Chapter 2: A case of familiarity

Bai Ying POV

We went inside the carriage and headed to the palace. " Song how do you think the palace will look like?" I asked my sister. " Probably spectacular" She said. " And what about the crown prince?" I asked while looking at her. " Why you thinking of taking him for me" She said playfully " What! No I just want to make sure he's the perfect guy for my dearest oldest sister" I said while leaning on her shoulder. She scoffed and slightly pushed me off and we started to laugh. " However, you need to learn more ethics before my wedding" She said. " Ahhh... But I hate studying. It's so boring" I groaned. " If you do it for me then I buy you the nicest food and give it to only you at the wedding" She said. My eyes light up " Really" I said with excitement and she nodded. " Food always peeks your interest" She said. " Yeah because food tastes amazing depending on who cooks it and it can never break my heart. So food is the best" I said with a smile on my face and my sister laugh and patted my head. " One day you'll find someone" She said and I just smiled. Soon we arrived and the palace and got out of the carriage. We walked into the palace and headed towards the main hall. As we were on our way I looked around and I felt a strange sense a familiarity " Have... I been here before?" I said under my breath. " What was that" my sister said. " Oh nothing" I said with a smile. " THE BAI FAMILY HAD ARRIVED" A servant yelled snapping me out of my thoughts. We entered the main hall where we saw the king sitting on his throne. We all greeted him and he just smiled. " Welcome, Welcome" The king said. I looked at him and I once again sense familiarity but I brushed off the thought. " THE CROWN PRINCE, XIE LIE HAS ARRIVED." A servant yelled and I turned around so see a tall, handsome figure made his way to us. "So that's what he looks like" I thought. I looked down to see a jade pendant on his waist that was very similar to mines. " I guess my mom right everyone has these" I thought to myself. " Father" The crown prince greeted. He chuckled and the crown prince stood up. " Mrs and Mr. Bai" The crown prince greeted and my father nodded. " Good! Very Good!" My father said with a huge grin on his face. " This is very good, we should discuss the date for the wedding" My mother said and the king nodded. " Ah... but before that how about your son" The King said. " Our... son?" My father said and looked at me. I held onto my sister arm in fear " Yes, isn't he of age to get married?" The king asked. " Well...yes but he still needs to learn a lot of things" My mother said. " Well I can teach him if..." The king said. " If?" My father said. " If he becomes my consort" The king said and the room fell into a stiff silence. My father then nervously laughed " Y-Your joking Your Majesty... how can my son be a consort he's a man" my father said. " Oh... I'm not joking. Just look at the boy and soft and cute lamb just waiting to be tamed" The king said as he scanned me up and down. " But.. Y-Your Majesty" My father said. " Song" I whispered. " Mhm" she whispered back " What exactly is a con-" I stopped mind sentence when I suddenly got a headache.

" Oh by the way... do you know what a consort is" " Where did you hear that word" " From one of the servant. They was talking about how the king wanted to take me in as a consort but I don't even know what a consort is"

I grabbed my head and my chest trying to breathe. "Ying'er?" My sister said and she turned to look at me. "YING'ER!" My sister yelled before everything went black. I woke up hours later in a bed and room that wasn't mines. I shot up to see the crown prince walk in. " You're awake" He said and I just nodded. " What... What happened" I asked. " That's what I would like to know. Why did you pass out" He asked as he sat on the edge of the bed. " I-I don't know. I just remember hearing a voices" I said. " Oh?" He said while raising an eyebrow " Yeah, one was asking what a consort was and the other was explaining it" I said and the crown prince nodded. The crown prince stood up " Well let me go get your sister I'm sure she's worried about you" He said. "WAIT!" I said while grabbing his hand. "Was there something else?" He asked. " Well... yes that jade pendant... where did you get it?" I asked. He smiled slightly and sat down again. " Someone very special gave it to me as a kid. He told me if we ever meet again in the future we can use it to identify ourselves. Two halves makes a whole as he puts it" He said as he took my pendant and put them together. " And what about you? Where did you get it?" He asked. " I don't remember I just know I had it ever since I was a child" I said and The crown prince just nodded. " Thank you Crown Prince-" I said before getting cut off. " Xie Lie" He said. " Huh?" I responded " Just call me Xie Lie" He said before standing up and walking out. " Xie Lie? Where have a heard that before" I said. A couple minutes after my sister burst in. " BAI YING!" She said as she ran to me and hugged me. " Song" I said as I hugged her back. "What happened?! Are you okay?! Were you poisoned?!" She said " I don't know. Yes and No" I said with a smile and my sister playfully hit me " Stupid" She said. " Just rest a bit more before getting up okay" She said as she got up. I nodded and she walked out.

" Xie Lie" I said to myself and gave a small smile

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