《Seyran》


 Prologue

    She wasn¡¯t particularly a joyous person. Had never been. She was qualified as the coldest on Unzu as well as the more powerful. In Unzu, what ruled was power, and Seyran¡¯s powers far surpassed others. Since little her abilities put her above thus leading other people hating her and fearing her. There was never in between either hatred or worship.


    The weakest feared for their lives and were the finest bootlickers. Their words couldn¡¯t be trusted for if they saw anyone a little stronger than the one they served then they would easily flip sleeves. Seyran learned that early and maybe that was, if not the sole reason, one of them that lead her to be as cold as she was.


    Her trust was never given, her weaknesses never shown. She put walls and walls between her and others for she saw with her own eyes what disasters can misplaced trust brings.


    But is one supposed to doubt one¡¯sownfamily?


    Seyran hated many things and liked few. Actually what she liked weren¡¯t things but humans. They only persons she ever loved: her sisters.


    Kayran, ZoriaandSeith. They were the triplets her mother died giving birth to. ¡°Protect them.¡± Her mother had pleaded with her last breath.


    And Seyran did.


    She had taken back her mother¡¯s belongings. Her kingdom. Her place as queen and she had restored the fear that their family¡¯s name, Kuroro, brought to people.


    Finally, securing every road for them, she brought her sisters out of their sheltered places and let them entered the palace: their rightful place as well as hers.


    She was the queen and she made sure her sisters¡¯ liveswere lacking nothing. She loved them and even if she didn¡¯t tell them that, she let herself be unguarded in their company. By their sides she could laugh, she could let herself be inebriated. She let her multiples walls crumpled for she could always build them up again outside. But not here. Here, in this palace, she was with her family, and family loved each other, never meaning any harm.


    At the very least that¡¯s what she thought.


    Yet now, clutching the dagger that her youngest sibling had thrust into her heart, her eyes widened as she stared in utter disbelief at Seith. What on earth¡­


    She didn¡¯t have the time to dwell on the reason when she felt two shooting pains in her back.


    Zoria and Kayran just stabbed her too.


    Seyran whirledhalflywanting to push them away. Immediately they flew some meters away from her, as well as Seith, in case their elder had in mind to retaliate.


    Her brusque movement caused Seyran to stumble and kneel, her strength leaving her with a speed she never knew possible.


    Seyran could taste the blood in her mouth as well as see it flowing out of her chest, and, she could imagine in her back as well if her quickly soaking clothes were any indication at all.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    What kind of dagger was it? She couldn¡¯t pull it out?


    Her magic too wasn¡¯t working anymore.


    There were seals on them she quickly realized.


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this!¡± she spat with incredulity, anger welling inside.


    She looked at her sisters some meters away. How come¡­ they wanted her dead? Why?


    How could she have not felt their killing intents? Even when they thrust their daggers into her, she didn¡¯t feel any negative emotions from them! Had she not been on the receiving end and clearly saw them, she wouldn¡¯t believe them involved!


    She wasn¡¯t that inebriated right?


    She drank too much wine this night. They had talked so much, it was almost dawn. Seyran had gotten up to return to her quarters but she hadn¡¯t even taken a step when the first weapon was thrust into her.


    ¡°Answer me¡± she yelled at them but they stayed silent, their faces calm and expressionless.


    So calm. Seyran was the one who taught them how to always control their emotions but seeing them this expressionless even face with her bleeding form broke something in Seyran. Even if they were gloating to have been able to kill that great person of Unzu, would have been far better than to have them this unperturbed. With them like this, did it mean that in their eyes she was never someone important? Just some grass in their shoes that didn¡¯t even deserved a snickered.


    Her blood boiled and for the first time since long, Seyran was losing her self-control.


    She laughed at her own absurdity. Wasn¡¯t she the one who taught them to never value anything or anyone? So what if they didn¡¯t value her, wasn¡¯t it her own teachings?


    The more she laughed, the faster her blood drained out of her wounds.


    She would die. That certainty she knew.


    She would die at the hands of the people she loved the most. That she cherished and protected most. She laughed harder. What kind of absurdity was it?


    Those enemies of hers, if they knew how easy it had been to kill her, wouldn¡¯t they turn round in their coffins?


    Her vision blurred. She couldn¡¯t see them anymore but she could still feel their serenity. And worst of all, she still couldn¡¯t even feel any maliciousness coming from them.


    Why? She asked or at least she thought she did but silence answered her back.


    Silent tears were now running down her cheeks while her laughs grew louder.


    What hadn¡¯t she given them? What could they have possibly wanted?


    She never denied them anything.


    Was it her position as queen? She would have relinquished it the second the demand was formulated! Even going as far as protecting them in the shadow to assure their safety.


    Was it this palace? She never needed it, as long as they were willing to meet with her at least one time a week that was okay.


    They could have had anything. They just had to ask.


    What was it? She wondered.


    ¡°Dear sisters, what great cause was it that demanded my death? Ah!¡±


    Seyran finally fell lifelessly on the once yellow carpet, now red with her blood.


    The three sisters came closer. The youngest one, Seith, closed the still opened eyes of her elder, shedding some tears herself.


    Kayran put her arm on Seith¡¯s shoulders, shaking her head.


    ¡°We can¡¯t ask for forgiveness. That¡¯s impossible to forgive¡±.


    Seith nodded and wiped her tears.


    Zoria crouched and pull out one dagger. ¡°Let us finish then,¡± she said her eyes red, but unwilling to shed any tear. They were monsters, she told herself to harden her heart. Monsters don¡¯t cry.


    The others two pull out the daggers that they had thrust in their elder too.


    Kayran arranged Seyran¡¯s position as if she was sleeping on her back, her hands intertwined on her abdomen.


    The three of them, in perfect synchronization, slashed their left wrists with their daggers. They brought their bleeding arms above Seyran¡¯s abdomen, and let their blood flowed on her for some minutes. Next, Seith placed her dagger inside Seyran¡¯s palms while Kayran and Zoria placed theirs respectively next to her head and next to her feet.


    The three sisters recited some verses and their sister¡¯s body started to burn. Those flames were blue and were limited only to Seyran¡¯s body and the daggers. And when the corpse burned to ashes and the golden daggers melted, the triplets finally opened their eyes, and let some tears fall.


    Seith collapsed on the floor, finally letting go of her emotions.


    Their beloved sister. How cruel they had been!

 Chapter 1: Rebirth?

    She opened her eyes with a start, out of breath.


    Ever so slowly she came back to her senses, her breathing normal once again. Stabbed. She had been stabbed by her beloved sisters.


    Gently bringing her right hand to touch her heart¡¯s wound, Seyran found her fingers touching a delicate textile and no sign of cut on it whatsoever. It didn¡¯t hurt either. No, not really. It wasn¡¯t that she wasn¡¯t feeling any pain. Since her birth, there was always this unbearable pain she felt and even when she started controlling her powers and though she could diminish that sensation, it was still there.


    But not now. Now it had significantly lessened. How come? She could still remember that raspy voice of this nefarious seer telling her ¡®and ¡®till your death, you shall forever suffer¡¯. Or was it the answer? Was she dead?


    No. There was still the pain; even if the intensity wasn¡¯t as much as before it was still here, telling her she was indeed alive.


    Seyran sat up, surveying her surroundings. It was as dark as a starless sky. She snapped her fingers. Nothing happened. She snapped them again. Still nothing. The third time she repeated her action, a sharp pain shot in her stomach and she bent over, letting out a soft moan.


    Whatever happened to her magic?


    She clutched her stomach hard, willing the pain to disappear. She was so weak. Even in her early years, she was certain, she had never felt this helpless.


    ¡®Three missing pieces¡¯ the old man had said decades ago. ¡®Our death or your glory¡¯.


    Why was she remembering that fanatic words now? Well, she told herself, any distraction from her suffering was welcome anyway!


    Some moments later the ache subsided letting her panting. It was so dark; she couldn¡¯t even see her own fingers when waving them in front of her eyes!


    Seyran sat with her legs crossed and closed her eyes to analyze the situation.


    Her thoughts weren¡¯t really coherent.


    She couldn¡¯t possibly fathom the reason for her survival. She was stabbed right in the heart for crying out loud. And maybe had she immediately used her magic on her wound then, of course, she would survive. But she hadn¡¯t and two others stab followed right after. Her being alive was simply impossible. And facing this impossible situation, somehow she was at a loss of what to do.


    She ought to be angry at the very least she tried to reason but for a reason or another, she just couldn¡¯t.


    Not if the receiving end of her anger was them.


    There was just this empty feeling leaving her emotionless and detached; aloof as she had never been. Now, she could say and actually mean it, nothing matter to her anymore.


    She tried to get up, took two steps walking ever so slowly but lost her balance and grabbed the thing nearest to her. She didn¡¯t know what it was just that sound of materials crashing and breaking followed and soon there were hurried footsteps heard coming her way.


    ¡°Mistress!¡± cried the male voice in alarm, out of breath. ¡°Mistress, are you alright?¡± he asked at distance not daring to go inside.


    That voice sounded familiar.Straightening her standing position and with an autocratic voice she called out.


    ¡°Come¡±


    ¡°May mistress pardon this servant¡¯s rudeness¡± he begged and made the rice paper slide. He was kneeling with his head bowed and his lamp was by his side lightly lightening the room.


    ¡°What are mistress commands?¡±


    Having some light, Seyran looked at her surroundings and saw that the place was filled with various candles and ordered him to light them all.


    The place now alight and visible for her contemplation felt somewhat familiar.


    That table beside her, glancing at it, she could guess the number of scratches that adorned the left side due to a certain cat. Those broken pieces on the floor, they were the remains of two exquisite vases which each cost dearly. That bed she just got up from: it was so big, yet she knew that the inside materials weren¡¯t of the best quality. She had this impression that she always got up early to make sure to get out of it, for most of the time it was unpleasant to sleep on. However, most of the time she couldn¡¯t, because her body would require her to lay down.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    It seemed that now that she got a good glimpse at those various furnitures, the details of their existence would naturally find a way in her memory making it seemed as though she had always been there.


    There was this strange feeling of nostalgia as though one finally came home after years and years of absence. Yet at the same time, she was aware that she had never put a foot in this whatsoever residence.


    It was a strange and soothing feeling altogether.


    ¡°Lift your face¡± she commanded the young man who had resumed his kneeling position at the entrance of her bedroom.


    Lifting his head, she saw a teenager, not yet a man. He was about eighteen or maybe a little above. He couldn¡¯t be more than twenty-one for sure.


    Seyran had never had any interest in males -nor in females for that matter. She had never planned to have any children -not that her fate would have let her if that seer could be trusted. And now, thinking about the damned man, she assumed, maybe this was what he was talking about when he said ¡®dead but not dead¡¯.


    Anyway, that matter aside, she could claim without anyone protesting that this youth in front of her was a peerless beauty. One whose gender could be confused and had she not hear him talked, she could have bet one glass of her favorite wine he was a woman. He was pleasant to look at, just a little skinny though. His long black hair was untied; his clothing sloppy, letting people supposed he was in a great hurry to come here, fearing something might have really happened to her.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± She asked him in that ice cold voice she always had.


    She saw him trembled a little.


    ¡°Your humble servant is Yenaigai, princess¡± he answered, lowering his head. Something in his meekness didn¡¯t sit well with her but she didn¡¯t dwell in that impression.


    ¡°Who am I?¡±


    He bit his lips, his eyes turning a little red, wanting but unable to cry. His mistress¡¯s sickness was flaring up again. Still facing the floor, he answered.


    ¡°My mistress is the first princess of Yande, Xian Jue Seyran, daughter of the great Xian Xie, herself descendant of Xian Yuuna the conqueror, and her second consort Zixin.¡±


    The great Xian Xie? Xian Yuuna the conqueror?


    ¡°I see.¡± Came her reply, even though she didn¡¯t. Feeling her strength leaving her, she walked back to her bed and sat crossed-legs. ¡°Bring me a mirror¡±.


    He bowed, got up and rummaged through her first drawer, bringing out a bronze one. Her eyes narrowed; otherwise, she kept silent, taking the item in her hands, shuddering a little from its coldness.


    She couldn¡¯t really see that much but the little things she could see confirmed her suspicions. She was younger.


    Since the room was alight, she had that impression that her body was younger but she didn¡¯t know how much. Now, even though it wasn¡¯t clear she could see that at the very least almost fifteen years were diminished from her previous self.


    It was her own face. Just younger. And maybe more sickly and malnourished? She seemed sixteen, perhaps seventeen years old. Drat! She really wished she could see better. It was all blurry and the yellowish light from the candles wasn''t really helping. Well, the mirror itself looked old and she could feel through her skin all its many grazes. Putting the item on the bed by her side, she focused her attention on her hands. They were too skinny, all bony and she wasn¡¯t sure if that sickly color they had was an effect of the light or if they were really like that. A pity she couldn¡¯t use her magic to light the room better.


    Seyran laid her hands on her thighs; her attention was once again on the man in front of her.


    ¡°How old am I this year?¡±


    ¡°Answering mistress, mistress shall be nineteen this year.¡±


    Nineteen? How come her body was this small? Looking so frail and pale. Was she really this ill?


    Yenaigai found boldness in her silence ¡°If this servant may¡­¡±


    ¡°Speak¡± she allowed.


    ¡°Mistress is sick. Mistress may not remember but this sickness will show up every once in a while making mistress faint for days and upon waking up mistress will not remember.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Fainting and not remembering. Hm, she had it easier than her last sickness anyway, it wasn¡¯t a big deal.


    Yenaigai saw his mistress silent like she always was after he explained and his heart sank. Wouldn¡¯t it be different this time?


    Had she reincarnated? Seyran asked herself. No, it couldn¡¯t be that right?


    She didn¡¯t feel like she had entered someone¡¯s body. This body looked exactly like hers in Unzu, the same voice. And rather than feeling she had entered someone else¡¯s body, she had the impression that she had recuperated what had always been hers. It was as if somehow, her consciousness had awoken in this body but that she lacked something.


    Yes, that¡¯s the word. She was feeling that something was still lacking and didn¡¯t know what.


    ¡®Elder sister should take back what had rightfully always been hers.¡¯ Kayran¡¯s voice whispered in her ears.


    She clutched her outfit, missing a heartbeat while at the same time her outward appearance made no sign of perturbation at all leaving Yenaigai unable to discover the turmoil of her inside.


    ¡®Sister should just relax and let us youngsters do it¡¯. Now it was Zoria¡¯s happy voice.


    ¡®Us three will always strive to make your life easier!¡¯ insisted Seith.


    From those cold blue eyes, a lone tear run down her right cheek, while her expression hardened becoming colder and a murderous aura flared up.


    Yenaigai stared in disbelief, a point of panic and a little excitement in his eyes. Whether he had hallucinated that tear he would never know, but he sure as hell could feel this irrepressible anger from his mistress. Was it the change the oracle told him about? Was his mistress going to take revenge on all those people?


    ¡®Mistress¡¯, he vowed in his heart. ¡®I¡¯ll follow you until my death¡¯.

 Chapter 2: Mana

    Seyran laughed. A resounding sound in this otherwise quiet room; it was mesmerizing and pleasant to the ears but it wasn¡¯t inviting to laugh back, for it was without mirth and tinged with too much sorrow. Not knowing what to do, Yenaigai lowered his head even more, not taking any chance to meet her eyes. Somehow, he got the impression that his mistress wasn¡¯t laughing at all but crying and he didn¡¯t know how to make her stop.


    Wasn¡¯t it funny? Making her life easier they said. Indeed! Been dead was so much easier than being alive! She laughed for a while, before suddenly feeling a little dizzy, the room seemingly spinning. She gripped her right knee.


    ¡°Yenaigai¡± she called with a weak voice she had trouble recognizing as her own. She lacked way too much mana right now! ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep, put out the candles,¡± she said more harshly than intended. The light was pricking at her eyes making her a little snappy.


    Yenaigai bit his lower lip, not voicing his complains. ¡®Sleep?¡¯ He wanted to say. After sleeping for so long she still had it in her to continue even more? Ah, then where was the need to wake up at all. But he said none of that, and diligently extinguished all the candles¡¯ fire, wishing for once she would sleep like a normal person and not make it months or years.


    ¡°Wake me up at dawn¡­ no actually wake me up when the sun will be the highest in the sky¡± she ordered when the last candle was snuffed, appeasing her martyrized sight.


    Happiness burst in Yenaigai¡¯s heart. This was clearly saying that she will be awake tomorrow right?


    "Yes, this servant definitely will¡± he answered light-hearted from delight before sliding the rice paper to go.


    Left alone in the dark, Seyran clenched and unclenched her fists several times. The more she went on, the less she could use force to close them properly. She was too frail to even clench her fists correctly! She let a long sigh and lay down on the big bed. Her eyes closed, slowing her breath; she breathed in and gently breathed out, trying to gauge her mana¡¯s quantity.


    In Unzu, mana was equal to one¡¯s energy. It flowed through blood, muscle, bone, and skin and was one of the most important parts in been a wizard or a witch. And although one could live without ever needing to control it or even feel it, facts remained that the weaklings were bound to die in this world where might was right. So people would struggle to increase their mana.


    It was their mana that let them have the ability to create what their mind was thinking about, be it an element like fire or a weapon like a sword. That same mana was used for summoning familiar which then would feed on it. And in their earlier years, Unzu¡¯s inhabitants would often use mana to strengthen their bodies making them resistant to all kind of natural aggressions so that little diseases, hunger or all those tiny things that were lethal to those without mana, were bearable for them. That being said, once the strengthening started, a good portion of mana would be required and even against the user¡¯s will a certain amount of it ¨Cand if need be the whole of it- would prioritize the body¡¯s wellbeing over anything other.


    For a witch, to lack mana was equal to be deprived of energy. Without any energy left in her body, how was she to move? Or was it that this body didn¡¯t have mana at all to start with? But, Seyran realized, it wasn¡¯t that she couldn¡¯t feel her mana. Mana flowed through her whole body however the quantity was extraordinarily small. And given her state, she could guess that it was just a quantity enough to keep this body alive even in her comatose state. Like she was right now, even the smallest movements were very tiring.


    For someone who had previously an unlimited quantity of mana this was really challenging.


    Seyran opened her eyes and for a time stared at the darkness that surrounded her. She closed them again. Tomorrow morning, she would see what she could do about it, for now, she was just too exhausted.


    ***


    ¡°Mistress, mistress¡± Yenaigai called for the third time, panicking a little more with each passing second. He had been so happy the day before when he heard noise coming from her room after almost two years of overbearing silence. Yet now, here she was again, not responding back to him calling her name ¨Cor was it that he dreamt everything that happened? It wouldn¡¯t be the first time!


    ¡®No, no, impossible¡¯ he reasoned. He had himself cleaned the room from those vases¡¯ fragments this morning. So of course, his mistress had woken up yesterday in the middle of the night and of course, she would wake up again today.


    ¡°Mistress¡± he tried once again, louder this time.


    It couldn¡¯t be that she once again fainted right? He was debating if he should touch her to see if a physical touch would be more effective when he heard her sleepy voice moaned lightly before she unhurriedly sat up. Yenaigai let out a sigh of relief, looking at her with a much calmer state.


    Her long black hair spilled over her shoulder and her oversized robe opened a little more than it already had the night before. She was thin, yes, but not ugly. And even though with her corpulence it felt like a child in her mother¡¯s clothes it was still a somewhat sensual sight. There was a vivid contrast between her dark hair and her pale face which greatly outline her sky-blue eyes. She had a small nose and thin lips, which were slightly cut from the cold maybe. Her cheeks were almost nonexistent but not quite to the point of making her cheekbone visible.


    Seyran¡¯s gaze was unfocused as she was still feeling a little dizzy from her small movement. But after a while sleepiness evaded her and her mind rose from its slumber.


    ¡°Mistress¡¯s bath is ready.¡± He said happily, a smile adorning his face, turning his handsome feature into a sight to behold.


    Now with the sun¡¯s light, she could see him better. His stature was thin if she was been polite ¨Call skin and bones to be truthful; his long black hair had been tied in a messy bun, letting two strands frame his face. He had charming almond eyes joined bya high nose bridge and an exquisite oval face. However, he was wearing dark tattered clothes which, from the sight of it, had been numerously sewn up again.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± she said noncommittally taking her gaze away.


    ¡°It is as hot as mistress likes¡±.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    If there was anything Yenaigai took pride on, it was on knowing her habits. He headed to the left side of the large bedroom and made the rice paper leading to the small water¡¯s chamber slide.


    Seyran got up and each step more painful than the one before made her way into the adjacent room. Yenaigai closed the door behind her, letting her bath alone as she always had. Even when those female servants were still there, his mistress would always chase them away and tend to herself.


    It was a really little room. There were just a chamber pot and a tub that took most of the place. Steam was gently floating from it, engulfing the room in a pleasant heat. Her aching body started to feel better even before going in. Taking off those sockets like things from her feet and disrobing herself layer after layer, - silently cursing the use of that many folders - she then put her clothes in the small basin that seemed to be here for that. In another basin near the first, there was a clean towel for when she would be finished.


    Naked, she took the time to look at her body properly. There wasn¡¯t much meat anywhere - certainly not on her chest for sure. Her breasts and buttocks were almost nonexistent. For a nineteen years old woman, it was somewhat surprising. And even thought Seyran never held that much consideration in her appearance, she had the itch to use magic to make her body more familiar to herself. Well, she concluded after the whole inspection, it was nothing that continuous good food couldn¡¯t deal with.


    She came closer to the tub; its water was starting to boil.


    ¡°How is it, mistress?¡± She heard her servant ask her from the other side of the door. He was waiting for her to say that the heat was sufficient enough so that he could go and extinguish the fire.


    Yes, that tub was still on fire. To warm their bath¡¯s water they actually directly put the tub on fire and when the desired temperature would be attained, the fire would then be extinguished and the person could take a bath. The material in which the tub was made of was the sort that, once the fire was snuffed, its edges would cool down making it so that only the water was warm and not its container. The person could then lean against the tube without any danger of being burn.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let the fire die out.¡± Came her reply, before he heard the sound of water moving, seemingly she had entered the tub.


    Her servant was a little startled. Even though this princess had always loved burning things, she still couldn¡¯t take it if the temperature kept on growing but now, it seemed she was fine with the fact?


    Seyran relaxed in her bathtub, feeling the pain that inhabited her lessened a little more with this hotness.


    Even in Unzu, there had always been this pain that ripped at her, mentally and physically exhausting her. In her early years, she had thought it to be a disease. But no matter who she consulted no one could diagnose her, let alone cure her. And when she had exhausted Unzu¡¯s whole healers, she tried physicians. Contrary to healers, physicians didn¡¯t use mana and usually, their ranges of patients were limited to those without or with lesser mana but an exception wasn¡¯t unheard of. Seyran could afford to gamble with her luck -and she did, looking for every physician in Unzu. They weren¡¯t easy to find and it ended up being a waste of time, with no result whatsoever. About that time a decade had passed and with it, her hope of recovery. If it couldn¡¯t be cured then it couldn¡¯t. She chose to give up and live like that. She had already been used to the constant pain anyway and what more she had a kingdom to govern and many enemies lurking in the shadow. But her sisters wouldn¡¯t let her be. They insisted and even sought aids from famous Seers. Seyran didn¡¯t believe much in those people for they were known to fawn over their clients and only tell them what they wanted to hear. She recognized though, that one or two of them when proven right with time.


    Anyway, they were invited to the palace that year; it was less than five years after she had killed the previous king who himself was once at a time her mother¡¯s right hand. A stupid thing to do, having a trust one in a world where power was everything. Taking advantage of the weakness her difficult pregnancy had overwhelmed her with, that king had fatally wounded her mother making her breath her last, right after giving birth. To pay back, Seyran had cut his lower half pieces by pieces, turning them into tiny little things that she fed his underling¡¯s familiars, with him still very conscious and looking. He had begged and cried; at first pleading for his life and afterward, pleading to have a quicker death.


    He didn¡¯t have one. She grew increasingly creative and tortured him for months before growing bored and beheading him. In all honesty, his actions weren¡¯t really condemnable. He had bided his time and struck at the right moment. It wasn¡¯t his fault her mother had been stupid enough to buy his sweet-talks. He had wanted more power and had wanted to feel the elation of being higher than others. And he had felt it ¨Cfor a time. Although she could understand him, to forgive was another thing. There were no words to explain how good she felt when she saw his beheaded head breath its last. She left his head on a pike for half a year after that as a warning to whom it may concern. She wasn¡¯t someone to be trifled with and much less someone who can be sweet-talked.


    So it wasn¡¯t really surprising that she was unwilling to trust those seers, no matter how much she trusted her siblings and their dubious judgments.


    Three of the most famous seers had been fetched for her. Two of them told her she would be this world¡¯s greatest queen and how her life would be full of glory, nothing at all about her strange sickness ¨Cit was thanks to her sibling that they could leave her palace unscathed. The last one though was another affair entirely. The old short man was blind, his eyes were crystal clear without any colors but he kept on rambling about how he could ¡®see¡¯ her. And hell, he talked so much and in it said so little that Seyran and the triplets were left more confused than before. He talked about life, he talked about souls, death, missing pieces and he even went ahead and foretold their world¡¯s destruction. That¡¯s when Seyran had enough and just by snapping her fingers she teleported him at the other side of the world -The farthest from her, the better!


    All in all, her continuous problem never found a solution and till her last breath in Unzu the pain was present.


    But now, it was a different kind of pain. A gentler one ¨Cwell, as gentle as a pain can be.


    She had her eyes closed since entering the water. She opened them, their blue color a shade darker, and her complexion rosier than before. She lifted her small hands out of the water. The burning liquid on her skin was such a soothing sensation that along with her health, she could feel her mana improving. It was as though it was feeding on the water¡¯s temperature through her skin¡¯s pores, turning the hotness into mana. A light smile that would make Yenaigai over the moon embellished her beautiful face.


    She focused her attention on her palm and tried thinking about fire, concentrating for a while. It was such a long time she hadn¡¯t need this much concentration. Light sparkles could be seen and she released a breath she hadn¡¯t realized she was holding.


    She could still use her mana in this world!


    The fire finally formed, the size of her palm, before burning out after a moment. Good, good, she hadn¡¯t thought it would work at first try even if it burned out faster than it should normally have.


    She tried creating it again on her other hand and felt a tingling sensation in her heart, making her frown. It tingled again and in her mind, came her sister¡¯s words.


    ¡®You know, before they accepted there was a tingling sensation you would feel and then you¡¯ll know they were alright with been your familiar!¡¯


    For a reason or another, Seyran had never been able to summon a familiar and it wasn¡¯t for the lack of mana. Not only she couldn¡¯t summon them, but she couldn¡¯t take over other¡¯s summoning. She could still control them for a time though, but she never did have her very own familiar. However, she knew the process of acquiring one. If the creature was already in front of you, you just had to propose your mana for it to feed on and if it was willing,a bound could be formed.


    But she couldn¡¯t remember proposing now. A sinister smile plastered itself on her face as she scanned the room. Where was this stupid thing that was daring enough to feed on her mana!

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 Chapter 3: A Desolate Place

    ¡°Come out¡± Seyran exclaimed coldly. She could sense a presence with her but was unable to locate its real position. It was annoying, to say the least.


    Concentrating once more, she created another fire on her palm, a little quicker this time, and before it even had the time to form itself correctly it had been snuffle once again. The damn thing was daring! Searching around the little room and seeing nothing had her furrowed her brows. Was it that it could become invisible?


    She stopped trying to exteriorize her mana. Magic shouldn¡¯t be used haphazardly. Feeding others while her own reserves were barely enough to be manipulated wasn¡¯t something she would do. This body of hers had been strengthened by mana and like it should, it would certainly render her unable to use more mana if it felt her reserves too low. She was powerless at the moment it seemed and that realization, the one who had once been a queen ruling over bellicose beings with undeniable supremacy, didn¡¯t like it at all!


    Her mouth twitched the sole sign of annoyance on her face as she decided to even the score another time.


    Seyran closed her eyes, breathed in, and dived into the now boiling water, not letting a single strand of hair outside. Far from suffering her body was soothed by the temperature; it was a sensation far better than it had been in Unzu and her pores were giving her the impression of basking in energy. She had always been okay with heat and now it seemed it can restore her mana as well. So she brought her face out to breathe a few time before returning down the water. However, that new ability was limited in time she concluded when she started feeling uncomfortable after a little while. Even so, she tried staying under the water with her breath caught, longer this time, wanting, needing more mana. Without it she wasn¡¯t feeling herself, not really anyway; but then again she needed to breathe not able to hold it in any longer. She surged out, heavily breathing. The bubbles of boiling water were now splashing and bursting violently around her and her pale white skin started to turn red. She chewed her lips, not liking that this body hadn¡¯t been reinforced enough in her early years to let her play with the heat as she pleased.


    It had been good the time it lasted anyway. She let out a contented sigh -her aching body no longer aching as previously and her eyes no longer killing her- as her feet touched the wooden floor, wetting it. Her feet were light and steady as she stopped by the basin near the entrance. Wrapping herself with the big towel in the recipient, and with the smaller one that was at the bottom, she rubbed her hair and wrapped it too, she closed her eyes and delighted herself with the steam around her. As little as her playing time had been, it had still been beneficial for she was now in a better shape than last night.


    Almost sliding the rice paper, she stopped her movement and gave the room a last gaze. She inspected the place for a time still feeling that presence by her side but still unable to see it. Not being in a position of power wasn¡¯t something she was used to and Seyran wouldn¡¯t start being used to it now. But using magic against an unidentified opponent without knowing his characteristics wasn¡¯t wise and, looking at her palm, it would just be feeding him her mana anyway. That thing seemed okay gulping down the fire she created and it even feasted on the mana she concentrated on her palm so no, it wasn¡¯t the time to confront it.


    Seyran slid the rice paper and she was back in her bedroom. In the middle of the place, on a wooden hanging, were hung new clothes. They were white with red chrysanthemums at the bottom. Touching it, she found the first material smooth, the second, under, was even smoother. The following one was a little rough compared to the firsts. The style of clothing was like the one she had remove before her bath; way too many folders in her opinion. That kind of many sleeves where was the use of them? So, she only took the outer garment, the silk used as undergarment hanging by the other side and the socks that were on them. She hung the towels on an empty space of the hanging, letting them dry here.


    Yenaigai, surely being the one having brought those clothes, was nowhere in sight and she wondered a little, putting a hand on her stomach if he went to cook for something. Her body may be reinforced with mana but it didn¡¯t change the fact that food was delicious and was one of the great providers of mana! Not eating wouldn¡¯t kill her ¨Cnot by the usual period anyway- but it wouldn¡¯t help her growth either. Her body would shrink, become skinny, her muscles atrophied and her whole being would ache. Seemingly what already happened to her!


    Sliding the paper rice to exit the room, she was greeted with the view of a peaceful courtyard. Simple and vast. Maybe too simple, without any floral decoration or anything else, not even a tree. Just a big emptiness, and the possible directions were well drawn on it. Seyran looked up at the sky. The sun was shining to its fullest; the day was a little hot but it was the perfect weather for her. As she was thinking along these lines, a sudden gust of air, a little crisp and fresh was shot at her. Her frosty angry eyes stared at the general direction it came from and as soon as it started it stopped. This thing was really making its presence unforgettable! She wouldn¡¯t indulge it anyway; promptly ignoring it, she took in her surroundings. The house was entirely in wood. The floor was covered with gravels and three passages ways with big flat stones stood out.


    She looked at her feet then at the floor some steps ahead again. There hadn¡¯t been any shoe inside the room and she didn¡¯t really feel like searching again. Instead of calling for Yenaigai, she chose to explore this place a little, with only socks on, starting with the location of her fire¡¯s bath. Not really knowing -or should she say remembering?- this place, she was in no hurry. She followed the left side of the verandah and then turned left.


    The wood under her feet was clean and of good quality. It could be seen the great caution with which it had been taken care of. Delicately her feet left the wooden floor and touch the gravel as she followed the path where lead the verandah...


    After turning left at the end of the corridor once again, she ended up finding the back of her bedroom. Differencing the water room came easily. The place reserved for the toilet was a little elevated and an arrangement was reserved under it for the woods that heated the bathtub. Even now, said woods were still on fire even though it was almost extinguished. A wooden bucket filled with sand was left by the fire¡¯s side so she just pushed it with her left foot.


    Afterwards, she kept her on with her exploration. Soon, the simple courtyard left place to an unkempt arid garden. Another courtyard was passed. It was half destroyed its ground without any esthetic with dirt everywhere. The two following yards were in more severe states. The courtyard she just came from and the outside was such a deep contrast. Her own courtyard had been kept beautiful and may pass as something if not new, quite well conserved; but that vast manor, way too big and old, was generally ill conserved and seemed quite desolate. It was a big place but everywhere was condemned, some rice papers were cut, houses were running down and she wondered if some kind of war had taken place on its premises for there were demolitions far too great to be simple.


    This sorry state was, it seemed, the manor¡¯s true one for even after walking for a long time no place had been as good as her own.


    Taking one more step further from her yard, a sensation traversed her. She could faintly feel the pull of her own mana somewhere in this manor. Was this from the one that was tailing her? But why would it be more intensified than it had been one second ago? The pull was so faint that she didn¡¯t really know which direction it came from, so she just put it at the back of her head for now and kept on with this place¡¯s discovery.


    So used she had been to teleport from one place to the other that she found after several minutes that walking was tiring and all the more for her atrophied body.


    The rest of place wasn¡¯t interesting, just covered in dust, dirt, animals¡¯ traces. Some residence seemed ransacked by wild beasts.


    After a long while, a clear path, bigger than others, stood in front of her. Maybe it was leading to the exit of this manor so she took it and after a while of walking, she saw trees¡¯ shapes.


    The whole residence, she realized given thenumber of trees, was surrounded by forest. Seyran tried hard to concentrate her mana to levitate to determine the size of the said forest but either she hadn¡¯t enough mana or whatever was following her since the bathroom had fed on it the exact moment her mana surrounded her body for the levitation. She couldn¡¯t really tell for it was her first time dealing with a limited mana and her first time too having her mana tail as if it was but food. Nevertheless, the pull seemed clearer with each step she took in that direction so this was where she went, the exit.


    Without others alternatives, she kept on walking!


    She stopped, at the main gate apparently, if the two statuses of big animal by the large doors could be trusted. Some meters in front was her servant crouched working his way with the soil. And before seeing Yenaigai or the lighted torch to his left, she saw the rock the size of a hand by his right foot. It was integrated into the ground. She frowned upon sensing her own mana emanating from it. It seemed it was infused with her mana and some kind of other energy.


    When she was little before claiming the throne back in Unzu she used these kinds of subterfuges to drive out anyone with ill intentions. While she couldn¡¯t stay by her sisters¡¯ sides she would infuse a large quantity of her mana in an object and let it with them. It created a barrier against any being with intention of harming them. Even hungry animals weren¡¯t welcomed and would stay by the other side of the barrier, unable to progress further.


    But such a big stone why was its range of action so little? Back then she used to give her siblings things the size of three fingers and its range was around one kilometer and a half. With this stone¡¯s size, if it was her old self, wouldn¡¯t this whole manor and whole forest be covered, maybe it could have gone a little further!


    She approached and touched it. It was really a protection, one with too little mana for its own good thought and, that other energy she sensed had her imprint as well. She failed to recognize it yet it was still calling to her.


    ¡°Aah¡± shouted Yenaiga in fright all of a sudden upon turning his head. ¡°Beast! Go, go!¡± he was shouting, pushing a burning torch at her face before quickly letting it fall upon recognizing her.


    ¡°Princess?¡±


    Yenaigai was a little startled seeing her here. She used to stay in her room before and either she didn¡¯t like coming out or couldn¡¯t come out. It was too painful to move she used to say when they were little every time he asked. With the passing of years, she stopped answering him when he made suggestions along these lines only staring at him for a while before looking by her bedroom¡¯s windows. Her gaze would linger in the direction of the capital for a moment afterward she would pick up her brush once again to write or she would close her eyes and meditate. Her gaze grew lonelier each time so he stopped asking altogether silently sitting by her side.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    But here was this same person now though.


    ¡°What are you doing she asked?¡± remembering she had looked for him.


    Yenaigai showed her proudly two big potatoes.


    ¡°S¡­Mistress, this servant is going to prepare diner¡± He was saying happily.


    She glanced at the place the rock was protecting. It was a distance of three feet radius approximately, around the rock and he was using it as field. That said, it was almost bare, just some herbs and a little space for the potatoes¡¯ plantation. She failed to see the necessity to protect that.


    And why was he so cheerful. It was just two ugly dirty potatoes. And beside him was a little bowl where laid some little herbs. Weren¡¯t these kinds of ingredients little lacking nutritional elements? Him so proud about these two, it wasn¡¯t that he planned to cook only that right?! Her mana was protecting this place alright, it could actually add some strengthening properties to the potatoes and herbs alright but fundamentally it didn¡¯t change the fact that it was not enough¡­ Was this why he was so skinny? Her mana was infused in it so the potato was sufficient to give someone the bare minimum but surely no one was supposed to live with the barest.


    How could Yenaigai know he was actually downgraded in his mistress¡¯s evaluation, he was way too happy right now. Ah, he really wasn¡¯t regretting the golden piece he spent on this oracle. Ah, this time, this time would really be different. Look, look her very presence was the proof, he felt like shouting. Since when hadn¡¯t his mistress taken a foot out of her courtyard? But here she was, contemplating his magnificent plantations. Was she going to felicitate him? She should he thought. It hadn¡¯t been easy to cultivate here, he had worked the floor hard until almost collapsing for many months and now it was producing. Wasn¡¯t he a genius?


    But his splendid expression didn¡¯t stay long for once more, his usually silent princess was talking.


    ¡°You¡¯re all skin and bones. How can you be so when we¡¯re surrounded by forest?¡±


    Yenaigai had a wronged expression on his face, seemingly pouting a little. Wasn¡¯t this mistress of him being unnecessarily cruel?


    She took in his state. Filthy clothes full of holes, dirty hands full of calluses, sorry shoes


    ¡°How long have you been inside this manor?¡±


    ¡°For nearly ten years.¡±


    ¡°And since then one still didn¡¯t learn how to pick more food inside the forest! Isn¡¯t this forest vast? Or is it that there aren¡¯t any beasts living inside? Surely one can find something more nutritious than two potatoes and some herbs!¡±


    ¡°The beats inside this forest are terrifying!¡± He exclaimed shuddering at the thought. He hadn¡¯t the ability to confront them!


    ¡°Potatoes with herbs. That portion is it really this big?!¡±


    Seyran was angry and she didn¡¯t know why. This state of his angered her and was shaking her with guilt. Guilt she didn¡¯t want to feel, so the anger was bubbling higher. Looking at him like that, there was inside her a furious desire to apologize that she was giving her all to reign in. Why should she apologize? She didn¡¯t know, but it seemed important that she did so.


    Those memories she couldn¡¯t recall, what did they hide?


    The uncomfortable feeling seeing him in this state was still growing and the anger she felt in her was akin to the one she felt when her sisters were doing unnecessary things, troublesome ones that endangered them in order to help her.


    While she was taking in his state he was also taking in hers. Her feet weren¡¯t protected for the walk but for that, he had no solution. However for the other one¡­


    ¡°Should I dry mistress'' hair?¡±


    She may have rubbed her hair with a towel but they weren¡¯t completely dry and her hair was dampening her clothes a little.


    Seyran didn¡¯t really care but redirect her thought to her hair. By reflex, she took hold of it and placed her hand in front of it. She concentrated her mana on her hand and even felt the beginning of a gently heated wind but the moment the wind was formed on her palm the very mana she was using was sucked once again. Her lips twitched.


    Really the guts of this creature were big!


    ¡°Mistress?¡± asked Yenaigai a little perplexed by her movements.


    Seyran was a little annoyed now. ¡°It will dry by itself!¡± she coldly replied, letting go of her hair choosing not to fan it again.


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    She will be settling this debt in a further date, she knew how to be patient.


    ***


    She followed Yenaigai back in her courtyard, and in the kitchen of her yard ¨Cdespite his protests-, letting him have his ways. If he wanted two potatoes then two potatoes it should be.


    The door of the kitchen was wooden and at it bottoms there some scratches. A blue bird and a white cat with some black spots came to her mind. She could almost taste their names on her mouth but her memory refused to supply the reminder.


    And, as she was looking at him working with a satisfied smile on his face while she was leaning against the door¡¯s frame, her head started hurting a little from overthinking. Was she still Seyran Kuroro or had she always been Xian Jue Seyran and everything else had been some kind of illusion created by her mind?


    ¡°Are we the only ones here?¡± she asked him.


    And when he had said no, she hadn¡¯t asked anything further.


    He didn¡¯t really know what to do not having talked with this princess of his since they were little. Back then too she was a little cold. And each time her disease struck, seizure after seizure, she grew colder and colder. However, a part of her stayed warm enough for him to not complain. She had never really liked animals but had been kind enough to take in the kitten and the parrot he had saved from misfortune at the hand of his female cousins.


    ¡°Do you know what mana is?¡± she asked again.


    ¡°This¡­ this servant¡­¡± He seemed lost. Had he never used it?


    ¡°I was the one who gave you that stone in your field, wasn¡¯t I?¡±


    That he knew.


    ¡°Yes, mistress said when we newly came here that it will ward off anyone trying to harm any being, human, beast or contracted beast?¡±


    There was a pause again. Everything was now in the pot so he couldn¡¯t distract his thought from her and the pressure of this silence was too much.


    He wanted to fill in the silence. It had always followed him and he was scared it will continue. Yenaigai contemplated the idea of telling her about the misfortune those poor things suffered in the arms of her family, cute little companions they were, but their end had been quite cruel. Then he decided against it. She may look healthier but it was just yesterday that she had waked up. He should let her recuperate for now.


    Seyran, not knowing what thought ran inside this little¡¯s one head, was still thinking. This place was so familiar but she failed to have a real recollection of it. It seemed a little abstract; even this comfortable sentiment in being here she was feeling wasn¡¯t feeling real. If she could muster up a big enough quantity of mana and with her recollection of incantations, was it possible to go back in Unzu? Did she want to go back?


    She stared a little dazedly at the fire under the pot without really seeing it, wondering what really happened. She died back then at Unzu right so why was she here in the first place?


    Some time letter the food was cooked and Yeanaigai was in a dilemma. Should he give her share to eat in the kitchen? She was still a princess and for the Yande¡¯s people, their queen was he daring enough to make a queen eat here. But she declined his suggestion of bringing her food to her bedroom and sat by the low table in the corner of the kitchen. He placed a big bowl in front of her. She looked inside the bowl. She could scratch the idea of increasing her mana by eating. It wasn¡¯t this kind of food that was going to make her body grew anything!


    But then again this servant almost pour into her bowl the whole soup he had prepared. Was he planning on dying? This uncomfortable feeling rose again and she ordered him to bring his bowl over. The thing was almost empty so she poured her share in his and ordered him to eat here. She ate, steadily and swiftly while he stared and her, not daring to eat.


    ¡°Waiting to be feed?¡±


    Her voice hadn¡¯t been a shout nor had it have any fluctuation but he knew the displeasure in it and he knew better than to utter a sound. He quickly gulped his own share, scalding himself a little.


    ¡°Why are we the only ones here? Where are others?¡± She had inquired once he was finished and he lamented a little in his heart that she didn¡¯t say anything about the taste of his cooking.


    ¡°Mistress chose to come here to stay away from the palace.¡±


    To stay away, it seemed like even here, she didn¡¯t have an easy going life. But this wasn¡¯t telling her much and she wondered a little if he did know the answers she was seeking for anyway. If it was her past self, she wouldn¡¯t confide in others, they would only see the result, never knowing the process, the what the where the why. Even her sisters didn¡¯t really know everything for she was sparing their minds over. Some matters.


    After some more questioning thought, she learned that there are some books handmade by herself in this manor so she had him fetch them. By the look of it, it seemed this was her handwriting. She closed them and asked about the library he previously mentioned.


    ¡°Take me to the books¡¯ room¡± she ordered


    ¡°Mistress shouldn¡¯t¡± he responded without thinking.


    She gave him a stare that had hi shuddered.


    ¡°This servant¡­this servant had misspoken¡±


    And hastily he brought her where she asked. It was in one of the wrecked yards. The room was like the manor: big but in a pitiful sight, like what lied after a storm. The door was in pieces, the flood was covered in water, much and shattered books were strewn everywhere.


    She picked up one parchment and stared and her handwriting, wondering a little. If she used the library then this place, how come it became desolated as though it hadn¡¯t been occupied for centuries?


    Yenaigai saw her concentrated and with a troubled expression, he left. Maybe he was too used to it by now. Letting her by herself.


    She went to the shelves where still rested some books and parchments. Their titles were what interested her. Cultivation. Core. Qi. Yande. The Xian¡¯s Lineage. The matriarchal system.


    She had no recollection of any of these, maybe the matriarchal system but she doubted it would be the same as the one in Unzu.


