※ Chapter 27 ※

Meihua's POV »☆●

After the duel, we all go back to clean up and eat. It's been a few hours since D.O. has been under medication. When he finally wakes up, we gather at the center of the field again, where the mercenary army is curiously awaiting for the aftermath of the duel.

It's time. I step out of the house, Se comes following, holding my hand firmly. He escorts me to the center of the crowd, where D.O. is waiting for us impatiently, putting his arm around Kai for balance. My eyes fall on his leg. It's bulbous, covered in red and pink scabs of dry, crusted flesh. His laboured breath followed by his narrowed eyes from the humiliation honestly makes me feel kinda bad for him. But it had to be done. I don't regret it.

At the center of the curious crowd, we face each other, Se standing between us.

"Wu Meihua, his fate lies in your hands. You can decapitate him or banish him. What are you willing to do?" Se asks aloud, trying to hold back a smile and be serious.

I look around to the gathered crowd, crossed fingers of Uncle Mark, worried faces of D.O.'s followers. I already had it in my mind that what I'm gonna do. Besides, I can't let such an important alliance of Uncle go in vain.

"Neither. I'll recruit him as an ally," I look at D.O. in the eyes, "Join me, Do Kyungsoo, and live."

Audible gasps come from the crowd, along with slow murmurs and whispers.

"You won't kill me?" D.O. asks, confusion visible in the wrinkles of his forehead.

I shake my head, "You're not my enemy, King Wang is."

I know he's unwise, greedy and even selfish. But having faced him myself, I also know, if I'm gonna attack the most powerful warlord in the five kingdoms, I'll need a man like him on my side. More importantly, I'll need his army and the easiest way to get that is through himself. I still haven't earned their faith completely.

"Tell me, D.O. will you fight for me? Kill for me? Die for me?" I ask strictly, knowing damn well that he either agrees to die for me in the war or dies right now by my command.

"I.." he freezes, staring at me in shock, then bows his head in respect, "I will, my Royal Highness."

Chaen smiles weakly, "About time we had a real battle worth fighting for. Taking that Blood King down will be a story worth telling," she bows, soon a few other mercenaries bow to me.

Seeing Chaen, I remember something. I turn around, glancing at Aria. She nods and bows, handing me the flail I borrowed from Chaen. I pass it to Chaen, "Thanks, by the way, this is a fine weapon. I excuse the celebratory wine just for this."

Kai grins, "Now I'm really regretting betting against you. There's more to you than meets the eye, isn't there?"

Lady Hera steps forward, clasping my hands, "I'm as proud as any mother could be. You've won your freedom and life."

I nod, "Which is obviously better than the alternative. But what we need now, is an army."

I raise my hand, calling for silence from the crowd, "Mercenaries, former soldiers, and everyone else.. heed me. To the biggest and strongest mercenary army of five kingdoms, I know you have a saying - the strong lead, the weak bleed. I've proven my strength. Let me lead you. You'll find the satisfaction of doing the right thing. My former soldiers, regain your honour, fulfil your promises, don't hide from the enemy. King Wang has oppressed our land. Let's bring him the fate he deserves!"

The soldiers cheer, but the mercenaries look skeptic. Half of them drift away, barely listening.

"Satisfaction of doing the right thing? Girlie, the right thing's getting paid," Kai rolls his eyes.

"I know there's more to you than that. We can write history together. When children hear tales, this is the one they'll beg for. We'll be the heroes who freed China from King Wang's cruelty, who restored glory of the people," I say.

Kai scowls at me, mulling it over before finally deciding, "Heroes, eh? You talk a mean game. Fine, I'll fight for you, lost princess. Can't speak for everyone though."

I glance at the disinterested crowd. I know what's gonna work on them.

"Mercenaries, help me take the crown and I promise you land, titles and riches. I'll see you all rewarded, each and every one of you. You'll be my highest nobles, most trusted advisors and lieutenants," I announce.

"I like the sound of that," D.O. smiles, "Who's with me?"

At D.O.'s cue, the mercenaries begin to applaud, showing support.

I smile, "Thank for pledging to fight at my side. Together, we'll save China. I know it."

