Chapter 200
Seoul, Korea
Ume Suite
Haruto, Prince Riku’s Chief of Security, opened the door.
“This can’t be good,” Haruto commented when he saw Kita standing there.
“It is not,” Kita agreed. “Is Prince Riku available?”
Haruto bowed before waving him inside. “How bad is it?” he asked, keeping his voice down.
Kita shook his head, closing his eyes.
That was answer enough.
“I will get him,” Haruto said with a bow then went to get the Prince.
Kita continued to stand there, eyes moving around the Japanese themed suite that took up a portion of the 33rd floor of the hotel.
Normally, there wouldn’t be a threat here, but Kita knew the Emperor arranged for his children to be in the same suite, and he didn’t trust the Princess or her pet that Lula was longing to kill.
If this situation would have happened prior to meeting Seon Rain, Kita wouldn’t have bothered telling Riku what happened to Lucien. Matters of the heart and the futility of relationships, especially when on the job, weren’t something he cared about.
In fact, they disgusted him.
It was a weakness to fall for someone you were commissioned with protecting. Very rarely, from what Kita saw, did those temporary relationships end positively. His parents were the only exception he knew of.
Lula was miserable without Will and did everything in her power to not think about him or even mention his name when she was home and pouting. Kita didn’t realize how miserable his little sister was because she wasn’t with the hacker that rooted in her heart until they were under the same roof together again. He stopped giving her grief about falling into bed with the client and instead pitied her to an extent.
Then, when they were in the same hotel, and Will and Lula were back together, Kita clearly saw how much his temperamental little sister needed William Lee in her life. And then without conscious effort, Seon Rain rooted in his heart, even if he initially wished she hadn’t, and he was honestly a happier person because of it.
Now, it was Lucien’s heart that was on the line, only Lucien didn’t know it.
“If your brother that if wants to ghost me now, he can at least be man enough to tell me to my face,” Riku sneered, heading across the large suite. “I have been blowing up his phone, but he sends me straight to voicemail. Is he still pissed I brought my demonic sister to Europe to crash your holiday?” he demanded.
Kita shook his head.
“I bought him another car, another expensive toy to try to kill himself with, and now he acts like I don’t even exist?!” he continued, throwing his hands in the air. “Why? What did I do to deserve that? Are you here to break my heart next?”
Again, Kita shook his head.
“I swear, those of your bloodline are nothing but trouble and teases, demons to plague the heart and deny it of love,” Riku sneered, pouring himself a cup of tea. “Well, where it is? Where’s my Dear John letter. I have a collection of them, you know,” he said. “Every time your brother snuck out of my bed, or left without a goodbye, a little note was left that simply had a heart with a L on it. Where is it?” he asked, holding his hand out.
Kita headed into the suite more and joined the Prince. “I do not have a note from my brother-”
“You tell him, he is dead to me,” Riku interrupted, trying to save face. “I’m done allowing him to play with my damn heart and break it whenever it fancies him because he is too terrified of commitment like the rest of you!”
“Shut up,” Kita said, causing Riku’s eyes to widened.
“Shut up?!” he asked, appalled. “You just told the future Emperor to shut up?”
“No. I just told one of my oldest friends to shut up,” Kita clarified. “You are acting like an ass.”
“The nerve,” Riku sneered.
“My brother is not ghosting you, as you call it,” Kita continued. “There was an incident and Lucien was hurt.”
The teacup slipped from Riku’s hand and shattered against the countertop, tears flooded his eyes, and he was suddenly weak in the knees.
“What happened?” he asked, wiping away the tear that rolled down his cheek.
Kita shook his head. “I do not know, exactly. Lucien was doing recon and the unit he was gaining entry to was rigged to blow-”
“Was it on the job for your Korean?” Riku sneered.
Kita bit his tongue.
“I told you that girl was bad luck!” he shouted. “If she is responsible for Lucien’s injuries, there will be no saving her from my wrath.”
“She is under the protection of the Imperial Family,” Kita reminded him. “Your family. The Emperor has blessed our union and welcomed her into the family as his niece through the heart. Touching her will only end in your death, whether it be at my hands or your father’s handed down order, the result is the same. Lucien was trying to protect Seon Rain and Pan Jin, in the process he nearly died. Where the explosives came from is of concern, because there is no way the stalker we seek has those types of connections.”
Riku shook his head. “Always the Guard, never the brother,” he said, disappointedly.
Kita gave him a look. “Forever will I be a Guard to those in my heart, you are included in that, so do not make me chose between my wife and my brother’s heart. Do you understand?”
Riku’s eyes widened.
“Get cleaned up and presentable, possibly pack a bag if you like, and join your father and my parents at the hospital,” Kita said. “You are on the approved list, NIS Agents are there to maintain security as are your father’s guards… In case you were curious as to why your father sent you and your sister on a business venture for him in Seoul.”
“Father knew before I did?!” Riku shrieked. “What… That’s… Ugh! I hate you all sometimes,” he complained, throwing his hands in the air in frustration before hurrying from the room to get cleaned up.
Haruto joined Kita. “How is Lucien?”
Kita shook his head. “Not well,” he eventually said. “Multiple breaks, internal injuries, in an induced coma, died more than once en route to the hospital and on the operating table, and is lucky to even be alive at the moment. William’s medical people are using a few experimental means to aid in his recovery. I do not agree with it, but our parents did.”
He nodded. “Did you truly marry your charge?”
“I did,” Kita said, keeping his voice down. “No longer is she my client. It is a family curse to fall for those we are commissioned with protecting or killing, it appears… Where is Princess Suiko?” he asked, just noticing she hadn’t made her annoying presence known.
Haruto patted him on the back. “You lucked out. You just missed them. The Princess and her annoying pet went for a swim,” he said.
Kita’s eyes widened. “No!” he gasped then turned and hurried from the suite and ran down the hall towards the security elevators. “Security to Vann!” he shouted at the posted guards as they got the elevator for him.
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