CHAPTER ONE

{Emma Wu’s POV}

"Let's just pray that he doesn't remember anything."

As my godmother created a big fuss about what happened earlier, I drew my breath as my godfather stood behind me, with his hands behind his back, as calm as he always have been. In my mind, I remember my godfather as the calm, collected and he would always find a reason for everything. Whereas my godmother is the complete opposite (literally). My godmother finds her medium when she vents out her frustrations.

“OH LOOK!”

The boy began to stir in his sleep, soon, he opened his eyes and my godmother stood in front of me, pushing me to the side abruptly as she gazes down at the boy. I look over to my godfather who just laughs, maintaining his distance as I look back at my godmother.

"YOU'RE UP! FINALLY!"

"How long have I been like this?"

"Ever since we found you."

"When's that?"

"This morning." My godmother handed him a glass of water, "take a sip of water and make your way home, it will get dark soon and you know how heavy patrols are around this time."

"Thank you." I stole a peek at him and I could tell that he was still trying to piece together how he got to this situation. Godmother sat down, observing the young man and I heard her sigh. "Young man.” Godmother points over to the bird. “I suggest you go down to the market and sell the bird before the markets close."

"OH RIGHT!"

The young man yells out as he leaps out of bed, grab hold of his jacket, sack and quickly made his way to the door. Seeing the young man’s sudden burst of energy, Godfather chuckled as he watch the young man bid farewell to them in haste. It only took less than three seconds for the man to close the door and be on his way to town. I look back at my godparents and smiles.

“See, that was no―” Godmother cut me off. "Oh boy, that was sooo clooosee~"

"We jumped over that hurdle." I heard my godfather whisper as he sat in his rocking chair. "We will have a good night’s sleep now that we know he doesn't remember a single thing. Praise the lord! If he did find out about your wings, there will not be peace around here. Just the thought of it is horrific! Anyways, let's prepare for supper."

"Hold on, I need to go into town and return these books."

"Can't it wait till tomorrow?"

"I promised the librarian I would return it today." Godmother gave me one of her infamous stares and I smiled, she knows she crumbles everything I make this pout. "Fine, be careful through."

I hug my godmother tightly before walking over to the door but when I opened the door, I heard my godmother call me back. I turn around to see her hand my cloak. “Better safe than sorry, is what I always say.” She tied the string and pulls the hood over my head. My godmother comes across as intimating too many villagers but deep down, I know that she is one of the warmest person I ever known. I look up to see the sky filled with warm colours like orange, yellow and pink fill the evening sky beautifully. And if it wasn’t perfect enough; my ears listened to the wind as it blew through the leaves, making that beautiful whistling sound.

.

.

{Aaron Yan’s Part}

At the house

"Hey buddy, where did you go?"

"Yeah, I thought you would've forgotten all about us when you went hunting alone."

"Yeah, we were worried whether you were going to come down in time for us to get the money."

"Anyways, what took you so long?"

The young man looks over to his friends and smirked. There was no way he could tell them about what he saw up in the mountains because they won't believe him so instead of telling them, so he shrugs.  

"I was busy hunting."

"Why so long?" Wu Chun asks then Calvin chimed in. "Lesson number one, make up a story that is actually believable."

Aaron emptied his sack on the table, spilling the contents in the bag he found in the forest. He stares at his friends and smirked, they were the ones who didn’t want to go into the forest with him so why are they suddenly interested in his findings? Their interest did not lie in hunting but it’s the thrill of it that peeked their interest. He deeply sighs as he took a glance at the items on the table, a bird and a couple of herbs were all that he managed to catch.

"Man, we should've gone together to hunt."

"Maybe their kind is beginning to become extinct."

The guys all shot Jiro a death glare, signalling him to shut his lips immediately. Jiro leaned back, surrendering while the guys look at each other, the mood dropped drastically from before.

"Okay okay, allow me to sincerely apologize. Now, let's talk about happier things."

"Like?" Wu Chun bit into his apple, listening to Jiro talk. "While I was walking around town, you know me, the gossip don’t escape my pretty ears.”

Wu Chun snap at him for a moment, Calvin shook his head as he held up his cup of beer. “Better get to your point before Chun here snaps your neck Jiro.” Jiro gulp heavily as Aaron smirks, pulling Chun back a little to give Jiro room to breathe. “Relax buddy.”

“Anyways, I was making my errands at the blink of dawn when I caught some men looking through the library window. I thought they were looking at the new librarian but they weren’t, I asked them what they were doing and they told me that they were waiting for this girl who appears every once in a while. I have never seen her but I heard from the men in this town, they fell into this girl’s spell. I tried to get a glimpse of her beauty but she had her cloak on, so I am still wondering if I fell under her spell as well..”

“Jiro… what kind of information is this?” Aaron asked bewildered that he stopped Wu Chun from snapping earlier. “This is not new news, we heard this story for a while now.”

“Aren’t you guys curious about the identity of this mystery women? This girl appears once in a full moon!” The guys shook their heads in disbelief at Jiro’s findings. 

“Fine, here’s another fact for you. I heard a couple of people raging about this forgotten princess and how she is going to come back and flourish this land. If the princess does come back, whoever this book-loving lady who got every guy in this town wrapped around her finger, this princess will have competition."

"Wait—Hold up, this princess... you mean the princess who was said to have disappeared on 'that day' fifteen years ago?"

"Yes, from all the town-folks, they all think she is a gem just waiting to be wedded. They are all curious to see who the next prince or king is going to be, royal weddings are such a pain in the ."

"But if this is true, then―" Aaron yells out, frustrated. "Stop. I don't want to hear about this. I'm going outside to take a breather." Aaron got up from his seat and walk out of the house. When the door slams shut, Jiro leans forward, reaching for an apple.

"I saw this coming."

"But he's our prince, what else can we do other than to support him? We need to wait for the perfect time to seek revenge."

"Like boycotting the entire royal wedding?"

"It sounds like treason."

"No, we are referencing something bigger, this is about our revival."

As his friends lower their voices to engage in a conversation topic that they whole-heartedly wanted to talk about, Aaron took a walk around town. He wanted fresh air since the atmosphere in the room was getting a little too tense, so he decided to come out and enjoy the fresh air.

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