    A gust of wind raised the dust when she lifted her hand to grab one book. Her blue eyes glinted with anger and with speed she called forth the water lying on the floor and splashed it in the corner of the room. Not having materialized the water herself, it didn¡¯t consume much mana and was faster in action. She just thought that whatever had been impertinent would run; never had she thought that water was its weakness and that it would actually be trapped under her water jail. Such an easy prison to break, it had gulped down her mana, absorbed her fire yet it was unable to break free from such a simple trick.


    She grabbed her book and approached, blowing the thick dust on the cover in its direction, hearing some squeaks. It was a tiny little red bird. Never having been someone fascinated by animals, certainly not birds, she couldn¡¯t recognize its species; but to be able to become invisible, it certainly wasn¡¯t an ordinary one.


    She crouched by its side with a dangerous glint in her eyes.


    ¡°So you¡¯re the one stealing my mana since I woke up.¡±


    The little things seemed to be throwing daggers at her with its tiny little eyes, so angry was it that one would wonder if it wasn¡¯t actually it that had been wronged.


    Not feeling a little bit sad over it or influenced by its looks, Seyran smiled, her expression quite radiant and, for those who really knew her, deadly.


    As small as it was, dinner had just shown to her!

 Chapter 4: A Filthy Mouths Bird

    ¡°How many bites could one take from you?¡± She asked surveying the animal trapped under her water jail. ¡°Four or five, seven at most¡± She appraised under the horrified look of the animal.


    ¡°Oh, so you do understand human language!¡± she voiced, her smile growing radiant as her killing intent flare. Hadn¡¯t she asked this insolent thing back in the water room to show itself? Wouldn¡¯t she have been lenient had it obeyed her back then instead of trying to annoyed her at every turn.


    Instead of the anger that had been present in the animal¡¯s eyes, fear took place. Such a black suffocating killing intent, this wench was serious it realized.


    ¡°This one is not tasty¡± it squeaked in her mind, making her flinched for she was unprepared. ¡°Absolutely not.¡±


    ¡°What are you?¡± She asked a little surprise, her anger gone and three fingers massaging her template for the voice had been shouting.


    Seyran hadn¡¯t actually expected it to be able to talk, so, as fast as she had thought to skin it and eat it, she was thinking how to use it. Sensing her change of mind maybe, fear fled it and it roared with anger again.


    ¡°How insulting! Treating my great self like this! Stinking human, free me this instant!¡±


    Her icy blue eyes contained laughter now as she stared at the agitated animal batting its wings frenetically on a little hill made of mud. It was really a perplexing little thing, so Seyran let it ran its mouth as it pleased.


    At first she thought it was a spirit that had manifested in the human world as a familiar. But it wasn¡¯t. Familiar weren¡¯t able to talk in anyone¡¯s mind other than their own master. And this bird and she hadn¡¯t formed any bound yet so she wasn¡¯t its master, still, it spoke so clearly in her mind.


    But then again it could actually absorb mana like a real familiar!


    Usually one need to summon a spirit, the summoner would then propose his mana to his summon and if it is to its satisfaction, the contract could be formed. Most of the time, the very fact that the spirit responded to the summoning meant it was okay with the future master¡¯s mana, the ones who sometimes failed to make a contract after a successful summoning were those who had forced said summoning to happen. That was the first method, requesting the user to call the spirit in the spirit¡¯s dimension. The second possibility was that the spirit was already in the human world ¨Cin that case it already bore the appearance of a familiar-, not having returned after its master¡¯s death or the break of their contract. To form a bound with this kind was a little more complicated for they were usually stubborn and capricious, looking for mana with the same taste as their former master. One needed to be really careful because it was usually the most powerful familiar, which, still missing their master, refused to returned to their own world. But if one was lucky, one¡¯s mana could be to their liking and they wouldn¡¯t hesitated a single bit to steal it thus allowing one to be their new master. Books said it was an honor, Seyran used to think it was nonsense and stealing is still stealing ¨Cno one touched her things without her permission and live to tell the tale.


    Seyran still couldn¡¯t decide if it was or not familiar material. Back in Unzu she had forced some familiars to obey to her by sheer power, they obeyed her for a time but she could never establish a bound with them. She tried many methods to feed them her mana, but always failed. They seemed to suffocate and a little afterwards would disappear, returning to their spirit¡¯s dimension; thus, she had never known the feeling of being a master. Five minutes ago she still wasn¡¯t interested but seeing the ability of this one as such a little age as it seemed to be, make one wondered about his future abilities. Having lost the majorities of her power, she wouldn¡¯t mind having a powerful familiar now ¨Cbefore it was just out of curiosity that she tried.


    Now the birdie was trying with all its might to break free from the water that encircled it. Its whole body turned into fire and steam started to form, evaporating its prison. With one brow raised, Seyran just touched the surface of the water and it changed into ice, then into crystal. She infused enough mana into it to make it fire resistant for a time. Occupied as it was, the animal didn¡¯t absorb her mana and even if it wanted to, it couldn¡¯t have for the time being, since the prison act as a container as well.


    The little bird increased the heat of his fire under Seyran¡¯s smiling eyes, mocking it for wasting its time and its energy. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the vibrant red fire and its heated atmosphere turned into a bird again, panting heavily as it collapsed on the floor, still very much inside its prison ¨Ca crystal one now.


    ¡°So?¡±


    The bird looked furiously at her, seemingly cursing but at the same time not wanting to have her angry over its curses.


    Of course it wouldn¡¯t feel comfortable if she looked at it with hunger or if she suffocated it with heavy killing intent that could almost materialize itself. Hey, this bird cherished its life! Having her looked at it with interest ¨Ceven with little mockery- was way more acceptable, although humiliating, it was better than been dead.


    But really, its great self so easily subdued, and from all species it had to be a human at that! How humiliating, how degrading!


    That¡¯s where hunger leaded it! Never stay hungry enough to coveted human qi!


    ¡®It is really glaring!¡¯ Seyran mused.


    She laid the book on her hand to one side, touched the jail with her right hand, making it crumbled and with the other hand took hold of the red thing.


    ¡°Stupid human.¡± It exclaimed confidently the moment the barrier was destroyed.


    A big gust of wind came from the outside towards their direction. Unlike his others wind¡¯s attacks this one wasn¡¯t harmless. It swirled getting bigger and more violent as it was approaching, lying cut here and there in the room. On its wake it only leaved pieces of the books that it traversed, mincing them into fine confetti.


    The birdie had a confident look and wasn¡¯t even resisting as it was trapped in Seyran¡¯s hand. Seyran was really interested in it now yet didn¡¯t like its overconfidence. With just one snap of her finger the whirlwind got blasted and the bird¡¯s face morphed in something akin agony and unwillingness.


    ¡°What a shame, what a shame¡± It complained piteously in her mins before loosing consciousness.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Yenaigai burst in the room at this moment, with a scared look on his face shouting princess along the way. She didn¡¯t even turned to him, just hear him thanked all he believed in, in a relieved sight as he apologized for his behavior. She didn¡¯t acknowledge this either as she kept on staring at the little red bird completely exhausted in her hand.


    ¡°Mistress?¡± he risked asking once again. This time she stood up and showed him the animal.


    ¡°It can use fire and wind; become invisible as well. Is it someone¡¯s you known¡¯s familiar?¡±


    ¡°Familiar?¡± he repeated tasting the sound on his tongue not really knowing what she was referring to.


    ¡°Do you know anyone who can tame a bird like that?¡±


    ¡°¡­A ¡­master?¡± He stammered, and then continued confidently as if enlightened. ¡°Oh, is it a contracted beast?¡±


    As soon as the words left his lips, his face paled terribly. His heart grew panicky.


    ¡°Is this one of the royal family¡¯s member¡®s contracted beast? Was it after mistress?¡± He was almost shouting, beads of sweat becoming large on his forehead; fear written all over his face, making Seyran raised one eyebrow at him.


    ¡®Why would they make a move all of a sudden when they have not done anything for a long time?¡¯ He thought, his back now completely drenched with cold sweat. ¡®Or is it that they got wind that the princess was awake, were they still in the forest perimeter even after all this time?¡¯


    ***


    They had gone back to Seyran¡¯s bedroom, taking with them some books that were still legible. Yenaigai had a troubled look on his face as the two of them were seated by the table in one of the corner of the room. He had started to explain his behavior but had had a messy way of telling things, thus Seyran told him to shut it, not willing to nurse a head ache for the time being. The red bird was inside a new a crystal cage; and now she had been kind enough to not press it on the ground but instead gave it room enough to jump or fly a distance of one meter.


    When she materialized the crystals from her hand Yenaigai had been baffled and that¡¯s when she understood once and for all that this world didn¡¯t knew how to manipulated mana.


    They two of them, leaned each one on a different book, were searching through the ones with contracted beasts as subjects, precisely those which referred the feathered one. So far they still haven¡¯t found the one with the description matching the bird sleeping in the crystal cage.


    Yenaigai lifted his head from his book and looked at her; he looked down on the book again then repeated his actions. Was it alright to ask he pondered? She was flipping her book not sparing him a single glance, but he knew, she wasn¡¯t oblivious to his conflicted state, just wasn¡¯t interested. He hesitated a little but in the end could stand silent no longer.


    ¡°Is ¡­mistress really going ¡­to form a contract with this bird?¡±


    He was really hoping that this contracted beast hadn¡¯t a master yet, and certainly not a master affiliated by however mean with the royals.


    ¡°Depending on it and on the possibility of forming a contract, yes.¡±


    Contracted beast she understood some few minutes ago weren¡¯t exactly familiars. They weren¡¯t spirits and they didn¡¯t lived in another dimension, they couldn¡¯t be summoned either. They were simply beasts that lived in the human world. Well, maybe not simply beasts for they were able to cultivate. She still didn¡¯t really grasp the meaning of that but it depended on qi as energy.


    Nevertheless even if it wasn¡¯t a familiar, it didn¡¯t mean she didn¡¯t want to use it. Since it was impossible to know if a beast was already in a contract, they were searching for a way to break the contract if proven it already had a master. Each beast had a different way of breaking contract ¨Cthat is depending on the type of contract of course. Even more, she was interested in knowing if it had any other abilities.


    There were two types of contract: the master-slave and the equals. In master-slave, for a beast to break the contract was impossible or so said the book, only the master could. He decided the life or death of his beast while the beast couldn¡¯t turn against its master. It was the preferred type of contract here. In small little notes, it read that it was rare but a third person can actually break the contract however the book hadn¡¯t explained how. Then there was the equals. Master and beast stood on the same foot, neither could dispose of the other, to attack one¡¯s beast is to attack one¡¯s self quite literally for if the master wound it, then the same wound would appear on the master and if the master killed his beast then he¡¯ll die with it. Of course that applied only if one party of the contract harmed the other, if it¡¯s a third party then only the one hit would be suffering. Any party can break this type of contract but it would suffer repercussion for the break though, to lose an ability specifically voiced, to lose cultivation and depending on the situation it could harm life essence ¨Creduce one¡¯s years in the living world!


    ¡°And¡­ if the contract cannot be formed?¡± If it¡¯s really an enemy¡¯s contract beast? He wanted to ask but didn¡¯t had the guts!


    ¡°Then boiled bird wouldn¡¯t be bad for tonight¡±


    Startled, Yenaigai posed his movement and surveyed her. She was still leaning over her book, reading it, her face impassive and he wondered a little if she was serious. It didn¡¯t seem like she was joking ¨Cdid she even knew how to, he mused wryly in his mind. He looked at the sleeping animal. Could they really eat that?! However small it was it was a contracted beast right? Where had it even been heard that these things were edible?! They also had a core right? They also cultivated right? She must be joking right?


    However, Seyran was utterly serious. After her altercation with the thing and after making it a new jail that she created by her mana solely, her mana¡¯s quantity was low again. If that thing can be helpful then she didn¡¯t mind making it her contracted beast or whatever it was called but if it proved to be more trouble than necessary, she wouldn¡¯t bat an eye and disposed of it!


    ¡°Awake?¡± She asked without turning her head. She had felt it moved in the cage. It wondered a little, then saw the cage and started cursing nastily once it realized she wasn¡¯t going to react. She ignored it, not even sparing it a glance. Yenaigai, it seemed, couldn¡¯t hear it. He approached the cage, surveyed its inhabitant, looking from left to right, down to bottom as it kept cursing his ancestors. It was indignant that humans treat it so, or so it kept cursing anyway!


    ¡°What species is this from?¡± The question had been a soft whisper from Yenaigai to himself. By now, the bird had grown tired of cursing and sat dejectedly lamenting on its hunger.


    ¡°Hawk fire?¡± inquired Seyran having a hunch that it couldn¡¯t be so for it really didn¡¯t look like a hawk. Nonetheless, the quantity of birds affiliate with fire element and wind element was huge, but those with the two at the same time was quite a thin list. Going by the ability displayed, only the hawk fire matched.


    ¡°It can¡¯t be¡± told her Yenaigai. ¡°The hawk fire is actually huge, even the baby has the size of an adult dog.¡±


    And so the second book was closed.


    She opened the parchments now. Contracted beast, read the first one. It explained the basic of forming a contract. Beasts read the second, detailing the type of beasts: the common beast, sacred beast, mythological beast. And there were those found just in legends, which were said to have long disappeared from the surface of this world.


    Looking at the title Legendary Beasts, she remembered this rare summon in Unzu. The phoenix. It was quite an arrogant thing said the books. But contrary to this one, the phoenix didn¡¯t manipulated wind nor became invisible. It was a fire element, the ruler of said element, the one that can be reborn from ashes.


    She got up and came closer to the cage to talk.


    ¡°What are you?¡± Seyran asked the little bird once again not feeling like searching any longer.


    Yenaigai looked a little troubled by the inquiry. It was a contracted beast ah, how could it talk to anyone other than its master? To use human language a beast need to break through the late medium stage right? Yet this bird didn¡¯t even looked like it had passed the early novice stage!


    ¡°Mistress¡­¡± he tried to explain on behalf of the animal but one look from Seyran made him shut up.

 Chapter 5: An Agreement

    ¡°Still not talking?¡±


    The little bird swallowed audibly. It could feel her patience wearing thin and that killing intent was arousing yet again!


    ¡°This one forgot!¡± It hastily said, swallowing the insult it was prepared to say the moment she got up.


    Seyran¡¯s lips curved and the birdie almost wet itself. This wench was going to kill it, she was really going to!


    ¡°I swear I do not know. In this whole forest I am the only one like that!¡±


    Really, it didn¡¯t know. But it was majestic for certain. The nobility was engraved in its blood, like basic instinct telling it that it was born to be higher than others beasts. So, humans, that it already considered inferior to beast, of course they wouldn¡¯t enter its eyes.


    ¡°How disappointing!¡± whispered Seyran. She looked at Yenaigai, he appeared completely oblivious to what the birdie was saying, staring at it with deep concentration still trying to see if his memory had any information about such a beast. Utterly disappointing she thought. In the end she understood, she could hear him just because it was her mana that it ate, thus creating a certain kind of link between them.


    She touched the upper extremity of the cage and pressed it. The cage started to shrink, losing its height little but little.


    ¡°Does it already have a master?¡± asked Yenaigai surprise by her sudden motion. He immediately regretted it and apologized in a small voice, a little afraid. But it didn¡¯t seem like his mistress was listening to him anyway. Her eyes were so clear and had such a deep blue. A suffocating atmosphere was create around her and he was doing his all to not take some steps back.


    ¡°None¡± the birdie shouted at once, at the top of it lungs, yet only heard by Seyran. ¡°None, none none none. This one is willing to lower itself to help you¡± It was saying.


    But the crying voice in her head just made her accelerated the shrinking.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it excessive? Aren¡¯t you too ruthless? I ate just a little of your fire, it wasn¡¯t really that delicious you know!¡±


    She kept an inexpressive face, still decreasing the cage little by little. It would end up crushed right?! Better loose face than life!!!!


    ¡°Okay I lied I lied I lied, it was the best. And that essence was the best of the best, way more nutritious than any qi I have tasted so far.¡±


    The bully, she was a big bully, not even acknowledging her target¡¯s repentance.


    ¡°It was just a little stealing. Anyone would die without food you know!¡± It was agitating itself now, flapping its wing in big movements, wanting to be listened to. ¡°My bad, I won¡¯t take your essence again. But I felt like dying you know!? When there is a lifebuoy in front of you how can you be heartless and let it go to waste. Ah, I couldn¡¯t afford to lose this life you know!¡±


    But the woman wasn¡¯t hearing at all! Was it really going to be crushed? This one had no heart ah! The little bird tried to change into fire, it tried its hardest, it really did; but it couldn¡¯t anymore. So powerless was it that it collapsed and started wailing. Hungry, it was so hungry. It¡¯s been two years since it hadn¡¯t eaten and now it would die because it dared steal where it shouldn¡¯t.


    ¡°This great one¡± It started then ended in a pitiful voice that was cracking ¡°this one, beg your pardon¡±


    Seyran stopped; the cage was just one time and a half the height of the bird. There hadn¡¯t been any sneak attack, it seemed like this bird really hadn¡¯t any energy left.


    Yenaigai saw the little bird antics and wondered if it could communicate with his mistress. It seemed to be pleading though.


    ¡°You¡¯re hungry.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question and the bird didn¡¯t treat it as such, just let the silence continue, ashamed as it was.


    Seyran was unusually patient with it actually, contrary to what birdie was thinking; otherwise, had she really wanted its death, she wouldn¡¯t have taken the time to crush its ego! Who asked it to curse so much and at her at that!


    ¡°What do you usually feed on?¡±


    The little bird clung onto the possibility of being saved and docilely replied.


    ¡°Fire and qi. There hadn¡¯t been any fire in this forest for such a long time. I can¡¯t eat my own fire.¡± It was talking so quickly, not sure it could understand what it was saying itself or if it even made sense, just one thing in its mind, to distract that woman and made her forget about killing it. ¡°The qi of this forest¡¯s beasts are disgusting, not tasty and not nutritious at all! Yet this whole courtyard had always smelled so good but today it was especially bewitching. You have quite a magnificent core; I just thought the qi you would be cultivating would be delicious too.¡± The bird paused, seemingly a little afraid to continue but in the end it thought why would a dead one care if its corpse is being whipped ¨C it was already in a mess, no matter what it did that fact wouldn¡¯t change. ¡°The fire you create made me feel like I was born to taste it. A life without tasting it isn¡¯t a life at all! And that essence-¡±


    ¡°Mana.¡± Said Seyran, supplying its correct name.


    The little bird was now crying.


    ¡°It was succulent. After having been hungry for so long this one couldn¡¯t let go! Wuwuww¡±


    Yenaigai was bewildered, seeing the animal crying with real tears. Were beasts supposed to be able to do that?


    Seyran lightly tapped with her finger on the table on which the cage was on, glancing outside by the opened windows. The sun was setting, giving the sky an orange color. She was hungry too, that thing prepared by her servant not only it wasn¡¯t nutritious it was also disgusting having no savor at all! When he had begged her not to enter the forest to hunt by herself, she let him have his way because she didn¡¯t really know what lie inside. From his very reaction, she could deduce it wasn¡¯t something simple. That aside, she didn¡¯t really know if there were contracted beasts inside and she wasn¡¯t confident enough to be able to battle with them in unknown territory seeing her meager mana. She turned to the bird, sinister laughter in her eyes making its shuddered.


    ¡°Meat for mana¡±


    It took some seconds to understand. It lifted itself, staring skeptically at its bully. Why was she suddenly willing to negotiate?


    ¡°Not willing?¡± She asked making it trembled in fear.


    ¡°Very willing¡± it answered immediately. Who cared why she was willing, he would size the first opportunity to flee!


    She tapped on the cage and it shattered in thousand pieces. Concentrating her mana on her right palm, she brought it near him, letting him absorb it to regain some energy.


    ¡°Absorb more and I shall kill you!¡± she said when it seemed like the bird would jump on her hand to absorb the mana in her very body.


    The birdie instantly froze. It had just been transported by the sensation okay? Couldn¡¯t she have added a little more on her hand then?! Yet it dare not vocalized its complains for the meal was still delightful. Normal fire was bland and provided nothing at all, but this girl, her fire smelled so pleasant, and that energy that flowed through her was the best thing he had eat. It was a pity he wouldn¡¯t stay by her sides to experience more.


    ¡°Be it tomorrow or in a century, a debt must be paid. Yet I have never been good at holding grudges. I act instantly.¡±


    After saying that, she regained her placed besides her books, leaving Yenaigai to wonder about the meaning of her words, while the little bird swallowed and let a nervous laugh. So able! She could even read its thoughts. Hadn¡¯t she just promised to make it regretted it if it dare not come back?


    As it flew away it kept on mumbling ¡°There really is no free meal under the sky¡±


    ***


    She opened and closed her fists; they had become painful, as well as her body. Her reserves were low, the remaining mana was now impossible to use for it was maintaining the equilibrium in her body. As such, she started feeling sleepy but instead of going to lie on the bed, she leaned against the wall on the corner. That bed was really too uncomfortable for words. She ordered the candles to be lit and took one book to read, wanting to stay awake until the return of that animal.


    Closing her eyes, the only things she saw were her sisters¡¯ faces, the palace, and ultimately her death. She was both angry and sad and didn¡¯t know how to cope with such emotions. There wasn¡¯t wine nearby either. In a sense, she was unwilling to sleep for she didn¡¯t know how to face the darkness.


    Yenaigai had been scared when she closed her eyes for five seconds but breathed a sigh of relief when she opened them later. It was silent once again he found. A little too silent. He lowered his head, biting his lower lip. The deafening silence had long grown into something terrifying for him, so he dared lifting his eyes to look at his princess turning the pages of her book while trying to comfort himself that he wasn¡¯t alone anymore, she was awake and wouldn¡¯t go.


    She read a little of Yande¡¯s story. The country was first formed by her ancestor, Xian Yuuna, usually called the conqueror. Since then the country was left to her family to govern. A smile appeared on her face. So here, it was your birth that made you qualify to govern? Weren¡¯t they scared the person wouldn¡¯t have the ability?


    In Yande, like in many country of this world, the matriarchal system was used. Female dominance. Matriarchy was a social system in which females held primary power, predominated in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property at the specific exclusion of men, at least to a large degree. It was really different from Unzu¡¯s matriarchy; that being said just a bunch of clans in Unzu respected that anyway. Back there it was just the privilege of giving one¡¯s child her maternal family name. Most of the time thought, the stronger one got to pass his name to his upbringings. Not that she ever felt like vying for this kind of things was important.


    What made this world¡¯s matriarchy significant was peculiar. The female dominance was highlighted by the fact that females were the ones who could easily cultivate. Turned out that for humans, contrarily to beasts, the gender was important in matter of cultivation. At the age of ten, most girls formed a core and since then the real cultivation would started. Men were at a disadvantage. Cores didn¡¯t come effortlessly for them; actually they usually didn¡¯t have one at all. It was speculated that that fact had something to do with pheromones.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Thus the male gender was dominated upon. Men here were more like decoration, beings used for reproduction, without really having power. They were given odds jobs and rarely taken into consideration. That being said the ones among them who could cultivate were treated very well and given important tasks.


    Isn¡¯t it all just about cultivation then, Seyran asked herself but was disturbed by a voice chirping in her mind.


    ¡°I can¡¯t transport it ah!¡±


    She tried to respond in her mind, but it seemed she couldn¡¯t make herself be heard by it, making her wondered a little why so; however she didn¡¯t dwell in that for long.


    ¡°Yenaigai go and take a look at what that bird brought back.¡± She paused, taking in her servant¡¯s shape. ¡°If it¡¯s too small tell it to fetch another thing. Something with lots of fat and meat.¡±


    Yenaigai bowed and left to search for it in the residence, yelling right and left ¡®Little bird, birdie¡¯.


    A little while after, the small animal flied to him and made it followed it to one of the desolated courtyard. Seeing where they were going, Yenaigai¡¯s steps paused a little. Wild beasts sometimes came during the night; he was a little scared since he couldn¡¯t defend himself.


    ¡°What are you waiting for¡± Shouted the little beast angrily at him shooting hot wind in his direction. ¡°Do you want that demon to come here?¡±


    ¡°Stop, stop, I¡¯m following, lead the way, I¡¯m following.¡± He may not be able to hear but it was obvious the little thing was dissatisfy seeing him stopping here.


    And so he was lead in front of three ravens. They weren¡¯t really amazing in sight but they were big enough.


    Little bird looked at them with a little pity.


    ¡°Forgive me, I also need to eat ah¡±


    It had hunted them one after the other, first creating a bubble of air around them, when the oxygen would be exhausted, the animals would suffocate and fall down from their perch on the rooftop.


    Yenaigai was imagining his plate already; his saliva was dripping on the floor.


    ¡°You¡¯re awesome.¡± He complimented generously at his savior.


    ¡°I know I know¡± replied the birdie, as it perched itself on the servant¡¯s shoulder; however Yenaigai couldn¡¯t hear. ¡°No need to tell me. It¡¯s a basic instinct. Like you know it that your¡¯re ugly I know I¡¯m great!¡±


    Not hearing the insult Yenaigai complimented some more, boosting the bird¡¯s ego that his mistress had bruised so ruthlessly.


    They came in front of Seyran showing the ravens and an excited Yenaigai forgot his place and interrogated happily.


    ¡°Master, what¡¯s its name?¡±


    Without lifting her eyes from her reading, she replied.


    ¡°Do you want to give it a name?


    ¡°How humiliating, this one does have a name!¡± He flied from Yenaigai¡¯s shoulder to the table where Seyran laid her books. How could it let simple humans give it a name when it already had one? It wasn¡¯t a pet!


    Seyran looked at it seemingly asking it to give its name then but instead, it lowered its head in grief, anguishly saying in a small little voice.


    ¡°I just momentarily can¡¯t seem to remember.¡±


    Yenaigai who still couldn¡¯t hear the bird was happily suggesting names.


    ¡°How about red?¡±


    The bird immediately lift its head and chirped at him, not that he could understand anyway.


    ¡°Stupid human, do you think me a color?!¡±


    ¡°No, too common¡± he was saying again. ¡°Birdie?¡±


    ¡°What is it in this head of his; does he even have a brain?¡± Exclaimed said birdie, flying to the servant, picking his forehead in anger.


    ¡°Stop, stop, not this one then¡± he negotiated, protecting his forehead with both his hands. ¡°How about flame?¡± Said flame was too exhausted to burn him, so it resumed its pecking, more fierce now, cursing savagely this dense human.


    ¡°Stop, stop, I beg you. Let me choose a better one, I can¡¯t think like this.¡±


    ¡°Huang.¡± Said a soft voice.


    Both the human and the animal paused and stared at the one who talked. She was still holding onto her book but Yenaigai had a hunch that she didn¡¯t want to hear them anymore so had randomly proposed a name to shut them.


    ¡°From now on you¡¯re Huang.¡± He muttered to the bird.


    Did it dare refute the name? Of course not! She would call him rock that he would feel blessed. This was the one on whom his surviving was depending ah.


    The original name was FengHuang, the name of the phoenix in Unzu. This bird may be a little ugly to be called phoenix but she felt that given time it wouldn¡¯t lose to the fire of the king of birds. It already had its narcissistic personality anyway.


    ¡°The three birds must be prepared¡± she said out of nowhere, cutting Yenaigai¡¯s thought who was already seeing how he would store two birds.


    Hearing her talk, Huang¡¯s heart almost stopped before understanding that she wasn¡¯t talking about it but the ravens. What would it do if she suddenly decided to taste it ah! Fellow birds, you must satiate her for this great one! He demanded the already dead birds.


    Yenaigai took the direction of the kitchen bringing with him the ravens, quickly followed after by Huang. It didn¡¯t have the guts to stay beside this crazy woman! Far better the uncouth human.


    ***


    An hour and a half later, and her book finished, Yenaigai brought the dinner. He had picked some more herbs and potatoes and made a soup with the ravens. Her eyebrows twitched seeing the dishes being lain down on the table. Didn¡¯t he knew how to make anything else?


    Seeing him took his leave she ordered him to fetch his plates and come eat here. He stammered a little and in the end couldn¡¯t say no, thus obediently did as ordered.


    The meal was, like the afternoon, noiseless; a contrast to her precedent meals with her sisters. The just didn¡¯t know how to shut up. Upon recalling them, she frowned and stopped the track of her thoughts.


    Huang was perched on Yenaigai¡¯s head, careful to not even meet her eyes. Finishing her bowl and full for once, she was in a relatively good mood. So she materialized her revitalized mana on her hand.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you hungry?¡±


    Huang looked up. Timidly, he flew to her side and landed near her hand absorbing her mana at distance not daring to touch in case it would be punished. ¡®Nothing shameful ah¡¯, it convinced itself. ¡®My great self is being paid for helping. It¡¯s my pay.¡¯


    ¡°Hungry?¡± asked Yenaigai surprised. ¡°Can¡¯t it just cultivate to let the sensation disappear?¡±


    ¡°Stupid¡± chirped the bird at the servant. ¡°If I could, would I be coveting other¡¯s qi?¡±


    But the idiot couldn¡¯t hear it and suddenly, Huang felt quite pitiful. Its great self, reduced to this state, accompanying a murderous human and a foolish one. It was retribution, it really was. As they say, the crime can be forgiven but punishment was inevitable. This wench was still punishing it. Anyway, it was a surviving exercise, it comforted itself. Until its core was alright once again, it would keep on surviving. The greater the hardship, more pleasurable would be the outcome. So, with renewed courage, it kept on absorbing mana for some more minutes and a little scared that it would absorbed more than what she intended to give, it stopped before being full and went to perch itself on Yenaigai once again. Yenaigai, who was able to eat to his satisfaction, was more than willing to let himself be his perch.


    Seeing the bird fly away, Seyran let the mana on her palm returned inside her body.


    This body was a little perplexing to her after her lecture thought. Why was it strengthened with mana? This world was functioning by cultivation yet this body had been strengthened by mana since little. Was her soul really occupying another¡¯s body or was it, like she thought, hers? She looked at the fast asleep bird on Yenaigai¡¯s head, wondering why they resonate so perfectly that it could absorb her mana without any harm to it. She really didn¡¯t know and it wasn¡¯t this birdie with no memory that could help. But, looking at the na?ve bird, her eyes got a deeper shade of blue; if there was an opportunity to increase her reserves and she let it go to waste, wouldn¡¯t she be foolish?


    She looked at the manuscripts that were on the floor and then at the book she just read, lost in her thoughts. Her eyes then fell on her servant and she watched him still eating for some moments before asking herself if it did matter anyway?


    This servant that she couldn¡¯t remember, why did he stay here in this desolate place turning himself into such a miserable figure? Wouldn¡¯t a strong wind break him as he was?


    Yenaigai also finished his plate after a moment, but the silence continue. He wanted to get up and cleared the table but honestly talking, he was a little scared. Seeing her so soundless, made him wondered if she would fall asleep now that she had eaten. With the passing years, he came to fear her sleeping form more than anything. But looking up, he saw that her eyes were still opened, and she was now looking at the windows, like she used to do.


    Maybe it was that he used to come to talk by himself in this soundless room, Yenaigai didn¡¯t really know, but he started talking once again his mind not really here.


    ¡°Her majesty came here ten years ago.¡± Seyran lightly tapped her finger on the table, not stopping him and he took it as a sign to continue. ¡°Two years after your settling here your queen mother went to war with the two neighboring countries and never came back. One year later she was reporter dead. The queen younger sister ordered your entire servants to come back to the palace. At that moment your sickness was working on you again and you were sleeping so you couldn¡¯t react. The population thought you return in the palace and your family entertained that notion while at the same time making your return difficult. The beasts in the forest that had long been docile started to attack us out of nowhere. The ransacked the residence, but they never set foot in your courtyard.¡±


    If simple beasts, she thoughts, then the smell of her mana, even in her sleep, should ward them off to a certain distance. She looked at Huang with renewed interest. Wasn¡¯t this little one foolish to call her toxic mana delicious? Yenaigai continued.


    ¡°Words that that our queen had been missing prolonged to other countries and they came to invade us. The protector came back and froze them all.¡±


    She halted her hands


    ¡°The protector?¡± That was the name given to the conqueror¡¯s contracted beast in the book. ¡°Fenrir?¡± It was both familiar and foreign to pronounce this name.


    Ah, mistress isn¡¯t this sickness of yours too much this time, Yenaigai thought to himself, was nothing left at all? He dared not voiced it though.


    ¡°With his return, the enemies were defeated, the beasts stopped acting rashly and the country was stabilized.¡±


    She looked at him and he hurriedly looked at the floor. Either he was lying or concealing informations. She chose not to confront him for now and kept on listening.


    ¡°After that we were left in peace. The queenless country was governed by the assembly kept for three years. At your sixteenth birthday you were unofficially recognize as the queen. You were named crown princess. The real crowning should take place at your twentieth birthday one year and half a month from now.¡± He bited his lips with anger. ¡°The people think that the one governing them and instituting inhuman regulations is you.¡± He had red eyes Seyran remarked. ¡°Since they can¡¯t simply snatched the throne when the real successor is still alive, they decided to blackened your name. Your family is antagonizing the people, wronging everyone using your name.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t my death a quicker way?¡±


    If it was her, there was something she wanted and someone was blocking her road, she wouldn¡¯t drag the matter endlessly.


    Yenaigai was a little startled. A memory from ten years ago came to his mind, the princess standing in front of him with blood splashed on her clothes saying to the body at her feet. ¡°Death comes easily to me.¡± He shuddered a little, not knowing if it was good or bad, but in the end, she didn¡¯t change.


    ¡°Maybe because Fenrir came back they didn¡¯t dare physically touched you. You are after all a descendant of Yuuna, its master. This servant thinks he wouldn¡¯t let them kill you.¡±


    She looked at him. He was a little rosier now compared to some hours ago but his overall features didn¡¯t change. He wasn¡¯t at all like what a princess¡¯s servant should be, he resembled more like a beggar on the streets, if not more pitiful than them. Since when hadn¡¯t he eaten to his satisfaction she wondered.


    ¡°It has been hard on you.¡± She voiced before even registering she was talking.


    The chopsticks he was playing with paused in his hands, he tried to talk, to deny. Then memories of sleepless nights, of his burns as he was cooking for the first time in his life, of the death of his mistress¡¯s cat and parrot, memories of his loneliness cut by his mistress waking up then sleeping once again for a longer time, making him even more lonely. Hot tears ran down his cheeks as he mumbled some unintelligible words.


    Looking at him she thought about the word devotion. Did he devote his life to her because he didn¡¯t have any other alternative or because he was really loyal?


    And she, had she once devote her life to her sisters because she loved them or because she would actually be nothing without them?


    And now what? Did he want her to fight for that throne? She used to fight to keep her sisters safe. To do so, she used every means she could think of. She fought to avenge her mother and fought too to make their name a source of fear and respect. Yet now, in this seemingly troubled world but where for her, it could be considered quite peaceful, she felt like she owed no one anything. If they used lineage to govern then maybe they didn¡¯t need her way of ruling.


    ¡°Your royal position?¡± he asked after wiping off his tears and collecting himself. He has waited for some moment, hesitating as she seemed deep in thought yet at the same time detached from the world.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that my royal family was taking good care of it?¡± she replied with a smile.


    In this lifetime she thought, if no one troubled her then she wouldn¡¯t go out of her way to make others¡¯ people¡¯ life difficult.


    Yenaigai lowered his head a little unsatisfied. Was it selfish of him to actually wish that she would reclaim the throne and at the same time kill those who made them suffered?

 Chapter 6: Cultivation

    ¡°At that time the late queen still wanted for Princess to succeed her,¡± Yenaigai said, still trying to change her mind.


    ¡°That woman is dead and her wishes had been buried with her, wherever her burial was.¡± Came the aloof voice of said princess. ¡°If those people have the ability, let them rule.¡±


    For something that she never considered hers or never coveted, she wouldn¡¯t fight. She was sleeping and was nowhere in a state to claim for anything, that they used such an opportunity, she actually found that quite normal.


    ¡°If you¡¯ve waited all these years for me to take part in it, you¡¯ve waited in vain for I have no desire for such a burden.¡±


    Looking at her white thinly hands, she felt that they should stay clean, not dyed with red. Maybe, in the end, they would be, but for once, she wasn¡¯t eager about it. If she should be the reason for a river of blood, she thought, the one who would start it wouldn¡¯t be her. In this lifetime, there was no reason to fight. They wanted the throne, let them have it.


    Her calm blue eyes stared at the bowed servant in front of her.


    ¡°No need to serve now. You can go.¡±


    She saw him shuddered.


    ¡°Or is it that you can¡¯t? What is inside this forest that is so scary?¡±


    He shook his head and lifting his face, she saw his eyes turned even redder, tears dancing around them that he was unwilling to let go and she couldn¡¯t quite fathom the reason why this sight annoyed her.


    ¡°This servant is unwilling.¡± He said with a surprisingly steady voice. ¡°No matter what, this servant still wishes to follow mistress.¡± He banged his head on the woody floor. ¡°Asking mistress to allow this servant¡¯s selfishness.¡±


    Huang who was still on his head almost got crushed but fortunately, it quickly woke up and flew to land on the table, not forgetting to voice its complaint in a stream of curses.


    ¡°Rascal! Now that you¡¯ve eaten you¡¯ve forgetting all about your savior! Human!¡±


    It chirped all its anger at being woke up for some minutes with no one paying it attention, certainly not the only one who can hear it.


    Seyran looked impassively at the young man still kneeling in her bedroom, unwilling to get his forehead from the floor. At the end, she still answered him.


    ¡°Fool.¡± Her voice had been so cold that even Huang felt a little bit depressed for the young man for a second before remembering how it woke up and now it felt she should add some more nasty words. ¡°What mistress are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Mistress is still mistress!¡±


    He kowtowed three times, each time knocking his head with more force. ¡°This servant¡¯s only wish is to follow mistress.¡±


    He was really unwilling to let go and she saw no reason not to allow.


    ¡°Do as you please.¡± He lifted his head with a silly smile adorning his face. ¡°Stop kowtowing¡± she ordered when it seemed like he would do so once more. In the end, he just bowed.


    ¡°Thanking mistress.¡± He said with a voice full of emotions.


    Silly little thing thought Huang with narrowed eyes. What kind of dumb person doesn¡¯t take the chance to get his freedom back?


    Yenaigai had a light heart. He really got scared, thinking that this time she would successfully drive him away!


    ¡°Still, what is inside this forest?¡±


    ¡°A couple of years ago there were some contracted beasts from the royals that acted like their detectors, telling them each time one set a foot out of the manor. That¡¯s when beasts would go rampant calling for blood. This servant didn¡¯t dare get further than the manor¡¯s gates these last three years.¡±


    She openly frowned and Huang who quickly detected her displeasure flew further away from her, as far as possible, thus he was behind Yenaigai, just in front of the door.


    ¡°One rather starves than hunt then? Planting herbs and potatoes on a capricious land at that! Vast manor yet no better place?¡±


    He didn¡¯t know what he did wrong now actually.


    ¡°That place was the only one where the beasts wouldn¡¯t chase this servant!¡±


    ¡°And why was that rock dug there?¡± She frowned to herself as a strange sensation passed through her. ¡°Never mind¡± she said.


    Yenaigai smiled sadly. This time around she was really remembering nothing. Not even infusing her qi on that rock the first time they came here to let him buried in the soil the items he took with him as his family¡¯s last remnants. Wasn¡¯t she the one who told him to commemorate them there where no one with ill intention, be it animals, humans, or contracted beasts would soiled it?


    ¡°So at a certain distance in the forest they would detect us and alert their master?¡±


    ¡°This servant thinks so. That nothing happened today meant they are still unaware of mistress waking up.¡±


    Seyran tapped her fingers on the table once more with a smile on the corner of her face, not liking the impression she got at all. Not wanting to start a war was one thing being confine somewhere like a caged bird was another.


    She may not care about this world¡¯s affairs but obviously this world cared very much about hers. If it was before, that kind of thing would be quite normal and she wouldn¡¯t really care. When they showed up in the end ¨Cif they did- she would usually deal with them effortlessly; but now that her mana was limited and her understanding of cultivation wasn¡¯t even grasped, she was obviously an easy target for her so called family.


    Being unable to fight back if provoked wasn¡¯t something she could settle with, and being at someone¡¯s mercy was out of the question entirely. She just couldn¡¯t let that be.


    She glanced at the bird by the door that started nodding off once again and wondered a little if it had once been able to cultivate properly. Her eyes then gazed by her windows at the direction of the faraway forest that she couldn¡¯t see. Maybe building her mana a little more and knowing one or two things about cultivation wouldn¡¯t be bad.


    That night, Seyran didn¡¯t sleep at all. Instead, she read books about cultivation that she had taken from the book¡¯s room.


    Yenaigai on the other hand, after a couple of hours started dozing off so she told him to go, no need to wait on her.


    Huang, who was already sleeping on the floor by the door got awaken by the sound of the rice paper sliding open and close. A little drowsy from its slumber, the bird flew and land on the bed, making itself comfortable for a good night.


    ***


    The next morning and for the whole day, Yenaigai nursed an angry stomach. He ate too much last night and if being honest, his cooking was that bad too. However in his misery, he was quite happy that his mistress was completely fine.


    The one who wasn¡¯t was Huang. How dare those humans turn him into their little pet fire? Her servant needed to drink hot water to soothe himself what does that got to do with its great self? How come it was now in charge to heat his cup? Looking at the direction of that demon¡¯s room where she was certainly still reading, Huang shuddered a little. That fella was frightening not knowing one little bit about asking services! Who had that much frost in the voice when requesting something?! Well, Huang recognized flying away from the now steaming cup, it wasn¡¯t like she didn¡¯t say she would increase the essence she was giving it to eat. Mana she called it?The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Thank you, little Huang.¡± Said Yenaigai, angering the bird which flew to poke his head. ¡°I¡¯m sick, I¡¯m sick, you¡¯re not little! You¡¯re big, really big! Ah, give me a break, my cup will turn over and you¡¯d need to heat it up once again!¡±


    ***


    Seyran was by her small table, more books than the night before occupying the place. She had taken a bath a couple of hours before ¨CYenaigai had been able to fill her water tube and Huang had been in charge of heating it up. It had grieved all along her bathing time. ¡°It¡¯s great self¡± It had repeated again and again ¡°used no more than a normal fire ¡­ One¡¯s fall from grace isn¡¯t one¡¯s death ah!!!¡±. She had after her bath, given it some of her mana and tossed it outside to nurse Yenaigai.


    Now she was, her eyes closed, cultivating. She was sitting in a lotus position, her hands intertwined on her laps. Once she started, she actually realized that the process was familiar to her body and she effortlessly knew her rank. She was still at mid novice.


    There were five ranks in cultivation, each of them divided into three stages, early mid and late. As of the ranks, there were Beginner, Novice, Medium, Adept, Expert. Since she already had a core, she needn¡¯t go through the process of forming one.


    The core was situated at her lower dantian, below the navel, about three fingers widths below and two fingers widths behind the navel. It was also called the golden stove. That was where the particles in the air were refined and purified into qi. Once the qi was formed it glowed with a golden bright, before leaving the core to flow throw meridians with now a blue color. It could, like mana strengthened the body but she didn¡¯t infuse it in her organs to strengthen them, just let it flow through her body. Qi, contrary to mana couldn¡¯t create anything. But it could prolonged one¡¯s life or hardens anything. To fight some would harden their fists, while others infused qi in their weapons to make them deathlier or contour the strengthened bodies. Qi played a role in forming contracts too. Actually the contract was formed by the core but if the beast was unwilling the contract can be forced at the condition that one had more strength than the beast, books assimilate it to having more qi or a rank higher than the coveted beast.


    With each rank the core grew with strength and the qi it formed grew with purity and efficacy. At the beginning, to breakthrough, each stage depended on how much one refined particles. That was for the beginner rank. For Novice, it depended on the quality of the purification, the quantity didn¡¯t matter anymore. For the medium rank, each breakthrough depended on how well quality and quantity could be associated. The books at her disposition didn¡¯t give any details about the last two ranks. Maybe the destroyed books had them but they were illegible.


    So, for the whole day, Seyran absorbed particles ad purified them but she didn¡¯t breakthrough though. Huang flew at her window, attracted by her qi¡¯s smell. How much it wanted to taste it. Would she be willing? It didn¡¯t dare ask, she had already given a part of her mana. Maybe tomorrow it will ask qi instead of mana. Huang swallowed his saliva, already tasting this bluish dessert in his mind.


    Poor Yenaigai left alone in his room was hungry too. He didn¡¯t eat anything since the morn and was tired of his own company, yet he felt too tired to get up.


    ***


    That night too, she didn¡¯t sleep.


    The following morning, she opened the parchments with her handwriting. It was a childish version of her handwriting, a little unsteady and a little light compared to how she usually writes. There wasn¡¯t really anything important written there. Just some poems. Never having before been someone who was interested in things like that, she found that it wouldn¡¯t be bad, to start a new kind of life. An idle life didn¡¯t sound bad.


    Yenaigai knocked and she allowed him in. He was fine he said, when she didn¡¯t even asked and he proudly served her what he called breakfast. It was something made with raven once more and looking at the full of pride Huang on her servant¡¯ head, she supposed it was waiting for a reward for having fetched for them yet another food.


