GENTLE REMINDER AGAIN: Not proofread...possibly has a tonne of mistakes all over...

It is just a dream?

Meeting you...is it just a dream?

You disappeared without a trace, without a word...am I really dreaming meeting you?

I dreamt meeting a white Angel with a pearly white mask...his lips softly caressing mine; sweetly, delicately as I drowned into the huge brown orbs of his...

**********

“My Prince...it’s time to wake up...”

Jongin groaned as his ears detected the soft metal clinking before sunlight poured into his chamber, making him hissed softly in annoyance; the curtain in his room has been snapped open by someone, possibly someone wearing a suit of metal armor.

And there’s only one person who wore a suit of metal armor who dared to go into the Prince Chamber when the Prince is in deep slumber…

Baekhyun…

Jongin slowly shuffled inside his soft cover; determined to get at least several minutes of snooze before the daring soldier yanked his cover away and dragged him out of the bed. Even Zitao, the Captain of the almighty Stella Army, didn’t dare to place a foot inside the Prince Chamber without being called, let alone disturbing the Prince’s sleep by yanking his cover away.

But to his utter amazement, instead of the sudden disappearance of his cover, he felt a hand pulled his cover away slightly; and that same hand is placed on top of his forehead before he heard a soft sigh escaping Baekhyun’s mouth...

“You...your body is heating up, Jongin...you there, soldier! Call the Royal Physician! Tell him that His Highness needs his assistance now...”

The soldier that accompanied the Second Captain into the Prince Chamber quickly scuttled out of the room, leaving the two friends together. Jongin can feel the area right at his side dipped slowly, denoting that the Second Captain has seated himself on the Prince’s bed. Baekhyun slowly removed his cover; a gush of cool air hitting his body makes the Prince realized that his body is actually too hot for his liking, and he had never realized it before. He shivered involuntarily from all the cool air, and Baekhyun covered him again with a sigh. “Why are you sick during this hectic period, Jongin? You know that the coronation is only a mere 5 days away and here you are, shivering underneath your cover...”

Jongin gave a soft croak; tired eyes gaze back to the Second Captain...

“Is it because of the Angel you saw that night?” Baekhyun said softly as he pushed the hair stuck on the Prince’s forehead, and Jongin gave a sigh before he slowly closed his eyes again. Baekhyun had never believed his tale about the Angel he met at the masquerade party; the Second Captain had found him that night alone, and he had assigned a group of soldiers to find the Prince’s Angel around the castle, but none of them returned with the right person.

But that’s a lie; he remembered the low voice caressing his ears, the soft skin underneath his hands, the succulent lips that tasted like strawberries...

Strawberries...

The succulent lips that looked like cherries, but tasted like strawberries...

He had asked Jongin to tell him about how he tasted like, and Jongin haven’t told him yet...

“Strawberries...you tasted like strawberries...” Jongin croaked weakly as he slowly opened his eyes; he swore that he saw a glimpse of his white-winged Angel smiling at him from the ceiling, and he reached out his hand to touch the fair skin. “Kyungsoo...you...tasted like...” Jongin barely whispered before he closed his eyes again; lost in the darkness that is slowly engulfing him.

**********

Baekhyun watched worriedly as the Royal Physician pulled out a long, golden needle from an oak box and slowly inserted the needle into the Prince’s skin. The Second Captain flinched a bit when the needles pricked the tanned skin; the treatment method is foreign to him, for he grown up with the combination of crushed herbs and alcohol drenched bandages to reduce pain. But their new Royal Physician is someone foreign to the Kingdom, hence used other methods to treat their royal family. Their last Royal Physician has fallen in love with an apprentice healer from the Kingdom of Terra, and the King of Terra has kindly proposed to the Queen to trade their Royal Physicians, in favour to the love struck Royal Physician. The Queen had agreed to the trade, and had send the former Royal Physician to the Kingdom of Terra, where he is now serving under the royal family of Terra, and is happily married to his love.

And now, standing in the Prince Chamber, wearing a dark green robe with the Terra insignia engraved at the back, is Stella’s new Royal Physician, Sir Yixing. Yixing is a fair, soft-spoken man who is very kind and compassionate about his work, and even though he is very much new to the Kingdom, he fits right in amongst the people of Stella. In fact, if it wasn’t for his dark green robe that he wore everyday and his slightly accented speech, people wouldn’t even noticed that the Royal Physician is a new addition to the royal family hand. Yixing is skilled with his needles and herb infused tea; two treatment methods that Baekhyun had never seen and experienced before; and this is the first time he watched the Royal Physician on the move, and the Second Captain has some trouble keeping his mouth shut; too immersed in awe to care about his loose jaws.

Soft metal clinking coming from outside the room makes the Second Captain quickly composed himself; body straightening and jaw clamping shut as the Queen strolled in, accompanied by the Captain of Stella Army. The Queen has a worried look carved all over her lovely face; brows knitted together and lower lips red due to the excessive biting, and Baekhyun can’t really blame her. The coronation is near, and Jongin has to be in the perfect condition on that glorious day instead of lying lifelessly on the bed like this. The lady almost burst into tears as she hurriedly went to the Prince’s side; holding his cold hand as if to warm it to life again.

“How – how is his condition, Sir Yixing?”

“The Prince, if I can compared him to a moon, he is the waxing crescent moon; the moon phase just before the new moon. He has a very imbalance ‘chi’ right now. It was supposed to be balance like yin and yang; like the moon and the sun, but somehow...his yin has overthrown his yang, hence his body collapsed due to the negativity. I’ve removed the bad blood from his body to reduce the negative energy, but it seemed like the effort is futile...is there something clouding up the Prince’s mind lately? It may be the source of the negative energy...”

“Not that I know...the Prince has been acting weird since his coming-of-age party, but nobody knows why...”

“It is just my wild guess, Your Majesty; it might have been the decreasing temperature that sets the Prince’s body off...but collapse as he is now, he is not in a fatal condition. I will try my best to keep him as healthy as possible before the coronation ceremony, my Queen, so please rest assure...”

The Royal Physician then excused himself to talk to the Head Chef about the sick Prince’s diet; assuring everyone in the room that he will keep an eye out for the unconscious Prince. The Queen slowly stood, hands still holding the Prince’s hand as she gave the lying man a soft kiss on the forehead before she carefully tucked the Prince back in the bed. “Please take a good rest, my Prince. And please don’t worry too much...for everything will eventually fall into their rightful places...” she murmured softly before placing a final kiss on the cold forehead before turning to the two soldiers in the room. Zitao and Baekhyun both shared her worried look, and she is slightly relieved by it.

“Did any of you two know anything about whatever bothering the Prince nowadays, since you both are the closest people around the Prince? I believed he started to act weird after the coming-of-age party...”

“I...have a fair share of my guess, my Queen. On that night of the party, after the Prince went missing, I...found him standing alone in one of the castle hallway. He vehemently said that he was with someone, but...I was with a group of soldiers that night when we found him, and we all saw no one else. The castle hallway that he is found in is one of the unused one that leads