A Sudden Change In Details

"Where am I?" Bei Tan sat in a daze.

When his vision converged out of a blurry mess, the familiar sight of the white beds relaxed his mind. The guards encircling him burst into a panic thinking he might have lost their memories. Only when the physician ensured that was not possible, did they calm done. Bei Tan pressed his forehead against the palm of his hand, sighing deeply.

"You alright now?" Wu Ming asked, his voice tender and delicate.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Bei Tan smiled. After recovering Lady Ina's memories, it became obvious why Lady Ina fell for Wu Ming. He was firm yet gentle with his words, he was strong yet soft with his body and most of all he was attractive.

Even now, he experienced a heart fluttering sensation under his skin.

Bei Tan gaped at his direction, and even when their eyes met, he continued to look. If eyes are the window to one's soul then Wu Ming had a soul of stars adorning a warm sky.

Noticing his stare, Wu Ming spontaneously avoided Bei Tan's piercing eyes and bit his lip in guilt; he continued to believe Bei Tan's state was his fault. Noticing his expression, Wu Shuai gave him a hard pat on the back and seized him by the elbow.

"Let's give Lady Ina some space to rest." Wu Shuai proposed as he dragged everyone out of the room.

Inside the medical room, Bei Tan sat crossed-legged upon the white sheets of the bed. The smell of herbs intrigue him but he refrains from looking for its source, a habit he's earned from the contamination incident yesterday.

Instead, he listens silently to the sounds outside the closed doors.

There is a grumble of voices, a giggle of maids and the resonance of footsteps. Then a silence. When it seemed that no more crowds were to pass, Bei Tan finally jumped off the bed. Slowly he creaked open the door and peeked outside. Coast clear.

"What are you doing?" The man's indifferent voice startled him.

Looking at the figure against the wall outside, not even sparing him a glance, Bei Tan gulped and retreated into the room nervously. Wu Ming raised an eyebrow as he turned, too slowly to be normal, and looked at him.

"You know… you've changed." Although Wu Ming mumbled his words, Bei Tan still barely made them out and his heart skips a beat.

Bei Tan drops his jaw to speak, but his sentences trail off as if Lady Ina would not allow a lie, his words unwillingly fall from their flight.

Observing his movements, Wu Ming's eyes seem to sadden, "Who are you?"

"What do you mean?" Bei Tan's face begins to ashen, but quickly he straightens himself, "I guess I've changed a bit."

"Yeah. Actually quite a lot."

Awkwardly, Bei Tan laughed and made his way out of the room. Now that he's retrieved Lady Ina's memories, there were so many things to be done.

In the past, Wu Ming's influence had huge impacts on Lady Ina's actions despite the fact their interactions were small in number. This meant he didn't exactly expect Wu Ming to catch on so quickly to his transmigration into Lady Ina's body. Especially since he wanted to hide it.

The better he hid it. The more entertaining the reactions would be when he took major actions.

Bei Tan lifted his head and takes a glance, but rather at Wu Ming he looks beyond him, towards the burning brightness of his world's sun. Roughly, another hour and he would have been watching his favorite show, but he died, and there exists no such thing as TV here.

"Where are you going?" Wu Ming asked, breaking him out of his daydreams.

"Ahh, F-father's room."

"Did His Majesty call you?" Seeing Bei Tan stumble with his words, Wu Ming's expression softens slightly.

"Yeah, about the recent incident."

"Let me accompany you."

Silently, Wu Ming walked behind Bei Tan, observing closely. Feeling his gaze, Bei Tan rubbed his head stiffly. Together, both of them made their way to His Majesty's room.

Signaling at Wu Ming, Bei Tan watched the man turn the corner before knocking softly on the door. One knock. Then two. Then one. A pattern, he remembered, was required for an answer to enter. Just moments after the last knock, Bei Tan hears his Father's heavy steps reach the door.

"Father, it's me."

There was an inaudible slide of the door and Bei Tan was beckoned to come inside. Within His Majesty's room were rows upon rows of books, new and old. They smelt like rusty planks, like an oak tree's core and like years wisdom. The room itself was a dark grey and the edges were lined with intricate wood designs, almost like a reflection of His Majesty himself who was wise and quite dazzlingly.

"Ina. Have a seat." The old man sat upon a short wooden throne-like chair. The air around him was welcoming the smiling Bei Tan, his beloved daughter, into a conversation.

"Father. About the incident…I"

Before Bei Tan could finish, His Majesty's eyes darken, "I will deal with that as fast as I can. How about we get one of the kingdom's renowned builders to redesign your current room to red?"

"Father… That is not what I want. Please inform me of the incident's details."

"Don't worry it would be dealt with soon."

"Please, Father." Bei Tan furrowed his brows.

Bei Tan knew this was going to be difficult. His Majesty constantly spoiled Lady Ina, not allowing any harm to befall upon her and any dangerous tasks to not be informed to her. This left Lady Ina in the dark, not learning anything about the country's problems or how to deal with her own.

Seeing his daughter had requested in such a stern voice, he exhaled in frustration.

After grabbing a few pieces of paper off the glass table, he passed them to Bei Tan and took a long sip at his tea before recalling, "The poison placed in your room is called Tsuki, a kind which if exposed to for long periods of time, can be quite lethal. It seemed like someone wanted to get rid of you."

The last words struggled out his mouth. Slumping his shoulders, the old man took another sip at his tea. Bei Tan looked at his father comfortingly, attempting to get more information out of him.

"It was probably someone within the castle. Our military is quite strong so I would assume…" He paused, "That person is presumably already considerably close to you."

Not surprised, Bei Tan considerately shifted the conversation. Watching His Majesty try his best to shield his daughter pulled at the memories he had buried with the death of his parents. If they were still alive, he most likely would not enjoy this otherworldly experience as much.

"These books. Father, is it okay if I take some to have a look through?"

Father tilted his head lightly before nodding. Bei Tan gazed across the titles of the books until one caught his eye – Past War Tactics. Bei Tan picked up the book and left the room after browsing through the circumstances of the incident once again.

Outside the room, another figure scared him once again.

"Lucas?"