Vengeance of The Broken Lycan Prince [BL]-Chapter 398: Victory Stands On The Back Of Sacrifice

Chapter 398: Victory Stands On The Back Of Sacrifice
[KAWAI]
"Are you sure about that, Lord Konstantin?" King Zaffuto asked like he was confirming something. It was more than just about what could happen that night. More than what could be perceived in front of all these people.
But King Zaffuto never cared for an audience. He always did what he wanted and how he wanted to. Which was why the question itself was a dangerous one.
Without Kosta in the palace, Sanji would have no place to go. He didn’t have the right to mingle anymore, because Kawai was never kind to traitors. Kawai was never to welcome him again.
It was never going to see him as worthy of protection, even for a second.
Kosta knew that too.
It was the one thing that had been holding him sane and insane at the same time. Maybe this was the chance they all had to make the decisions that were needed. Maybe it was their time to fix up whatever messes that had lingered over time.
Life was not always free and right.
But no one would question if the king made the decision to eliminate.
"Yes, sire," Igor said.
Sanji stilled.
"Then you will have to kill Sanji with your own hands," King Zaffuto said.
And the silence once again fell over the entire gathering. Murders at dinner were special. They were a reminder that dinner itself was the one place where everyone got the attention and the reminders of what happened to traitors.
Everyone watched carefully, swallowing the chunks of food in their mouths silently, afraid that they would be the ones to piss off the barbarian they had for a king.
It was a dangerous move that the king was pulling, but what could be more dangerous than Zaffuto Hinata then? The man was a monster in everything he did, and he didn’t ever have any remorse in him.
"Yes, Sire," Igor responded. You would think that his plan with Sanji hadn’t been able to get over Tamiko’s rejection. It had been the greatest sacrifice sanity had ever made for anyone, and Kosta had seen it too back then.
Sanji didn’t have to stand in the war zone and figure out what needed to be worked through with ease, and Kosta understood that. So much could have gone with back then, as Sanji, however traitorous he had been, had saved him to an extent.
Sanji had helped give him the time to fix himself up. To be stronger. To be braver in the new skin he had taken on. A skin that didn’t have Tamiko to lean into. A skin that didn’t have the Hinatas to check on him always.
It was the one thing that had destroyed him in the silent struggle, yet even then, Sanji had been there. Igor had learned on his feet, and he hadn’t been disappointed. And now, he had to make a choice that was forced.
Now, he had to make another choice, one that screamed doom for the shoulder he had learned in the past few months. Oh, but fate was cruel. But wasn’t this always the price for whatever they had believed then?
"Papa..." Tamiko spoke up for the first time as he looked at his former Erasthai and the love of his life. He could see the struggle in Kosta, and he knew it stemmed from the bond that Sanji had with Kosta and shared in the months.
Tamiko concluded that Sanji still had some answers for Kosta, answers to questions that Kosta hadn’t asked yet. Tamiko could feel the greatest linger in the harshest of ways, and he hated himself for understanding what Kosta needed.
And how he needed it.
But the decision had been made.
To defy death.
To defy the royals was something no one had ever done.
To show mercy to a traitor is worse, and Tamiko had done it once with the promise of extinction. He hadn’t suspected that this would ever be in this matter.
"We’ve had a death today, Papa. Can’t that be enough for the celebrations, as we plan a worse death for Sanjiro?" Tamiko spoke carefully. He knew that this would come off as mercy for him, but he could see Kosta’s eyes.
He could feel that his Erasthai was still not ready to let Sanjiro go.
Kosta knew that duty was always going to come first before love. He had long understood it, but affection was weird shit for people like him. People who had lived and bled on battlefields that many had not been exposed to.
He had done something that no one had ever done, and to think that this was the end of it was crazy.
"Another pardon from you to him?" King Zaffuto asked curiously. He was not doubting his son nor his abilities. He was not trying to make things right for Sanji at the moment or even make Kosta feel better.
