~ Jiao Lin’s POV ~

It was finally time for me to meet the king; I had to wait until he felt better since he had been sick. We’ve only stayed for one night so far and I still haven’t accustomed yet. The servants wouldn’t leave me alone for even a minute, following me everywhere. Well not into the bathroom though, after a lot of protests from me that is.
 

One of the servants showed me and Zi Tao the way to the royal chamber, where the king spent most of his time in. Everything looked so grand and even though this palace wasn’t as decorated as ours, it was still magnificent. The walls were decorated with several small dragon ornaments, golden and silver in color, placed in well planned spots.
 

When we arrived inside the royal chamber I looked around, noticing that one of the walls was draped with a black fabric. It looked a bit odd to be honest; it almost looked like it was there to hide something. Even though it sparked my interest, I knew that it would be inappropriate to examine it; instead I just sighed and continued forward until I stood in front of the king who sat in his armchair with his legs across. Both me and Zi Tao bowed deeply, showing our respects to the king.

“I’ve been expecting you.” He spoke with a sparkle in his eyes. And then he winked at me. I looked at him with wide eyes, a bit confused at why he would wink at me like that. It felt a bit scary…
 

“What?” I asked carefully as to not sound rude or something. He only laughed out happily.
 

“You must be Jiao Lin, and who is this?” He nodded towards the one standing on my side. “Is it your bodyguard?”
 

“Oh, that’s right, this is Zi Tao.” I answered and Zi Tao bowed once again. The king smiled brightly at us.
 

“Welcome! I’m Wu Jia Long.” He introduced himself before continuing. “You must have heard a lot about me from your father right?”
 

“Well, actually-“ I began but got interrupted.
 

“How was the trip? Do you feel comfortable here?” He questioned while receiving a book from one of the maids, looking through it hastily until he stopped at a certain page.
 

“Ehm, the trip was-“
 

“How do you think about my son so far? Do you like him?” Jia Long interrupted once again with new questions, still concentrating on the page he was reading. With raised eyebrows did I look at Zi Tao, who also looked a bit puzzled.
 

“Well…” I started, afraid that I would get interrupted again but the king was silent this time. “I don’t know really… not to sound rude but… he’s a bit… strange?” I hesitantly said, nervously glancing at the king. He suddenly smiled towards me.
 

“You think? Hmm…” He pondered for a short while. “In what way do you think that?” He asked and returned to reading his book. I was quiet as I thought about how to answer his sudden question about his son. I swallowed nervously.
 

“About that…”
 

“I actually wanted to ask you for a favor.” He asked out of the blue, not letting me finish my sentence for the third time. He pulled gently on his beard, looking at me with narrowed eyes. “I need help with my eldest son.”
 

What could he possibly need help with? Especially from me…

“I’ve heard a lot about you from your father, we’ve been friends for a long time. As you probably already know, we’re actually best friends to be exact.” He said happily. “We met when we were 4 years old, we were always together. No one could ever separate us, sneaking out in the middle of the night and-“
 

“Excuse me, but the favor…” One of the servants interrupted the king’s speech, earning a surprised look.
 

“Oh right…” Jia Long cleared his throat. “The favor…” He turned serious. “I need your help.”
 

“You have already said that.” The same servant calmly stated. Once again, the king looked at him in surprise, his eyes wide. Both me and Zi Tao stared at the two men in front of us. The king seems so… talkative and… forgetful…
 

“Right…” It was silent again. “I need your help with my son, well… It’s like this; he’s really jealous of his younger brother and would need someone to help him point out his good points, his talents and so on. It’s just that he won’t listen to me or the servants. He may not be as smart as his brother, but he’s really a great fighter and he’s strong too.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “He has won over many great fighters but he still wants to be better than Yi Fan in other ways too.”
 

I thought about it for a minute or so before speaking. “So… what exactly do you want me to do?”
 

“I want you to be Li Yuan’s private tutor. You don’t have to teach him every subject though, just foreign language and music. Or maybe it’s better with math?” He nodded while thinking.
 

“I’m not that good in math though… I think the two you mentioned first would be better…” I carefully said, not wanting to make the king angry or irritated. “But-“
 

“Then that will be it!” He interrupted just as I was about to tell him that I rather not be his son’s tutor.
 

“But-“
 

“I’ll let someone tell him right away. You can start on Friday right?” He continued, ignoring my protests.
 

