Chapter 9

“On your right, Lieutenant!”

Luhan barely had the time to dodge the incoming attack before he noticed that the ground he was about to land is another trap. Series of thorn like shaped wood emerge beneath the ground. He could hear the resonating laugh of his assailant before disappearing somewhere.

“.”

 The pull of the gravity is strong especially if he’s free falling from a high place. Who gave away his location? He made sure that his feriel was concealed enough before the fight started. Did Jongin perhaps encounter a mind reader? Jongin’s the only who knew where he is. Calculating the damage he would receive if he continues his landing versus making last minute evasion, he decided he could handle the landing better considering that he would reveal his location more if he did the latter.

Surrounding himself with force field, Luhan braced himself with the incoming impact that didn’t happen. Jongin appeared right in time and whisked them away within seconds.

“That was close.” He could hear the younger panting form overexertion. They landed atop a tree branch few kilometres away from his previous location –much to Luhan’s dismay. “Sorry, they had a mind reader with them. Yixing’s captured.”

“What? How?” But Yixing was situated at the last of the race.

“I kind of scout everyone’s location before this started.” The tanned boy smiled sheepishly.

“Ugh.. You’re impossible Jongin.”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

If before Luhan had all hope to win this race, now it all vanished. This simulation turned out to be hard, harder than what they predicted. Their ‘first place’ would surely be snatched from them.

“Where is Zitao?” He tried to scan the area to monitor whose already leading. His previous location was five lines away from the goal. He supposed that division from Celes is currently leading.

“Uhm.. last time I saw him, he was six lines away. So amongst us, he’s the nearest to the center.”

Luhan nodded. This isn’t the time to be blaming each other. Because of Jongin’s teleportation, they were eight lines away. He wiped the wandering sweat off his forehead. Hours ago he would never thought he would be sweating like this. This all started as an easy game, an easy simulation to determine the rank of each divisions and a possibility of promotion (from yellow badge to red). And that is actually what they needed if they want their investigation to progress.

The rule of this simulation is simple. They were moved from those feriel infused training hall to the South’s forest. A change of scenery, that blue badge general commented. He did not know that this was actually pre-planned. They just have to reach the center of this forest first. Participant were scattered around the area and to determine the rank, lines were drawn across the whole forest. But while those feriel infused training room gives you a better view of who is your immediate enemy, this forest conceals it all. Like really, you have to heighten your senses since this is an all out war.

Jongin’s badge could really be helpful but the younger needs to see the place first (or at least be familiar with it) before he could teleport. As of now Jongin is still wandering around line 5 and below.

“Teleport me back to my previous place.”

“No. They already read all my moves. Yixing was captured when I tried to teleport him to line seven. They already had someone there waiting for us.”

“How is it possible?”

“They probably had marked me or something. That one badge holder from District Maria had that kind of power.”

Luhan grimaced. He can’t fully use his power in this kind of game since any suspicious movements will surely alert others of his position (flying rocks and trees isn’t exactly the ideal way). Reaching the center first is one goal. Preventing others from doing so is another. What’s more frustrating is that he’s not yet on the level of speaking with others on their minds. It’s another level of telekinesis that borderlines telepathy.

He did it with Xiumin before but now that he thought about it, it could just have been his imagination deeply rooted from his affections towards the ice mage.

“But we can’t just wait here and do nothing. It’s better to fight all out than cowardly wait for whose team wins.”

Jongin nodded and activates his badge. After three seconds, the familiar tree he was perched on earlier came to his sight. And as expected, without even a minute, five badge holders appear in front of them.

“We knew you’d return.”

Four of them immediately surround Jongin. So they really knew what Jongin can do. The other one that remains in front of him pull out a small dagger and position his other free hand at his back. Its Luhan’s first time seeing this kind of sword play.

“Come on. I won’t be using any power. Hand to hand, what do you say?”

Luhan refuses to believe there will be no power involved. Still he was a soldier and a soldier should never back down on a challenge. But he’s not that skilled on hand to hand combat, the result of that night back in Camp Uruha fresh on his mind. Yet, he can’t lose this fight. He pulled out his sword. Slightly glancing towards where Jongin was, he’s surprised to see the teleporter was missing.

