GENTLE REMINDER: I haven't finished proofreading this, but since I will have no access to internet until 2 days later, I just put this up first...

Edited 11/12/16: I proofread half of the chapter, but still...

Years passed...

Prince Jongin has blossomed from a cute little boy to a tall, handsome young man; skin slightly tan thanks to the enormous amount of training he did outside the castle, baby fats all gone. With his sharp jaw, wide shoulders, thin hip and lean body, no one can resist casting a glance or two at the Prince, man or woman. He still spoke as little as possible and may appear cold at the first glance but one thing remained on the young Prince; his brown orbs, which are still watching every citizen of Stella with kindness and compassion.

Not only his appearance shone as time passed, Prince Jongin also boasts skills in literature, archery and sword fighting. He is a beast when it comes to combat; gone are his soft brown eyes, replaced by two ice cold, dark orbs whenever he yield a sword or a lance in his hand. He excelled in speed and accuracy and even managed to defeat Yifan, who is far more experienced in the battlefield. Even though he never injured any of his training partners before, most of the soldiers will politely refuse to be his training partner due to sheer fear but one soldier remained at his side as his training partner, bearing the skills that are on par with the Prince.

And lots of soldiers gathered around whenever the Prince and his training partner trained, for their training was so intense you can feel the fiery passion even from the spectator seat…

Swords clashing fiercely on the training ground as two young men fought gallantly, armors clanking with every movement they made...

Even the Queen has made an appearance on the training ground; her face is slightly older and wrinkles are gracing her face, but she still looked as beautiful as she was in her youth…

The Queen smiled as she settled down on the Royal Seat, facing the training ground as she watched the two young men intently. A lot had happened as she watched Jongin grew up; Yifan quitting the Army after he deemed Zitao is worthy enough to lead the Army, several wars fought and won, the special alliance between Stella, Terra and Aqua. It was a hard time, she concluded, but it was bearable, especially with Prince Jongin around, and even though Yifan is no longer the Captain, he is still around the castle as her personal advisor and Jongin’s teacher.

The new Captain watched the brawl between the Prince and the Second Captain of Stella Army with a smile; the battle between the two has been going on for 2 hours, but it seemed like neither men wanted to back down...

He has been appointed as the judge for the battle, but he knew the two does not need a judge for their match, but they appointed him anyway for fairness’ sake…

At last a loud clunk can be heard; a sword flew into the sky as the owner fell to the ground, and the Captain let out a loud whistle...

“The sparring is over, and the winner is Baekhyun! And now the score is...531 to 532, with Baekhyun leading!!!”

The Prince slowly pushed himself up, scowling fiercely. “Do you really have to rub it to my face like that, Zitao? It’s just an accident; I lost concentration during the fight...”

Fumes can be seen coming out of the Prince’s ears as he plopped in front of Zitao, scowling hard. The Captain, who didn’t even flinch at the Prince’s anger, handed him a water bottle with a soft laugh, making Jongin scowled even harder. The winner of the brawl walked towards them with a wide grin, which grew wider as he clasped eyes on the scowling Prince.

“Come on, Jongin, you have to change the way you swung your sword; you have this weird habit of turning your wrists every time you charged forward, making it easy to read your movement, Jongin....”

“Shut up, Baekhyun. You know that because you’re always practicing with me, and you’re too fast and nimble to watch and plan your next attack...”

“Really? Here I am, thinking that I am some sort of a genius or something...”

The three men laughed happily, which makes the Queen who sat near them smiled too...

Ever since Baekhyun came, the three men have been training together under the watchful eyes of Yifan. Even though Zitao is actually 10 years older than Jongin, the three got along very well; since Zitao got busy training the new recruits after being promoted to Captain, Jongin was left alone with Baekhyun, and it spurred the competitiveness between the two men. The two will fight for anything, everything; Zitao will be the last judge of their fight, and the Captain is also responsible to keep track of the number of scores between the two.

Baekhyun has been promoted to the Second Captain of Stella Army after the departure of Yifan, and no one doubts the skills of the young man; he is fast and nimble, and possessed a wide mastery of every single weapon in their armory. He can even pick up a random stone and shoot an apple from 30 meters away; making the Prince who stood at his side with a bow gaped like a goldfish out of water, much to the Prnice’s embarrassment. But then, archery is always Baekhyun’s skill, in Jongin’s opinion; a flying brick that hits a mage’s head is the living proof of that.

