Nuri took in the navy suit Silver was wearing, the one with the thin golden pinstripes, and gasped, recalling the last time he’d worn that particular outfit.
“Get that down now!” he ordered, tearing his gaze away from the screen as he shot into motion. He rushed toward the steps on the side of the stage, intent on making his way to the operations room to put an end to it himself, but was halted.
Silver grabbed his arm, holding him still when he tried to pull free.
“We need to stop the video,” Nuri told him, voice dropping into a frantic whisper. “It’s—”
“Too late,” Silver cut him off, motioning toward the screen with his chin.
Turning back, Nuri sucked in a breath, seeing that he was right.
A second after his eyes made contact, the machines went wild, blaring and beeping with flashing lights. A medical team appeared, racing toward his bed even though they all had to know there was nothing that could be done at this point. One of the nurses urged Silver to step away and give them room and after a brief hesitation, he complied.
The sound of the late emperor flat-lining came next, an eerie, steady noise that seemed to fill up the room they werecurrently standing in. This was footage of the day Sij had died, an event that had taken place two weeks ago, but that didn’t make it any less harrowing to witness.
Because it was footage taken from the security cameras, there was no way for whoever was airing this to zoom in, but they didn’t have to. Even with all the frantic motions of the doctor and nurses, the second Silver’s expression changed it stood out.
Silver Rien, the Imperial Crown Prince of Ignite, stared at his dying father…and smirked.
The room erupted, the reporters who’d only just been nodding their praises for Silver’s speech now turning their microphones and cameras on him demanding answers. Voices carried over voices, drowning out any discernible words as the footage on the screen froze in that spot, as if whoever was illegally showing it wanted to be extra sure everyone got a glimpse of Silver’s expression.
Someone wanted the world to know that their new emperor wasn’t as charming and altruistic as he’d led them all to believe.
Nuri swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and turned his head to meet Silver’s gaze, pausing when he found that the new emperor was already looking back at him.
“Well?” Silver asked coolly. “Aren’t you going to do something about this, Royal Secretary Narek?”
In his pocket, his carefully crafted resignation letter seemed to laugh at him.
Chapter 1:
“I’m going to be a few days late, I’m sorry.” Nuri braced himself for the annoyance and the disappointment, two things he seemed to constantly illicit in his younger sibling whenever he found the time to call her.
Sure enough, Neve groaned, the sound filling Nuri’s right ear where his communicator was located.
It was tempting to tap the tiny silver cuff he wore there, the communication device that wirelessly connected to the multi-slate he wore on his wrist, and tell her later that he’d been disconnected. Only the fact that he’d used that trick more times than he could count stopped him.
“You promised!” Neve whined.
“I know, I really am sorry, but work—”
“You said that last year, and the year before. This was the first time you were even going to make it and now you’re saying the seven days we were supposed to get is turning into two?! It’salways work. That’s why you were supposed to quit the second that Imperial Asshole—”
“Don’t say that,” he scolded, glancing around him to be certain no one nearby had overheard. With the way these devices were made, it should be impossible, but he found himself paranoid whenever his siblings were the subject. Her comment could be considered treasonous, and even though she was currently on Vitality, an entirely different planet, Nuri knew better than most that Silver could get to anyone he wanted to. If word got back to him that Nuri’s younger sister had spoken ill of him…
“You’re ridiculous,” Neve told him.
“Putting your life at risk to blow off a little steam is ridiculous,” he corrected. He was in the west hallway of Rien Inc’s main building. A few office workers passed him, bowing their heads as they went, and he was walking by a room filled with researchers. Plenty of ears around to note his discomfort if they paid attention.
Nuri forced himself to calm down, his expression going lax as he evened out his steps and continued on his way with his head held high. As the emperor’s secretary, everything he did, right down to the way he presented himself to the world, reflected on Silver. It was a lesson he’d learned at a young age before either of them had even finished High School.
No matter his official title, whether he was the roommate to the Imperial Crown Prince, the secretary to the CEO of Rien Inc, or the Royal Secretary to the Emperor, Nuri always had to be vigilant of himself and his presentation.
“It’s not like I’m wrong,” Neve continued in his ear, completely unaware of the turn of his thoughts. “He’s worked you to the bone since you were kids. Enough is enough, brother. You said you were going to quit.”
He’d been planning to. A year ago, after the crowning, he’d been all ready to go through with it. But then the broadcast had been hacked, and that video had been revealed to the public and Silver’s character had been called into question.
While the people of Ignite couldn’t de-throne him, they could remove him from his position as CEO at Rien Inc, the very company he’d built from the ground up. Silver’s contributions to the technology field had put Ignite on the entire universe’s radar. The already prosperous planet had tripled its worth practically overnight when the release of his first invention hit the markets.