“Attention here, Lieutenant.” He barely dodged the incoming attack, his robes receiving the damage. “Don’t worry we won’t kill your friend. It’s against the rules.”

Luhan knew that but hearing it directly from the other made him somehow calmed. Gripping his sword tightly, he rushed forward for an attack, other senses heightened for a possibility of a feriel infused attack.

--

Yixing isn’t sure if he’s lucky that he’s captured or not. For once, he did not know why his captors refused to eliminate him in the race. Instead they traded him to District Celes for information. Now, they were currently traversing the area inside Line Three, his arms and feet bounded by feriel shaped chains. It doesn’t hurt but it restrains him from using his badge. District Celes knew he was in advantage here in the forest since he control plants and plants here are alive.

The persons that captured him are huddled up front, discussing what would be their next move. One kept on stealing glances at him, probably deciding what to do with him also. He can’t be eliminated in this race yet. Now that they were given a chance to scout the forest outside the walls surrounding Capitol, they must use this chance wisely.

Testing the tightness of the chains, there is no possibility that he could summon plants. There could be at least a way to snapped this. Think Yixing! Moving his gaze around the area, hoping for something that could help him, he remembers something. Right! The scalpel that he used to cut the ice remnants of Xiumin’s badge on Zitao’s flesh, it could cut through feriel. The problem now is how to reach the secret pocket of his boots.

His flexibility would be tested. Glancing once more towards where his captors are, seeing that they are already engage in a heated discussion, the healer uses this to his advantage. Squatting down, he tried to reach the zipper of his right boots but since his wrists were tied at his back, he could only reach the sole of his boots. He needs to move his tied wrists to the front. He doubted he can bend his back backwards.

“Crap.”

Then, he looked around and spotted an uprooted tree few feet away from him. Sneakily walking towards it, feigning exhaustion while slumping down on the tree’s bulky trunk when one of his captors eyed him curiously, the other seemed to buy his alibi. Waiting for few minutes and at the same time calming his fast beating heart, he stretched his bounded feet perfectly aiming for that small twig to go into that equally small hole of his right boot’s zipper’s pull tab.

Smiling to himself while glancing upwards to where the others are, this time two of them watching him intently, he moved both his feet to the left, a move that looks like he’s just adjusting his back to get a comfortable spot on the trunk. He waited for the others to turn around again before glancing down at his feet. True enough, the zipper was pulled down.

“Perfect.”

Hastily removing his right boot, eager hands even though tied manage to grab it; the healer immediately peeled the insoles. Underneath it was the knife. Grabbing the knife, concealing it on the long sleeves of his clothes, he immediately put on his boot once again.

“Hey! What are you doing there?”

Glancing up, Yixing saw two of the biggest member of the group immediately walked towards him.

. Why do these handcuff so hard to cut?

The bigger of the two immediately grabbed his collar yanking him upwards, his boots falling off his feet in the process but he refused to stop cutting the chains. The one holding his collar doesn’t seemed to notice the fast movement behind the healer’s back.

“Check out his boots fast.”

The other one immediately grabbed his fallen boots.

“Nothing is here.”

“What is it?” the other one shouted at him while the other was frantically shouting towards his other members. “I told you we should eliminate him rather than trading him for information.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll eliminate him this instant.”

Before the bigger of the two could tore the emblem pinned on his left chest, Yixing already managed to cut down the chains. With a flick of his wrist, his badge activates and he immediately summoned roots from the ground, holding the one grabbing his collar immobile.

He could see the other members immediately flying down to where he is. He summoned vines to create a thick wall between them leaving him with the one still holding his boot.

“I really did not want to do this but I would like to have my boot back.” Before the other could activate his badge, Yixing had already sent a root to tear down the emblem pinned on his chest, effectively eliminating him from the race.

Bowing a little, Yixing walked away from the scene.

--

Knight of One – a marquise by the name of Kim Jun Su – had been serving the royal family for thirty six years. He first became the knight of a royalty at the age of fifteen. Now, fifty one years old, the marquise only wanted one thing, for this war to end and for Capitol to be emerged victorious. It would be easy if only he hadn’t known few of the Capitol’s deepest and darkest secret.  Still, fifty one years old, what he truly wanted is to erase the ghost of the Capitol’s past.