    Seyran¡¯s eyebrow twitched after the first bite. This thing was too disgusting for words yet he was looking so pleased with himself. It was good that she did strengthen her body since young otherwise wouldn¡¯t she be accompanying him into vomiting like he did yesterday?


    How could she know that it¡¯s been his first breakfast since long? He had even forgotten that one usually eat three times a day. If it wasn¡¯t for birdie which made him follow it to the raven it had got, Yenaigai wouldn¡¯t even remember.


    Seyran ate it all without so much as batting an eye and Yenaigai¡¯s happy face fell a little when once again she didn¡¯t complimented his cooking. It was the best he had done in years!


    ¡°Do you have a core?¡± she had asked instead for after all, no core meant no cultivation.


    ¡°No¡± he had answered and she had said no more, taking the parchments she had left and resuming her readings without giving him a second glance.


    Yenaigai took out the food¡¯s sets and while washing them with the water of the well by the kitchen, he thought back at her question and then at the oracle¡¯s prediction. Indeed, this time was different but was he really liking it?


    Huang, which stayed in Seyran¡¯s room was actually quite happy in her company for once. Who knew what took her but she had been generous enough to actually propose her mana after it finished the allowed portion of qi she had authorized it to absorb. This time she said, she wanted it to touch her physically and try to forcefully take the mana from her body. It was a little hard to do but hell, it was really delicious so Huang was giving it its all.


    It didn¡¯t know of course that this was how she intended to increase her reserve¡¯s storage. One would usually do that with one¡¯s proper familiar for it can be dangerous otherwise but this little thing didn¡¯t seem like it was trying to harm her anymore, it was more like it was taking her for a walking food so why not used it properly?


    It served no purpose to increase one¡¯s quantity of mana if it cannot be stored, for when the storage would be full, the mana won¡¯t be generated anymore. The whole body was a container and if previously she had no problem with using it all, now it seemed only a little part was available to use. To increase her storage possibility she needed to dig it. To do that, she had to completely exhaust her mana, forcing the storage to increase by demanding more than it could store -even the mana that usually would be impossible to use, she forced it out. The counterpart would usually let one unable to move for days but she found that she stabilized the energy¡¯s loss from the lack of mana with the energy provided by qi.


    So, she let Huang lain on her shoulder more and more each time she was cultivating.


    ***


    A couple of weeks passed. With the passing days, both Seyran¡¯s and Yenaigai¡¯s shape got better thanks to Huang who became their official hunter. He even lured rabbits out of the forest for them to eat ¨Cwhen ravens became scarce. Yenaigai was quite pleased with it, not that his cooking got any better actually. The woods used for the fire, Seyran understood after sometime, were actually parts of the formers courtyards. Not having any plan on using them anytime soon, she didn¡¯t mind what he did with those courtyards¡¯ materials; however that didn¡¯t stop Huang from being the one she used to heat her bath. His fire was doing wonder on her skin, making the process of creating mana by her pores so easy. It was so hot, her skin easily turned the hotness into mana but contrary to the normal fire she was forced to cut short her time in the bath for after a time her skin would grow red making her uncomfortable.


    Seyran was rummaging through her drawer, to see if there were more poems to read for she wasn¡¯t interested in cultivating that morning. She found no papers but there was a rock inside. It was a little warm against her skin, quite beautiful, round and completely white. Huang on her shoulder told her it smelled nice. ¨CNow she could actually let it absorb her mana for a couple of hours without needing to stabilize her body. Finding that this method was improving her reserves really fast, she permit it to absorb most of the time so by now, Huang grew used to sticking with her.


    ¡°This one wants to touch it.¡±


    She gave the stone to it, placing it under Huang¡¯s claw on her shoulder. Not having found what she was looking for, she seated herself by her table, in the end, starting to cultivate. Until now, she didn¡¯t have any breakthrough but it wasn¡¯t far by now for she could feel her core¡¯s strength increasing.


    Huang felt like it should try cultivating too. The painful sensation it had have for the last two years each time it tried cultivating lessened ¨Cblessed that demon under it, it thought, for her qi was that delicious and that essence she called mana had soothed the pain each time it was allowed to absorb it. Now though, Huang had the itch to infuse its qi on the stone under its claws. It didn¡¯t really know why, it just had to. Prepared to feel a little hurt, Huang was quite pleased when it didn¡¯t hurt at all. So it quite smoothly absorbed particles and purified them into qi, a red one. Immediately it infused the red qi on the stone.


    The stone glowed with a bright whiteness and the moment the light faded, both Huang and Seyran had disappeared.


    Yenaigai came a couple of hours after with sets of food yet found no one.


    ***


    Far away and in the middle of a village, a red little bird was chirping with vehemence, its voice a little scared, just a little.


    ¡°This one just got curious.¡± Huang pleaded for leniency the moment it took in their surroundings. They weren¡¯t at the manor anymore, that¡¯s for sure. They were in a place fill with people which obviously was its fault and it feared for its life. She may have stopped threatening it but hey, she just had that fearful of eyes okay?


    It chirped some more but wasn¡¯t really listened to. Seyran, who was still sitting but now sitting on a muddy road, finally got up, letting her white feet touched the brown watery mud under her. The white clothes she was wearing were now completely filthy, making Huang chirped some more. She had been startled at first and for a moment thought that she somehow used magic to teleport them, but knew the second after that the idea wasn¡¯t probable for her reserve didn¡¯t permit to use teleportation still.


    ***


    The moment Seyran¡¯s feet touched the ground, its gigantic head lift to her direction, its black eyes turned frosty white, cold air started forming around it, as a vague of killing intent arose from within its being.


    That killing intent was so heavy that Seyran felt it kilometers away.


    Someone wanted her dead. Seyran turned her head in direction of the North where it came from. That kind of thing, she hadn¡¯t been missing it one bit. Even though in this life she was prepare to stay low key, some just wouldn¡¯t let her be. She had been in a forest for ten years now, but, she wondered, just who did she offend as a child who had that much capacity?

 Chapter 7: The Zao Village

    That presence, that scent. The beast couldn¡¯t contain itself. It wanted to tear everything apart. But its fast damaging core reminded it to rein its blood lust. Soon, it thought to calm itself, very soon its wishes should be fulfilled. It had waited for five centuries now, two years couldn¡¯t compare. With painful control, its killing intent disappeared, its white eyes turned dark once again. The coldness that started to freeze the capital¡¯s inhabitants was retracted. The fur head lied down once again and closed its eyes. Soon, it repeated like a mantra, the same one it used for two centuries now.


    ***


    Zao village was one of the many villages that surrounded the Lein Oasis. The air was still fresh and crisp there even though in the desert it had started to be heated and burning. After the desert and the small steppe in front of it, were dressed the immense gates of the capital. Even though she didn¡¯t really know, that¡¯s where Seyran was gazing at now with a slight frown on her face. That killing intent so far away had disappeared as fast as it had appeared. It had been so violent that she really hadn¡¯t thought its bearer would succeed in controlling it. But such a deep hatred; was the person really going to let it go just like that?


    Seyran was actually standing in the middle of a muddy road, not concerned about the calmness she had brought in the previously busy market at all, or about the gazes that were still fixed on her for that matter. Actually, those people had long faded in the background as she had prepared her mind for what she had thought to be an incoming battle but turned out to be nothing.


    Huang, perched on her shoulder had felt the danger in the air too, but who would have thought that it would disappeared before even making itself clear? Not that the little bird felt like fighting anytime soon anyway. The lazy days it spent recently, it found them quite fulfilling somehow. However, the bird knew for sure it angered no one, no one to the point of wanting its death anyway. So, was it the one under its claws that actually did? She certainly seemed like the one targeted though. The bird tilted its head to look at the human girl that was still looking towards the north direction without blinking.


    A little group of people started gathering around her, staring intently, taking in her beautiful clothes that were already dirtied and the little animal on her shoulder that was still holding the white stone in its claws. Yenaigai would really cry upon seeing her white feet touching so vulgare mud. Huang could remember the fuss the servant would make when Seyran just wanted to walk in the garden. He would plead to have her reconsidered or to have her draped something around her feet. Go figure why Seyran indulged him, but then the birdie concluded, it was certainly to have the servant shut up for he wouldn¡¯t stop otherwise.


    ¡°You¡­¡± finally stammered one of the whispering villagers in her direction. It was an old woman dressed simply, that was holding a market bag. She was the one nearest to Seyran. ¡°Did you just use a crystal stone?¡± she whispered-asked, looking left and right, quite fearful. Fearful of what, Seyran didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°She teleported¡± one whispered loud enough to be heard by the others.


    ¡°She used the crystal stone¡± another one said.


    Suddenly there was a loud gasp and everyone started to scatter in fear. Just when Seyran was about to discover why they were now so panicked, a little hand suddenly grabbed her clothes and pulled at her sleeves, wanting her to follow. Seyran¡¯s first reaction had been to think about killing that daring little girl in tattered cloth. Let alone that she openly disrespected her, she was still tugging so forcibly at her clothes with her little hands. Then as fast as she thought along these lines, she buried such considerations. She wasn¡¯t the Unzu¡¯s queen anymore. That kind of bloody life, she wanted it behind her. And so, she was for the first time docile in a complete stranger¡¯s hands, letting this unknown little girl pull her and have her run until they arrived at the back of a small house, out of sight.


    The little one who didn¡¯t know she had just escaped death happily giggled as she stopped there, then looking right and left and making sure no one followed, she made Seyran enter the house by the back door, effectively hiding her from prying eyes. She then turned around and Seyran finally saw her face. It was a chubby little child certainly not older than seven or ten years at most; she had a round face and when smiling like she was right now, one could see her missing tooth at the front of her row teeth.


    Huang who had left the comfort of Seyran¡¯s shoulder and flew by itself when the human followed the little one, posed its claws one more time on her as it landed. There didn¡¯t seem to be any ill intents from the little human in front of it, otherwise it would of course stay out of the matter. Least would it be good that it got entangled in someone else¡¯s affairs! But this little human, anyway, what did she want?


    ¡°Did you use the crystal stone to come here?¡± asked the child excitedly, her lacking teeth making the sound of her words a little off tune but understandable still. ¡°Show me, show me.¡±


    However Seyran made no move at all, her face still expressionless as she look at the little girl in front of her. The other one, who was smiling and talking all on her own, started feeling a little strange and after some minutes, the smile turned into a frown then a scowl. No one liked feeling like a fool.


    ¡°Won¡¯t you pay me? I had just saved you from doom!¡±


    ¡®Is that so?¡¯ thought Huang ¡® and just when was that?¡¯


    ¡°Is it you Jiang¡¯er?¡± came an elderly voice before an old woman showed up from the corner of the corridor. The woman was a little surprise to see someone else in the house as well, she looked at Seyran from head to toe and whatever conclusion she made of her presence, she told no soul, as she smiled brightly and asked ¡°Oh my, did you just come from the capital?¡± And without waiting for a response she continued ¡°Come, you must be quite thirsty.¡±


    ¡°Grandmother¡± cut the child ¡°she has a crystal stone. Won¡¯t it help elder brother come back earlier? Quick, persuade her with me, she must give it.¡± Then facing Seyran she boldly said. ¡°You can give me the crystal stone and I¡¯ll count it as us been even.¡±


    The face of her grandmother had long turned ashen under her words.


    ¡°Impudent child! What are you saying¡± admonished the elder clear fear evident in her voice.


    Then Seyran remembered the white little stone she gave Huang. Turned out she was really here because of this little bird. As thought it could actually hear her thinking, Huang was already saying in a panicky chirp.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to bring us back-¡± It should be the same process right? Just infusing a little qi on it should do the trick, but before it even got to finish its suggestion, she cut it off.


    ¡°Wait.¡±


    Really, wouldn¡¯t it just be bringing them to a further place from where they came from? She took the small stone under Huang¡¯s claw, showing it to the elder in front of her.


    ¡°Is it this stone?¡±


    The other one, hurriedly say.


    ¡°Place it back, hurry¡± in a frightful tone she continued. ¡°They would take your life if they saw.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Are you stupid? The crown princess¡¯s army!¡±


    Huang contemplated the idea of flying away from this place before this old woman anger that demoness but glancing at her, it found that she was still expressionless actually, not caring one little bit about the insult.


    Bitingly, and with authority in her voice now, the old woman declare.


    ¡°You can go.¡±


    Still, Seyran made no motion to move at all, staring at the woman in front of her without so much as blinking her eyes at the woman¡¯s outburst. The old woman really contemplated the idea of chasing this missy by force. In her opinion, this girl didn¡¯t seem to have that high rank and if that little bird on her shoulder was her contracted beast, it wasn¡¯t threatening at all and seemed easy to deal with. But then again she didn¡¯t want to alert her neighbors and let them know that this transgressor had been in her house. What would she say to the crown princess¡¯s army at that time then? Jiang¡¯er that child! Bringing here a person who so blatantly broke law was she planning to have them all died?!


    Seyran finally talked, and that, with a voice that didn¡¯t hide her mockery at all.


    ¡°and here I thought you talked about water.¡±


    ¡°This house has no water to give!¡±


    ¡°Grandmother¡± the little girl said in a small voice at the face of her infuriated ¨Cslightly and scared?- grandmother.


    The latter immediately hushed the child, shooing her inside the house, and standing in the middle of the corridor with Seyran, she waited for the stranger to go. But the other wouldn¡¯t take budge at all, so she scolded.


    ¡°Pah, coming in other people¡¯s house and bringing misfortune. How were you raised! Hadn¡¯t the crown princess passed an edict last year that stated whoever used a teleportation stone in any form should be jailed? What are you doing here, hurry and go turn yourself to the court.¡±


    The old woman was really unwilling to have this intruder any longer in her house. Her poor children were taken away and never came back, was this stranger planning to blackened her grandchild¡¯s future too?


    Actually Yande was a vast land yes, but its habitable ground wasn¡¯t. The country was formed by assembling what was in previous time different clans. Large distance separated those different people and even if over the centuries they accepted that they were now one nation, it didn¡¯t change the fact that some places were just too difficult to live in, thus from one town to the second, there were actually days of travelling. The capital may be at the center of the country but that it too, was quite far in the view of the desert¡¯s inhabitants.


    Previously in Yande, since going from one place to another was really a long distance travelling, people used teleportation stones. There were different kinds of it. The crystal stone was the one used by the contracted beast. It was the sturdiest and wouldn¡¯t break if one used too much qi. It was also the one preferred by the nobles. Now that the population was ordered to walk on feet on those capricious and long distance lands, wasn¡¯t this torturous? Such an unreasonable edict. Those people didn¡¯t know how to use mana, so they relied on those stones to teleport them in long distance places but now they had to rely on their feet, braving by themselves the scorching heat of the desert, wouldn¡¯t it make them think badly of this sovereign that instead of appeasing their lives was actually hardening it?.


    ¡°No grandmother, we need to take the stone for brother otherwise, when will he come back?¡± said the little child by the corner of the wall.


    ¡°Ayaa¡± whispered the elder with pain in her voice ¡°my poor boy, departing for the capital in such a terrible weather. He should be in the middle of desert by now.¡± To her grandchild she comforted ¡°he should come back faster than you think now go.¡± She shooed the child once again.


    Seyran looked at the anger in the woman¡¯s face that failed to hide the warmth and pride in her voice when she talked about that other grandchild of hers and she quite bluntly asked.


    ¡°Does he have a core then?¡±


    A little startled the woman answered nevertheless.


    ¡°Unfortunately no¡±


    Maybe the way she thought about this world was a little harsh? Maybe her way of thinking was too much like in Unzu for her to grasp firmly the real role played by cores. Seyran¡¯s readings left her the impression that men were the neglected part of the society, she had imagined their lives a little more like that of¡­ slaves?


    The grandmother looked at the fine clothes the other weared then said with a little disdain in the voice.


    ¡°For us, poor people core or not, a child is still a child.¡±


    ¡°I see¡± replied Seyran not caring about such thoughts anymore. ¡°That teleportation stone, how is one supposed to use it?¡±


    Had this girl used it without even knowing how? Still, the grandmother thought, the faster she answered, the quicker that stranger would go away. She shouldn¡¯t arouse others¡¯ curiosity for if it was learned she housed a law breaker the punishment would be harsh for her family to bear. So reluctantly she answered.


    ¡°The more qi your beast place on it, the farther it would bring you.¡±


    ¡°Is the royal manor far from here then?¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°In the capital?¡± the younger one appeared from the corridor to ask again, showing only her head as she was leaning on the wall. But she was shooed away by her grandmother once again nevertheless she of course didn¡¯t went far away, just hid her head but stood by the wall, Seyran could still see her feet.


    ¡°The one in the forest¡± Seyran answered.


    ¡°Aya, the forbidden manor? Such a faraway place, why should one go there? Heard that it was a place the crown princess liked very much. One shouldn¡¯t set foot there casually!¡±


    ¡®What was this old geezer saying?¡¯ Thought Huang. What such a faraway place? Wasn¡¯t it equivalent to saying it used a huge amount of qi to make them come here? Wouldn¡¯t the demoness suspect it did it with awareness then! It barely infused any qi inside okay, just a small, little portion, couldn¡¯t even be called a portion?! This bird was very innocent!


    ¡°This woman is obviously wrong in the head¡± Huang hastily chirped. ¡°Confusing it all, I say her words can¡¯t be trust!¡±


    Seyran completely ignored the chirping bird on her shoulder. She turned around; about to go then halted her footsteps as she realized she forgot one thing so unused was she to it. With a slight bow from her head she said in what she thought was a warm voice but turned out to be quite without sentiment actually.


    ¡°Thanking elder¡±


    By the corridor, she saw the wronged expression of the little girl behind the door that was still coveting the white little stone in her hand.


    ¡°Stingy, couldn¡¯t even give a silver when helped.¡± Whispered-yelled the little child as she exited the house. The grandmother left a relieved sigh then turned around to reprimand her unruly grandchild about her wrongdoings.


    ***


    The roads were full of people whispering about this human, Huang understood a little while later. She had left quite the sensation earlier for until now they were discussing about her, yet their words weren¡¯t really condemning, quite praising actually.


    ¡°If I had my crystal stone too¡±, some were whispering, ¡°I too wouldn¡¯t follow those ridiculous words!¡±


    ¡°Haya, such words don¡¯t you care to be heard?¡±


    ¡°What caring!¡± the other whispered-yelled ¡°those people already departed don¡¯t call doom upon us!¡±


    The conversations took new turns as Seyran was still leisurely walking ahead. She had took off her dirty upper garment and folding it, she held it with her left hand. Huang, still perched on her right shoulder and contrasting vividly with her white dashing cloth was actually quite interested in what was being said. Those people, although when the human passed near them would hushed their voice and looked at her, failed to recognize her as the one had who previously used the teleportation stone.


    ¡°To think that in one year time that would be our queen, isn¡¯t this country quite already doomed?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s still restrain by the assembly for now, I fear for our future!¡±


    ¡°To think that she¡¯s a descendant of Yuuna the conqueror!¡±


    ¡°Who want a prodigy as queen if she¡¯s going to be this domineering?¡±


    ¡°Take care not to have your tongue pull out.¡± One warned upon looking at Seyran who was looking left and right now, trying to return at the market. Not caring about the small group of people she passed them. Even though she was trying not to attract attention, the way she walked and the look on her face couldn¡¯t pass as those of ordinary people at all.


    What amazed Huang actually was that she still had that straight face not even moving an eyebrow as to acknowledge those people¡¯s words? Weren¡¯t they talking about her? This whole queen topic, wasn¡¯t she the subject? Yet she acted like those vile rumors weren¡¯t about her at all! Was it about its noble self, Huang would have already burned those insolents to ashes!


    However, having heard more offending words thrown at her in her previous life, Seyran found that those one couldn¡¯t compare at all, and what about queen, didn¡¯t she say she wanted no part in it? And so, without considering her surrounding, she was once again at the market. It was once more busy and noisy. The merchants were quite loudly trying to attract the customer.


    ¡°Young mistress come and see, this weapon had been smith by the mistress of Mo family in person.¡±


    ¡°This elixir had been made by Jing young miss.¡± Was shouting another.


    What really caught her attention after a little walk, were the sandals. There were ones made in clothes, and there were some made in wood.


    ¡°It is just five silvers¡± said the merchant happily when she got closer to his store.


    But she had no money on her body at all! So she turned around and after walking a little farther, She looked at Huang thoughtfully, then told it quite seriously.


    ¡°Go take it for me.¡±


    ¡°Eh, wouldn¡¯t I be chase by that merchant?¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you quite happy to turn invisible back then?¡±


    Thus, she had Huang turned invisible, and with little qi from the bird, what it touched could turned invisible too so it took what she wanted from the stores one after another. Huang was just a little bird so flying with things hook on its claws was really difficult but she left it no rest at all! Without remorse she took whatever pleased her. After taking two pairs of wooden sandals and two pairs of clothes ones, it transported three set of men clothes .All of it, she placed them in her previously dirtied garment that she tied as an improvised bag. When the little bird thought its torture ended, that woman looked with interest at a bottle of red wine.


    Seyran used to be someone who drank a lot, and since coming here she hadn¡¯t drank any wine or other alcohol at all and was missing it greatly. So, she had the little animal added it to her already big bag. Her mood was thus quite good and she was even glad to have given this little bird the white stone to begin with.


    Huang, for its part felt wronged, very wronged and it was a blown to its pride. After used to heat her bath, now she used it to steal! Aya, where was this bird¡¯s face left that it could endure so much?


    ¡®Endure¡¯ the little bird thought. ¡®Endure just for the sake of surviving, for the sake of surviving¡¯ so used was it to its mantra that it really forgot it could actually cultivate by itself now!


    ***


    Yenaigai looked for his mistress for half of the day. Just where did she and Huang went exactly and this damned manor was so vast! This time did she take the time to do something about her feet? He hoped she did.


    After not finding her at her courtyard, nor the book¡¯s room, he went at the entrance of the manor, still looking for her but she was still nowhere in sight. Fear started to grip at his heart. Just where did she go? Was she really gone?


    He shouted ¡®princess, mistress¡¯ with more force now, he even started calling ¡®birdie, little bird¡¯ hoping that the small animal would come pick at his forsehead. But silence responded him, which just made him called them louder, with desperation in his voice actually as thought hell was opening its gates in front of him and he had no route to escape. Hours later, he was still there, not finding them anywhere. This time, this time, was he to talk to an empty room? With shaky feet, he approached the stone at the middle of his planting field. He touched the cold surface.


    ¡°Mother¡± he whispered seeing a smiling woman in his mind, ¡°sisters¡± two lovely young women smiled at him in his memory ¡°This time your son and brother is really alone, ah.¡±


    There was a cruntch sound behind him, comparable to a branch someone had stepped unto.


    ¡°My, my, my¡± said a mocking voice and Yenaigai whipped his head in the direction of the forest, to see a woman seated on a big lion. It was a beautiful young woman, in her teen¡¯s days, dressed in yellow garment harboring an evil smile on her face. Her hair was tied with a little crown at the center, letting her bangs surrounded her. Behind the imposing animal were five persons dressed in black with armors covering their busts, holding all of them different kind of weapons.


    The one on the lion kept on talking.


    ¡°Is Lian young master crying to this day still?¡±


    Yenaigai frowned, realizing who was in front of him. The tears that glittered in his eyes were long gone as disgust he didn¡¯t bother to hide took its place. Contempt emitted from him. Wasn¡¯t that the younger princess?


    ¡°Won¡¯t you kneel in front of your masters?¡± she was still talking but she tsked with a smile on her face, when the servant didn¡¯t move at all. ¡°Such a loyal dog¡± With a cold voice, she ordered ¡°Bring him to me.¡±


    Yenaigai didn¡¯t move an inch staring intently with unconcealed hatred at the people approaching him. The moment they entered in contact with the barrier created by the stone he was still touching, those people got repulse some meters away. Even then, the smile on that princess perched on her lion didn¡¯t disappear. The black clothes people took out their weapons: three had swords, one had a hammer, and the last one two daggers. When they neared it again, the barrier manifested itself now with a light blue color, forming a circle with the stone at its center.


    The one with hammer infused qi on her weapon, until it glowed a little, then with all her might, she smashed it against the barrier. A crack appeared, then it spread with broken sound and after some seconds, the whole barrier crumble into pieces. The smile on that princess¡¯s face grew wide, as though she was confirming a theory. Look, she wanted to say, what prodigy amongst prodigy; her barrier couldn¡¯t even hold that small attack. With a satisfaction, the youngster said to the now exposed Yenaigai.


    ¡°You, whose core had been destroyed, dare you fight?¡±


    Yenaigai didn¡¯t answered, which annoyed the arrogant youth greatly. She wanted him to plead, wanted to see his fearful face called her cousin for help but this infuriating man was smiling as though she was but a child throwing a tantrum!


    ¡°Take him.¡± She ordered. It didn¡¯t matter if he feared her now or not, he would be soon enough. She schooled her features, and her charming smile returned ¡°You¡¯re happy, aren¡¯t you? Isn¡¯t it just about going back home? Such an angry face¡­Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, One would think you had been wronged.¡± Looking at the entrance of the manor she said ¡°Our beloved elder sister has awakened right? Isn¡¯t it time to welcome her back? Her crowning is fast nearing after all¡±


    Xian Bai Ming was already imagining in her head how easy it would be to defeat that woman. She had just, after all, been told by the very president of the academy that she was the most stunning student she had had, so how could this woman measure to her level? What use was that one¡¯s talent if she hadn¡¯t polished it? That one never went to the academy, so she was still unknowledgeable about matters of using qi correctly. Wasn¡¯t this weak barrier proof enough? Her smile grew wider as she thought along these lines, ordering her lion by their mental link to go forward. She was going to search for that woman if she wasn¡¯t going to show herself!


    A red dressed middle age woman appeared with a fox by her side. Her hand was on the fox head, as a white stone that was still a little alighted was in the animal¡¯s mouth. She ran in front of the giant golden lion and knelt to the young princess.


    ¡°Fourth Princess, the royal advisor asked that you returned with haste.¡±


    ¡°Oh my, right general, aren¡¯t you a boring one?¡±


    The woman looked at the chained young man that was forced to kneel, as a flicker of emotion passed in her eyes. This child she just came back and was already making such a fuss! Even the royal advisor didn¡¯t dare be too forward in her actions towards this second princess yet she was daring enough to mistreat this young man that princess favored quite happily.


    Seeing as the right general of court was unwilling to get up, the beautiful woman let out an exasperated sigh, and furrowed her brows.


    ¡°Mother had talked, let us return then!¡±.


    Turning to look at the young man tied up, she ordered her lion by their mind link to come closer to him. She lifted his chin. His almond eyes were glaring dagger at her, not an ounce of respect in them at all!


    ¡°Elder sister had talked so much about your beauty, was her memory playing a trick on her? What about you is handsome??¡±


    Yenaigai grunted unhappily, disgusted to be touched by the liked of this woman. This princess had grown to be the replica of her mother it seemed.


    She released him and with haughtiness asked


    ¡°Hadn¡¯t she made a fuss that day? So bent was she on saving you that she crossed the queen, where is she now? Not caring about you anymore?¡± She mocked venting herself on him. ¡°In the end, she didn¡¯t save you, did she? How sad that the promising young Lian master turn out like that, how very sad.¡± With mirth in her tone, she laughed, then ordered her lion to infuse qi in the crystal stone she had place as collar around its neck. Since one of the masked black people was holding Yenaigai in a kneeling position by holding his shoulder, and the four others were touching a part of the lion¡¯s body, they disappeared at the same time as the lion and the princess.


    The middle age woman looked at the entrance of the manor, taking in the two giant animals carved in the rock. The royal advisor had said to let this woman alone and her plan would sail smoothly, but now that the fourth princess had taken with her the second princess¡¯s man, and she, she had failed to prevent it, will said plan really go so smoothly again?


    ***


    Seyran paused in her steps, feeling a little strange. She frowned not knowing what this sensation was. Previously, none of the barrier she erected would be broken no matter who or what was its opponent, so it took her a moment to realize.


    ¡°Bring us back¡± she ordered Huang giving it back the small little stone she was still holding.


    ¡®And now I¡¯ treated like a commodity¡¯ But it didn¡¯t dare voice it, just executed the order.


    But instead of the manor, they were in the middle of the desert, the sun was so scorching, but Huang knew that it wasn¡¯t from the sky that this uncomfortable feeling was coming from.


    ¡°Huang¡± had whispered the demoness softly but her barely audible voice had scared the life out of the little red bird. Wasn¡¯t she angry right now, it thought sweating profusely. With a concentration it never had actually had, this little animal thought hard about the manor and once again infused his red qi inside the stone under its claws; but now they appeared inside the forest instead.


    A cold water coming out of nowhere flung the little bird away from Seyran¡¯s shoulder. But really, chirped the bird full of wronged feelings, weren¡¯t they close to that manor? Just a little walking alright, it had been really hard to concentrate so much okay?! However the little birdie didn¡¯t dare fly to land on her shoulder again, instead, all shivering, he advanced on the ground, skipping to keep up with the human¡¯s speed.


    Soon, they were out of the forest, and the manor giant¡¯s gates were standing in front of them. Seyran approached and touched the stone where her mana and qi had once been infused to create a barrier. At the very beginning it hadn¡¯t been a strong barrier anyway and she wondered a little if she had once been this weak. Where was that powers of hers that she gave such a useless thing to that servant? Why go out of her way to make one to begin with?


    The surroundings were trampled on, those vegetables he took so much pride on were destroyed and scattered around.


    ¡°Go look if he¡¯s inside¡±.


    Seeing her strange expression, Huang didn¡¯t waste time and flew inside the manor. Left alone, Seyran frowned at her beating heart. He was her servant no more, she had chased him but he just wouldn¡¯t go. What was there to care about? Then she looked at the bag she was still holding that contained men¡¯s clothing too.


    ¡°I can¡¯t find him. This one just vanished like air.¡± Then it went on to criticized in its mind. ¡®What faithful servant, what wishing to follow mistress, at the first occasion that human ran away, I say you race can¡¯t be trusted! And here my great self started aknwoledging him, what a waste, what a waste¡¯


    Huang was full of curses for the deserter, how dare he left without leaving it a chance to escape too, come back you dread human, is this how you treat your savior?


    The little bird, not having a direct link with Seyran since it wasn¡¯t her contracted beast, didn¡¯t really knew about the situation, thus thought Yenaigai simply ran away from that demoness. Even it, recognized that that human girl was scary, so of course that boy wouldn¡¯t be blind, it was thinking along these lines.


    But Seyran, still touching the stone, titled her head to think a little. Should she try to retrieve him? What was the need to go out of her ways to save someone? Hadn¡¯t her own family stabbed her, what of a mere servant? Then she remembered his pleading words. In the end wouldn¡¯t it be lonely to have no one to talk to? She told herself as she made her decision.


    To the bird that came back and landed on one of the rock statuses, she ordered it to try and see if it can¡¯t identify the subtle remaining qi in the air, she was going to bring her cook back, as bad as his cooking may be!

 Chapter 8: Royal Family

    The end of the year was fast coming close and bringing with it the change of seasons. These days the air was growing colder so the inhabitants of the capital were already preparing their coats for the oncoming snow. Compare to the previous years, this time, winter was really settling earlier. One couldn¡¯t quite say if it was natural or if the mood of that mythological beast, protector of their country, was changing again. One couldn¡¯t really know.


    In the middle of the capital, laid the vast imperial manor. It was the highest building in the Dai capital, and also the well-guarded one.


    Sitting inside one heated room of this palace, a woman, dressed in somber red, was slowly sipping her tea. The court had ended not long ago, and she was taking her usual break. It was Xian Shanlin, the royal advisor and one of the late queen¡¯s younger sisters. An anaconda, her contracted beast, was lazily sleeping in one corner of the room.


    Her mood wasn¡¯t particularly good for earlier, those senile four elders still resolutely refused to revise their decision about crowning her dead sister¡¯s daughter. After all these years and all she had done, one really couldn¡¯t understand their ways of thinking. She softly blew on her heated cup, those annoying sentences coming to her mind once again.


    ¡°Do hold your tongue royal advisor, for it¡¯s not your place to question our choices!¡±


    ¡°For all those centuries, the queen had been the child of the precedent queen; who are you to propose your flesh and blood when you failed to be queen!¡±


    Anger rose again and she flung the cup in her hand on the ground; the sound of broken ceramic had the head of servants coming.


    Angrily, she spat.


    ¡°Get me another tea. This one is too cold.¡±


    The woman who came bowed; not daring enough to say that this tea had just been prepared so couldn¡¯t be called cold. She simply commanded those behind her. Two men entered one wipe off the broken elements while the other brought another set of tea.


    The anaconda leisurely lifted its head to see what the commotion was all about, before setting it down again and coiling around itself.


    Shanlin lifted her new cup of tea, forcing herself to be calm, thinking about her eldest child. What were those people unsatisfied with Su Qiun for? She was at the bottleneck of late medium, almost broking through at early adept, had a good head on her shoulders and had the love of the people. What did that Seyran have that they were so insistent about her being queen? They really couldn¡¯t decipher between good or bad!


    ¡°Where is Su Qiun?¡± she asked the servant kneeling by her side to fill her cup again.


    ¡°Answering, the first princess is dividing foods at the orphanage.¡±


    ¡°Good, good.¡±


    No matter what, it was better to still have the support of the population. Then Shanlin frowned a little.


    ¡°Where is Bai Ming?¡±


    ¡°Answering, the fourth princess still hasn¡¯t returned since morning. Right general already went looking for her per your wishes.¡±


    That child, how can she be so impatient? Where was the need to rush things?


    Shanlin set her cup on the small table, the servants quickly disposed of it. Frowning, she reflected on yesterday¡¯s decisions. Had they really been sensible? The night before, she had confided the truth about the crown princess to her younger daughter, Xian Bai Ming in the presence of her elder one Xian Su Qiun. That child had been really quiet, diligently listening while others were talking. It made her mother¡¯s heart proud that in sixth years of absence her child had really matured.


    When she was ten years old and her core had just been formed, Shanlin had inscribed her daughter Bai Ming in the alliance academy, thus making her follow the steps of her elder sister, Su Qiun who also studied there. The alliance academy wasn¡¯t in Yande, but in the neighboring country and the teaching there was far better than the one in the imperial academy of Yande since just the best teachers were chosen from each country that formed the alliance. It takes six years to complete the curses and Bai Ming returned home just yesterday, bringing with her the news that she had been declared the best student of the year. In the ending contest of the cursus, it was her that had the pleasure of winning the sacred beast given as the first prize, the golden lion.


    Shanlin thought her old enough to understand the situation and even help her sister win the throne. Who would have thought that the following morning that same child would go missing? Her whereabouts unknown, Shanlin had ordered the right general to join the searching party. One couldn¡¯t help but think she went to make trouble for the one who was in the forest.


    A cool wind coming from the garden gently blew on her face, and taking in the scenery of white flowers in front of her, her brows slightly relaxed. By this time the next year, her child would be seating on the position she had always been refused to, that was the conviction in her heart. No matter what she had to do, Shanlin was confident in her ability to gift that throne to her daughter.


    As she was thinking this, a voice said


    ¡°Mother, Your youngest daughter has returned¡±


    In the middle of the courtyard, Xian Bai Ming appeared, perched on her lion, her face full of smile.


    ¡°Leave us¡± Shanlin ordered her servants. Men and women bowed and left.


    Bai Ming got off her golden lion. The five guards that followed her since her tenth years respectfully stayed behind the lion.


    The anaconda, which was peacefully sleeping, awoken when smelling another beast in the roundabout. It lifted its head menacingly in the direction of the newcomers letting its tongue tasted the air while making a terrible sound. The lion roared in response, its long teeth showing as it demanded obedience. Lion and snake, which were meeting for the first time didn¡¯t really appreciate each other¡¯s company it seemed.


    ¡°Shun¡¯er stops that.¡± Bai Ming ordered her animal.


    ¡°Li¡± Shanli whispered, and the big snake obediently coiled around itself again, not caring about its surrounding once more. That¡¯s when the lion stopped too.


    Bai Ming frowned in dissatisfaction. She had recently formed a contract of equal with that sacred beast. It was already tamed so it didn¡¯t create any problem but even now it seemed, it was reluctant to completely be ordered around and in front of other sacred beast wanted to fight for dominance.


    Shanlin was also a little dissatisfied. This child, she really doted upon her too much, even daring to bring her contracted beast here in her premises, and she didn¡¯t even properly discipline it. But looking at the grown up face of her child that was like a baby when she left, the royal advisor couldn¡¯t bring herself to scold her. This child really was her pride for, after all, that sacred beast was the proof that she won this year¡¯s final test.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make things difficult for others¡± she just said, contemplating the animal. That lion was really big, two times a normal lion and it was said it could grow bigger than that.


    By the lion¡¯s paws, there was a young man tied up, that one of the guards was still holding down by the shoulder. Shanlin¡¯s brows furrowed.


    ¡°Right general, what¡¯s the meaning of this!¡±


    The right general, who arrived a little after the fourth princess, knelt in front of the royal advisor.


    ¡°Answering, this one couldn¡¯t persuade the fourth princess.¡±


    Bai Ming was already sitting by her mother¡¯s side.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright mother, it wasn¡¯t difficult to catch him.¡± She said lazily, her smile mocking as she directed her gaze towards Yenaigai. ¡°Let mother have a good look, bring him here.¡±


    Yenaigai was forced to walk in front of them and then kicked by the knees to kneel. He glared at the mother and daughter pair, staying silent but inwardly cursing them.


    ¡°Is it really young master Lian? Lian Yenaigai?¡± She lifted his chin. ¡°One really wouldn¡¯t know if wasn¡¯t told. Life hadn¡¯t been easy on you.¡± He was really different from the proud young boy in her memories. She couldn¡¯t help herself but mock. ¡°If that day Lian boy had followed his family he wouldn¡¯t suffer so much now.¡± Yenaigai forcefully freed his chin, willing he had the power to kill that woman.


    Glared at like that, Shanlin just smiled and asked her daughter. ¡°What about that woman?¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t even dare come out and let her servant be caught.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    Shanlin had some doubts about that but as long as Seyran was unwilling to come down her mountain, Shanlin was fine. If she came then things could become complicated.


    ¡°Lock him in one of the donjon¡¯s cell¡±


    Bai Ming was a little unsatisfied about this.


    ¡°Can¡¯t I play with him?¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°What good point is there in a broken plaything?¡± But her daughter persisted so relenting she said: ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone see him!¡±


    Bai Ming bowed with a smile on her face. Just by looking at them, her bodyguards understood, as one of them put a cowl on Yenaigai¡¯s head.


    ¡°This daughter won¡¯t disturb mother any longer¡±


    Bai Ming jumped on her lion her face radiant with a smile as she ordered her contracted beast to take her in her own courtyard. As they were going she directed her gaze towards the biggest pavilion in this palace, the one the crown princess was supposedly occupying.


    When coming back from the alliance academy she really didn¡¯t know the truth. She thought, like everyone in the capital that the second princess who would abuse everyone was the real one. Who would have thought that it was actually just an imposter controlled by her mother and her eldest sister?


    As a child, it wasn¡¯t easy to see that cousin¡¯s face for the second princess didn¡¯t like mingling with others very much. She was distancing herself even from her own mother, the queen. Then ten years ago she went to the manor inside the forest. What everyone thought was that three years after that she came back, when in reality the ones who came back were her servants and an imposter who played her role for seven years now.


    Towards that cousin she couldn¡¯t really remember the face, Bai Ming had no tender feelings and she really couldn¡¯t see why her own sister couldn¡¯t grab that throne for herself. Between family and stranger, one still preferred to be ruled by a close family. And anyway, what makes that Seyran more qualified than others? If it was about blood then all of them also had the blood of Xian Yuuna the conqueror running through their veins and if it was about ability then she, Bai Ming, wasn¡¯t she the most qualified?


    Absentmindedly, Bai Ming stroked her lion¡¯s fur as she was thinking along those lines. What kind of feeling was it when one ruled over an entire nation? Was it like that instant when one formed a contract? That feeling of power rising? A cold wind blew and her smile grew wider. Xian Yuuna had had Fenrir as her contracted beast when she formed the Yande country and that beast was still here, ever loyal to the royal family. Small, Bai Ming wanted to take it as her own and at this very moment, she felt that that thought wasn¡¯t childish anymore. In history, before Fenrir refused everyone it used to be the current queen¡¯s contracted beast. Certainly, with the conqueror¡¯s favorite beast, no one would deny crowning her, not even the bearers of tradition!


    ***


    At another side of the palace the third princess, Xian Xue Zhi was training her fighting skill. She infused some qi in her sword until the weapon glowed a little and then put herself in a defensive position, ordering the women in front of her to attack. It was three against one, ending with Xue Zhi defeating two of them but the last one put a dagger by her neck. Once again, she lost. She frowned, a little annoyed but returned the salutation the three gave as they bowed, acknowledging the end of today¡¯s training. A servant brought her a cup of water and another one took care of her sword.


    ¡°Princess, the royal advisor is now inside her courtyard.¡± Whispered a servant to her.


    ¡°Draw my bath quickly, let¡¯s not make mother wait.¡±


    The servant quickly left to do as bid.


    The palace had that rule which stated that every child should pay his respect to his mother upon waking up. Usually, it was done between five to seven a.m in the morning. But today, when she went, her mother already left so she couldn¡¯t help it but returned to do it later. It seems all the others paid their respects already but Xue Zhi really couldn¡¯t bring herself to do it at the same moment as them, that¡¯s why she usually waited to be the last one. She had but one policy since those previous years: less contact, less trouble.


    After her bath she changed in clean clothes and with four servants following behind her: one female three males, she took the direction of her mother¡¯s courtyard. After a moment of walking, she saw from afar a woman dressed in complete white with a long procession of servants behind her. Even though one couldn¡¯t recognize her at this distance, one could still recognize the clothing that represented the four principal clans behind her. Xue Zhi stopped and bowed her head in their direction, her servant stopping and doing the same. This one was, after all, the crown princess.


    Since coming back from the forest seven years ago, until now, Xue Zhi had been unable to get close to that elder sister no matter what she did, so she stopped trying.


    Xian Jue Seyran had recently celebrated her ninetieth birthday, it had been so pompous that no one in the capital could pretend it didn¡¯t happen and every noble had come. Xue Zhi always knew that this woman had never been the respectful type, even in front of her late mother, the queen, she didn¡¯t hesitate to retort back. But one still thought that she had a brain. Instead, she angered every one of her invitees and by the end, everyone left the place in anger, outraged by what was said.


    The procession finally gone, she lifted her head and kept walking in the direction of her mother¡¯s place. That second princess, this kind of person in the end, even if she would be queen, one can¡¯t quite count on her.


    ***


    At the manor¡¯s gates, by the forest, the little red bird Huang was chirping some explanations. Yes, it could feel some residential qi left in the forest that wasn¡¯t there before but really, it couldn¡¯t tail it. Not talking about that the track vanished suddenly but this bird was a respectable one, not some kind of dog!


    Seyran pointed the white stone by its claws.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you use that?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t that Huang was unwilling, but it really didn¡¯t know how.


    Seyran lifted her head to look at the blue sky. Somehow, a vague sentiment of regret crossed her. She wished she had directly left some of her mana on that servant. At the very least tailing him wouldn¡¯t have been complicated then. Still looking at the sky, she saw a bird fly by. Then she gazed at the forest some feet in front.


    ¡°Go ask what the animals saw¡± she ordered the bird, which grumblingly left to do as bid.


    One didn¡¯t really know if it would get the answer for no one around the forest particularly liked that condescending bird. But anyway who cared if they were willing, Huang thought darkly. Now it could cultivate let¡¯s see which one of those beasts dared refuse to talk!


    ***


    Back in the palace, the third princess, Xue Zhi, had been denied the passage by her mother¡¯s servants. She was asked to come by later when the royal advisor would be free to see her. Now she was entertaining someone. Seeing one of her elder sister¡¯s, Su Qiun''s, servant not far away, Xue Zhi clenched her fist in her robes but otherwise, her face stayed expressionless. What important guest, wasn¡¯t it just the first princess? Stating she understood, she left the place as she came.


    Planning to go back to her courtyard, she changed her mind and turned left to visit her aunt. The late queen had two sisters: Xian Shanlin who became the royal advisor and Xian Minqi who unfortunately went a little crazy after losing her daughter. That Xian Minqi now never stepped out of her residence and would, most of the time confused her son Xian Xin Fen to her lost daughter, which actually led the boy to always wear female clothing.


    When she came, the servants didn¡¯t dare refuse to announce her even though the third prince ordered them to say his mother was sleeping. Seeing as that cousin was unwilling to go and even directly stepped in his mother¡¯s bedroom, the eleven years old Xian Xin Fen could only bow in acknowledgment and make room for the eighteen young woman by his mother¡¯s side.


