"So that is what happened."  Lihua finished telling Takeshi about what happened in the forest.  

"We'll see if Nao will send word or not of her missing."  Takeshi said as he draws circles on her back.  

"Who are those red ladies?"  

"They are called Red Maidens.  They're an assassin organization made up of women."  Takeshi tells her.  

"Red Maidens.  Sounds terrifying."  

"They really are actually terrifying."  Takeshi said.  "They're considered to be in the top 5 best assassin squads out there."  

"Too bad, I'm going to hunt them down and destroy them."  Lihua said as her finger lazily drew circles on his chest.  

"Really?"  

"Now that my lions have their scent as long as I'm within 300 feet of them, I can locate them and kill them."  Lihua tells Takeshi. 

"How is this possible?"  

 "They all carry the same poison in their body." Lihua tells them.  "They carry the Purple Hazing Poison in their teeth.  Its a quick releasing poison that kills them instantly when broken.  My lions caught the scent of the poison and can now identify it as long as they can smell it within a 300 feet radius."  

"Have fun hunting."  Takeshi tells her.  "I should tell my guards about the poison in the mouth of the prisoner."  

Takeshi rolls out of bed and pulls on a robe before cracking the door open enough for his head to fit through and told the guard about the poison.  

"Its on the right side."  Lihua yells.  "The bottom right side of the teeth, should be on the second or third teeth to the back."  

Takeshi looks at Lihua then back to the guard.  "Got that?"  

"Yes, Master Shiro." 

"Good. Quickly tell them before the paralyzing poison stops working."  

Takeshi closes the door again before taking the robe off to come back to bed.  

"A husband has to keep his promises."  Takeshi said as he jumps on top of her causing her to laugh and scream at the same time.  

"You fiend!"  Lihua said between gasps and laughter. 

"You vixen!"  Takeshi said as he bit her neck.  

--------------

That night, the royal guard had been sent to request Takeshi to come to the royal palace at once.  Lihua quickly threw on her white clothes and helped Eli and the other servants wash and dress Takeshi as quickly as possible.  

Instead of being dressed in full court robes, he instead dressed in a plain royal blue robe with silver plum blossoms. Once fully dressed, he kisses Lihua on the lips before leaving.  

"Stay inside."  Takeshi orders her.  "Stay safe."  

"Okay."  Lihua answered.  "You stay safe as well." 

Takeshi slightly smiles at her before turning around and leaving.  The moment he steps outside, his smile disappears and his cold hard mask appears.  

---------

At the palace, King Nao have been walking around his study for the past half hour waiting for his brother to show up.  He didn't know how to tell Takeshi of the news. He, himself didn't know how Akira escaped. Nothing in her bedroom has been touched and nothing was missing.  

"Brother."  King Nao said as Takeshi bowed to him. "Please rise."  

Takeshi straightens up and could see the worry on his face. "What's wrong?  Did something happen?"  

King Nao looks at Takeshi's concern face and a part of him sighs in relief that there's a possibility that he wasn't behind her disappearance.  

"Sit.  We have to talk."  King Nao said.  

"You're scaring me here, King Brother, please just quickly say what you called me here for."  Takeshi said as he took a step forward. "Did something happen with the government?  Are we going to war?"  

"No, no, no."  King Nao quickly answered. "Nothing like that.  It's just that Lady Akira is missing." 

King Nao watched Takeshi as confusion came washed over his face.  

"Missing? What do you mean missing?"  Takeshi asks. "Isn't your Back Palace heavily guarded?" 

"It is.  Nobody's seen anything."  King Nao said.  "Or so they say.  The investigation is still happening as we speak.  I...I just thought you wanted to know."  

"That she's missing?" Takeshi said.  "King Brother, may I speak freely?"  

"Of course."  King Nao said as he sat on the corner or his desk.  

