The Untouchable Prince | A Norenmin FanFiction

一百一十

One Hundred
Updated: March 18, 2024

Shotaro never expected this day to come.

Only four and a half months into his two-year prison sentence, he was being released, but not by any small court minister or any of his non-existent family members. He was being released by the Huang Emperor himself, whom Shotaro nearly killed once and had helped to kidnap.

He couldn't believe it. How stupidly generous this emperor was.

That first day he was put on trial, he was shockingly given a light sentence when he was supposed to have been executed in one of the most torturous ways possible, and now, not even a quarter through his sentence, he... he was going to be released? Shotaro could barely even wrap his mind around that idea. Why? Why release a monster that had tried to kill you? Why even give him a sentence as light as that of a thief? Was... was this emperor really stupid?

But, obviously, Shotaro kept that thought to himself. Especially when he was surrounded on all sides by imperial guards at least a head taller than he was. This... this excessive amount of guards was probably due to his past crimes... no one really trusted him even if the emperor gave him such a light sentence.

Ahead of them, the tall Hall of Eternal Blessings loomed over him.

Shotaro might've thought the emperor was stupid, but he never said the emperor was a weak man... he had heard all of the stories about him from the other prisoners, especially the prisoners who once worked in the emperor's Imperial Court, and honestly, even though Shotaro had seen the man in person before... that pretty face of his... it was truly... truly deceiving...

"Move it!" One of the guards behind him violently shoved him forward, and Shotaro stumbled uncomfortably, his hands locked behind him in heavy mental cuffs.

The emperor was kind, yet he was also brutal.

The Hall's front stairs seemed taller than he remembered as he was pushed up each and every one of them until he tripped and fell face first onto the concrete. Fortunately, he was pulled up by his cuffs before the concrete had made any permanent damage on his face.

Then, he watched as the guards opened the doors to the hall, and the hundreds of people sitting inside waiting for him was revealed to him. He stopped for a moment, seeing and feeling the dozens of eyes on him.

For some reason, he felt nervous. More nervous than he did during his first trial. He had accepted his death sentence back then and was fully prepared to die soon after, so he was not at all nervous, but now, even when he knew he wasn't going to die and that he was going to be set free, he felt as nervous as if he really was going to die. His heart was pounding so hard in his ears that he barely even noticed the small nudge from the guard behind him until the guard had picked him up and threw him inside.

This time, the floor did cause some damage to his face, and he could feel the slight burn on his cheek from the carpet below him. But, that feeling didn't last long when he noticed a familiar face among the crowd of ministers. That face looked at him with concern, brows furrowed as if he had witnessed something heartbreaking.

Yet, before Shotaro could even process who the face belonged to, the guards that were behind him pulled him up and forced him onto his knees.

Did these guards have to be this forceful with him?

"Bring that here."

At the sound of the emperor's voice, Shotaro looked up.

A white fabric lay on the ground in front of him, a white handkerchief that Shotaro recognized immediately. It was his handkerchief, and it had fallen out of his clothes when he was thrown into the hall.