Restriction

Little Fynn rolled around on the fluffy pillow holding his bulging stomach. 'Walnuts were tasty. I should hide some for tomorrow' he thought and scurried out of bed.

The bed-side table always had his supply of Walnuts but his instinct told him to always to stock them up for the winter to come.

He picked up and stuffed it in his cheeks pouch.

'Hmm, now where to hide it.'

He rushed over to the bed and hid it under the pillow. 'Now my food is safe~' he thought and jumped onto in glee.

After securing his nut, he laid down onto the bed and gazed at his snoring master. But on his hind sight he noticed a weird shadow lingering to the window.

'Eh, what is that? That shadow looks like a person,' he thought.

He shot up from the bed and approached it with caution. 'Will it bite?'

He went to the wall, but the shadow remained stationary. 'Hmm, I was thinking too much,' he thought. 'Stupid shadow scared me like that.' He scratched the shadow in anger.

Suddenly the shadow moved and disappeared.

"Squeekkkk," he screeched and darted over to the bed. 'Master.. Master..' he called, but his master was sound asleep. 'A ghost!'

He hid under the pillow. Hugging his hidden nuts, he went to a fitful sleep.

Meanwhile, the ghostly shadow moved from wall to wall and reached the King's Room.

King Rukle noticed his shadows arrive. "Opion came out," he whispered.

The shadow guard walked out of the shadow and kneeled. "Your highness," he greeted.

"What is today's report?"

"Today…. Today prince was up to mischief again. He sneaked into your royal study with Zhong and…." He noticed the king's shocked look.

Taking a deep breath he continued, "And he stole two books from your shelf," his shadow guard finished with a gulp.

"This kid, he is becoming unruly as the days pass," the King shook his head. "What am I to do with him?"

The guard bowed down. "Your highness, there is more. young prince's study partner, he...… he is a devil," the guard whispered.

There was a pin drop silence that prevailed in the room.

With hesitation, the guard raised his head and gazed at his master.

The King did not look as surprise by this news. He was calmly sorting through papers on his desk.

"your highness," the guard said.

"Hmm, what is it, you said you have more to say. Continue," the king beckoned him to continue.

But the guard was shocked. 'Did the king not hear me?'

"Prince's study partner Zhong is a Devil," he said.

But the King did not even look at him. He calmly sealed the letter he was writing with wax and placed it on the table.

"Opion, if you don't have more to say, please go back to your position,"

"But your highness, did you not hear me? I said he is a devil," he exclaimed.

"I can hear you well Opion, stop annoying me. I am not an eighteen-year-old to easily fall for your pranks," he chuckled.

The shadow guard was petrified. 'The king cannot hear me. What is this? I have to warn him somehow,' he thought.

He rushed over to the table and picked up a piece of paper. "Zhong is a..." his hands refused to move after that.

"Zhong is a what? A good kid, what are you getting at, huh? You still up to your tricks at such a ripe age," King said and shook his head.

"What? No I am not tricking you. Zhong really is a Devil. You have to believe me," he said.

"Hmm, okay. I believe you. Now go back to your post. I have so many documents to approve," King Rukle said, pointing to a collapsing pile of scrolls.

The shadow guard silently exited the room. As he was walking through the empty hallway, his mind was filled with what just happened.

"Zhong.. What is he?" he whispered.

"A devil." A sinister voice whispered in his ears.

The guard glace around at the empty hallway. "Who,"

"The Devil," a voice whispered behind him.

The guard unsheathed his sword and stabbed it behind him.

Imposter Zhong dodged and stood in front of him again. He sniffed him. "Tsk Tsk the murky blood you have reeks," he whispered. "But you could be of use,"

"Who are you?" Opian said, pointing his sword at him.

Zhong laughed out loud at his silly question. "I have been telling you all along, yeah? I am the devil,"

"What have you done to me?"

Zhong shrugged. "Hmm, nothing much, just a restriction. You can't hurt me, you can't talk about me… something like that," he said.

Opian's vigilance increased at this. "What do you want with the prince? Are you after his tear jewel as well?" he whispered.

The devil shrugged. "Oh, looks like you read the book as well. I don't want his tear jewel. Or his eyes."

Soon he lost his smile. With a sad look on his face he whispered, "I want to plunder his soul….."

Without any hesitation, the guard stabbed at him. The sword plunged deeper into his body.

"But I will always protect him. Always.. so I will spare your pitiful life," Zhong whispered and pulled the sword out. There was not even a scratch on him.

He gripped the guard's chin. "Look at me, forget everything you saw, heard or said today..." he whispered.

A small spark of red light emerged from Imposter Zhong's eyes. It moved from his eyes into the guards' eyes.

"I will forget everything I saw, heard and said," the guard whispered with a wooden expression.

"Good, you are tired. Go back to your room," he whispered in his ears.

The guard walked back without any resistance.

Sighing out loud, Imposter Zhong walked back to his room. He had sniffed out this shadow lurking around and he had placed a restriction on him beforehand. "Thankfully, I dealt with him," he whispered.

But even his sensitive sense of smell failed to recognise the woman following him stealthily.