※ Chapter 22 ※

Sehun's POV »☆●

We all have that moment when we start seeing and making decisions differently, the moment we realize we've been doing it all wrongly, the moment we feel the need to be a better version of ourselves. That's our turning point.

Perhaps, for me, the turning point came with an unexpected announcement. I don't know if there was sorcery involved, or my dad's very vivid eyesight fooled him, but my name on King Ming's will, that everyone's so sure that they saw, isn't there, at least not anymore.

Flashback:

"If no heir is named, then surely the King regent must take the throne. Our house is owed the throne by right. It was King Ming's intent and whole noble court knows it," Dad insists.

"And yet," Gabrielle crosses her arms and shrugs, "His intent in this matter hasn't been recorded."

Angel meets my eyes questioningly and looks around, breaking the awkward silence, "So, what happens now? Who takes the crown?"

Yangyang clears his throat, "Chinese Law is very clear on this point. A new ruler will be selected from among the Noble Houses."

Dad sighs in relief, "Thank heavens. Nobody here would be foolish enough to stand against my son in such a contest."

"I beg your pardon, Lord Mark," Dylan steps forward, "House Wang will also stand for the throne."

I take a deep breath to control my rage, "No disrespect intended, Lord Dylan, but I was King Ming's intended heir and you're a witness."

He gasps, "Were you? How odd, then, that he never found time to write it down."

"You backstabbing little worm!" Rosy growls but I hold her back.

"Social season begins tomorrow. When it concludes, the nobles will vote and Mingluan will have a new monarch," Yangyang bows his head respectfully and steps back.

Dylan smirks, "See? A fair contest. I suppose there's only one thing left to say, LET THE GAMES BEGIN!"

And so, the game began. It's been sixteen days in the social season and we already had three events. There are a few more to go. I don't particularly feel threatened by Dylan because I know I've the upper hand in terms of both skills and experience. But what I feel though, is tons of pressure.

Now, not only do I have to earn the throne, I've to uphold the responsibilities of the pack too.

Yes, I'm the Alpha now. Dad considered holding that responsibility for now so that I can focus on the social seasons but a recent sneak attack in our property left him badly paralyzed. It can't be told if he'll ever be able-bodied enough to defend the pack again. So we held a small ceremony and I took the responsibility.

Good thing is, amongst all these growing tension and heavy weight of pressure, I found a place of peace for me.

My angel.

She lives with us now and she always goes above and beyond to show support to me. She's attending the whole social season with me and helping me make decisions. We spend almost all day together like childhood. I've been training her personally and she has been educating me with the regent responsibilities towards the Kingdom.

Moreover, if I'm exhausted or sad, she'll somehow figure it out and come to me, spend time with me. I don't like people bursting into my personal space but when it's her, I don't mind it. I like it. I love it.

Among all the chaos, this is the happiest I've been since childhood. Just looking at her, existing, smiling, talking, breathing it makes me weak to my knees. I can feel myself falling in love with her.

I've never fallen in love before. I didn't even understand that shit. They said I'll understand when I find my mate. Then is she really my mate like everyone's telling me? If so, why didn't I get a clear signal? Or am I just imagining things because of our childhood bond?

There are so many questions unanswered. I don't know if I'll ever get the answers but one thing for sure, if I ever want someone to be in my life, that'd be her. I'm not gonna allow anybody else.

Within this short while, she has coped up with my family and the pack really well. Never have I ever seen them be so accepting of a human so soon. But seeing her, it's not shocking. She's perfect.

In fact, the pack is obsessed with her. I heard a few people gossiping how they think she'll be a good Luna. How loving, caring, selfless and responsible she is. I like it when I hear people talking about her so highly.

One thing that bothers me though, is her breakdowns. Sometimes, she silently sits in the lake shore for hours, not speaking, not moving, not sleeping, and starving all day. I know she wasn't like this and she can't help it. What happened to her is unimaginable. At late night, I can hear her from the wall between our rooms, mumbling baba hoarsely and crying. It breaks my heart. I wish someday we can fill that emptiness in her heart and give her the love she deserves.

