Yibo's POV:

After ending one of the most beautiful days of my life, what awaited me was a summons from the emperor.

It must be important if the summons came at this time of the night. I quickly put on my uniform and walked out with Adrian.

I said, "Do you have any idea what the issue could be about?"

Adrian walked beside me, matching my pace, "All I know is that it is about the Aberdeen family. The heir of the Aberdeen family, Nathan Aberdeen, was the one who requested the emperor's assistance."

Nathan Aberdeen—the current head of the Aberdeen family. The Aberdeen family was a powerful merchant family who had established themselves in the kingdom as one of the richest business families. They contributed a lot towards the economy and treasury of the kingdom. One of the emperor's wives was the daughter of the Aberdeen family.

For some reason, I did not have a good feeling about this.

Once we reached the palace, I went straight to the emperor and bowed before him.

"You summoned me, Your Majesty."

"Yes, my dear. Please get up," he said, and then continued, "You see, my friend Nathan here has been wronged, and as a good friend, it is my duty to help him."

I nodded and glanced at Nathan, who was looking visibly pissed. Nathan was an old man, around fifty years old. He had a tall stature but a poor posture.

I looked back at the emperor and said, "What is it, Your Majesty?"

"You see, my friend here, Nathan, was set to marry Hazel Hargreve. But before the wedding could happen, a rebel kidnapped her and took her away.

We want you to bring her back safely and kill the rebel and all his accomplices in the process."

I nodded.

Hazel Hargreve was the daughter of the Hargreve family. The Hargreve family was another powerful merchant family, nearly as strong as the Aberdeen family. They manufactured ships and weapons. However, despite being powerful, they were not as close to the emperor as the Aberdeen family was.

Two powerful merchant families were involved in this mess—no wonder the emperor had called me.

"The rebel is someone you once knew, someone who was once a person we trusted. His name is Azarael Calloway."

~~

Riven's POV:

"What?!" I said, placing a hand on my forehead. "What the hell is wrong with Azarael?"

Prince Darius spoke, "It's not his fault. Azarael and Hazel have been in love with each other for a long time, and it was Nathan Aberdeen—a fifty-year-old man—who wanted to marry a girl his daughter's age.

Hazel did not want to marry him, and even her family didn't want that, but they couldn't go openly against the Aberdeen family. It was chaos. In the end, Nathan used the emperor to pressure them into the marriage, and their work was also suffering.

Hazel tried to kill herself. Azarael could not bear his lover's suffering and had to do something to rescue her, so he ran away with her!"

I closed my eyes and sighed. The prince was right. I would have done the same thing.

My brother spoke, "What matters is that we need to find Azarael and save him, because if they find him, they are going to torture him and kill him."

Prince Darius sighed and looked at me with worry, "The emperor has called Yibo. He will probably ask Yibo to go after Azarael."

My heart sank when I heard that.

Yibo.

He would be in danger. Azarael might kill him—or he might kill Azarael. And if he does that, then all the rebel soldiers and most of our allies would want him dead, since Azarael is well respected and loved. Even Prince Darius won't be able to help me then.

I quickly grabbed my sword and said, "Then we have to find Azarael before Yibo does."