"Haha, I was just tricking you!"
"Hey, no way, you didn't actually believe that, did you?"
"If it was really a knife, wouldn't Iroh have noticed the wound on Fire Lord Azulon's body?"
Seeing Kahn's expression of utter despair, Azula completely broke into a burst of laughter.
"...?"
Only then did Kahn realize he had been played.
He felt relieved; at least he wouldn't be permanently silenced.
But before Kahn could relax for even two seconds, Azula spoke again.
"Although the forr Fire Lord wasn't stabbed to death with a knife, his death is definitely related to my father, Ozai."
Are you ssing with my mind?
Curse you!
This ti, Kahn simply stared straight ahead, pretending to be deaf and blind, hearing nothing and seeing nothing.
Seeing this, Azula felt it was getting boring, so she stopped joking around and continued.
"Actually, that day I was hiding in a corner of the main hall and accidentally overheard a conversation between my father and Fire Lord Azulon..."
After talking for a while, Azula noticed that Kahn still looked completely unperturbed and unmoved.
"Hey, are you listening?"
Azula frowned and took a swipe at Kahn, but Kahn easily dodged, making her miss entirely.
Damn it, he dared to dodge?!
Azula's next attack was a whip kick, but Kahn dodged again, jumping out of the living room and into the courtyard.
After all, if he broke anything in the living room, he would be the one forced to pay for it.
So, in the courtyard, the scene of Azula and Kahn fighting on the training grounds was re-enacted.
Azula pursued him with all her might, but Kahn flexibly dodged all of her attacks.
It looked as if the two were performing a carefully choreographed dance.
"Ha, ha, ha..."
After finally venting her frustration, Azula realized the pointlessness of it all and stopped, glaring fiercely at Kahn.
Seeing that Kahn was still unmoved, Azula's mind raced, and she suddenly let out a deep sigh.
"I thought my poor brother had finally made a good friend."
"Now it seems he's nothing special, and he's still far too naive."
Wiping away non-existent tears, Azula put on a deeply disappointed expression.
"It's just that my Great-Grandfather is so pitiful..."
[Azula calling Zuko "Great-Grandfather" is mostly just an inside joke between them.
She uses it because, compared to everyone else, Zuko acts overly serious and stiff almost like an old man.
Azula especially leans into it to irritate him and get under his skin.
At its core, it's just playful teasing.]
---
This little girl is such a good actress; shouldn't she be performing with the Ember Island Players?
Finally, Kahn sighed and spoke up.
"Why exactly did you seek out?"
"Was it just to casually leak treasonous secrets and then have assassinated to keep quiet?"
"Leak secrets?"
"Oh, yes, I suppose that can indeed be considered a secret."
Azula reacted belatedly, but upon processing the latter half of Kahn's sentence, her expression turned foul once again.
"So you think I ca here to kill you?"
"Is that really how you see ?"
Hmm, and now you're in a bad mood?
Kahn was instantly dumbfounded.
But seeing Azula's genuine reaction, he understood that assassination probably wasn't her actual intent, so he compromised.
"Alright, no more fooling around."
"What exactly do you want from this ti?"
"Hmph!"
Azula unhappily flicked a small jet of fire at Kahn.
After Kahn easily dodged it, she continued.
"Although I didn't see exactly how my father killed Fire Lord Azulon that day, I..."
"Stop!"
Kahn interrupted Azula imdiately.
"Do you think it's still possible for to pretend I heard nothing if you keep talking?"
Azula sneered.
"What do you think?"
Kahn rubbed his face heavily, took a deep breath, and quickly cald his racing heart.
"And then what happened?"
Kahn's calm reaction made Azula look at him for a second longer before she continued.
"I stayed in the corner and accidentally overheard a conversation between my father and Fire Lord Azulon..."
That night, Azula's father, Ozai, had suddenly requested an audience with the Fire Lord.
Ozai heavily criticized Iroh's weakened state in front of Azulon, requesting that the Fire Lord revoke Iroh's birthright as Crown Prince.
However, his brazen actions deeply angered Fire Lord Azulon.
'You dare suggest I betray my firstborn?!'
'Especially when his own son's body is barely cold!'
'Iroh has suffered enough, but your punishnt has only just begun!'
Kahn's expression turned strange after hearing this recounting.
"So he punished your father by ordering him to kill Zuko, so Ozai could also experience the pain of losing his firstborn?"
"Uh-huh."
Azula spread her hands in confirmation.
"On that specific matter, I guarantee it is absolutely true."
Astonishing.
What level of brain rot would it take to devise such a psychotic punishnt?
And to think I assud the forr Fire Lord was a sowhat rational person.
My apologies; clearly, I was mistaken.
Then, Kahn asked in confusion.
