Chapter 65: 65 — These Are Tricky
"You have not met those I met," Zayden said, his voice low.
"And you have not seen what I have," Ren added, his voice barely above a whisper.
Zayden parted his mouth to say something but Ren already rose from the chair.
"It is time I head to the Young Master’s study room. He must have finished his classes." Saying so, Ren exited the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Zayden alone in the empty hall.
Zayden remained seated on the desk for a moment, gazing at the papers for a long moment.
He couldn’t shake off Ren’s words from his mind. It had been only a few minutes yet they began haunting him. What could he have seen, to the point that he wasn’t shaken after reading these?
"What are you pondering so deeply about?"
Hearing his brother’s voice, Zayden stepped onto the floor, his boots causing a faint stomp against the stone floor.
"When did you get here?"
"I knocked a few times but you were not answering. Worried, I entered. Do you mind?"
Zayden smiled faintly.
"Of course not. However, if you are here to ask about your marriage partner—"
"Can I not visit my little brother without a reason?" Pulling a chair, Soren took a seat, legs crossed.
"Certainly."
"Are you occupied? Shall I come another time?"
"No," Zayden sat across from his brother, arranging the documents together. He accidentally scattered them across the table when he took them back from Ren.
"What are these? You were staring at them for a long time when I entered."
"These..."
Looking outside the window, the grey clouds hovering above his mansion, he wondered if he should ask his brother.
"I will not press if you do not wish to speak about it."
"That does not matter..." His gaze shifted back to Soren. "You know that there are laws protecting omegas, right?"
Soren snorted.
"Is this a joke? As the Crown Prince of the Empire, I ought to know at least half of the laws." After he paused, he muttered. "Although I have only a hundred pages left to learn until I am crowned."
"Well, once you become the Emperor, you can easily seek advice from the Imperial Council."
A scoff escaped Soren’s lips before he realized.
"Them? Advise me?"
"Why not?"
"Put that aside for now. What are these questions about?" Soren asked, tapping his fingers on the armrest.
Something was unusual about Zayden although he could barely wrap his mind around it. When he was headed here, he saw Ren, his attendant, leave. The servant bowed briefly, didn’t indulge in unnecessary flattery like most and walked away.
"Those rules, they are respected in the Capital, at the very least right?"
Soren averted his gaze.
"Brother? I sent countless soldiers to ensure that every conflict would be handled thoroughly, by law."
"Look," Soren sighed, forcing a smile. "I am unsure why this has caught your attention to begin with... But do not worry. Everything is going well. As it should."
Zayden’s eyebrows furrowed. Something wasn’t right. His brother’s reaction was odd, almost as if he was hiding something.
"Just because I do not live there does not mean I do not have the right to know what is going on," the words pressed against his breath, as if suppressing anger.
"Zayden..."
"What is going on?"
Inhaling deeply, Soren locked gaze with his brother.
"The Temple... They spread some posters across the capital. However, furious, our people had burned them within a week before His Imperial Majesty had the chance to look into the matters. Some were arrested for arson, while others protested against the law. That we are siding with the enemy and..." He sighed, hand on his forehead.
"That is also one of the reasons why the Emperor asked me to get engaged. To ensure the safety of the country."
"Is he using you?" Zayden clenched his fists.
He knew his father—he adored his children. To the point that he would exchange his wealth for their safety. Yet, the thought that such a man would use his child for the benefit of the Empire infuriated him.
"Certainly not!" Soren argued, his eyes wide open. "Father wishes well for the Empire, and so do I. I understand his reasoning. And... He asked my opinion before proceeding with all of these."
"But how is all this related to the Temple and the posters?" Zayden narrowed his brow, trying to connect everything his brother told him together but failing.
"One of their High Priests had gone missing a few months back. They believe they somehow snuck into Revhara."
"But that’s impossible—" Just then, Zayden paused. It wasn’t completely ridiculous.
After all, there was a horse from Hianshu near the training grounds... If the horse belonged to the High Priest—
"Why would a High Priest even go missing here? Are they insinuating we have abducted them?" He frowned.
"Possibly. They are to visit the Capital soon. That caused an uproar among the nobles, even the commoners who tend to keep calm even when displeased with certain decisions."
Zayden nodded.
"Can we blame them? They lost their family members during the war that lasted for centuries. Even if for now, a peace treaty has been signed, we know Hianshu is not the kind to forget the hatred they bore against us. To the point of exiling us..."
Soren’s expression darkened, memories flashing before his eyes as if every horror he saw on the battlefield happened only yesterday. The thought that it could be repeated chilled his bones. With clenched fists, he went through the documents before him.
"These are..."
"Right. I was actually wondering if laws made for omegas are truly not respected."
"Like any other laws... These are tricky. If the omega is truly mistreated, they need to prove it because of false allegations made years back, causing some alphas to go on a rampage after the forceful bond breaking."
Whenever a bond was forcefully broken, omegas were affected but for dominant alphas, it was dangerous. Their pheromones would become unstable, even life-threatening. Other times, they lost their minds and became blood thirsty creatures.
Zayden saw these happen countless times, slowly losing his faint toward omegas. They appeared nothing but vile creatures that drove alphas to madness.
However, when he read about what certain omegas went through, he couldn’t help but be conflicted on whether to despise or pity them.
"Then... What should we do to make sure omegas are safe, and alphas too?" Zayden looked at his brother, his voice soft, his gaze sharp.