As his two elder sisters were meeting with his father, Second Concubine Leilani had travelled with her son to the Agnes Clan. Unfortunately, this change in title was not a mistake.
Within a Kingdom's Imperial Harem, there was a hierarchy. However, this hierarchy wasn't decided by the order in which women married into the harem. Instead, they were decided by the importance of the woman to the royal clan.
In her youth, Leilani had competed with Olivia for the title of Queen. Unfortunately, she lost despite being the King's favorite due to the fact Olivia was simply more suited to be Queen. Still, after entering the Imperial Harem, she had immediately been given the First Concubine rank in acknowledgement of the King's affections. Alas, these matters were destined for change.
After Ryu's meridian awakening ceremony failed, he immediately became the least suitable heir to the throne. Although Leilani still kept this rank for a time afterward, Ryu's lack of care for the matters of the Kingdom caused the Ministers to once more pressure their King into lowering Leilani's rank.
The Imperial Censors stood at the forefront of this change, imploring King Tor to maintain proper traditions. The ranks of the Imperial Harem were highly important and couldn't be ignored. The royal marital household was to be held in the highest regard to the public, what would happen if the people began to ignore these hierarchal standings as well? Plus, the Second Prince was so outstanding. How would he feel if, despite his splendor, his mother continued to be ranked so low? Would he not grow a dislike of the Kingdom and its ways? If this happened, wouldn't there be inner turmoil within the royal clan?
Under this pressure, King Tor relented once more, officially demoting Leilani to the Second Concubine title. As of now, the only concubine who ranked below her was Third Concubine Selene, a reclusive woman who happened to be the mother of their Kingdom's two Princesses. Due to a disease she contracted giving birth to Isla, she rarely appeared in public.
It didn't need to be said how much rage this induced within the Agnes Clan. As a Pillar Family ranked only below Queen Tor's Cedar Clan, having their young miss be a First Concubine, even of the Royal Clan, was insulting enough. But, to now have her be demoted to the second rank? It caused an uproar within their upper echelons.
Patriarch Agnes, an older man who happened to be Ryu's maternal grandfather, stormed into the Imperial Court to raise havoc. However, even after drowning the King and his Ministers in a torrent of spittle and curses, nothing changed.
This sort of failure led to the Agnes Clan turning their pitchforks toward the mother-son duo. If Leilani had been more scheming and clever, she would have earned the title of Queen and wouldn't have to deal with this ranking nonsense no matter how useless her son was. In that case, the face of the Agnes Clan would be saved, and they wouldn't have turned into the laughingstock of the six Pillar Clans.
Then there was Ryu. If he hadn't been born a cripple or had at the very least been capable of awakening his meridians, this too would have never happened. What a useless pairing of mother and son they were, bringing not an ounce of good to the Clan.
If it wasn't for the fact they would incur even more sneers of disdain for it, they would have long since disowned the both of them.
Still Ryu and his mother were offspring of the Agnes Clan, and as such, had no choice but to return every year for their gathering. Currently, Ryu sat at the edge of a vast outer expanse, crossing his legs atop a grey stone in silent meditation.
In the distance, many branch and main bloodline members of the Agnes Clan younger generation horsed around. Some spoke amongst each other, some started friendly sparring sessions, while others introduced some of their close friends or love interests to one another.
The Clan gathering was held for reasons similar to why Imperial Censors existed. It was meant to instill a connection to the family and remind everyone, even branch members, that loyalty to the Clan was of the utmost importance. It was for this reason that this gathering was mandated.
"Ryu? Is that you?" Suddenly, a sweet voice interrupted Ryu's calm state of mind. It wasn't that the voice stirred emotions within him, but rather he hadn't expected to hear this voice here. This was because it was the voice of the Garis Clan young miss and cousin to his second brother Jedrek. It was odd to meet someone of another Pillar Clan at an event like this one. Plus, her question itself was weird.
"Yaana? I didn't expect to hear your voice here." Ryu said with a light smile.
Yaana blushed slightly at Ryu's words, feeling a light fluttering in her heart. She was only twelve years old this year, so she still had a lot of room to grow, but she had taken a liking to Ryu many years ago. It was at this moment that she felt gratified that Ryu was blind so he couldn't see her in such an embarrassing state.
"You remembered the sound of my voice? Yaana is very happy." She said, her words almost dripping with honey. They hadn't seen or spoken to each other in more than a year now, so she had been prepared for the worst. But, hearing that Ryu not only remembered the sound of her voice but also her name made her happy beyond compare.
Ryu almost chuckled. It seemed his second sister's intuition when it came to the hearts of young girls was fairly spot on. He didn't know what he had done to gain this little girl's affections, but he seemed to have cast a shadow over her heart.
Those around could almost see Yaana's young maiden heart fluttering before them. Her fairy-like appearance had been the object of their hopes and dreams for several years already, but it seemed she had already found someone she liked. Clearly, they hadn't bothered to ask Ryu's opinion on the matter. None of them thought he was worthy of her to begin with, how could they fathom a reality where he would reject her?
Still, technically speaking, since Patriarch Agnes only had one daughter and no other children, even if Ryu lost the Coronation Games, he could still become Clan Patriarch if he renounced all rights to the throne. So, among their generation, he was still the highest ranked no matter how much the upper echelon hated him. Simply put, if he wasn't worthy of her, then neither were they.
"The Clan Patriarch summons Young Master Ryu to his study." Before Ryu could properly respond to Yaana, a servant came to deliver a message.