Walking in the bright hallways of the palace, bowing to a passing Duchess, the marquise still pondered where the Capitol went wrong. If he could go back forty years ago and if the Capitol had done the right thing back then, they would have no unfinished business until now.

Arriving at the King’s official library, where he was summoned minutes ago, Kim Jun Su felt a little bit excited. The time has finally come where they could finally get rid of the past.

“Your Excellency, this is Knight of One, Kim Jun Su. I have the report now.”

“Enter.” Came the soft yet authoritative voice from the inside. Grasping the brass knob, the knight let himself enter.

The King – Park Yoo Chun – comfortably sitting behind the comfort of his reading table was looking at him expectantly.

“What do you have for me Kim Jun Su?”

He knew the king since his childhood days. Serving for the royalty at the early age, Park Yoo Chun was once his comrade – playmate – if that word is still proper to use considering their rank. And if he would die, the Capitol’s secrets would die together with him.

“He was detained in Camp Cravat at District Silas for security.”

“What about the girl member?”

“She was brought here. Knight of Two is the one in charge for her. But that isn’t our problem now, Your Excellency. What do you suggest we do to him? This is the time to correct Capitol’s mistake forty years ago.”

The king seemed to ponder his suggestion for a while before finally speaking.

“How is he?”

Is he asking him how that traitor is? “He.. he doesn’t remember anything.”

The king raised a delicate brow.

“He doesn’t recognize me, his former knight.” He supplied.

“I doubted he would. It was a long time ago.”

“But still. Your Excellency if you won’t forget, I played a great part of ‘destroying’ him.”

The king smiled. “Of course I won’t forget. You did a very good job demoralizing him.”

“I suggest we’ll kill him.”

“That won’t be needed anymore.”

“Your Excellency, if I must ask, why?”

The king leaned into the chair and smirked.

“He became a threat from the moment he left the Capitol. Now that he’s captured, we could turn him into our own. Don’t forget he is a powerful mage capable of annihilating one army faction, my knight. If we could use his power, we could turn a side of this war into our favour.”

The marquise could see a new fire being lighted in the king’s eyes.

“You said that he doesn’t remember anything. Then, we would make him forget everything.”

--

Yixing knew he was still inside the area of line three but he doesn’t know how to get out from here or move to Line Two. He doesn’t even know which way is north or if he is currently heading west. South’s forest is wide – literally wide – and it doesn’t make sense since according to the book he’s stolen from that Earl’s daughter, the South forest located outside the wall is the smallest forest amongst the four.

Still walking aimlessly, the healer tried to observe the area. He already noticed this a while ago that the more he ventured forward the stronger the breeze he felt. And it’s strange, why would there be a strong breeze in this forest? Unless this part of the forest is located in a high altitude.

Wait what?

South’s forest has no cliff or whatsoever according to that terrain in the book! Willing his legs to move faster, Yixing followed where the strong breeze is coming. He noticed that the path he is following now seemed to have been a road before. His walking now turned into jogging which morphed into running.

There is something at the end of this trail!

Finally after minutes of shoving unnecessary branches and small plants in the way, the healer arrived at the … summit?

Gaze moving forward to more than what his feet could take him, the healer had his breathing faltered, heart stopping for a moment before accelerating its beating twice than normal.

Few meters away from him is a beautiful ruins of a Manor.

“..how in the?”

Feet, as if it has its own mind walked slowly towards the thundering gate. The Manor was dilapidated, the gate looked like it only needed few more rust to collapse, yet he would never deny the trace of elegance, dare he say royalty, lingering in the whole mansion.

Immediately, eyes roaming for that seal, that emblem that would give away the identity of the owner of the Manor, Yixing felt himself having goose bumps. Right at the middle part of the gate, where the two metals joined is the equally elegant markings of Xen Language. He can’t read it but he knew those symbols are from the language of royalty.

What did a Manor, which obviously owned by a royalty, doing in the middle of the forest? And why it not included in the maps shown in the book?