The Queen slowly puts down her knitting, smiling as she raised her head a little, eyes watching the three men...

“My Prince...if I can make you something, what color do you prefer it would be?”

The Prince turned his head sharply; face glowing as he went to the Queen’s side with a child-like grin...

“Are you talking about sweaters, my Queen? I would love a new sweater; my last sweater shrunk and it can’t possibly fit me anymore...oh yeah, I should pawn it off to Baekhyun one of these days...”

“Excuse YOU, my Prince...it is not my fault when you have the widest shoulders of the entire Stella Army. And why should I wear your ill fitting sweater? I want a new sweater too, my Queen...”

The Queen gave a soft chuckle as she carefully folded the knitting needles on her lap; watching the two men bicker like kids in front of her...

“No, I do not mean sweaters; you know I made the sweaters using any color I can have my hands on...it’s just...something...”

“Aww...why are you keeping secrets from us, Mother...umm...I think if I can pick a color, it would be a royal blue...”

“Royal blue?”

“My first sweater you’ve made me is royal blue and gold, isn’t it? I loved the combination of the two colors”

“Sentimental enough, my Prince? My pick would be...fiery red, my Queen. Just like my burning passion”

The Prince gave a snort; and it wasn’t long before the two starts bickering again...

The Queen said nothing; but her smile remained as she left the training ground, bringing her knitting with her...

**********

It was about a month before Prince Jongin’s 20th birthday when he was summoned to the Royal Chamber while he was practicing his archery skills with Baekhyun. Jongin frowned as he watched the messenger left; he hates it when people disturb his practice time, and the Queen, of all people, should know this. What makes him even more puzzled is that he isn’t allowed to bring Baekhyun with him when the Second Captain is practically attached to his hips from the moment he woke up until the moment he went to bed. Frowning hard, the Prince slowly walked towards the Royal Chamber, where the Queen waited for him in the throne room connected to the chamber.

Upon the arrival of the young man, the Queen smiled as she put down her knitting and asked for all servants to leave the two of them alone. Jongin raised his eyebrows in confusion; the Queen rarely talked to him alone. At the very least she will have a guard or a maiden beside her whenever she talked to the Prince, because it is very dangerous for the Queen to be left alone in case of an outsider attack. The Queen gestured for the Prince to come closer, to which the young man complied obediently even though the frown remained on his face.

The Queen held out a box in front of her; a smile gracing her face as Jongin accepted the box and carefully opened it...

A royal blue masquerade mask, donned with gold and silver lining sat in the box; a string of small Stella diamonds lacing under the eye area, giving it a more subtle mysterious vibe...

The Prince gave a more confused look to the Queen, who smiled in return...

“You know, Jongin, you are going to be 20 in less than a month. You will be deemed mature enough to succeed the throne left empty by your late Father 13 years ago. According to our tradition, a coming-of-age party should be held in the castle hall before the coronation ceremony, where all people of Stella and our neighboring kingdoms are invited; a masquerade party to be exact...”

Jongin furrowed his brows; he has heard of this tradition in one of his lesson with former captain Yifan, but sadly his attention was elsewhere on that day, possibly on the training ground when he has two losses against Baekhyun. A soft chuckle brought him back to the reality, and his face burned as he clasped eyes on the chuckling Queen.

Oh boy…he really hoped that his thinking face is at least decent looking, at the very least…

“Looks like you haven’t paying much attention in your History class, my Prince. Former Captain Yifan will be most displeased if he caught your inattentiveness in his lesson. But alas, I can’t say that I’m more attentive back in the days, especially when my attention was more on whether I should put more powder on my face before I went to the Royal Chamber to see the King…”

Jongin smiled as he scratched his head with an apologetic grin…

“You caught me, Mother. Alas, I remembered something about the coming-of-age party but why a masquerade party?”

“It is for you, the Crown Prince and the future King, to find your Queen among the sea of people. Because they said that your eyes may sometimes wander and ended up finding the wrong people, so a masquerade party is held so you can’t see their face; find your Queen using only your heart. Or maybe a second King instead of a Queen...”

The Prince gave a snort as the Queen chuckled softly...

“So, Mother...did Father found you...among the sea of Stella people?”