    Xue Zhi sat down, tried to make small talk with Xin Fen but the other would only reply with short sentences, not even looking at her, his head down. She lost interest and turned to look at her aunt. Xin Fen had said that she had a crisis this morning and she, who usually doted upon him thinking he was Shao Yang, recognized that it was Xin Fen instead. Her anger grew and she attacked him, destroying whatever was close to her ¨Cwhich actually explained the state of the rooms she passed before coming to this bedroom. People had to come and forced her to take some medicines.


    Sleeping like that, one really couldn¡¯t assimilate her to a mad person; her face was so serene as though she was having a peaceful dream. Xin Fen stayed quiet all along, seeing Xue Zhi caressed his mother¡¯s face. After that, she turned to him and considered the bruises on his face. There were others under his clothes too, certainly.


    Xin Fen was the only one between them children who didn¡¯t have his own courtyard. He stayed all day long in his mother¡¯s and wouldn¡¯t even come out if one didn¡¯t come specifically looking for him. When she would think him Shao Yang, Minqi would be quite proud of him and pampered him but when some flicker of sanity would come by and she remembered him to be that son who didn¡¯t even have a core, an intense rage would burn her stomach, making one think she was in front of her mortal enemy instead of her own flesh and blood.


    Xue Zhi did once try to let him have his own courtyard. She did have that small authority if nothing else, but this child refused to move. It was unknown if he liked being by his mother¡¯s side or if he was scared of being other¡¯s bullying target. Servants looked down upon him, the consorts and the other princes and princesses too, but no one acted against him in broad daylight for his mother was still his protector.


    But between all the children he was the only one she was willing to get close to and not because she wanted him to be her shield. She felt that he was the only one who could understand. Contrarily to him she had a core but hers hadn¡¯t formed itself by her tenth birthday but her eleventh. A difference of a year had sufficed for her to see the true faces of those surrounding her. Better than the others, she understands what that cousin was living.


    Some few words were said and after that she took her leave stating she would order some servants to add some medicines to the one he already had. All along he hadn''t talked that much and once she was gone, he only stared at her back, without any real expression on his face.


    By her courtyard¡¯s entrance,the young woman saw a big lion with a woman on its back. Xue Zhi frowned but kept on walking. When she came by their sides, that¡¯s when the beautiful youth came down with a smile.


    ¡°Elder sister" she acknowledged "and here I thought I missed you. Your servants were unwilling to let me wait inside.¡±


    The woman in front bowed. ¡°Forgive this lowly one, it was the orders.¡± She repeated what she was saying, for now, five minutes.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t elder sister miss fourth?¡± asked Bai Ming ignoring the one who talked. ¡°It¡¯s been six years¡±


    Xue Zhi didn¡¯t answer, just stared at this lion in front of her. Since when was it permitted to take his contracted beast when gritting someone in this palace?


    Bai Ming saw her gaze and stroked her animal.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Shun¡¯er beautiful? Hope Third can forgive. This one was in a hurry to meet you and forgot to let him by my residence.¡±


    Xue Zhi still didn¡¯t have a contracted beast and was quite annoyed by the sight of this one. In the imperial academy, contrary to the alliance academy, there aren¡¯t things like a final test where one could win a sacred beast and even if there were, she didn¡¯t really think she could win with her level.


    ¡°Fourth had left for so many years, one wouldn¡¯t be angry about little things like these.¡±


    Bai Ming smiled and Xue Zhi smiled too and continued.


    ¡°It¡¯s just that this elder sister¡¯s residence is a little messy. Fourth should greet the other members of the family and come back after that.¡±


    Bai Ming was a little annoyed at being refused the entry but didn¡¯t argue. It was more because she was following her mother¡¯s orders to greet everyone that she came here than any familial longing.


    ¡°Then this sister is going.¡±


    Hoping on her lion she went away.


    Between those two sisters, there was still a lingering feeling of contempt borne from years before.


    Xue Zhi entered her yard and by her verandah, leisurely sat a young man taking sips from a cup of tea. By his side there was his sword, still in its sheath. He had forced his way here so many times, not caring about the servants that he wounded that she was forced to make an exception for him. Contrarily to others, he could come and go as pleased; she wouldn¡¯t mind anymore. But at this very moment, she didn¡¯t want to see him.


    ¡°Scram!¡± she ordered.


    ¡°So angry, what exactly happened dearest?¡± he asked with a sweet voice and a lazy smile playing on his face.


    She let out a contempt snort at his question.


    ¡°Your voice was honeyed when talking now, one could almost think that it was a sincere tone, that it was a reunion between beloved.¡± Xian Jun Lin said as he crossed his feet staring at her while she was passing by his side to enter the residence. Anger was faintly discernable on her face.


    ¡°I, as your twin, won¡¯t even get an answer?¡±


    Xue Zhi pursued her lips no longer paying him any attention. Even if she wanted to force him out, she didn¡¯t have the ability. His level of cultivation was higher than hers. So she just ignored him!

 Chapter 9: Bearers Of Tradition

    ¡°Easy,¡± said one of the monkeys to Huang¡¯s question. ¡°You just have to call me ¡®Oh mighty respectable one¡¯ with reverence in your voice and whatever you inquired this one will answer.¡± It made an exaggerated gesture of lifting one of its hand in the air. The two fellow monkeys by its side laughed, one slapping the one which talked on its shoulder for its ingenuity. Which one of them didn¡¯t know that red little annoying bird in this wide forest? Not talking about animals with fur even those with scales and feathers got angered by it these last two years and here it came again wanting others¡¯ help yet having this kind of overbearing attitude still.


    There were other animals at the feet of the trees which were laughing too; delighting in the red bird¡¯s humiliation.


    Actually, Huang had not been as overbearing as they were saying. It even said ¡®please¡¯ ¨Calthough not really thinking it, however, wishing by that to have quicker results- but it was just that, holding onto yesterday¡¯s grudges, those monkeys were unwilling to aid. How could the little birdie tolerate being laughed at? Its humbleness flew right out of its head.


    ¡°You¡¯re daring, you bad copies of filthy humans!¡±


    If there was one thing hated in the reign of animals, it was to be compared to humans. So, as Huang was filling the air with curses and the other animals were now laughing at them, the monkeys¡¯ face turned ugly. They leaped branches by branches to capture the bird which was perched on one of the higher branches, anger on their faces as they were describing how they¡¯d pilled off its feathers one by one.


    Was Huang going to wait to be captured, of course not! It flew higher chirping its anger with vehemence.


    ¡°No brain at all. Stupid as pigs. Ugliest animals of the creation!¡± Curses didn¡¯t soothe its heart so Huang flung a particularly hot wind at them which turned like a tornado and had the monkeys tumbled and fell on the ground, with a great amount of pain considering the distance the branches had from the ground. The other animals scattered, leaving the place with extreme speed. At this point, Huang wasn¡¯t interested in whoever it was whereabouts, but rather, interested in equaling scores. The bird calmly landed on a branch which wasn¡¯t that far away from the ground, to mock them. ¡®Senseless little things, who asked them to be unable to cultivate yet first to seek troubles? Forgetting the pain once the scar had healed; did they think it unable to fire them anymore? Huh, this bird was hungry no more, see how I¡¯ll cook you.¡¯ Without any second thought, Huang light fire one¡¯s back. Forgetting the pain in its body from the fall, the offender wriggled and danced while the other two were slapping its back to extinguish the fire.


    Birdie was quite pleased with the sight.


    ¡°Now start apologizing and this mighty one might consi¡­¡± A piercing pain shot through the feathered animal¡¯s head stunning it into speechlessness.


    Seyran, who was by the entrance of the manor saw light smoke coming from the direction taken by the little bird. Seeing this, some questions made way in her head. Was that little one actually burning the witnesses or simply interrogating them? She frowned, feeling that with this little thing¡¯s temper, one shouldn¡¯t be surprised if they were dead before saying anything at all.


    But once she arrived at the place, contrary to her thinking, she found Huang being squeezed in the arms of a particularly ugly monkey ¨Cshe never saw an orang-outang before. There were other animals around and with all their cries and gestures, even if one didn¡¯t understand them, one was vaguely aware that they were expressing joy. From lizards to rabbits, even boars and whatnots, was this spectacle really normal?


    ¡°You, all this talking, was it for nothing?¡± But Huang wasn¡¯t hearing her at all, its usually black and red eyes were blank and still very much in a daze. It didn¡¯t even feel like it was suffering all that much actually.


    Seyran snapped her fingers and all those presents were jailed, each one in its own cage. The surprised animals tried to free themselves but it was impossible to break free. Whatever they were saying in that hubbub, Seyran couldn¡¯t understand anyway. She went to the cage holding the monkey with Huang. One of the jail¡¯s bar dislocated and turned itself around the arm holding the feathered animal, squeezing tight until the palm opened. The orang-outang was crying in agony, as another bar lifted Huang and placed it on Seyran¡¯s opened palm.


    The usually talkative animal was still very much silent. She advised while forming mana on her palm for it to absorb.


    ¡°Don¡¯t recklessly start a fight you can¡¯t win.¡±


    That¡¯s when the red animal finally regained consciousness and greedily absorbed the offered meal. To be right, really, this bird could have won just as smoothly as her. Even more so these monkeys were ordinary ones, neither of them could cultivate. It was just that for a moment there, it had had a flash. A vision of a battlefield. The monkeys encircling it had faded and instead, around it, were so many different animals. The battlefield was taking place in the air. And between all the shouts and cries of that place, an angry voice arrived at its ears ¡°Dumb bird who asked for your help?¡±


    ¡°Shut up you ugly, if this emperor wasn¡¯t here to help you, wouldn¡¯t you be a carcass already?¡±


    The voice that had been recalled, had been as aggressive as an enemy¡¯s but Huang¡¯s heart ached with nostalgia and melancholia. It had been a friend, a friend it longed to remember.


    ¡®A snake¡¯ Huang thought. The one talking to it had seemed like a big floating snake. The memory was fuzzy, it felt like it was about to be pinpointed yet still so dreamlike.


    Seyran ended up splashing the absentminded bird with water, making that lingering fuzzy image disappear for good. Huang glared at Seyran but swallowed the particularly nasty words that emerged in its head in response to that particular action. Compliantly, the bird served as translator between human and jailed animals.


    Turned out the damn monkeys had no clue; the rabbits were of no help only a single lizard provided the correct information. The culprits were female humans, a golden lion and a fox. Who was going to explain the specificities of that golden lion? When Huang couldn¡¯t even remember about itself where was it going to know the abilities of other beasts? For all it knew it could fly, alright! Yet faced with Seyran¡¯s question, it just chirped in her head. ¡°No idea¡± all the while sulking, not liking the lingering impression it had.


    ¡°Where did they go?¡±


    ¡°How will we know stupid?¡± Huang didn¡¯t traduce this, rather the moment the sentence was said, fire appeared by the lizard¡¯s tail. It cried in fright.


    Her question unanswered, Seyran asked another.


    ¡°Where do lions live here?¡±


    ¡°Who knows, I never stepped out of this forest!¡± Shouted the lizard. The fire ended up burning the tail until mid before it extinguished.


    ¡°Rest your fire, you, sick little bird!¡± that was one of the cries of other animals. The others reproaches were swallowed in the cacophony they were making.


    ¡°Silence,¡± said a sharp voice cutting through the noise. It hadn¡¯t been a shout, but qi had certainly been infused in that voice for her to be heard so loudly.


    ¡®See, see, you idiots! You angered the real demoness now! Do you all feel like forfeiting your life today? Hurry with the answers.¡± Huang had already seen its own death in that battlefield and wasn¡¯t eager to die for real this time.


    So, one of the animals, indicated the steppe after the desert to be a place said to be filled with lions. Maybe there would be golden ones there too. With no better answer and her mana used a little foolishly, Seyran had to rely once again on this bird to infuse its qi on the white stone to bring them in the steppe after the desert. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult, right? It had once brought them in the middle of those heated sands a little further shouldn¡¯t be complicated.


    ***


    Once she entered her room, the tables had already been set, the different plates arranged. The crown princess sat and one of the servants brought a medium size bowl for her to wash her hands before eating. The four members of the ancient clans, who, since her return, had taken the role of her personal guards, stood standing, waiting on her.


    When the crown princess suddenly lifted her head after washing her hands, the invisible chameleon on her shoulder which was changing position, loosed footing and almost fell. While it was dangling, the color on the princess¡¯s face changed no longer pale but duskier. The chameleon finally stabilized itself and coiled around her neck more comfortably. The skin returned to its natural color, her face livelier than ever.


    Comparing this decoy to the real Seyran, if one really did not know, one could not see fault in her. She was as beautiful as Seyran should have been, had she been nourished properly; so regarding the matter of appearance, it could be said that she was the better version. As for her speech, she spoke rarely and when she did it was slow and always to ridicule and offense. So people really preferred to have her mute. Speaking of mannerisms, since her youth days, the second princess didn¡¯t like being waited upon wherever she goes or in whatever she does; few could say they knew her manner of being and fewer could detect an anomaly with this princess in front of them.


    Once her meal finished and after washing her hands, she got up to take a walk as she always does. The leader of her guards, Shen Ai, hesitated a little before bowing in front of the standing princess.


    ¡°Is something the matter, captain Shen?¡± The woman¡¯s voice was neither warm nor cold making other unable to know if she was angry by that sudden behavior or not.


    ¡°This one begs crown princess to train today.¡±


    Silence floated for a while before the crown princes''s voice was heard.


    ¡°Hear my decree,¡± she said with a smile brightening her face, while the other guards followed their captain in kneeling. ¡°Captain Shen is unwise and uncouth. Dare to defy this crown princess¡¯s orders. Thirty lashes. Her subordinates didn¡¯t advise. Thirty lashes.¡±


    After she finished talking the four people bowed and thanked the princess¡¯s magnanimity in one voice. As she was walking by their kneeling sides she said ¡°Of course the four¡¯s descendants are valuable and should not repeat the matter. They¡¯re important to this crown princess and eagerly awaited tomorrow.¡±


    Yue Meili, one of the bodyguards almost vomited blood. They were to be lashed thirty times yet she wanted them to return the next day, when will their wounds have the time to heal? And what was it with that ¡®they¡¯re important¡¯ part, was it to say no matter how injured, be they kneeling or crawling they couldn¡¯t use the excuse of doctor¡¯s words to avoid coming here? In the end, the crown princess''s words were the crown princess''s words, she could only swallow her grievances as their better in life exited the room.


    ***


    At another side of the palace, the anaconda which had its head raised, tasting the air finally closed its eyes and coiled around itself to rest once again.


    ***


    As they exited the crown princess¡¯s courtyard and walked towards the military offices, Shen Ai, the captain, couldn¡¯t help but see the lump form of her subordinates.


    ¡°My apologies¡± She whispered to them.


    The four of them were, as ordinary bodyguards, wearing dark clothing but the difference was that on the back of each one of them, her clan¡¯s symbols was sewed with golden threads. They were roughly of the same height and weight, having followed the same training since youth made them developed some muscles but they were still very much feminine. Their long dark hair was tied in ponytails, two swords were dangling from each of their side and daggers were on their belt one was concealed in either of their boots.


    ¡°What apologies are there to give? Not your fault, not your fault¡± said Yue Meili hastily masking the wronged face she was displaying. She sighed deeply ¡°Gotta say, when one is lazy, it is to the extreme. Even I can¡¯t be like this!¡±


    ¡°Hold your tongue¡± Shen Ai scolded.


    The one who talked just shrugged. It wasn¡¯t like she was wrong anyway and every one of them knew that. This princess had never once practiced; she refused to go to the alliance academy, refused to go to the imperial academy, refused training at home and to think she was supposed to take the throne in one year from now! Who cared if she was lazy or not, it was just that it was on them that their matriarchswere latching their rages instead.


    These four bodyguards were the most promising mistresses of the four ancient clans. Those clans were Shen, Yue, Zhang and Tian. Yande had been established by Yuuna and her allies, those four famous ancestors. When talking about the one crowning the queen, it was done by the matriarch of those families, the elite members of the assembly, usually called the four elders. They were the ones who, after the queen, had the most authority, even the queen¡¯s sisters had to give them face.


    In the olden times, the future queen was actually selected by one of the royal member¡¯s family ability to tame Fenrir. But who knew why this tradition stopped and that affairwas left in the hand of the elites of the assembly instead.


    Regarding the matter of the crown princess¡¯s laziness, Shen Ai also wouldn¡¯t mind but it was just that, the anger of those four matriarchs befell on them. It wasn¡¯t like they could force the crown princess to cultivate now, could they? And now on top of the punishment they¡¯d surely received by nightfall, they had to be lashed thirty times each one.


    ¡°How am I supposed to run with wounds everywhere?¡± Yue Meili muttered with dissatisfaction.


    ¡°Well, those usual punishments why not treat them simply like additional training? That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been doing since last year¡± advised Tian Gu.


    Yue Meili was distressed just thinking about this. At the beginning they four of them were delighted to have been chosen to stay by the princess¡¯s sides but they were also responsible to train her into a good fighter had said their elders. What could they do if the one they were supposed to teach was unwilling to learn? Threatened her? It was the crown princess alright, who dared forced her to do what she didn''t want? Yue Meili rather changed the topic. So she asked the one who hadn¡¯t talked, Zhang Bei.


    ¡°Say, is there still no clue on elder Zhang¡¯s whereabouts?¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Zhang Bei shook her head. Even she, who was the one her elder spoke to the most, didn¡¯t know where she had disappeared to. It had been almost sixth months now.


    ¡°Lucky you, today too, you won¡¯t be puni¡­¡± Tian Gu stepped on her feet. ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I mean, I mean¡­¡±


    ¡°Just shut up okay, it would be best.¡± Whispered Tian Gu.


    Yue Meili pouted but said no more.


    They arrived in the military office. Turned out the crown princess had already sent servants to notified those people, so the staves were already waiting for them. Gritting their teeth, they followed their lead in the punishment room, removed their outer garments, and the one under, only staying with their pants and their upper underwear. Their hands were bound from each side as the stave was applied on their backs. The stave was thick, hurt very much and soon it drew blood. Neither one of them cried or shouted. They had asked for some piece of wood to bite so that they wouldn¡¯t break their teeth. After that their backs were badly wounded and the thirty lashes applied, they had to be helped and escorted back home. Yue Meili was crying in her mind that she would need to be up tomorrow, she couldn¡¯t help herself but think that tonight she¡¯d be dreaming about shedding that crown princess in tiny little pieces!


    Shen Ai had been the most silent of them all, she didn¡¯t even grunt. It was unknown if it was because she was the one who had the higher cultivation of them all or if she was simply that insensible to pain. In term of maturity, she was by far more mature than Yue Meili who was older than her in age. Her sense of responsibility and her cultivation level were what made her captain. But, her eyes closed in her room as her servants were fussing about her wounded form and discarded clothes, she asked herself if that person she was tasked to protect, she could one day respected her. As the leader, she felt really aggravated that her subordinates were suffering for no reason at all and furthermore because of that woman. Her heart fell less and less regard for her each day.


    Not ten minutes passed that she heard the rushed steps from the corridors and the servants hadn¡¯t the time to announce the newcomer that her mother was already inside. Seeing the blood on her child¡¯s back, mother Shen was fast to scold the servants.


    ¡°Where is the doctor? Are you blind or waiting for me to fetch her myself?¡± The female servant glared at bowed and rushed to the door. The male that was helping Shen Ai removed her outer garment trembled and when the garment had been taken off, he retreated to the side, letting the place for the Shen family member who came.


    ¡°Ai¡¯er, what happened?¡± asked the mother, her face filled with worry. How come a perfectly fine person came back wounded to the point of being escorted home in this perfectly calm Dai capital? Not to say that her daughter was already at early adept rank, who could so easily defeat her?


    ¡°Nothing much, mother need not worry.¡±


    Her daughter unwilling to talk, this mother didn¡¯t feel like probing, only lifted her head to scold some more.


    ¡°Where is the doctor? Still not here?¡±


    As she finished, a young woman hurriedly came and bowed to them.


    ¡°This one is here already.¡±


    Seeing the youngster, Shen mother frowned.


    ¡°Where¡¯s elder mistress Jing?¡±


    ¡°Replying, grandmother had already being called by the Yue family.¡± Seeing as the woman was going to talk again she added. ¡°Mother and sister too. There is just this one.¡± Shen mother had a thundersome fiery face so she was quick to reassure. ¡°Elder need not worry, this young one is quite proficient and learned fast. Elder brother is here too to prevent mistakes¡±. The young man by her side, who had a bandage covering his right eye bowed while Shen mother glared daggers at them.


    ¡°Come here quick then, those wounds hurt,¡± said Shen Ai to prevent her mother from sending this girl away in her rage.


    The Jing family couldn''t be helped. Because they were the most notorious in term of healing, they were always the one being called first. However when the ones who called them were the four clans and all at the same time, how where they supposed to divided themselves equally? They could only go with first come, first served. But weren¡¯t they a little daring to send a child of barely twelve here and this man, did he have just one eye?


    The undergarment was taken off, the wounds washed, disinfected and a kind of green paste had been applied by the trembling hands of the little girl. The one who put the bandages had been the young man.


    Seeing the wounds, Shen mother had the gist of what happened and frowned. She waved her hand for the servants to pay the doctors and dismissed them, however, contrary to her, her daughter was really unwilling to talk about this matter, so she asked instead.


    ¡°Those people, were they here today too?¡±


    Shen mother could only drop that matter.


    ¡°Ey¡± she answered in affirmative. ¡°The matriarch called them today too and by the time they went away she was pushing everyone to double their training¡±. She sighed. Really even in her olden times, this grandmother was letting no one rested.


    Those last forty years, their everyday training became harsher and harder. Was this woman plotting to start a war, if not, she should let people have some break! These four ancient clans, people were willing to enter here but really it was just upon entering that one clearly understood the meaning of suffering! It got even worse those last seven years and the four elders were putting pressure on everyone¡¯s head. Even the military families were asked to train harder.


    Shen Ai had a frown on her face. Regarding the matter of those oracles coming here for two weeks now, she was extremely against it and felt that not only was it a waste of money and time, it was also calling upon oneself unnecessary troubles. Really, that the four elders had that much time to actually indulge in those west cultures of foreseeing, left people speechless. No one knew what lied ahead in the future. One can only grasp and force one¡¯s own destiny.


    As her mother was rambling, a manservant came to report.


    ¡°Captain Shen, the matriarch is asking for you¡±


    Her mother was quick to retort.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you see she¡¯s injured?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± The man was quite conflicted, was he supposed to return to the head of the family and told her that the captain wanted her to come here instead. Will he still have his life after that?


    ¡°I¡¯m coming.¡±


    Shen mother knew her words were unnecessary either so she didn¡¯t try to persuade as her daughter put on a coat on her shoulder and was helped by a servant out of the room.


    The matriarch was an old woman that the years had bent a little. But she was a fierce one who could still give a good beating to anyone who displeased her. So it wasn¡¯t really surprising that when she entered the room Shen Ai saw her great-grandmother swinging her sword. One could only show respect. Those four old people weren¡¯t called head of the family for nothing! Shen Ai was just twenty-five but felt that compared to this old one, she couldn¡¯t last fifteen minutes.


    Elder Shen sheathed her sword and ordered tea to be brought as she sat by the small table at the side, gesturing for the one who just came to do the same. Shen Ai left the arm of the servant helping her and walked by herself to the elder place. Ignoring the pain, she sat up straight, the wounds on her back opening and tinting her white bandages without her knowing. Elder Shen glared at the servant who tried to move in direction of Shen Ai and she obediently stayed where she was, bowing her head to avoid troubles. Less will it be good to further annoy this matriarch who was more and more susceptible these days.


    ¡°Did the princess train with you today?¡± was the first question asked but was it really needed? With all her spies in the palace didn¡¯t she already knew? Thus Shen Ai answer was


    ¡°Replying, this one got lashed when she proposed so¡±


    Tea was served. Shen Ai didn¡¯t lift her face vaguely aware of the other¡¯s anger but it the end she could keep mute.


    ¡°If this daughter may¡±


    ¡°Speak¡±


    ¡°Regarding the matter of crowning the princess, isn¡¯t it preferable¡­¡±


    She didn¡¯t even get to finished that sentence, that a cup of tea flew by her side and broke at her feet. Lucky it was still empty or hot tea would have spilled on her body.


    ¡°Stayed your tongue¡± the matriarch scolded.


    Defying the pain, Shen Ai kowtowed. ¡°This daughter was ignorant. Asking matriarch to forgive.¡±


    There was a little silence as the elder Shen end up saying


    ¡°Try harder.¡±


    Anger swelled in Shen Ai¡¯s heart. How much harder was she supposed to try? Until all her limbs were broken and her flesh torn apart?


    ¡°Great-grandmother,¡± she said, this time around talking to her grandmother and not the head of the family. ¡°This one fails to see¡­¡±


    Sensing that she was saying unwise things again, the elder was fast to scold. Wall had ears everywhere here.


    ¡°Impudent! You¡¯re the follower of the crown princess¡­ What matter is it that you dare suspect her ability? Foolish child! Just try harder and make her cultivate already!¡±


    Shen Ai felt that she was suffering a great injustice. What was there to see in that princess? Concerning who was supposed to be queen, as long as she had the surname Xian, wasn¡¯t any woman acceptable? If they were going to choose by the previous queen¡¯s elder daughter as in the past, wasn¡¯t this going to be a mistake? Who needed to respect the tradition if tradition brought that kind of person as their country¡¯s leader?


    Regarding the one who should rule them, Shen Ai felt that it was better if it wasn¡¯t the second princess, out of all of them, she was the less qualified. For having known that woman for seven years now, this she could say with certainty. Given, the woman had been a genius who formed her core by her sixth years but wasn¡¯t that years ago? What use did she make of that? And if the reason the elders were forcing them to train that woman was that the country needed a strong leader, then out of the descendants of Yuuna, Shen Ai felt that the one who just came back, Bai Ming, could be considered. It was just that she was a little too young and the custom wanted a princess of twenty at least. So in the end, the first princess, who was twenty-three this year, Su Qiun, was just alright.


    If the four elders were unwilling to consider, she could only prove them wrong. It was said that the secret of taming Fenrir was held by the four elders, Shen Ai could only think of stealing it to let the first princess have it. Let¡¯s return to the olden days and have Fenrir, the protector, be their judge.


    Shen Ai just barely listened to what the elder said afterward and went back to her room, only registering from the exchange that she was discarded for those punishments for today.


    ***


    Meanwhile, Xian Su Qiun, the first princess, was talking privately in her mother¡¯s room. All the servants had been shooed away from the royal advisor¡¯s place as those two were talking. The access had even being refused to the third princess who came earlier. Only in presence of her mother, Su Qiun could finally let the twin chameleon leaveher shoulder and staye on her thighs as she gently caressed its head.


    ¡°How did it go this morning?¡± She asked her mother who was sipping tea. The royal advisor frowned and said frostily


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t even hear about it!¡±


    After court, Shanlin had called the elders to have a private talk with them but even now, they were unwilling to change their position. Su Qiun only smiled in the wake of her mother¡¯s anger and contrary to her stayed calm.


    ¡°Rumors has it that the Zhang¡¯s family is going to elect a new matriarch.¡± Her other hand stretched as she poured more tea into her mother¡¯s cup. ¡°Did they stop searching for the last one?¡±


    Her mother¡¯s anger fueled again.


    ¡°Who knows how real that matter is? You should have seen these decrepit¡¯ faces, as though I kidnapped their senile companion myself. Who knows if she grew foolish and died somewhere?¡±


    In the matter of trying to use force, Shanlin did really once tried to threatened those people years back but it was just in the end, the four of them were more powerful than she had been.


    ¡°Mother shouldn¡¯t lose her tamper¡± Su Qiunreminded gently, laying the teapot down.


    ¡®It¡¯s still Qiun¡¯er who knows best.¡± Sighed Shanlin, softly blowing on her heated cup. ¡°In the end, their opinion, since they won¡¯t reconsider, then that¡¯s fine. At this point, staging that decoy¡¯s death would resolve everything.¡±


    Su Qiun¡¯s hands stilled. This plan, wasn¡¯t it supposed to be the last one? What were they going to do if by that then the real one came then?


    ¡°That¡­¡±


    Shanlin caressed her snake¡¯s head, which by that point crawled to her side. ¡°Everything would go smoothly. Li¡¯s spell, who could break it? If we can¡¯t force them to renounce then just staging her death is also enough.¡±


    Su Qiun stared at the scaled animal and in the end, the smile on her face returned, her features that of a gentle person.


    ¡°Mother¡¯s plan is fine but why not hear this daughter once more. Since they won¡¯t help then going by the olden times is fine too. The protector, in the end, he still hasn''t left this country and whoever he decided shall be queen.¡±


    Shanlin waved her hands.


    ¡°The ones who know how to tame that beast are the fours elders. No matter how much I tried when I was younger they refused it to me and in the end made that foolish woman queen. You must not count on that.¡±


    ¡°Maybe one elder would be willing to help. After all, aren¡¯t they angry that the crown princess is unwilling to cultivate?¡±


    ¡°That matter,Qiun''er should lay it to rest.¡±


    The first princess made a gesture with her head but in the end spoke no more about Fenrir. Instead, she asked.


    ¡°Where is fourth? I thought I¡¯d be seeing her with you?¡±


    Concerning Bai Ming disappearing then being brought back, the first princess had no idea and Shanlin felt that she shouldn¡¯t let her daughters quarreled so early when the other one just returned recently. So she only said.


    ¡°She should be sleeping by now, after all, the travel was tiresome.¡±


    ¡°Ey¡± approved Su Qiun. ¡°In the end, her coming home using teleportation stones shouldn¡¯t be said to the population. Let us tell the news about Bai Ming¡¯s return tomorrow instead as it was planned.


    Concerning that, Shanlin was already planning to do it like that. After all the festive preparations weren¡¯t over, how could she let down her daughter and not prepare fireworks and a feast for her official return?


    ¡°She has just shown herself to her sisters and brother. Worry not, no one will talk¡±


    Their matter finished, they called the servants to fetch their dishes. And while she was eating, Su Qiun had in mind that white beast, protector of their country. Just a little more time and she¡¯d have the information she needed. Let¡¯s see then by that time who dared defy her.


    ***


    Jun Lin, who was still in Xue Zhi¡¯s courtyard, shamelessly invited himself in her afternoon¡¯s meal. This man was really persistent today, thought Xue Zhi with a glare, still refusing to acknowledge him. Faced with her silence, he stopped talking, pouting a little. Between those two twins, what were frighteningly similar were their faces; the two of them even had that same red beauty mark on their forehead between their brows. It was just that in the end, men and women¡¯s bodies were different and this difference was accentuated by the fact that Jun Lin, other than swords also liked training for hand to hand fights, so his muscles were a bit more developed than his twin.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you too cold to me today? How did I wrong you now?¡±


    Xue Zhi kept on eating as though he was but air. He put down his chopstick, made a motion of moving a little from the small table to place himself in front of his sister. He placed his hands together and still kneeling, bowed lowly to her.


    ¡°With this bow, I apologized for everything. So whatever it is, forgive me already right?¡±


    Xue Zhi¡¯s lips twitched. Why was his voice more laughing than apologizing? This man was really infuriating.


    ¡°Are you hiding here?¡± She finally said, placing down her chopsticks once she was done. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear fourth words? Wasn¡¯t she saying that she would be greeting everyone? Won¡¯t she be annoyed to find no one in your courtyard then?¡±


    He resumed his position and lifted his chopstick.


    ¡°And so what? Annoyed then annoyed! I can¡¯t remember being said goodbye to, how am I then supposed to say welcome?¡±


    ¡®Can you please spare me from your pettiness?¡¯ thought Xue Zhi unhappily. In the end, wasn¡¯t he just jealous? No matter how much he begged Jun Lin had been refused the attendance of the alliance academy and could only, just like her, go to the imperial one. It was a sore point for him still and she could, somehow, understand him. Her twin could actually be considered a genius in his own right. Not only was he the only prince who could cultivate in their generation, he was also someone who was already in mid medium level.


    For average people, upon finishing the academy, they¡¯d be at most at late novice. But this brother finished a step ahead at early medium and was now mid medium. One couldn¡¯t help but think if he went to the alliance academy which was rumored to have better teaching, he¡¯d have higher cultivation now. She, Xue Zhi finished at late medium, so having this person bragged and whined to her had the effect of further angering her and displeasing her.


    The royal advisor¡¯s treatment towards her different children was really partial, extremely so. In their early years, between the two of them, the one doted upon was her, Xue Zhi and Jun Lin was not only neglected but also easily insulted. That was almost an everyday occurrence. He was, after all a boy and no one really thought he could cultivate; even the queen¡¯s first child had been unable to cultivate so no one really thought he could be any different. However, by their tenth years, everything changed. Jun Lin had formed a core while she, the girl between them, had been unable to.


    Their situation now reversed, it was difficult to tell if he didn¡¯t like spending time with her just to rub it in as to say, look the wheel of fate really turned.


    ¡°Anyway isn¡¯t the feast supposed to be tomorrow? Mother won¡¯t blame me as that young sister still hadn¡¯t officially arrived¡±


    Using mother as a shield, are you here to brag about that possibility? Thought Xue Zhi grudgingly. Anger rising she asked


    ¡°This brother really has lots of time. Shouldn¡¯t it be used to court those mistresses you feel like marrying?¡±


    Jun Lin swallowed what was in his mouth and with the brightest smile that showed his dimples, he said.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the most beautiful one still my other half?¡±


    Xue Zhi¡¯s lips twitched. By that was he saying that he was the most beautiful one since everyone was going on about how alike they were. ''Do you think me your mirror?''. Xue Zhi felt that talking to this one was really a waste of saliva so she ordered for the servants to clean the table even though he hadn¡¯t finished.

 Chapter 10: Dai Capital

    The sun had already set and the cover of the night was almost complete in the sky when Huang and Seyran appeared from thin air, some meters away from the immense gates of the capital. Dispersed and not far by much from the building, were many tents where a gleam of fire could be seen; some people were beside it, taking their supper. Their belongings were still in their carriages and apart from those people¡¯s soft chatter, the sometimes neighing of their horses were also their companions.


    The time to enter the capital had long passed it seemed and those people were patiently waiting for the morning. From where she stood, Seyran couldn¡¯t really see the peak of the building clearly but she supposed that some guards must be there for the travelers to be so conscious of their ways of acting. Huang, perched on Seyran¡¯s shoulder, was quite satisfied with the result of its efforts. After trying so much, -and after some poor attempts were they ended in strange places- it could finally measure by how much qi one should infuse inside that white stone to get the correct distance. Well, approximately anyway, for it was aiming for the inside of the capital and not the gates.


    The detour they had taken in the steppe had been quite useless. Although there had been many lions of all dimensions, from big to small and some contracted beasts in there, there weren¡¯t a giant golden one or a fox for that matter. Those lions that they encountered hadn¡¯t been contracted beasts but simple ones which left Seyran at her first point, not knowing anything about her enemy¡¯s strength. With no golden beast in sight, nor a fox she could only ask herself ¡®how was she going to proceed?¡¯. And thinking about said opponents, at this very moment she really wished it was just that royal family. Hoping that it was their spies in the forest that alerted them of sensing her qi, she clung to the possibility of finding the young man in one of those people¡¯s hands. But still wary and doubtful when thinking back about that deep murderous intent she felt, she hoped she didn¡¯t have too many enemies for then, she would have no idea where to search.


    A mantis, one of the witnesses of Yenaigai¡¯s kidnapping had also been dragged in their quest to find the servant and was actually annoying Huang with its constant complaints. A pity,it wasn¡¯t heard by Seyran thought the bird for certainly with all the noise it was making she would have chase the damn thing away! But no, the poor bird was bound to be the only one to hear it and it couldn¡¯t voice its own complaints, for Seyran wanted silence since the forest. Huang clutched the animal harder in its claws not forgetting to threaten its life once again. But like the previous times, it shut up for just a little time before blabbering again.


    However, Huang was too satisfied to argue with it. ¡®Hadn¡¯t it done fine now? Look, look, stupid mantis, your teacher is here! Teleportation? Nothing difficult, this mighty one mastered it in few hours!¡¯ Well, that¡¯s what it thought without chirping it though, lest should that woman find fault with it. Huang was fast to say.


    ¡°Next time, we should be inside¡± but before it infused the qi, the bird was stopped.


    ¡°No, here is perfect.¡±


    She really wasn¡¯t all too eager to arrive in the imperial palace. By that time she would let Huang fly to search for Yenaigai but what after that? What if a fight broke? In Unzu it had been easy to attack and defend at the same time, it wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say she was an army all by herself. But here she needed a plan and a backup plan if that one failed. She should first try to sneak the servant out but didn¡¯t really know how. That would have to wait for Huang to inspect the place first.


    However, that wasn¡¯t really the reason why she stopped the bird now. She just didn¡¯t want it to teleport them in the middle of people. That would be too troublesome if the words of that grandma she met previously could be trusted.


    She slowly walked to the carriage and sat in the shadow of one of them, where light didn¡¯t come, avoiding to be seen. There she could softly hear those people talking about the fourth princess who was coming soon and who won a sacred beast. She listened for some minutes then closed her eyes to cultivate.


    As she was concentrating, she got distracted by muffled sounds coming from the deeper parts of the shadow of the nights, meters in front. The people behind were too engrossed in their talking to notice. Breathing low, she closed her eyes, more to test her abilities than any real curiosity. The cultivation could enhance the sense of audition and she wondered how much she progressed. From the voice she heard, it seemed to be a young man, who was slightly angry and actively reprimanding in soft tones.


    ¡°What are you coming back for? Do you wish to be their slaves? Go away!¡±


    After which sounds of stomping feet in the ground could be discerned. There was the soft whimpering of an animal too. In dissatisfaction of the results, he urged some more ¡°Go already!¡± before running away in the opposite direction of the gates, but Seyran could hear the little animal followed right after.


    Seyran just sat there, asking to herself ¡®Why were they more persistent when one actually set them free?¡¯ That servant too had refused to leave. Did they like it so much, being ordered around?


    She let out a long sigh, which startled the animal on her shoulder but she paid it no heed, more concern about her future actions which, in the end, were all for a servant. Was it stupid? She knew no more. She just closed her eyes and resumed cultivating.


    Huang had absorbed his fill of her mana by its claw so it wasn¡¯t really hungry. But sensing her qi, it could almost hear its stomach growl. Did it really matter that it didn¡¯t bring food today if it asked will she give? Then it comforted itself. Of course she would give, after all, it wasn¡¯t its fault that it didn¡¯t bring meat, who would have cooked? Wasn¡¯t it by its magnificence that they were here? How could she have come here otherwise? However, the bird didn¡¯t even request that Seyran was opening her eyes to stare at it.


    ¡°Starting now cultivate to make your hunger disappear. I¡¯ll need all the mana and qi I can get¡± And she closed her eyes again. Moreover, it seemed like she would do so until the day replaced the night.


    The little bird felt wronged. There was a big gap between eating and letting the sensation disappeared okay! The mantis laughed and Huang¡¯s claws clutched it harder, to the point where it pleaded for help. In the end, to pass the time, Huang cultivated too, just so it could be immersed enough to not hear the mantis.


    ****


    In the palace, rare were the occasions were the family dined together. During the evening meal, they would eat with their consorts, one of them or just alone. Shanlin was dining by herself when a servant reported the arrival of the right general, Mehwan. Those two had long been friends and the right general was also someone who instructed her when she was small so they didn¡¯t need to be overly courteous when they were by themselves. Shanlin invited the general to dine with her and asking her to forget about the rule of staying silent during dinner, she asked her the reason of her presence.


    As another set of bowls was brought, the general informed the royal advisor about their eagle¡¯s spies last reports. The eagle had been left in the forest to keep an eye on the crown princess. A month ago it reported her awakening and now it said that she left to find her servant. Shanlin just smiled her mood actually good, happy that the fake princess was still here.


    ¡°Who cared if she¡¯s searching for that boy? Let her come.¡±


    ¡°She has a fire attributed bird as her contracted beast. It seemed it can use wind too and maybe more.¡±


    ¡°So what? Isn¡¯t the second princess already in the Capital? Who is going to trust her when the time comes she claims to be my sister¡¯s daughter?¡±


    ¡°That¡­¡± Mehwan wanted to say that in the first place the reason why that princess went in the forest and defied her mother wasn¡¯t it for the sake of that young master? But she remembered that the queen was no longer here and the princess hadn¡¯t had enough time to really cultivate to the point of frightening them. She should be easy to deal with. So she had a smile on her face and lifted her bowl to eat.


    ***


    Xian Su Qiun, first daughter of Shanlin, dismissed her servants and by herself, went to her youngest sister¡¯s place. Last night, the elder sister hadn¡¯t really wanted for the youngster to hear about their secrets but Bai Ming had appeared in their mother¡¯s courtyard as they were discussing the oncoming crowning of the next year and when she asked some questions, their mother indulged her. In the end Su Qiun and Bai Ming hadn¡¯t really had they time to talk all by themselves.


    When she arrived, the front of Bai Ming¡¯s courtyard was still dark, not a servant could be seen. Every servant in that part of the palace may know about her return but no one dare talk about it for it was the instructions. The servants in charge of that courtyard had long been arranged and had already swept the place but left the fourth princess for now. They would officially wait on her the following day.


    Su Qiun helped herself and entered the place, softly calling for her young sister. Two of Bai Ming¡¯s guards came to meet her and brought her to a room her sister was currently using, waiting for her. The guards were dismissed and the sisters talked for a long moment, reminiscing about the past, talking about the academy and whatnots. In the end, whrn most topics where used, the elder she didn¡¯t forget to instruct.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Tomorrow by the morning don¡¯t forget to cross the gates and salute the population with respect.¡±


    Bai Ming responded in affirmation. More words were said and Su Qiun ended up asking her sister view if she really went ahead and claimed the throne. Bai Ming may have already given her consent the previous night but Su Qiun felt compelled to ask again.


    ¡°The matter of elder sister crowning, I really have no objection¡± Bai Ming said to Su Qiun with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m more than willing to give a helping hand.¡¯


    The little sister said so with a smile. Whether she believed her or not, Su Qiun didn¡¯t say, she only smiled back sweetly in return.


    ¡°Then this older sister is taking her leave. May little sister sleep well for us to celebrate until morning.¡±


    Once Su Qiun was gone, Bai Ming left that room to return to where she was before, her bedroom. The bound Yenaigai was on the floor, glaring daggers at her as she went in. Food was placed in front of him but the ropes tightly chained his feet and hands, let alone eat, he couldn¡¯t even move. Bai Ming sat in front of him once again, slowly eating, not forgetting to comment from time to time.


    She smiled at him as she dabbed the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief.


    ¡°Does young master Lian want a piece?¡± He said nothing, not avoiding her eyes either. ¡°Still not talking, that¡¯s fine. When one isn¡¯t hungry one shouldn¡¯t eat or the stomach will get angry¡±. She carefully looked at the man, taking in the thinness of his arms, she couldn¡¯t help but mocked. ¡°Young master has really suffered these last years.¡±


    But the young man wasn¡¯t even acknowledging the provocation. It wasn¡¯t really fun to have him this mute. No matter what she said he just stared at her. She pushed the utensils to a side and sat closer to him.


    ¡°They said you use to be considered promising. You were personally picked by the queen to accompany her daughter in training.¡±


    But he was still silent. Wanting a reaction from him, she caressed a side of his face and asked.


    ¡°Your face is not bad. Don¡¯t you feel like coming to my side? Being this genius¡¯s consort, isn¡¯t it better for you?¡±


    ¡°My mistress is the real genius of this country!¡± exclaimed Yenaigai suddenly, startling her. She was quick to be angry this time.


    ¡°What genius? What can she do?¡±


    This time around Yenaigai reigned in the impulse to defend his mistress, but in his heart he knew no one could beat his mistress in term of capacity. Core took time to form itself. For average people, it was ten years. Those able to do it in less than that were considered geniuses. Seyran had been the genius amount geniuses for she had formed hers at the age of six. She, who was count amount average just what does she have that she can compare to his mistress?


    However it didn¡¯t change the fact that Xian Bai Ming did have some abilities and she was quite confident in them too, not doubting that she could fight against Seyran and win every time. She had the golden lion as her contracted beast, why would she need to fear? Taking that throne if she wanted, wouldn¡¯t it be as easily as she took that servant? Thinking there her anger faded as quick as it came. To the once again silent young man she asked.


    ¡°I wonder, what does it feel like to have his core destroyed, does it hurt?¡±


    ¡°Why not try?¡± suggested Yenaigai in a kind voice with an intoxicating smile as though he was proposing the best thing in the world when only he knew how much that hurt.


    ¡°Oh, you got your tongue back. Let me hear your screams.¡±


    She infused qi in her hand and forced it inside Yenaigai¡¯s body. The foreign energy directly went for his damaged core and degraded it more. It was like every bone in his body was breaking and tearing his flesh apart. Yenaigai bit his lip until it drew blood and in the end could repress it no longer, he shouted at the top of his lungs, twisting again and again. That¡¯s when she let go. She patted his back and gently wiped his sweating face.


    ¡°Breathe, breathe¡± she was saying. And when his breathing was almost normal again she said.


