"The west assasins are forming an alliance with the east and they get stronger day by day, what do you think about it?" the king stated

"It will be easy to infiltrate the east since I already planted a commander in there" Kaname stated

"The west is form with the strongest assassins there is, without the help of the east then the Aikawa clan may be put in a tough position" the king stated

"You can't underestimate the opponent, you never know if that commander will betray you" he added

"I can turn the tables around with just the snap of my finger" Kaname calmly stated

"How will you do that?" the king asked

"It seems like his highness is urgently in need of my help, I had already been disregarded away so I'm sure I have no use as you rule" Kaname stated

Kaname scoffed as he said "Why don't you seek help to the third prince, after all you raised him attentively"

"It is the tradition of the Aikawa clan to kept the first born hidden until its reign, what I did was only for the best of everyone" the king stated

‘Never even once had you look my way, I understand that I was the son of the woman who use her power against you but even so, you should have been careful not to let me hear the conversation with your favorite son’ Kaname thought as he remembered the conversation Hikaru and the king had

“Father, I had a woman I love that I really wanted to have” Hikaru stated

“The daughter of the head of Fei clan, you had already told me about it ever since you were little, don't worry I'll make sure to let her marry you” the king responded with a smile

Hikaru shook his head as he said “I was already over with her father, there is this woman that I love more than her but she already belongs to your first son”

“What is this woman's name?” the king inquired

Hikaru gently smiled as he said “Yura Izumi, can father help me get her back?”

“That servant?, don't worry as long as you want it I can give her to you” the king replied

“But the crown prince is keeping her” Hikaru stated

“He already has the throne, it's a small price to pay to let you have her” the king responded

Hikaru happily smiled as he said “Really?, can father make her my wife?”

The king gently smiled as he said “Of course, I can make her yours anytime”

Kaname gazed back at the king after remembering the conversation he had heard

"All this time I was fine with you using me to pave the way for Hikaru, I was alright with the queen using me to get close to you" Kaname stated

"I was totally not bothered of being used and left out but laying a hand on my woman is unforgivable" he coldly stated

"What are you talking about?" the king feigned ignorance

"If you ever lay a hand on Yura Izumi, I will make sure to have you and your favorite son's head to the ground" Kaname stated

Just then, the door was suddenly swung open

"Who dares interrupts us?" the king stated

"I'm sorry Your Majesty" Mizuha uttered as she kneeled down and bowed his head

"What is it?" Kaname stated

Mizuha got up and walked towards Kaname while tears are falling from her eyes

"Your Highness, Yura is gone" Mizuha worriedly uttered

"What do you mean gone?!" Kaname stated

"We were just strolling in the garden when I left to prepare the food but when I got back she was already gone and her bracelet was left on the ground, Shin is already looking for her now" Mizuha stated while tears falling on her eyes as she handed the bracelet to him

‘If her bracelet was left then it only means that she was being forced to come, she had never even remove this yet it was left on the ground’ Kaname thought

Kaname gaze at the king as he asked in a threatening voice "You're not involved in this?"

The king shook his head as he said "I'm not"

Kaname immediately dashed out of the room not knowing where to go while Mizuha followed him behind

"When did she disappeared?" Kaname asked

"Just this morning" Mizuha replied

"Then she was already gone for a long time" Kaname uttered as his hands balled into a fist and looked at Mizuha with fury

"Your Highness I'm sorry, I did not know her life was in danger" Mizuha immediately stated in remorse

"Why did you not inform me the moment she was gone?" Kaname coldly stated

"We started looking for her if she was just wandering around but hours had passed and she was still nowhere to be seen" Mizuha stated as her body started trembling in worry and fear

"What a useless friend she have!" Kaname stated as his fist unconsciously sped up near Mizuha's ear almost hitting her

"Your Highness" Shin stated

Shin bowed his head while Mizuha lose her balance and plopped down in nervousness

"Prince Hikaru is in his residence but she is not there, she was not in the queen's residence although the queen is there, no servants had seen her and it seems like it was planned thoroughly" Shin stated

"How about that woman from the Fei clan?" Kaname stated

"I have not really seen Lady Yumiha" Shin stated

As Kaname went into the queen's residence, his mind was only focused on Yura as he swung the door open to the queen's room and rushed inside

"Where is that Fei woman?" Kaname coldly stated

"What are you talking about?" Yoshino uttered

Kaname grabbed Shin's sword and directed it towards the queen's neck as he said "Speak"

"If you're going to kill me, you will start a revolt and will be labeled as traitor, you will never be the king if you do this" Yoshino stated

Kaname scoffed as he said "You also would not want to let the son of the woman your man love so much to take the throne right?"

