Trudging along as a middle aged man braves the howling wind and dark hollow forests, the person had been through worse weathers than this and nothing is stopping him. He is a messenger, and a private one that the shogun personally hired. It is the utmost honour for him that his god trusts him with important messages.

He had been the one passing the word on to their beloved prince and this time is no different. The shogun’s words that he needs to convey to the prince are simple and he does not necessarily know the meaning or rationale behind them, but he knows everything is trivial in comparison.

Being the middle man is not just important. It is equivalent to his life and he knows that.

However, before he can reach a clearing which will eventually direct him to the nearest harbour, the sound of horse hooves trampling the sodden ground stops him in his tracks. He should not be seen or distracted until his job is done, but from the sounds of it, there is not just one person trailing him.

Hurriedly picking up speed and rushing towards the dying sunlight on the other side, he is caught off guard as a hand grabs him by the collar and throws him into the thickets. Unfazed, the assaulted man scrambled to free himself, cutting the sharp vines with his short pocket knife.

Finally freeing himself and stepping out of the messed up bushes, he finds himself surrounded.

“YOU!” Pointing a finger at the familiar assailant on horseback as both man and horse circles him with evil eyes, scanning him from head to toe. The worried messenger backed away just to bump into another horse.

Drawing his sword and readying himself to fight despite having not done so for nearly a decade, the man only knows he needs to live no matter what. He intends to survive until his mission is over. He can die afterwards, but the shogun’s words are absolute.

“I bear the shogun’s message! Let me through or pay the price!” The brave man does not falter.

“I know.” The other replied coldly.

“How dare you stop me then?!!” The man yelled at the top of his lungs and charged forth.

He is a good fighter, but faced with so many others who are better than him, he does not stand a chance. Soon, his limbs are ripped off and he found his body in a bloody mangled mess, breathing his last while the horses continue to canter around him with their smirking riders. “Trait…or…” He gasped.

Meanwhile… In Korea

Soft chattering can be heard as a group of servants bustles around the garden. Most of the flowering trees in the nearby vicinity are bald by now, welcoming the harsh winter without much qualms. It is the palace after all, where no one starves or needs to endure the brutal temperature.

This bunch includes a single being that stands out the most. Most likely an angel sent from the heavens than a mere mortal. Considering the astoundingly flawless face, graceful slender physique and incredibly gentle demeanour, the being is easy to single out.

Sweeping the fallen leaves and petals into the small holes made on the ground by the servants, the person worked tirelessly. Humming to himself the folk song he missed so much. There is nothing much to miss about home since there really isn’t anything for him to look forward to there, but he is still feeling homesick nonetheless.

Being cooped up within a restrictive four walls, forced to do nothing but read and write. Years of being bred indoors saw that he had developed knowledge beyond his age, and became much more capable than many of his peers. The arts and cultures, language and poetry, and even political studies, had groomed him to become a sophisticated being, a more suitable candidate for official titles than half of the existing population of officials.

Nevertheless, ever since he is shipped off to be kept as someone’s bed warmer or for a purpose similar to that, his future is appearing even bleaker. Being allowed to roam in the gardens and having someone to converse with is already considered a bonus. Even if none of the people around him understands him whenever he opens his mouth, it is still an enjoyable experience to listen to them as they complain and gossip.

Sometimes they would talk about him in front of him, not knowing that he understands them perfectly well, but they don’t usually have many mean things to share. It even gets entertaining at some point in time and he actually hopes that winter would come a little sooner so he can assist them in clearing out the snow on the fields. He wishes that is.

Not many of his requests for freedom of action goes through but whenever his spouse isn’t around, he is more or less warranted to do as he please, at least until the restricting order applies again. No empress is allowed to mingle around with her servants or even get down and dirty with them after all.

Unaware of the tall shadow looming behind a pillar on the pavilion nearby, the person even wiped a droplet of sweat off of a blushing male servant’s forehead. His genuine smile is so sweet that it will put honey to shame. That made the man watching him in the shadows growl lowly.