    ¡°Mother told me a beautiful story about a boy, who betrayed his family. Do you want to hear? Oh, how foolish of me, how could the main character not know the event of that day?¡±


    She laughed at his stiffed expression and the glare that he renew on his face. Now to have him so full of expression when these last hours he was a statue was like delighting.


    ¡°Yeah, those eyes, keep them like that.¡±


    She took out a dagger and slashed his left palm, quite deeply, in hope of seeing the blood flow out. She couldn¡¯t help it. It was the most beautiful color in the world and when she could she would yield in to the impulse to see it. At first, Bai Ming had been someone who didn¡¯t like hurting others and she used to be uncomfortable with blood. But day after day in the alliance academy thought her the beauty of it. In addition that final test had made it worse and that feeling, the elation of crushing a person under her feet, to left them with no hope and their soul tormented for eternity, had no description.


    ¡°You have such a beautiful color in your blood.¡± Yenaigai shuddered, sure that this princess was completely crazy. ¡°Is it her secret? Is starving beneficial to get that color?¡±


    Her eyes were sparkling and if she wasn¡¯t this mesmerized by his blood, Yenaigai would have been fooled into thinking she had discovered a treasure.


    Another hour passed. Bai Ming had slashed her prisoner everywhere but his face. Covered in his own blood, Yenaigai was really hurting but he still had enough energy to glare at her. She took some steps back to consider him from head to toe, then, unexpectedly; she beamed and clapped for him. What she was clapping for, Yenaigai had no idea, concerning this woman, a simple reality was engraved in his head: she had completely lost it!


    ¡°So commendable efforts, one can¡¯t help but clap. Lian young master is still Lian young master. One should cherish such noble blood in his body.¡± As she thought like this, her smile grew warmer. Staring at his untouched face she started blabbering


    ¡°Say, I can consider taking you as mine. No need to worry about not having a core. Being my first consort, wouldn¡¯t it be an honor? Changing your identity would be no problem; I¡¯ll pamper you very much. Who said a shattered core can¡¯t be cured? I can get your core treated. How about it? You just have to pledge yourself to me¡­ Why care about someone who easily let you go?¡±


    In the end, he was still the only living member of the Lian lineage. She willing to take him, she had that much compassion as to take a second-hand good.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°You just have to say the words. Apologize and pledge yourself to me.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    She waited but not any sound came from him.


    ¡°Fine, let me help you be quiet¡±


    She searched for small cloth and stuffed it in his mouth.


    ¡°Find me some ants and bring them here¡± she ordered in direction of the windows with a wicked smile. If he wanted to suffer she was fine with helping him.


    And so, she poured ants in the young man¡¯s numerous cuts to let him suffer. After administrating she left that bedroom to find another place to sleep. And she did so soundly. Yenaigai on the other hand, tossed and tossed but the insects kept biting his flesh and the ropes were unwilling to be removed. After suffering through the night, He ended up losing consciousness by the morning.


    ***


    The gates opened with the first rays of lights and the travelers and merchants fixed their things and lined up to the rectangular building called the gates of the capital. The entry cost was ten silvers. Seyran had no idea if it could be considered pricey or cheap and had no intention of asking. Once a carriage was inspected and asked to proceed, she asked Huang to teleport them inside. It was relatively large; the bird should be able to aim right this time.


    And it did, chirping with pride how easy it had been. It was a carriage full of fruit, and Seyran¡¯s weight squashed some while she ate others. Huang tried but finding it tasteless, leaved it alone, only looking at the human eating while thinking how good it would be if she gave it some mana now! They travelled hidden inside the carriage for a while. It was going to the imperial city so Seyran was in no hurry to go out since the palace was in the imperial city.


    One of the books she read thought her that the gates of the capital actually didn¡¯t immediately open to the Dai capital. The first lay out was what was called the outer city were one could see some villages, farming places. After that was the inner city and in the middle of the inner city was the imperial city and the real place considered the Dai capital. The palace was there, in the middle of it.


    It was by the afternoon that they arrived inside the imperial city. In the carriage, while she couldn¡¯t really see the outside Seyran could hear the bustling from the market streets. News brought by tradesmen that the golden lion was the sacred beast won by the fourth princess. The entire capital was in festivity for her return.


    She went out of the carriage by asking Huang to make her invisible. Some feet away, Huang let go, huffing and this time asking for recompense. Seeing the animal looking grief-stricken and unwilling, she gave it some mana. After all, she was really counting on that little bird to help her.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t she already here?¡± asked one person ¡°There are some who said that they heard the roar of a lion coming from the palace.¡±


    ¡°I hear its specialized in wind technique, that its roar could destroy a house¡±


    It was wind its forte?


    ¡°Besides wind, what else can it use?¡±


    The voice had come from the side and startled the two gossiping people.


    ¡°A beggar?¡± They didn¡¯t stay, throwing a silver piece to Seyran, they went away but from what they were saying as the kept on going, they didn¡¯t know more.


    Her clothes were filthy with sand, herbs and fruits stains. Ignored, Seyran was tempted to strike their back to show them not to turn around when she was still talking. Old habits, she recognized though, they were hard to tame. She retracted the mana she had formed and berated herself a little. She looked down on her clothes. They were really in a sorry state. She longed for a bath. The moment she found him, that servant would be drawing her a bath, a good one.


    Shouts of the princess¡¯s return stopped her track of thoughts. ¡®Wasn¡¯t she already inside¡¯, Seyran asked herself with a frown. People in military uniforms were asking to free the roads. Seyran let herself be pushed to the side. The coming procession wasn¡¯t really long, quite short for a princess actually. Just one flashy decorated carriage and five guards in black, on their horses surrounding it. But what was really formidable was the lead of the procession. It was a beautiful golden lion and an equally gorgeous woman perched on its back. Apparently the princess didn¡¯t want to use her carriage.


    ¡°That¡¯s it, that¡¯s the lion you¡¯re looking for, quick free me.¡± Shouted the mantis to Huang. ¡°And that woman is the one who took that young human of yours.¡±


    Huang could only trust the mantis on this. It¡¯s not like it was a dog that could sniff and said ¡°you¡¯re right buddy, I smelled his odor on them.¡± In any case Huang was happy to oblige if only to have the little animal gone and his ears¡¯ suffering stopped. Freeing the annoying thing, he related what it said to Seyran.


    She had taken the mantis just in case they happened to meet one of the humans it had seen ¨Csince none of the animals were able to describe humans for they were all the same for them- but she didn¡¯t think it would be so fast.


    Huang observed as the demoness¡¯s eyes had a new layer of blue. As somber as an agitated ocean.

 Chapter 11: Fenrir

    ¡°Can you defeat that lion?¡± she asked softly.


    ¡®Who cared about an oversized cat when my mighty self is here?¡¯ That¡¯s what Huang wanted to chirp with brag but this little bird¡¯s cultivation, was it really enough to battle against that giant? One could feel that lion¡¯s enormous amount of qi even just standing here. If it could be a surprise attack that would end in one move then the victory could be theirs but if the battle was long then Huang would tired way quicker for it didn¡¯t have that much reserve at all and in the end, it would lose more than just its mightiness.


    ¡°This one isn¡¯t sure.¡± Better be honest than regret later! One should know one¡¯s own limits.


    Seyran didn¡¯t talk. She couldn¡¯t really feel the animal¡¯s qi like Huang so she couldn¡¯t really judge. But the bird had a faint impression that she was dissatisfied. It felt real chills here, its heart badly frightened. Hey, since when was she caring? Will she care if this bird disappeared too? It felt quite certain she would, as useful as it was, it would be a great loss for her was it to disappear. Maybe by then, she¡¯d be tearing earth and sky apart. Huang nodded its head in affirmation, quite certain of itself. If that servant could get her so worked up then for this formidable bird, she would certainly be crying. Lost in its own world, it was Seyran¡¯s curt voice that brought the bird back.


    ¡°Follow that person.¡±


    Between all the shouting of the merry population, congratulating the princess and welcoming her back, only Huang heard her. Seyran was intently looking at the woman on the lion¡¯s back, so Huang needn¡¯t ask who she was referring to. It spread its beautifully vibrant red wings and flew, following the passing procession which had at its lead the smiling princess who was waving her hands.


    No one noticed ¨Cor specifically bothered with- the little bird which landed on the roof of the princess¡¯s carriage.


    ***


    The minister of rites had really overworked herself to get everything organized for the fourth princess¡¯s return and with the royal advisor breathing down her neck every time, it wasn¡¯t an easy thing to do. But the results of months¡¯ worth of preparation were quite satisfying. Decorations hung everywhere in the capital and all along, beautiful welcoming songs of multiples musicians kept the procession company until they entered the principal gates of the palace.


    The palace itself was the most stunning. Fresh petals of mix colors were adorning the floor, clothes with vivacious shades were draped on walls, from places to places one could read, written in calligraphy the words ¡®welcome back¡¯. Upon entering the tall gates, from side to side, lines of guards were seen with, in front of them, their contracted beasts. As the procession kept on going, the beasts released their elements in the sky, fire, water, and thunder formed lovely figures. At the end of the line, was the minister of rites, a woman of forty, with a small smiled on her face. She bowed her head, bidding the princess welcome and asking her to follow. Still on the back of her lion, the princess followed her to the biggest garden of the palace, by the side reserved for the queen. But since there wasn''t an official queen yet, it was the crown princess that granted access to this place. It was really a spacious place with magnificent flowers that were beautifully trimmed, fake mountains and a pool by its left.


    Every official had been invited; even the fourth elders were present today, to welcome the fourth princess back.


    The moment the procession stopped walking, the palace''s guards which had followed behind, ordered their contracted beasts to release in concert their elements in the sky once again. Now it wasn¡¯t simply beautiful forms, but the words ¡®welcome back, fourth princess¡¯ could be seen in the sky. They were exquisitely written and easily identifiable. The minister smiled happily at the amazed gazes of some invitees. For the first princess''s return, it had been impossible to coordinate the beasts to write ¡®welcome back,first princess¡¯ so only the word ¡®welcome¡¯ had been displayed. But now she had personally chosen and trained those people for this. All that was left nowwere the fireworks but those would have to wait for the night.


    The whole royal family was there, of course, seating on decorated chairs on a platform. Bai Ming¡¯s, the royal advisor was sitting in a large decorated chair, by her right were her children seated in their birth¡¯s order. A smiling Su Qiun, a bored Jun Lin, and his quite expressionless twin Xue Zhi. By Shanlin¡¯s left, were seated her younger sister Minqi with her son, the third prince Xin Fen.


    Minqi had a smile on her face as she arranged the girly ornaments in her son¡¯s hair, reminding her to sit better. Even though she kept calling him Shao Yang, the sweet smile on the little boy¡¯s face never wavered, having long been accustomed to that. The one who would frown on his behalf though was Xue Zhi but likewise she wouldn¡¯t really talk and imitating everyone else, she looked up at the sky, to the exhibition in front of them.


    The crown princess was seated on a higher platform directly in front of where Bai Ming was, contrary to the rest of her family which was by her right. The elders were directly behind the crown princess, with one of the four seats empty. By Bai Ming¡¯s right were seated on a platform too, the rest of the assembly¡¯s members: the right general Mehwan and the four other ministers.


    The other officials and nobles were not seated on a platform but by the platforms¡¯ sides. Notably, though, none consorts were present.


    When the words written in elements disappeared, the golden lion directed its gaze towards the sky, and let out a loud roar. It was such a powerful sound that the other contracted beasts cowered, the clothes hanging on the walls shook, and the sound was certainly heard from a long distance. It was unknown who between the official started to clap but very soon, everyone was clapping, welcoming with endless praises. Bai Ming caressed the mane of the lion and it roared a second time while she smiled proudly. Graciously, she jumped from her sitting position and landed in front of her sacred beast.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    She bowed to the crown princess, saluting her accordingly. The other waved her hand, dismissing her extremely polite words.


    ¡°So many ceremonies do lift your head, fourth sister, six years I haven¡¯t seen you, what a beauty you¡¯ve become.¡± Her gaze rested on the animal behind the fourth princess ¡°What a charming contracted beast you have.¡± There was a tint of disdain in her voice but the smile never left the fourth princess as she bowed once more.


    ¡°Fourth thanks the crown princess.¡±


    ¡°No need for too much politeness. Proceed, proceed.¡± Said the voice with a tint of laziness and boredom which had some people frowned.


    The seat where sat the crown princess was actually the one reserved for the queen. Since having been named crown princess that was what she used, dismissing the one that was normally hers. No one talked even though some dissatisfied whispers had been raised when she changed the decoration on it. In the end, she would be queen and they weren¡¯t many who wanted to be on that princess¡¯s bad side.


    Having greeted the crown princess, Bai Ming then saluted the elders, her family, the assembly other members and the rest.


    ***


    In their magnanimity, the royal family invited the population to assist too. It was the first time that it was done, and some whispered that this favor had been possible because the first princess insisted very much. Of course, there weren¡¯t enough places for the whole capital, and since it was first to come first be served, those presents were mostly youngsters, those that lived in the imperial city. They were placed at the far corner of the garden where they wouldn¡¯t be an eyesore but they could still see almost everything that was taking place at the front.


    By now, they were admiring as Bai Ming was displaying her strength in a mock battle with her guards and they cheered for her when she won. That year when the first princess brought back her cub wolf and fought they couldn¡¯t see but now they were shouting so loudly that no one could really ignore their presence.


    However, Seyran, who had wanted to follow them and enter too, had been denied the access. She wasn¡¯t the only one in that case, but she was still the one who attracted the attention the most. The others had worn their best clothes yet, here was this woman who was shameless enough to wish to enter the palace with her clothes filled with filth. The guards of the backdoor¡¯s disdained her and their words weren¡¯t particularly courteous as they ushered her to go away.


    Huang was now perched on the roof and where it was, it could see Seyran quite perfectly, thinking to itself, with that aggressive nature she had, would she really be idly ordered around? Huang was ready to bet her head she wouldn¡¯t. Then the little bird felt that something was wrong with its wording. If it bet her head then won¡¯t she die if it was proven wrong? How then would this formidable bird eat its fill? Better bet her feet in that case!


    The expressionless woman was still there, in front of the three guards, not moving an inch. At first, Seyran was going to wait for Huang¡¯s report to act and since the palace was open why not take a look? But, coming from that place, there was this strange pull she felt, making her head throbbed a little.


    The women in front of her were now threatening to use force against her, and even those behind her who were equally denied access joined the reprimands. Another guard, one with a higher position than those there, came to see what the commotion was about. Once there, her hands shook as she took in the face of that woman.


    ¡°Crown ¡­ princess?¡± she stuttered, her steps faltering. She was assigned as an inner guard and frequently, she see the crown princess everyday¡­ But¡­ that woman, clearly, she couldn¡¯t be the crown princess!


    ¡°Of course not!¡± exclaimed someone, quickly followed by other voices. And the newcomer remembered that the crown princess was already sitting in the garden. But really, it was frightening how two people could look so much alike without sharing blood ties.


    Seyran didn¡¯t reply, feeling that pull being more intense every passing second. That strange presence that felt familiar was coming close by itself now and Seyran just ignored the guards, staring at her left. Soon, a giant grey fur was seen by the roof.


    ***


    By the back of the palace, it had felt her. It had followed her progress since that faraway village in the desert, and it knew the exact moment she entered the capital. She was so close yet she stopped moving altogether. The beast¡¯s dark intentions were becoming harder and harder to conceal for itself. How many times had it scratched the ground already? It lifted its head in her direction, then it got up, leaving a place it hadn¡¯t move from since many years.


    While it was a giant, its feet weren¡¯t really heavy and where it went, the cold followed leaving an almost perceptible icy temperature.


    There she was, in front of the back gates.


    ¡°Look, look the protector!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the protector!¡±


    ¡°Fenrir!¡±


    ¡°The conqueror¡¯s beast!¡±


    Many were talking and much more had smiles on their faces, acknowledging the animal. Since when hadn¡¯t they seen this famous beast? Yet here it was now, in front of them to contemplate. They squealed delightedly now that they didn¡¯t enter or else, where could they have the chance to see that legend?


    It was a giant beast that looked like a wolf, a big wolf, which had the size of three grown horses maybe three and a half. Its fur was white with some parts grey. In the middle of its forehead, there was a part with black fur. Its usually dark eyes were grey for it was fighting against itself to not have them white. How hard was it trying! From its opened mouth came a chilling air which had many of those present tugged at their clothes to heat them a little more.


    Since it wasn¡¯t an everyday occurrence for that beast to leave its place, some were speculating about its motives. And plenty there were in accordance with this one.


    ¡°He went out to saluted the fourth princess¡¯s return¡±


    Yet the eyes of the beast never left Seyran.


    The previous angry killing intent felt familiar to her now. Seeing this animal, some memories flooded in her head. Wasn¡¯t it the mythological beast, said protector of their country, Xian Yuuna¡¯s the conqueror contracted beast, Fenrir? The corner of her lips rose, yet it wasn¡¯t really a smile. Her eyes had a dark blue in them. Then her smile grew wider, her face resemblingsomeone who had found a very interesting object, an altogether amusing and useful one. The strange expression on her face could almost confuse one to think that she was reuniting with a dear old friend and not, with an animal that, since her birth had always threatened to eat and destroy her along with her country.


    With a charmingly soft voice, she too, acknowledged the big animal in front of her. Contrary to her usual cold voice, there was an almost tenderness in her tone. That beast wasn¡¯t pleased with her presence, accordingly, as the saying goes, she felt like adding frost to snow, so charmingly with an almost soothing voice, she said.


    ¡°King of the northern region, bringer of death and calamity. I trust you¡¯ve been well since we last met.¡±


    By the end, her tone was one of mockery.

 Chapter 12: Crown Princess

    Ghost Wolf. Lord Winter. Monster. Death Bringer. Mythological beast. Humans had used so many words to call it over the years and the centuries; but it had been so long since one called itking of the northern region. Almost five centuries now.


    Time can be long, time can be short.


    Since then it was the word ¡®protector¡¯ that was used when referring to it. Yet that same word never left this woman¡¯s mouth. The giant wolf didn¡¯t talk back. Its eyes had traces of a silver-white color; the air was crisp and fresh now, as though it would snow any minute.


    However, the large wolf wasn¡¯t the only one angry. Seyran¡¯s anger was rising too. An anger from many years before that had never been vent, intertwining with the anger already there in her. Those memories brought violent emotions, she had trouble stabilizing. As she grew angrier, logical thoughts ¨Cthose referring to a well-constructed plan- flew her brain, as many confusing things were forcing their ways into her mind. Nonetheless, if one thing about that beast should be recalled, it was its readiness to kill.


    ¡°I have come back, won¡¯t you welcome me?¡±


    The beast¡¯s answer came in a long growl of annoyance or maybe dissatisfaction, showing the wolf¡¯s sharp and long fangs.


    Huang, on the roof, couldn¡¯t really hear at such distance what was said, but it could feel the temperature dropping low. That woman, should she really be provoking that wolf? Really it was way more badass than that lion, right? It would only need to open its mouth and she would be gulped down!


    Her words left the people around her dumbfounded. The growl of the animal scared some away; and while some had already left the place in fright, most were still there, wanting to continue to stare at this magnificent mythological beast.


    The wolf may have been growling but it did nothing else, just staring at the unflinching woman. And contrary to Seyran, its emotions were now in control, as its eyes turned darker, losing that dangerous glint it held. Acknowledging her request, it blew softly in her direction. The spears that were held by the guards to block her passage crystalized in contact with the breeze, turning to ice, then shattering in million pieces. The frightened guards jump back at the sudden event. The population took some steps back too.


    Seyran didn¡¯t thank it instead she stepped on the shard, with the intention to proceed. However, those guards were still ones who were full of duty. Backing down without a fight how could they explain themselves later. Thus, they bury their fear of Fenrir and wanted to attack Seyran. But the moment they moved, a cold wind froze them on spot rendering them unable to move. Powerless, they could just see as that woman went inside, with Fenrir following behind. The others didn¡¯t dare move. Only when those two were far away, did they softly whisper their bafflements and incomprehension. What the heck just happened?


    ¡°The protector¡­¡±


    Everyone was astonished. Did the protector just ¡­ let that woman in?


    Huang too, was perplexed. Weren¡¯t they going to fight, those two? That atmosphere between them was clearly not one of friendliness! How come that big menacing thing was being all obedient now?


    One of them murmured.


    ¡°Maybe the crown princess was pulling a prank on us!?¡± That kind of scary thing wouldn¡¯t be past her.


    But what his neighbor hear were only the word ¡®crown princess¡¯


    ¡°The crown ¡­ princess?¡±


    ¡°What are you staring at so dumbly?¡± Shouted one guard. They couldn¡¯t move but they could still speak. ¡°That was clearly an imposter! Hurry and send a message¡­ Someone is manipulating our protector!¡±


    One of them used a mind link to order his dove, a contracted beast, to transmit the message to one of the contracted beasts inside for their masters.


    The bird which actually was some meters away perched on a tree, flapped its wing as it went to executed the orders.


    ***


    Where the ceremony was taking place, now at the center of the stage were three men and two women who were dancing with swords. Their mastery was both beautiful and powerful.


    One ordinary guard rushed and, making sure not to attract any attention, she bowed in front of Shen Ai, the crown princess¡¯s personal bodyguards¡¯ captain, and whispered something to her ears. When she finished her report, Shen Ai waved her hand and dismissed her. The four bodyguards of the crown princess were standing behind their elders. Shen Ai left her place and advanced to the front of the platform where seated the crown princess. Softly, she whispered to her what had been transmitted to herself just seconds ago. By the time she finished and even before the crown princess¡¯s angry shouts, Shanlin was already clutching her clothes in annoyance. Su Qiun, closer to her mother asked what the matter was, after all, contrary to her mother''s anaconda, her chameleon wasn''t intelligent enough to prevent her. The crown princess voice answered her inquiry. Flinging the cup she was holding on the floor, she sneered.


    ¡°People are so bold today. My double? Let her come here for me to see!¡±


    Her loud words interrupted the performers, her cup landed by their feet, the wine splashing on one of them. Whispers and hushed voices rose. Shen Ai stayed by the crown princess¡¯s side her right hand on the tilt of her sword.


    A servant came shouting.


    ¡°The servants¡­ the servants and the guards¡­ they are being frozen¡±


    Now the whispers turned into shouts. A hubbub where no one really heard anything anymore.


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t anyone stopping her, where are the guards?¡± that was Su Qiun¡¯s voice who infused in it some qi.


    Another guard reported.


    ¡°It¡¯s like this¡­ the protector¡­ is the one bringing her here.¡±


    ¡°Fenrir?¡± Su Qiun frozed, Shanlin paled. Xue Zhi frowned. Jun Lin¡¯s eyes lit and his bored face now sported an interested smile.


    Dead silence; quickly followed by loud voices.


    The right general was already on her feet giving orders but she didn¡¯t get to finish them before a woman appeared on stage out of nowhere in front of them. Her clothes were filthy; her hair wasn¡¯t dressed, freely cascading down her shoulder until the middle of her back. However, for all those present, that face was really familiar.


    Everyone was standing not daring to seat anymore, way too startled by the sudden appearance.


    Seyran had forced herself to use teleportation. However, she still couldn¡¯t teleport to a great distance, just short one so it took time for her to arrive where the little red bird was. Using teleportation was really consummating but now, she wasn¡¯t thinking about her mana¡¯s reserves or her level of qi. Her thoughts were a mess. It was fortunate that all along she didn¡¯t fight; the wolf that followed her took it upon itself to freeze everyone that attacked her.


    Lines of guard circled her. The crown princess¡¯s bodyguards came closer to the one they should protect, their hands on the tilt of their sword, ready to draw it at every minute.


    It was Shanlin¡¯s voice that broke the silence.


    ¡°This woman, out of nowhere you pretend being our princess, do you think us fools to believe you?¡±


    Seyran never claimed that actually. Didn¡¯t even talk. But the crime of usurping a royal¡¯s identity was punishable by death. Not that she would be usurping anyone¡¯s identity if she really did claim that.


    ¡°Give him back to me.¡± She said instead, her eyes locked on Bai Ming. In her haze of thoughts, this reality was still there. She wanted her servant back!


    The crown princess talked too. She taunted and threatened but the newcomer completely ignored her which was infuriating. She pushed Shen Ai, leaped from her place, landed on the ground and thrust those guard in front of her to stand in front of Seyran. Shen Ai gritted her teeth and followed after, all the while trying to stop her but she was rebuffed and ordered to shut up instead. The crown princess drew her sword. The other three guards wanted to help their captain persuade but Shen Ai lift her hand to stop them and, as the crown princess was shouting, she moved back to let her place to move.


    Shen Ai was expressionless but in her heart, she was sneering, what exactly did this princess think she could do when she wouldn¡¯t even train? Was having a sword sufficient to say that one had skill too? However, she did have a weapon anyway, contrary to her opponent who didn¡¯t.


    Seyran retracted her gaze to finally look at the one rushing to her with a sword. She formed a barrier of mana and the sword landed on it. It was a normal sword, with no qi infused so it was really nothing against Seyran¡¯s barrier. Seyran needn¡¯t reinforcing the barrier after each slam. The princess continued to slam her weapon on it again and again, even though it had no effect. She stopped a moment to catch her breath and cursed.


    ¡°Daring enough to take the name of this crown princess! You¡¯re really wishing to die! Guards! Guards!¡±


    The multiple people standing in front of her with their sword drawn glanced at the big wolf behind her, and when it made no motion at all, they rushed to her all at the same time as the girl who just shouted moved away. Those swords they held seemed more dangerous, Seyran may not be able to feel the qi on them but she knew they were certainly infused with it. She increased her barrier a little, strengthening it with more mana. Glancing at the wolf which until now had paved her path, she saw it motionless, letting her battled by herself. The repeated slams were weakening her barrier and as of now, she couldn¡¯t really defend and attack at the same time. The throbs she was feeling had now turned into a severe headache as familiar faces were forcing awake the memories lying dormant. She infused more mana and added qi too, to have the barrier stronger.


    Huang left its perch and descended on those people spitting fire from the air. They dispersed.


    ¡°Kill her! Kill it. Kill them all!¡± was shouting the crown princess.


    Huang let out a cry and once again release fire to those who were once again approaching.


    ¡°On her shoulder¡± Seyran instructed the bird.


    Huang was feeling generous so it released a big fire in the direction of that crazed woman who was shouting at the top of her lungs. People near her dodged and since her bodyguards were at the other side, they didn¡¯t arrive on time. The woman shrieked as her clothes caught fire. Her upper body was burning. Shen Ai threw her upper cloth to her and patted to extinguish the fire. When it burned off, Huang¡¯s heart turned sour. Its fire had been so easily extinguished, it really needed cultivating more! It should really stop dilly-dallying and properly cultivate from now on!


    However the fire still killed the chameleon that was on the woman¡¯s shoulder and when the fire was extinguished and it was time to examine the damages, one can see, even if some parts were burned, this was definitely not the same face.


    Shen Ai took a step back, caught by surprise. The crown princess¡¯s features changed. A burned chameleon was now on the floor, for everyone to see. The elders from the four clans frowned at its sight.


    ¡°What are you staring at, you dumb woman! Immediately call a doctor!¡±


    The chameleon was dead. Su Qiun clenched her fists at the lost. But with this contracted beast she had a master-slave contract, so in the end, it wasn¡¯t that big of a loss. The twin chameleon on her shoulder lost consciousness and with the commotion, she easily hid it within her sleeves without anyone being the wiser.


    A line of water contracted beast was formed which flung water in Huang¡¯s direction. Not having to form the element by herself, Seyran was quite satisfied to be given a ready-made tool to use. She easily redirected their attack against those surrounding her adding more power to it. It swept the people on stage. The right general clenched her fist ordering her fox by their mind link to quickly come. Apart from the contracted beasts that were performing, contracted beasts weren''t really authorized to come and go in the palace.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    In the stillness that followed, those who had been shaken by the crown princess appearance were whispering.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this Min Shan, that was said to be lost years ago?¡±


    ¡°The crown princess¡¯s servant?¡±


    They weren¡¯t many whose thoughts were still coherent. Most of the nobles and officials had left the premise to take refuge to safe places. However some stayed and their thoughts came there, ''was it possible that this one was the real crown princess?'' She was after all backed up by the protector.


    The ''crown princess'' by Shen Ai¡¯s side was livid.


    ¡°What are you waiting for, I order you to kill her!¡± She was shouting more and more, drawing more attention, detouring that of Seyran.


    Su Qiun shared a look with her mother, and they both understood each other.


    ¡®You can let go¡¯ instructed Shanlin with mind link to her anaconda which was still in her courtyard. It did as bid but the crown princess¡¯s behavior didn¡¯t really change. Even when Li¡¯s manipulation left her body, the young woman still had that bellicose face like a mad woman. Been controlled by that snake for so many years, she lost her ability to feel, having long grown into a living puppet she couldn''t come back to being human once again.


    ¡°Min Shan stop¡± cried someone with grief and concern in her voice. But the person was fast shut by a slap from the one next to her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t wrongly recognized people. My daughter is long dead.¡± What was left unsaid was ¡°Do you wish to have my Min family entirely wiped off because they harmed and fooled the royal family?¡± but her eyes conveyed that clear enough. The one who was once Min Shan¡¯s friend could only shut her mouth.


    ¡°What Min Shan! Are you crazy? Can¡¯t you see that she¡¯s using a camouflage? I am the crown princess!¡±


    Angry, she took Shen Ai¡¯s sword with the other opposing no resistance, too bewildered for that. Since no one moved she would do it by herself. The sword infused with the captain¡¯s qi was heavier than hers so it was a bit difficult to lift.


    Seyran was shivering for minutes now, without really knowing why. It could be because of her clothes which had been wetted by her previous attack, added to this frosty climate or it could also be because of her dropping low mana from which she wouldn¡¯t have an access if this continued. In front of her, that woman was rushing with a sword once again.


    Screw not killing anyone!


    ¡°Don¡¯t attack¡± she said to Huang which was prepared to spit fire again.


    No, she didn¡¯t feel like simply attacking. She would be ending her. That sentence that she remembered first upon seeing that monster of a wolf came to her mind, that sentence painted in red; thinking about it, a sinister smile played on her face. Feeling such a strong murderous aura coming from her, Fenrir lifted its head and approached. She saw the beast¡¯s eyes going white from the corner of her eyes as the cold bite more fiercely at her. In the end, it was just waiting for that sentence, wasn¡¯t it?


    The voice of Seyran was cold and perceptible as she said, staring at the woman running towards her.


    ¡°By my command, you¡¯re no longer part of the country called Yande¡±


    The moment that sentence left her lips, all that could be seen was blur silhouette of white and grey moving and after that, all was left was a splash of blood. Those with higher cultivation got to see the moment Fenrir closed its mouth on that woman. It chewed and chewed and chewed and only when what was left was a mess of bones and flesh, did it spit back. One couldn¡¯t identify which part of which bone started where and ended where. Bones, clothes, flesh, all was overturned. The arm couldn¡¯t be distinguished from the leg. The head wasn¡¯t visible anymore. There was hair but one didn¡¯t know what it was attached to. It was quite a gory sight and many of the youngsters who never fought any real war were already vomiting.


    Huang, quite disgusted with the sight, landed on a roof, far away from the stench. Lest would it be good if that smell stained it.


    The lower lip of Fenrir was drenched in red, its fur, dripping with blood, its eyes beautifully white. It turned to look at Seyran almost as though it was waiting for the next prey. She just had to say the words.


    What Seyran could remember about that animal, the most vivid memory she had about this beast, was its willingness to kill the moment she gave the permission. That consort of their mother that took the liberty to slight her brother at that time, hadn¡¯t this beast fooled her into banishing that woman with her words?


    She had clear memories concerning that big animal and she was no fool either, she could feel its killing intent directed at her, but she was delighting in the fact that in the end, it could do her no harm. There was nothing more enjoyable than the hatred of one who could only curse at you without being able to do more. That certainty of being untouchable that had marked her past life, she was feeling it with this beast once again and it was, like always, wonderful.


    When Fenrir had violently closed its mouth on that woman, it had splashed blood around. Some landed on her cloth and a trace was visible on her cheek, making it seem like a tear of blood. Having their rapt attention she opened her arms, vaguely aware that she was feeling more and more lightheaded. And in this instance, with her head pounding as though it would be tearing apart, she wasn¡¯t feeling like the one who wanted to stay low-key but instead, the queen that she was. The one who stirred fear in the heart of her enemies just by her name.


    ¡°I am the crown princess.¡± She turned as she looked at everyone who was still here ¡°Who else has some reserves about my identity?¡±


    The right general took a step back as well as Bai Ming who wanted for a moment now, to jump on her lion and showed her prowess. She had thought that by waiting for the right moment her glory would be all the more resounding. Who would have thought that the right moment never really came actually? That woman could use Fenrir! Who was daring enough to fight against a mythological beast? Even her golden lion, Shu¡¯er, and her mother¡¯s anaconda, Li, which were sacred beast, certainly had no chance at all. Just two sacred beast against a mythological one, the fight wouldn¡¯t even last long!


    Why was Fenrir listening to her to start with? Was it¡­ really¡­ the crown princess? Why was Fenrir obeying that woman when it wouldn¡¯t obey those ancestors from before when it wouldn¡¯t obey anyone else? No one talked. No one contradicted. The protector had already chosen a side. Who was it that was suicidal enough to choose differently?


    No one opposed. So Seyran banished no one else. That fact was far from pleasing to the big wolf. The animal was growling low, scaring those present.


    Was it the blood in its mouth that was giving it the courage? She put down her hands and reminded mockingly, without turning to it ¡°Still not free yet dare bark at me.¡±


    Her voice hadn¡¯t been loud so only the concerned one heard. Having said that, she wasn¡¯t really waiting for an answer but it provided one for once. It talked in her mind and hers alone like it always did previously, with that hoarse voice filled with darkness, the words slow, as though it tasted each syllable.


    ¡°You resembled her more and more.¡±


    ¡°So you love me more and more¡± she mocked.


    That relation they had, of taking advantage of each other in the end, it was impossible to say who was the one who was profiting more from it.


    ¡°Do you have something to say?¡± she asked the people.


    In their eyes, terror was written. Shen Ai turned to look at the elders. They were equally shocked it seemed. Elder Shen shivered and shared a distressed look with the two other members of the fours clans. That woman with clothes dyed in blood was the crown princess?... The real one?... Was she really the one who was supposed to save this country from its oncoming danger?


    Su Qiun refrained was moving. She was caught completely unprepared. Why¡­ Why was Fenrir obeying her? Why this woman? Why? She clutched her clothes harder.


    The expression of those people wasn¡¯t that different from those that she usually got at the battlefield. This time it may not have been her power which did it, but it was still because of her. That feeling wasn¡¯t bad at all. Now certainly, no one would be jumping to defy her.


    ¡°Seeing as this particular fact is settled¡± she turned to Bai Ming once again ¡°you, where is my servant?¡±


    ¡®And how will you go about that?¡¯ Seyran¡¯s eyebrows twitched in annoyance as the sudden dark tone added to her head sufferings.


    Wasn¡¯t this wolf exceptionally talkative today? Was it the ten years of absence that mellowed it? However, Seyran could understand what it meant though. Even with her permission, it would be unable to harm the one she was talking to or any of that woman¡¯s descendants for that matter. It tried. Many times and each time was a crushing failure that ended in it suffering more. Seyran did remember that much. Fenrir was, for the moment, powerless against the royal family and even if she voiced their banishment, the fact that Yuuna¡¯s blood flowed in them was more than enough to ensure their safety.


    However, they didn¡¯t know that much. The only knew that they saw their beloved protector siding with her. Why would they be searching for a fight then? If it came to that, torturing that woman to get the information needed was fine too. So long as she banished some people for it, that wolf would be of help if others attacked.


    When addressed to, Bai Ming actually paled visibly. She wanted to talk but in the end, unintelligible stutters escaped her lips.


    ¡°I won¡¯t repeat myself,¡± said Seyran lifting a sword that lied by her side. Her mana no more accessible, she infused qi in it. It really wasn¡¯t evident to manipulate that energy or maybe it was just she didn¡¯t have enough battle experience and was way too used to her mana. Black spot was appearing in her vision, and she staggered. Bai Ming¡¯s five bodyguards were already in front of her their hands tightly clutching their weapons. Shu¡¯er came closer too, placing itself in front of its mistress. The right general and Shanlin came too, to protect the fourth princess.


    ¡°All this for a servant¡± whispered Su Qiun in dissatisfaction, cursing her younger sister in her mind. Why the hell did she go to that forest!


    Seyran had an annoyed smile on her face. She infused more qi on her sword and forced the use of more mana from her body. Huang was turning around her, prepared to attack along with her. However, just as the air was swirling around her, it suddenly stopped. She had blacked out. As she was going to crash on the floor, Huang generated a wind that let her land softly. She had been unable to fight against that sensation anymore as it had engulfed her in darkness.


    Shanlin¡¯s eyes lit. It turned out, she still had that strange sickness! Not many knew, even in the royal family. But she, as the royal advisor how could she not know that her sister¡¯s daughter would sometimes faint and have problems with her memory? She glanced at Fenrir. It didn¡¯t seem like it would move. It was the right time!


    But before she could give orders, elder Shen was already saying.


    ¡°What are you waiting for captain!¡± she roared at her great grand-daughter. ¡°Take care of the crown princess! Isn¡¯t it your role?¡±


    Shen Ai flinched a little, not really sure about that. How her elder could just recognize a crown princess like that? So quickly? One would need some time to investigate the events clearly. Yet Shen Ai dared not disobey. It wasn¡¯t the first time she did something against her will and it certainly wouldn¡¯t be the last. Her three subordinates followed after her as she approached the new ¡®crown princess¡¯.


    The four elders too were aware of that princess¡¯s sickness and even if this woman¡¯s fainting in front of them wasn¡¯t any kind of proof, she still could tell Shanlin¡¯s expression was extremely fishy. That alone was reason enough to protect that woman.


    By Shen Ai''s orders, two of her subordinates, Zhang Bei and Tiang Gu, stood in front Seyran drawing their blades ready to defend her against anyone who stepped in, while their captain and other comrade were going closer to that crown princess. Against the royal advisor, the right general, the fourth princess and her guards, if the fight really started, they wouldn''t last long. Nonetheless, their actions were clearly backed up by the elders. Shanlin, as the royal advisor couldn''t openly disregard that fact. Su Qiun, although annoyed too, approached her mother, putting a hand on her shoulder. The latter only clenched her teeth, cursing in her mind.


    However, Huang permitted no one by Seyran¡¯s sides. The moment Shen Ai stepped closer, it spat fire towards her and she had to step back. She tested again and fire was thrown in her direction.


    ¡°Damn you stupid thing¡± complained Yue Meili ¡°we are here to help your master.¡±


    The provoked Huang spit an enormous fire on the bodyguard who just talked. The woman had to dodge to not be burned badly still her right foot was touched; the fire landed on the empty assembly¡¯s platform and burned it.


    Shen Ai glared at her subordinate. She removed all the weapons on her body. Her sword had been taken by the ¡®fake¡¯ crown princess so only two daggers and needles were left. She raised her hands.


    ¡°I mean her no harm¡±


    That was the truth. For now at least. And her eyes expressed that.


    Huang, which was on Seyran was really disgruntled. What with that woman coming here for at the first place? And if coming why need it be in such grand entry? Wasn¡¯t she the one repeatedly concerned about her opponents¡¯ abilities? What of caution? And the hell why did she go and faint out of nowhere? Really makes people¡¯s lives complicated!


    The reason why Huang finally let Shen Ai approached wasn¡¯t that it trusted her but that it was concerned about its qi¡¯s reserves. It couldn¡¯t keep this going much longer and if it turned out they had evil intentions, it would use a combined attack of fire and wind as its last resort, as it sneaked Seyran out by turning invisible with her using its remnants qi.


    By the time the bodyguards were authorized by the bird to lift Seyran¡¯s body, only Jun Lin was left of the royal family. If possible, he would actually be clapping. That¡¯s how entertaining a banquet was supposed to be!


    ***


    Bai Ming¡¯s hadn¡¯t actually left the premises by her own volition but was pulled by the first princess who was now harshly scolding her. It was such a rare thing to see, Su Qiun losing her temper. Yet Bai Ming was unwilling to do as bid so her sister slapped her. The slap hadn¡¯t been light at all and with her temper, Su Qiun had infused qi in it.


    ¡°You will immediately free this servant!¡±


    The bewildered Bai Ming touched her burning cheek. How long has it been since someone lifted a hand against her?


    ¡°You, stupid woman who asked you to touch that damn servant!¡±


    Su Qiun was so angry that she could eat her sister alive. Everything was going on smoothly yet this stupid girl had to go and interfere. And it just had to be that damn Lian young master. Again! At that time the second princess leaving the palace wasn''t it to protect him? She may have been too young but she certainly couldn''t have forgotten that fact right!


    Annoyed at been slapped, Bai Ming crossed her arms and disdainfully said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure he¡¯s alive anymore anyway¡±


    Su Qiun¡¯s gaze made Bai Ming shivered. At that very moment, it really made no difference that she was late medium and her sister mid. The killing intent emanating from the first princess was so violent that Bai Ming swallowed difficultly; wishing to withdraw what had been said. But in the end, she didn¡¯t even have the courage to do that. After all, it was really the first time that she felt this oppressive feeling, this certainty that should she say any more wrong words at the moment, she would really die. She was, after all, a novice when it comes to real life and death situation, with her at the losing her.


    ¡°You better make sure he¡¯s alive.¡± Said Su Qiun after a while in a cold voice, before leaving the room where only the two of them were.


    ***


    No one remembered this day as the return banquet of the fourth princess but rather the return of the crown princess.

 Chapter 13: To covet

    <div>


    Was it the morning, was it the night? He didn¡¯t know. The room was still tightly closed, the windows tightly shut, and not a ray of light pierced the place. He was hurting, all over. The ropes narrowed his hands and feet so much that his circulation certainly didn¡¯t flow there. His members had long gone numb, his overall body was aching. The door had opened itself many times and each time, the person had carried more insects to thrust into his bleeding flesh. He had long stopped tossing, stopped trying to free himself. His feverish mind was making him delirious, one moment he was conscious, the other he was passing out. It was less than a day of torture yet Yenaigai was already questioning his sanity.


    However, as hurt as he was, the former Lian young master still stubbornly refused to let out a single sound, no way would he implore and beg with his tormentors. That¡¯s what he thought. That¡¯s what he fiercely held on as a lifebuoy. Nevertheless in his head or dream maybe, he was beseeching. Not sure if he was so soundless anymore. In his moments of awareness, he felt like he heard someone shouting but it could have very well been his own voice. The worst part was that he wasn¡¯t sure for what he was so suppliant about but the hollow voice was still earnestly pleading.


    In his delirious state, real memories and fantasies were mingling, confusing him to the point where he couldn¡¯t differentiate which was what anymore.


    ¡°Mistress, mistress,¡± he was faintly calling without even noticing, lost in the creation of his tormented mind.


    He saw the late queen. Her eyebrows were creased; her face was flushed with a fury that was on the verge of exploding. She was glaring at the eight years old girl in front of him. From where he was, he couldn¡¯t see the expression on that girl¡¯s face but her voice was steady when she proclaimed him hers. No one could touch him. Not even her mother. Just like this, she was revoking the orders to take his life.


    A so blatant disrespect. Ink could certainly be squeezed from the queen¡¯s face.


    He let out a groan; the pain came back with ruthlessness. The room was still dark. He still couldn¡¯t see anything, not even his body. He drifted again in his mirage world.


    ¡°Really?¡± said a child¡¯s voice without a single trace of fear. ¡°This daughter hadn¡¯t seen any rule against it. Could the queen pass those written papers for this one to see?¡±


    That had riled the queen.


    ¡°Impudent child! If you are to have a consort then you¡¯re no longer welcome in this queen¡¯s residence. Construct your own! Old enough to have a consort then old enough to leave the residence!¡± Her voice had been a shout, she hadn¡¯t infused qi in it but it still left a deafening silence.


    His youngself hadwanted to intervene. The queen who was usually always trying to please her daughter was now chasing her out. And somehow it was his fault. He wanted to rush in front to beg but the young girl blocked his path and even though he desperately wanted to see her face he could only see her back. Her voice was still even as she answered her upset mother.


    ¡°This daughter knows.¡± She paused for some seconds before adding. ¡°The manor by the forest could still be used.¡±


    Whether that last part had been a request or an affirmation, only she knew. Nonetheless, her words deeply angered the one in front of her. To have her daughter so ready to leave her residence and what more not even considered living in the palace where her own residence was already constructed was, to say the least maddening!


    ¡°Then go away¡± she roared.


    The scene faded; daughter and mother pair disappeared and left in the dark, he shouted at the top of his lungs; his young feet ran to catch up with them. But the faster he ran, the faster they were going far away. He stumbled and fell, their faint image couldn¡¯t be seen anymore, the darkness was now complete. Gripped by despair he crouched down, holding his knees, and murmuring things even he knew nothing about.


    Someone lightly tapped his shoulder to get his attention. Lifting his face, he found the young mistress in front of him, slowly; the obscurity was fading as her appearance became clearer to him.


