There was no early morning chirping of birds to wake Luhan up this morning. All that was present was silence and then a loud bang, and Luhan woke up with a gasp, trembling in his covers as he turned to see Yixing already up, opening the windows as he allowed a slight breeze to waft through the room, hair tousled as he turned to give Luhan an amused smile and a snarky “That was for bursting in on Yifan and I unannounced.”

“You er.” Luhan merely replied in return as he waited until his heartbeat returned to normal, then got up, running his fingers through his hair though he admitted grudgingly moments later “I mean, I had to get up at this time anyways but still—“

“You’re welcome.” Yixing merely smiled sweetly before he tapping the window lightly “Anyways, I’m guessing by now your room is ready, you should probably get there quickly, you don’t have much time till you’re due to see the king and have Yifan give you and the other newcomers of the court the talk about the dos and don’ts of the court. And make sure you pay attention Lu,” Yixing’s voice suddenly took on a much darker tone “The court is not what you remembered it to be.”

“I understand.” Luhan simply replied, giving the other a warm smile as thanks for his worry before Luhan added, tilting his head. “If I need you throughout the day at any point, where can I find you?”

“Usually I’m with Sehun and the other nobles.” Yixing responded, picking at his shirt before his lips curled into a gentle smile “But today I’ll be working in the palace hospital. If you ever need me, you can come find me there, though if you need me for anything I will presume it is not oh…pleasant.”

“What if I just wanted to come to you to ask how your day went?” Luhan shot back teasingly, eyes glinting with playfulness which merely caused Yixing to shake his head.

“That’s not like you Lu.” He simply replied and for a moment Luhan was stunned before a wide smile spread across his face and he let out a peal of laughter.

“Oh how well you know me.” Luhan smiled, heading towards the door to Yixing’s room as he bid the other a soft goodbye before he stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind him before he repeated again, too soft for anyone but himself to hear “Oh how well you know me.” Heading down the hallway to where the guest rooms would be, Luhan allowed himself for a moment to be in awe at how the court seemed to function. It had been too long, since he’d seen this much excitement in the mornings. At night it had been silent, not even a soul outside wandering the halls, but now maids and butlers hurried about as noblemen and noblewomen began to rise, getting ready for their walks as they chattered and gossiped together. As much as Luhan hated to admit it, he had kind of missed this, missed the excitement of being in the court. Turning the corner to the guest rooms, the rooms for the noblemen who served the king, Luhan merely pulled out the letter designating his arrival and his room, approaching the number that matched the one on the paper as he pushed it open, smiling lightly as he realized that all his belongings had already arrived. He hadn’t brought much, only the necessities which happened to be nearly his whole wardrobe of clothes. This, he had thought, was what was required at the court and he hadn’t been wrong. The court was even more extravagant than what he remembered.

Slipping in the room, Luhan quickly closed the door behind him as he opted to slip out of his traveling gear, instead putting on a simple silken shirt, a pair of pants and boots before he slipped on a long waistcoat before taking time to sit and clean the sword that he had carried in its sheath when he had been traveling. Technically, he was not allowed to carry a weapon in the king’s presence and he wasn’t willing to bargain trying, especially when the king was Sehun. Nevertheless, he had a feeling that he would be needing the sword soon, and after a good hour of cleaning it shone like when Luhan had first received it. Finally, after getting his room into order, the young noble retracted from his waistcoat a timepiece, which he examined lightly before he deemed that it was time to go, and with a sort of rusty grace he hurried along. He hated these clothes, he always had, but in the court, this was what he had to wear to fit in, to blend and to be accepted. At least Sehun had not adopted the biggest fashion trend in Europe, at least the king hadn’t made his subjects wear those itchy wigs. Besides, Luhan liked Sehun’s hair the way it was or at least the way that he remembered it, he had liked Sehun the way he had remembered him, the way Sehun had been before the change. When Luhan arrived in front of the king’s hall, he was startled to find Yifan waiting for him. Yifan, who fixed his all-seeing eyes on Luhan, seeming to examine every part of the boy for a fault before he merely nodded, uttering a stern “Fix your hair.”, before turning away as he waited for the other young nobles to arrive. Luhan, surprisingly, was one of the early ones though he had been just on time. The other young boys and noblemen alike who were late merely received a glare and a hard snap before Yifan went about examining them like he had done with Luhan and the young noble as not at all surprised at the faults Yifan found in them. They of course, had not grown up in the court like Luhan had. Finally, done with his thorough examination, Yifan headed to stand in front of the boys in front of him, snapping out a harsh and yet amused.

