There is a knife twisting in his gut as he washes his hands and draws back his hair. Kouen ties a covering over his mouth, as the doctors and mages advised him to do. He's in a delicate state, they warned. We need to take every precaution possible.
Kouen has seen death. He's been on the battlefield since his tenth birthday; his present was a sword and an order to fight, and he'd used both to their fullest extent. He knows well the adrenaline of watching a man die by your own hands, and the horror of watching someone wither away when their wounds leave nothing to do but wait.
Hakuren was the only man he knew who was brave enough to sit with men who wither.
Kouen swallows thickly before sliding open the door and then quietly shutting it behind himself. The room is silent save for the shallow, raspy breathing of the youngest prince of Kou. He quietly crosses to Hakuryuu's bedside and sits beside him, taking a single, tiny hand in both of his. He feels like there are words he should say; Hakuren always had stories and jokes to make this time easier.
"Hakuryuu..." he starts, but it feels hollow with the way it echoes around the empty room. He clenches the tiny hand and sits.
He shouldn't have left Rakushou, not with the way Hakuren had been whispering about a coup. Astaroth is a djinn of flame. A blazing building is nothing compared to the power of a djinn. He could have stopped this, he could have saved everyone-
Hakuryuu coughs weakly in sleep, and the pitiful noise inspires Kouen to continue.
"Hakuryuu. I'm sorry." Kouen's voice is tight, and he hates how unsure it sounds. "To you. And your sister. To everyone." He lowers his head, until his forehead brushes Hakuryuu's tiny fingers. "I could have stopped this, but instead I simply followed orders. If I had just-" he chokes up again. There are too many words to be said. Kouen breathes deep so he can force them out- each word a terse, hard, bitter lump. "Never again. I will find out what your brothers knew, and I will protect you and Hakuei from the darkness that is creeping over our family." Kouen looks up and stares at his tiny, bandaged cousin. No, not cousin- they're brothers now. His heart twists. "You will never have to face this alone, Hakuryuu. I will protect you from this. So do your duty and live." He releases Hakuryuu's hand and gets up, unable to stare at his helpless brother any longer. "It's what Hakuyuu and Hakuren would have wanted for you."
His own father no doubt has a hand in this treachery, and who knows how many other people are involved. But Kouen will prevail. He will unite Kou, and all the world. No man, Hakuyuu had told him, is greater than another. The Emperor's blood is as much Kouen's as it was Hakuyuu's.
And he will see its will carried out.
Imperator is a Latin word originally equivalent to general or commander. The word later evolved into the title of Emperor.