(BL) Reborn as Lycan's Emperor's abandoned Beta concubine?!

Chapter 33: 33. Crescent shaped mark scar?

A FEW HOURS LATER

XAVIER

After dinner, the Red Moon Flower Emperor and Empress Dowager requested that I meet them privately. I was already nervous.

"I will accompany him."Then Lang Li stood.

"Your Majesty?"I blinked.

"We only wish to speak with Chef Wei." Empress Dowager Lin Rui looked surprised.

"I understand." Lang Li’s expression remained calm. "I will still accompany him."

I stared at him. Why did that sound less like a suggestion and more like a royal decree?

"Do you distrust us?"The visiting Emperor raised an eyebrow.

"No." Lang Li’s golden eyes briefly moved toward me. "I distrust situations I don’t understand."

"I can handle a conversation by myself." I almost sighed.

"I know."Lang Li looked at me.

"Then why..."I began.

"Because you shouldn’t have to."He said calmly.

That shut me up. The Empress Dowager of the Lycan Empire immediately hid a smile behind her teacup. I noticed that she was enjoying this far too much. Emperor Zhao Rui exchanged an amused glance with Lin Rui.

"Very well."He nodded.

"I’ll come with you."Lang Li stepped beside me.

"This is going to be awkward."I quietly muttered.

"Ding. Protective behavior detected."The system appeared. "Current Emperor Lang Li affection: 18%."

"Why does this keep happening?"I stared at the notification.

"What?"Lang Li glanced at me.

"Nothing." I quickly looked away.

Unfortunately, I had a feeling this private meeting was about to become much more complicated than either of us expected. The meeting happened a few hours later. I sat beside Lang Li while Emperor Zhao Rui and Empress Dowager Lin Rui sat across from us. For several seconds, nobody spoke.

"Chef Wei, where were you born?" Lin Rui smiled.

"That is... difficult to answer."I blinked.

"Why?"She asked.

"Because I don’t remember."I hesitated.

Lang Li glanced at me as I quickly looked down.

"Do you remember your parents?"Zhao Rui leaned forward.

"No."I said.

"Your childhood?"He asked.

"Very litte."I admited.

"Your first memory?"He asked again.

"Cooking."I swallowed.

"Cooking?"Lin Rui’s eyes softened.

"I remember liking food."I nodded.

That answer seemed to affect her strangely.

"How did you come to this palace?" Zhao Rui suddenly asked as I immediately stiffened.

"He was sent here as a war gift."Lang Li answered before I could.

The room went silent. Lin Rui’s expression changed.

"A war gift?"She asked.

"Yes." Lang Li’s voice remained calm.

"Who sent him?"She asked.

"The Red Moon Flower Empire." Lang Li said.

"And you accepted him?"Zhao Rui stared at him.

"I accepted the political arrangement."Lang Li’s golden eyes narrowed slightly.

"And what happened afterward?"Lin Rui looked toward me.

"I became a chef."I scratched my cheek awkwardly.

Everyone stared.

"What?"Empress asked.

"I was concubine, then I became a chef."I explained.

Lang Li actually looked as if he were trying not to sigh.

"Did the palace treat you well?"Zhao Rui continued.

"Eventually."I glanced at Lang Li.

"Eventually?"She asked.

"It’s complicated."I smiled awkwardly.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you resemble our imperial family?"Lin Rui suddenly asked.

My heart stopped as Lang Li’s expression changed.

"No."I slowly shook my head.

The room became silent again. Then Zhao Rui asked the strangest question yet.

"Do you have any scars from infancy?"He asked.

I froze.

"Why?"I asked.

"Because our missing prince had one."He exchanged a look with Lin Rui.

"What kind of scar?"Lang Li immediately turned toward me.

"A small crescent shaped mark beneath the left shoulder."Zhao Rui’s voice became quiet.

My stomach dropped, because suddenly, I remembered something. I had one. My fingers slowly tightened around the edge of my robe. I had the mark, there was no denying that. But that didn’t mean I was their son. At least, that was what I desperately wanted to believe.

"I have a mark there."I slowly nodded.

Lin Rui’s breath caught, Zhao Rui went completely still.

"You do?"Lang Li turned toward me.

"Yes."I nodded again.

"Can we see it?" Lin Rui asked softly.

I hesitated before adjusting the collar of my robe enough to reveal the small crescent shaped mark beneath my left shoulder. The moment they saw it, Lin Rui covered her mouth as Zhao Rui stood. His chair scraped loudly against the floor.

