In a faraway land, nestled in the middle of rivers and mountains, there lies a country that goes by the name, Luoyang. It was a beautiful country where people could go about their daily life with no fear of war arriving anytime soon.

The land was at peace or at least for now as everyone was still recovering from the Great War that happened five years ago. All of the countries had gotten together and signed a peace treaty, promising not to wage any war for the next five years. No one protested only because the loss they suffered was too immense, all of them needed to recoup.

However, the peace treaty was only effective for the next five years. Five years weren’t considered to be long but it wasn’t short either. At least, in the five years where they ceased fighting, they managed to recover from their loss. Now that the five years were coming to an end, each of them started to plot their next move.

They started to scheme whose borders should they breach, they started planning which city should they start targeting. All of them forgotten about the death and sacrifices that were made as they hungered for more.

Such was the nature of a human, they didn’t know how to be contend with what they have.

Sehun shielded his eyes from the sunlight before sheathing his sword back. He had been practicing for the past five hours but still, it wasn’t enough. He was a perfectionist, he demanded that from himself and from everyone else.

Nothing more and nothing less.

Despite the illusion of peace on the surface, this was still a harsh place to survive. He had received tip of that the other countries were making their moves. It was only a matter of time before someone decided to throw the world into chaos again.

Sehun didn’t have much time left, he needed everyone to be in their top condition. Being made the army commander at the age of sixteen, Sehun knew and understood loss better than anyone else. He had seen his friends, his mentors, his brothers died in front of him.

Each of them made a mark on him, he had never been able to sleep well at night. Waking up as sweat rolled down his forehead and unable to sleep anymore because he didn’t want to witness those deaths.

Therefore, he needed to have everyone to push themselves to their limits so each of them could minimise their risk in dying on the battlefield. If anyone were to ask him, he would rather that they didn’t participate in those senseless wars.

He rather that Luoyang stayed close off because they were rich and powerful enough by itself but no one asked. But even if they did, no one took the words of the most unfavoured son of the Emperor seriously.

“Your highness, it is time for you to get change.” One of his attendants informed him. “The Crown Prince’s wedding will be taking place in another two hours.”

 Sehun nodded as he headed toward his residence in the north part of the Palace. If possible, Sehun didn’t want to be in attendance because nothing hurt more than watching his beloved marrying his older brother.

That’s right, his brother’s bride was the woman who Sehun had loved for the past ten years but he was powerless to do anything to stop this marriage from happening. Then again, Ziyin had made her choice, she had decided that becoming the future empress was much more attractive than just being Sehun’s wife.

Of course, the title of future Empress definitely outweighed the title of army commander’s wife. Therefore, Sehun had let her go and wished for her happiness from the bottom of his heart. Ziyin was cruel, no doubt, but love wasn’t worth anything in this world that they lived in.

Looking at the girl who once had his heart in her hands, he wished the both of them well before following the palace maid who led him to his place in the banquet.

I hope that you find happiness, Ziyin.

Luhan felt the slap across his face and he tasted something metallic in his mouth, his hands were held by two other man and the man in front of him grabbed his hair, jerking his face up to face him.

“How many times have we been through this?” The man asked. “You are a slave and I expected you to behave like one.”

How laughable, the once noble Prince off Nanjing was reduced to a slave for anyone to degrade. The brand of the word slave on his arms were a reminder to Luhan as to how hard he had fallen. But he had his pride, he refused to bow down.

The defiance was clear in his eyes and the man hated it. Five years ago, in the Great War, the people of Nanjing had planned a revolt. Unable to fight back against the revolt as well as the war, Nanjing was captured by the revolt’s leader.

Luhan and his family were ordered by the current ruler to be sold into slavery. He still remembered the smell of the burning flesh as they branded him. To this very day, he still had nightmares at night.

But what did he do to deserve this? 

His father might be strict and unyielding but he did it for the good of his people. Yet despite everything that his father had done for Nanjing, the people plotted to kill him before overthrowing his reign.

It chilled him to his heart at how cruel people can be. Being the youngest son in the family, Luhan was sheltered by his father from the bloodshed and the politics. They had let him to paint, reciting poetry and Luhan had grew up in a safe and protected environment.

However, all of those were taken from him as they slayed his father in front of his eyes. His mother had joined his father soon after and the rest of his only brother were now being kept as captive in the deepest part of the castle and he had no idea what happened to his other sisters.

Luhan was truly all alone in this world, his world shattered like pieces of glass.

Placing his hand on his jaws, the man had squeezed it painfully. “I warned you that this is the last time. I am not going to be so kind the next time. Bring him down.”

Luhan was carried down to the dungeon, they threw him into the dark cell before locking the door. This was the punishment for those that dared to escape, they were all locked up in a room with no light.

The first time that he was thrown here, Luhan had been so afraid. He couldn’t tell how much time had passed and then there were the constant squeaking of mice. There was once or twice that he felt those mice running across his feet and it took everything in him to not beg to be let out.

Luhan closed his eyes as he lay down on the floor, shutting himself from everything as he willed time to pass.

It will pass, everything will be better tomorrow.

*an: double update for those who had missed the previous chapter, do refer back to it! this is something that i have come up with. honestly, i really like the idea of this where naive luhan grew up and sehun who suddenly wanted to be strong enough to protect luhan. did i mention how much i love ancient china stories? but i guess that this sort of fic will bored everyone? hmm, if i ever make this into a fic, will anyone be interested in reading it? 

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