'Wow...'
Akira walks through the halls of the palace, staring at everything in awe...
'I mean, I'd seen it in my memories but....seeing it in real life is something else entirely...'
He opens his status window to see what time it is...
'Looks like I've still got an hour till dinner....that means I'll need to find what I'm looking for by then.'
He picks up the pace and starts walking towards the shady ministers room, taking extra care to avoid being seen by anyone.
'If I'm going to expose that ministers schemes, I'll need to do this before he finds out I'm alive.'
—————————
A few minutes later, he makes it to the ministers room.
Enhancing his beast senses, He checks for presences in the room.
'....it's empty'
Akira's new beast senses enhanced his ordinary senses to the level of a wolfs. On top of that, enhancing them further through focus gave him the ability to be able to detect presences. Even without actually seeing, hearing or smelling them, He could detect any hidden person within a 10 meter radius from himself.
It was basically like a crazy 6th sense.
He quietly enters the room...
'Now...time to find that poison.'
————————————————————
An hour later, in the dining hall...
The king and queen arrive on time, taking their seats at the table as they wait for the princes.
"Darling, I'm worried....Our sons are never late...." Queen Aiko says to her husband, her voice tinged with concern.
King Avalon holds his wife's hand gently, as he replies,
"Ai already told me that the two of them were going to train in the garden today and that they'd be a little late...there's no need to worry sweetheart."
"I don't know Avalon. But I feel a little uneasy...call it a mother's intuition."
Queen Aiko's expression became serious as she stated her worries.
She rarely spoke her husbands name outside of their quarters....that alone was enough to alert the king.
King Avalon frowned in contemplation. His wife was known kingdom wide for her prophet-like intuition...he knew better than to question it.
"Alright, why don't we send out a few guards to-"
He was interrupted by the sound of a door being slammed open.
Both, the king and queen snap their heads to the entrance, only to see a very distressed looking Ai.
"Mother! Father! Something's wrong with Nii-san!!"
The king and queen stand up so fast, their chairs almost fall over!
"What do you mean Ai?" King Avalon asked, whilst maintaining a calm exterior befitting of a king, despite the worry he felt as a father.
"I left to get us some water after training, but by the time I came back, he was unconscious! I tried to wake him up but he didn't respond, and I couldn't find the royal physician anywhere! I don't even know what happened!"
Tears fill Ai's eyes as he splendidly plays the role of a distraught little brother.
"Take us to him!" The king commands walking towards Ai, and Ai is about to nod when they all hear a calm, melodious voice.
"No need for that father."
Ai gasps in shock as the king and queen both widen their eyes in confusion.
Ai turns to see his brother -the one who was supposed to be dead right about now- standing near the door to the dining hall looking perfectly fine.
"N-Nii san, are you ok?! You were unconscious just a while ago!"
Ai quickly gets over his fluster to keep up the act....but Akira can see the frustration and fear in his eyes.
'I'm back my evil little bro~'
Akira has half the mind to say that...but decides against it, in favour of staying in character.
"I'm sorry I worried you Ai....but it's alright now, I'm ok. More importantly, I must speak to you father."
He looks his father, the king, in the eyes seriously. The king seems slightly surprised by his sudden change in demeanour but quickly settles into a serious mood.
He dismisses the servants and closes the door to the dining hall before addressing Akira.
" I heard from Ai that you fell unconscious."
"Ah! Actually, That was only an act."
"What?!"
Everyone in the room can't help but exclaim in shock.
Before they go any further, Akira continues with the story he had prepared.
"I'm incredibly apologetic towards my dear Ai for making him worry but, I needed to play dead you see....I was poisoned after all."
The room is filled with stunned silence at his calm admission.
Meanwhile, Akira tells them a fabricated story of how, after Ai left, the minister had come up to him, offering snacks. He said he had a bad intuition regarding the minister and out of caution, only pretended to eat the snacks. Just as he pretended to swallow, the minister himself revealed his true colors, telling him how it was poisoned and subsequently revealed all of his schemes, being under the impression that Akira would die soon anyways.
It was quite a good story, if Akira said so himself.
After finishing his story, Akira met Ai's gaze.
His eyes were filled with fear. Ai was no doubt smart enough to understand that Akira had completely made up that story because he was the one who poisoned him. He understood that Akira knew everything.
Akira turned to look at the king and queen who were both silently seething.
Without waiting for their replies, He continued on to show them the bottle of poison he had recovered from the ministers room, and also the small paper agreements he had from a few other nobles telling them everything they needed to know regarding his schemes to kill the crown prince and secretly overtake the throne through an anonymous puppet king.
At this, Ai freezes. His eyes widen in shock.
He had never thought that this was what the minister was thinking of doing. He only thought all of this was a personal grudge match of some sort and never wished to involve the fates of the people of their kingdom....after all, he was still a prince.
Regret and guilt begins to overwhelm him as he starts to think over all of his actions, all of the misunderstandings, redoing every conversation he had with his Niisan in his head.