"But Zuko is perfectly fine, isn't he?"
"I an that as a simple question, not out of any ill will toward him."
"Whatever, I couldn't care less about him."
"However, this is the crux of the entire matter!"
"Zuko is perfectly fine, Fire Lord Azulon is dead, and my father claid the throne."
"A happy ending for everyone involved, isn't it?"
At this mont, Azula suddenly leaned in close to Kahn, her beautiful face darkening nacingly.
"—If Mother hadn't completely disappeared!"
Her originally beautiful features looked highly unnatural and distorted due to her dark expression.
Kahn frowned slightly, subtly took a step back, and asked a question.
"By the way, do you know what 'expression managent' is?"
Azula was montarily stunned.
"What?"
"I'm talking about your facial expressions."
"They always look so sinister and awkward; even your smiles look like that."
"Can't you manage them a bit better?"
"You actually look quite nice when you smile normally."
"...Tch, who cares about your opinion?"
For so inexplicable reason, Azula's expression grew a bit awkward when she said that.
Never mind; it doesn't really matter anyway.
"Let's get back to the main topic."
Azula snorted indifferently at his words and continued to speak.
However, she actually only knew the first half of the story.
Because after Fire Lord Azulon announced Ozai's brutal punishnt, he had imdiately banished his son from the throne room.
She had slipped away right after, returning to the royal estate before Ozai arrived.
She then told Zuko what she had witnessed in the palace, gloated about his impending doom, and kindly advised him to run for his life.
Unfortunately, Zuko hadn't believed a word she said.
But Ursa had accidentally overheard Azula's taunts.
After fiercely questioning her daughter, she ordered Azula to go straight back to sleep, and Ursa herself had left in a desperate hurry.
When Azula woke up the next morning, Zuko was completely unhard.
But Fire Lord Azulon was dead, supposedly leaving behind dying wishes for Ozai to be crowned Fire Lord.
And Ursa was entirely missing.
"After Mother ordered back to sleep, sothing massive definitely happened!"
"That gap in ti is the key to her disappearance!"
Azula paced back and forth across the courtyard, looking thoroughly annoyed.
"But no matter how much I dig, I can't figure out that crucial missing piece!"
"The palace servants and the Imperial Firebenders claim to know nothing, and it's absolutely infuriating!"
Kahn reasoned with her.
"To be completely fair, regarding a secret of this magnitude, it's actually completely normal for them to know nothing, isn't it?"
"You're entirely right, but I'm still incredibly annoyed!"
The more Azula spoke, the more frustrated she beca, culminating in her directly kicking over a withered potted plant in the courtyard.
Kahn made a ntal note of the damaged property and offered a suggestion.
"Why don't you just try asking your father directly?"
As the ultimate beneficiary of this entire bloody ordeal, anyone with half a brain could deduce that these events were intrinsically linked to Ozai.
"Father?"
Azula sneered coldly.
"Obviously, he doesn't want to know the truth."
She had, of course, already asked him.
But her father's only answer was that she had simply 'left on her own'.
It was an insultingly clumsy lie.
Ozai's dismissive, perfunctory attitude towards her was plain to see; he hadn't even bothered to craft a decent lie to pacify her.
Although the new Fire Lord had always favored her, and she had always fiercely admired him, this was the first ti she had ever felt a genuine sense of disgust towards Ozai.
The impossibly high pedestal upon which Ozai stood in her heart had just developed its very first, tiny crack.
Perhaps the intoxicating joy of securing the throne had clouded his judgnt.
Or perhaps he arrogantly believed he had Azula firmly under his absolute control.
But he had clearly miscalculated this ti.
He had severely underestimated Ursa's importance in Azula's heart.
And he had also deeply underestimated Azula's inherently relentless personality.
"If he won't tell , then I'll uncover the truth myself."
--------------------
As I promised, I've spent most of the past three days translating more chapters than the other translator. It was quite challenging, but I'm really feeling the joy of accomplishing it now.
I'd especially like to thank my Patreon supporter [Y4RN1], who subscribed even before I shared the book. Every ti I uploaded a chapter, they liked it and checked the translation quality, which was incredibly helpful. I truly appreciate their support.
Until I catch up with the latest chapters, I'll be updating daily with around 5–10 chapters. I'd also like to thank everyone who enjoys and supports this book.
During this process, I wasn't able to upload new chapters for [Avatar: Fire Emperor] or update my other books, [Multiverse System: Resident Evil] and [Dream Simulator]. I need to get so sleep now, but as soon as I wake up, I'll update the other books and upload more chapters.
Once again, I apologize for the delay.
Visit my Patreon to read up to 115 chapters ahead and enjoy daily updates:
patreon/Hestia02
User Comments
0 comments from readers