    She had a slight frown on her face, as she was considering his state. Never having comforted anyone before, she seemed trouble not knowing where to start. In the end, when she talked, her comforting words had been a little scary yet at the same time deeply moving.


    ¡°¡­ If you want revenge, that¡¯s fine too. You¡¯re one of my people now, your hatred is my hatred.¡±


    What woke him this time, he didn¡¯t know. Or maybe he wasn¡¯t awake yet but drifted in another form of illusions. The darkness was still here, he could vaguely hear the insect moving, could feel them biting him, tearing his flesh apart. It was unbearable. He felt that so clearly. He wished he couldn¡¯t.


    Then quite brusquely the physical pain disappeared and she was in front of him once again. A little older. And she forgot a little about him.


    Her physique grew. Her memory loss also.


    That was, somehow, procuring a far greater pain to him than what he had endured previously.


    Awake? In a dream? Illusion? He didn¡¯t know. However, his pleading became clearer to him. Let her not forget anymore. Let her not forget about him. About herself. About them. Let her not forget anymore. This time was supposed to be different. The oracle had said so. Let her not forget anymore...


    His muttering was said in a fading voice and soon, Yenaigai passed out for the nth time.


    ***


    Bai Ming had rushed to her courtyard after being threatened by SuQiun, her heart still holding traces of fear. Jumping down her lion she practically ran to that room, ordering it to be lit. The damn fool was motionless in the middle of the floor; behind him, was a trail of blood starting from the corner of the room, where she left him, to where he was now. Insects were sparsely on it, but most of them were still feasting on him. Quickly, she ordered her bodyguards to chase them away and bring hot water. Without any delicacy, his clothes had been torn and the water splashed on him repeatedly to cleanse the wound. Bai Ming reluctantly removed a bottle of medicine from her bag, ordering one of her guards to tend to his wounds. The medicine was particularly good, and while it wasn¡¯t instantaneous, it did help heal external wounds without leaving scars. She had repeatedly used it at the academy so she was particularly clear on that fact.


    The cool soothing sensation of the lotion on his skin eased the tension on his face and while he still didn¡¯t regain consciousness, the darkness disappeared from his various illusions. Since the medicine had no effect against poison -albeit those insects had a non-mortal one- his body was still feverish and his mind still very much in chaos.


    The young man nursed and now out of danger, the heart of the princess eased and with it, her anger returned. Her elder sister really did threaten her for this good for nothing! Such a heavy killing intent, no way could it have been not genuine. She looked at her hands. They were still shaking a little. She clenched them by her sides, closing her eyes to calm her breathing and her erratically beating heart. A resolution came to her. She would work hard to quickly and completely controlled her sacred beast. SuQiunmay have the experience and some beasts but she still didn¡¯t have a sacred one. Becoming stronger was certainly the solution. Let¡¯s see by then who will dare take her lightly.


    She looked at Yenaigai, her heart really dissatisfied. From her bag, she took out another bottle. It was shorter than the previous one, with a clear liquid like water inside. Bai Ming poured the whole content into Yenaigai¡¯s pried open mouth and as her guard tilted his head for it to go down his throat, her anger eased a little.


    ¡°Dump him on the road, where he would be easily seen.¡±


    Those words said, she finally left the room, much more at ease.


    ***


    In the meantime, the capital was in an uproar. By night time, the entire imperial city knew what occurred in the palace and no doubt by tomorrow, even the outer city would as well. As hard as she tried, it had been impossible forShanlinto hide what happened and more times than she liked she wished they hadn¡¯t had the idea of permitting simple citizens to assist to her daughter¡¯s returning banquet. As it was now, those people had already filled in everyone outside. When the events were taking place, preventing information¡¯s leak hadn¡¯t been her priority at the time. Unrelated people had been escorted outside and no official had ordered their silence. And when she remembered about it, those members of the assembly were already ushering her to an immediate reunion.


    The three out of four bearers of traditionwerethere, the right general too, four ministers and even SuQiunwas here as well. In ordinary time, she shouldn¡¯t be. That wasn¡¯t the court but a reunion of the assembly, her presence was by far unsolicited. Then again no one chased her away. Some frowned but it was just that and with no one to openly discard her, she had no qualm in staying.


    The matter discussed wasn¡¯t small. It would lead to the panic of the population were saying the ministers, particularly emphasizing the misgivings of the royal advisor and the first princess for letting the citizens inside the palace at the time. Nobles were maybe gossipers but it would have taken time for the information to reach the whole country, a time they could have used to handle the trouble correctly but now it was just a matter of weeks maybe days for everyone to know what had transpired those last few hours. There were refutes, arguing about one another¡¯s responsibilities. Obviously, they were all alright with the idea of inviting them and had approved at the time. How did it become solely her fault and that of her daughter? The right general reasoned with this mindset too. That debate lengthened itself with everyone rejecting the fault on the other.


    In the end, it was elder Shen who redirected the conversations from where they shouldn¡¯t have strayed. How the heck could there have been an imposter in the palace for so many years? Some members weren¡¯t sharing this opinion. For them, it was the one claiming to be the crown princess now that was the imposter. Obviously, no one could have cheated them so skillfully for seven years, not talking about those present; the royal family certainly could discern their members.


    ¡°Living all these years with the crown princess, could royal advisor really not recognized?¡± asked elder Shen.


    ¡°Elder is jesting. When had the crown princess ever been someone closed to get to? I reckon I hadn¡¯t spent more time with her than any other official. As for that sleeping person''s identity, it still wouldn¡¯t be late to recognize her after a clear investigation.¡±


    Elder Shen frowned but it was elder Yue by her right who responded.


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. Having been recognized by Fenrir is proof enough.¡±


    ¡°That matter is still strange.¡± SaidMehwan, the right general by Shanlin¡¯s left. ¡°How many generations had it been since Fenrir last chose a queen? Isn¡¯t it,instead, showing that our protector is being manipulated?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my opinion too. Let us examined the crown princess¡¯s corpse first, as for the one claiming that identity, checking her could also be of help to decide.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± said the mocking voice of elder Tian, ¡°I hadn¡¯t heard prime minister contradicted that young woman when she asked the question at the time. Or was it that fear got your tongue stuck?¡±


    The addressed one retorted and the arguing went on for hours; the bearers of tradition may choose who the queen would be but that person¡¯s affiliation with the palace was principally what was questioned. If she wasn¡¯t a descendant of the conqueror, obviously she had no place been queen.


    ¡°Why not wait for her to wake up.¡± Finally suggested SuQiunto the dissatisfied parties. ¡°As long as she tells us what happened, won¡¯t we know it? What¡¯s true, what''s false, it would be fine to decide then.¡±


    There was a false steadiness in her voice. SuQiunknew her cousin to be sick. When small, it was rare occurrences for her but she did suddenly fell unconscious and it took minutes for her to wake; by the time she left it was about a full hour of unconsciousness. By today she hoped, that sickness let her pass out for an entire day or much more than that. Delaying the decision as long as possible.


    A couple of hours later, it was decided that the person was to be properly investigated but in the meantime taken care of and respected as the real crown princess. However, it was to be done just in the palace, without announcing the specifics to the population. The announcement and what it entailed could still wait for the end of the investigation.


    As the reunion was nearing its end, it got interrupted by Shanlin¡¯s close servant woman, stating that the sleeping person was now awake. At the same time, another servant came to report to the bearer of tradition the same thing too.


    Shanlin and SuQiunshowed a false calmness, as the royal advisor was stating.


    ¡°As the matter is still on hold, it is better for just the family to go.¡±


    She didn¡¯t wait for others to agree or refute, just stood up, bowed and walked away. For those who wanted to argue, SuQiunpolitely said.


    ¡°Real or false, it¡¯s still better for close family to check first.¡±


    Saying so, she proceeded to bow and walked away, catching up with her mother.


    ¡°About what¡¯s said outside, even tomorrow¡­¡±


    ¡°Mother needs not worry, daughter already took actions.¡± Said the first princess with a smile, even though her fists were clenched in her robes. She was so angry. Everything was derailing! And what did her mother thought? Waiting for tomorrow to act? Who would!


    ¡°¡­Qiun¡¯er¡± whispered her mother who was very well aware of her temper. ¡°No need to be so angry with your sister. It was but a small error that could be taken care of.¡±


    Taken care of? The smile was even on her face as she answered.


    ¡°Fourth is still young, how can I, as the elder, think too deeply?¡± She stopped walking when they reached the end of the corridor and lightly bowed her head ¡°Forgive me for I still have a matter to attend to.¡±


    Shanlinsighed as she watched the departing form of her daughter taking one direction as she, herself, took the other. The annoyance in her eldest daughter face behind that mask of stiff politeness, was, for her as the mother, really easy to see.


    ***


    Outside, the rumors were fast progressing, distorting themselves as they left one mouth to another. Yet the essence was the same. There had been a new crown princess who was recognized by Fenrir. Everyone was curious about that fact, and just some hours after rushing out of the palace as though it was on fire, there were people in front of its various gates now, peeking inside, letting between them and the guard little space, with the hope to see the inside. It mattered not that they were rebuked and chased; they would still come and wait.


    ¡°The protector is obeying her¡± they whispered.


    ¡°I always thought there was something wrong with her, no wonder! She couldn¡¯t have been queen Xie¡¯s daughter, so she was an imposter¡±. There were some claiming to have known for yearsnow but kept silent just in fear for their lives.


    Then a new vague of rumors were spread, contradicting the first ones. The one who came was an impostor it said, and she had been killed by the crown princess. Once again, there were someknown-it-all, that made their voices heard. However, in the midst of it all, some were saying,


    ¡°So what, if there is an impostor or not. In the end, what did that crown princess do for us all those years?¡±


    ¡°The first princess is still the best.¡± And they proceeded to list what their benefactor did for them, embellishing it to the point of rendering her a goddess.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Voices echoed that mindset and a smiling person left the crowded place to find another crowd to exploit once again.


    ***


    The sleepy Yue Meili yawned by the door, not the least disturbed by Tian Gu¡¯s glare. Their captain wasn¡¯t by their sides, so the Yue descendant enjoyed being a little more relaxed, exposing her tiredness. By sunset, the crown princess¡¯s personal guards usually shifted position with the palace guards and by then, Yue Meili would be the first to sleep. But that hadn¡¯t been the case today. Instead, they were forced to stay by thatsuddenly-appeared-crown-princess¡¯sside. A direct order from elder Shen. However, since that little bird inside the room would only tolerate two persons inside at a time, the three of them, Yue Meili, Zhang Bei and Tian Gue, were asked to stay outside by their leader.


    Her back still sore from the lashes, Yue Meili didn¡¯t move much but sighed and yawned constantly which was really starting to annoy the one by her right. Wanting to distract herself from her sleep, Yue Meili started a conversation with the grumpy Tian Gu.


    ¡°I gotta say, elder Shen should envisage having those many oracles being lashed a hundred times. No, a thousand times.¡± The other said nothing so she continued with a little higher voice. ¡°That big of an event and they failed to predict it, doesn¡¯t that mean that those previous predictions they did were mostly flowery words that turned mud into treasure ¨Cintricate lies-?¡±


    ¡°Subordinate Yue,¡± came a voice behind them, as the door opened. Captain Shen went out with an elderly woman. Cold sweet run down Meili¡¯s back. Could what she said just now be counted as disrespecting her captain¡¯s elder? The glare leader Shen was giving was really frightening!


    Shen Ai, however, added nothing more after this interpellation, instead, she turned to Zhang Bei by Yue Meili¡¯s left and asked her to call a servant to escort elder mistress Jing back. Zhang Bei gave a comforting smile to her fretting comrade and left with the elderly woman. Yue Meili was really waiting with her breath caught for the earful her superior was certainly going to give. She hoped it would just be an earful and not a higher punishment. She didn¡¯t even dare to turn around to see the person¡¯s face. It was only after the door closed once again that she released a long sighed, feeling that she just lost ten years of her life. Tian Gu was fast to scold in hushed tones.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I tell you to shut up. You never listen! Are you sure you¡¯re really affiliated with elder Yue? Such a silent person how did you turn out like this?¡±


    Yue Meili pursed her lips, a little unsatisfied.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why I¡¯m affiliated with her. Always frowning and scolding without words. I have such a cute face, how can I be that scary! She needs someone to teach her how to talk!¡± Then she muttered. ¡°Well, the leader is really affiliated with elder Shen no doubt. Such a stern person, one needed to know how to loosen up.¡±


    And when Zhang Bei returned Meili was fast to usher her into the room. Least would it be good if the captain suddenly decided that she was to be the one inside withher.


    ***


    Inside the room they were guarding, the fluttering lashes of Seyran, finally opened. Upon waking up, she found herself on a bed, covered with thick furs. A smell of blood lingered in the air. She was feeling weak, disoriented, her overall body slightly aching. She would be unable to go rampant as of now. It would be considered good enough if she could form a barrier in front of her.


    The chamber was hot. That familiar hotness created by Huang which had personally lighted the multiples candles with its own fire bathed her with a deep sense of security. Added to that the heat from the fur, the sensation was very pleasing, so she laid there, not getting up or sitting. To eat now wouldn¡¯t be bad had been the thought that followed.


    Shen Ai who just returned to the place paused in her tract. She didn¡¯t think that the person would have woken up. Elder mistress Jing had said she would certainly be out until the next day. As Zhang Bei was entering the room after her, she ordered.


    ¡°Go and call back elder mistress Jing.¡± then she added. ¡°Send someone to notice the bearers of tradition too.¡± She doubted her elder would forgive if she wasn¡¯t notified immediately.


    And once again, it was two persons in the room. Plus the bird, one shouldn¡¯t forget it, hostile beast it was, couldn¡¯t be so easily forgotten.


    When the searching gaze of the one on the bed landed on her, Shen Ai snapped out of it and bowed respectfully.


    ¡°Your loyal subject pays her respects to the crown princess. May the crown princess lives a thousand years.¡±


    There was wariness in that voice. A state of carefulness that had she been in a better shape, Seyran would have given reason to be. But at this very moment, it was quite unnecessary for she doubted herself to be able to successfully strike at that woman.


    Shen Ai stood up from her bow, looking carefully at her. The woman didn¡¯t lower the fur; instead, she tucked it for it to cover her body until her nose, seemingly taking as much heat as possible. Was it so cold? The room was as though it was on fire already! The captain wondered if it was really that frail-looking woman who made her shivered in fear mere hours ago.


    ¡°That¡¯s an awfully long time¡± she replied with an almost inaudible voice.


    Huang, who was by the windowsill, heard her, finally noticing that she was awake. It flapped its wings and came close to her; Landing on the fur by her chest.


    ¡°You surprisingly hadn¡¯t left.¡± She acknowledged its presence in a muffled voice, ignoring the captain who was on guard without it being too obvious.


    Seyran had fainted and the situation hadn¡¯t seemed like something the bird could take, had it left, she really wouldn¡¯t have minded.


    The little bird seemed to swell as it puffed its abdomen in a haughty manner.


    ¡°This one will never be a servant but this one cannot help but be devoted, devoted, ah!¡±


    A real devotion to her qi and mana! Ah, nothing could compare to the taste of those two things. Who wanted to cultivate or eat simple fire and qi again when the goodies were free here?


    There was a suspicious honesty, mingled with sweet nothingness in that chirp voice of this liar of a bird but Seyran felt way too tired to care about it. So long as it stayed she didn¡¯t mind giving mana or qi. It chirped some more about it before changing toa reproaching tones.


    ¡°¡­ but really, of all the time you could have fallen asleep you chose to do so in such a manner!¡±


    There was an intonation in that chirp that had it been her servant she would have no doubt recognize as worry but coming from this bird one couldn¡¯t help but doubt that fact.


    Shen Ai looked at the light that was growing in intensity on the candles as the bird chirped with fervor to its mistress. It was the same fire that it used to attack two of her subordinates when the four of them were present in the room previously. They had stepped back until being out of the room before it stopped. Even when the healer came, it had fussed and played with the fire and hot wind. Ordered by her elder to protect that woman, she couldn¡¯t really battle against what she supposed was her contracted beast so she had indulged the animal until now. Yet, why was itincreasingthe temperature again? Out of happiness? This really made people want that feathered thing to be unhappy for the rest of its life!


    Beast and mistress were conversing, completely ignoring her. The beast was chirping and the human responding in a muffled, tired voice. Shen Ai had spent seven years with the dead, supposedly imposter. She had devoted her sword to that woman and with the time she may not have completely grasped what kind of woman she was or understood her, but she knew her habits and the whatnots of her life. And most of all, she knew that she had hated everything that she saw in her. Her elder asking her so suddenly to now devote her abilities to this new woman, was it even something she could adapt to so easily? That aside, the person shared a striking resemblance to the dead one, could she really separate their identities? Let¡¯s say by whatever means she was the genuine thing, seven years of unpleasant memories associated with that face was too engrave in her to really change her point of view she feared.


    The temperature kept on increasing and finally, Shen Ai frowned. Her back was now aching. It may have been tended to, but the wounds were still not healed and the heat was making it somewhat itchy. The bird jumped back a little as thecrown princessfinally slowly sat on the mattress. Shen Ai was glanced at once again, so she corrected her standing position, schooling her feature and ignoring her sore back.


    Seyran faintly smiled at the sight. That woman had wanted her life just some hours ago and now she was obediently waitingonher? It wasn¡¯t that that very fact was unbelievable seeing as some of her previous subordinates in Unzu were people she had fought against, but that woman¡¯s submissive manners sounded so false.


    ¡°Where is my servant?¡±


    The captain really didn¡¯t know who the other was talking about and could only reply that.


    A knock sounded, as Yue Meili¡¯s voice said


    ¡°The royal advisor is asking for an audience.¡±


    ¡°Is it that woman with a lion?¡± asked Seyran to the one in front of her.


    ¡®Is she talking about the fourth mistress?¡¯ Shen Ai thought and deciding it to be the case, she clarified ¡°Royal advisor is her mother.¡±


    Seyran¡¯s eyes turned cold as she advised Huang.


    ¡°Go now.¡±


    ¡®Would you really be alright? You don¡¯t even seem like you could stand up, you know? What if you were attacked, what about my meals then?¡¯Those were Huang¡¯s thoughts but in the end, it tactfully refrained from voicing them, and obediently flapped its wings, going out from the slightly opened windows to search for that servant as previously asked.


    The heat that was basking Seyran was slowly letting her body created mana. By now she could form a relatively weak barrier of mana but since her qi¡¯s reserve wasn¡¯t that low, she could reinforce the barrier with it. So, letting the bird quit her company wasn¡¯t that troublesome. She may not attack, but she did have a certain defense and if worse comes, the bird would use the stone to come back and teleport them away the moment she opened and released its qi¡¯s outside by completely opening the windows.


    ¡°Let her in¡±


    The woman who entered the room didn¡¯t really look that old. She was dressed in dark red brocade clothes. Seyran vaguely remembered Yenaigai talking about that person and upon seeing her, she had an imprecise sensation of familiarity yet nothing else. Not even her name came to her mind. However, Yenaigai¡¯s voice insisted in her mind, reminding her that the throne was what she was coveting since the previous queen¡¯s time.


    As she was seizing the person, so was the other too.Shanlinhadn¡¯t interacted much with her elder sister¡¯s daughter, go figure why that child had never liked other people¡¯s presences by her side; the royal advisor was a little curious about the real person face. To sculpt Min Shan¡¯s appearance, SuQiun''scontracted beasts had used the memory of its mistress and arranged it as what it could be in some years ahead. Seeing the real deal,Shanlinthought that those chameleons, although mere common contracted beast,were quite good. What really satisfied her thought was the pale face of the person. That sensation almost made up for the unpleasant heat present in this place.


    When she tried to order the windows opened a little more, she was rebuked by Seyran and in the end turned her gaze to the captain.


    ¡°Leave us¡± ordered she to the head of the personal guards.


    Standing still without even batting an eye at the order, Shen Ai glanced at the one on the bed; after all,thiswas the one she took her orders from.


    ¡°Bring us wine¡± had been that one¡¯s response.


    Shen Ai almost got the idea that without Fenrir by her immediate side, the person was intimidated thus followed after what she herself had previously ordered but Seyran really just wanted wine. Looking at that woman outfit¡¯s colors really let her remember that drink she dearly missed.


    The captain walked out, as the royal advisor approached.


    The woman started to talk. Seyran could hear the sound but it wasn¡¯t really making sense to her, for she wasn¡¯t really listening; instead, she was already tasting in her mind the precious nectar. Another knock was heard, announcing the arrival of a certain healer. This one, Seyran didn¡¯t permit her the entry. Huang¡¯s heat for the moment was doing bliss to her body and she was in no mood to be touched by a stranger.


    Her long-awaited wine entered then. A big bottle carefully carried by Shen Ai personally. A full glass was poured and as she tasted it, it left a pleasantly burning sensation in her throat. The ignored royal advisor¡¯s lips twitched. She once again tried to order Shen Ai around but the other one turned a deaf ear to her. Annoyed, she cursed the whole Shen family for having irritating people as she took by herself one small chair near the table in the corner of the room. She sat near the bed, as Seyran¡¯s mocking eyes followed her movements.


    ¡°Scram!¡±


    Shen Ai once again looked at Seyran and the other merrily looked at the door. Whether that woman went or stayed, Seyran didn¡¯t really care. And as for this seated person, she was just waiting for her to express her real intentions in coming here.


    Captain Shen thought her gaze meant ¡®go out¡¯ thought, so she went out, leaving the two by themselves.Shanlintook the other cup that had been brought and poured herself a good quantity of wine too, bringing it to her lips, swallowing, she hoped, her rapidly growing anger. She had talked so much, yet the other person had said nothing at all!


    ¡°Where is he?¡± Seyran finally addressed her.


    Did she even hear what had been previously said? That long speech about acknowledging her as the crown princess, Shanlin wanted to ask, but inwardly she knew that the question would be ignored so instead, she carelessly said.


    ¡°I fail to see who you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    Seyran smiled. She didn¡¯t really remember that woman¡¯s name, but she did hear the post she was occupying.


    ¡°Ifroyaladvisorwants thethrone¡± she said, ¡°then it can be yours.¡±


    The hand that was holding her glass paused before resuming its direction and placing the glass on the floor. Looking at her niece¡¯s eyes,Shanlinfound she could read them even less than before. There was an uncomfortable feeling coming from that child. One didn¡¯t know if what she was saying was the truth or a lie. Truthfully even as a child she never understood Seyran but now she became harder to understand!


    ¡°What are you saying child.¡± She smiled adopting the position of elder. ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. You¡¯re the crown princess, the assembly is just waiting for you to get better. Everything will go smoothly no need to fear. As planned you¡¯d have your crowning next year.¡± She paused then let out a sigh as though there was a deep regret in her ¡°Such a pity that for seven years we gave our affections to the wrong person, being so easily manipulated¡­¡±


    She rambled, talking incessantly. With a soft voice and a more discernable smile, Seyran cut her ¡°Royal advisor has such a sweet voice. One can¡¯t help but want to hear more.¡±


    Shanlinpaused and stared at her. The girl who used to guard her emotions so much was now so openly smiling, maybe it was because she wasn¡¯t accustomed to that for she couldn¡¯t remember when that smile had been directed at her, butShanlinthought, there was definitely something wrong with that smile.


    Shanlindid indeed have a pleasant voice. She was never engaged in a real battle, didn¡¯t get a coarse throat for shouting too much to the point of forgetting to infuse qi but directly shout at the top of her lungs like the previous queen did. Looking at her hand holding the glass, Seyran thought that if people didn¡¯t have the habits of making everyone who has qi learned to fight, that woman¡¯s hand would have certainly been very smooth with carefully painted nails. Such a person, thinking one thing and stating another, those cowards backstabbers, had she once again the ability, she would have snapped her fingers and brought her at the other side of this world, the farthest from her.


    Seyran¡¯s cheeks were already rosy after just the first finished cup, not sure if the alcohol was that strong, then again, she had nothing else in her stomach. She posed her glass on the floor too, before looking into the eyes of the one in the room with her.


    ¡°Human beings are so strange. Given they would not take. Not given they would covet. One fear they would remain forever unsatisfied.¡±


    She toyed with the glass, drawing its circular contours with her finger.


    ¡°If this one settles her heart on this, there will be no sharing.¡±


    There was a slight pause, Shanlin had an uncomfortable feeling inside her but easily dismissed it. The one in front of her was but a child in the end. Xie¡¯s child. How far could she be different from her mother? Not by much certainly. Deceiving her may be complicated but not impossible. Making it so she didn¡¯t bring Fenrir in it, she could certainly do that. Thinking there,Shanlinlaughed agreeably a little.


    ¡°Of course there wouldn¡¯t be.¡± She said in a voice like she was coaxing a stubborn child. ¡°There is just one queen; the assembly is just here to help. After all the bearers of tradition are here to make sure we stick to what was said. Having already you recognized as the crown princess, who would contradict?¡±


    Seyran¡¯s lips curved. Those people, did they really dare lured her with their measly country? When she was this giving and kind they didn''t know how to appreciate. When the time came that she was interested, would they have the ability to refuse it to her?


    Would such a time come?


    Talking to that woman, was really reminding her of the reason why death tended to come easily to her. She was trying to talk about one thing and the other was forcing the conversation about another thing entirely. One that didn¡¯t appeal to her at all. Drinking her second glass, she asked cuttingly.


    ¡°And where is that child of yours?¡± Not sure how many that woman had, she added for precision. ¡°The one with the lion.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Shanlindidn¡¯t think for one moment that she would really be this fierce for just someone. She must really be here for the throne in the end, and her servant was but a distraction, she reasoned.


    Shalin stood up, patting her clothes.


    ¡°I see that you¡¯re now tired. One must, after all, take care after such queasiness. This one will take her leave now.¡±


    As she was going through the door, Seyran¡¯s voice reminded her.


    ¡°What I came here looking for, I¡¯ll take back.¡±


    Shanlinclenched her teeth and exited, promising in her head that it would not be so. This time she thought, that throne would not have Xie or her daughter sitting on it.


    ¡®No matter what that throne won¡¯t be hers¡¯


    Her snake felt her anger by their mind link and hissed to calm her down.


    ***


    The night was long advanced, the dawn was almost there. SuQiunwas restless, not having slept at all. She got up from the chair and stretched her neck, a cracking sound could be heard. She walked and came closer to the muffling sound.


    ¡°Stop¡± she ordered. The servant retracted her whip, coiling it around her arm. SuQiunwent ahead and retracted the cloth by the mouth of her kneeling and roped prisoner.


    ¡°Are you still not ready to cooperate?¡±


    They were in a small room with a flickering light. The ball of light was expressively designed so, for its light to be intermittent. It added the anxiousness of the tortured. SuQiunlooked at the one tied in front of her. It was almost six months now that she was detained here, yet she was stubborn enough to withhold this information still. At first, the first princess hadn¡¯t been in a hurry, so the torture wasn¡¯t really one. Merely toying with her, starving her, making sure to not let her a minute of respite so that she couldn¡¯t cultivate and to further prevent that, she was daily fed with drugs.


    The captive one was, of course, the missing member of the four elders, elder Zhang, from the Zhang family. She was the oldest one between the elders so by right, their leader. That¡¯s precisely why she had been kidnapped. If those bearers of tradition were to hide the secret of Fenrir¡¯s control, everything related to it and its documents, it was impossible for this elder as their leader to not know.


    The grandmother shook her head. Her voice was weary, almost inexistent as she repeated what she was saying for months now.


    ¡°One shouldn¡¯t covet what one can¡¯t have.¡±


    SuQiunsmiled with malice.


    ¡°Elder is still unwilling. Elder really can¡¯t blame me anymore.¡± To the standing servant she said. ¡°Bring those tools here¡±


    She couldn¡¯t be leisure anymore. She really needed to regain her footing with that woman¡¯s arrival. Soon, the needles were heated until they turned completely red and then without mercy, inserted into elder Zhang¡¯s skin. She didn¡¯t have the voice to shout anymore. The greatest sadism in her treatment wasn¡¯t the pain but the fact that every day, she would be cured after her torture, the servant highly praising her courage, challenging her mind a little more every day.


    SuQiunput the cloth back, rubbed her tired eyes and left the premises. What shouldn¡¯t covet? What can¡¯t have? She was Xian SuQiun, and she going to have what she wanted!

 Chapter 14: No Retreat

    <div>


    It was in the early hours of the morning that Huang finally found Yenaigai.


    The bird had searched all around the vast palace which size could really be comparable to a city. It was absolutely tiring; flying here, entering there, cloaked with its invisibility! Even when it finally saw that woman who had the golden lion, no trace of the servant was in her courtyard. Really, that one knew how to always put it in a foul mood. Wait until found and see how much it was going to pick his head!


    However having found nothing, the red bird was quite reluctant to return near that woman. She seemed weak and quite approachable for now; but really, it didn¡¯t want to know how she will react. As the night was becoming darker and the dawn was pointing in the horizon, the temperature was quite freezing. Whether it was Yenaigai¡¯s fault or not, the bird kept cursing the poor young man in its mind. This was a bird that liked fire. Fire! How come it was forced to endure so much coldness for the sake of a human? As it flew out of the palace to try its luck, its thoughts were becoming truly gloomy.


    Who would have thought that the very one subject of its irritability would actually become the one to lift its spirits! Here was the human!


    Huang had never flown as fast as it did at the moment it recognized the one lying on the ground, on one of the corners of the capital¡¯s road, not really far from the palace. But upon arriving near the lying figure it flew multiple times around it, to actually make sure.


    He was lying on the ground with tattered and soaked clothes. The poor thing was bruised all over and sported some bandages on his body, even though there were many cuts that were left untreated. There were some people around him, and while one was trying to ask for a report of the case, some others were wondering about who the stranger had offended. It wasn¡¯t really a usual thing but sometimes there were cases of noble families punishing their offenders. Be those servants or people that could be callednobody, those without a powerful backing to protect them. If that was the case now, who was daring enough to report this and caused calamity to befall on oneself and one¡¯s family! The ministry of Justice tended to neglect those affairs and sided with the wrong party!


    Once those words were said, the five others kept silent, and everyone looked at one another. On those four men and two women faces, was the same reality: they were going to pretend that they saw nothing. Really, they were just servants in charge of sweeping this part of the roads, it was still better for them to stay far from troubles. When the time came they would just say they didn¡¯t see anyone when doing their duty. Let this matter be handled by another.


    That there were just six people around Yenaigai at this moment wasn¡¯t really strange. Of course, usually there were many early risers and the road would be definitely more affluent than this. But after the fervor passed, the fact that someone came attacking the palace yesterday was still real and a very troublesome matter. The day before they were all in a group, so their courage was big. However, now that most of them had been forced to return to their home, going out at this moment, they were reluctant to do so. They have waited around many of the gates until long in the night but no information came from the palace, and in the end, they have been driven away. The silence after something like this was alarming. It was frightening to think about what may have happened. That person controlled Fenrir after all. No one wanted to be where he shouldn¡¯t be when he shouldn¡¯t be. Even some officials were reluctant to go to court today.


    It wasn¡¯t like Huang was actually interested in listening to them. The moment it was sure that it was really that servant the woman was searching for, it descended on his body, releasing a cry while doing so, to have the troublesome persons go away. The cry was not as powerful as it wanted it to be but, since while descending it shot at the same time a particularly hot wind at them, they stumbled and fell on their behinds in fright.


    ¡°He actually has a contracted beast!¡± one exclaimed.


    In that case, it really changed everything! That meant that he had a core and obviously, he would be very favored. Even if he wasn¡¯t a noble it was fine, orphans with a core, be it female or male were taken care of with utmost sincerity by a branch of the imperial academy. In this situation, not helping while knowing would be bad, while if they helped they could receive some benefits. Who knew, even thisyoung mastercould be grateful and help them rise in ranks.


    Some immediately got up to see if they could recognize the person, while others were trying to coax the animal to take some distance so they could help lift its master.


    Seeing them unwilling to go, Huang didn¡¯t shy away from using its fire. They were quick to run away this time. A good thing! It then turned to face the sleeping man, the question now was, how to transport him, ah? At first, the bird had thought to turn him invisible and use wind to lift him. But really, now it was too tired! Too unwilling! So, since there was distance and that woman wouldn¡¯t hear, it used qi to make its chirps be heard.


    ***


    Seyran was still sitting on the Imperial Physician¡¯s quarter¡¯s sick bed, slowly eating what the woman in the room with her had previously ordered to be brought. Questioned, she didn¡¯t respond, but she didn¡¯t deny it either when the sets of trays were placed on her big bed. Soon, all the space around her was full of food and she picked up the chopsticks, slowly filling her stomach. It wasn¡¯t like she would refuse ready-made energy now, would she? However, she did wonder if the woman would leave. Until now she behaved obediently, even though she seemed to be prepared for the moment Seyran would attack. It made this former queen remembered some of Unzu¡¯s clans. Indeed, there were people like that there and they were many. Once their chief was dead, the killer became their new chief. She still had to wonder though, was it really the same case here? That the other was uncomfortable was quite obvious by now. Either because of her presence or the temperature, it could also very well be both.


    While she was swallowing another mouthful, Seyran heard the loud chirp in her mind, wincing a little. Just how far did this thing think it was from her to shout like that? She didn¡¯t actually get to dwell on that, that she was frowning over the information itself.


    She put the chopsticks down and her voice, neither loud nor silent, without any fluctuations nor emotions in it, she asked.


    ¡°What did you say you were called again?¡±


    ¡°Replying to the crown princess, this subject is Shen Ai.¡± She hesitated a little then continued. ¡°Captain of the crown princess¡¯s personal bodyguards.¡±


    ¡°Shen Ai¡± Seyran called, tasting the name on her tongue.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the other responded.


    Seyran looked at the almost completely closed windows. ¡°That bird is outside the palace. Approximately three hundred meters in the direction of the north. Near a certain clock. A young man should be by its sides.¡± She reported her gaze toward the captain. Her eyes were clear, her voice calm, so calm and steady. The corners of her lips rose in an almost smile, that had she known its meaning, Shen Ai would be sweating in fright. ¡°So willing you are to serve me, I trust I can leave to you the matter of bringing that person here.¡±


    Shen Ai paused a little before acknowledging the order. Going out of the door, she actually had in mind to send Yue Meili and Tian Gu to retrieve that person, but in the end, when voicing the order, she included herself in the going party while those left were Yue Meili and Zhang Bei.


    ¡°Don¡¯t enter, just guard the doors¡± she had said.


    Why? She herself didn¡¯t really know. If to say that the inside was suffocating, it wouldn¡¯t be wrong; just that she didn¡¯t know why it was suffocating. It certainly wasn¡¯t just the temperature.


    Once they two were out of sight, Yue Meili let herself sat on the floor, knowing that Zhang Bei was far gentler than Tian Gu and wouldn¡¯t endlessly reproach. She was really tired. She wanted to profusely complain. A whole day, they had been on duty for a whole day! Of course, they were trained to be able to endure three days without sleeping and they could pass a week with just some couple of sleeping hours but those things were said before the situation occurred. It¡¯s a psychological thing, okay? One needed to be aware of this beforehand!


    Zhang Bei just chuckled lightly at her, before glancing one second at the door behind, wondering a little what the person inside was doing.


    ***


    When Yenaigai had been brought, the sets of food were long gone from the bed and standing, Seyran ordered to let him lie on it even when other chambers had been proposed. From the beginning until now, apart from that suggestion, nothing else had been said.


    The young man who was soaking the bed was extremely pale. It hadn¡¯t been difficult to transport him at all, solightwas he. His body was so cold that it turned out to be a good thing to have that room with the temperature it had, Shen Ai had thought.


    ¡°The poor little thing changed color¡± chirped Huang in a pitiful tone, perched on one of the bed¡¯s corners, tilting its head to look carefully at the previously missing companion.


    The little bird was feeling quite bad actually. It had cursed the little fellow to suffer a thousand times worse than what it itself was suffering from the biting of the cold. It was just an angry chirp, who would have thought that he was already suffering? ¡­What was that woman thinking? It didn¡¯t dare turn around to look at her face, stubbornly fixing its gaze on the young man¡¯s face.


    Seyran¡¯s mood was really unknown to everyone in the room. Those two people who just came in hadn¡¯t spent enough time with her to speculate about it with confidence. The previous one they served, her anger wasn¡¯t really something she was doing her harder to hide but the one in front of them now had a serene appearance, her hands weren¡¯t clenched at all but her gaze was unwaveringly fixed on the one on the bed. Who could tell them what temper this one in front of them had, ah?


    Since before entering Shen Ai had already ordered for Zhang Bei to find a physician, this one came knocking on the door. It wasn¡¯t Elder mistress Jing but another one. The newcomer tactfully refrained from asking unnecessary questions and just immediately proceeded to her patient. Seyran stood there, as her servant¡¯s clothes were taken off, as he was wiped with a hot towel, tended to and given clean and dry clothes. The wet mattress was replaced and he was laid down in a comfortable position.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The most dangerous wounds had already been treated, the doctor had said. His life, from the start, wasn¡¯t in danger. She retreated afterward, saying that there was nothing to fear. Zhang Bei escorted the person out of the door, leaving once again only her leader, the crown princess and the bird.


    The morning was already installed, the capital was timidly waking up and the lamps'' street were been extinguished. Yenaigai suddenly opened his eyes wide, startling Huang. Before it could chirp anything, the young man gasped, searching for breath, struggling with who knows what, tossing again and again. The sounds alerted those outside who rushed in and then paused at the sight of the man on the bed. Their captain was crouched on him, holding him down to not worsened his wounds. She was maintaining his two hands up and his feet were pressed under hers as he kept on debating. And the crown princess had her finger in his ¡­mouth? Was he trying to bite off his tongue?


    ¡°Still here? Hurry and get the physician!¡± The clear cuttingly cold voice made them jump.


    ¡°¡­Yes¡± they stammered. ¡°I¡¯m going,¡± said Zhang Bei rushing.


    Seyran frowned a little. Her finger was bitten until it drew blood yet he kept on increasing the pressure. His eyes were greyish, he was still very much unconscious even though they were open; tossing, turning, trying to harm himself like that, what happened? There were indeed occasions when she wished her mana could heal.


    ***


    Looking at the bright sky and judging the time herself, Xue Zhi estimated that it was the right moment. It was almost time for her mother to head towards the imperial grand hall for the court. So, like every day, she left her courtyard with her small procession in the direction of her mother¡¯s courtyard to greet her. Like this, the greeting wouldn¡¯t be long and the chance to encounter others would be less too. They had long fallen in this pattern of an act; the royal advisor grew bored of reprimanding it.


    For the third princess, what had occurred yesterday had occurred. For now, she would rather not think too deeply about it. Concerning this, she would just take the place of a spectator, it was far less dangerous.


    However, it was already this time, people were almost late for the court affairs, who would have thought that today, everyone would come at the same moment as she? Biting her lips she remained silent, lamenting internally on why she didn¡¯t come sooner. She was up since so early in the morning. Had she knew, she wouldn¡¯t have dawdled! Nonetheless, she was polite as she greeted her twin and her fourth sister she encountered on the road. She was even politer as she greeted the first princess that she found still in her mother¡¯s yard.


    Actually, SuQiunhadn¡¯t slept at all. Getting out from that room, she directly came here to greet her mother since it was already the morning, that of course no one knew and no one asked either. Everyone with eyes could see that she was in a foul mood, barely keeping any civilities.


    Xue Zhi was seated for less than five minutes that they were all dismissed. It was even shorter than usual, which honestly wasn¡¯t displeasing at all!


    The royal advisor had personally invited her first born to go to court together. She was thinking that the other was still angry with her youngster and had not wanted them to be in the same room for long.Shanlindidn¡¯t know what occurred between these two but for now, SuQiunwas really angry, letting her by her sister¡¯s side wasn¡¯t really reasonable. After all, Bai Ming just returned; it wouldn¡¯t do for them to quarrel, even though it was doubtable that SuQiunwould really openly quarrel with her.


    Dismissed, the other children returned in their respective courtyards. Bai Ming left with her guards without words and Xue Zhi wasn¡¯t complaining about this. She curtly nodded her salutations to her twin before getting up to return. Contrarily to her elder, she wasn¡¯t needed in the court. The minister of Personnel had yet to give her an appointment. She glanced at the man following her, almost sighing. This onedidhave a place there but look, look, he was once again going to skip!


    ***


    The imperial court hall was, frighteningly silent as it filled itself. No one dared to raise his voice. Words were said just in soft whispers and front time to time, they would glance at the seat that the crown princess was supposed to occupy. Everyone was waiting for her arrival. All those present here were also present yesterday. However, seeing as the fingers of a hand didn¡¯t have the same sizes, they, of course, didn¡¯t have the same information regarding this matter. Members of the assembly aside, no one knew how it ended; and between those ministers and officials, no one stepped in front to specifically ask.


    However, even as the court began, the reports were submitted and treated; no one saw the crown princess¡¯s shadow. They had waited and waited, glancing at the doors from time to time but the crown princess never set foot in the court hall that day. The decisions were taken by the members of the assembly and when in conflict, it was Elder Shen that had the last word. In the absence of Elder Zhang, she was the older one, so naturally, she took place as the head of the bearers of tradition and as such she had more authority than the royal advisor.


    Those elites people made it seemed as though nothing happened, making one doubted one¡¯s memory. When their superiors were trying to treat the matter like this, they just didn¡¯t have the courage to openly bring it up anymore. The crown princess had been said to be sick, and in the end, no one contradicted. No one asked for clarification, so no one was answered. It was just that, it was unknown how long they would keep shut. After all, this matter certainly couldn''t be ignored like this for very long!


    Conversely, even though she was dealing with the matter of courts, the royal advisor was still informed from time to time about the crown princess¡¯s movements. How could she not with all her people in the palace? So, every once in a while, her closest servant would whisper things to her ears and she would whisper back. That¡¯s how easily she ordered for the best physicians of the palace to be held back for as long as possible.


    That¡¯s the reason why, Seyran had let five physicians entered through the doors, yet no one knew what ailed her servant. Huang was wondering at the side how long she was going to endure. The sixth one who came had put the young man tosleepeven though she too, said that she couldn¡¯t identify his illness.


    Seyran was still expressionless when she received this piece of news. She didn¡¯t know why, but she had been under the impression that she would find him as she left him. Completely intact. Albeit he would complain a little about her disappearing on him like that but now that he was in this state¡­ Those who used to target what was hers knew better than to anger her by damaging it. This was the reality she was used to. Obviously, people here didn¡¯t know this.


    The previously asleep person suddenly opened his eyes once again. They were as empty as though he was already dead. This time with all his force, he used his hand to choke himself, strangling his neck. Shen Ai was fast to react as she held him, assisted by Zhang Bei. The physician was frightened paled. Obviously, this patient should be sleeping for at least three hours! How come he had the energy to try to murder himself. Again!


    ¡°This lowly ¡­subject¡­¡± She was stammering while looking at the princess to whom she had said not ten minutes ago that the man would sleep soundly without moving anymore. ¡°doesn¡¯t¡­ know what happened.¡±


    The silent Seyran took her gaze away from Yenaigai and rested it on her. She was fast to kneel, kowtowing while begging for her life even though the other party hadn¡¯t said anything. Her eyes had been that scary, as though she was already looking at a corpse! The blue of her irises had had so many layers of shades, while the small smile on her face, although beautiful had that terrifying side, tugging at the physician instinct telling her that the woman was thinking about killing! She didn¡¯t have to courage to keep looking at that face.


    ¡°If this one¡­ there is still¡­ maybe asking the physicians with core¡­ to help would be better!¡± She stammered a lot before outing that sentence.


    All the physicians that came were those specialized in treating people without cores -the patient was male and thinking him without core wasn''t strange-. They weren¡¯t the best in their profession but since they were in the ranks of those working in the imperial palace, of course, they weren¡¯t bad either. That the six of them could really see nothing was worrisome; then why not let other tried? ¨COr let another bear that misfortune too?-


    ¡°Invite a few more people¡±


    The words were said in a cold whisper. Her anger was building, her desire to kill too, but she still had the patience to wait.


    ***


    Since he was here, of course, Xue Zhi would make use of him and it wasn¡¯t like he had in mind to refuse. So, those twins spend the morning swords in hand, fighting one against the other. It was, evidently, Jun Lin who had won. His sister would chase him away if he dared loose on purpose so he was half serious in these battle. He hadn¡¯t made the matches quick of course. He had left her openings, slowly teaching her, and then slowly indulging her by fastening the pace. All of it with that smile that was forever on his face. He was really, really in good mood today, to the point of skipping two times consecutively his attendance in the court.


    It goes without saying that Xue Zhi wouldn¡¯t ask him what put him in this state; she had an idea about the reason anyway. Besides, when had he ever waited for her when he wanted to say something? When he was in the mood to be chatty of course he would chat, even if the other person didn¡¯t respond back, so long as he had someone who listened. And evidently, he was commenting on yesterday¡¯s events as soon as they were seated. Hearing him talked, one couldn¡¯t help but fear if the whole thing wasn¡¯t staged just so he could amuse himself.


    Nevertheless, his nonsense aside, Xue Zhi responded quite sincerely for he did after all just spar with her.