'...it seems he's finally realised how much the minister has been influencing his thoughts....that's good. I hope he learns from this and becomes an intelligent king in the future, so that he will never be led astray again....'
Akira internally smiles at that and looks back to his father, only to be startled slightly.
His expression was one of pure rage.
Now that the evidence was in front of him, there was no denying the ministers actions. He had not only attempted to overthrow the kingdom but also murder the crown prince.
The king asked in a cold voice,
"Were there any other accomplices you have doubts on?"
Akira can see how his brother begins to tremble in the periphery of his gaze.
"....no. It was just the minister and the nobles from the letters."
Ai flinches and stops trembling. Akira can sense his gaze on him.
The king looks at the queen before replying.
"Then, I shall see to it that he is dealt with immediately. It seems I have been a bit too blind to the happenings in my court....good work Akira. I'm glad you're alright."
Akira's father ruffles his hair once, conveying his worry and relief all together, before regaining his kingly demeanour.
His mother on the other hand, who was silent until now, rushes to engulf both Ai and him in a tight hug.
"Thank goodness you're both alright!"
She gives them both kisses on their foreheads while smiling lovingly.
"I'll make sure that despicable man gets a punishment that will make him wish he were in hell for even thinking of hurting my dear sons."
Both Ai and Akira feel chills go down their spine at the terrifying words their mother was saying with a beautiful smile on her lips.
Even the king flinches at the sheer murderous aura radiating off of her in waves.
Akira gulps and internally smiles in fondness.
'I have one terrifying mom...'
———————-
After that, both the king and queen leave for the courtroom to call for a meeting in order to deal with this matter.
It's just him and Ai left in the dining hall.
He finally look at his brother.
"....what is it Ai?"
Ai trembles as he looks to the floor.
"....why did you lie?"
Akira gazes at him for a moment realising that this wouldn't go anywhere unless he did something....
So he turns to leave the room while replying,
"I didn't lie."
Suddenly, his brother grabs his arm, turning Akira around, and looking up at him.
'Finally.'
He speaks with an anguished voice,
"Yes you did!!"
Akira is slightly startled when genuine tears begin to fill Ai's eyes....his little brothers immense guilt, regret, and sadness were beginning to shine through.
"I was the one who poisoned you! I was the one who listened to everything that scheming minister said! I let him get into my head and use me against you for years! I fell for the words of a stranger and nearly killed you! My own brother!! Why didn't you say anything if you knew?! Why didn't you tell me everything in the beginning?! I wouldn't have hated you for years if you did! Why-!"
Ai is shocked into silence when Akira envelops him in a hug.
Akira felt an intense emotion drive him to hug his little brother when he saw him like that....no doubt lingering emotions of the previous owner.
'....To feel this much love for the brother that tried to kill him....I guess I can't help it either. He's my little brother now after all.'
Akira replies while soothingly patting Ai's hair.
"Because....I wanted you to be happy."
Ai looks up at him shocked, making Akira just gaze at him for a moment....
'...I gotta say...my little bro looks so cute!!!! With those down turned wolf ears and big golden eyes looking up at me...no stop!! This is not the time for that!!!'
Internally shaking himself out of his thoughts, Akira explains to his little brother...
"Even if I did say anything at the time, there was no guarantee you wouldn't have misunderstood my intentions..."
Upon hearing that, Ai averts his gaze, regretful but unable to deny it....
Akira looks on fondly...
"....besides, I'd noticed that you'd improved drastically in everything you did once you started to see me as someone to beat. So even if it meant you'd hate me....I didn't mind. I only wanted my little brother to grow."
Ai looks at him astonished by his words....
A moment of silence passes like this, as Ai takes the time to properly process his Nii-sans explanation....Until he finally hugs back, gripping Akira tight as if afraid to lose him.
"....I'm so sorry Nii-san! I'm so so sorry! I know that at this point it won't mean anything because of all the horrible things I've done...I won't ask for your forgiveness either....but please believe me when I say this....I'm truly sorry."
Ai cries into Akiras shoulder, completely letting out his genuine emotions this time.
'....yosh, yosh, that'll do Ai....that'll do....'
Akira smiles and replies,
"....Apology accepted."
"Huh?" Ai looks up at him in disbelief.
He only continues to smile as he speaks.
"You're my little brother...no matter what you do, I'll always love you and wish for your well being...so, as long as you understand and learn from your mistake, it's all I need to forgive you."
Ai tears up again at Akira's words. His crying increases in intensity as he fails to hide his emotions anymore, and he hugs him even tighter than before making Akira wince slightly....
'Um...little bro...you're gonna crush me...'
"Nii-san I'm so sorry!! Thankyou!! I promise, I won't ever let something like that happen again!! I swear on my life, Nii-san! I love you so much Nii-san...I'll definitely live up to Nii-sans expectations!"
Akira looks at Ai, slightly surprised by his honest declaration...and can't help but smile lovingly.
And like that, the two of them simply stand in each other's embrace, finally reconciling.
The night passes by in a flash as the two brothers catch up on everything they've missed....but neither of them minded. After all, It had been long overdue.