"That shape..." His voice trembled.

I stared at the mark, it looked ordinary to me. Just a small crescent shaped scar. I had had it as Wei for as long as I could remember.

"I don’t remember how I got it.." I admitted.

"You don’t remember?"Lin Rui’s eyes filled with tears.

"No."I shook my head.

"Did you have it when you were young?"Zhao Rui slowly approached.

"Do you remember anyone telling you about it?" I think so."

"No."My answer came easily.

Because it was true, I had never thought about the mark. Not once until tonight. Lin Rui looked at Zhao Rui, then back at me.

"Our son had the same mark." He said.

"I understand why you’re saying that."My heart sank. I pulled my robe closed again. "But I am not him."

The words came out more firmly than I expected. Everyone became silent.

"Why are you so certain?"Lin Rui stared at me.

"Because I don’t remember being a prince."I swallowed.

"You were an infant."Zhao Rui’s expression softened.

"I know."I nodded.

"So you wouldn’t remember." He said.

"I know that too."I nodded as I rubbed my forehead. "But I don’t remember anything connected to the Red Moon Flower Empire. No palace. No royal family. No servants. No childhood memories of another country." I looked between them. "I only remember being Wei."

A strange silence followed.

"Ding."Then the system flickered. "Identity contradiction detected."

"What?"I frowned.

"Memory data: incomplete."The system appeared again. The words briefly distorted. "Royal bloodline: confirmed. Identity: Wei." The screen flickered. "Identity: Xavier." Then the entire display went black.

"System?"I stared at it.

"What happened?"Lang Li noticed my expression.

"Nothing."I said.

That answer sounded weak even to me. Zhao Rui slowly returned to his seat.

"Our son disappeared twenty five years ago." He looked at me. "The night he vanished, someone inside the palace helped remove him."

"Someone inside the palace?"My stomach tightened.

"The guards assigned to his nursery were found dead."Lin Rui nodded.

"Dead?"I stared at her.

"All of them."She nodded.

The room suddenly felt colder.

"The person responsible left behind almost no evidence."Zhao Rui continued.

"Then how did you know he survived?"I asked.

"Because the body they claimed was his was never found."Lin Rui’s eyes lowered.

"So you never actually knew he died."My heart skipped.

"No." Zhao Rui’s voice became quiet. "We searched for years." He looked at my face again. "And then we saw you."

I didn’t know what to say. Something was frightening about the way he looked at me. Not like a ruler inspecting a stranger, but like a father desperately searching for a piece of his life.

"But what if this is just coincidence?"I shook my head.

"Perhaps."Lin Rui looked at the scar. She paused. "But how many coincidences can exist?"

I didn’t answer.

"Ding."The system suddenly returned. "Hidden memory fragment detected."

My breath caught.

"What?"I asked.

A tiny image flashed before my eyes. Red, a woman’s hand, a lullaby, then a silver crescent hanging above a baby’s cradle. I blinked and the image disappeared. I stumbled slightly as Lang Li immediately caught my arm.

"Wei."He said.

"I am fine."I shook my head.

"You almost fell."He said.

"I’m fine." I repeated, but my voice was shaking.

"What did you see?"Zhao Rui noticed.

"I don’t know."I stared at him.

"Memory restoration: 1%."Another system glitch appeared.

Then it vanished. I felt cold all over because, for the first time, I wasn’t completely certain I wasn’t their son. I barely had time to process the strange memory fragment. My vision suddenly blurred.

"Wait..." The room tilted.

"Wei?"Lang Li immediately noticed.

"I... don’t feel..." My knees gave out.

Lang Li shot to his feet and caught me before I hit the floor.

"Wei!" It was his words before everything went dark.

"Get the imperial physician!" Lin Rui shouted, rising in panic.

"What happened to him?"Zhao Rui’s face went pale.

The empress was standing near him, not sure what just happened. She was gripping her husband’s hand as her knuckles turned white.

"I don’t know."Lang Li held me tightly, his usual calm completely gone. His golden eyes were fixed on my unconscious face. "Why did he suddenly faint?"

"We need take him to the healer."Emperor said.

"We will."Empress nodded.

I could feel Lang Li hands holding me tightly as I got a bit closer of waking up, but weird cold surrounded my body, and I groaned lightly before lost consciousness again.

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