    ¡°Whether true, whether false, one can only wait and see.¡± Then she added as an afterthought. ¡°It¡¯s still, after all, a matter of one family. One cannot rush.¡±


    Who proclaimed that the first princess and the royal advisor were people who knew nothing of that affair, Xue Zhi would definitely not believe! Who said that the first princess didn¡¯t have ambitions was either really stupid or too na?ve. Her actions were laid out for all to see. Previously the crown princess was saying nothing and doing nothing to neutralize her. However, now that this one died and another stepped in to claim that place, how were these two people going to react? Really pacifically? Xue Zhi sneered.


    Jun Lin treated it as though he didn¡¯t hear the bitterness and the obvious accusation and instead asked.


    ¡°How do you think it will be handled?¡± He had a few ideas of his own but wanted to hear her opinions too. However, she just snorted, without any manner whatsoever before saying.


    ¡°Since they dared to do this, they have all the evidence erased of course.¡±


    The ever jovial Jun Lin frowned and got up to pull his sister¡¯s cheeks.


    ¡°You really should eat more sweets, it would make your mouth less spicy.¡± Where was it in the palace that their mother didn¡¯t have spies? Originally she was stating things with ambiguity now that she was saying them so clearly, was itherwish to be restrained in her movement?


    Xue Zhi slapped his hands and he just smiled while rubbing it.


    ¡°Why, you¡¯ll tattle? You always do anyway.¡±


    He showed a helpless smile while shrugging his shoulders, refusing to answer. When had he ever did? And she even saidalways!


    ¡°You risk dying without a burial site you know?¡± he said with a little laugh. ¡°...Supposing that the one who came back is really second elder sister, do you feel like holding her thigh?¡±


    She scowled. Was he mocking her?


    ¡°It will depend¡± came her reply in the end, without stating on what exactly.


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    ***


    Seyran was wordlessly looking at the young man, still waiting for the physicians who were efficient in treating people who had cores. He had said he didn¡¯t have one, but at this point, it would be beneficial if one of them knew at the very least what he had. He was obviously, every time his eyes were opened, trying to kill himself. Waiting for ten more minutes and still no one, she smiled, lifting her blooded dry finger, and bringing it in her mouth, her desire to kill rising as the time passed.


    <div>


    She tried leniency, she really did. Even until just before Yenaigai was found she was ready to call everything quit. But what to do?¡­ Now, she was eager to snap their bones, tear everything apart. They tortured him, didn¡¯t they? Let them know what real torture is all about. What they started, she was going to finish!

 Chapter 15: Potent Poison

    For the time she had endured, an hour approximately, the physician who came was yet another person who had no idea of what ailed the bedridden man. The newcomer almost diagnosed it as mental illness, unable to be cured. For those without a core, usually, when it wasn¡¯t a flesh wound, it was a trouble with their mind. The young physician wasn¡¯t experienced enough to know beyond that. However, looking at the crown princess¡¯s expressionless face and glancing at her colleagues that were avoiding her gaze, she rather tactfully admitted,


    ¡°This humble one doesn¡¯t have the ability.¡±


    ¡°¡­ doesn¡¯t have the ability¡± repeated Seyran softly after her, looking at the scene in front of her.


    Yenaigai was struggling again, still very much unconscious but battling with Shen Ai who was restraining his feet and Zhang Bei who was restraining his hands.


    Hearing the groans escaping the young man, the physician bowed her head deeper, seemingly wanting to let it disappear into her neck.


    Even when coming, it had been difficult for her to approach this patient. He was tossing, turning, and when she heard that others had already given him sedative with no effect, she refrained from adding more, fearing the risk of creating another problem entirely.


    Seyran retracted her gaze and looked at the woman clad in white and pale pink clothes. The others had white and pale red, white and pale blue, white and pale yellow. This woman was the only one who had white and pale pink clothes. There was, certainly, some kind of significance behind these colors. A significance Seyran absolutely didn¡¯t care, for none of them had been able to satisfy her. However, this particular one had firstly acted with confidence, like she knew everything; she had pinched Yenaigai here and there, drew blood, all this just to say in the end that she didn¡¯t have the ability.


    ¡°Making me wait for a full hour and when there, daring enough to not even have the ability.¡±


    The physician shuddered, cold sweats forming down her back. Her colleagues had their faces lowered, not daring to even witness it. She hadn¡¯t assisted in yesterday¡¯s events but had been told about them. Concerning this crown princess, she didn¡¯t really have an opinion and being just a mere physician, she never dared disrespect her better in life. That she came here one hour after the calling wasn¡¯t her fault.


    ¡°¡­This one doesn¡¯t dare make the crown princess wait¡­ This humble one was restrained¡­ this humble one ¡­ was assisting the head imperial physician... All the physicians have been ordered to stay there ¡­ consort Ling and consort Liu are sick¡­ their states-¡±


    But Seyran wasn¡¯t listening anymore.


    ¡°All of them, isn¡¯t it? Come-¡± she had ordered in a clear, rattling voice and the two people guarding the door entered. Yue Meili and Tian Gu. ¡°Help to lift him.¡±


    Thus, in as many sheets as possible, the debating Yenaigai was draped with difficulty by the four guards, for they were trying their utmost not to hurt him.


    ¡°Lead the way¡±.


    The young physician was stunned for a moment, before her palms began sweating, thinking that maybe, she just put the head of physicians in a difficult situation. How could her days be any good from now on? But looking at this crown princess, the latter was far scarier. Without any other alternative, she was the first to advance while Seyran followed and the guards holding Yenaigai were behind.


    If those people won¡¯t come to her, Seyran didn¡¯t mind going to them. Let¡¯s just see what skills they had to be so prideful!


    Before the other physicians who had failed to diagnose Yenaigai could breathe a sigh of relief, their hope of silent retreat was squashed.


    ¡°All of you, follow¡± had said the voice thick with iciness.


    Shen Ai had turned her head to look at them as if asking if she should really dispatch one of her guards to have them obey. Holding the man in check wasn¡¯t easy for the four guards, if one still had to go and personally make those physicians move, the task would be even harder. Who knew if by then, they wouldn¡¯t add wounds on the already battered body of the patient? How then, would the strange crown princess react? Did they dare think this far?


    The six scared women knew better than to test the captain¡¯s patience, and with trembling hands and feet almost turned jelly from fright, they hung their heads low and followed.


    Huang too, gently flapping its wings, silently following after them. It debated a little with itself before timidly perching itself on Seyran¡¯s left shoulder. Its heart beat heavily for a time and when a minute passed with neither the woman flipping her hand to chase it away nor water coming out of nowhere to fling it aside; it let its whole weight on her shoulder, quite at ease. Ah, less movement was good, how tired its poor body was! Now what would be even more wonderful was if the outside would be less chilly. The sun was already high but it was still too cold for the bird. Ever since meeting that giant wolf it was like cold installed itself on its body, following everywhere it went. Why? why! Shouldn''t that thing went away with such agonizing temperature? At that time it had tsked loudly in a dissatisfied manner when Seyran had fainted before disappearing only it knew where. It should really spare other people its discontentment! So many hours had passed yet it still had to cool down... wait, no... it still had to heat up!


    ***


    Where they were now was actually the imperial¡¯s health area. It was a grand yard that sheltered the sick members of the royal family. As such, the place was richly decorated and the right medicine and tools were almost never missing. The physicians there were the best of the country, carefully picked and selected by the head imperial physician herself. For the promising younger ones that she liked best and those that still needed learning, the lessons were almost always given by her ¨Cthe head. Their talent, of course, was only for the imperial family to use, it could, however, be extended to those that said royal family bestowed its grace upon.


    The area was divided into four departments. The flesh''s department treated those without a core; it was specialized in treating flesh mostly but not only. Members of that department wore white and pink. The darker the shade, the higher the grade. The bones'' departmenttreated those with cores and without alike, specialized in bones injury. They wore white and red. The qi''s departmenttreated those with a core, specialized in ailment related to qi, their colors were white and blue. And finally, the poison''sdepartment treated mostly poison and had white and yellow colors. Each department had from six to eight members with at its head a chief department, and her second.


    There was also one who ordered all the four departments, the imperial head physician, the elder chief Yahui, clothed with white and black and her second, the chief in second Hua, .clothed with white and deep purple


    The place was, indeed big yes, but almost never did the royal family come here to get treat. It was, most of the time, physicians that treated them in their royal courtyard. Exceptionally, if the patient was sick to the point where he needed to be isolated, or for whatever reason an imperial person decided to particularly make use of rooms here, were the usual circumstances that this health area welcomed its sick people. Mostly, it was a place where the physicians were further nurturing their knowledge, where they had the advanced tools and elements to practice, and experimented and where they brainstormed about difficult pathologies that they were handling at the moments, discussing different possible treatments for different sicknesses.


    Even as rarely used as the beddings were, that didn¡¯t change the fact that they were of the best qualities. Seyran, when she fainted the previous night, had been placed to the room at the Far East. The best of the best actually. It was a quiet place, isolated from others and under no specific department. That was the place where the imperial head physician herself treated her patients.


    As they made their way over where everyone was supposedly assembled, they were greeted by the servants, who silently bowed their heads and made way.


    The physicians'' feet were quite heavy as they walked with dread. There wasn¡¯t, even though the sun was already high in the sky, that thick ¨Ccomforting- smell of herbal medicine that always lingered in the air of the place. No physician was experimenting, no one was fiddling with plants or blood, the novices ones weren¡¯t scrambling here and there ordered around by their senior as usual. The long corridors were unusually silent as they passed them. Even the servants had nothing better to do than just stand there. The crown princess¡¯s feet were without socks or shoes, not making much noise as they softly grazed the wooden floor. It was the crisp sound of her guards¡¯ shoes reverberating in the silence that was further frightening, letting others know about their arrival.


    ***


    ¡°And now, did the sensation returned?¡± Asked the old voice of the head imperial physician, chief elder Yahui.


    ¡°Not at all¡± replied the husky voice of the bedridden man.


    All physicians were in the Grand Room, even the different chiefs of departments. This room was actually where they usually had their monthly meeting. It was a vast place with a long table and many chairs around. But, the table with its chairs had been pushed a little further to make room for a bed that had been brought inside.


    If one didn¡¯t know one would think that some kind rare of extraordinary ailment preoccupied the man and an extraordinary medical treatment was being applied. Even the head physician was there when usually, she wouldn¡¯t bother much about consorts, letting others tend to them. Besides the queen, who was the last patient that this imperial head physician went over to see? No one. The chief in second, Hua, was the one personally touching the man¡¯s feet to see if he could feel; that actually was not an everyday occurrence.


    The head of the imperial physician crouched down on consort Liu¡¯s feet -the only living consort of the late queen Xian Xie.- seemingly to have a clearer look. The man came here since dark this morning when there were still only servants and some physicians on duty. However, no matter how much time passed, his problem found no solution, to the point where everyone was ordered to come and take a look. His feet, he had said, weren¡¯t responding anymore. From his knees to his toes, he couldn¡¯t move, having lost sensation there. He even had to be carried to come.


    For everyone clear-headed enough, or a little more suspicious, this one obviously had nothing. What losing the sense of touch? Weren¡¯t his toes, under so many stares, contracting themselves a little from time to time even though he was obviously fighting hard to have them stop doing so? Weren¡¯t those same toes moving when one touched the inner foot with a feather? What the hell was he calling a strange reaction? As such, the chiefs departments and their seconds could only look at the scene in from of them with restrained patience. What else could they do, it was an order from the elder chief to have them gathered here. For others, even though they had their doubts, since the head imperial physician was here then the man was definitely sick! They had to observe and learn well from her, her method and her ways of doing things.


    Another man, consort Ling, seating by Liu¡¯s head, was growing impatient now, as he crossed his hands over his chest. How long exactly were they supposed to continue to delay things, he asked himself, not for the first time? This one of Shanlin¡¯s consorts had never been the most patient man; nevertheless, he was still the one who was always ready to obey. Having a core and not too bad at it for a man, he had quite the amount of pride. And so, when a servant came bearing the order from Shanlin to feign a sickness to have things being delayed here, he was quite miffed. Unable to refuse yet unable to execute. Where would he have the endurance to act to amuse others? Unwilling to ask help from the others, he rather had consort Liu¡¯s one. Thus, he relayed the mission to Liu, to let him be the one. He may have never liked the man, but his acting was tolerable and at times, sounded genuine; that, he could give him.


    Chief elder Yahui too, was growing bored of this. She looked towards the window to see how high the sun was in the sky and thought that she should maybe carry on a bit longer. Thus, she continued the charade of interrogating the bedridden patient.


    For obvious reasons, when those two consorts who never as much as put feet in there came knocking, one could easily imagine the fishiness behind their intent. For chief elder Yahui, it had been all too evident. She was vaguely aware that it was all to refrain her from going to the crown princess¡¯s side. However, the one those consorts were obeying was still the royal advisor. How could she just simply ignore that? It was a good thing that the second princess was a first-born, yet how many first born actually died from tragedy way back in history? Those kinds of things like the crown princess died from an illness; if every other member of the royal family said this, who would doubt? Power''s struggles weren¡¯t things one could simply meddle with, and while that was true, the reason why she played along was quite different. The old woman was actually boiling with anger. She was the head of this area, the respected Yahui, how dare that captain Shen Ai took her place of work and let that elder Jing treated her patient there, in her own reserved section. That was something her pride couldn¡¯t easily take.


    Between chief Yahui and elder Jing, there had always been a rivalry and while it was true that Yahui worked for the imperial family and elder Jing no, that was just because elder Jing had politely refused the previous queen appointment. Rumors outside had it that elder Jing was far better than anyone from the imperial physician, making Yahui want to tear something. With captain Shen¡¯s move, was it that she thought this true?


    ¡°Are they still not back?¡± asked a soft voice of one of the physicians clad in white and pale pink. She was from the ¡®flesh¡¯ department and seeing as the heads were letting go of people by their age and experience, she should be the one to follow. But what to do, if six persons still hadn¡¯t been able to save that man, how could she suddenly do the miracle?


    ¡°Shut up!¡± retorted another, not wanting to be disturbed, as she took in the different movements from second chief Hua, who was massaging the impaired feet. It wasn¡¯t every day that they were permitted to learn under the head after all. While Hua was doing so, chief elder Yahui was asking the assistance what could have caused the problem from their opinion.


    It was in this state of ideas exchanging that a servant came to interrupt.


    Outside, another servant who had seen the crown princess¡¯s party coming from afar had run to let the servant that had been by the door know. The latter had knocked on the door he was guarding, waited for the keys to be turned and relayed the information. He was then permitted to enter by the servant guarding the inside of the door, to once again, relay the same information directly to the head. Surprisingly, the head actually said,


    ¡°Keep the door locked. If she comes, let the princess know that this place might be dangerous and contagious, we all fear to be unable to contain the sudden disease if it was revealed to be severe.¡±


    Many physicians¡¯ mouths twitched at this blatant lie but who were they to talk? If others had the ability to slight the imperial family then they must seriously know what they were relying upon. Unrelated persons should just watch from afar! They could only sight in their hearts. When the fiery late queen¡¯s mother was still alive, who would have been daring enough to slight anyone whose name started with Xian, let alone a grand-daughter?


    The chief elder though was a little annoyed at this. She had whispered to those novices that they should take their time to heal that man but when the princess would be at the rope of her patience, they should treat him sincerely. Why was the crown princess here now?


    How was she to know that from the very beginning, under the crown princess¡¯s eyes, those people could only try their best without any falseness? Just who would have thought that their utmost was naught and they were completely unable to treat the person?


    Either way, the servant¡¯s heart was once again light without any burdens. With his ready-made reply, he returned to his place, waiting for the princess and her party to come, to relay that exact message with that exact same tone full of worry. But who knew that the moments these words left his mouth, the crown princess would unreasonably reply, without even properly looking at him,


    ¡°Break the door.¡± Saying so, she moved aside a little to have the task done.


    ¡°That¡­¡± stammered the man-servant, not knowing how to answer, exchanging worry glances with the other servant by his side. One had to remember that usually, the health center was a place where no one came in with weapons, how then, could it be dimmed alright to go around breaking doors? The chief elder had asked them to let the door closed, while the crown princess wanted them to open it. They were between a rock and a hard place.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The guards, having heard the command, but as dumbfounded as those servants, could only glance at their captain. The other one frowned at them. What were they doing asking her the permission when the princess had already given an edict?


    Tian Gu was fast to return to her senses, between them all, if one had to point to the one who would follow orders without batting an eye no matter the content, it would be her. Yenaigai was once again motionless, so holding him was easier on them. She let his feet¡¯s area that she was holding, letting the other three adjusted their position to better hold him, then she proceeded by taking out her left sword.


    The servants steeled their hearts and stood in place, deciding to obey their previous order no matter what.


    ¡°This servant pleads crown princess to think thrice¡­ this place¡­ is dangerous.¡±


    ¡°The crown princess¡¯s body is of gold, how can we let her be affected? We plead crown princess to reconsider¡± joined the other, without faltering.


    Tian Gu frowned. She was ordered to break the door, not hurt people. Shedding blood here was still forbidden.


    ¡°Move or die¡± came the emotionless voice of Seyran without mercy, like a death sentence, hanging in the air.


    ¡®How deaf can you be?¡¯ thought Huang. ¡®She is very serious you know¡¯ it advised, albeit in its heart.


    The unsheathed blade glittered, reflecting the light as the guard¡¯s stance holding it became decisive. The servants understood that the latter had every intention to move in order to kill them. Who would be foolish enough to resign his life just like this, to stay still for others to slay? As she moved her right foot to take support, they hurriedly moved aside and when the sword landed, the door burst opened in a shattering sound akin to thunder. The bewildered servants who had fallen flat on the ground had yet to return to reality, so fast had that been that it didn¡¯t seem genuine at all. With stammering tongues and sweat-drenched backs, they kneeled to the crown princess¡¯s suddenly dreadfully scary form, all the while alternating between apologizes and thanks for the princess¡¯s belligerence to have spare their lives.


    Seyran didn¡¯t pay them any attention as she stared at the light wooden powder that was created from the commotion. Tian Gu moved and displaced some scattered debris with her feet, to let the crown princess pass. Bowing her head in respect while the other advanced past her.


    The two wooden doors were sliced open and collapsed just like that, like a piece of cake. Just like that. If that sword had fallen on his body... Between the scattered messes, there were pieces with spots of red, and standing not far from those were the bleeding servants that were keeping the doors from inside. If he had kept on standing,.. the younger servant shuddered, not daring to pursue this line of thought and once again apologized to the crown princess. The crown princess¡¯ personal guards were still the crown princess¡¯s personal guards he thought. At another level entirely.


    Scraps or the broken doors were lodged in the physicians that weren¡¯t too far from them. The chief elder hadn¡¯t thought it would be like this and before she thought deeply, the intruders were already inside the room.


    The leading woman¡¯s hair wasn¡¯t trimmed, and, without any hair ornament, it was left to freely cascade down her back; her simple light blue clothes, the special clothes of the health center, were the ones that had been put on her after she collapsed, not indicating her rank at all. They were, even more, slightly wrinkled in some places. Yet there was nothing ordinary about her in any way. Her blue eyes contained iciness as she looked over the gathered people in the room; just standing there, one could really understand what it meant to have an imperial bearing when looking at her. Even clothed like a sick person without shoes and her hair down, with just a glance, she was able to let others felt what was called the royal pressure. A feeling that let others know when they should obey.


    The people made room for her, as she advanced further into the room. The chief elder had already gotten up and followed others in bowing her head to salute. Consort Ling had stood up from his chair too to bow, only consort Liu was still bedridden.


    ¡°Your loyal subjects pay their respects to the crown princess. May crown princess lives a thousand years,¡± echoed throughout the room. They may not be sure about her identity since many couldn¡¯t recognize her, but for certain, those were the symbols of the four principal clans on her guards¡¯ clothes.


    Now what? Many physicians asked themselves, stealing glancing at their chief elder. One ordered to have the door locked when hearing the other was coming. This should be considered as disrespecting ranks, right? Consequences should follow, right?


    ¡°Who is in charge?¡±


    ¡°It is this one,¡± answered the chief elder as she lifted her face, no anger or apprehension on it whatsoever, as though everything was quite normal. She let her eyes roamed behind Seyran to look at the novice physicians that were avoiding her gazes. Her face maintained a courteous smile as she politely reminded, ¡°This place is still in an examination and we are still unable to decide if consort Liu should be isolated for further examination, to not let the disease spread.¡± She bowed, ¡°begging princess to avoid the filthiness of this place.¡±


    Seyran¡¯s gaze surveyed the entire room. Ignoring the one who talked as though the other was but air, she asked instead.


    ¡°Are all the physicians there?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡± answered the chief elder her smile growing warmer as more anger formed in her. When was the last time that she was not given face at all? And in front of so many people.


    Turning to the guards, the same crown princess said,


    ¡°Let him lie on the bed.¡±


    The chief in second bowed and reminded,


    ¡°That¡­ consort Liu is still¡­¡± he is still on the bed.


    The other physicians, chiefs aside, didn¡¯t have the rank high enough to talk as they wish in the princess¡¯s presence and at this instance, they were quite pleased with the fact. Who wanted to be the one to annoy this person when her eyes were clearly promising murder?


    Seyran looked at the supposedly bedridden man


    ¡°Out.¡± She had said in the deafening silence.


    Consort Liu remained frozen on the spot, not knowing how to respond at that exact moment. It was Ling who, with all the respect he could muster given that he didn¡¯t like humbling himself much, had replied for him.


    ¡°That, I¡¯m afraid, brother Liu can¡¯t get up. He can¡¯t feel his feet anymore.¡±


    Seyran¡¯s gaze fleetly rested on the person¡¯s exposed legs from knees to toes.


    Thinking that he still had been someone who had weighed in this princess¡¯s mother¡¯s heart, Liu fast beating chest calmed down a little and he had a sorry smile on his face as he looked at her, expressing some polite apologizes for his state. Consort Liu used to be the late queen Xie¡¯s consort after all. Just in consideration for her late mother, surely, she wouldn¡¯t make things too difficult for him. That belief was also one of the reasons why he had accepted to play along with Ling¡¯s idea.


    How though, was Seyran supposed to remember things like those when her last ruthless life was still the fresher things in her memory?


    ¡°Break his legs,¡± had she said actually, instead of the awaited polite comforting words he had believed she would utter.


    Was she serious, Liu thought, or was she waiting for him to move so that she would call off his bluff? Even if he didn¡¯t have that much to remember about this person, at the very least, he knew that it was someone he had never slight or disrespect. Certainly, there should be no enmity. She was mainly trying to let the others clearly see the lie he was convinced, then, he shouldn¡¯t move all the more, or else what face would he have left in front of all these novices?


    Wasn¡¯t it just too na?ve of him to think like that? Would have said Huang to him had it heard his nonsense. The woman clearly didn¡¯t have the patience to play along and refused to waste time. Instead of just moving him, she was breaking him, shouldn¡¯t that open his eyes?


    Liu had steeled his heart and refused to budge. He watched with weary eyes as Tian Gu, lift the sheath of her sword and aimed at his exposed legs. He blanched a little seeing that Seyran still hadn¡¯t ordered the other to stop.


    ¡°I offend¡± had softly whispered the guard slamming the sheath on both feet. A loud crack resounded followed by the aged consort¡¯s howls.


    Ling had unconsciously taken a step back, his face white with disbelief.


    ¡®Oh, now you feel!¡¯ thought Huang with schadenfreude, flapping its wings. This little animal too wanted to have its human companion treated rapidly. That was a companion of misery that it had shared some days with after all. ¡®Isn¡¯t she kind, she actually healed you!¡¯


    ¡°Again¡±


    As soon as the words were said, the sentence was applied. The sheath was once again connected with the man¡¯s genuinely impaired feet now, as he kept on crying and begging.


    ¡°Again¡±


    Another crack and he fled from the bed with difficulty, landing painfully on the floor. The man could only cry helplessly, whimpering as no more strikes were applied. It didn¡¯t bleed much externally, but who couldn¡¯t see that the bones were thoroughly broken. He didn¡¯t even have the force to cry anymore. There was no more masterly bearing in his appearance. Not that of the highly respected consort of the late queen anymore. Just a broken thing full of tears and snots. Having no core and being someone who had always had things going his way, when had he ever received this kind of treatment?


    ¡°Lead him out.¡±


    Ling saw that this wasn¡¯t going too well and had no intention of staying in the same place as this princess any longer. He bowed deeply and accepted the task, after all, he was the one who had brought Liu here.


    Seyran had no intention of stopping him. With servants helping, both consorts were seeing out, and Seyran hadn¡¯t cared to know who they were, to begin with.


    The following silence was almost saying to the physicians, now you have no other patient to treat. What else can they do but obey?


    Yenaigai was laid down on the bed, his feet and hands bound to its corners in case he struggled once again.


    Shen Ai retrieved one of the room''s chairs from a corner and put it near Seyran. She sat there, the captain stood behind her while the other guards took place in front of the broken door. Huang left his perch to fly and rested on one corner of the bed to look at the bedridden Yenaigai more closely.


    As she swept a glance around the room, Yue Meili was quite delighted at the frightened sight of many of them actually. ¡®Served them right¡¯ she thought. Weren¡¯t these physicians quite haughty usually, unwilling to even look at her wounds? Who ask them to fuss over it, just look and do a quick treat, no one had to know; but no, they just had to refuse, impolitely one should add, always emphasizing how their hands were to treat the royals only. Here, take a good look and deal with this royal for me to see!


    As long as no disaster was befalling on her head, Yue Meili was quite happy.


    Chief elder who had no control whatsoever of the situation anymore could only cough a little to regain a semblance of countenance and asked,


    ¡°What ailed him?¡±


    The seated woman frostily replied,


    ¡°You ask me, who should I ask?¡±


    That¡­ to treat, she still had to know some of the circumstances but would the other cooperate? One of the physicians who followed Seyran went and softly whispered all that she knew to the head chief. The latter frowned.


    ¡°Is it that the person really had no core before?¡±


    ¡°I have no answer for that.¡±


    ¡°May we probe then?¡±


    ¡°He is here for that.¡±


    Chief elder motioned with her head for the head of qi¡¯s department. The woman clad in white and deep blue moved forward, and saluted the crown princess, before directing herself to the man on the bed. She exposed his wrist to the air and put two fingers on it, infusing qi and letting it ran inside his body with her eyes closed.


    The physicians in the room were tense and filled with worry and fear. Those who had been injured had already wrapped their wounds with the clothes they had cut and were staying as far away as possible from that princess¡¯s side. They weren¡¯t those who angered her, why should they be those receiving the brunts.


    The chief elder wanted to ease the tension a little and said,


    ¡°Crown princess should rest her worries. Whether with or without a core, we, the imperial physicians will treat this person to the best of our possibilities. Certainly, his days are still far from being numbered,¡±


    With her talent, who was it that she would have difficulty to treat? The late queen¡¯s grave wounds due to battle and others illnesses were all personally cured by her. What could ail this simple servant that she couldn¡¯t treat? It was just that she didn¡¯t want to lower herself to treat the person!


    ¡°Such a good, assured speech. In that case, another failure may not do.¡±


    The person hadn¡¯t look at her as she talked. Her gaze was still on the bed, watching as the qi¡¯s department chief fiddle with the hand of her patient. In the end, was her sentence a threat or not? Chief elder Yahui wasn¡¯t sure but chief in second Hua still took a step away from her superior.


    The one who was examining Yenagai frowned a little. She first thought that when she would infuse her qi, his meridians would be atrophied, blocked, having never been put to use. But it actually wasn¡¯t the case. Sure, it didn¡¯t feel like his meridians were used in a long time but the passage was actually quite smooth. Letting her qi arrived towards his navel, below, where his core should be, she actually felt some resistance. Probing a little more, gently, she understood that it had actually been destroyed. She could only sigh. Damaging one¡¯s core was done to make them suffer. It was usually applied to traitors of the country and was rarely treated afterward. This one though had had some treatments it seemed, for there were still some traces of that all around the dantian. But even so, there were also more recent damages on the core, one could only wonder how dreadful that pain had been from the little she could probe without hurting him. Let alone that they still didn¡¯t know how to repair a cracked core, but for it to be damaged at this point¡­


    She reported,


    ¡°He used to have a core¡­ But it had been almost completely destroyed.¡±


    As she was saying this, her fingers still blue with qi were still on the man¡¯s wrist. As she kept on probing to judge the real extent of the damages, his eyes opened wide, completely white and he started struggling. The qi¡¯s department chief retreated some steps, surprised. She was the ablest when it came to manipulating her qi in others¡¯ body for medical use, he shouldn¡¯t have felt anything!


    The chief elder was still unfazed, for she had already expected this answer.


    ¡°May we check under his clothes?¡±


    ¡°He is here for that¡±, repeated Seyran still looking at the man.


    The room wasn¡¯t particularly cold, but heating tools had been ordered to be brought to the far corner of the room and unnecessary people had been chased away.


    ¡°Leave, all of you,¡± had said the chief elder. ¡°That patient would be handled by the chief departments.¡± She was aware that the princess had brought him here for everyone with the ability to look, whether novice or seniors she didn¡¯t care as long as they could heal him. But how could novice be of any use here, they were just sands in her eyes at the moment, fretting at this princess¡¯s side and not even having a physician¡¯s bearing.


    Bowing their heads, said unnecessary people saluted the crown princess in a chorus, and left, heaving a deep sigh of relief to their chiefs¡¯ annoyances.


    In the fast warming room, Yenaigai¡¯s clothes were once again peeled off, his wounds looked at. His physical wounds were obviously well treated, but upon close examination, the head could still say that even though those were knives '' wounds, there were indications that they had been visited by insects.


    As she saw those people mimicked the others who had failed before, Seyran still maintained her expressionless face. However, this time, she refused to have any more objects inserted in him, let alone drew out his blood. For the poison¡¯s department chief¡¯s relief ¨Cas well as the others-, there was still a little vial containing some of his blood that her subordinate had drawn previously. And even though it wasn¡¯t as plentiful as she¡¯d like, she made do with it, using it with parsimony.


    ¡°Limit the tests to the more common insects¡± had advised the head.


    The testing was done in the same room as well, on the big table that was around the corner. Seyran had her back to them, not supervising, her vision field never leaving the one on the bed. That lift some of the pressure the chiefs'' department were feeling. After all, the ones whose stares weren¡¯t leaving them were just captain Shen Ai, it was far more tolerable. In the meantime, the flesh¡¯s and bones¡¯ chiefs departments redid the bandages with all the care of the world, having inspected but found nothing worrying about his body. Bruises and cuts maybe, but no bone was broken, a little twisted at most, but had been taken care of too.


    His white eyes with no sign of life were worrying though. He was once again motionless and if one didn¡¯t see his chest slowly lift and fall, one would fear it was a corpse.


    Sometime later, one of the tests reacted. The red ants¡¯ poison. It wasn¡¯t a deathly thing so the chief in charge could breathe in relief. That poison mostly caused some illusions for a couple of days and was eliminated by the metabolism. It was something that was habitually seen on small children for adult knew better than to play with these things. ''Was it that this small poison coupled with the broken core caused a bigger reaction?'', discussed the chiefs. Would giving him the red ants¡¯ antidote suffice? The core would still be broken but would he go back to normal?


    ¡°He is poisoned,¡± reported the chief elder.


    As she thought again she said to herself, so what if she didn¡¯t know. It was, in the end, just a servant, if he died then he died, but Seyran¡¯s voice rang in her ears cutting those thoughts.


    ¡°Poison you say. Considering your high abilities, he must live of course. Else, what¡¯s the point of having you around?¡± They made her wait, let them not regret their decision.


    This time it was actually a clear, undisguised threat that they all understood. He lived or the head dies, or was it that they all die?


    A little commotion had risen by the door. The royal advisor had come and asked to be permitted the entry. Chief elder had seen her coming and almost smiled at her sight, however, who would have thought that the three guards would stand still, not making room for her to pass?


    ¡°No one enters.¡± Had said Seyran when the other physicians left the room and since she didn¡¯t specify an exception then, of course, no one enters meant that even the royal advisor had to stay outside.


    Shanlin had rushed here after hearing the misfortune that befell consort Liu. If the man was still alive after her elder sister passed, that was of course, because they had a good relationship. Mistreating that person so, wasn¡¯t this airhead of a princess afraid to anger her? But she couldn¡¯t even see the person that she was already blocked at the entry. It would be unsightly to fight here. That aside, the other was still the crown princess. And so, boiling with ire, the royal advisor could only wait.


    ***


    At the other side of the palace, the bearers of tradition weren¡¯t idle enough to wait for anything and had taken things into their own hands. They had already sent a servant to request some experts to come and examine the corpse of the ¡®crown princess¡¯ while interrogating the Min family, and that small official who recognized Min Shan that night. Earlier, it had been reported to elder Shen that chief elder Yahui couldn¡¯t come over, and the new leader of the bearers of tradition had brushed that fact aside. It wasn¡¯t like elder Shen held that much trust in that person. If she didn''t want to come, let it be.


    While others, were doing the examination, elder Shen was personally present, in the mean time elders Yue and Tian were the ones personally interrogating the people.


    When the bearers of tradition were acting by themselves instead of delegating one could only think that results would be fast to come.

 Chapter 16: Tangled secrets

    The sun was setting fast in the cold weather of the last month of the year, bringing down with it the light of the day. Light¡¯s pearls, candles, and the strict lights were already being lit. In the health center of the imperial palace, the light¡¯s pearls were of the rarer quality, beautifully round and magnificently luminescent, almost blinding, not big yet powerful enough to turn the night into day. Just one per room was more than enough with that kind. With those tools¡¯ light, the antidote for Yenaigai was safely prepared and had been left to cool down with the ambient temperature of the delicately heated room for it wouldn¡¯t do it any good, to cool down abruptly.


    In fact, the usual cure for the red ants¡¯ poison was already available inside the health center but seeing the reaction of the patient far stronger than that of a normal infected person, the different chiefs discussed the possibility of condensing a stronger dosage for him while at the same time being preoccupied with the negative effects. It varied from a patient to another but generally, they were buzzing sounds in ears, the sensation of being hot one moment and cold the next one or a muscle that contracted suddenly. That was usually because the antidote used was said to have an effect on some selected people¡¯s cores. But this patient had his core destroyed they couldn¡¯t risk more damages done to it not knowing if he was of the percentage of those who would be affected. So it wasn¡¯t really easy to have the antidote condense enough to heal him and at the same time dilute enough to not cause other problems. The calculation for it had been, surprisingly, being done by the imperial head physician herself.


    When the time had been judged right, under the watchful eyes of the crown princess, they put the patient in a seating position, pried opened his mouth and inserted something like a small tube inside of him. It was a tube different than the one they had used to feed him easily digested liquid food and salty water some hours before. Now the tube was thinner and a little longer. Little by little, the department chief of flesh, who was the one administrating, let the antidote in the tube drop by drop. While she was doing so, the others were explaining what was there to explain. That was how they had worked the whole day, not moving or touching a thing without taking the time to explain their every move to the seated person next to the bed, not that the other was responding; then again she wasn¡¯t asking them to stay silent too, so they kept on explaining. The first who had started to explain had been their chief elder and afterward, the poison department''s chief and the qi''s department chief took turns explaining when they weren''t fiddling with flasks in their hands.


    They were working earnestly, that she could tell, whether or not they really got the right cure, it wasn¡¯t something Seyran could give a defined answer to. But she knew that under these people¡¯s care, the servant didn¡¯t wake up again. Whether it was their work or that of the multiples sedatives shots in his blood that was finally reacting, that too, she wasn''t sure; but she knew at the very least that by herself there wasn¡¯t much that she could do. Between killing and healing, killing was the only thing she knew.


    Huang was softly snoring on one corner of the bed for hours now. The little bird was tired¡­ and a little hungry too. It contemplated asking for mana but remembered being told to cultivate a day ago. There was a strong unwillingness in it concerning that fact, and that aside, it wasn¡¯t like it could gather that much concentration in this bustling room anyway. Furthermore, it refused to fly to do so in a calmer environment. That had, of course, nothing to do with the fact that he didn''t want to be away from the sick man. Nothing! It was just that flying was too tiring!


    So, the red little bird slept with a hungry stomach, as close as it could be to the one it said had nothing to do with its unwillingness to go out.


    As the last drop of the medicine went down the tube, Chief elder glanced at the now empty door. More than anxiety it was actually a faint surprise that she had felt when the royal advisor had gone, letting her know that she may have miscalculated. Her gaze rested on Seyran''s back head afterward. With crossed legs and a hand resting under her chin, she didn''t mind the slightest bit when her angry aunt departed. Maybe that talk about this person being able to manipulate Fenrir wasn¡¯t all gibberish or why else would she treat her elder with this little consideration. Shanlin had waited but let alone entering; Seyran hadn¡¯t even turned her head to look her way. In the end, she left fuming not bothering to conceal her anger. Head Yahui then glanced at captain Shen who was standing behind the crown princess¡¯s chair as she has always been since her appointment as captain of the crown princess''s guards. There wasn¡¯t much difference between her way of being now and how she used to be two days before, letting elder chief pondered still if those claims that the crown princess was another person was actually really true.


    As there hadn''t been a special order for her to be at the welcoming ceremony of the fourth princess, she chose not to go. She had never been someone much interest in anything unrelated to her working field. So, she hadn''t been there when everything took place and had to be abruptly wake up, during the night, notified that the crown princess had been brought to her healing quarter. Grumbling and not pleased she still went to see, when told that no one else was authorized anywhere near the crown princess resting area. Who would have thought that upon coming, she would be told that mistress Jing was already inside? Angrily, she ordered servants to notify her presence and expel the intruder, with what qualification did she dare touch an imperial person? However, the door never opened as the guards kept them outside due to their leader¡¯s command. Now though, chief Yahui''s anger cooled down. In her mind, one thought was left concerning this person, if there was no real reason, angering her wasn''t an option. As far as choosing a side went, that could still wait.


    "Now we just have to wait for him to wake up, his life shouldn''t be in danger anymore." That was the voice of the flesh''s chief department, as she took out the tube and put away the now empty flask that previously contained the antidote.


    "You''re saying it''s finished?" the chief who just talked was startled a little, not having thought that the one who had been silent for so long would ask her a question.


    "We have to wait and see how he reacts to it first, before anything." She said humbly rather than straightforwardly saying things like ''it will definitely work'' she much preferred being reserved.


    The other physician had already tidied up the various tools used and stored them away. Everything was finished and the moon was already out, it was safe for them to go right? Something like staying for the patient would be left to their apprentices and subordinates usually. However, seeing them ready to go, Seyran did say,


    "Do not go far."


    Thus, they could only make use of the health center''s beds. While the staffs'' beds weren''t bad, they didn''t particularly like sleeping in there and not much with the crown princess not far away.


    As she was going, chief elder Yahui thought it was really a waste of her time to care so much for a servant. Hopefully, it would turn into a good investment in the future, because, of course, she had no doubt he was going to be alright.


    ***


    The stench of blood was thick in the air. That person''s remains had been arranged in five piles, and each pile had two to three someone people working on it. Elder Shen may look closely but to her, those things were just gory flesh, broken bones, and bloody hair; she really hoped that for those fiddling with it, it was something more talkative than that. The state of the corpse didn¡¯t let much to work on and many of their known methods had to be discarded. That did not prevent matriarch Shen from staying seated there, from morning to night though. Lest would it be good, if anyone had the idea to tamper with the ongoing work.


    The door was knocked and after hearing the approbation, someone wearing the Shen family''s symbol on her cloth entered and saluted the elder.


    "The changing guards are already there" she announced.


    Following that, the matriarch got up.


    "It''s enough for today," she said. "Come back here tomorrow."


    The workers put down their tools, their papers and writing feathers to report what they already found to their own leader. Well, there wasn''t much for now and none was really important as it was already known that the decease was female and had a core and whatnots.


    ¡°We will need at least a week with this case.¡± the chief of the workers said when she saw the frowning face of elder Shen.


    ¡°Three days is the maximum you''ll get. Hired as many people as you want but I want the confirmation of her identity."


    They were mainly searching for a way to prove that this person hadn''t been the crown princess and at the same time, looking for clues as to how she changed appearance.


    "All right." said the chief, following behind her subordinates who were already exiting the room. Elder Shen was the last to go out and personally locked the chamber. The ten guards that she had ordered to be called were there and bowed to her. While going, she glanced at the three cats with white and blue fur, common beasts which had an affinity with ice. It may be cold but extra precaution to preserve what was left of the body was still necessary


    She didn''t return to her clan''s residence immediately but went to see how the interrogation lead by elder Tian and elder Yue was going.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Matriarch Yue had called the whole Min family to come, while matriarch Tian was handling the person who had called the crown princess ''Min Shan'' during that time.


    The Min family was just a small family of low officials. Min Shan had been lucky at that time to be one of the selected few to accompany the queen¡¯s daughter. Then, the queen had been quite preoccupied with the fact that her only daughter didn''t like going out of her room much or that she was unwilling to go out of her way to even talk to the other children in the palace. A little helpless, she invited more children to attended to her child thinking that maybe new faces would do her good. Up to four children were there to serve as the second princess''s companion. Out of them, only one person didn''t come back when the crown princess supposedly came back to the capital after years spent in the forest. That was Min Shan.


    However, Eirin, the one who used to be Min Shan''s best friend swore on her whole ancestors that her friend used to be kind and loyal, not one who harbored those kinds of thoughts as impersonating the crown princess!


    Matriarch Tian was rubbing her eyes as she recounted it to elder Shen.


    "She is now a bundle of tears. It doesn''t seem like she knows anything else."


    "Tears?"


    "Quite hysterical," she said wryly. "Certainly pregnant. Her mood kept jumping, laughing while reminiscing then tearing up at the reality." She cracked her neck. "I feel more tired than anything... Things like that should be left to the youngsters"


    Elder Shen glanced at the closed door not far from her.


    "What of Yie?"


    "I heard no sounds since the afternoon. It doesn''t seem like she''s anywhere near finish."


    "Then she''ll certainly spend the night here." Because if there was anything matriarch Yue hated, it was to let things in the middle of doing them.


    "I''ll wait and keep her company then, it''s not like I can sleep anyway."


    ¡°You should maybe start taking mistress¡¯s Jing pills, they are quite effective.¡±


    Matriarch Tian had a mocking smile as she looked at the tired eyes of her long friend.


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit extreme for now when it worsened, I will contemplate the idea.¡± That the Jing family was amazing in medicinal terms need no one''s debate, but still, whispers about their ingredients weren¡¯t always the best. "But maybe you should personally let them aside for now."


    ¡°... They are quite addictive, I suppose¡± she answered as though helpless but elder Tian heard the unwillingness hidden in her voice, making her wonder if the other person''s nightmares had returned more fiercely than before.


    The young seer''s voice came to her mind, as she watched her friend''s back going further.


    ¡°I recommend fleeing and going somewhere else, anywhere else. A terrible danger is lurking behind your country''s shadow. When the day will come that it needs hiding no longer, only desolation and death will follow in its wake¡±


    However, recently that same person had said: "there may be hope". Let''s believe in that and bury the nightmares for now.


    ***


    ¡°The time isn¡¯t early anymore. Would the princess like to rest?¡± asked Shen Ai after pondering a little. This person, after all, came not long ago, maybe she didn¡¯t know or had forgotten that the crown princess had a special residence in this palace. Where they were now was still the health center after all, hardly the right place to stay.


    Seyran turned to her but asked a question of her now.


    ¡°Who ordered you to come serve me?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Normally, she was the crown princess, this identity alone let her be served unconditionally by whoever she wanted but still, Shen Ai trustfully said concerning her own self, ¡°Elder Shen¡±


    ¡°...Alright, I know.¡± Seyran looked at the softly snoring little bird which was still sleeping and continued "No need for any resting arrangement. Here is fine. You can withdraw."


    "Then this is going to call for the replacements." Do not let her alone had said her matriarch. Seyran didn''t refute, so she ordered one of her subordinates to go call for them. Yue Meili was quite happy to oblige. The poor woman could almost hear her bed singing a lullaby to her.


    Not long, six regular guards wearing the uniforms of the palace came, with two of them, members of the Shen family and one, of the Tian family. They saluted the leader Shen and stayed at the doors. Shen Ai had ordered for them to bring in their sword and should carry them from now on unless the princess said otherwise.


    Inside the vast place now, there was only one sleeping man, one sleeping bird, and a wide awaked woman. It didn''t last long, for Seyran got up and carried the little bird by its claws. It soon woke up, with its head down, taking a time to blink not yet there in reality.


    "For how long are you going to sleep?"


    "Ey?" chirp Huang in a bewildered manner.


    "Get me a small stone."


    She wanted to use something to infuse her mana infuse, in order to erect a barrier. The place had been carefully cleaned after the doors had been smashed, nothing was amiss she could only rely on the volatile.


    But when Huang came back with what she asked with then every intention to go back to sleep, he found himself ordered not to.


    ¡°You¡¯ve slept the whole day, aren''t you hungry?" For a fleeting moment it really thought she was going to say something as nice as ''come, let me treat you with mana and qi'' but instead, the human said: "cultivate then".