The mercenaries, former soldiers and others all begin to scream in a deafening pitch. Looks like everyone's joining me.

"Taking down Kyungsoo, rallying the troops..not bad for a princess," Chaen grins.

"She's not a princess anymore," Aria comes close, wrapping her arms around me lovingly, "She's our Queen."

•

Yifan's POV »☆●

"You won't believe what I found!" Tao rushes inside my room, screaming loudly and placing a piece of crumpled, dirty, torn parchment in my table. I quickly move away the sketch of eyes that I was drawing, doubtful if it was fast enough to get past his fucking hawk-eyes.

I look down at the parchment with a poker face, "What did you find? A piece of garbage?"

"No," he grins, scrutinizing the hand that I've hid behind my back, "Actually something quite relevant to the thing in your hand, it's a WANTED poster of Gongzhu. Prince Karry has-"

"I know what he has done," I cut him off before he finishes, "Chanyeol sent news."

Weeks ago in Wuluan..

Chanyeol hears a clank in the nearby banquet hall. He figures something going on there. He's got to see what he can learn. He lingers outside the door and listens in..

"Suzy, I won't say this again. I want a team of assassins sent after her and you must do it!" Prince Karry growls and hurls a vase against the wall, shattering it into pieces.

Suzy calmly sighs, ignoring his tantrum, "You can destroy as many vases as it pleases you. Your father commanded me to hold Wuluan with all the force he has left us. My duty is to follow his orders. That little girl is of no consequences to us."

He glances at her angrily, "Don't neglect this matter because of her age. King Wu was so influential in his lifetime that half the realm is still loyal to that dead king. I swear, if his daughter was to call for an uprising then-"

"She won't, not while she can cower away in some hovel, leave her be. Look, your father specially advised me to keep you from wasting scouts to hunt after exiled princesses. We have very few troops in China as he took the majority to the war, so I'm not risking this on a foolish mission," she shrugs.

"If he can deprive me of the glory to participate in the foreign war, I must find my own glory here.." he pauses to smirk wickedly, "..in ending the life of that miserable girl before she can raise her hand against us."

He rubs his face, remembering how the princess slapped him, "She already raised her hand against me once. She must learn to regret that. I'll mount that foolish girl's head in spike for everyone in this godforsaken castle to see."

He turns to Suzy, meeting her eyes with a challenging gaze, "Now, Suzy, I'm sure my father would love to hear that you rebelled against me the moment he left."

Suzy's eyes go wide as her porcelain white skin pales even more, "I.."

His smirk spreads wider across his face, "Now, say - yes, Prince Karry, and do my bidding."

Suzy's lips twitches in a thin line. She mutters through gritted teeth, "Yes, Prince Karry."

She heads toward the door. Chanyeol darts around the corner before he's spotted.

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"So you know," Tao hums through twitched lips.

I roll my eyes as I open the lid of my drink, "This was your big news?"

He shakes his head, "No, actually. Remember D.O.?"

I shrug. Off course I remember that fucker.

He smiles, "Turns out he found Gongzhu in Mark's house! You were right!"

I swear if I had a heart, it'd skip a beat. My face pales in a burning anticipation. He's saying this now? D.O. would go to any fucking extent for money. If he found her, she's..

"And no, she's not dead," he says as if hearing my thoughts, "She somehow convinced D.O. and the mercenary army to join her in rallying against King Wang. Isn't that unbelievable?"

"I see," I swirl my drink and take a sip.

"Yes, she's under Alpha protection and the mercenaries are okay with it. Did you get what I'm tryna say?" he raises an eyebrow. I do get it but I don't like it. The thought of her between werewolves is unsettling to me.

He plops down to a chair next to me, "All you wanted to know if she's alive and now you have the answer. Then why that long face?"

Pouring another glass, I down it in one go. Alcohol doesn't affect us like humans but it does take the edge off. I'm beyond pissed and feeling utterly useless. I don't like any of these.

"Fanfan.." he cautiously puts a hand on my back, his eyes narrowing, "It's not just curiosity, is it?"

Ignoring him, I pour another glass, "Send a spy. Send Zhan back to the army. I want every detail."