Noticing the signal for the workers to gather around for their dinner since it is no longer early, the person quickly makes his way to the shack to deposit his tool for the day. Hurriedly bowing a good ninety degrees at the servants despite the major status differences between them, the recipients are no longer flustered by his good manners. Attributing his behaviour to overly strict upbringing, which is partly true.

 Loosening the strings he had wound around his overly long sleeves of his kimono and allowing them to cover his previously exposed forearms. He then took his time to retie his wickedly gorgeous hair into the same loose pony tail before dusting his shoes off.

Totally unaware of his surroundings as he enters the warmth of the palace main building, the person is too busy humming away to notice the heavy set man following him from a few metres away. Even his voice is god sent, light airy tone bouncing off the walls and giving everyone he passes the goosebumps. He is that good.

However, as he nears the staircase, the big man finally emerges and stands in his way. Too preoccupied with helping his servant set up the small flames of the lamps in the hallway leading to the royal chambers, the person finally walks right into the endless armoured chest of his stalker.

“Your majesty!!” A loud gasp startled him and all the servants subsequently getting down on all fours prompted him to finally look up and stare into the poker face of the person more than a head taller than him.

Backing away a little and dropping the lit incense in his hand, the person quickly took a quick low bow. Then, reaching for the man’s purple cape and indicating that he would like to help the man take it off, the person is perfectly fitted into the role of being a virtuous wife.

The man grabs his thin cool hands abruptly but releases them a few seconds later. The usual kindly expression is replaced with cold hardened one. Not unfamiliar to the smaller person since the bigger man had worn that same look when they first met. However, the contrast between the nice somewhat bashful man who left a few days ago and the cruel looking man who has returned is bothering the smaller person.

Unsure if he should follow the person since the man don’t seem to be in the mood to talk to anybody, the smaller person hurriedly heads off in another route leading to his own room. However, before he can slide the door open and enter, the bigger man had blocked him off by holding his door together.

Spinning around and gazing innocently at the tall man’s face, the smaller person can feel a shiver travel down his spine when all he got was a low grunt. Beckoning the lovely latter to follow him into the royal chamber with a small wave, the lumbering man never once looked returned his gaze.

Hearing the door shut behind him almost made the smaller person jump out of his skin but he is not one to expect the worse of someone. He simply stood dumbly by the door as he watches the bigger man prance around the room, tossing his weapons into the nearby chests, unsuspecting.

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POV from Jejung

He is acting weird today… Yunho dono.

Something happened. I can feel it in my bones. It’s not possible to find out what happened to him since it will be impossible to talk when he is not looking very friendly. We were not close enough to be able to hold a proper conversation anyway, but that really isn’t the main point now.

Come to think of it… he is meeting with oniisama today and nothing good ever comes out of their meetings. If only oniisama would stop trying to provoke him. Oniisama always says terrible things but he does not always mean them. I think.

This man is not like oniisama which is great but I don’t think the good in him can last very long when he is oppressed. Or at least I gathered this from the servants…

Is he feeling stressed out or is he angry at me? If so, I need to think of something and fast! There is no telling what he is up to and for once, I can’t actually tell what he is thinking. Anyhow, I need to be prepared for the worst since this is the first time he actually summoned me to his chamber on his own accord. The servants did say before that if the king asks for his queen or visits, then we all know what will come next.

Oniisama say to let the man have his way in case it is really necessary… similarly to how those men tried to touch me. I don’t quite fully understand why oniisama will allow him to touch me despite disallowing anyone else to. I guess we all stand to gain if I were to… you know… let him have his way.

I’m scared though. I don’t want to because I don’t know what to expect. I keep telling myself to just go with the flow but I’m really chickening out here. What will he do to me if I were to let him do ‘that’? What does ‘that’ involve?

So what do I do after letting him do ‘that’? Maybe become closer to him so I will have more opportunity to kill him I guess. When do I kill him then? Why am I getting more and more involved with him instead of simply getting rid of him? This isn’t right! If I get too emotionally attached then I won’t be able to do him harm. But then again… I would never be able to do him any harm even if he is a complete stranger.

Maybe… just maybe… I can repay him this way. Like if I let him touch me then maybe… his soul will be appeased when he die or something. Wait! What am I thinking?! This is more confusing than I anticipated!

