch-enemy of the royal family." Eli told you the whole story, which left you gawking.

"How could he do such a thing to his brother?" You gasped, shocked by the story. Your hands clung onto the fabric of your clothing due to the shocking revelation.

"Well, people do crazy things for power. It's obvious that he regretted it, though. Several years later, he stepped down from the throne and let his younger sister take his place. He spent all of his time in the woods, searching. Nobody knew what he was searching for back then and thought he had developed a mental condition. The truth was, he was looking for his twin brother. He never failed to visit the forest every day for the last sixty-two years of his life. Even when on his death bed, he didn't fail to get up and search for his twin brother. Truly, it is a sad story." Eli pouted, the story further ruining his mood - so he began to regret telling it to you.

"Wow, that truly is depressing." You sighed, tapping your fingers against your knees. "He must have been desperate to find his brother."

In the meanwhile, the Emperor entered the interrogation room in the private security affairs office to come face to face with the two guards in front of Octavi's door chained to the wall. One of them was knocked out cold from the apparent blood running down the left side of his face and was missing several fingers already. The top half of his armour had been taken off by the interrogation officer, and the fabric cut to reveal a black snake tattooed across his chest.

The Emperor could already feel the rage boiling in his veins from just the sight of that darned black snake. His eyes turned a prominent, blood red, glowing with the urge to kill from the shadows. The Emperor leaned back against the door, pushing it shut and leaving nothing but a small candle on the wall to illuminate the room. The other guard began to tremble with an unknown fear. His ankles and wrists turned bright red from the struggling he was making against the chains. He was desperate to escape. After seeing what had happened to his comrade, he didn't want it to happen to him. He had confessed everything he could to the interrogation officer after his friend had lost several fingers, too.

"Now, now. What do you think you're doing serving up trouble in my palace?" The Emperor growled, his voice laced with poison. The atmosphere surrounding him grew tense and vengeful as he approached the guard step by step.

The guard began to panic as the Emperor slowly advanced towards him, the footsteps sounding like the final seconds on the clock that he had remaining to live. "Your majesty, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He cried out, beginning to sob and beg for mercy as he shrivelled at the feet of the Emperor.

"Have you confessed everything, fool?" The Emperor questioned. The fraud guard frantically began to nod, the nervous sweat droplets dripping from his chin onto the cement floor.

The Emperor got down onto his knee and tilted his head as he examined the black snake group member, a laugh leaving his pink lips. "Yes, yes! I told them everything I know! I swear! I swear!" He yelled, frightened for his life. His eyes twitched in dismay and angst weighed his body deeper into the floor. He rested on his knees, buckled to the wall and at the mercy of the bloodthirsty Emperor.

The Emperor of Intuuin had no spark of humanity left in his eyes as he glared down upon the false guard. The man could see no mercy in the Emperor's royal orbs as he looked down upon the man's figure, as if contemplating what to do next.

The Emperor violently held the black snake's chin, forcing them to make eye contact. "Look at you. What a shame." He whispered. The Emperor gave an empathetic smile to the black snake. Mercy flooded into the young monarch's orbs, sparking new hope into the man before him.

"Your majesty, please! I will serve you with my life! Please forgive me!" The young man begged with dread. Just a little more begging, and he was undoubtedly going to make it out of this situation alive.

All hope was immediately lost as the Emperor's eyes reverted to their ruthless state and the same psychotic smile eased its way onto the monarch's lips. "Did you really think I was sorry for you?" The Emperor asked him, now gripping the man's neck. "Hm? Hm?" He repeated in time with the shaking of the man's neck. The Emperor was strangling the man with one hand and mercilessly flinging him back and forth repeatedly so that he could barely speak as the dizziness ran to his head.

"I will repay you! I swear," The man managed to yell out, desperate for his words to reach the Emperor. The tight grip on his throat was nearly too much to bear, almost no oxygen entering his lungs, and he was becoming breathless.

"Good idea," The Emperor chirped and stopped shaking the man by his throat. The Emperor's grip loosened, and the man began to pant heavily, fulfilling the debt of oxygen in his body.

"Your majesty, thank you," The black snake group member said, tears of joy running down his eyes.

"No need to thank me for paying with your life," The Emperor growled, his kind demeanour fading away and the same red glare enrapturing the false guard. The Emperor bent his neck and, with a quick snap, the man was dead somewhat instantaneously. The man's motionless body collapsed onto the ground as he frothed at the mouth, the life leaving his person and giving a coldness about the room.

"Be a dear and don't haunt me," The Emperor whispered to the man's corpse, finally letting go of his snapped neck and swiftly leaving the room with an unbothered demeanour: like nothing had happened at all.

The Emperor headed down the hallway to return to his office. Several guards, maids and butlers followed after him in pairs, ready to assist him the moment he required them. For once, they had a more difficult time to stay at the same pace as the Emperor, whose long legs strode quickly down the hall, walking hastily toward his dear [Name]. His heart began to ache when she was not around, and he couldn't quite pinpoint why.

"[Name]," He called out in a light-hearted tone as his fast walk soon emerged into a jog. He wanted to spend as much time as possible with you. He had made sure that you wouldn't find out the sort of matters he had to do with the black snake members who infiltrated the palace as he was positive it would unsettle you and give you a new cynical look at him.