“Jongin...I am only a mere second daughter of a butcher of West Stella, who actually went to the coming-of-age party to accompany my big sister. My dress at that time was a hands-me-down of my sister, and I bought my mask at a vendor in the market. I was about to leave the party when someone grabbed my hand...and that someone is the Prince, your Father. I considered myself a miracle; imagine me, a nobody, who is chosen to marry the King and bear his only son, the Prince...my Prince. There’s nobody that can tell who your heart will find in the party; it can be a man or a woman, a royal born or a servant...but trust your heart; it knows something that you don’t. Who knows if you ended up marrying Baekhyun?”

A loud groan escaped Jongin’s mouth while the Queen laughed harder...

“Please don’t pray for something that horrible, Mother. If I can’t find someone in the party and ended up with Baekhyun, I will go and become a monk in the Northern Mountains. I’ll leave the kingdom in your hand, Mother...”

The Queen doubled up in her laughter, and Jongin finds himself smiling at the lady in front of him; it’s been a while since he last saw his Mother so happy...

Even though it means to make fool of himself, Jongin couldn’t care less as he hugged the Queen tightly in his arms; effectively stopping the lady’s laugh...

“You know, Jongin...I couldn’t care less who did you bring from the party. As long as he or she can keep you happy, then I’m fine with it. You are the hope of the people of Stella, who has been king-less for 13 years; but you are always, forever a baby in my eyes... My love, my Prince...I’ll always be here when you need me...”

Jongin felt the tears pricking his eyes, but he held it well as he kissed the Queen’s forehead; promising her a better future for the kingdom of Stella...

**********

Prince Jongin finds himself visiting the Royal Chamber a lot prior to his birthday. He used to not to, because he preferred to spend more time at the training ground with both Baekhyun and Zitao; but he felt a sense of responsibility is pricking him whenever he walked past the Royal Chamber, and he spend some time sitting there with the Queen, learning something about ruling a kingdom. To his delight, Baekhyun will come and accompany him most of the time, or sometimes Zitao whenever his Uncle Yifan comes to visit. Yifan may not be the Captain anymore, but he is the second Prince of Stella; the King’s brother and godfather of the current Prince; so he knew a lot about ruling system as well as the strategies to strengthen the bond between Stella and the neighboring kingdoms.

And Jongin gave a soft snort whenever his sharp eyes caught the sight of the current Captain gawking over the former Captain...

But he has to admit; his Uncle Yifan, who is at his late thirties, is actually very good looking and his biceps are twice Jongin’s size...so there’s no wonder that he still have a lot of fans, Zitao being one...

“Do you know that the King of Aqua passed away about a week ago, Your Highness?” Yifan said softly as his eyes scanned the world map hung at the Royal Chamber wall. Jongin frowned; the kingdom of Aqua is one of their allies, located about two day’s journey from Stella. And while Stella is surrounded by mountainous terrain, the kingdom of Aqua is surrounded by a huge lake; the kingdom floats on water, powered by water, and most of Aqua’s citizens are Summoners, which bears a greater power than mages or sorceresses. And that’s why the alliance with the kingdom is very important for Stella; to drive away the hateful mages of kingdom of Nix.

“I didn’t hear any news of that, my Uncle...how about our alliance with the kingdom then? What is the new King like?”

“I apologies, Your Highness; I never met the new King directly. The late King is supposed to have several Princes, all coming from different backgrounds; I’ve met one of the Princes several years ago, but I don’t know if he is the one succeeding the empty throne...”

“Different backgrounds?”

“The late King of Aqua is a fair and just ruler, but he is...weak...when it comes to...ladies. The Prince that I met several years ago, Prince Minseok, told me that his mother is a bakery lady, and he is sent to the castle when he reached 15, for his resemblance to the late King is impeccable. According to Prince Minseok, there are several Princes living in the castle, but I can’t say remember if the late Queen has ever given the King a noble heir...”

Jongin nods his head softly, head whirring as he thought about their allied kingdom...

“We should pay them a visit sometime...” Jongin said mindlessly, and Yifan smiled softly; pleased with the fact that Jongin used the word ‘we’ instead of ‘you’ or ‘the Queen’, a telling sign that the Prince is pretty much interested to talk to the new King of Aqua by himself instead of sending a represent