The sound of hurried footsteps echoed down the halls of the Imperial Palace to his daughters chamber, each pressing heavier in his shoulder, it was barely audible beneath the thick silence that clung to the atmosphere.
Emperor Vanhaussen's heart beat in his chest, loud enough to drown out the distant whispers of the maids, and of the physicians. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, the weight of his cape pressing against him more heavily than it ever had before.
During the chaos inside the banquet before the smoke cleared he had heard a soft thud beside him. He never expected that the image that would welcome him as soon as everything cleared out in the unconscious body of her daughter.
He had failed to protect her.
She daughter was dying, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
