When the prince stopped in front of the doors to the throne room two of his guards moved forward and opened the doors to the main chamber, and it was from among his men’s ranks that the prince appeared.  Though as was his nature the young man was not exactly what one would have expected in a member of the royal family. The dirtied black robes which held the Imperial Crest in the center seemed to hang over Ryou’s shoulders, which hunched over as though he had just woken up. The male had long black hair that hung down over his face showing nothing of it, but one of his large black eyes that could quickly dispel any doubts on how alert the prince really was with its constantly searching gaze. Kurosawa just stood there examining the unexpected gathering of high officials. With a look of curiosity and playfulness, that created a bit of an adorable nature despite his appearance. As he walked deeper into the chamber it didn’t take long to realize that this far off façade only somewhat hid the undercurrents of madness in the prince’s mind. While he had proven himself a capable military leader, it was this trait about the prince that had quite a few of the advisors on edge about the situation.<br/><br/>Their worries only felt even more justified when the Ryou paused about half way between the door and the gathering of officials, the prince just stood there... soft words could be heard coming from his lips as he mumbled to himself. Despite what other noble’s and court officials might have thought, the prince mind was simply somewhere else at that moment. The young tactician was always planning his next campaign, and trying to stay one step ahead of any army that threated his father’s empire. In fact it wasn’t until the appearance of his closest servant that Kurosawa was pulled away from his mental planning. As Hitomi approached him, the prince reached up to gently his hair back behind his ear to reveal a large Cheshire Cat esque smile, “It is good to see Hitomi. The lack of your pleasantries and the steady guidance that your presence has always brought me, while on the campaign trail has certainly worn on my mind quite a bit. I am curious though, what exactly is going on… and where is my father?” The prince found the palace customs that prevented quick and efficient communication with the one person he could truly trust, since one could never be too careful during times of war.<br/><br/>Ryou found that his question was quickly answered leaving him slightly in shock, as he realized the ramifications of his father’s early demise. His success in the eastern campaigns meant that there were large new swaths of territory that needed to be rebuilt and new regional administrations put into place. Up until this point Ryou’s only experience had been with the military and focusing on gaining new conquest, and to top it all off… he was quite sure that he didn’t exactly have the trust of some of his late father’s top advisers along with a portion of the lesser nobility. Kurosawa was at least thankful that he had the complete loyalty of the military, and he half expected to receive advice from his generals in the next few days about the need for a possible coup. All this combined together to create doubt and unrest along with the grief that he found slowly building in his heart. The prince could feel a tear slipping down his cheek as he hid his face behind his black curtain of hair.<br/><br/>“Began making the funeral arrangements, and send riders out to let the people know of the Emperor’s passing, but only after we have a made sure that the passage of power to my brother can go forward without incident. There might be some rouge factions from newly conquered areas that could take advantage of our current weakness.” Ryou’s regarded the advisors as he spoke, and motioned them off to take care of the various arrangements that would be assigned to them in the coming days. The prince waited until the room had started to clear, as the number of people around him and Hitomi thinned and his Imperial Guard left him in the care of the person they trusted most with the Emperors safety beside themselves. Sighing softly, the noise was laced with the weight that Ryou felt settle on his shoulders at the gravity of the situation, but he found that his time spent with his tutor usually lighten his mood during his more depressed moments. “Tell me Hitomi what exactly do you think of the situation? You have a bit more of a read on things that go on the palace than I do, especially when I am away. I know that the palace officials say that it probably wasn’t poison, but there are also quite a few nobles here that are enemies of my father…. And even more so of myself.” The last part of the sentence was mumbled under his breath, but was loud enough that Hitomi could hear it.<br/>