As soon as they were out of the throne room and away from many prying eyes, Bai Ruyi stopped walking, though he continued to stare ahead unseeingly.
“My mother…” he whispered, the realization of what she might now go through, as well as where it could all end, only now catching up with him. He suddenly turned to meet Qing Xue’s eyes with a stricken expression. “Xue, we have to go to her. We have to—”
Before Qing Xue could speak to calm him down, Kazane interrupted.
“Prince Bai,” she called, her voice also lowered.
In his agitation, Bai Ruyi misunderstood her reason for calling his attention. He urgently turned those stricken eyes to her.
“Lady Kazane, please—I was wrong—we were wrong. It was not my mother behind this. Her only crime was to let it all happen. She did not—”
“Prince Bai
