The emperor had been in a coma, and Felix made good use of the situation. He had established himself as the autarch of the
imperial court. But just one nightfall overturned everything for the empress and Felix. After the emperor woke up, the empress
was put under house arrest and Felix was jailed. The proverb, "there's many a slip twixt the cup and lip", seemed very apt for
their situation. Felix dreamt of being the emperor, but just in an instant, everything changed for him.
When Felix was escorted by the guards into the prison, Andy was there to take Francis out of the prison. The two princes met
face to face. Felix, who had been in high status, was now disheveled and frustrated. On the other hand, Francis remained
unyielding and decent, even though he was put in prison. But now, he was a free man.
"Felix, I had warned you that you will get yourself into trouble if you do too many nasty things," Francis said slowly, without even
giving a glance at him. "Now do you agree with me?"
"Francis, don't you dare show off in front of me! I may go to prison now, but I'll leave eventually from here. The next time we
meet, I won't let you be so presumptuous about me," Felix groaned as he was furious. He hated that he didn't kill Francis while
he had the authority. Now, Francis even dared to be so arrogant in front of him! Felix felt humiliated, and was raging in anger.
As Francis heard his furious response, it was very clear for him that Felix would not change his mind or attitude. Shaking his
head helplessly, Francis commented, "You are so stubborn."
"Prince Francis, it's time to get out of here. His Majesty is waiting for you," Andy said after he took a glance at Felix. He was sure
that there wasn't any possibility for Felix to rise again. Attempting to murder the emperor would be dealt with harshly, and no one,
not even the crown prince, could escape from the punishment. Besides, the emperor had already drafted an imperial edict to
dethrone Felix as the crown prince.
"Okay, let's go," Francis answered. He stood straight and walked outwards. Felix turned his head and looked at Francis, only to
see him walking towards the sunlight. On the contrary, he was going into the darkness, farther and farther away from the light.
Felix was unwilling to give up and struggled, but was controlled by the guards. The guards then dragged him to the depth of the
prison. The light became dimmer and dimmer as he was taken forward, and finally, the light went out of his sight. Now, it was just
pitch darkness surrounding him.
"Get inside the cell," the prison guard commanded and then threw Felix into the cell rudely. There wasn't an iota of leniency for
him from anyone since he made an attempt on the emperor's life. Felix had lost all his glory as the crown prince he once
enjoyed, and he would bite the dust in the dark dungeon. Whether the emperor would spare his life was a later story.
Because of his identity as a prince, Felix stayed in a separate cell. Although it was simple, it was still clean. "Stay here and don't
make trouble. Since the whip doesn't differentiate between a prince and a commoner, it may come after you. Remember that you
are now just a prisoner, and not the prominent crown prince," the guard scolded.
Felix glared at him with a fierce face. It made the guard feel a bit frightened and he stepped backward in reflux. But soon, he
remembered that the man in front of him was no longer the crown prince. He then whipped Felix and shouted, "You bastard! How
dare you glare at me like that!"
"All right, all right. Let's leave now," another guard soothed as he stopped that angry guard from lashing at Felix. Even though
Felix was no longer the crown prince and was just a prisoner, he was still the son of the emperor. If the emperor didn't want to
execute him and if he allowed him to continue his life as a prince, those guards wouldn't be able to resist him when he got
discharged from the prison. Everyone knew that Felix was a narrow-minded man and he would take revenge for sure if he was
given any chance.
"Let me out! I'm the crown prince! Let me out now!" Felix rushed to the prison door and shouted. The prison guard thought of
going back in and whipping him once again, but when he thought about his companion's words, he resisted and went straight
away, pretending that he heard nothing.
Felix grabbed the prison door and screamed in horror. He still couldn't understand how he ended up like this. The only thing he
could remember was that he was just a heartbeat away from becoming the emperor, and then there would be thousands of
people kowtowing to him and waiting for his commands. But, in the blink of an eye, he just ended up as a prisoner. He couldn't
accept this huge difference.
"Let me out! You assholes! Let me out!"
Hearing Felix's yell, the prison guard sneered and said, "Prince Felix, consider this as my favor as I am telling you this. His
Majesty has already issued the imperial edict stating that you have been dismissed as the crown prince. You'd better not
consider yourself as the crown prince anymore. We still don't know whether you will make it out of this prison alive."
"Don't talk nonsense. After all, he is the emperor's son. Who knows, the emperor may let him out someday,"
another prison guard said as he twitched his mouth. If the guards weren't worried about the emperor letting Felix out someday,
they would have thrashed Felix to their entire satisfaction. Back when Francis was sent here, he was quiet, cultivated, and
treated the guards with modesty. But unlike Francis, Felix behaved arrogantly. He even looked down upon the guards and
treated them as some lowlifes.
"Murder is a serious crime. Even if His Majesty somehow lets him out, he will just become a commoner and would never enjoy
the privileges of a prince," the prison guard snorted coldly. "He can't stir up any trouble for us."
"Well, you never know! It would be better not to pay attention to his rants. He is our prince anyway. Offending him might cost us
seriously," another guard said.
After Francis reached the Imperial Palace, he went straight to the Tranquil Hall. Although the emperor had woken up from the
coma, he was still weak. That was partly because of his hypersexuality and partly due to the effects of poison. Even though the
empress poisoned him with a minimal dose, the emperor was still anxious when he learned about the truth. Being too concerned,
he became weaker and weaker. His health was getting worse because of this mental agony.
"Greetings, Father. I hope you are doing better," Francis said as he knelt down.
"Get up," the emperor said as he gestured him to arise. He had heard that Francis acted like a lone wolf and he even confronted
Felix, suspecting of the latter's involvement in his father's sickness. But Francis was just thrown into prison in return. The
emperor had complicated feelings for him. "I heard you suffered a lot these days," he sighed.
"I'm fine, Father. You are the one who went through all the hardships and you even look much thinner now," Francis replied as he
raised his head. Worries were written all across his face. "Take good care of yourself, Father. We all need you."