As the sun set, the ship entered the harbor.
The carrier pigeons had been sent out yesterday. The princess was met by a small group from the imperial retinue of guards and a small army of regular soldiers from the capital's security service, along with a palanquin for the imperial personage. Azula, hidden behind the palanquin's curtains, headed for the palace, while the capital's services attended to the rest of her crew.
The naive people thought they would be let go just like that, but no. Each member of the crew still had to undergo a series of many interrogations. However, I insisted that the maids not be interrogated. With Zula's help, this was easy to achieve. I didn't care about the other servicemen, just as Azula didn't, perhaps the investigation will dig up something for exile to the colonies for the undesirable. Who knows what secrets the military hides, maybe there will be something serious there. In short, the arrival of the princess's ship gave someone a lot of work for the evening.
We arrived at the palace with Zula late at night. Silence greeted us, along with servants and a small detachment of palace guards. Everyone was waiting for the princess's arrival, lining up as if for a parade, welcoming Azula. True, there were too few welcomers themselves. It was strange and rather modest, even very modest. I was preparing for a different reception for the princess, who had almost died on the way back. Even the girl's father was nowhere to be seen.
"Was I the only one expecting a more cordial welcome? A parade there? A meeting with father and a crowd of people bowing, greeting the imperial personage? A celebration?" — my words remained unanswered, the princess merely raised an eyebrow in a silent question, giving me a very eloquent look.
I immediately felt not particularly intelligent. And why did I assume that there should be a parade upon the return of the heir? Meanwhile, after surveying the welcoming party, Azula headed to her wing of the palace.
Having sat in the palanquin all the way from the port to the capital's palace, Azula was able to be alone only in her room sometime around midnight. The princess could have slept on the ship, but she was in a hurry to get home, so a couple of orders, and a few hours later, she was in her chambers, having her second late supper after visiting the hot springs. The maids had to work with the cooks, but they did an excellent job, carrying food to Azula's chambers. It wasn't for nothing that I vouched for the girls in Zula's eyes.
The subordinates didn't even say a word about how much the princess, forgive me for saying it, eats. Azula ate for at least three people and still asked for more. Of course, I know that this was necessary for the body's recovery. Due to my actions, the girl developed an accelerated metabolism. It looked very funny from the outside, especially to the cooks who prepared the food and the maids who carried it. And what eyes they had. When I first noticed their glances, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Fortunately, only the princess could still hear me. Yes, eating so much and not gaining weight is a great achievement in the eyes of any girl.
"Finally, we're alone. Do you have the strength for a little talk?" — I ask, as soon as Azula collapsed on her bed after a hearty meal, when she was completely alone in her apartments. Her cabin on the ship was good, but her room in the palace was much better. I quickly noted what feelings Zula experienced upon returning to her home. True, not all of these feelings were positive.
— We are already talking, but fine, you can continue, — the girl calmly replies, without raising her voice.
At the same time, she gets up from her couch, starting to undress without any embarrassment, removing her armor and other clothing. Having regained acceptable mobility, allowing her to bathe, eat, and do other things independently, she no longer wished to accept my help, trying to do absolutely everything herself. Nevertheless, I have already accumulated enough teasing and pleasant memories that warm my heart.
"Shall we talk about… sadness?" — I decide to discuss the feelings that are tormenting her.
— What? Why? — the princess is a little surprised, not stopping undressing.
"I see it, Zula, I see everything," — I continue to insist on my point. We meet eyes. With a heavy sigh, she looks away.
— He has a lot of work to do! He is the Fire Lord and only then my father! And the message sent by the servants about tomorrow's meeting is already more than nothing, — the girl replies with emotion, having expected a somewhat different reception from her own father. A completely different reception.
"Quiet, you'll scare the patrol. I know that, just as I know that you wanted much more than a few dry words delivered through servants. Especially considering your wounds, about which he was surely informed. Zula. We both know that he loves you tens of times less than you love him," — I step onto thin ice of her worldview, trying once again to make the girl face the truth.
— He simply didn't have time! Surely he was busy with something incredibly important for the whole country. He loves me! — it's useless, words won't help here. But I can't stop trying, her boundlessly blind feelings for her father will only ruin her.
