3. The Urgency of the Viceroy

Father and son left the room, walking together down the hall. As soon as they took a few steps ahead, they heard someone calling after them.

"Kinmy! Thanks to Ghaceus you're already awake! We need to talk right now!"

The king turned and faced his uncle Heimewdall, walking hastily towards him. The older felin was already dressed up, with his crown, cape and boots, and he looked very alarmed.

"What happened, uncle? Is everything okay with you?" Kinmyuu asked, worried.

"I'm fine, but we have a serious trouble to solve!"

Heimewdall was so agitated that only noticed his great-nephew there after a moment. "Oh… good morning, Aken." He said.

"Morning, gruncle Heimy." The young boy replied, staring at the two adults with his curious purple eyes, excited to know what was going on.

"What problems do you mean? What happened?!" asked the Great King, also getting distressed.

"Come with me and I'll tell you everything, my nephew."

Kinmyuu understood that the matter was probably not appropriate for be discussed in front of Akenmyuu, then, he looked at the prince.

"Son, stay with your grandpa a little longer, daddy will be back soon, okay?"

The king stroked his son's spiky hair and then followed his uncle.

A little disappointed, Akenmyuu watched them both walk towards the great uncle's room.

Heimewdall was the younger brother of Kinmyuu's father, the middle child of the family, because they also had a younger sister. As Kin didn't designate any successor as his Viceroy, his uncle remained in the position he held since the reign of his deceased older brother.

Heimewdall was quite reserved. Because of that, the little prince always saw his intriguing great-uncle as someone mysterious, imagining that he must hide some important secret or something.

Although he never treated his great nephews coldly or indifferent, Heimewdall didn't seem to be very at ease with children, so Akenmyuu and him didn't have a very close relationship.

"Darn… I wanted to know what's going on. What do you think, grandpa?" Aken looked around. "Grandpa? Where are you?"

The grandfather angel was right behind his son and grandson when they left the room, but when the younger brother appeared, he hid his presence.

"I'm here, Ake." he said, reappearing. "Sorry to suddenly disappear."

"That's okay, grandpa. It's just that sometimes I forget you disappear when gruncle Heimy appears… "

In the past, Odimyuus and Heimewdall were very united as brothers. However, at the time when Odimyuus passed away, they both had just gone through a severe fight. Even after the eldest's reborn as an angel, there was still some animosity on the part of Heimewdall with his brother. To add insult to injury, he said that he preferred that Odimyuus - now called by the angelic name Odimyel - to not manifest before him ever again.

As an angel, it was Odimyel's duty to respect his brother's wish, even if it hurt him deep down.

"You know your great-uncle prefers it that way, kiddo. Anyway, about what's going on, I still have no idea, but if it is something really serious, I'll find out sooner or later. For now, let's let your father take care of this. Don't worry, Ake."