Drakkon

Chapter Nineteen

I blinked back at him, staring blankly. Meilin had taken a short nap yesterday night and hadn't returned to bed, but then again, ever since I came to the base, I was sleeping alone on the bed, no trace of Meilin in sight. In fact, I had only seen him take two naps during my stay.

Was Meilin honestly not resting at all?

He sighed loudly when he saw my expression. Raking a hand through his hair, he glowered at his lap. "He always does that. Overworks himself and doesn't care that he has us all worried. Did you know that at one point during the war to win the throne, he hadn't slept for four days and he almost fell asleep on the battle field? How much more of an idiot can he be?" Fang rubbed the side of his face. "He needs to sleep and he needs to take care of himself. Bohai and I sometimes aren't able to tell him and force him since we're also so busy, but . . . I was wondering if you could try to take care of him."

I bit my lower lip. Although I wanted to help Fang and Bohai, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to control Meilin like that and force him to do something. From what I knew of Meilin, no one could force him to do something he didn't want to do.

"He works too hard and he doesn't care about his wellbeing," he continued. "He needs to sleep and eat properly. Speaking of eating, has he been eating? Sometimes he forgets that too."

"He sounds like a child," I mused.

"He is," he said with a huff. "He's so dumb."

I couldn't help but laugh softly. "I can't make any promises, but I will see what I can do. I'll ask him right now if he wants to spend time with me."

"Will you really?" He gave me the first smile I had ever seen on him, surprising me with how charming he looked when he wasn't scowling. "Thank you. Bohai and I would very much appreciate that."

"You three are very close," I noted as I returned the grin.

He didn't say anything to that and only bobbed his head.

What was it about Meilin that caused his men to love him and respect him so much? How could they look past his rage and cruelty? After all, I also needed to look past all of that if I was going to spend the rest of my life with him peacefully. My problem was figuring out how to handle all of him—the good and the bad.

As I walked down the halls and past soldiers, who bowed and showed respect, I couldn't help but tingle in anxiety at the thought of disturbing Meilin at whatever he was doing. He clearly wouldn't be pleased at me bursting through and asking for his time.

"Excuse me," I said to one of the soldiers that was jerkily marching about.

He halted in his tracks and gave me a low bow. "My lady."

"Do you know where the emperor is?" I asked him.

"He is his office, I believe," the man said.

"Can you take me there?"

"Certainly." The soldier walked down one of the halls and led me around and up a flight of stairs before he reached a door and bowed down.

"Thank you."

With that, he left, and I was alone to face Meilin and whoever was with him. Hesitating by the door and rethinking my choice to see him, I was about to turn and scamper away, but remembering Fang's smiling face when I told him I would take care of Meilin stopped me from doing that. Breathing in through my nose and rallying all my courage, I lifted my fist and knocked on the door. A few moments later and I heard an annoyed reply to enter.