As another morning dawns, I step out of my room stretching my arms and see her heading towards our kitchen, carrying two buckets of water. Mom, Rosy and few other women follow after her. She's been helping in every household chore since she came even though Rosy and I told her many times she doesn't have to. She said she'll only settle down to comfort when she can reclaim her kingdom and afford a maid. She won't burden any of us more than she already does. And I've realized, at this point, it's useless to protest. She's extremely stubborn, even more than me.

I stare at her since she gets in view but immediately look away when she tilts her head.

Setting the buckets down in front of the kitchen, she approaches me, fixing her loosely tied hair, "I saw you, Se. Why are you staring like I'm an alien?"

I lean on the wall, crossing my arms, "Look at you, there was a time when carrying just one bucket left you out of breath."

"I was a castle girl then," she rolls her eyes, tightening her bun.

I smile, "Now you're something stronger. Why do you push yourself? Most princesses leave the hard work to others."

"Most princesses have Kingdoms," she glares at me. I laugh under my breath. Making her angry like this is my favorite thing to do.

"Ready for morning warmup? Or do you need time to catch breath?" I tease.

She shakes her head, "I'm always ready."

We head to our courtyard where we practice swordfight every morning. I gesture to the sword I gave her, hanging on a rock on the wall. She eyes the weapon in my hand, a rod with a blade on both ends.

"When do I get to use something like that?" she asks.

"It's only entrusted to the most skilled fighters. You're not ready for it yet," I say.

She sighs and picks up her basic sword sadly. I square off against her, taking a firm, wide stance. I lighten my grip on my weapon and eye hers. I hint her by a subtle smile, then shoot the blade out at her. Instantly, she knocks my blade to the side with the flat of her sword, shoving it away. I lunge at her again but she suddenly stops in track, frowning and peering at the entrance door nearby. I pause in track and follow her eyes.

"Did you hear that?" she asks, concentrating on something in the distant.

I shake my head, "Hear wh-" but before I can finish, I hear the sound of horses galloping nearby our entrance. And footsteps, not one or two, dozens of footsteps. The scent is human.

I see one of our guards hurrying toward me. He bows his head, "Lord D.O. seeks the sight of your regency."

I nod. I've a feeling I know what's this about, "Summon my father."

I drop my weapon, glance at her who's looking at me expecting an answer, but I don't say anything. I make my way to the entrance gate.

Meihua's POV »☆●

I follow after Se, trying to keep up with his quick stride, and find myself with dozens of marching mercenaries, some on horseback, others on foot. Leading them is a serious faced oh-so-important looking man, whom I presume to be D.O., the well-known mercenary leader and Uncle's ally. Some people stand in the distance gossiping amongst each other. Uncle also approaches rushing, Aunt and Rosy following after him.

D.O. glances at me and Se, scoffs and turns his head to Uncle, "What the hells, Mark? You're sheltering outside guests on our territory without confirming with me?"

Uncle looks at me nervously, then looks down and pulls D.O. to a corner and we follow after them, "It's personal, Kyungsoo. She's a relative," he whispers through gritted teeth, glancing hesitantly at the mercenary army out the entrance.

"Relative, MY ASS! You're an awful liar and I hate being lied to!" the man growls loudly that grabs the attention of the expectant army outside. He reaches down and grabs my cheeks, "You're the Wuluan Princess. I know a royal pampered face when I see one!"

My eyes go wide as I feel a chill in my veins. I'm suddenly really scared and startled, having a hard time breathing while his nails dig into my cheek, hurting me and making it worse.

Se steps ahead and pushes his hands off me, fuming in anger, "Don't dare to touch her again."

"You're mistaken. I'm not any princess," I respond to D.O. humbly, hoping my calmness would convince him I'm not lying.

"Am I?" he scoffs and holds up a crumpled WANTED poster with my face sketched on it.

He grins evilly, "You know the Blood King?"

My face pales as all the colors from my face and my brain goes numb, "I..." I tremble, having difficulty to speak.

