III - SWORD OF THE BRAVE // Doraemon Fanfic

19 - THE DRAGON

"What the hell were you doing while they escaped, you piece of shit?" One of the generals named General Spider said.

Kiyoshi was kneeling down before all of the generals with his forehead touching the ground. He knew it was his fault indeed.

It was his carelessness that let the two of them slip out of their grasps.

"I'm sorry for my inexcusable carelessness."

Getting further enraged by those words and the sincerity in his voice, General Jumbosu walked up to him and stomped his foot on Kiyoshi's head, ruthlessly pressing his face into the ground.

"You should be ashamed of even being associated with his Highness. I knew the moment he picked you up and took you in that you would be his downfall one day."

Kiyoshi flinched on hearing that. He bit his lip, not knowing whether from anger at the generals or hatred towards himself.

"I hope his Highness finally sees how much of a risk your worthless existence is to him and gets rid of you this time."

"Precisely. The way I see it, you should've been reduced to nothing but ash in Emperor's own hands long ago."

He could barely think of what was expected to come once Odorome came to him, after learning about the escape.

Death was inevitable this time.

Instead, he could think of only one thing.

He disappointed him.

The only man to ever treat him as somebody, somebody worth it, was going to be utterly disappointed.

He had let down the only man who ever trusted him, who ever put his faith in him.

How am I ever going to live it down?

"What's happening here?"

All the generals retreated from the boy prostrating on the ground.

Kiyoshi's heart dropped as his stomach started churning violently inside.

It was his voice.

It was Father.

He sat up, not meeting his eyes, and tightly clasped his stomach. It was too much.

"He was the one in charge of the prisoners, your Highness. They are gone because of his negligence. A careless act such as this must not go unpunished."

The generals were not going to let go of the golden opportunity. They had been waiting to get their revenge on the boy for years.

The negative feelings emerged from deep rooted jealousy for a long time.
They had been serving the Emperor for decades before Kiyoshi showed but the instant he showed up, he took away the favourite spot in his Highness' heart.

The Emperor never openly declared it but everyone could see it... how he preferred and trusted Kiyoshi more than any of his servants in the room.

In a deep, serious voice, Odorome replied, "That is up to me, General Spider. You don't have to speak anything."

The more he spoke, the more it affected Kiyoshi.

The room fell completely silent.

Kiyoshi heard footsteps approaching him. With every tap, his heart rate sped up.

"Kiyoshi~"
Odorome's voice came out as a low, gruff whisper.

That was the last straw.

Kiyoshi's body shook as tears streamed down his face. He held on to his chest in order to calm himself but that didn't help even a bit.