"I prepared the throne for you that is why you should also stop this nonsense!" Yoshino stated

Kaname sneered as he said "Should I leave multiple scars on your face so that the king would be more disgusted to look at you?"

"What?!" Yoshino uttered

Without a warning, Kaname swiftly slashed the sword near the queen's face leaving a small cut in it

"Should I make it bigger?" Kaname coldly stated

The queen's hands was trembling as she spoke in fear "She was locked up in my underground cell"

Then Kaname immediately left and the moment he entered the underground passage, the voice of a woman suffering reached his ears

"No!, please...don't!" the woman shouted in pain

"Yura!" Kaname shouted as he ran towards the direction of the voice

As he arrived at the scene, his hand impulsively tightened its grip on the sword and he furiously gashed the sword on the body of the man holding Yura's arm

"Why..are...you...here?" Yumiha uttered as she looked at him while trembling in fear

As his gaze landed on the naked woman tied down with blood dripping on her body, his body uncontrollably shake while his blood was rushing through his veins as its boiling with anger

As his sight becomes dark of madness, Kaname slashed the woman's face leaving a deep cut in it as its blood was dripping endlessly

"Ahhh...." Yumiha shouted in pain

"A scar on the face is not enough to hide your ugliness, if I kill you now that would be unfair, I'll be sure to torture you from now on" Kaname coldly stated

His rage cannot be contained as his madness had already reached its limit and seeing Yura's pale body made him think that he was still not strong enough to keep the woman he love safe

His heart was banging on his chest as he free her hands and feet from the shackles in it, the bruises in her body would forever stay in his mind

Kaname enveloped his arms around her, embracing her little figure is the only thing he wanted to do at that moment

"I'm sorry, it's my fault" Kaname stated

Just then, as he caught the sight of her back covered in marks with blood dripping on them, his world was about to collapse as tears endlessly fell out from his eyes

For the first time in his life, he hated himself

‘If only I arrived early, if only I kept her by my side at all times, if only I was powerful enough to keep you from all the harm then you wouldn't have suffered so much’ Kaname thought

Just then, he felt her hands grabbing on the hem of his clothes as she rested her head on his chest then she suddenly lose her consciousness

"Yura! Yura! Wake up!" Kaname shouted

Kaname covered her body with a piece of his clothing and hastily carried her in his arms and rushed out

"Your Highness" Shin uttered as he rushed towards them

"Go call the royal's head doctor immediately" Kaname commanded

Shin nodded his head as she immediately went away

"I'll go prepare something to wash her up" Mizuha stated as she rushed away

"Bring it in my room" Kaname stated

After washing and wiping the blood on her body, the head doctor immediately put some herbs and ointments on her back

"I'm sorry Your Highness but there are marks that cannot be erased because some of her cuts are deep, there will be some scars left on her back" the head doctor stated

"I don't care about the scars on her body as long as she will be fine" Kaname stated

"Please apply this oinment on her marks every morning to lessen the scars on her body" the head doctor stated

"Aside from being whipped in the back, is there anything else that they have done to her body?" Kaname asked as he coldly gazed at the doctor

"I believe that is all Your Highness" the head doctor politely replied

"Is there anything else she will need to recover?" Kaname asked

"Just don't let her do some intense activities for now" the head doctor replied

After saying those words, the head doctor left and Kaname sat beside her watching her pale face sleeping soundly

"Your Highness, Lady Yumiha had returned to Jianghan province, what should we do?" Shin stated

Kaname gently stroke Yura's face as he said "Leave her for now, it will be a matter of time until I reign from the throne and once I do I'll let her experience the pain twice as Yura had felt or does twice even enough?"

"I understand" Shin stated

"Go for now, I'll stay here until she wakes up" Kaname stated