You could hear your name being called from down the hallway, suspending your conversation with Eli. He had been educating you on the different royal titles and some high-class people you were bound to catch sight of visiting the palace one day. The Emperor stopped running at his office door's view, to catch his breath and neat up his countenance. The palace staff members following after him promptly stopped in their tracks, accidentally bumping into each other.

Once the Emperor now appeared to be ready, the guards at either side of the office's door pushed them open to reveal the sight of [Name]. The Emperor felt relief wash the anxiety he felt whenever he was without you out of his body. How had he grown so attached? He didn't know, and he didn't care, as long as he could make sure you didn't leave his side from now on. The Emperor stopped and stared at you in realisation, earning a questioning look from you. He wondered if he had indeed managed to fall in love with a mere tailor from the countryside?

"Your majesty," You answered, troubled as to why he was standing there. Even Eli looked confused. Your sweet voice snapped the Emperor out his pondering trance, and he quickly made his way over to you. Eli flung himself out of the way as it looked like the Emperor had no idea that he was even there. Eli was nearly jealous of how much attention and affection the Emperor had begun to fixate on you. Before, he and the Emperor were like two peas in a pod, and he was the Emperor's only true friend. It appeared that now, things had changed drastically in just a short period of being exposed to your presence.

Eli silently left the room, remarking that he was not about to be acknowledged by the Emperor anytime soon and so assumed that he was to resume his work to help investigate Sir Kirayo's disappearance.

"Did you learn anything useful?" You questioned the Emperor. He nodded, "Yes, the confession and information have been collected by the interrogation officer working on the case. We will find out what happened to him, [Name]," The Emperor pulled you to his chest once more, into a tight embrace. An upside to this whole situation was the fact he was able to comfort and hold you as much as he pleased without you complaining at all. A relaxed sigh escaped his lips before the Emperor gripped your thigh. "I think you should sleep next to me tonight so I can protect you. It's a dangerous time to be alone," Takahiro whispered into your ear. You flinched at his sudden boldness. You decided to accept, even though the Emperor wasn't offering but rather ordering. After all, you couldn't deny that what he said was right. And at a time like this, you feared being alone after seeing what had happened to Octavi.

A loud clang resonated throughout the air in a dark cell. Eugene was dragging his thin sword along the bars, creating a deadly beat. Inside of the cell was none other than a blue-haired assistant with sparkling purple eyes. Octavi Kirayo was already in poor health and barely able to escape but being under the watchful dark orbs of none other than the heir to the black snake group was taking a toll on his mental state. Octavi's body was covered with small scratches and bruises from the immense struggle he had put up during his abduction. His arm was wrapped with a bandage - now covered with dirt, begging to be changed.

"Did you really think we'd let you off that easily?" Eugene hissed through the thick cell bars, his black locks swaying perfectly with each of his movements.

"Of course not, it's you we're talking about. The black snake group has always been persistent. You were lucky that I was weak," Octavi hissed back, just as harsh despite his weakened state.

"You really never know when to back down, do you? Just like your sister," Eugene hummed, dropping his sword onto the floor and sighing. "I'll deal with you later. After all, several of my men have died in those palace walls over the last year."

"It is regretfully not our fault, but your own for sending them to the palace, "Octavi made a witty comeback, only to be interrupted by the loud bang of Eugene's forearm smashing against the bars with pure aggression, giving a warning sign to Octavi.

"Remember, you're at our mercy now. You better watch what's coming outta that mouth of yours," Eugene grinned maliciously before finally backing away from the metal bars, allowing Octavi's heart rate to slow down. He was scared for his life even though it appeared otherwise. He didn't worry, for he knew he would be rescued sooner or later. All he had to do was stay alive. It was difficult, especially with Eugene's wretched remarks.

In the room, there was one other person that Octavi happened not to notice. In the shadows stood a woman wearing a long, tight-fitting black dress that went up to her mid-calf. She stood at 5'10; had a slender figure and around her shoulders was a faux fur scarf, completing her fashionable look. Her light blue hair dripped down to her lower chest, cleanly-cut. Her purple eyes glinted towards her younger brother, shimmering with controlled rage, caged inside of her for years.

She looked at Octavi, a blank and emotionless look stuck upon her face during the whole time. "Sister," Octavi muttered out of his bloodied lips, his voice coarse and dry due to the lack of hydration.

"My name is Odette Kirayo," She cut off her younger brother's soft pleas for help, her voice having no mercy in it whatsoever. "You are no longer my brother." She cruelly announced, flipping her hair behind her shoulders, slowly approaching the cell.

"After what happened that night, nothing was ever the same. I was a muttering mess. You just let them lock me up in that asylum-" "They told me that that was what was best for you." Octavi uttered, interrupting his sister before she could continue on any further.

"Don't say such crap!" She shouted, knocking her fist angrily against the bars. She took a deep breath before regaining her composure and continuing to glare down at the man who she once loved like a brother.

"I wanted to be the fourth assistant!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, and her calm composure immediately shattered into a million pieces. Obviously, her anger had been caged for years and finally, she could let it all out. She had joined the black snake group as they promised to help her get revenge on her family after the incident, which happened that one terrific night.