Zaffuto was asking, and right now, he was just a father who had his son’s best interests at heart. Zaffuto’s heart handled the fight Kosta had left with Sanjiro. He had failed to protect him from the things that he could have controlled.
Maybe if he had murdered Sanji earlier, his son wouldn’t have lost Igor Konstantin. But had Tamiko truly ever lost Igor, or was it just the placements that had been changed?
"No, papa. Not a pardon. A chance for Kosta to say goodbye. Clearly, he was important to Kosta. Surely, we can allow that, can’t we?" Tamiko bargained.
King Zaffuto stared at his son like this was the first time he was seeing him differently.
He had not expected this, but at the same time, the mad king should have known. That was when it came to Kosta, when it came to the Lycan Chief, his dearest son would throw all reason to the pits.
He should have expected this, because even though Tamiko had shown the traits of a psychopath like Zaffuto Hanata, he was still a man who could be tamed by love. And gods, was that the most beautiful thing the kind had seen.
Only that this time, he wasn’t in the mood for that. He loved his son; he would trade his life for his son, but to try to walk the kingdom just because Tamiko asked was a hard bargain; his son was striking.
"Zaffuto," Lord Sadako said as he looked at his brother. He could see the conflict there, and if he was being honest, Sadako understood his brother. Traitors were eliminated in an instant, but this was requested.
A personal request for his son and the gods made Sadako believe that he would do it right.
Not that it would matter on the next day.
The crowd was still as silent, like they were scared of what their reality would be turned into, and it was almost disheartening how hilarious this shit had gotten.
"Okay... okay. You win. Let’s get the diner going," King Zaffuto said, and the Hinatas let out a sigh of relief.
Tamiko could feel Kosta’s eyes on him, and he wanted to say something; he wanted to say that he understood, and he wanted to say that things would be alright, but then came the chance that life was just another bargain for Kosta, too.
Going to live with Yilena was a tough decision, and Tamiko understood that, too. He had seen Kosta’s eyes when the man had spoken about going back to Yilena, and he knew it was going to be peaceful for the man who had been taken in by his sister’s Erasthai.
It was the greatest gamble life had ever given him, but what he fuck was Tamiko supposed dot ay to that? So defeatedly, the young prince focused on his food, like all of this was just a chase for him, like he didn’t want to ask the questions that would have raised even more questions.
Life didn’t come with any guides, and Kosta had learned it the hard way, yet in the midst of all that, it seemed like everything always found him walking in the direction of Tamiko Hinata.
Maybe fate was always going to meddle with his life, right?
"Thank you, sire," Kosta said as he looked at the king. This was a huge honor, and he loved that the kid had considered him. Sure, it had taken Tamiko’s intervention, but it was something that maybe he needed.
That maybe, they both needed.
A truth that maybe they wanted to deal with between themselves, and maybe this was Kosta’s punishment from Tamiko.
Maybe Kosta was just thinking the worst of what life had sent his way, but surely a man had to remember what it was like to be part of the show that had never lived for long, couldn’t he?
Or maybe it was just the simple disillusionment of what love and life were supposed to be, regardless of the chaos that had been forced in between. No one would ever understand, and that was the most hurtful bit of this all.
Perhaps at the end of the day, there would come a choice between life and death, and Kosta would truly have to choose, if he were not someone truly great. But was that what mattered to Kosta right now?
"No worries, son," Zaffuto said, and once again, everything was still.
No one had ever heard the king call anyone his son. Not even his son. He always tried to refrain from reminding Tamiko of who he was, but the way it all fell out smoothly with Kosta was surprising.
Perhaps that was why Kosta slapped Sanji’s head off his neck.
Or maybe that was an illusion?
Maybe...
But the screeches of shock that sprang suddenly couldn’t have all been in his head, right?
"Well, shit... I guess, welcome back, kid," Lord Sadako said with a smile and pride on his face.