Chapter Text
The tall, white haired man groaned sleepily as a ray of sun reached his eyes. He turned around in his large bed, away from the unusual light. It took him a couple more minutes to realize how high the sun had to be to shine on top of his bed.
“Mimi?” He rasped out, eyes still closed. He tried to move around to feel the comforting weight of his lion, shooting up when he couldn’t. He called the white beast again, almost shouting this time, he didn't hear anything move.
Actually, he couldn't hear anything. Not a single footstep, not a bristle of fabric, a clink of iron. Deafening silence. His heartbeat paced up at his door left agape, his lion could come in. Why wasn’t he?
He rushed to put on a robe and grabbed his sword tightly, so much his knuckles turned white. The lump that formed in his throat when he passed his bedroom doors could not be swallowed.
There, few meters away from the warmth of his room, lied his beloved lion, empty eyes turned towards him. Jingyuan couldn't even hear the sound of his sword hitting the marble tiles, his senses completely shut down as he ran towards the feline.
He had forgotten how to breathe, suffocating, choking as he crouched beside his Mimi, his lifetime companion. Hands frantically shaking, pressing, pulling, petting the white fur, slowly staining it crismon, he murmured his name, begged him to come back.
“How.. you.. you had to come to me you-“ he regained his senses after breathing in the familiar scent of his mane, “You came to me. You were coming to find me.” He breathed out, head whipping in the direction the lion had been running, then crawling, to.
“Yanqing.” He ran, ignoring the amount of blood covering the corridors, repeating his son’s name without taking a breath.
Tears slid down his face when the young boy’s room came into view, around the corner. Door agape, a red trail leading out of it. Footprints and paw prints sometimes merging together.
“Yanqing..” voice too weak for Aeons to even hear, he stepped inside the prince’s room, hope already emptying his body. He had wished to be wrong.
He wanted to wake up. He couldn’t handle the sight in front of him, his beautiful son was never supposed to see blood. How could he be covered in it.
He slowly enlaced his small frame, supporting his heavy head. Tears flowed down as he breathed in the soft blond hair, covering the iron stench for a small while. After what could’ve been hours, when tears wouldn’t flow anymore, couldn’t, he placed the child’s back in his bed. The general tediously wiped the blood away from his face, leaving his beautiful face intact.
“How could anyone do this to you, my world.” He murmured on his forehead, leaving a goodbye, tender kiss.
“How could I let this happen to you.” He mumbled to himself after standing up, taking in the surroundings. The room they had cheerfully decorated no more than few moons before, the room he remembered counting him stories when he was little. There was no trace of fighting, the bed was still made. He had been killed in his sleep.
They had killed his son, his baby, when he was sleeping.
“My love..” he whispered, clenching his fist around his sword. He finally stepped out of the room to take in the damage his castle had taken. It was still silent, dead silent, only his steps resonated through the empty walls. As he passed the corpses, the faces still torn in anger, in pain, his soul seemed to leave his body.
No one. Not a single soldier, maid, advisor, had made it out. Not a single message had been left, no threat, no explanation. Someone had come to take his entire world away from him just to let him live through hell.
He brought the sharp blade to his throat, eyes closed tightly, but images of Yanqing and Mimi playing together overcame the horrors he had just seen. He dropped down to his knees at the memory of his son’s laughter.
“Someone has to remember you.” The general whispered, giving a last look towards the young prince’s room. A deep breath was all it took for him to run, run to the stables where only his horse had been spared. He sobbed against the panicked horse’s head, before climbing on his back once it had calmed down.
He needed to find General Feixiao before they did.