Chapter 151: Cruel Fate

It was an ordinary day, just like any other. Hato was diligently working on a case, sorting through reports in his office at the Mysterious Heaven Palace, when he heard hurried footsteps outside his door.

Before he could even look up, a young officer burst into the room, his face pale with fear and urgency.

"Captain Hato!" the officer gasped, struggling to catch his breath. "There's… there's been an incident…"

Hato felt his heart skip a beat, a cold dread seeping into his bones. He stood up from his desk, his eyes narrowing as he approached the officer. "What happened?" he demanded, his voice low and dangerous.

The officer hesitated, clearly afraid of delivering the news. But there was no avoiding it. "Sir… it's your family. Your wife and children… they've been arrested and taken to the city prison."

Hato's world came crashing down around him. His vision blurred, and for a moment, he felt as though the ground had been ripped out from under his feet.

The officer's words echoed in his mind, but he couldn't make sense of them. His family… arrested? It was impossible. They were innocent. They had done nothing wrong.

Without another word, Hato pushed past the officer and bolted out of the room. He ran through the palace corridors like a man possessed, his heart pounding in his chest.

The faces of his colleagues and subordinates blurred as he sped past them, all of them watching him with wide, concerned eyes. But Hato didn't care. Nothing mattered but reaching his family.

He burst out of the palace gates, not even bothering to retrieve his horse. He ran through the city streets, uncaring of the people who stared at him as he passed.

He ran until his lungs burned, until his legs threatened to give out beneath him. But still, he didn't stop. He couldn't stop. He had to reach them.

By the time he reached the city prison, Hato was breathless, drenched in sweat, and trembling with fear.

The towering gates loomed before him, cold and unyielding. He stumbled up to them, pounding on the heavy iron doors with all his strength.

"Let me in!" he shouted, his voice raw with desperation. "Let me in!"

The guards, recognizing him immediately, opened the gates without question. Hato stormed inside, his heart racing as he demanded to see the warden. The guards led him to a small, dimly lit office where the warden was waiting. The man looked up as Hato entered, his expression one of deep concern.

"Hato," the warden began, his voice cautious, "I'm… I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

"What happened?" Hato interrupted, his voice hoarse. "Where are my wife and children? What are they doing here?"

The warden sighed heavily, gesturing for Hato to sit down, but Hato remained standing, his body tense with barely contained rage.

"It's… it's a complicated situation," the warden explained, choosing his words carefully. "Your wife and children were, unfortunately, involved in an incident with the House of Flying Lions…"

Hato's blood ran cold. The House of Flying Lions was one of the most powerful noble families in the capital, known for their ruthlessness and cruelty.

His hands clenched into fists at his sides as he fought to keep his voice steady.

"What did they do?" he demanded.

The warden hesitated before continuing. "It appears that your children were playing near the marketplace when they inadvertently crossed paths with the carriage of the Flying Lions' Third Mistress.

The carriage was moving at a fast pace, and your children, not realizing the danger, got in the way. To protect them, your wife intervened, stopping the carriage before it could harm them."

Hato's heart clenched painfully. He could picture it all too clearly—his wife's fear for their children, her desperation to keep them safe. But the warden's next words turned his blood to ice.

"The Third Mistress… she felt humiliated by the incident," the warden continued, his voice filled with regret. "She was furious that her carriage had been halted, and she took it as a personal affront.

She… she insulted your wife, calling her and the children 'filthy commoners' who didn't know their place. When your wife tried to apologize, the Mistress ordered her guards to arrest her and the children. She wanted to make an example of them…"

Hato staggered backward, the full weight of the situation crashing down on him. His mind reeled, struggling to process the warden's words. His wife… his children… had been arrested, humiliated, and thrown into prison, all because of a noble's wounded pride?

"Where are they?" Hato's voice cracked as he spoke, his eyes burning with unshed tears. "Where are they now?"

The warden looked at him with deep sympathy. "They're in a cell… but Hato, I must warn you, the Mistress is pressing for severe punishment. She wants to make an example of them… to show the city what happens when commoners forget their place."

Hato's world shattered. All the strength, the resolve, the hope he had clung to for so long crumbled into dust.

His legs gave out, and he collapsed to the floor, his hands covering his face as the tears finally fell. The anguish, the helplessness, the utter despair—it all poured out of him in a torrent of grief.

How could this be happening? How could the world be so cruel? All his life, he had fought to protect his family, to shield them from the darkness that surrounded him.

And now, that very darkness had found them, dragged them into its depths, and there was nothing he could do to save them.

The warden watched in silence, his heart breaking for the man before him. He wanted to offer words of comfort, of reassurance, but he knew there was nothing he could say that would ease the pain Hato was feeling.

In that moment, Hato felt utterly and completely lost. The love that had once been his guiding light was now the source of his deepest pain.

