Yeah, this actually seems way more likely to me as well. They’re hiding him, but it’s to cover up that he immediately fled the region as soon as there was any threat of harm to him. That would explain both why he hasn’t appeared in public and why nobody in the government has leaked anything: he’s still running the show, but he’s doing it from a secure location outside the local area. They’ve got good reason to hide that too–seeing him run away would be a huge hit to morale for the 14 year old major generals in charge of the army.