[TAMIKO]
When Lord Sadako had taken Tamiko home he had expected a rebellion, but then when he heard the young lycan's questions and suspicions the lycan Lord knew that something was amiss. The accusations were so raw and Tamiko seemed to fully believe them.
How his nephew described and pointed hands at him, made Lord Sadako question what had happened in Grealor for the past fifteen hours. It hadn't been long since he had met with the kid and yet when they had met again, it seemed like they were on opposite sides.
That was the one thing that Sadako couldn't explain.
"May I come in?" Lord Sadako greeted as he stood at the door to the room Tamiko had been put in. It was a chamber so close to the king and the lycan Lord's chambers.
It was located almost a little too strategically because Tamiko's room was close to the stairs that everyone used to get down for the west wing, and that was also inclusive of the big bad lycan king.
"Yeah, sure. I'm just a prisoner for a movement here anyway," Tamiko said and to that, Lord Sadako chuckled.
How was he supposed to explain to the young lycan that the room he was in was the one queen Liana had wanted for her son? The same room that had been abandoned because no one knew what to do with the room that had so many memories that had never seen light?
How was he to explain to his nephew that this was the safest place he could ever be in, in the whole realm?
"Wow. You really are not going to go easy on me, huh? I guess I earned the cold shoulder given how I showed up in Grealor. But, it was the only way to make sure you came with me," Sadako said, the honesty in his voice making Tamiko raise a brow.
He hadn't expected that the lycan Lord would be honest with him, but then he seemed to be forgetting that the Lycan Lord had never lied to him. Sadako knew the kind of damage that lies could cause and he wasn't going to do that to his nephew.
"You didn't give me a reason to," Tamiko said coldly.
"That hurt, oww. I don't know where you heard all that, Hinata. I don't know how you came to those conclusions. But I promised to be truthful with you, so I will let you in my head, and if you find what you said was there, then you have every reason not to trust me.
"I choose to trust you, son. I will always trust you even if I find you standing over a dead body. I will always trust that you had a good reason for that. So here," Sadako said as he leaned closer to Tamiko who was seated on the edge of the bed.
He was calling the lycan enforcer's bluff, but then the sincerity in Lord Sadako's voice made him curious. It was always the same voice that cared for him. The same voice that showed him love even though he was the one kid outcast by a society of wolves.
Lord Sadako had never given Tamiko a reason to doubt him and for a moment, Tamiko wanted to think that he was wrong. However, Tamiko also knew that the lycan Lord was powerful and he could manipulate memories.
Perhaps that was also why he just sat there bored and not reacting to what the lycan Lord had said.
"Aren't you curious to know what is in my head?" Lord Sadako asked and Tamiko shook his head.
"Not really. You are a Lycan Lord, the second most powerful man in the realm and Kawai. You can manipulate memories if you wish. Who's to know whether you manipulated your memories and want me to see something else?" Tamiko asked earnestly too.
"Seems like I have to work my way through again. That is fine. I just hope you know you can trust me, always," Lord Sadako said as he sat on the seat next to Tamiko's bed. He wanted to know more about this kid and he was so invested in protecting him with everything.
"Why am I truly here, uncle?" Tamiko asked and once again, Lord Sadako sighed in relief. He had been worried that the kid would go back to calling him with his official name. That could show just how hard he had to work to get the young Lycan's trust again.
But then it seemed like it was just a minor setback, one that the lycan Lord was more than willing to fix. He would make sure the bonds didn't break and that the kid didn't have a reason not to trust that he meant well for him.
"For your protection, Hinata. Your friends… Your mate is plotting something against you and he has the support of his father. They want to use you to trigger a war with the lycans—"
"I doubt they are that stupid. Do you even hear yourself? My friends? They would never betray me. They would never plot against me. They would never try to do anything to hurt me. I have known them my whole life.
"As for my mate, that should not worry you too much, because I have always known I can't trust him. I opened my mind link to him earlier and I felt a surge of relief instead of happiness, especially for someone who wanted to mate with me so bad.
"I know he is planning something and he thinks he can use the link against me. I can protect myself against Gabriel. I could even kill him without having to raise a finger on him. I am not worried about him. But my friends?
"You are wrong. They are never going to put me in danger,'' Tamiko said with conviction.
He was so certain his friends wouldn't throw him under the bus when in real time his friends were plotting against him, trying to manipulate the bond they shared. Perhaps he was right to be in denial.
If anything, his best friends had never done anything to make him suspicious of them. They had been there for him. They had cared for him and protected him, so there was just no way they would be against him, right?
"I figured you would say that, which is why I invited someone over. Someone who might explain everything to you. Don't worry, he won't lie to you because he will be having the magical ball of truth.
"It's an ancient truth ball that no magic can manipulate. So you can be rest assured he won't lie to you. If he does, I will kill him myself. Deal?" Lord Sadako asked and Tamiko looked at him skeptically.
He wasn't sure what the lycan Lord was aiming for, but what Taniko wanted was to go back home.
Grealor may have been a shitty home, but at least in Grealor, he knew they hated him openly. They didn't hide behind anything, and Tamiko could actually trust in their hate for him regardless.
Here in Kawai, he wasn't too sure about that. But then he had to have some hope, right?
"Hello, your Royal Highness," a familiar voice spoke and Tamiko froze.