At first, anger contorted the emperor's face, but it had been replaced with a smile while looking at his niece. Of course, she does not deserve that smile, but she respects him and would not even dare to use her status, so she lowered her head, and that gesture was part of being the same as the soldiers. It was part of the only thing she could come up with.
"You are her father, and you did not even know her abilities, skills, and the way she stayed with you aside from understanding everything that has been going on? Where did your heart go, brother?" The emperor's words made her father laugh. Mister Au still got more of his guts to talk back as the fear from his face disappeared.
"Brother?" Mister Au said with a smirk and then laughed again. After a second, his laughter faded as he turned around to face the emperor before walking towards him.
"I disregard that word in my life for eternity. It is just funny to hear it from you. If you could only see the war outside, you would understand how the word Emperor exists and its worth. I am your right hand; I handled your land and people in order while you kept your health in check. An emperor that stays in bed? Your people will be disappointed."
Hui Ying Au silently gasped as the soldier beside her stole a glance at her.
"You must be treated. I did not mean to stab you, but I have to." The soldier whispered as he let her fall into his arms.
Hui Ying Au's lips were getting paler every second.
"If you did not mean to stab or kill me, why do I feel that there is poison inside of me?"
The soldier got alerted after what she told him, "This is not good. The emperor is going to punish me by taking my life too." He double checks the sword, and she was correct. There were signs of poison spreading all over his blade's tip.
While the emperor and her father continued defending themselves on what they wanted to prove, her life was on the line. The soldier had no choice but to yell out for attention, "The princess is dying!"
And with that, the Emperor's eye narrowed as he shifted his sight at the soldier, "See? You could have handled your daughter better; she grew up to be tender, obedient, smart, and good but with your personality? You will never see how lucky you are to be her father, her family."
The emperor headed towards Hui Ying Au; he embraced her like she was the long-lost daughter he wanted to see. "Consider this as an exchange, I will take her with me, and you will live your life in the other lands. You can take your soldiers with you, but all the witnesses here, I, the emperor, banished you, Third Crown Prince Guo Au, from this land!"
Ten months later
The emperor knocked on the door as the nanny that watched over Hui Ying Au opened it. Then, without warning, the emperor pushed the door open and entered the room. The nanny in front of him was slightly surprised, but then she hurriedly closed the doors behind him. With a sharp click from the door, the emperor sighed.
"How is she? Is she awake now?" The emperor asked.
"Your Majesty, I do not want to sound rude, but her body has looked dead for ten months."
"You did not hear what the physician said? She could still hear us; she is alive. She is just in a deep sleep."
"Comatose, your Majesty." The nanny slapped her mouth a few times when she realized what she had just said.
"I would like you to find Lianhuanhua, who knows dark magic. Tell her to come here immediately." The emperor had thought it through upon knowing how illegal and dangerous it would be. It was the only option he could try, or else he would be guilty of the rest of his time.
The nanny quickly went out of the room after excusing herself.
Meanwhile, the emperor watched over Hui Ying Au. He did try to ensure his deceased sister-in-law kept her daughter safe. But, five and a half months ago, the emperor lied to Hui Ying Au's mother and died due to loneliness.
He sighed, thinking about how he would explain everything when Hui Ying Au woke up. It will be hard for a daughter to accept the death of her beloved mother. How would she handle everything when she wakes up? He wandered around the room even if it was unnecessary; he just needed to have that slight relief in dealing with the things that would come his way too.
Then a sharp scratch at the door, a painful one, made the skin crawl that got him to slowly kneel down one leg and had him cover his ears as the door opened.
"I have arrived, your Majesty." Lianhuanhua stood at the center of the open door. It took a moment for the emperor to stand up before discussing what he wanted from her.
"Can you bring her back to life using your dark magic, Lianhuanhua?"
A slight smile was painted on Lianhuanhua's face. The emperor might have thought minor about the consequences.
"I can, your majesty," Lianhuanhua tilted her head while looking at Hui Ying Au's dead body.
"But tell me, do you still want to let your servants tell you a lie? Do you still believe that she is indeed in a coma when she is not at all? Did you dare to make yourself believe that your niece is long gone?"
The emperor did not think about the stages of Hui Ying Au's body. But from what he could see, Lianhuanhua was right. It was time to accept his niece had died over ten months. However, when passing, the considerable difference between the other people's bodies was decomposing, bloated, and smelly. In Hui Ying Au's case, her body and organs looked normal, as if she was alive, and her body was not showing death signs. The emperor's hope was molded by believing his niece was in a coma.
"I believe she is dead, Lianhuanhua." The emperor responded.
"My dark magic only works when you truly accept in your heart and mind that she is dead, your Majesty." Lianhuanhua's tone was not even polite, but the emperor did not mind.
"Give me a moment." He pleaded, but Lianhuanhua did not let him, "Your Majesty, I can't let my other clients wait. Time is precious for them. And you are no Gold for me."
"Lianhuanhua, I said I truly believe my niece is long gone. She is dead." The emperor kept his voice calm, but anger was there.
And Lianhuanhua smiled wide while walking forward, "Thank you for your cooperation, your Majesty. Now, I shall start with my job."
The emperor watched his niece's body while listening to Lianhuanhua's confusing words. It lasted two and a half hours.
Then, with a closing chant, "Chances for one, death by two. Transfer a soul with someone anew in another life she grows, she lives, and in exchange, she will come back to face another threat. Death will come, but Death won't tell. She learns, succeeds, and lives well. If not, her body will be offered in hell with me."
Lianhuanhua raises her hands up high, waiting for the emperor agreed.
He glances at Lianhuanhua, knowing there was no way for him to reverse time. But, if he disagrees, Hui Ying Au's body and memory will be gone forever, and the guilt of not letting her feel the happiness she deserves hits him hard. And if he agrees, she could live well but face a threat that could end her life.
"Your Majesty, do you agree or not?"
Knowing dark magic and Lianhuanhua's talent, the emperor, could not reject.
"I agree to the terms, Lianhuanhua."
After the emperor agreed, Hui Ying Au was brought to life; however, after twenty years, she finally died in a bloody war while a comet rained at the sky. The emperor's second regret made their life harder, in addition to the guilt in his heart that was carried along until the day they died. And that same day of their death, Hui Ying Au's father finally became the next emperor after being banished for a long time. He was again the one who triggered the war and ended the lives of those who made him suffer.