The Tale of the Lotus Heart

Chapter 25

After Yong woke me, I went to First Prince's tent for the debriefing. My plan had been accepted by the Emperor, so we used the debrief time to go over strategies and positions. Tase and Yong's arrival didn't go unnoticed my the other generals, but they kept their questions to themselves. As the duties for the plan I created were being divvied, I also got curious glances when I wasn't assigned anything. After First Prince dismissed the generals, Yong, Tase, and I hung back to talk to Atlas.

"So you know?" Atlas asked his brothers. They both nodded. First Prince Atlas' attention turned to Yong.

"How could you do that to your Second Brother's goddaughter. You should have married her properly first and then procreated. Doing this backwards is only going to send feelings of resentment towards the Princess," Atlas chastised Yong.

"You know how our Royal Mother is. Having a heir only solidifies Aivi by my side. If I'd waited to do things in their proper order, it would give our Royal Mother and Father a chance to say no. Now, they won't have a choice." Yong was quick to defend himself.

"They could still choose to make the Princess just a consort in your harem," Atlas tried to reason with Yong. That was something I hadn't thought about yet. Atlas was right. Even if they allowed me to marry into Yong's harem, there was no guarantee that I would get to be Yong's rightful wife.

"Our Royal Father would never let his famous great-goddaughter become just a consort," Tase tried to help Yong.

"But still, Crown Prince's legal wife is a bit of a steep reach. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, I just wanted you to think of all the possible outcomes. At worse, the Princess will be sent to her death. At best, she's allowed to become the rightful wife to the Crown Prince, but there are so many other outcomes in the middle. I hope you get what you want... truly. Until you decide to disclose the news, I'll keep my mouth shut, but I just wanted you to be careful. Princess, you should leave tonight and head back to your palace. You heard that debriefing earlier, so I'm sure your aware that we have enough hands here and we'll be able to manage just fine while you're home resting. I already credited your idea in the letter I sent to my Royal Father. I can't take responsibility if anything happens to any of you out there. Second and Crown Prince brother, no one can know you were even here. I'll make sure the generals keep their mouths shut, and I won't disclose your departure. Stay home for now and I'll send a letter when I've returned to the Heavenly Palace. At that time, Princess, you'll go with me to debrief the Emperor and Empress as if you never left," First Prince said.

"Thank you, First Brother," Yong said sincerely before holding my hand in his. Tase nodded to the First Prince as well before we left in the dead of night. We flew back and snuck back into the Heavenly Palace before Tase and Yong took me straight to the Serenity Palace. The fairy maids didn't even catch us as Yong led us to his room.

"What are we doing here?" I asked.

"Even without actually talking it through, I think Yong and I came to the same conclusion. No one can know that you're back yet. Staying at Eternity Palace would be a dead give away. I'll bring Ixia back there while you stay here with Yong. He's a little less busy these days and it's the perfect place to hide until our First Brother comes back," Tase explained.

"So I'll hide here?" I asked for confirmation. Yong held my hands in his as he faced me.

"Things are going to get more hectic before they calm down. Until the battle with the demons is completed, no one can know of your pregnancy. I'll wait for the right time to inform my Royal Mother and Father. Just relax here with me for now, hm?" Yong said softly. It's not like I really had a choice. I nodded before looking to Tase.

"What about Godmother?" I asked. He smiled gently.

"She'll be fine. I won't tell her about the child yet either just to be on the safe side, but for now, you should spend time with Yong," Tase agreed. Tase held my hand in his gently before leaving. It was just Yong and me. Yong wrapped his arms around my waist in a hug. I was quick to wrap my arms around him as well.

"What are you thinking?" Yong asked with his head on my shoulder.

"I'm scared," I admitted honestly. I was scared for what was to come. I was scared of the Empress finding out about Yong's child. I was scared for my life. I was scared that Yong's plan would backfire. When he initially suggested the plan, I figured we would have more time. I didn't expect to get pregnant so quickly and easily. Yong pulled away to look at me as his hand held my cheek gently.

"I'm right here. I won't let anything happen to you," he promised. "For now, we should sleep. It's late and you're probably tired from the travel," he changed the subject. I nodded wordlessly as I took off my outer robe before getting in Yong's bed. Yong stayed at his desk for a while, but I was too tired to wait for him before falling asleep.