Before he could push aside the gate, a loud explosion was heard followed by a green smoke coloring the sky. Someone had finally won the race. That is only time he remembered that he is actually a participant of this simulation and judging from the color of the smoke, District Maria won the race. Seconds later, a black smoke was seen signalling that the participants of the simulation must gather at the entrance of the South Gate.

Tying a twig to the gate, Yixing left a trail of his feriel on it. He would definitely return here and investigate more.

--

Yixing had the urge to clamp a hand on his ears as they walked back to their quarters. Zitao had been whining to him since they met at the South Gate.

‘We could have won ge. But you weren’t there. We passed by the members of District Celes and we saw your vines. But where were you? We had to wait for you at Line One until District Maria came together with all their members.’

He managed to stay shut all the time, from their ride from the gate to South Central because he was afraid he would suddenly blurt out what he saw in the forest. Now in the confines of their room, the healer immediately relayed the events that took place in the forest.

Luhan was ecstatic to hear the news and the healer was glad someone shares the same sentiment as him. The oldest of them immediately requested Jongin to teleport them back to the forest later this evening which the younger strongly disagree.

‘Hyung, are you insane? What you’re telling me to do is to break a law!’

Zitao was surprisingly, for the first time, was on Jongin’s side. But Luhan was anything but stubborn. He managed to get Jongin to agree that in the very least the younger would just get them back to the forest and leave them to their own devices. It doesn’t matter to Yixing since he already left a trail of his feriel on the twig he tied on the gate.

So at exactly ten in the evening he and Luhan found themselves at the entrance of the Manor.

--

"I think you've have mistaken something, monsieur. This manor had no master for almost forty years."

That were the first words that the caretaker – surprisingly there was actually a caretaker – said to them. When they get past the gate with minor difficulties and found the entrance door after crossing two court yards open, both of them did not expect an old man waiting for them at the Manor’s Great Hall.

“Excuse me?”

No master? It would explain the condition of the place. Torn draperies, faded wall paints, askew furniture and malfunctioning chandeliers. But why?

"Then.. the painting at the Great Hall. It was a man. Was he the former owner of this house?”

Instead of answering the question, the caretaker sighed deeply as if he had already heard this question thousands of times.

"May I ask, monsieur, if you won't mind but why are you interested in this nearly worn down Manor if you had come from the Capitol yourselves?"

Yixing and Luhan exchanged looks. They didn't really know. Why are they so bent over discovering Capitol's past, on unravelling something, anything that is not seen by everyone?

"We really don't know.” Luhan confessed. “But I think that this is the only way, if we could ever learn what this is, would make us fully trust Capitol."

"You don't trust Capitol?"

"Could we really?" Luhan questioned back. "It's not that we can't trust them. It's more of we don't want to trust them. We're currently in a war but we don't even know whose side is right. There are so many contradicting theories. One of the biggest mysteries would be this."

Luhan looked at the caretaker with careful eyes anything that would give away his identity. He refused to believe that he was just a commoner tasked to house the abandoned place.

"Why is a house of royalty located in the middle of the forest, abandoned?"

"But this is not a royalty's house, monsieur."

Yixing looked exasperated at the man's attempt to show innocence.

"The markings of Xen Language can't lie." The healer hissed pointedly the same time the other's eyes widened.

"How do you know it was the Xen Language?" The caretaker's reaction was fast after realizing that he already gave himself away. Looking away and walking towards an open drapery, he pulled it close.

"Please, monsieur. We'd do anything. Just give us a chance to hear what the story behind this Manor is?"

"You won't even understand if I'll tell you. The story happened forty years ago. You're not even born at that time."

If Luhan thought he would have to argue again maybe beg this time, he was proven wrong at the man's next words.

"Let's proceed to the library, even the forest have ears."

Yixing and Luhan nodded. The man had put off the single fire – the candle – that is only when the two of them realize the eerie beauty of the manor illuminated only by the full moon.

The library was actually a basement. It was surprisingly organized a pure contrast to the look of the Great Hall.

"This is where I stay. This houses memoirs and data dated back forty years ago and older. I hoped I could answer all your questions monsieur."