"I thank you for thinking that you had to let me know that she's missing, but I don't care enough about her to care that she is missing.  I know what I'm about to say will hurt you in some ways because you do care and love her, but I don't care what happens to her.  The only people I care about in this world is you, my brother Nao and my wife, Lihua.  The two of you are my bottom line.  The only reason I would care about this, is because it involves your safety.  How could someone come into the palace and leave without getting seen or caught?" Takeshi said as he held his brother's shoulder and squeezed it gently.  

"That's the exact same question I asked my guards."  King Nao said.  His heart finally settling down to accept that Takeshi didn't have a hand at helping Akira disappear from the Back Palace.  "Right now my Shadow Guards are asking each attendant and servant working at the palace about their whereabouts and to provide three witnesses.  It will take days to uncover the mole, but he or she will be found." 

"Do you need any help from me, King Brother?"  Takeshi asks.  

"No, I have my Shadow Guards doing all the investigating."  King Nao told him.  "I don't want word getting out to the public."  

"Of course." Takeshi said.  "Have you sent someone to watch the Chen Manor?"  

"No, not yet."  King Nao said.  "I totally forgot that it might be the first place she will go back to."  

"Would you like me to send some of my Devil's Soldiers there to keep watch while you and your Shadow Guards concentrate on finding the mole living in the palace. I'll send word right away should we find something."  Takeshi tells him.  

King Nao sighed heavily.  His Shadow Guards were already spread so thin, questioning everyone in the Back Palace, investigating any leads and guarding him.  He would have liked it better if he could take care of it all by himself, but with everything going on, he couldn't spare someone to watch the Chen Estate. 

"Thank you brother."  King Nao said as he gently slapped his hand on Takeshi's shoulder. "You are the only person I can truly lean on."  

"There isn't a need to say 'thank you' between family."  Takeshi said as he stood up straighter.  "I will leave first, so I can give out orders to my Devil's Soldiers.  Please stay safe, King Brother."  

"I will."  King Nao said as he watches Takeshi leave.  Once the door closes, a Shadow Guard appears behind him.  "Report."  

"It appears that Shiro Estate was under attack this morning."  The Shadow Guard began.  "I couldn't get close enough to see what happened exactly, but at 4:30 AM a green poisonous mist came down from the sky and covered the new blossom tree forest King Takeshi planted for Lady Lihua.  At 4:40 AM, the estate went into lock down and searched for the intruder.  The location was quickly found by Lady Lihua and some guards, by at 5 AM King Takeshi went into the blossom tree forest, created a tornado and sent the poison gases outside of the city.  When he came back out of the forest with Lady Lihua and the guards, they carried with them a body wrapped up in a blanket and brought it in their dungeon.  He then stayed with Lady Lihua until the afternoon. Afterwards he had words with his Captain of the guards about how the intruder was able to infiltrate his home without an alarm.  They talked for six hours and security was tightened. After he spent the rest of the evening with Lady Lihua until he came here." 

"No suspicious activity?"  

"No, My King."  The Shadow Guard told him.   

"Why is it that he didn't arrive to the forest until 5 AM?  Why did Lady Lihua get there before he did?"  

The Shadow Guard did not have an answer so he stayed quiet as King Nao talked to himself.  

"Poison!"  King Nao said loudly.  "Green poisonous gas.  She was first alerted to the poison gas because she is a poison taste tester so her body must be sensitive to poison.  She must have went first to find the culprit.  She must have thought she could take care of the culprit by herself and thus wanted to prove herself to my brother.  After finding out, he must of quickly followed her and injured the person who controlled the poisonous gas. With a prisoner, they would be torturing him for information to see who he works for."  

King Nao smiled to himself feeling proud he figured things out by himself.  "Of course he would be able to capture the culprit and make him a prisoner to find out who is targeting him.  They must be the same person that targeted him eleven years ago."  

Then suddenly he felt sad. "Why haven't Takeshi told me anything about the people who took him?  Is it someone close to me?  Is that why he won't tell me?  Is that why he said that there might be a time in the future that he would do something I won't like, so he asked me for a royal pardon?"  

Thinking things through, he could not see anyone close to him betraying him or betraying his brother.  "Maybe I'm over thinking things. Maybe..."