    Looking at the small rock which was being infused with mana, Huang swallowed its saliva several times.


    ***


    The four crown princess''s personal guards, each one on her horse, separated ways after exiting the palace gates. There was no moon in the sky and no stars either, only a cold breeze to be felt. Shen Ai had her brown horse picked up a higher speed, wanting to be home quicker. However, mid-way to her home, she encountered the carriage of the first princess who was returning to the palace and since the other had wanted to talk, she got off her horse to join her inside her carriage, when the other insisted to take her back to the Shen residence.


    Su Qiun had thought to talk with captain Shen recently but never found the time to do so. But since the providence led the other to her path, she wasn''t going to let it down.


    It started quite randomly, with the princess asking about the guard''s living condition, then about her sister who had just come back. Shen Ai for her part was just playing the part of the person who answered, never giving any more information than what was necessary for the question at the same time without detailing it.


    As they were talking snow started to fall, which Su Qiun noted and with a faraway look, she asked,


    ¡°Had captain Shen ever been in the southern part of the continent?"


    ¡°Once in my earlier years. Never since then.¡±


    "Dear!" she exclaimed with a smile, "you should take the time to. It had changed so much since then, ..." she put her hand out of the window and touched a falling crystal. "And the way things are there... really need to be looked at."


    The other was smiling, but Shen Ai knew that it wasn¡¯t really a smile. She had for years, secretly contemplated the idea of this person being queen instead of her younger cousin. How would the country be under her reign? As a princess, she was already worthy of praises, would she let people down as queen? Shen Ai was far from being blind though. The first princess didn''t have a heart as pure as the songs were saying so but it wasn¡¯t like what she did so far was bad. Whether it be orphanages or extending her help to whoever was courageous enough to ask, those kinds may have deeper motivations but they were still good results. For that, Shen Ai still felt a deep respect.


    ***


    As said, the first princess left captain Shen in front of her residence before saying goodbyes and have her driver take the road to the palace again.


    With her head full of thoughts, captain Shen went to her room contemplating the future of the country. Should she go in accordance to what she had thought years before or should she let the crown princess be their queen? After all, for more than a year now, she had been searching for a way to convince her matriarch about the benefits of having the first princess queen, even contemplating the idea of giving her the secrets on how to tame Fenrir. But now, it seemed the crown princess had been misjudged for it wasn''t the real deal. But so what? That person had lived in a forest for almost her whole life, what did she know that made her qualify to be queen? Just because Fenrir listened to her, did she mean they could only follow? The protector who fought for them along with the queen almost ten years ago, should she trusted its judgment to keep them safe once again?


    As she was pondering, Shen Ai already was in front of her matriarch''s personal room. When she had entered the residence, she had already been informed that the woman had yet to come back. And while there were servants everywhere it wasn''t the first time that they were seeing her entering that room when the proprietor wasn''t there. She searched a little, before putting everything back in other, shaking her head a little while exiting the room. Not yet. She shouldn''t take any hasty decision. Maybe she should wait a little more. In the end, she was more afraid to find what she was looking for more than anything else.


    Her timing was quite good actually, for not long after that elder Shen returned. The woman certainly had just the time to change her clothes before sending a servant to call for her, which made Shen Ai wondered a little if she had found out about her touching her thing. The young woman could only release a sigh and get up, anyway, be it this or not, she was going to know soon enough.


    When she arrived, elder Shen was sitting outside her room, gazing at the falling snow with furrowed brows. These years, her brows were rarely relaxed.


    ¡°Sit. How is she?¡± the elder woman asked without waiting to be greet.


    Knowing full well who that she was referring to, Shen Ai politely said.


    "Good. Mistress Jing said that she just lost consciousness, nothing to be afraid of."


    "Ey."


    There was a silence as it seemed that it was the only thing that her elder wanted to know. She ruminated a little, but in the end, Shen Ai still asked,


    "What about the corpse?"


    ¡°Still waiting for definite results."


    ¡°I see¡±, but her doubts had yet to leave her. "... If there is nothing then this junior retired"


    "Do so." The matriarch seemed to remember something and added as an afterthought. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything foolish"


    Shen Ai froze for a moment, before responding


    "This young one heard" and then she left.


    Left alone, matriarch Shen held her writing feather that she had found at the left side of her ink bottle instead of the left, playing with it while looking at the falling snow.


    "If this servant may, the air is getting colder, pleading with matriarch to safely return." urged one of her servant which brought the woman back to reality. She went inside and took off the cloth that served as a belt. Inside the folds, was a carefully folded paper. With a heavy sigh, she whispered,


    ¡°Foolish girl, don¡¯t rush to your doom.¡±

 Chapter 17: To Bear Traditions

    Unfolding the paper, elder Shen carefully looked at it. The material was thick, old, but besides some creases, nothing was wrong with it, its whole length was still dark with ink, and the content, still very much legible.


    ¡°The future isn¡¯t something set in stone. It¡¯s quite hard to see. The danger is still very much present but there may be hope.¡±


    She looked at that parchment for a long time. Not really reading the words, rather mentally reciting them and comparing it to the seer''s words. There may be hope. Her heart shook as she really considered its meaning. To judge it maybe, she did something she didn''t do in years now; she held the paper above a candle and watched it being devoured by the flames emitting a slight crisping sound. The matriarch held, withstanding the heat until the flame touched her fingers, before letting go. In front of her eyes, as that last part was released from her hand, the ashes that crumbled and started falling disparately on the floor went against gravity, levitating and assembling in the air, turning now into a brand new parchment with the same scribbles on the previous it replaced. The paper then flew and stopped above matriarch Shen''s hand, folding itself as it once was, before softly landing on the opened palm. It stayed still, like any other ordinary paper.


    Far from being satisfied with this result, elder Shen was now a little anxious. No matter how she looked at it, it definitely recuperated faster than it used to do. Was it because the time was approaching? Her unease grew a little more. Calling for the servants, and disregarding the time, she ordered,


    ¡°Send for the oracles. Urgently.¡±


    Even though they had been called in the Shen residence the day before, elder Shen suddenly needed to be told once again that there was indeed hope.


    ***


    Shen Ai was in her bath, soaking her back without remorse even though it had been advised against it when she heard jingling sounds in the dead of the night. Calling for the servants waiting on her at the other side of the door, she asked,


    ¡°Answering, ...it should be the invitees of the matriarch.¡±


    She pursed her lips, not making any comment but her brows furrowed. ''Again!'' she thought.


    Its been so long since the last time she heard the sound of their instrument that she actually forgot it. The matriarch had gone as far as taking in those two people who were certainly banned from their country in this residence, almost every day listening to their nonsensical things about future. Who exactly was being foolish now?


    "Come" she shouted and the servant entered to help her rebandaged her back. As mistreating it as she had been, the injuries were still healing and would be but something of the past in a couple of days. No matter what, one still had to sigh at the Jing family''s medicines. It may not be something of the imperial family but it was quite impressive.


    Her bandages done, the captain just directly wore a middle robe then jumped on the roof, to look toward her matriarch''s place, imagining inside it the young woman and her small boy talking to her great-grandmother.


    ***


    The night changed into a day. Huang had actually really cultivated, accompanying the woman in the room who also did so. The moment she had closed her eyes she didn''t open them again until now. The small bird knew it had peeked. What made her opened them was when the chiefs came to check on their patient, asking through one guard if they could enter.


    Their prognostic was actually good. His skin''s color was better, it looked less sickly, he still didn''t wake up but at least when opening his eyes, they could still see his irises. They were quite long-winded actually and vocal about his recuperating state.


    As they were so active in this room, their departments'' members were whispering in the others, some discussing the cure used, others wanting to understand the cure''s choice and a great majority, talking about the crown princess; after all, she really did spend the night here.


    "And when is he to wake up?"


    "... This, can''t be said with certainty." responded the flesh''s department chief. "But it should be in a couple of hours."


    "Leave then."


    They didn''t really want to be there so they retired in polite words but after them, it was elder Shen that came. Seyran''s who had already closed her eyes to continue cultivating opened them to this name, looking towards where the doors had once been, giving her consent.


    The woman who came was old; her hair was completely gray, and her face creased in many wrinkles to attest that, but she looked far younger than those three times less her age in Unzu, if the books in the manor by the forest could be trusted. Seyran noted that she held some resemblances with that captain of the same name too. Elder Shen, the matriarch of the Shen family, member of the bearers of tradition.


    ¡°Welcome back crown princess. Your loyal subject pays her respects to the crown princess. May the crown princess lives a thousand years.¡± The voice hadn''t trembled and was almost ringing in the vast room.


    The person approached closer, but the little rock on the bed had no reaction. Not an enemy for the moment Seyran thought, extending her hand and taking hold of the small rock.


    As Seyran was assessing the person, so was the other too. That princess''s eyes never left her, as though wishing to see through her soul. The feet that were crossed in the lotus position on the big chair were uncrossed and touched the floor to immediately be crossed one leg under the other. With a gesture of her hand, the person ordered for a chair to be brought for the newcomer. In thanking words, the elder sat.


    Coming here first thing in this morning, was for elder Shen to see the one she thought with great conviction -or maybe she wanted to be with great yearning- the ''hope'' they needed. So far, she liked what she saw and could almost write it herself on the other person''s front.


    "Asking your majesty to forgive your subjects'' incompetence for not recognizing. We deserve a thousand death..."


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Seyran had little to no consideration for what she was saying and when the other marked a pause she said with genuine curiosity,


    ¡°The four principals clans. Bearers of tradition. I¡¯ve read a little about you.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Elder Shen was silent, not knowing if she was supposed to comment.


    Huang tilted its head, taking in the elder''s appearance as Seyran put her chin on her hand with the other having no reaction at all. So submissive manner, just because she happened to be the second princess, daughter of the late queen Xian Xie? That, Seyran still had yet to believe. She rather held onto those whispers and think of that capricious giant wolf as the main reason.


    ¡°Why bearers of tradition though? Why not guardians, not keepers, why the need to bear them?¡±


    With no change in her flat expression, elder Shen replied, ¡°It is but a simple denomination, since our ancestors like this one, why the need change it?¡±


    "Indeed, why the need."


    A puppet for a princess. Unreasonable rules. Angry people all over the little she got to see of this country. Wasn''t it because there was no need to change the direction of the ongoing things. Yet here are those same previously indifferent people ready to defend the crown princess¡¯s legitimate rights.


    Elder Shen words were measured as she let the crown princess know of the measures taken to lighten the second princess burden of reaffirming her identity and to appease the population anger and explained their disbelief. No contradicting words came from Seyran. She had already said so, she was going to finish what her good family had started. So, when matriarch Shen finished and the princess just said things like "it was alright to do so", "training?... That''s fine too." she found herself at a loss for what to say. She didn''t want to go yet, so she let her eyes lingered a little on the bed before asking


    ¡°How is fairing estimated consort?¡±


    Seyran had to raise a brow at that,


    ¡°Consort?¡± she echoed, tasting the word she never uttered in two lifetimes.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this young master LianYenaigai, of the Yenaigai clan?¡±


    Seyran''s mouth twitched.


    ¡°I wonder about that. Physicians collectively said he was going to be alright." She glanced a little at Yenaigai, and returning her eyes to elder Shen, said, "I seem to have trouble with my memory, do help me remember, will you?¡±


    It was elder Shen''s mouth''s turn to twitch, although the bearers of tradition were aware of the second princess collapsing, they never knew she could actually lose her memory. That if it still continued, would be problematic


    ***


    Time was steadily continuing its course and it was the moment for paying respects were almost passed. Bai Ming''s, the fourth princess''s servant urged her master to hurry. The royal advisor had already left her youngest daughter be absolved of paying respect yesterday, considering how she returned not long ago. It wouldn''t do good to not go today too. The real reason why she didn''t go the day before though, was to avoid her eldest sister, the first princess. However, she couldn''t shy away from the other forever.


    Nonetheless, as the servants were preparing her, Bai Ming''s mind was on her poison. She slightly regretted using the whole bottle? But that aside, what was really bothering her was if the physicians of this country could find a cure for it.


    ***


    Yenaigai woke up. Huang, who was close to him immediately noted his eyes opening -it was no longer white- and started chirping in excitement quite loudly, interrupting elder Shen who was about to go into lengthy explanation.


    ¡°How weak can you be? A little beating and you¡¯re already in this state? Really a child that was born yesterday! Still stinking of his mother''s milk!. You even dare to make this great one searched for you, how are you going to pay me?¡±


    The little bird continued incessant reproaches, flying around the man, who was struggling to sit. One guard immediately went to look for the physicians.


    As the bird kept raising its voice, Seyran''s brows slightly frowned. ignoring the animal, the man directly looked at her, straight into her eyes. He seemed normal enough she noted, but somehow, there was something odd about him. As to prove her point, he opened his mouth to speak in an almost disappointed voice.


    ¡°I am still alive,¡± he said weakly, nearly inaudible and Seyran''s frown deepened frowned.


    ***


    As she was walking towards her mother''s yard Bai Ming smiled and shook her head at her unfounded worries. What was she bothered with, this kind of poison wasn¡¯t something that could be detected? It had no trace whatsoever and worked directly on the mind. Something that the alliance''s academy''s physician''s made herself was something that was safe with.


    ***


    Huang had suddenly shut up, almost collapsing with disbelief on the bed. What was this ungrateful human spouting?


    Without any real expression, his weird voice not that of a human anymore, so ghostly and otherworldly was it he pleaded. ¡°Won¡¯t you kill me?¡±


    His eyes were directly focusing on her. Huang actually shuddered and flew a little farther from him. Let¡¯s it should stupidity be contagious!


    The other kept on rambling, using his feeble hands that he had trouble raising to help get his point.


    ¡°Just a slice in the neck can do,... or maybe a sword through my heart, ...or why not setting fire on me..." His finally took his eyes and lightly looked at elder Shen, before returning to his mistress. "Wasn¡¯t it the same method used to kill my family?... Let me rejoin them.¡± He made a gesture that ressembled a bow. "I begged crown princess"


    Seyran''s blue eyes got a shade darker and with a cold voice she asked,


    ¡°Are you aware of what you¡¯re asking? What is your name?"


    ¡°Yenaigai.¡± he answered in a soft voice


    ¡°Your family?¡±


    ¡°...I don¡¯t have a family anymore.¡±


    ¡°What was your family name?¡± she still persisted.


    ¡°Lian.¡±


    ¡°Why do you want to die?¡±


    ¡°To be filial.¡±


    ¡°Why did you stay alive until now then?¡±


    "..."


    The silence rang for what seemed like a great amount of time but had actually been just some few seconds. Huang long felt the change in that woman before the piece of rock she was holding turned to dust. It had, it seemed, exceeded what it could contain as mana by far too much.


    Her frosty words like a death sentence reverberated in the room.


    ¡°Then let me send you off and avenge you.¡±


    Elder Shen felt the wind by her side before seeing what appeared to be one the guard''s sword fly in the second princess''s hand. It had unsheathed itself, letting the scabbard by the door with the guard.


    Holding the slightly heavy weapon that she had never favored previously, it was more the control of wind and levitation that made the long knife aimed deathly and without pity. As the sword shone and descended, it clashed in a wall of fire.

 Chapter 18: To Dedicate Ones Life

    It was something more of a reflex than a well-thought plan but realizing what it had done, the little bird didn¡¯t let go and instead intensified the fire. It wasn¡¯t all that big, rather small and formed a sort of wall between the dangerous weapon and the seated man on the bed. The flame had a red as glaring as that of the animal and its heat was increasing as time passed.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Seyran asked with no inflection in her voice and if she was surprised by the animal¡¯s action, she didn¡¯t let this transpired.


    Elder Shen had stood up spontaneously when the sword appeared out of nowhere and the guards came rushing at the sight of fire. However, they could do nothing but just stand there a little surprised. In their minds, it was, after all, a quarrel between the crown princess and her own contracted beast. It wasn¡¯t their place to act and furthermore, looking at that small animal, it should be a master-slave type of contract, nothing to fear concerning the princess¡¯ safety. If worst came to worst, she would certainly kill it. Or so they thought anyway.


    The little bird couldn¡¯t be called angry, yet it wasn¡¯t calm either. Flapping its wings and staring straight at Seyran, it was simply reluctant to go away or retract the safety wall. Huang had spent a little more than a month in this man''s company. It heard his nagging and annoying voice almost every day and most of all, it heard the other talked non-stop about his mistress despite it pecking him to have him shut up. Now, seeing the same fool being killed by the person he admired the most, didn''t seem right at all. The little bird was unwilling!


    ¡°¡­He is sick.¡± It reproached ¡°Is the solution really to kill him? Just like that? Because in his sick moment he said he wanted to die?¡±


    As it talked it thought its words right and the indignation on behalf of its comrade slowly turned to anger. Its feathers were slowly turning to an incandescent fire earning gaps from those in the room. The part of the sword in contact with the wall made of element started to melt slowly and as a drop was about to fall on the bed, a violent wind discarded it aside. Still, it touched the wooden floor and the room would slowly start to take fire itself if the guards weren¡¯t reacting and dealing with each drop that the agitated animal kept flinging randomly, trying to retain it on their swords.


    ¡°After he died, then what? Why go through the trouble to save if only to kill him! ¡±


    Seyran retracted the silvery weapon and with the same, even voice, talked to the bird that had yet to make that wall of fire in front of her disappear,


    ¡°Then I kill those who failed to cure him, those who brought him here and those who tortured him. Everyone who knew and assist in that matter. Thoroughly.¡±


    That was her truthful intention, no matter the time it should take for her to accomplish. That servant was if only, someone she had accepted by her side herself. Far from calming it, Huang¡¯s indignation rose actually.


    ¡°He can avenge himself, he is not dead yet!¡±


    Elder Shen admired a little daze the lowered and damaged sword that was in the crown princess¡¯s hand. Let alone that she had yet to understand how it came here, the more pressing matter wasn¡¯t it why it so easily melted under this little fire? Every guard¡¯s weapons had their qi¡¯s infused in it to strengthen it, no matter the level of the guard the sword was taken from, at the very least, it should have held itself more than this when encountering fire for such a short while. Seeing the saber''s thoroughly damaged state, matriarch Shen couldn''t help but frown. Wasn''t the handle now very hot as well? Of course, it was made of wood but there were some copper and iron too. The princess, was she really fine still holding it?


    Seyran¡¯s didn¡¯t have the elder concerns, rather, she was willing to explain herself to the angered animal that she grew accustomed to.


    ¡°Look closer" she instructed to the ball of fire flying in front of her.


    Huang took a time to take its gaze off of her, as though fearing she would launch an attack the very moment it would turn its head. Eventually, it listened. Yenaigai was still seating, his eyes still holding some kind of firm determination as he was still looking straight at Seyran. His hands, though, were now kept firmly closed one in the other by his thighs. If one looked more closely, he was shaking, actually.


    "Isn''t he resisting the urge to do the same thing as when he was unconscious? It seems to me that he is fighting against himself."


    "..."


    "And loosing. It certainly won''t be long, before he tries to take his life by himself again. He isn''t there yet, but it''s just a matter of time."


    He was, indeed, shaking more and more yet at the same time still stubbornly fixing her. The kind of expression he had wasn''t one of unwillingness or restlessness though. His eyes, for she saw that expression many times previously, were assuring her that he had chosen his way of dying. In wasn''t in the pleasure of fighting against her like some had, but rather just plainly dying by her hands. And that itself was itching her... angering her. Let alone that they weren''t on a battlefield or that he wasn''t her enemy, but he just had to wish to die his own way, so intensely.


    "... He wants his life to be taken by his mistress it seems to me, if the choice was left to him. Wouldn''t it be crueler to deny this?" she continued, rather coldly.


    She saw nothing wrong with that logic. Still, the little bird was far from sharing that kind of points of view! The wall of fire disappeared in front of Seyran and Huang¡¯s entire body, now turned to complete fire, burned with new intensity in the air.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the way!¡± The birdie''s voice in her head sounded almost broken.


    How couldn''t it, Huang''s heart was frenzied, unconsciously scared to be unable to stop the woman for good. This fellow, always saying ''mistress this'', ''mistress that'', would he go just like this? Until the end, did he really had no brain at all?! Dying his way? That was still dying! There was a monstrous fright in Huang, and its jumping heart kept shouting to it ''not again'', ''you can¡¯t lose another one so easily'', ''never again!''.


    ¡°You¡¯re his mistress, honor that position and take responsibility! What allowing to die? He gave up, so you just kill him?! This great bird is not allowing anyone''s death today!¡±


    Seyran''s mouth twitched. Wasn''t she being kind at this very moment? Nonetheless, quite calmy, she reminded the agitated little bird.


    ¡°If you keep this up, you¡¯re going to burn this whole place down and kill him yourself!¡±


    That was when Huang realized that the room was on fire actually. Try as they might the guards still couldn''t prevent the burning iron drops to inflame the wood; added to that the fact that for a time now, there was a whirling wind accompanied by a fire that was moving and randomly burning things. Quite a commotion had risen in the big room around the intact bed as the bird lost its temper. Now, shouldn''t it be happy to have cultivated the whole night? Where else would it have that energy left to cause such a scene? Not that there would be much left of that if it kept going on for more minutes.


    The animal was very much distressed, having obviously formed a connection with Yenaigai that it was disinclined to part with. She had maybe made a hasty decision that had perhaps been guided by a tad little anger. Things like repression of emotions or their ultimate control were after all those that she wanted to discard this time around; and if she had to be honest with herself, the amount of anger for it to have leaked so easily maybe wasn''t that little.


    "Cease your anger." She said, letting go of the sword that fell almost silently between all the noises that were now in the room. Running her right hand in her long ink-colored hair, she let out a light sigh as her now clear blue eyes looked at the shaking man on the bed that was still staring at her, waiting for something from her. "I heard you." And looking at Huang, she confirmed, "No death today."


    "..." It very much kept its stance, so she used its own words,


    "I will take responsibility."


    It was, it seemed, a satisfying sentence. Huffing, puffing and quite tired now, the bird slowly returned to normal, its heart full of curses with no one being a particular target or maybe should it be said with everyone being the target. The one it just helped remaining the principal receptor by the end. Nonetheless, it flew and landed itself on the same man''s head.


    ''You better be grateful in the future! Stupid human'' it thought, still not released from the overemotional phase it had just been. ''And You better get well soon!''


    Though now much calmer and apparently back to normal, Huang still kept looking at Seyran. Warily. Very Warily.


    "Why look at me like this, didn''t I say it was alright already,... come I''m proposing a truce." As she talked she had extended her right hand to it, releasing some mana on her palm. She herself had yet to eat something and was quite low in mana now so there weren''t that much.


    Huang stared at her without moving for a really long time. The reckless fire that it had started in the room was almost completely extinguished when it finally flew to the still extended hand. In the end, it still shouldn''t deny free energy when it was proposed in the most delicious form, was what it conceded with. However, the bird went completely still in its delectation phase as the woman suddenly stroke its head, not sure what reaction to give. She wasn''t looking at it though, but at the seated man as she voiced,


    "You, keep him alive then. And I shall take care of the rest."


    The room had now a burned, slightly disagreeable odor mixed with light smoke. The damages done weren''t that serious. Some floor tiles, chairs, and curtains that needed to be changed or repaired. The immense table too, needed reparations. The scene ended as strangely as it had started, both parties intact and even with one stroking the other. Elder Shen could only interpret this as them making up. From start to finish, there wasn''t any place for anyone to meddle. The person the princess had seemed dissatisfied with was her consort, the one who interfered was her contracted beast and the one who in the end forgave them all was still the very same princess. There was really nothing to add.


    However, she had been this dexterous and prompt when it came to taking her own consort''s life, what was she going to be with them? Those were the thoughts of the chiefs who were by the entrance. They had been called for when their patient woke up moments ago and thought their mission completed, and coming here had been with a light heart and an ease sense, trusting the man to be well from now on. Who would have thought that they would actually come to witness chaos and... had it been a death sentence attempt by the crown princess? Thinking back now and considering what one guard briefly explained, some department chiefs felt that it made more sense to see the princess order them to treat this man, so it was her consort. She wanted him to be cured but... was his madness really curable?


    Once done, Huang quickly flew away from her, perching itself on Yenaigai''s head again, feeling better already.


    The physicians were announced by one guard and Seyran let them in. Since the crown princess herself was still standing, elder Shen kept on standing too, their chairs had long been displaced at another corner of the room in the previous commotion anyway.


    "You failed" judged the crown princess after their greetings, there was no more neutrality but plain coldness in that voice as her gaze seemed to pierce through their heart.


    The choice of words was something that chief elder Yahui didn''t appreciate. A failure wasn''t something that was affiliated with her. She may have not taken the case from all its angles or with the seriousness she should have, but still, to call this a failure left an annoying itch in her heart. She didn¡¯t even glance towards elder Shen after having lightly greeted the other previously and rather respectfully bowed and somewhat politely talked,


    "That may not necessarily be the case, your majesty. May we inspect him first?¡±


    Huang glared daggers at her. The man wasn¡¯t suicidal before alright?! Not that anyone other than Seyran could understand its angry chirps anyway and the latter was completely ignoring it.


    ¡°Do so then¡±


    The departments¡¯ chiefs behind Yahui bowed and went to check on their patient while chief elder Yahui remained standing still. If one asked Huang¡¯s opinion, it would absolutely not let these people touch the human again but no one asked its opinion and it could only refuse to go away, still perched where it was; and because of it, there was an extra cautiousness in the chiefs¡¯ parts in regard to not angered the bird, not sure if when it came to punishing, the crown princess wouldn¡¯t side with her beast.


    The man was externally fine, his wounds were healing quite fast and cleanly actually considering the short amount of time, the damages of his core didn¡¯t worsen and its state was stable and could be considered fine in the circumstances. Bandages were changed, comments were made. He was quite responsive to their checking and didn¡¯t seem plagued by illusions anymore. The red ants¡¯ poison was effectively healed. The man as they saw it was now alright. And that was what they reported, sharing all the same point of view.


    ¡°Your majesty, he isn¡¯t plagued by any illness anymore; however he may still be overwhelmed with nightmares resulting from the poison, a little rest will do him good.¡±, added Yahui when the princess didn¡¯t reply.


    ¡°A needle,¡± she asked for confirmation to one of the chiefs and taking it, she placed it in Yenaigai¡¯s hand. As soon as the long and thin metal touched his hand, the calm man immediately clenched it and with killing intent ruthlessly aimed for his throat. Seyran who was waiting for such a reaction had been quick to react and the needle was inserted into her palm instead. Huang flapped its wings chirping things.


    ¡°Stop fussing, as long as you keep him from dangerous things he should be fine, for now.


    Dissatisfied, Huang thought, ¡®He should stay clear of you!¡¯


    The needle blocked in her hand, she shifted her attention to the paled chiefs who instantly knelt and apologized. ¡°Cured you said.¡±


    Unwilling, but still respectful, the chief elder knelt and explained,


    ¡°He is physically cured, his head however-¡±


    ¡°No death today was what I was asked for,¡± her voice coldly interrupted making the chiefs shivered a little and Huang thought ¡®I wasn¡¯t talking about them!¡¯, ¡°rather impolitely, but if you can¡¯t even recognize when you are wrong what¡¯s the point in you being here?¡±Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°¡­¡± Yahui clenched her teeth not trusting her mouth to speak. She had a big ego and now that she was accused of being wrong if she really did open her mouth, her own angry words won¡¯t do her any good. She could only hold on her temper when being silent. The other chiefs weren¡¯t even thinking about responding. What would they say, they too were sure that he was alright now. They could only think was the man as being insane, having long gone crazy but obviously, the crown princess wouldn¡¯t like that.


    ¡°Are you too old of age and need a break?¡±


    For those people whose entire life was revolving around this honor, how could they be willing?


    ¡°Have mercy, give us a last chance, your majesty.¡± Asked one chief, echoed by the others.


    Yahui reigned in her anger and talked too,


    ¡°Requesting more time to satisfy your majesty.¡±


    ¡°That person¡¯s life is no one¡¯s toy¡± she intoned darkly.


    Elder Shen who was long silent thought that maybe the crown princess would end up punishing those people harshly. She had no personal opinion regarding these imperial physicians but they were still those who taught the younger generation and their knowledge was still greatly needed.


    "Asking the crown princess to not be hasty in taking a decision. Errors are so easy to make.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Seyran looked at her and recalled the elder¡¯s previous words. ¡°Three days'' time, was it?¡± the other silently acknowledged it. Seyran took out the needle in her hand without so much as frowning and threw the blooding thing to the kneeling people. It wasn¡¯t like she was really going to kill them or torture them, she still needed them to reexamine the servant after all. ¡°Errors are indeed so easy to make.¡± She conceded.


    That they couldn¡¯t cure him didn¡¯t mean they were incompetent. To be in their position there must be something that they knew how to do. But if they kept on failing, how couldn¡¯t they become a stain in her eyes?


    ¡°Then three days are hat you¡¯ll be given too.¡±


    Such a short amount, however, they didn¡¯t object and thanked instead.


    Elder Shen thought of something but in the end, decided against it and recommend a change of room that she saw through to before taking her leave. This person was, she thought, worth betting on.


    ***


    The morning was still early and the court wouldn¡¯t start before two hours, or a little less than that, so the royal advisor was still in her yards and something of a rare occurrence, she was breakfasting with consort Ling; although she didn¡¯t seem to be in the best mood. Her contracted beast, the anaconda Li was nowhere in sight, already its arranged room certainly. Li liked hot and humid places, although it had long habituated to this country¡¯s climate and didn¡¯t suffer, it still prefer staying out of sight when it was snowing.


    The twins who came early for the greeting were invited to join them. Servants had been asked out and now, Jun Lin was personally serving tea to refill his mother¡¯s cup by his own initiative, being the closest to her. Shanlin nodded at her son. The chopsticks¡¯ sound andthe hot liquid¡¯s one being poured aside, the whole table was quite silent. Etiquettes asked for it. And Xue Zhi respected it to boot, starting to eat after her mother and eyeing the moment the other would lowered her chopsticks so that she could lower hers too.


    Let aside that she didn¡¯t feel like eating here, Xue Zhi had no appetite and despite her bowl being the less filled one, she was eating the slowest of them all. The variety of things on the table were quite wasted on her. Consort Ling, being quite the busy person he was, had to pick things and put in her plate. Repeatedly. The third princess looked at her now full bowl expressionlessly and gave a small ¡®thank you¡¯ when the other talked about her needing the energy. Neither Shanlin nor Jun Lin minded them and kept on eating. Satisfied, Ling returned to his own bowl.


    Who was her father, Xue Zhi could careless. Some said it was consort Ling. Others, consort Han. Either way, she personally had no opinion on the affair. She treated all six of them the same with respect. Their mother though, was the ever partial person and favored who she was pleased with. Shanlin really didn¡¯t like those without core, hating the idea of transmitting such a stained blood to her children; so, those that her sister the queen had once ¡®forced¡¯ on her conveniently died of sickness. Consort Liu, her sister¡¯s, could be considered the only one whose presence she tolerated. However, Xue Zhi herself had, she supposed though, a little bias concerning those who played with her the most when she was a child, so she had a soft spot for consort Ling, contrary to her twin who seemed to have an even relationship with them all.


    A little afterwhile, came Bai Ming, and Su Qiun followed not too long after. The latter looked, Xue Zhi noted, quite tired. Shanlin still didn¡¯t finish eating so Xue Zhi rest seated and returned her sisters¡¯ greeting. Bowls were added for the newcomers who sat and joined them and Xue Zhi kept on thinking ¡®is it that you didn¡¯t eat for a whole week, otherwise, how can you still be eating?¡¯. Yet the royal advisor was still eating, seemingly burying her anger in food. Jun Lin was still eating certainly genuinely hungry and Xue Zhi was slowly chewing thinking ¡®how long to go?¡¯ while letting her mind roamed elsewhere.


    As she saw the busybody put more food on Bai Ming¡¯s plate too, without the other saying anything, Xue Zhi remembered that Bai Ming had yet to have a consort. Not a subject for breakfast though. She briefly glanced at their eldest. The other had yet to smile. Her mood certainly wasn¡¯t any greater than their mother¡¯s. Su Qiun, how many consorts had she again, was it just one? Xue Zhi frowned, suddenly feeling disgusted with her food but her mind still kept going, thinking about the person who was certainly responsible for these two foul moods. How many were the crown princess¡¯s consorts again? Was it three?


    Usually at the age of sixteen, after the academics, the nobles had their first marriage. Things that could be taught by books had been taught thoroughly and what should be learned in another way must also be learned. It wasn¡¯t a rule, just something that many did and in the royal family, it was somewhat expected. Early births were after all encouraged. Shanlin herself had her first child in her sixteen to seventeen years. Nonetheless, Xue Zhi personally didn¡¯t want any of these, what ¡®making ways of leaving descents?¡¯ other things were preoccupying her at the time so she had been unwilling and these days her mother was dissatisfied enough with her to deem her unworthy of it anyway. So, her side courtyards were still soulless. However, the crown princess had three consorts in her side courtyards. If she wasn¡¯t in company now, Xue Zhi would really smile and mock. These people¡¯s fate now, how gloomy was it?


    Things were still calm on the surface though.


    Xue Zhi would have thought that her cousin would have taken immediate actions by now but even the shadow of the person couldn¡¯t be seen. Where was this ardor with which she came the night of Bai Ming¡¯s return¡¯s ceremony? She frowned at her last thought, what was she eager about? That was certainly the polluted blood of Jun Lin that got transmitted to her in their mother''s womb that was talking!


    Shanlin¡¯s hands finally put down the chopsticks and she rinsed her mouth. Xue Zhi followed after, her bowl almost full. Jun Lin had long finished and Ling also put down his bowl making no comment seeing that of the third princess. She touched nothing of what he put inside. Su Qiun and Bai Ming were still eating though.


    Talking to Xue Zhi, Shanlin asked of one of the books in the imperial library to be brought to her and it wasn¡¯t like Xue Zhi herself fancied staying here. The atmosphere wasn''t right. She glanced at Jun Lin, he seemed to have no intention to get up while she was being politely chased away. Who asked him to be the one always annoyed her?


    ¡°This daughter obey. However, this book has many volumes, is mother requesting them all?¡±


    ¡°All of them.¡±


    ¡°Asking brother to accompany then.¡±


    Shanlin didn¡¯t have the time for them, ¡°Jun, go help her¡±.


    After all, the records of contracted beasts weren¡¯t something that any servant was easily allowed to touch. Though, if she really planned on discovering the race of this little bird by that princess¡¯s side in one of this book was something to see.


    Jun Lin had a soft smile on his face as his twin¡¯s gaze was clearly telling him, ¡®you didn''t let me have my peace, no way will you have yours!¡¯.


    ¡°En"


    The twins excused themselves then, to go out. As they walked in silence, they rejoined Xue Zhi¡¯s two servants who were in front of the courtyard¡¯s entrance, where one of them put a thick cloak on her while the other held a long bamboo umbrella over both of the masters¡¯ head. Bai Ming¡¯s four bodyguards were there too, and bowed their head as they passed, standing still as the little snow slowly covering their hair.


    ¡°You do realize that she didn¡¯t mean she wants it now right?¡± Jun Lin opened.


    Even if they brought it, by the time they came back, she would already had left for the court.


    ¡°Why, you need to be somewhere else?¡±


    ¡°Is that concern I hear?¡±


    Ignoring him, she asked, genuinely curious, ¡°Just what are you doing really?¡± This brother wasn''t one to stay still and most of the time was the catalyst in those things he wanted to see. However, how far was he intending to take that vice of his?


    His smile grew bigger as he replied. ¡°Isn¡¯t it almost the new year, I¡¯m just looking for presents of course, do you have other thoughts?¡±


    Since for once he didn¡¯t feel like talking, she didn¡¯t feel like prying, ¡°then I¡¯m going to see Aunt, after that I will do my part. Whatever you see left, is whatever you shall carry yourself!¡± That she was going to felt him the bigger load wasn¡¯t subtly voice at all!


    They separated there and then and the servant carrying the umbrella left with her mistress. The second prince who didn¡¯t like being waited upon and had bring no umbrella was left to his own device. He only smiled at his twin departing figure and as she disappeared in a turn, his smile faded.


    ***


    In Shanlin¡¯s place, consort Ling had left too and only the three women remained in the room.


    ¡°What¡¯s with that Lian family person?¡± asked Shanlin. She still had yet to let go of her fury from the night before.


    Bai Ming smiled, ¡°calm your anger mother, a soon to die person shouldn¡¯t be the cause of your restlessness.¡±


    Su Qiun slammed her bowl on the table.


    ¡°What nonsense are you saying again?¡± she asked darkly, ¡°didn¡¯t I ask you to leave that man alone!¡±


    Jolted a little by the sudden action, Bai Ming frowned. How come her calm sister became so short tempered these days? She smiled though, not wanting to pick a fight.


    ¡°And I shall do nothing, elder sister. The poison is already in his blood and he is already in that woman¡¯s hands. The substance is undetectable and reliable. The creator aside, no one can cure it. Since it is so where would she find the evidence to point at me? He had being found in the capital and I just came back, even if accused, wouldn¡¯t everyone take my side?¡±


    Su Qiun massaged her pulsating temple; eyes closed, ¡°Why are you so-¡±,


    ¡°Eldest sister really has nothing to worry about, it was made by physician Hiu of the alliance academy¡± she urged to explain.


    Its presence really wasn¡¯t something that ordinary physicians could detect, had assured mistress Hiu and the effects, for she witnessed them herself were good. The person would move normally, do things normally, it was just that he would die seeking his own death in a way that others wouldn¡¯t know of it. During the alliance academy¡¯s contest, the person she had poisoned had seemingly accidentally misused her weapon and died killed by one beast. It had been judged to be due to the person¡¯s incompetence and no one could be accused.


    All that was, of course, because the dose she had given at the time was normal. However, she had poured in Yenaigai¡¯s mouth the whole content of her bottle. There wasn¡¯t anything accidental in the ways he was trying to take his life, but that she still had to know.


    Su Qiun hadn¡¯t any patience left, she got up and said


    ¡°You shan¡¯t do anything from now on¡± turning to her mother, she added, ¡°hope that mother can help restraining fourth! This daughter takes her leave¡±


    Her civility exhausted, she turned and left. Shanlin who in the end hadn¡¯t being able to bring out what was on her mind didn¡¯t feel like talking anymore,


    ¡°You shall take your leave too,¡± she said, getting up to prepare for court.


    Teeth clenched, Bai Ming did so. How long exactly, she thought, were they going to take her for a child!


    ***


    The days followed like these. Su Quin tried her worst but still couldn''t extract any information from elder Zhang. At one point, she contemplated asking her mother¡¯s help about this, thinking that with Li¡¯s mind¡¯s control abilities she could get somewhere but then she decided against it. Shanlin, it seemed, had reserved when it came to certain things. Opening Ashtar¡¯s map, she wondered if worst came to worst, should she ally herself with these people earlier than she had thought? ¡­Not yet, the other had yet to take action, she should first just see.


    Bai Ming, meanwhile, had her courtyard redecorated and a big room adjusted for her lion.


    ***


    Seyran for her part, was still waiting, following that elder¡¯s request to wait for three days before going out. They did change place and take another room of the imperial health center. A normal bedroom this time around, which meant no big table and a reduced size. The results of these supposed great physicians had yet to appear though. Huang was quite the guardian, perching itself on the man¡¯s body, not parting. It was still the first to scold the person when he made a reckless move while the real ones who stopped him were the crown princess¡¯s guards. Yue Meili felt that it suddenly became their new occupation.


    The young man sometimes entertained normal conversations, but then he would brusquely do dangerous things as trying to swallow the bird. Huang was quite horrified and had cursed so loud and lengthy that its throat had been sore that whole day. After, it made sure to stay clear, actually after that, everything that could come close to the man¡¯s hands had been displaced. Birdie as exasperated as it was though, carried on the anti-suicidal mission, giving counsels and flaring curses as though heard by everyone.


    "Did you actually really hit your head when you were a child?" came most of the time and the other times it leashed at the incompetent physicians! ¡°Even my farts are more effective!¡±


    Somehow, after three days and three nights, the bird was completely worn out.


    Seyran just let things run. The man¡¯s life wasn¡¯t directly in danger so long as others were keeping careful watch. Thinking of her resources, she had yet to see that big wolf. Was it that when she wasn¡¯t bloodthirsty she wasn¡¯t a pleasant companion? For it, certainly.


    Since she had already decided, she was going to take things slowly but seriously. She abided by her own words, they went through the trouble of bringing her here, and she would do them the honor to stay. Was it that they wanted this country? Let them never have it. They wanted a smooth sailing life, let her burn their float to ashes. But all things should be done in its time and she had to firstly know everyone of them. For starters, she asked captain Shen information about every member of the royal family and should they have, information about their contracted beasts. For now, no one was excluded. The captain was quite cooperative and even gave details.


    She seemingly passed her days idly, eating thrice times a day -while the servant was fed since he would sometimes suddenly try to swallow the chopsticks-, she listened to the captain report of her family and read things in regards to this world, Ashtar, and the country she lived in, Yande.


    The night of the third day, Yenaigai who had been quite full of suicidal tendencies the whole morning and had been put to sleep by sedatives, was now silently crying on his bed. Seyran had been made aware of that by the bird¡¯s chirps. She closed the book she was reading and stared a little at him.


    "Tell me about the Lian family.¡±


    Captain Shen and her subordinates were still here thought the shifting time for guards couldn¡¯t be far away. She had honestly, failed to recognize the man as the youngest master of the Lian family, not that it could be blamed on her, they never encountered each other.


    Mistress Lian had once been the left general of the country and she had four children. Three daughters and one son. All remarkable. However, one daughter had been charged for treason and put to death. The general rebelled and their house ended in fire. The whole Lian residence had been sentenced to death. The queen, in her magnanimity and considering her daughter¡¯s feelings had spared the youngest child and authorized his stay as future consort. That was what everyone officially knew of the story.


    Seyran¡¯s lips curved a little.


    ¡°How interesting.¡± She got up, ¡°lead the way, I¡¯m going to see what remains of that residence.¡±


    Huang debated with itself and in the end chose to stay near the sleeping man, Yue Meili and Zhang Bei by his sides, while Tian Gu was guarding the door.


    ***


    The horses were whipped and they were soon where they wanted to be. Despite the thick cloak, the cold bite at her and steam was exhaled as she breathed through her mouth, her nose being a little painful. However, in front of her, the former Lian residence was no more. It had long burned to ashes and at its place, a health center and an orphanage were built... Wasn¡¯t the queen too generous?


    What a foolish family. What a foolish way to die. And their youngest was going to follow, just like this, should she teach him the art of paying back with interest?


    ***


    At one side of the palace, the residence reserved for the crown princess, in the yard for the consorts, three figures were seated, dining around a table.


    ¡°There are still no news,¡± complained Li. ¡°Did the crown princess really changed?¡±


    He blabbered for a long time while the other two ate silently.


    ¡°You!¡± he cried revolted. ¡°Aren¡¯t you anxious? What will become of us? Long Feng! Wu!¡±


    Called, Long Feng looked on coldly, then proceeded to refill his bowl and continue to eat, not caring.


    ¡°Either we die or live, is there anything in the middle?¡± nonchalantly said Wu.


    ¡°You, you¡­¡± repeated Li for a long time.


    Satiate and his plate thoroughly clean, Long Feng posed his chopsticks, ¡°Yes¡± he announced even more casually, ¡° there is still a life worse than death.¡±


    And as though this sentence had nothing to do with him, he got up and left.


    ¡°Don¡¯t jinx people¡¯s fate with that ill mouth of yours¡± shouted Li after him, ¡°Ominous bird!¡±

 Cries, cries, cries

    So I wanted to write this under the 19<sup>th</sup> chapter, that was the plan. Well, it didn¡¯t go too well, the whole week I wasn¡¯t in the mood to write anything. And when I tried forcing I messed up the chapter and instead of a valiant Seyran I ended having a depressed as me person. Nope, not gonna upload that. It¡¯s already deleted anyway.


    Uni gave me a kick. Quite hard. So there were these exams supposed to be in late May to early June, know what? They suddenly decided to bring forward the date. Said exams are now to be done in late April. This month you know?! That¡¯s way to give someone pressure! So yeah, I don¡¯t feel at ease to continue with my hobby, for now, gotta read a little more. I mean hey, it¡¯s for securing a job in years to come, after all, I can¡¯t mess with it!The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Sorry about this, really. I¡¯ll come back when I¡¯ll feel a little more at ease with the knowledge I''m supposed to have or in the worst case after the exams.


    You¡¯re not gonna hear much of me from now on then. Sorry. When I¡¯ll be coming back, each weekly chapter will be a little longer than my current standard though.


    So, until then goodbye and stay healthy!!!!


    P.S: Actually if you have any question, fire away, I¡¯m even willing to spoiler you if you so wish.


    P.P.S: I think I now understand why others wait to have accumulated a large number of chapters before posting online. It does permit regular updates. Next time I''ll diligently wait to have finished my storybefore uploading it so even I can have a normal schedule.