Your Majesty, I Will Not Let This Matter Go

No matter what everyone else thought, as long as Serena Feng was safe, that was all that mattered. With Serena unharmed, their hearts could finally settle. As for how she managed to escape the flames, they could ask later—right now, Serena herself was the priority.

"Ninth Royal Uncle, Serena still has injuries—let her get up first." William Wang Jinling saw how badly Su Rou was burned and knew Serena's condition was better, but unless he saw her with his own eyes, he couldn't rest easy.

"Yes, yes, Ninth Royal Uncle, stop holding her—Serena's burned, you might hurt her." Dominic Zhai didn't bother with courtesy and stepped forward to pull Nolan away.

Normally, Nolan would just shoot him a cold glare, telling Dominic Zhai to go cool off somewhere else. But now?

Dominic Zhai was right—Serena had just cried out in pain.

Of course, the main thing was...

He realized just now he'd totally lost his composure—so unlike his usual self. It was embarrassing, but he didn't regret it. As long as Serena was safe, who cared about saving face?

Some rejoiced, some grieved: Nolan and William were relieved that Serena was safe, while the Emperor could've died of rage that she survived.

Damn it, even a fire this big couldn't kill Serena. Fine, she survived—but couldn't she have stayed in the flames a little longer? Couldn't she have waited until Nolan and William rushed in, then come out?

Idiot! Which moron set the fire—couldn't they have made it bigger? Couldn't they have just burned everything down?

Murder!

Right now, the Emperor of Eastlyn was so furious he could kill someone!

"Your Majesty!" The Grand Protector saw the Emperor's twisted expression and, after much hesitation, finally spoke up to remind him.

At a moment like this, doing well meant loyalty and earning imperial trust; doing badly meant exposing the Emperor's dark side and waiting to be silenced.

The Grand Protector took a huge risk by speaking up, but for the future of Eastlyn, he had to remind the Emperor—no matter how unhappy, he couldn't show it.

If Nolan and William had died, that would be one thing. But with both alive and uninjured, if the Emperor made his feelings too obvious, he'd only push them to rebel.

The Emperor wasn't someone who wore his emotions on his sleeve. Just now, he'd lost control only because his hopes had been so high—and when reality crashed down, he couldn't accept it. But with the Grand Protector's reminder, he snapped back to himself, put on the perfect imperial façade, and ordered in a deep voice, "Summon the imperial physicians."

Earlier, the rescue efforts had been botched. But when it came to follow-up treatment, the Emperor wasn't about to fall behind anyone.

The Grand Protector saw the Emperor's performance and looked genuinely relieved.

As long as Eastlyn avoided the kind of civil strife plaguing Southlyn and Westlyn, it would remain one of the strongest powers on the continent.

"Colin, Jason—go check on her for me." The Emperor was putting on a full show; he didn't want to go himself, so he sent his sons instead.

"Yes, Father." Prince Colin's face remained expressionless, while Jason's showed a trace of disappointment and resentment.

The Emperor glanced over, then calmly looked away, secretly thinking Prince Colin was a promising candidate—never showing his emotions, just like himself.

When Prince Colin and Jason arrived, the scene was mostly tidied up. The guards had Su Rou on a makeshift stretcher, while Serena was still in Nolan's arms.

"Uncle, are you all right? I was so worried about you!" No matter how much Jason had wanted Nolan dead before, now he forced out crocodile tears and pretended to care.

Nolan shot Jason a look, not bothering to acknowledge his fake concern. But when Prince Colin stepped forward to ask if Nolan needed help, he got a two-word reply.

"No need."

When Jason tried to copy Prince Colin and offer help, Nolan gave him a one-word answer: "Scram!"

Jason's face turned bright red, stunned on the spot. Nolan didn't even spare him a glance. Nolan couldn't care less about humiliating Jason in public—however awkward or resentful Jason felt, it was none of his business.

Nolan carefully lifted Serena onto his horse and rode toward the exit. William Wang Jinling and Dominic Zhai followed without a word. As for Prince Nathan of Southlyn, being a royal from Southlyn, he had no choice but to go check on Su Rou—and use the opportunity to demand an explanation from Eastlyn.

The exit wasn't far from the viewing platform—anyone leaving had to pass by it. Nolan originally wanted to leave straight away, but seeing that Serena's injuries weren't too serious, he stopped.

The Emperor spotted them from afar and personally came down from the stands. Nolan dismounted, still holding Serena. Since the Emperor had come in person, Nolan gave him the bare minimum of respect.

"Ninth Brother, is Miss Feng all right? I've already sent for the imperial physicians—let them treat her quickly." The Emperor sounded genuinely concerned.

At this moment, the Emperor looked every bit the loving elder brother and benevolent ruler, caring for both his younger sibling and the loyal official's daughter. Unfortunately, everyone present knew what he was really thinking beneath that façade.

Nolan showed neither emotion nor anger, replying stiffly, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. The Master of Mystic Healer Valley is at Feng Manor—I will take Serena out of the palace for his diagnosis."

Nolan made it clear: he didn't trust the palace doctors. For Serena's safety, he'd rather go out of his way.

The Emperor was briefly choked up, but didn't get angry. He pretended not to hear the sarcasm in Nolan's tone and nodded along: "With the Master of Mystic Healer Valley there, I'm reassured. Hurry and leave the palace, don't worry about ceremony—saving lives comes first. I won't hold it against you."

"Understood, Your Majesty."

Once again, the Emperor put on a show of generosity toward Nolan and affection for Serena. But it didn't move Nolan at all—he couldn't care less whether the Emperor was sincere or not, and simply accepted it, then picked Serena up and mounted his horse right in front of him.

Seated on horseback, Nolan looked down at the Emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I'll be going now. By the way, today's incident was no accident—you'd better investigate. I won't let this go. If anyone dares burn Serena alive in front of me, they'd better be ready to face my wrath."

"Hyah!" Nolan threw those words down and, not caring what the Emperor thought, turned his horse and sped off, leaving the Emperor in a cloud of dust.

A dragon has its inverse scale—touch it and you die. Unfortunately, today, someone had carelessly touched Nolan's bottom line. He would never let it go, nor accept 'accident' as an excuse.

Nolan's actions were extremely disrespectful, openly disregarding the Emperor. But since the Emperor himself had given permission, he couldn't reprimand Nolan for rudeness and could only swallow his anger.

William Wang Jinling and Dominic Zhai exchanged glances. William told Dominic to stay behind and thoroughly investigate the fire—Dominic nodded, since only he could conveniently conduct an investigation inside the palace.

After exchanging looks, William also took his leave from the Emperor. He didn't threaten anyone like Nolan did, but his attitude made it clear: the Wang clan was standing with Nolan this time, and they were determined to get justice for Serena...