“Ah, but I really-“
 

“Then it’s a deal. Oh! And there’s going to be a party that evening too, so I’ll make sure someone helps you with picking out a dress. Since my eldest son doesn’t like dragons we have to think about it carefully, it’s enough with the ornaments and such in the palace. Since you’re going to be his wife and queen in the future, we can’t have you associated with anything that has to do with dragons. It’s such a sad thing…” The king finished with a sad look but soon his face showed happiness again.

I stood there dumbfounded and didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t even say anything. Zi Tao had been quiet this whole time, standing straight by my side with a somewhat confused expression. He didn’t seem to like the idea of me tutoring Li Yuan either. But I can’t refuse it now.
 

“Why doesn’t Li Yuan like dragons?” I asked curiously. I had noticed the crown prince’s disgusted look at the party that took place a few days ago, the first time I met him. I do remember that I did wear a dress with dragon embroidery on it…
 

“Eh? Ah, that… it’s a complicated story. It’s probably better if he told it himself. It’s a quite sensitive matter so you better not ask him about it though. Our family is known to have a connection with dragons, but something unfortunate occurred though…” He trailed off, realizing that he was about to tell me the truth instead of letting Li Yuan tell me. “I’m sorry, but we’ll talk about it another time.”
 

I nodded understandingly, even though it had made me very interested to know more right now. But I held it back, not wanting to be impolite. After thinking about it for a second time I realized something. If I marry Li Yuan, then I won’t be able to do anything related to dragons! I won’t be able to read about them, much less talk about them… I won’t even be able to try and see one for real…
 

And just thinking about teaching Li Yuan both foreign language and music didn’t make it better, my hope of getting out of this mess shrunk quite a bit. At least I know I have Zi Tao and the rest on my side, who could probably help me with this problem… Hopefully…

~ Yi Xing’s POV ~

After sleeping until late, I finally got out of bed. I got dressed and heard my stomach growl loudly. I patted my stomach lightly as if that would make it better… I guess it’s better to just go to the kitchen then and see if there’s something to eat, maybe Jiao Lin can keep me company?
 

But… didn’t she say something about being busy today? Or is it just my imagination? Hmm… But I’m pretty sure it was something important…
 

“Ouch!” I accidentally bumped into the wall on my way out of the room, hitting my elbow against the door frame. “Aish…” It’s typical me to not look where I’m going. I rubbed my elbow that hurt a lot now. I walked out of the room, making sure not to walk into the door or anything else.

Instead, I bumped into someone quite taller than me. “Sorry!” I said out loud and looked up to see someone I haven’t seen before. The guy had light brownish hair and a cold look on his face. He glared at me at first and I felt goose bumps all over my body, his eyes narrowed at me suspiciously.
 

“Who are you?” He asked calmly and furrowed his eyebrows. And I couldn’t help but stare at him confused.
 

“That’s my question… Who are you?” I started but just got a glare from the tall guy in front of me. “I mean… My name is… Yi Xing.” I hesitantly answered but let a small smile show on my face.
 

“And?” He questioned right after, making me more confused.  
 

“What…? Oh! I’m a healer, I’m here with the princess.” I let out happily. And now it was his time to be confused.
 

“What princess? There’s no princess in this kingdom…” He said thoughtfully.
 

“Oh no, not here but from the Xia Palace! I’m here with Xia Jiao Lin… and her bodyguard of course!” I continued cheerfully, a bigger smile spread on my face when thinking about my companions. “But, who are you?”
 

“Me?” He simply asked and I nodded. “I’m Wu Yi Fan… the younger prince…” He quietly answered and looked away. It took a while before I grasped what he had said and my smile slowly faded.
 

“What? You’re who?” I asked both surprised and puzzled. “Prince? But… What about Li Yuan then?”
 

“Yes, I’m a prince. I’m his younger brother…” He trailed off but looked at me with furrowed eyebrows. He doesn’t seem that happy about it; it looked like he was sad actually…
 

“You don’t seem happy, did something happen? You don’t like your brother?” I asked without thinking and hurriedly covered my mouth with one hand. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to-“
 

“No. I do like my brother, it’s just that… he doesn’t seem to… like me…” He answered weakly and narrowed his eyes again. “It was nice meeting you, Yi Xing.” He said and then walked away, leaving me there in shock.
 

What did he mean by that?