So here you were, currently facing the son of that so called Monarch. The King of the Kings. And the other Kings’ progenies, all smiling at you, eyes filled with pride. Well, all except one. As much as all of this sounded like a bad joke, you had no other choice but to trust it.

Firstly, because your life had never been normal and you had learned how to keep a widely open mind concerning your surrounding.

Secondly, their presences were really overwhelming. Your earlier experiment was an irrevocable proof of their power. And they kind of had that… charismatic aura around them. It wasn’t a joke. It was the reality.

You looked at Suho whose face remained dull and whose eyes were far from displaying the same emotion as his friends. They resembled Kyungsoo’s in three times worse. You literally shuddered at the view and something inside you broke painfully. You didn’t know why. Your body was acting on its own, not asking your consent. Sending you feelings you were unable to understand. As if you were appearing in the middle of a movie without having seen the beginning. As if you had missed something important and you were now paying the price of your ignorance. You unknowingly reached out to touch the medallion around your neck. Of course, it was normal not to like such a view but it wasn’t just that. It wasn’t only that. It wasn’t about hating to see people sad. It was about hating to see him sad. Once again, that warm feeling started to spread throughout your body, rushing through your veins. It wasn’t as weird as the first time though. It was… not that bad in fact.

“Suho…?” you called him out hesitantly and you realized your hand was resting on his shoulder without you remembering how it actually happened. From the corner of your eyes, you noticed how Sunggyu and the whole West Circle hissed, obviously not approving your gesture. You seemed too at ease with the demons for their taste. Suho looked up and when he locked eyes with you, staring intensely, an image made its way into your mind. Really quickly. Only a few seconds, almost like a subliminal image. Someone’s neck. A feminine one, wearing the necklace you currently had tied around yours. And you were pretty sure the background was the kitchen of the burning house in your dream. At the exact place where you had found it. You blinked hard in shock but quickly masked your surprise.

“My father is a bad person” he blurted out, oblivious to your mental struggle and you didn’t expect it to be his answer.

“What do you mean by him being a bad person?” You tried to make him clear things up a bit for you to understand what he was trying to say. Once again there was a rather long silence.

“He reigns over Exo imposing an ultra authoritarian regime.” Chen spoke instead of his friend, knowing it was hard enough for him but that you still had to know about the situation. “It isn’t for nothing people try to escape and run away. The runaways are not always the violent and sanguinary demons you all hunt. Most of the time, they are innocent Exonian citizens, vulnerable families, all looking for a better life here. And it isn’t for nothing He asks us to neutralize them. Because they are seen as political opponents and betrayers.”

“I see...” you answered thoughtfully.

“But then, how did he reach the Throne? This kind of person is usually removed from their position by People’s Revolutions or something, no?” Hongbin curiously asked.

“Well, in fact he is the one who removed the previous King from the Throne.” Xiumin answered the Jäger.

“Wait, you mean like a coup d’etat?” Hyuk exclaimed, obviously surprised such things also existed in the demons’ world. For a few seconds, he forgot about his distrust toward them to satisfy his never ending curiosity.

“Yeah, we can put it like that. The fact is the previous King was also his brother…” Kai precised, thus clearly implying the previous King to be Suho’s uncle.

“But still, it looks more serious than a mere fraternal squabble.” Hoya stated blankly. “This guy must have been interested in having power.”

“In fact…” Suho took the floor again. He took a deep breath and then continued “It really began with a simple bickering which led my father to seek revenge. People say that, at the beginning of the King’s reign, they were in love with the same girl, my mother. I never saw her because, as to my father, she betrayed him with the King later on. Since he couldn’t bring himself to kill her, one day, he decided to banish her on Earth. He only gave me her name.” He sighed once again and a tiny smile appeared on his face as he spoke this one and only word, as if it was the most beautiful one ever. “Haneul.”

Everything went silent as no one dared to break the awkward the atmosphere first. You let your brain proceeded all these fresh informations slowly, not to miss a single element. If they were saying the truth, then The Monarch was truly an awful Ruler. And a horrible person, only interested in avenging the love that had been denied him, not even caring about the sad consequences on the Exonian people. That’s the reason why Suho was so much troubled by him. But you wondered how he managed to hate his own father. How he succeeded in becoming the person he now was. A straight and gentle one.

“Did you grow up with that person?” you asked with an expressionless face. You didn’t have to precise you were talking about his father since he understood what you wanted to mean immediately.

“Hm.” He nodded. “But most of the time, the maids would take care of me, because he was always busy with whatever political business he was up to. At least that’s what he said... I know that I remember him of her. He feels awkward around me and avoids me as much as possible. It’s one of the reasons he sent me here to deal with the runaways…”

Even if at the beginning he was having a hard time to bring up the subject, he now seemed more at ease. The words flooded his mouth, unstoppable and you let him do so since talking about it seemed to make him better. You reached out and took a gentle hold of his forearm to stop the shaking he was trying to hide.

“You know… when I first saw you, you gave me an awfully bad impression.” You began and you saw the other demons looking at you with dismay, seemingly wondering if this was your way to comfort people. “But, in these past three days, I came to know you a little bit. How you take care of the others, how you are responsible and trustworthy enough for them to follow you no matter where you lead them. How you always act kindly and brotherly around them as if you were all a family… After hearing your story, I truly think you should be proud of what you became. Because, despite living with such a person, growing up deprived from a mother and from the love your father chose not to give you, you still managed to be the person standing in front of us right now.” He listened to your every words carefully, not really sure if it was a joke or not. You shot him a gentle smile to show him your sincerity. After a moment, you saw his lips stretching upward and soon enough, he was returning your smile shyly. That’s the moment the white clothed idiot chose to let out an open scornful scoff.

“But the most surprising thing is maybe that you still didn’t strangle that annoying jerk with your own hands” you snickered mockingly while pointing to Luhan whose eyes widened ridiculously at your words. Everybody’s eyes were on him and before you knew it, all the demons and even some of the Jägers burst out of laughter.

“YAH!” the person concerned yelled at his friends, openly laughing at him in front of you and the Jägers, without forgetting to send you a killing glare. You just smiled and batted your eyelashes innocently.

“Okay guys” Sunggyu chuckled and tried to hush everybody so you would all listen to him “let’s talk seriously for a few minutes…”

In a spirit of curiosity, silence settled and everyone scrutinized him calmly until he spoke.

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