Chapter 23: Pretty Damn Good
Prime Minister Jingan was a very, very dangerous man.
Akira could feel it from the marrow of his bones, a low hum of instinct that warned him louder than any scream.
This was a man who had placed the Emperor himself on uncertain footing. A man who stood without armor before the throne and still carried the advantage.
Akira had seen the expression on Emperor Takeshin’s face. He had seen the small moments of hesitation, the careful phrasing, the forced smiles.
He had watched how a ruler of overwhelming strength offered ground like a merchant forced into a trade he could not afford to refuse.
And it was all because of this man.
A man who openly stared at Princess Yuki as though she were already draped across his arm. A man who spoke of legacy and bloodline in the Emperor’s own hall, with the girl’s father sitting right there, and yet received no retribution.
What kind of father could swallow that?
Only one of two kinds.
Either the kind who was hollow beneath his crown, or the kind whose strength was being locked away, clamped tight by a force he could not move.
And from what Akira had seen, Emperor Takeshin was not hollow.