"Does it have to come to this, my king?" The queen of the Earth Kingdom asked her husband that's sitting on his throne next to her. She did not bother to glance at the Earth Immortal and just stared at the nothingness. Her mind is occupied with worry, anxiousness, and extreme sadness. It looks like anytime, her tears would flow out of her eyes.
The Earth Immortal didn't dare to glance in his wife's way. If he doesn't, it would only add up to his worries. As the ruler of the Eastern Lands, he needs to remain collected and rational. But these past few months, it's getting harder for him to contain these emotions.
He lay his head low, deep breaths in, and slowly breathes out. "My queen, I understand how you feel. It hurts me as well. However, we cannot allow our grief to affect our people. This is our personal problem and it should not implicate the flow of other's life."
"I know, I know." The queen lays her head on her palm and closed her eyes. "But my king, have
"Good day, your highness." A group of ladies greeted his highness the crown prince and even bowed before him to show their respect.Well, even if our mischievous prince is a little too troublemaker, he is still respected by his fellow countrymen because of his status in their kingdom. If Ling happens to be just an average citizen in the region, he'll most probably get sneered at. His reputation as a womanizer is well-spread so it's quite a foreshadowing.So, these ladies happened to stroll around the town square when they noticed the crown prince walking in the area as well. He is with his attendant, Yang, and a beauty who is still unknown to them. Seeing a new face, the ladies can't help but feel intrigued and a little overwhelmed.Well, it's understandable that they've gone somehow uneasy after seeing Ling with Aloisa. Why? Because almost all of them are Prince Ling's exes. Coincidence? Definitely not. It happens every day. Prince Ling meets at least a couple of h
In the middle of endless darkness, a faint green light shined before Prince Ling's eyes. Slowly, his body feels lighter and the flow of prowess in his veins is getting better. The pain he is enduring gradually faded into nothingness.Then he realized something, "Pain? Why am I hurt in the very first place?"Eventually, his consciousness in his reality has come to him. He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw is a pair of worried eyes."Your highness?" Yang is teary-eyed as he is looking down at the prince.Turns out the green light is coming from Yang's palms. Fortunately, he has a skill in healing and is treating his highness' bruise.This is the reason why the Earth Immortal himself picked Yang to be his son's attendant. He may not be a good fighter but he is an excellent healer. Perfect to be the mischievous' prince's escort. Plus they seemed to be at the same age so they'll get along well.
"Urk! Blegh...""My king! Are you alright?!" The queen is quick to stand up from her dining chair and worriedly rubs her husband's back. "I've always reminded you to slow down when eating.""That's- ehem." The Earth Immortal's eyes are teary as he tried to clear his throat. He accidentally swallowed his food that's not well-chewed yet. "That's not it. It's your son. Did you just hear what he said?"Apparently, the king and queen of the Earth Kingdom are having their lunch at the king's hall together with Prince Ling and their special guest Princess Aloisa.Just like any other usual day, the table is full of freshly picked fruits, a few dishes of newly harvested vegetables from the imperial garden, a glazed pheasant with sweet and mild chili taste, and a crispy fried chicken with caramelized honey and spice.As a refreshment, they are having pure orange juice and spring water. If they only have known that they are having a visitor, they could have prepared
The lunch lasted longer than usual since the prince's parents, especially her majesty, are quite interested in their guest.According to what Aloisa has learned in the Tower of Wisdom and Knowledge, Earth Elemental Shapeshifters are quite the friendly people next to the Air Elementals. And on this day, Aloisa has proven that. Her majesty is very welcoming to her despite meeting her for the first time. And although the king seems to be anxious for some reason, he is still friendly towards her.They've long finished their food and couldn't take any more bite but Prince Ling's parents don't look like they're letting them away any time soon. And so, Ling made a way for them to escape the dining hall."Mother, father. Her highness, Princess Aloisa, actually came here for one thing." Hearing him use her name, Aloisa's face becomes complicated. She doesn't even know what he's talking about! And then the prince added, "She wants to see what kinds of plants grow
Clang! The sound of metal clashing against each other echoed in the entirety of the garden. Prince Ling and Prince Jin's iron swords collided. The sharp blades tremble as both parties apply force on it. No one wants to give in, no one wants to admit defeat. Unfortunately, Ling seems to be at the disadvantage here. He barely keeps up with Jin's overwhelming strength.This isn't something that would surprise the citizens of the Earth Kingdom though. They all know that Prince Jin works hard and does his best in every training he has. May it be in swordsmanship, developing his prowess, even in literature and music. He's the type of typical prince who keeps up with society's expectations. A lot of women dream of him too but he doesn't entertain anyone of them. He's too focused on developing himself to do so. Prince Jin is basically the total opposite of his cousin. On the other hand, Prince Ling, as we all know, is just fooling around. He doesn't bother traini
Prince Ling is running as fast as he could. The crack approaches him wherever he goes.This is bad. He may be able to run fast but his stamina isn't unlimited. And speaking of stamina, he feels like his energy is slowly draining and his agility decreases. He can't just keep running but what else can he do? The crack that's after him won't stop chasing him until Prince Jin commands to. "Geez. This jerk doesn't fight fair and square." He mumbled to himself. As he is trying to get away from Jin's tricks, the next thing he knew is that his feet can't touch the ground anymore. It happened so fast that when he realized it, he was already falling. "What the hell?!"Good thing, Ling is quick to react and made a hand seal to command the vines to come and catch him.And when he sees the vines fast approaching to him, he realized that the vines are quite thorny! He didn't think beforehand and forgot that the type of vines that are currently under his commands a
While Prince Ling barged into his parents' hall to have a word with his father; and her majesty locked herself up in their room; also Prince Jin walking away from the scene, Yang and Aloisa remained in the garden.Her highness feels like Ling needs privacy with his father so she didn't come with him and stayed with his subordinate instead.Yang is helping the other servants clean and restore the garden as close as what it used to look like as possible.Looking at the damage caused by the duel of the two princes, Aloisa recalled the root cause of their fighting. It has something to do with the throne."Yang..." Princess Aloisa called out. "If it's not too personal, who is the gentleman that Ling fought?"Truth to be told, Aloisa is putting herself into Prince Ling's shoes. If ever she's a titled crown prince and then turns out she won't be able to inherit the position, she would be upset too. Just who is this man
Thirteen years ago, his highness Prince Ling always plays in the garden within the palace's courtyard. His mother accompanies him in the morning whenever she doesn't have something urgent to do.As the prince chases a little butterfly, she noticed that one of the hands of the prince is showing its real form again. Prince Ling is still a child and so he still can't fully control his prowess. Whenever he's getting too hyped up, his transformation fails."Ling..." The queen called to her son in a low yet stern voice. She looks around and only sees Ling's eight-year-old subordinate, Yang, beside her. At that time, Yang is one of the few people who knows this secret. After confirming it's just the three of them, she continued, "Your hand!"The seven-year-old crown prince looks at his hands and lets out an "Oh."He didn't realize that his left hand is already turning webbed, similar to that of a duck's feet.Her majesty walks closer to him and kneeled to mee