"Well, he knows you. Turns out, his whelp put a bounty on your head, Gongzhu, " he laughs, "Ha! Turning you in will be the easiest coin I've ever made. Come with me!" he roars and grabs my arm in a hurtful manner and drags me outside.

While being dragged, I look in my back from the corner of my eyes and see Se, whose eyes are turning golden and muscles are tensing. I know he's a moment away from shifting, I can sense it. I widen my eyes giving him a warning gaze. I don't want him to get in trouble because of me. Rosy quickly comes forward and grabs his arm, stopping him. He snaps back to his senses and breathes heavily.

Soon, I'm standing in the center of a crowd of thousand mercenaries, some former Wuluan soldiers and some people of the pack.

"Mercenaries, take a good look! You've got royalty before your eyes!" he announces dramatically clapping and mocking, "Too bad it's just till we turn her in for Prince Karry's reward."

The crowd goes silent, staring at me expectantly. Uncle looks down, hiding his face. I take a deep breath, close my eyes to relax my heart. I knew this moment is gonna come. And father didn't raise me to be scared. I open my eyes, and smile, politely bowing to D.O. and the gathered crowd.

"It's true, I'm King Wu's daughter, Wu Meihua. I'm finely alive, and I intend to take back my Kingdom," I state clearly, staring right at D.O. without hesitation, gathering murmurs from the crowd.

She's the one everyone's talking about!

I thought she died!

I heard she's gathering an army!

It's really her!

It's not a rumour! The legends are true!

Uncle steps closer to D.O. to whisper, "I say we leave her. There's no need to turn her over to the Prince."

D.O. pulls away from him, "We've got he lost Princess here, and I just let her be?" he turns around to address the crowd, "The bounty put on her head is five hundred gold coins."

Mercenaries cheer loudly, chanting: Turn her in! Turn her in!

"We'll eat for months off of that!" A familiar voice scoffs and I turn my head to find Chaen, the mercenary girl we met in our way here.

"Chaen!" I growl. To which she just shrugs and says, "Sorry, princess, money is money." Now, more than ever, it's clear to me these people understand nothing but money.

I raise my hands to silence the crowd, I take a deep breath before addressing the crowd, especially former soldiers, "There's another way, you could join me, all of you. We together can restore our glory," I propose calmly.

"Our glory? You mean your glory! You wanna be some queen in a castle, sitting on a throne of pillows when real men like me to the work!" D.O. roars through gritted teeth, "Real leaders fights their own fights, everyone else is just a weakling waiting till someone stronger crushes them. Your father learned that the hard way, didn't he?" he smirks. My blood boils in his snide remark.

"You'll bleed for it," I growl and punch him squarely in the jaw. He takes a step back, glaring at me.. then laughs.

"Aww, little princess has a temper, that almost tickled!" he mocks.

"My father was a great King," I snarl.

"And now he's a dead one. That's how things go in real world. And in the real world, there's a mighty price on your pretty head," he grins.

"Let's discuss this in private. As allies, we're supposed to discuss before making any decisions!" Uncle says.

"Which you didn't do before sheltering her!" D.O. snarls, "Alliance needs to have a base. Our base is you giving us a position when your son takes the throne and his name magically disappeared from the will! Now until you can fix that, you're on your own. And if I'm getting money out of something, I'm doing it!"

"Lord D.O., we request you don't do this. They'll kill her," Rosy pleads.

D.O. shrugs, "So? Who's she to us?"

"That's unimportant. There's no reason to get an innocent life murdered!" she says.

"I can think of many, five hundred to be exact," he turns to the crowd, "WHO'S WITH ME?"

"I am!" Chaen squeals. All mercenaries begin to jeer. Some of the former soldiers too, while some others look conflicted.

"Besides, it's my call. The strong lead, the weak bleed. Get over here Princess, you're coming with me," D.O. reaches for my wrist but Se steps in between us, pushing his hands away.

"I challenge you," Se declares, earning gasp from everyone, including D.O. himself.

Se adds "You said, the strong lead, the weak bleed. If you're the strongest here, prove it. Fight me. I stake our alliance on the line."

To Be Continued »☆●