Marks of the New Era

Chapter 5.3

None of them knew about this, nor would they remember if they did, but Tai was aware that none of them shares blood with him, but there is a reason Tai, his father, and Takevu's mother hide it from them.

Not only is the council very harsh with any heir with a facial scar or that doesn't meet their requirements, but any member of the succession line that isn't biologically related to the king or queen is considered illegitimate and shouldn't be able to access any type of position, much less the throne.

The actual queen had been trying for years to change this norm, but the council is extremely firm with their rules and beliefs and the queen isn't the type of person to appeal to violence if something doesn't go her way, she always tries to negotiate, but it doesn't always work.

Why was she so focused on changing the previously mentioned norm? First of all, she is conscious that life is unpredictable, the moment in which there would no longer be biological heirs could come when they least expect it, and if in that situation there are only adopted heirs, who was going to rule?

But also because she knew the secret of the three siblings, and she wanted to protect them, even if they weren't her children.

With her being unconscious though, that was a little difficult.

Tai still had the envelope the previous queen gave him before her death, during the war, while going through the multiple papers he had to check every day, he ended up founding said envelope between the mountain of work.

He was so focused on being the emotional pillar to his siblings that he totally forgot about it, even if he already knew the general content of the envelope, he never had the change to read it.

When he did, he found not only a letter written by the queen that explained the relation between all of them but also three certificates and one document more that proved what was written as truth.

He considered telling them about it but it quickly turned out to be a horrible idea, not because he thought their relationship could fall apart, he knew that nothing would change their bond, but if the council found out, his siblings would be in great danger and that was something that he couldn't allow.

But then he forgot to hide the letter instead of leaving it out in his desk.

Takevu came inside his office while Tai was training his army, not to eavesdrop but rather because Tai had some documents that they all needed to firm and then pass towards the council.

While going through all the piles of paper amounted on his desk she found a letter, something a little weird since they barely got mail, but what caught her attention was that the calligraphy was very similar to her mother's, so she decided to see what was written on it.

Not knowing its content revealed something she never imagined.

There was a little note which explained that not only she wasn't related to Tai but also that both Hiroshi and Haru were adopted and to corroborate the info, along the note there were four documents, three of them were adoption papers and the fourth one was a testament that the late king wrote himself, in it declared that Takevu, Hiroshi and Haru had the same right to rule as Tai, even if they weren't his biological children.

Takevu didn't know what to think, on one hand she was extremely moved by the fact that the king loved them so much he gave them something as big as a right to the throne and it was obvious that Tai, and even Safiya, treated them as if they were their own blood.

But why did Tai hide it from them?, they all knew his habit of keeping things for himself, but they also knew that he always had a powerful reason for hiding.

The letter was definitely old, surely a decade old, and it was already open so Tai must have read it, but why keep it a secret?

"What's taking you so long sister?" Both Hiroshi and Haru went to check on Takevu, who had spent 15 minutes inside the office.

"Guys, you need to read this" She handed them the letter and documents.

The reactions of the younger siblings were the same as her, they were all wondering the reason behind the secret.

"Hello everyone, what are you doing here?" The twins were coming back from training.

"Tai" The siblings looked at him "What's this?" They showed him the letter.

His eyes widened and his body tensed as soon as he saw what they were referring to, he was feeling it creep on him again, he wished he could run somewhere alone before it consumed him, but he just couldn't move and before he knew it, his breathing and heartbeat started becoming extremely irregular.

"B-Brother" Safiya gave him a worried look, she seemed to know what was going on "Concentrate on breathing"

"N-No" He started violently shaking and felt tears falling down as panic consumed him "Nobody has to know!"

"Tai, what do you mean?" His siblings had seen him having panic attacks before but never this bad.

"T-The council can't know" They didn't know if he was talking to them or to himself "T-They'll exile you, t-that can't happen"

"I-I'm sorry*sob* I-I just wanted to protect you"

He fell down on his knees trying to regain his breath, Safiya immediately followed him while trying to comfort him.