"More important than the health of the country's heir? If you died, it would be a blow to all the fire people! Zula, you are not an empty space, let alone a subordinate, you are his heir! You are as important to your people as your father, because the time will come, and you will take his place! His behavior suggests that he does not see you as a daughter, but only as…" — but here the girl's cold words stop me in time.
— I've lost the desire to talk to you about this, — Azula replied coldly, shedding the last elements of clothing. Naked, she walks to the wardrobe where the nightgowns were kept. She opens the doors, choosing one of the robes that looked almost identical.
"You know, I can look into his memories while he sleeps. You just have to ask," — I try to approach from another angle.
— No, don't do that, — still not paying attention to her nakedness, she throws on a robe, depriving me of the pleasure of seeing her outstanding figure. Heh, the girl quickly got used to me seeing her naked. Joint baths and other things we did together are noticeable.
"Are you sure? I can find out a lot; he won't be able to hide anything from me."
— My answer won't change, — it means it's not time yet. It's a pity that I don't have much time myself.
"As you say. In that case, I would like to discuss our next steps. We need a ship, a crew, freedom of action, movement around the country and colonies of your people…" — before going to sleep, we discussed our further actions again.
Our next step strongly depended on Ozai's words and his orders to his daughter. The Fire Lord is, after all, the emperor of the entire country. Disobedience is impossible. Tomorrow the girl has a meeting with him. Azula even felt a slight unease about this. She had never appeared before her father in such a sorry state and had begged to be healed before this moment. However, I immediately told her that I would not have time to heal all the wounds in such a short period.
After discussing plans for the future, Zula said in her usual quiet voice: — Good night, Yoaru.
"Sleep well, Azula, I will continue to heal your wounds. And one more thing, if I suddenly disappear for a short while, don't worry about me. I will never leave you," — remembering that besides healing the princess, I had other plans for the night.
— Disappear? — the girl was surprised by such an unexpected statement, giving me a bewildered look. No, she's not worried, but rather, she's strongly surprised.
"Yes, sometimes I also need to be alone, to enjoy nature, the starry sky, the caressing wind, and I also want to visit the spirit world and check something. So don't worry about my disappearance; if I disappear, I will definitely return," — I continue to speak, watching the girl's reaction.
— All right… — the princess calmly replies. But I knew her too well. She was somewhat bewildered by this news from me.
— Good night, Zula, — after which I gently kiss her forehead. I had no body, so the princess only felt a slight coolness from the touch of my lips. Then, yielding to my will, she falls asleep without any resistance, allowing me to enter her body and get to work…
After spending a little over two hours on her treatment, I went about my business in the palace corridors. It's not that I was careless about Azula. It's just that the regeneration resource limit was exhausted, and forced treatment would do her more harm than good. For the next session, the girl will need to have a good meal again. I managed to figure this out during the time spent, as well as to hone my skills in this method of treatment.
Simultaneously with the treatment, I charged myself with energy from the girl and was ready for new achievements. This was a kind of payment for my work. From the alliance with the princess, I usually gain benefits, often much greater than she does. Of course, the girl knows this and doesn't object, as for her it's a drop in the ocean, while for me it's a substitute for sound sleep with full recovery of strength and even a little more.
Leaving the princess's chambers, I decided to linger in the palace for a bit. After all, I can always go about my business later; right now, I wanted to satisfy my curiosity. Specifically, to get to know the girl's father better. There were times when I considered him as my future body. Only now do I understand how mistaken that idea was. What happened to me after absorbing Azula's energy and memories… it's terrifying to imagine how I would have changed under Ozai's influence. His personality is fully formed and has much more knowledge and memories, and as a consequence, would have had a much stronger effect on me.
Now I have to be very careful about my thoughts and actions, so as not to simply lose control. After all, one time was enough for me to understand how dangerous I can be. Even without bodily hormones, I sometimes have thoughts of studying clinical death to obtain a "clean" body. To orchestrate a few such cases with young guards, one of whose corpses I might be able to claim from the owner's personality. And I might be able to resurrect him after a few minutes of death; the main thing is that the soul and personality disappear. However, human experiments would provide more information.
Such thoughts frightened me. I had to make a lot of effort to remain myself, sacrificing my goals for the sake of conscience. After all, with my mind, I perfectly understood the effectiveness of such methods and their necessity at certain moments. However, what would I become if I went down this path? Someone like Azula? Or someone more terrible and dreadful than even her father.