I look him in the eyes, emphasizing my words, "Every. Detail. Nothing to be left off. D.O. wouldn't do it for no reason, he must have a very strong motive or alternative plans. I don't trust that fucker for once. I wanna know what convinced him. I wanna know what the Alpha boy and his dad is doing. If there's a Wangluan mole there, I need to fucking find out. Am I clear?"

"Okay, but brother," he grabs the crumpled ball of parchment and stretches his arm out to me, "I thought you'd like to see this portrait of Gongzhu."

Contemplating for a second, I finally take the paper from his hands and open it immediately. Growing impatient by the seconds it takes to unfold it, as if I've been waiting my whole fucking life for this.

My whole body relaxes at the sight of her, as if I've been hit by a wave of relief. For so long it was these eyes running in my head, wandering in my dreams, now I can put a face to it. And even through the sand discoloring and graining the parchment and the creases distorting the lines of her face, I can still sense this is the prettiest face I could've possibly put to those eyes. I look at the paper, then back to my sketch. Her eyes could calm a thunderstorm, there's just something that magical about those eyes. Now I'm more restless to go to her, to get an actual sight of her.

"How does she look?" Tao asks, still scrutinizing me with his perspective eyes.

"Beautiful.." those words escape my lips before I can think.

He smiles, leaning closer, "And how does Nikita look?"

I glance up from the parchment, frowning in annoyance, "What kind of question is this?"

"Just tell me!" he insists.

"I don't know and I don't care," I roll my eyes and look back to the parchment, as if trying to memorize it, capture it in my brain forever so that I can't ever lose it.

"But you think Gongzhu is beautiful," he counters, smirking teasingly.

"The fuck are you tryna imply?" I growl at him, "Get out. I have an intense headache; I can't deal with your fucking bullshit right now."

He raises his hands in surrender, and walks out of the room trying to suppress a smile. I put my elbows on the table, resting my forehead on my palm. I run one hand through my hair and the other on the portrait, scanning thoroughly through each detail, tryna get as vivid picture as I can from a blurry portrait. But I can't control the sick knot forming in my pit at the thought of her surrounded by those fucking mutts.

•

Meihua's POV »☆●

I walk through the army camp with Lady Hera by my side as we calculate and discuss our strategy. We have over a thousand former soldiers under Uncle's command. The mercenary force is two thousand strong. I'm glad that all of them pledged loyalty to me and I did that completely on my own.

"So that leaves us with a force of three thousand troops," Lady Hera confirms. I nod, not getting too happy. We need much more if we're gonna retake Wuluan. But at least it's a promising start.

As we approach where Se's men are camped, Linyi approaches me.

His eyes narrow as he bows apologetically, looking ashamed, "Gongzhu, something's been troubling me. Please allow me to speak."

I frown, "Proceed."

"I can't believe my fiancé spoke in such an ill manner about the future Queen of Wuluan and a great woman of power and dignity such as you," he kneels before me, "Please don't let that lessen your regard for me. I want to pledge loyalty to your Royal Highness. I'll fight for you till my dying breath. Please say you'll forgive Amy."

"Oh Linyi, don't be ridiculous. Get up," I smile and gently hold his arms to rise him up, "I believe you'll serve me with honor."

"I will, your Royal Highness," he puts a hand on his chest before he leaves with a proud look on his face.

"That was well-handled," Lady Hera comments as he leaves.

I smile, "I must admit, it feels odd, having someone treat me like their superior."

She shrugs, "This is what ruling is about. An ant alone is nothing. An army of ants under the command of one queen though, that's another thing entirely. Speaking of which, look around you."

As I look around, those who fall under my gaze stop what they're doing and salute me immediately.

I smile, feeling prouder than I ever have, "My victory over D.O. had an impact."

She smiles, "Much the way a bolt of lightning has an impact upon a tree."

We laugh as we walk across the camp and cross paths with Rosy.

"There you are!" Rosy rushes to me, "Dad is looking for you. Lord D.O. and gege is there too. Seems like an important meeting."

I know what's this about. We have some serious discussions. I nod, following after Rosy to join the meeting.

To Be Continued »☆●