“Welcome to the court. I am Earl Wufan. As you can already see, the court is not a friendly place and it is not my job to baby you but to merely make sure you are prepared for the world you are to enter. There will be no coddling and all rules that are stated must be followed. No exceptions are tolerated. Do I make myself clear?”

A wave of nods, even from Luhan, who found himself admiring that while Yifan seemed harsh and cold, there was no way that Sehun had instructed him to do this. Yifan had taken this upon himself because something had changed, something that made Yifan needed to do such a job like this.

“You have three strikes in this court. If you disobey commands three times, you will be asked, not kindly, but asked, to leave. At this point, your name will perhaps be so dirtied that leaving, in a sense, will be a relief. So watch your step, this court is not friendly. Now, the rules.” Yifan paused for a moment, seeming to gather his breath as he listed off “You will be instructed to help the king and accompany him to whatever he wishes to do. Whether he instructs you to wash his feet, hold his robe, or play a game of chess with him, you must do what he says. The king will not tolerate disobedience. The punishment, depending on the mood of our—good king could even be death. You will hunt with him if he asks you to, and you will sit through whatever he wants you to. Do not overstep your boundaries and watch your words. There will also be no toleration of affairs or whatnot in the court, this stands for all in the court and if you are caught you will be immediately punished. Also, you are expected to bathe three times a week, look orderly and polite when you are in the court and know the manners of the court. This is no game.” Yifan growled, nearly smacking a boy who seemed like he was about to fall asleep “Insubordination can very well lead to death here, watch your step.” Falling silent, Yifan allowed the boys to understand the gravity of his words before he added, softly “The king wishes to see you all now. You will all be sent in one after another so the king and his court may witness you and judge you for what you are. One misstep and you could easily fall out of the king’s favor before you even gained it. Be careful, now you, go.” Lightly, he pushed a boy forward before gesturing to Luhan, murmuring a soft “You, you’ll go last.”

And so, Luhan sat, watching all the boys go before. Where they went after the courtroom was questionable, no boy came out the way that he went in, but Luhan could tell that Yifan was worried, worried about all their well-beings which was a surprising gesture of warmth in the court like this. “You—are Luhan are you not?” Yifan finally questioned Luhan, after it was nearly his time to go. The man managed to keep his voice quiet enough only for Luhan to hear, not wanting to rouse suspicion before the other had even given the king an impression. “You used to be friends with Sehun—don’t look like that, I was there when you sent Yixing letters.”

“How much do you know about me?” Luhan merely replied, suspicious as he narrowed his eyes.

“Everything basically.” Yifan admitted after a moment of silence “Who else could Yixing talk to when he had lost you in the court? There was only me. But let me tell you, I wouldn’t betray Yixing and therefore, wouldn’t betray you for a single penny, your secrets and your past are safe with me, but perhaps Yixing’s warned you already but this court is not what it used to be, it’s not safe anymore.” The final nobleman went through the door.

“I know.” Luhan replied, running his fingers through his hair, irritated “I know, you and Yixing have told me this but I have to do this, I have to make things right. Somehow, I’ll gain the king’s favor and fix everything.” There was a hint of desperation in Luhan’s voice and for a moment Yifan looked like he was going to object, but he merely nodded, letting out a deep sigh as he smiled tightly.

“Good luck then Luhan. And I hope you come out of there holding yourself up as you do now. Perhaps, then, we can be friends. You are after all, close to my age.” Luhan hadn’t even noticed how young Yifan was, the tiredness had carved lines in his face, making him seem much older and much wiser than Luhan.

“Thank you.” Luhan merely murmured as he stood, heading towards the door before he turned to give Yifan a sad smile “And I hope so too.”

And with that, Luhan took a deep breath and gripped the jewel studded doors, opening them as he took his first steps towards his past and his future. 

AN: Wow 30 subs already? That's pretty awesome! <3 You guys are all awesome c: Anyways, again, sorry for the late update, I had badminton yesterday and did 800 jumps with a jump rope and ew. Next chapter I think will be a lot more interesting then this one, this one again, was more of setting the scene and showing court life which is well--as of now, not really happy as you can all see. Enjoy! <3