They were gestured to a three person sofa while the other sat in front of them on a lone chair.

"I'm sorry I don't have anything to offer to you tonight. I didn't expect any visitor since twenty years ago."

"It's alright. We we're also sorry for barging in." Yixing tried to compromise.

"I think we're already past that stage, monsieur." The man gave them a small smile. "So what would you like to know?"

"We would like to know your name and ... well are you a royalty also?" The question had the man laughing.

"I'm sorry.” He composed himself. “But if you had asked me that question forty years ago, I would probably say, 'I would like to'. But no, I'm not a royalty. My name is Seho and I've been serving the royal family particularly the one living in this manor since I was born. My father worked in the stable. I was born inside the estate and eventually succeeded my father's job."

"Then the man on the portrait hung at the entrance of the hall is your master. What was he? A prince, perhaps."

Seho leaned back on his seat, a faraway look in his eyes.

"A prince you say? I guess we're starting the story telling the wrong way. Would you mind if I restart?"

Both exchanged looks.

"We… uhm don’t mind.”

Seho gave them a knowing look before standing up and walked towards a shelf. “This manor is called Svein Manor. And yes, it’s true that the family that once lived here were royalties. You could say that this was the original palace.”

“Palace? You mean the Capitol’s Central isn’t the real one?” Yixing bugged his eyes. But.. but this was in the middle of the forest?!

“Ah, no. Not literally. The lineage of the royal family were all born and raised in this estate, you see.” Seho returned with a thick book on hand, “This is the family tree”, pointing to an illustration in the book. “Say, monsieur have you taken a look of what is behind this estate?”

Luhan pondered on the question. Well isn’t it obvious. “The South Wall.”

Seho nodded. “Which is supposedly not there.”

“Huh?” then it all clicked.

“The wall was rebuilt.” Yixing was fast to realize. Now it all made sense, of why suddenly South forest became wide when in the statistics (illustrated in the book they stole) South forest has the smallest area.

“Wait I don’t understand.”

“Remember Luhan, when I told you that there is no possibility that a Manor would be built inside South Forest because the size of the forest itself could equate to the size of an estate.”

Luhan blinked.

“Your companion is right, monsieur. The wall was rebuilt with the sole purpose of cutting out this Manor. The agricultural land part of the estate had slowly become part of the South Forest and that the only remaining trace of royalty was the Manor House itself.”

“But.. but why cut out this Manor? What exactly happened forty years ago?”

Seho sighed deeply, an obvious and lingering despair of having to retell a story the man did not even want to remember.

“Forty years ago, The Reaping happened.”

There was a moment of silence and only the sound of pages being turned is heard.

“Here, she is the real master of this manor. Lady Ji Hyo, the first Knight of One.”

In the picture was a portrait of a very beautiful woman in an elegant imperial gown, a white and gold badge adorning the sash tied across her chest.

“But she was a Capitol Knight.” Luhan argued.

“Yes. After The Reaping happened, she was reinstated as a Capitol Knight.” Seho close the book and stare at them directly in the eyes. “You see monsieur, there is a reason why it was called The Reaping. It was at that time the lineage of the royal family was changed.”

Both of them could only stare. “Let me elaborate for you.” Seho stands up once again and this time walk to a nearby wall where a portrait of what looked like the royal family lineage was hung.

“The royal family had been following strict tradition. And you already both knew what it was. The eldest child would succeed the throne for every generation. This isn’t really hard to follow until the Lady’s mother gave birth to a twin.”

“And is that wrong?”

“No one knows. But nothing like this ever happened before. The royal family who had been the one to control the badge to power up the artificial sun believes that it was a taboo to have twins in the family. They believe it would disrupt the flow of feriel and that the twins would halve the badge’s ability. The lady was the first to be born. It wasn’t really a problem. She could still inherit the throne. But what would Capitol really do to a child who can’t even activate a badge?”

“She can’t?”

“Sadly, yes. It’s already enough that she was a girl; it became worse when the Lady has no ability to control feriel. The royal family was afraid that if the one who will succeed the next throne would come from her blood, the royal family’s dignity would be stained. What if her child can’t also activate badge.”