Lost in such reflections, I quickly found myself in Ozai's private chambers, where he was sleeping soundly. Taking over his body was no more difficult than taking over the body of any other fire mage. But I was in no hurry to kill him. I needed him. Instead of any actions with his body, I intensified the man's sleep, and began to review his memories…
After a few hours, I finished with him. Barely restraining myself from killing this sack of flesh and shit on the spot, I flew into the sky. I needed to calm down urgently. An overly strong desire to kill arose in me. All the terrible things humanity has ever conceived, this man committed with a slight smile on his lips. A worthy heir of a people who committed genocide against peaceful pacifists. Traitor, murderer, manipulator, unconscionable bastard, liar… this is the least I managed to see in his memory.
It all started with early memories. His reaction to his daughter's state was none. Absolutely none, he merely raised an eyebrow, feeling nothing from the message he read. For him, Azula was just a tool and another achievement of a brilliant ruler. He never perceived her as a daughter or an heir, only as a tool. Then I became interested in his politics. Thanks to my experience, I quickly found the moment he became the Fire Lord. Details were revealed to me that would never be shown in a children's cartoon. The dirtiest details.
Threats to relatives, blackmail, intimidation… Ozai spared no measures to achieve his goals. If a person has a weakness, he will strike at it, no matter what it is. A pet, a wife, children, status, reputation… those he disliked did what he needed, and then disappeared, as did their murderers. The dead reveal no secrets. The man had immense self-esteem and never doubted, believing that every action of his was inherently correct. He was even willing to sacrifice his own son for power. Not feeling compassion for anyone, he was a true monster in human form.
Even though he managed to convince the entire nation of his impeccable leadership qualities, it was a lie actively promoted by propaganda in schools, the army, and elsewhere. He was a terrible ruler. No progress, no improvement in life, nothing. He hadn't yet managed to destroy his father's legacy. Although credit must be given, he held absolute power, and no one dared to contradict him. It's just a shame that he only used it to satisfy his own pride; Ozai always enjoyed the feelings of fear towards him. New lands were conquered by his generals; he had enough intelligence not to interfere with his "tactical genius" in the proposed plans. And he was not interested in what happened in those lands after the Fire Lord's conquest. Although he knew that in some places, prisoners were tortured in very sophisticated ways. So much so that entire prisons later disappeared without a trace. In such cases, it was believed that all the blame lay with the spirits. Or sea serpents.
In the six years of his reign, all he did was sit in the palace, drink wine, and eat grouse. As a magical duelist, he was quite a bastard, and often before a duel with a strong opponent, there would be threats to his family, or even poisoning followed by disappearance. Although he was a very strong master of fire and lightning, he would not engage in a fight with an equal opponent, or at least one capable of wounding him, without adequate insurance. I didn't want to know more about this.
The last straw for me was fear. Or rather, not simple fear. Ozai was afraid of his daughter—Azula. By his own example, he saw how the younger generation displaces the elder, adding poison to a glass of wine. His daughter had indeed inherited too much from him. And he had no doubt that the time would come when she would poison him just as he had poisoned his father.
His fear was not in vain; I managed to compare their Qi while in his body. Azula is already potentially stronger than her father. Qi channels, reservoirs, quality, a strong body that only grows stronger over time. Not to mention the experience of fighting stronger opponents or those who outnumbered her. The princess had everything to take his throne right now.
Only her exceptional loyalty to him and the fact that she was a woman and not yet very experienced in high politics saved her. However, the genius girl learns too quickly. At the same time, Ozai kept his hand on the pulse and was ready to finish her off at any moment without any regret. He was still young and full of strength, so if necessary, he would easily marry a second time and have proper heirs. And Azula… she needed her father's approval too much to notice all this.
Seeing all this, I literally felt like I was swimming in a vat of shit. The personality of the current Fire Lord was extremely lousy. Even the faint sensation of a cool breeze did not lessen my desire to torment this bastard to death. And no, it wasn't just the part I got from Azula; my entire being demanded his death! I barely restrained myself from returning and causing trouble. Ozai was needed alive now, but oh, how hard it was to control myself, to avoid turning him into a vegetable. Just a slight spinal injury, a small detail. One needle, one trocar, and the ambitious man would turn into a cripple, unable to even move. Such a punishment seemed quite deserved in my opinion.
With an effort of will, I banish these thoughts. There is still time until dawn; I must spend it wisely.