And as he wept, the world seemed to grow colder, darker, and the hope he had once held onto slipped further and further away.

___

Hato's heart raced as he sprinted towards the grand building of the Mysterious Heaven Palace, his mind in turmoil. His breath came in ragged gasps, each step fueled by the gnawing fear that had taken root in his chest.

The news had shattered him—his wife, his children, taken away, locked up like criminals. The world around him blurred, his vision tunneled, and the only thing that mattered was getting to his superiors, the ones who could undo this nightmare.

He burst through the ornate doors, barely registering the startled looks of his colleagues as he staggered into the grand hall.

The opulent surroundings, which once commanded respect and awe, now felt suffocating, mocking. His knees buckled, and he collapsed before the stern, impassive faces of his superiors. The words tumbled out of him in a desperate plea, his voice breaking.

"Please, please help me! My wife, my children—they've been taken! They didn't do anything wrong! I beg you, please help me get them out!"

He could barely see through the tears that filled his eyes, could barely form coherent sentences as he begged, pleaded, and prostrated himself before them.

His forehead touched the cold, polished floor, his pride discarded in a heap at their feet.

But the silence that followed was deafening.

He dared to look up, his vision blurred by tears, to see the cold, indifferent eyes of those who held power over him.

One of the men, a senior official with graying hair and an air of superiority, spoke first. His voice was calm, detached, as if discussing the weather.

"Hato, this matter is out of our hands. The House of Flying Lions is a powerful force—more powerful than any of us here. It would be unwise to interfere in their affairs."

Another superior, a woman known for her strictness, sighed and shook her head. "You must understand, Hato. They have influence, connections that we cannot cross. Your family's situation is unfortunate, but we must consider the greater good."

Hato's heart sank further, his soul crushed beneath the weight of their words. He crawled forward, his hands clasping the hem of the woman's robe, his voice raw with desperation.

"Please... they're innocent. My children... they're just kids. My wife, she was only trying to protect them. Please, I'm begging you, help me!"

She pulled her robe away, her expression one of distaste, as if his touch had sullied her. "Stand up, Hato. This is unbecoming."

Another superior, one who had always seemed kind, a man with soft eyes, spoke up, his voice barely above a whisper. "Hato... I wish there was something we could do, but... the consequences of opposing the House of Flying Lions could be disastrous. You understand, don't you?"

But Hato didn't understand. He couldn't. How could they just stand there, so detached, while his family was suffering?

He could feel the last threads of his sanity fraying, his heart breaking under the strain. He slammed his fists against the marble floor, over and over, as if the pain in his hands could numb the agony in his chest.

"Please, I'll do anything! Just help me! I'll give up my rank, I'll leave the Palace, I'll—I'll do whatever you ask, just please, don't let them suffer! Don't let them die in there!"

A third superior, one who had always shown a hint of pity in his gaze, looked away, unable to meet Hato's eyes.

The room was thick with unspoken words, with the heavy weight of fear and self-preservation.

No one dared to defy the House of Flying Lions, not even for a man who had served them with unwavering loyalty for years.

Hato's cries echoed in the grand hall, met only by the cold, unfeeling walls and the silence of those who should have stood by him.

His body trembled, his voice choked with sobs as he continued to plead, his tears pooling on the floor. His once-strong frame now seemed so small, so broken.

Finally, one of them spoke, a man with a sharp tone and even sharper eyes. "Get up, Hato. We've already told you, there is nothing we can do. Return to your duties and pray that the House of Flying Lions shows mercy."

Mercy. The word was a dagger to his heart. He had no power, no voice to call out in the face of such overwhelming injustice.

His spirit, once so full of hope and determination, was now shattered into pieces, ground beneath the heels of those who stood above him. They turned their backs on him, one by one, leaving him alone in the vast, empty hall, his cries fading into the void.

He lay there for what felt like hours, the cold seeping into his bones, his hands bloodied from pounding the unforgiving floor.

All that remained was despair, a crushing weight that threatened to consume him whole. His tears dried, leaving behind a hollow shell of the man he once was.

When he finally rose, it was not with the fire of determination, but with the dead weight of resignation. His shoulders slumped, his gaze empty as he walked out of the grand hall, out into the world that had forsaken him.

The corridors of the Mysterious Heaven Palace, once familiar and comforting, now felt like a labyrinth of despair, each step echoing the hollow emptiness within him.

Hato's world had crumbled, leaving nothing but ruins in its wake.

His wife, his children—his everything—were beyond his reach, and no amount of begging, no amount of sacrifice, could change that. The love that had once given him strength now only served to deepen his despair.

And as he walked away, a broken man, a single thought echoed in his mind—a thought that would haunt him for the rest of his days.

Where was justice when he needed it most? Where was the righteousness he had spent his life upholding? The world had turned its back on him, and in that moment, Hato knew he would never be the same again.