Luhan could see the despair mixed with anger on Seho’s voice.

“And so the younger twin was crowned the heir. To get rid of the ‘stain’ of the royalty, the council had suggested not introducing the Lady to the public but the Queen didn’t agree to it. She was still introduced to the public as the first princess of that generation. She was married to a Duke, the man that you are telling earlier monsieur. The Lady had already resigned to her fate and instead swore to protect the royal family as the first Knight in One. But fate works cruelly for her.”

“The Lady was the first one to produce a child, her younger twin still heirless and the council saw this as another threat. And so after much deliberation, she was still demoted to an Imperial Lady. The Manor in which the oldest child would inherit was cut off from the Capitol Central. Wall Niche was rebuilt and portrait and pictures of The Lady were all burned.”

“So that is the reason why we couldn’t see any portrait of her here.” Yixing supplied.

But Luhan has another concern. “What about her child?”

Seho’s eyes glazed over, once again that distant and faraway look on his face. “Young master was the kindest boy I’ve ever met. Just like her mother. If only he hasn’t died, he would probably the king right now, raising a heir like a good father he would be.”

“Her children died.” Luhan repeated.

But then suddenly there was a pure hatred swimming in the old man’s eyes.”

“He didn’t die! The Lady’s family were massacred.” Seho pounded a fist on the wall. “They killed the Lady, her children, and even the kind Duke. My own eyes saw all of it.”

“Who? Who killed them? Please tell us, monsieur.”

Seho let out an empty laugh. “I would like to believe it was the Capitol who ordered the killing but the Queen.. the King.. they can’t do this on their own child right? The one who attacked the Lady’s family were dressed in black robes and black mask. They had a red rose as a badge. After that, the people who lived inside the estate were transferred inside Capitol and the once proud Svein Manor was forgotten in the course of time.”

Luhan remembered the state of the Manor when he first saw it. And yes indeed, forgotten in the course of time.

--

Despite the earlier claim of Jongin, the younger still fetched them an hour after Seho finished telling them the story of the Svein Manor. Luhan was glad that they had manage to reach this far. One puzzle piece was solved. So the lineage of the royalty today had come from the younger twin. The Capitol itself has its own ‘dark secrets’.

“Who do you think killed Lady Ji Hyo?” the healer looked up at him from the book his reading. They are back to their quarter, the two youngster already deep in their sleep. Surprisingly Jongin and even the nosy Zitao hadn’t asked them what happened.

“The proper question is why are they killed? Is demoting a royalty to an Imperial Lady more or less a Capitol Knight not enough? There is a bigger picture here that we haven’t yet discovered, Xing. And I want to know what that is.”

The healer sighed. “Honestly I wanted to know too. Monsieur Seho said that they were killed by people wearing robes and black mask.”

Luhan nodded. “Yes, that is one of the most critical information we learned today.”

“And don’t forget that they’re badge is a red..

Yixing’s eyes widened in realization. For the second time that day, the healer had goose bumps.

“..rose..”

“Yeah, that too.”

“Luhan! A red rose as a badge.”

“Yes I heard it too.”

“No. Luhan. A red rose.” Yixing forced the older to look directly at his eyes. Luhan blinked twice before his eyes also widening.

And came his breathless whisper.

“..Masquerade…”

A/N: 

DUN DUN DUN DUN.. Many secrets have been revealed as well as characters. I would advise to take extra care on noting those characters. Who knows, maybe they are related to Xiumin?

And oh.. The King is planning on erasing Xiu’s memory. What about Luhan, Minseok. You can’t just forget him. (My cousin said I’m weird for getting excited about this story when I exactly knew what would happen next.. hahaha) Next chapter would be an update on Xiumin’s prisoner’s status. Stay tuned until then. Bai! ^^

Thank you for all those who subscribed and commented. I love you all.

Disclaimer: Knights of the Round Table were characters in the legends about King Arthur. They were called like that because of a special table that was round instead of rectangular which meant that everyone who sat around it was seen as equal. (This is where I borrow my ‘Knights of Rounds’ concept. ^^)