Chapter 148: The Worried Heart of The Lady of Star Kingdom

The stars were shining bright before her as she stood on the platform looking above her in her father's study room which opened to the world if infinity where the fates are written along with the constellation when a baby is born. She had always felt mesmerised watching the star formation. She always loved to visit her father's office when she was until, everyday until she left home for school, then she had never seen it again in her life. Everything changed. And in the Lihua itself changed drastically. 

Empress Lihua was restless and kept wondering about what her husband might be doing alone the Celestial Palace. She couldn't imagine the kind of plans he would make to ruin the universe altogether. Her father was noticing it all. He smiled and walked towards her. He gazed at the stars like she did, some shining bright with their constellation, some dimmed, some about to die. 

"It a wonder is it not?" He asked her. 

"It is," she agreed. "There is not doubt in that," they stood in silence for long mg minutes and the the King of the Star Kingdom broke this long silence. 

"I can see that this one star is troubling you alot," he said pointing at an orange coloured star. Empress Lihua smiled and shook her head. "I did not know that you care about him so much, I could never understand stand as a father who had always known you, it was something I could not understand for real," he said to her. 

"It is not that, pa," she said looked at her father's face. "Sometimes I feel like am responding for everything that happened, that he turned into," she said. There was a deeply cut wound in her heart that her father finally saw in her. "Sometimes I feel that only if I gave him one percent of what I gave to Dritain, he would not have turned this bad,"

"That is all coming from your head, but to the outside world, you are wrong my daughter, so never blame yourself for what you were responsible for," Star King spoke calmly stopping his daughter from speaking further.

"Pa it's like,"

"Listen to me, he said. "Have you never heard this saying that goes like, 'women are not rehabilitation centres for badly raised men?' this is applicable to you too. He has rotten even before you left with him, he has been rotten and that's the only reason he dared to take my daughter right before my eyes and impregnated while I stood helpless since they were too powerful at that time, with Tanwen gone, it was hard. I regretted everyday of my life to have let such thing happen at my own home but I let it happen anyway, and I tried my best to get over, If i felt this way, i can't imagine the feelings you would have gone through when you were forced and threatened along. It was our mistake that we never understood you," he went on. "But see it all, did he love you like claimed? He just wanted to have you, own you, fulfilling his obsession and win a competition against Dritan and he did that successfully. Nothing more nothing less. Here you do not have role that would have influenced him at all. He is a bad guy who even broke his promise and tried to kill your son he said he would take care. And he brought up your second son Aaron bery badly that he lost his life in the end, see it yourself, what is your fault here? Did you not listen him? Do you think I do not know the way he mistreated when you stood against the execution of water royals?" Lihua shed tears slowly. She could not deny anything but see that what her father said about Emperor Tai was nothing but truthful things. Empress Lihua stood there for a moment realising all the facts and put it inside her head. 

"Pa," she called her father. "Were you never curious about your future?" She aksed him.

"No," he said.

"Did you never try to take a look at the fate of yours while you handled others'?" She asked him curiously. He got her point.

"No," he said and laughed. 

"I always was," she confessed. 

"I do know that, I was well aware of that, that's why I never taught you how to do it, the duties as a star member," he said straightly. He shrugged while Empress Lihua looked at him.

"Pa that's not fair," she said and laughed out loud. She was faking the laugh. Little did she know that her father had already looked into the fate of his daughter. He looked at her, smiled at her. He patted her head. Her mother walked towards them and joined them. Little did the father know that his daughter has already looked in things. 

"I have to return back to the palace soon," she said to her parents. 

"We won't stop you at all," step mother said to her.

"Thank you," Empress Lihua smiled with tears in her eyes. She had decided to leave and fight for the rights in heaven even though it means going against her husband, the Emperor of the universe. 

"Take care, you will do well, you will see victory this time, you won't regret it," he said as he could and blessed his daughter. He had tears glistening in his eyes but nobody noticed it. 

"Thank you," she thanked her parents again and again. She hugged them both and walked out of the secret area of Star Kingdom which cannot be entered or controlled by others. The King and Queen stood there watching their daughter leaving them. And they looked at each other. 

"Bless her, that's all she will need," he said to his wife controlling his emotions. "Our family did ride a very emotional rollercoaster, I guess we do not have a choice, we never had, neither did she," 

Empress Lihua stepped out of the palace and went straight to the Celestial Palace. When she reached the palace in disguise, nobody noticed her. It helped her in knowing the situation of the palace. Less deaths were reported, then she heard about something new. The arrival of a Demoness. Lihua was least surprised about that fact. Yes as expected Tai had brought his daughter home, to make her the heir to throne even with her original Demon blood though he hates demons. His agendas looked so clear in the outside. Yet the man would never agree to the plans hiding them from Empress Lihua. She sneaked around the palace and came to know the news from the guards gossiping about the emergency meeting held by Emperor Tai. She was surprised to know. She decided to eavesdrop staying outside the gates as soon as the meeting begins, and know everything Tai let's out from his small age itself. But before that she visited his chamber tricking the guards and getting in the doors, for taking away his sceptre. She would stand and still smile. She walked around the variety of paintings hung and then suddenly heard a faint knock on the doors where. She looked around. She couldn't find the place where it was coming from. She looked around and tried to listen carefully. Then she felt it coming from below her. Empress Lihua moved away immediately and knelt down. She searched for the entrance to the underground chamber almost immediately. And she stepped on it again guessing it and opened the door in the end. "Yes," she whispered. Then she saw someone coming out almost immediately. "Your highness," she said.

"Volca," Empress Lihua was shocked. 

"I was locked up here, he trapped me," she said to her. 

"Why?" 

"I don't have an idea your highness, he pretended to be drunk, and let open this this chamber and trapped me in here. For this whole day," she said. "But you got to see what in inside there, you will be shocked," 

"What?" Empress Lihua asked. 

Volca dragged her behind her going down the stairs once again. "Is he out? Will he come back the room? We have to get out immediately, but you got to see this," the Demoness led the way to the different rooms inside the chamber. This indeed was the first time Empreee Lihua had entered the chambers even though she had well about its existence. Then she saw it. Right there. The treasures and the body. The body of her father in law. Empress Lihua though she had always doubted the reason behind his death, did not feel surprised but pretended to in front Volca. How to tell a person that she had known about if for years and still ignored such an unpardonable crime. She did not wish to look bad in front of his daughter. 

"Volca, let's get back to the Palace, before he shows up and locks up both of us in here," she said and walked back to the entrance. Empress Lihua did not say anything but had something going on inside her, things she found out from the stars. She made decisions again, strongly this time. And she walked straight to the court where the meeting was being held. She stood there listening to everything. She was horrified and felt disgusted to hear the things happening inside. She looked at Volca who looked angry same as her. Empress Lihua nodded her head. "Now," she said.