The Yakuza's flower

Panic & threats

Ume's POV

Next morning

I woke up slowly.

The room was warm. The blankets tangled around my legs. For the first time in a long time, my body didn't ache from tension. My eyes didn't burn. I felt... still.

But something was off.

My hand reached instinctively toward my side.

Empty.

I sat up fast.

Too fast.

The futon dipped and creaked. My heart thundered in my chest.

"Prince?"

Nothing.

I threw off the blankets.

"Prince?!"

The panic set in like a blade between the ribs.

I checked every corner of the room, flung open the closet door, looked under the futon like he might've crawled somewhere on his own—even though I knew better.

He was gone.

They took him again

I've lost him.

They lied to me.

He lied to me.

I couldn't breathe.

"No—no no no—"

I was already at the door. I yanked it open and stumbled into the hallway barefoot, adrenaline making the walls swim. My voice was hoarse, cracking, loud—

"Where's my son?!" I screamed. "Please! Someone—just give me my son!"

I was running now, frantic, crashing through the quiet halls of his house like a ghost on fire. My voice cracked, my throat raw from shouting.

"Prince! PRINCE!!"

At one point I ran into a maid that tried to say something. I shoved past her, tears streaming down my face, my vision blurring. Negative thoughts just shoving their way into my head.

He's gone.

He's gone.

They took him—

"UME!"

I froze.

His voice. Firm. Grounding.

I turned.

Hanayama.

And behind him—
a soft sound.

A familiar coo.

The maid stepped into view, holding Prince gently, bundled and yawning.

My legs gave out before I even realized I was falling, and I hit the floor with a soft thud. My arms wrapped around myself. I couldn't stop shaking.

Hanayama was there in an instant, crouched in front of me.

"He's okay," Hanayama said.

"He was fussy," he explained quickly. "You were out cold. I didn't want to wake you. I took him. That's all."

My breathing was ragged, but I couldn't stop looking at my son—he's safe.

The maid walked forward, careful, and handed him to me without a word.

I reached out with trembling hands.

And the moment I felt that tiny weight again, I broke.

I clung to prince, trying my best not to cry but I started sobbing softly. rocking back and forth on the floor. My whole body was shaking, my breath coming in harsh, broken bursts.