Chapter 61
Yetekelid’s hollow, sunken eyes blazed with an indescribable venom.
But it was only for show. Argana could easily tell that his pupils trembled with anxiety beneath the surface.
Argana shot at him sharply.
“Then killing only the servants is pitiful, isn’t it?”
“What did you say?”
“Don’t you hate this country, Brother? If you truly wanted revenge, you’d have struck at Abamama or the other princes’ meals directly.”
“That’s absurd.”
Yetekelid let out a hollow laugh, and Argana pressed him further.
“What’s absurd? That you hate this country enough to want to destroy it? Or that you don’t have the guts to touch Abamama or the princes’ meals yourself? I think either way, it’s true.”
No answer came.
Argana realized she had struck the core of the matter.
But what surprised her next was a fleeting trace of loneliness that passed over Yetekelid’s face.
Like a brief evening glow that rages with anger but disappears into the night, his hatred had a weakness as fragile as his own body.
Argana exhaled a frustrated sigh and turned her gaze elsewhere. On a wall slightly away from the bed draped with curtains hung a large painting.
The figure in the painting was a woman—her portrait brought by Ryuroslav Bi when Daro came.
She wore clothing unlike anything seen in Daro, staring beyond the frame with a cold, expressionless face.
Her piercing blue eyes seemed still alive, but the rest of the painting looked worn and suffocating under dust and faded colors.
Argana stared at it for a long while and said,
“Maybe it’s time to take this painting down.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. That’s the only portrait left of our mother.”
“Brother…”
“Enough. You’ve said everything and heard everything you needed. Now leave. I’m cold and in pain, I can barely move my lips.”
“So…”
“Don’t concern yourself with me, Argana.”
Brother is not the culprit, Argana thought. At least, not for this incident.
But what if he’s just waiting for the right moment?
At that moment, the outer hall began bustling with maids, eunuchs, and servants coming from the administrative office.
Yetekelid tried to speak, but a sudden cough choked his words.
Argana said,
“These are the people I summoned. They’ll clean this palace thoroughly and take care of you. If rumors spread that you’ve driven people out again, we’ll just send more, so don’t waste your energy—take care of yourself.”
“Argana, you…!”
“I’ll come again.”
With that, Argana left Hyohyo Palace as if leaving no regrets behind.
Watching dozens of people move in perfect coordination to restore the ruined palace, she looked up once more at the worn plaque above the entrance.
I’m sorry, Brother. Until I’m sure whether you’re involved in my death or not, I can’t let you die. Not like your mother, not ever.
Argana called over the new guards stationed in front of Hyohyo Palace.
“Watch everyone who comes and goes in this palace carefully. If someone unknown tries to approach, quietly bring them to me. Understood?”
“Do not worry, Your Highness.”
Even after doing all this, Argana still didn’t feel completely at ease.
It felt like some hidden plot was moving quietly around Hyohyo Palace, making her uneasy and frustrated.
Maybe it’s because this palace has ghosts.
With a sharp click of her tongue, Argana glanced at the plaque one last time before turning away.
Eight years ago
“Please! Save me! Save me, Bi Mama! Kyaaaah!”
Young Argana, passing in front of Hyohyo Palace, stopped at the sharp scream.
She didn’t need to ask what was happening.
Ryuroslav Bi was punishing a maid again.
Hyohyo Palace was always filled with screams and cries, so ominous and unsettling that everyone avoided it.
Since Prince Yetekelid was born, Ryuroslav Bi’s neuroses had worsened, and even Astrakhan Khan had stopped visiting long ago.
Argana had grown up hearing her nanny and maids insist she stay far away from Hyohyo Palace. But that day, for some reason, she felt an urge to peek inside.
I’ll just slip in and out. Who would know?
When the screams faded and only whimpering sounds drifted over the walls, Argana absentmindedly pushed open the palace door.
The latch wasn’t secured. There were no maids outside either.
Argana hurried across the empty, desolate courtyard. Feeling movement nearby, she drew the dagger at her waist.
“Who’s there?”
Rustling sounds came, and a frightened boy’s face peeked out from the corner bushes.
Pale like his mother, he looked as if he might vanish at any moment.
“I, I…”
Young Argana sighed and put away her dagger.
“Oh, it’s Brother. What are you doing here?”
“Uh, just…”
The boy was Yetekelid.
Though not much older than Argana, she had no memory of playing with him. He was just the weak older brother she rarely saw.
As Argana approached, Yetekelid flinched and tried to hide back in the bushes.
Though twelve years old, he seemed smaller and younger than nine-year-old Argana.
“What are you doing here, Brother?”
“Uh… just…”
A sickly blush rose on Yetekelid’s pale cheeks.
He fiddled with a tiny flower under the shade of the bush, replying in a timid voice.
“Mother… is angry…”
“So that’s why you’re outside?”
“Yeah.”
“Then can I play with you here too?”
Yetekelid looked up at Argana, startled.
“With me? Why…?”
“Just because.”
Argana answered casually, though her young heart raced anxiously.
She noticed a bruise turning yellow on one of his cheeks.
There were faint marks along his thin neck, still purple and fresh.
Seeing that, Argana instinctively felt she couldn’t leave Yetekelid alone. At least not for now.
Another scream echoed from inside the palace. Every time something broke, Yetekelid flinched in fear.
Argana grabbed a stick from the ground and drew letters in the dirt.
“Why don’t you go to Imperial Palace School?”
“My… mother said not to…”
“Then how do you study?”
“Just… with Mother.”
“Does Mobi teach you?”
Yetekelid nodded weakly.
Ryuroslav Bi had once been scolded harshly by the Khan for not sending Yetekelid to school. After pretending to let him go a few times, he had confined his son again once the Khan’s interest waned.
“What are you learning from Mobi? I’m curious.”
“Well, uh…”
Yetekelid picked up another stick and wrote a few symbols in the dirt that Argana could not recognize.
Argana’s eyes widened.
“What’s this?”
