Finding Truth

《16》

Shiro was salty during breakfast. He didn't talk to anyone and just ate. He would glare at anyone trying to talk to him. Even the king. And after that very silent breakfast, everyone was brought to the meeting room. Everyone was there except the ones who aren't part of the Èxi.

"Let's discuss, what do you want to know first, Shiro." Sanemi turned to Shiro who was still frowning. Right in front of Shiro was his little siblings and besides him were his uncles.

"What the hell was the curse that Michikatsu and the king were talking about?" He asked, glaring as Sanemi.

Sanemi nodded. He raised his hand and injured his finger with his nail and blood began to drop, but it never hit the floor, it was just suspended in the air. His blood began to glow and it was turning into a form of a small dagger. It was obsidian black with white roots in the blade and in the handle.

"This is an artifact of the demon clan," Sanemi began to explain. "Whoever's blood is drained in the roots, they will have a curse placed on them. It will activate whenever someone is using their mana and drain it. For someone with only natural mana to live, it's deadly, but for someone like your mother..."

"It's impossible for mother to die like that." Koharu said, taking the knife from his father. "This is just used for punishing the lower-classed demons, it's impossible for someone powerful to die from it."

"Then how did she die?" Shiro asked in utter confusion. He didn't know what to believe anymore.

"...you said her memory was erased, right?" Uzui raised his hand and asked. Shiro nodded, confirming his question. "Then you have a culprit. Your uncle... that high priest, no offense but I really hate that guy, he tried to kill me once, is already a suspect."

The other Èxi nodded in agreement, connecting a few dots from what Uzui said.

"But doesn't he take orders from the king?" Iguro raised his hand, adding to the discussion. "That king could be another suspect you know. And we know he'll do what he can to get what he wants."

"It is possible..." Sanemi muttered, placing his hand on his lips, thinking. "Shiro, who erased her memory?"

"...Michikatsu did..." Shiro muttered, thinking and putting up pieces of the puzzle. "But it was the king who told him to..."

"Then it's likely the king wanted her dead." Akaza added, crossing his arms.

"But why?" Shiro asked in utter confusion. Nothing was making any sense.

"It could be..." Muichiro gasped as he remembered something. "(Y/N)... our cousin was a queen candidate." The two beside him remembered as well.

"That's right! (Y/N) was supposed to be the queen!" Yuichiro exclaimed in anger.

"But Yorrichi was against it!" Koichi added. "Michikatsu thought it would be great if sister was to become the queen, but he didn't push her to be, despite having the authority..."

"So... The king wanted to get rid of (Y/N) because..." Kanae paused, her brows furrowing. "She got together with a demon, his natural enemy..."

"If so, that's quite petty of him, don't you think so?" Douma said with a chuckle, fanning himself with a golden fan. The others nodded, agreeing with what he said.

"But... that doesn't make sense..." Shiro said, rubbing his head in confusion. "He tried to kill them," He pointed to his uncles. "But why did he wait so long... he even told the masses that she died..."

"...We will need more information for that..." Sanemi said, placing his hands on the table as he glanced over to Obanai. "Can I trust you to do that?"

"Leave it to me..." Obanai answered, nodding his head. But Sanemi's gaze still lingered to him. "What else, your majesty?"

"Bring Aiko here."

═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══

Without much more to discuss, the meeting came to an end. Everyone left the room, except for the king and his children. The twins looked to be sad and melancholic, even. Shiro, on the other hand, just looked mad at his father.

"I'm going back to the human kingdom." Shiro said, not even glancing at his father. "I need to speak to my-"

"You can't go there." Sanemi cut him off with a glare. Shiro was about to ask but Sanemi raised a hand, silencing the boy. "Last night, Obanai found a spy of the human king and I told Yushiro to follow it. Right now... as we speak... back in the human kingdom, you are nothing but a failed pawn of the king."

"WHAT!? What are you talking about!?" Shiro exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table. "I'm going back!!"

"Stay here." Sanemi said calmly. "Stay here and I can tell you a way to defeat the human king."

═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══

"So that thing failed..." Muzan muttered as he read through the contents of the letter. "For him to die... much like that mother of his..." Muzan sighs as he walks over to his window, glancing over to the distance where the border would be. "Both were useless... at least..." He smirked, crumpling the paper in his hands. "At the very least, that mother of his was good for something..."

═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══

"What?!" Michikatsu stood up from his seat, letting the papers scatter to the ground. He had just gotten news from one of Muzan's spies. "Shiro... was... killed..." Michikatsu felt as if his world was destroyed right in front of him. The very few of his family left were killed. By his very own father at that.

"SHINAZUGAWA!" Michikatsu roared as he rushed out of his office and marched to the temple, the entrance to the Divine Lands. He walked over to the large arc and it activated almost immediately, sensing his bloodline.

Michikatsu entered the portal and arrived at an almost completely different world where everywhere was peaceful, green as the eye could see. Above the land was a grand temple, floating in the clouds.

"What brings you to the Divine Lands, high priest." Michikatsu stopped in his tracks as a deep voice asked him. Two people appeared right in front of him. One of them was his brother and the other one was a man with dark hair and a scar on his forehead.

"Forgive me for entering suddenly, guardian." Michikatsu bowed. "But I am here to speak to my brother, it is an urgent matter."

Himejima Gyomei. The other guardian of the Divine Lands. Being a guardian in the Divine Lands means something big as only those with power, wisdom, and heart can attain a position. Even the king can't touch them. Their orders don't come from him, it comes from the ones living in the Divine Lands.

The descendants of gods.

"I shall talk with you outside." Yoriichi said as he stood beside his brother. "Please tell Master Kagaya that I cannot join him with the rest." With a nod, Gyomei disappeared in the blink of an eye as the twins made their way to the large, golden gate and they appeared back in the outside temple. "What is it, brother?"

"Shiro... is dead."

[KAZU2]

Muzan: This year, I lost a dear comrade.

Shiro: Quit telling everyone I'm dead!

Muzan: Sometimes I can still hear his voice :'(