One year ago...

“Ashmotae, please come here for a second,” called out a middle-aged man. He was wearing a nicely tailored suit in a light gray. It was evident that the man had an important background.

A young teenage boy had come around the corner and made his way to the man. He looked rather shy as he fiddled with his fingers and was looking at the ground. “Y-Yes, sir Samuel?” the young boy greeted.

The middle-aged man looked at the young boy with warm eyes as he reached out to pat the boy’s head. “Ashmotae, what did I tell you? We look into people’s eyes when we are talking to them. I know that you are scared and that living amongst humans can be daunting. However, I need you to trust me. My family may not like you, but always remember that I will have your back,” he smiled reassuringly.

Gulping, the boy nodded as he slowly lifted his head to look at the man. He tried to look confident, but the moment their eyes met, he quickly looked away. A chuckle escaped the man’s lips. “We’ll have to work on your confidence. However, I called you to me because there are some things we need to discuss before we leave this place,” the man said as he motioned for the boy to take a seat.

Without a word, the Ashmotae had sat in one of the armchairs in front of a big, beautiful mahogany desk. Samuel sat on the other side of the desk in his leather office chair. “Ashmotae, I need you to remember that from this point on, you will no longer be known as Ashmotae. At least for the time being... You will be going by the name of Taeyeon Kim. Kim was the last name your father would frequently use with his many aliases. Your father often went by the name Taesun Kim when he wanted to play with humans. You may use that name if anyone asks who your father was."

Ashmotae looked at Samuel with a surprised look. He would have never thought his father would mingle among humans. Yet a pang of anger quickly arose in him, as humans were the reason for his father’s death. Samuel could sense the anger as he saw the boy clench his fist. “I know you are upset with what happened to your father. But remember this: not all humans are inherently bad. The environment around them shapes them into who they are".

“Anyways,” Samuel started again with a smile. “Life amongst humans will be the same but still quite different. And you’ll have to be extremely careful, especially around my family. My family does not know that you’ll be a new resident yet, so I will apologize in advance if things get... ugly." The smile on his face had disappeared at the end. Samuel knew his family quite well, and to his dismay, his family was not how he hoped it would be. However, he needed to guarantee the crowned prince’s safety, and taking him in was the only course of action. “My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty,” Samuel said with a slight bow of his head.

The boy, now named Taeyeon, felt many emotions go through him. He was now going to live in the human realm under the disguise of a human. A human was protecting him, the heir to the Demon King’s throne. Living amongst the very people who killed his father. It was such a strange concept, but he needed to grow. He needed to learn more about the human realm and what happened to his father.

“Taeyeon, are you ready to start your new life?” Samuel smiled.

Was he…?

Present Day 

“Taeyeon!” yelled a voice. “Taeyeon! Are you paying attention?!" 

A teenage boy quickly jolted in his seat. The boy’s face quickly turned a shade of red as he realized what had happened. "I'm sorry, Master Bo,” he said, getting up and bowing to the woman at the front. Many students in the classroom snickered. 

“Dozing off is not allowed in my classroom. Although it is the last day of intermediate academics, we still have much to say before we say goodbye,” the teacher reprimanded. 

Sliding back into his seat, he sighed as he slumped in his chair. He felt all the teasing eyes staring at him, and he tried his very best to ignore them. He kept his eyes up front as he started paying attention to the teacher, Master Bo. 

“Okay, back to business,” Master Bo chirped. “Where was I? Oh! Yes! After your time here, you’ll be moving on to Advanced Academics. However, you will have to take an entrance exam to find your placement academy. Does anyone know what those Academies are?” The teacher asked. 

A few raised their hands. The teacher pointed to a student at the front; she was short in size and had long braided pigtails. “Miss Sunny" 

“There are four major academies. Sun Moon Academy, High Temple Academy, Jaru Academy, and Han Academy,” Sunny stated in a cheery voice.

As the teacher continued to explain the different academies, Taeyeon was busy taking notes. Although he had heard of the names of the four academies, he hadn’t been able to do proper research. Unfortunately for him, Samuel had been so busy that he hadn’t been able to see him. “Jaru is the academy in our city," whispered Taeyeon as he looked at his notes.

“The entrance exam will place you at the best-suited academy." Master Bo’s face showed a more serious look. “However, everything changed due to the most recent war. The Royal family and the four Dukes all agree to prioritize the safety of the students. Thus, an island off the coast of the mainland will be turned into an academy for everyone. There is no worry about safety as it will be heavily guarded by the Royal  Army.

‘More like a fancy prison...' grunted Taeyeon under breath. Fortunately, no one had heard his comment, or else he could have gotten into even more trouble. However, it was true if anyone thought more about it. ‘Heavily guarded and probably hard to leave and enter,’ Taeyeon thought.

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