The Dragon King's Substitute Bride (Morgan and Tsuneo)
Chapter 110

CHIIO

Tsuneo

I couldn't believe it. My own father, the king of the Dragon Empire, a king of the Celestial Realm, had been hiding.

Hiding from what?

"Why?" I asked, my voice filled with a mixture of confusion and anger.

My father took a deep breath, his eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and resignation.

"I... Shame, honestly."

"What?"

He didn't answer at first, as if he hadn't heard me. But then, slowly, he glanced at me, his eyes distant, unfocused. There was a sadness there, one that I hadn't seen before. It was unsettling.

I studied his face for a moment, the lines deeper than I remembered. His eyes, once so sharp and

calculating, seemed guilty.

He looked away, his gaze drifting back to the Pool. For a long moment, he said nothing, just staring into the water as if searching for answers. Finally, he spoke, his voice heavy with. something I hadn't expected-guilt.. "I dreamed of your mother."

The words hit me like a stone to the chest. It was as if I already knew what he was going to say. My mother was his phoenix, his equal in every sense. Her presence still lingered in this palace, in every room, in every corner of our lives, but I'd known when I first woke up and found out that she was considered dead that the only thing holding him on this plane was duty.

Duty did not make the heartbeat.

It was a line from a poem that he read to me often as a child. It was a poem about grief, written by an ancestor who

had simply called himself A Husband Without A Wife.

Was it you?

Yes, Tarofu said. Though it was not a poem, it was simply a journal entry. The last one I made before I left to the sacred lands and our daughter, the first golden dragon, took over.

1/4

CHO

"What do you mean?" I asked, my voice colder than I intended. "You dreamed of her?

He nodded, a faint, bitter smile pulling at his lips. was with her. In the dream, it felt so real, as if no time had passed. We were... together again. I could feel her, hear her voice. For a moment, I thought I was dead. I thought I had finally gone to her." I clenched my fists, the anger rising in me without warning. And you wanted to stay there."

It wasn't a question. I could see it in his eyes.

His silence was all the confirmation I needed.

"I did," he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. "I wanted to stay with her. It felt... peaceful. I had not remembered how... blissful it was to be with her."

I stared at him, a mix of disbelief and fear swirling in my chest. This was the man who had raised

admitting me, who had taught me to be strong, to fight for what was ours. And yet here he was, that he had wanted to abandon us all. He had never admitted it before.

"You were going to stay if given the choice."

"Yes," he said, his voice croaking. "For a dream..." His voice cracked. "I had thought I was dead until I woke up. It had felt the way you would imagine death... We were back in that meadow we met as if we had all the time in the world. There was no guilt. No grief..." He shuddered and put his head back in his hands.

"And then I woke up beside the casket. I woke up in the cavern, warm, with no knowledge of how long I had been down there, and the guilt hit me so hard I could barely breathe."

"Guilt?" I asked, approaching him. "Guilt for what?"

"For everything," he said, his voice cracking. "For Haruka's death. For the way I've failed the kingdom. The way I have failed you. For what I've allowed to happen. I've watched as my children. turn on one another... You had to kill two of your siblings, Tsuneo... I've made you my heir though you are the youngest... Of all my wrongdoings and misteps... it was the knowledge of what would have happened to you in taking my seat that hurt the most... I couldn't bear it... I couldn't bear to face you as if nothing had happened, as if all I could think of in that moment hadn't been how easy it would be to just stay there regardless of how hard it would be for you."

He shook his head. "I had never felt so inadequate as a father until that moment..."

He shook his head. "I have always taught you to face your failures, your mistakes, to try and make

2/4

CHIO

them right, and I... I was so prepared to run. To stay with her and drift into my next life... The shame for wanting to abandon you. Shame for wanting to escape, 1-

"Yet, you are here."

"Not because I wanted to be," he bit out.

"... You could have ended it."

He went still and turned slowly toward me. My eyes stinging as I looked down at him.

"I knew... I knew the moment I woke up and knew that mother was gone that... that you thought of it, that you had a million plans to make it happen... I knew that the only reason you were still here was because....

I hesitated and looked to the pool.

"Because your heir was unconscious," I clenched my fists. "You should feel no shame, father. It is I who should be ashamed." I looked up. "I pretended for years to be unconscious to keep you here."

His eyes widened as I looked back at him.

"You were... all that time?"

"I was in a coma for a few months. Doctor Shang helped me. At first it was to figure out who was behind it, and sometimes it was a matter of safety because of the curse, but I could have gotten up and helped you run the kingdom. I could have told you, but I knew that those plans... any one of them would always be at the front of your mind if I did, so I didn't." I swallowed. "I had to ensure that you had a reason to keep living because I could not take your place."

"Tsuneo...

"We both lost her that day, and I knew that I would just lose you, too if I didn't, so I did." I closed my eyes. "I had... hoped that the five years would be enough, but I saw the thoughts in your eyes as soon as you saw me awake, alive, with Morgan on my arm. If it had not been for Keiji, I would have continued pretending."

I met his gaze. "And I feel no guilt for hiding it from you... We... We do what we have to survive, for family, for the kingdom-for ourselves."

He stared at me for a long moment but said nothing. Then, an ethereal glow filled the space, coming from the Pool of the Phoenix. The waters were churning gently, and slowly, I saw her start to rise out of the waters, suffused in light. Her whole body glowing with like like a thousand suns.

3/4

Chapter Comments

Michelle White

what a cliffhanger! excited for the next chapters.

VIEW 1 COMMENT"

5