Chapter 79: The True Heir
King Horokeu Usui couldn't believe his eyes while he gazed at the dead Kasai heir. An open wooden coffin containing Prince Yoh's body was setup in front of the throne while the palace held his wake. The Kouri king had rushed to their ally kingdom with his sister and his body guard as soon as he had heard about his friend's passing from the Kasai royal messenger. He gripped the edge of the coffin as he sniveled without care over his dead friend.
Princess Pirika patted her brother's back while she averted her gaze. She can't bear to see a lifeless body especially that of a childhood friend. She roamed her eyes around the throne room to focus on something other than death.
She spotted the Kaminari prince holding hands with a pretty blond girl with downcast eyes. There was no denying that Prince Ren had finally found his long lost fiancée. They looked perfect for each other. She was stupid to think that Ren would eventually forget about Anna and maybe open his heart to someone else.
The couple was standing next to Faust whom Pirika had not seen for years. He had advanced in age but he was still a prankster. He flashed his signature crazy grin that he liked to give to the Usui siblings to scare them off when they were little kids visiting the Kasai palace. She was amazed at how well he could mask his emotions. She had heard murmurings from the palace people that he might have spiraled down to madness after his wife's untimely death.
Next to the medicine man stood Lyserg who smiled and waved at her. Princess Pirika slightly blushed. She could not look at him straight in the eye anymore after what he had said to her. Lyserg was a gentleman, smart, decisive, level-headed, probably a perfect husband material. Yet, she wasn't ready to welcome a new boy into her heart after it was broken by Ren.
Somewhere near, she saw the oddly paired royal spies, Ryuu and Manta. Both appeared to be nursing a hangover. It was characteristic of Ryuu to go on an all night drinking spree but she was surprised that Manta had let himself succumbed to that state. They must have been drowning their sorrow with liquor as men in their land would. She couldn't blame them. They were Yoh's close friends, too.
She then shifted her attention to the grieving family members who surrounded the king. The entire Asakura family was there even the twin brother who she thought had always hated Yoh. The former Kasai royal couple, King Yohmei and Queen Kino Asakura sat on their respective chairs at the left side of the throne. Meanwhile, King Mikihisa was not stirring on his chair. His face was unreadable because of the bird mask. The teary-eyed Queen Keiko Asakura stood on his right while his remaining son, the stoic Prince Hao stood on his left. Standing beside the prince was her pink-haired friend, Tamao. Her eyes were swollen from crying. She heard from the palace people that her girl pal had locked herself in the room since Yoh had been sentenced to death. She made a mental note to approach her so she could give her the biggest hug and cry together in private.
Tona gave a handkerchief to the still sobbing Kouri king. The bodyguard wasn't used to seeing the teenage monarch bawl in front of many people. When King Horo Horo had tired out from crying, Princess Pirika signaled Tona to help her lead her brother away from the coffin since there might be more visitors coming. They had positioned themselves near the dead prince's grandparents. From across them, Prince Ren acknowledged their presence with a nod and whispered something to his fiancée who also nodded towards their direction.
The solemn atmosphere was broken by the rhythmic footsteps coming through the throne room's entrance. King Yuan Tao and General Ryuuken Tori paraded with a number of Kaminari and Kouku foot soldiers. There was an air of triumph coming from the lineup but as they had observed this past few days, they were met with distrustful eyes from the Kasai crowd.
King Mikihisa stood up from his throne to greet them. "So I have brought the Four Kingdoms under one roof. This could have been a monumental milestone in our land's history had the circumstances been different."
"Ren?"
King Yuan ignored the Kasai monarch's greetings upon seeing his supposed-to-be dead son together with the Kouku princess. The shock never left his face as he approached him. He cupped his son's cheeks as if the prince was a little boy.
."Ren, my son... You're alive!"
For the first time in his entire life, the Kaminari prince was hugged by his father. As far as he can remember, their encounters were usually formal conversations about his training and education. There were no cuddles, embraces or even I love you's. He got his doses of parental love only from his mother who was extremely devastated because of his "death". His father shedding tears and looking vulnerable in front of him was beyond his imagination. Anna graciously let go of his hand so he could reciprocate the embrace.
"He came to the palace last night. Apparently to look for the princess of Kouku." King Mikihisa explained before General Tori could open his mouth in case he was thinking that Kasai had kidnapped him, too.
"The Great Spirit had reunited father and son in enemy territory as you would have put it. I do envy this moment. I wish I could have the same experience with mine. Alas, he is dead... a meaningless death after all... General Tori, I hope you would be so kind to grant a grieving father his request for you to give back the pin that you insisted belonged to my heir."
"Of course..." the Kouku military leader took out the gold star pin they had found in the murder chamber.
The Kasai king turned to the blond girl. "My dear princess, could you please receive the heirloom from the general and take out the replica on Yoh's suit? I know the general may not trust an outsider yet so would you please do the honors? I would like to pass the real one to my heir." The king looked at Prince Hao who was startled at this proclamation.
"I'd be honored, Your Grace," Princess Anna curtsied then glared at the cocky prince. There was no way the Kasai king would hand over the torch to someone so despicable.
She approached the general who placed the pin on her palm. Then she proceeded to the wooden coffin containing Yoh's body. It's still painful to see him lifeless. Today was the last day that she could see him. His body would be burned in this very same coffin by sunset. She carefully unpinned the fake heirloom from his funeral suit and placed it on the palm of her hand, side by side with the authentic one.
Both were in the shape of a five-point star but the engraving in the middle of the pin had a minor design discrepancy. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the one worn by Yoh had an engraving of a star that had been torn apart and had an extra groove so the overall image looked like a tree. The pin from the general was just an engraving of a plain five-point star. Mosuke must have made a mistake when he created the replica for Yoh. But... she knew that the Asakura clan's symbol is a tree. She saw it several times in numerous Kasai books she had pored over so she can tutor the prince...
"Is something bothering you, Princess Anna? You seemed to be in deep thought..." King Mikihisa inquired.
"The heirloom they found in Kouku is fake." The blond girl declared to the shock of everyone in the throne room. "The symbol engraved at the center does not match the Asakura clan's insignia." She showed her palm to the king.
Prince Hao peered at the two pins. "She's right..." He knew what the Asakura heir's insignia looked like by heart. He had memorized it all his life thinking he would carry it as his. So what did Opacho do with the real one then?
"On the contrary, Your Highness, the pin from General Tori is genuine and dates way back before the Asakuras." Faust stepped forward and refuted Anna's claim. Everyone in the room seemed confused by his statement.
"It belongs to the true heir of Kasai kingdom..."
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