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Plastering himself to the wall as he watches Yunho try to remove his own armour but to no avail, Jejung can feel the butterflies threatening to burst out from his stomach.

“Tsk.” Sulking loudly after failing once more, the king scowled at Jejung. The prince automatically got into action. Yuchun would make Jejung help him with the armour donning ritual most of the time since no servants would dare to touch the shogun’s armour. Jejung assumes Yunho is no different.

Skilfully plucking off the heavy pieces of armour after employing use of prior experience, Jejung staggered a little under the weight. Wondering how these two men can carry that on them like a second skin. Swaying a little after lifting up the heavy chest piece and arranging them on the holder, Jejung is about to go for the last piece when the king stops him.

Letting the waist plate drop as he stands, the prideful man remained poised with muscular chest puffed out. Yunho then kicked the armour to the corner and towered over the unsuspecting Jejung. The latter backs away instinctively, fingers tucked under the thin flesh of his palms into a fist and ready to defend himself. Yunho moves on to grasp them and without a warning, jostles them behind their owner’s back before slamming the small frame into the wall behind them.

The forceful blow knocked the air out of Jejung but he could hardly breathe with the ginormous set of ribcage crushing his much mini ones. Gasping for air but not getting enough oxygen supply since Yunho had suddenly swooped down and robbed him of his first kiss not too gently, the prince almost choked on the saliva injected down his throat threatening to drown him. Blame it on inexperience on the latter’s part.

Then, to his horror, Yunho is all savage again, ripping his outer coat off his shoulder while pinning his thin wrists above his head with the other hand. “Yunho dono!” Shrieking airily as he struggles to break free, Jejung uses a subtle manoeuvre technique and successfully escapes.

However, even before he can take another step, Yunho is on him once again, grip tightening on his already redden and sore wrists and bundling them together with a piece of silk he had torn off Jejung’s garment.

Not expecting Yunho to actually start bounding him, Jejung is thrown into disarray. A state of hysteria kicks in as the fight instinct threatens to take over. Writhing around as violently as he can, he is still looks too gentle to be someone who is thrashing around.  Yunho simply worked on stripping him further with an angry yet somehow resigned and straight face.

Jejung yelped out in pain when the king finally pins him down roughly onto the bed and makes a move on his exposed torso, fondling and gnawing away. Like a carnivorous beast feasting, Yunho made the prince stiffen before breaking out into pathetic wails. Yunho is definitely hurting him with the teasing and Jejung is totally new to such experience. He is not enjoying it.

The tense atmosphere is starting to heat up as Yunho loosens himself up, focused only on Jejung’s flawless body. The prince is in dismal but quickly stops himself from struggling, choosing to squeeze his eyes shut and chanting to himself that it will all be over soon. The king then pauses for a brief moment to stare hard at him before yanking him up by the hair, further messing up the tousled long tresses.

Forcing Jejung to straddle him this time by holding his neck and him everywhere, Yunho’s eyes is now filled with lust. Looks of desire is very familiar to Jejung since he sees it often, but coming from Yunho, it felt almost scary. There is a wild feel to the dark orbs as they penetrate his entire being, as if scrutinizing his body inch by inch.

Jejung felt but is relieved that his waistband still holds the lower part of his kimono in place. Praying that the waist band will hold out since there are some illegal items stored beneath those layers, the innocent prince does not know what Yunho is going to do involves mainly the lower body.

Yunho seems to notice Jejung’s consolation and immediately rips off the remaining waistband with his strong fingers. Tugging off the last fortress made of cloth and earning a gasp from the prince, a metal object together with two tiny bamboo vials was flung out and skittered across the wooden floor, hitting the stool nearby and sliding back to the bed.

Narrowing his eyes, the king reached over and picked them up. The first item is a small dagger. The intricate carvings of the sun and Yuchun’s initial did not escape his hawk like eyes even though arousal is already wreaking havoc in his brain and throughout his body. Crushing the mere two inches bamboo bottles, the king allowed the powder to pour out, dissipating with the small gust of wind circulating within the room.