A/N: Very short but very important! Please forgive me, I just got back from my birthday trip and the workload was raised to the tenth power when I got back.

I, Zi Tao from the House of Yi of Huang Dynasty of Imperial China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mongolian Dominions and Greater Kingdoms, Emperor of China, Son of Heaven, do hereby declare My irrevocable determination to renounce the Throne for Myself and the members of My family, and My desire that effect should be given to this Instrument of Abdication immediately.

The members of the Imperial Family shall hand over the Forbidden City to the Parliament and leave with nothing but the personal effects acquired using Our personal funds as stated under the Imperial Household Law.

In token whereof I have hereunto set My hand this twenty-third day of September, two thousand and fifteen, in the presence of the witnesses whose signatures are subscribed, I shall now be a Loyal Subject to a worthy successor decided upon by the Parliament.

SIGNED AT

JING SHAN QIAN JIE,

DONGCHENG,

PEKING, CHINA

The country was in shambles. As the official letter from the Office of the Emperor came out, chaos erupted. Beijing Police was in full force to barricade the palace from the crowd that had gathered outside the Forbidden City. Women of all ages had arranged a wailing protest to stop the young Emperor from stepping down. Able men vowed not to eat anything until the Imperial Family took their word back. All shops were closed, offices and factories from all over the country had stopped their operations to sympathize with the protesters. It was the first time that a dynasty would willingly surrender their power to live as normal citizen of the nation.

Weibo had crashed due to copious amounts of posts from people who took their sentiments to the popular Chinese social media site.

We just buried a great leader. We cannot lose another one.

Your Majesties, Your Highnesses, please don’t abandon Your people.

No person is worthy of The Throne other than our Emperor!

Please have mercy on Your people!

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Someone was banging on her door relentlessly. She sat up on her bed, ready to yell on anyone who dared to disturb her nap. “What on earth are you on about?!” A bit disoriented from sleep, she didn’t even realize who it was until she took in Yixing’s pale face.

“Sehun-ah!” She pushed her inside the room to close and lock the door. Totally awake now, she looked at her in confusion. Yixing was moving around the room like a headless chicken. She seemed to find what she was looking for though on the nightstand. Her hands were shaking while fumbling for the remote.

“What’s happening, Unnie? Are you okay?” She asked.

“Have you seen this?” Yixing flipped it on an international news channel. Sehun scanned the headlines at the bottom of the screen and went dry.

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It was decided that a neutral territory would be most suitable for the meeting. A uniformed personnel readily opened the door of a generic black Mercedes. Sehun stepped out in blinding Singapore sun and muttered thanks to man dressed in a crisp navy suit. In front of her was a super yacht that looked like it had at least five floors. She didn’t even know how this could be considered discreet when it dwarfed every other yacht on sight. “Good afternoon. This way please.” She stepped in to the gangplank; the man was hot on her heels. She was led to a massive glass elevator and it stopped one floor up. She almost rolled her eyes. They went in to a labyrinth of corridors lit by LED wall panels until they stopped in front of a sensory glass door. It opened to a spacious sun room with an elaborate dining set up for two. Tao stood up when he saw her being escorted into the room. The man in the suit tactfully excused himself.

Sehun peered at him from under her lashes. He clearly lost weight, had day-old stubbles on his face. His dark circles were more prominent and his hair was almost covering his eyes. She held herself from saying anything and went to occupy one of the chairs without waiting to be seated.

“H-Hi. I’m glad you can make it.” He sat across from her and she could feel his eyes on her face.

“Please just say what you wanted to say.”

“I—I borrowed this yacht from President Putin. Quite a beast, isn’t it?” His smile was forced that he looked wincing than smiling.

“Huang. Zitao.” Her tone held warning. She pulled her cardigan tightly against her body. She can’t risk him noticing her small bump. He walked around the table and knelt beside her and held her hand without warning.

“Please. Please don’t be mad. I didn’t mean to hurt you in any way. I just want to make things right for you, for us. Once everything’s over, I’ll marry you and we can—“

“Are you really going to abandon one and a half billion people just to be with me? Are you really that selfish? That you’re going to throw everything away to do what you want?” He was looking at her wide eyes and dropped her hand like he was burnt.

“You—you’re one to talk!”

“What?” She can see the horror in his face, he was pale like a ghost. Then like he somehow gained his composure back, his eyes hardened like steel, his jaw tightened visibly.

“It’s the pot calling the kettle black, huh?” He scoffed. “When are you going to tell me you’re pregnant?” She can literally feel the blood draining from her face, her ears rumbled loudly and her chest throbbed with fear. How did..?

He held her arm again, forcefully this time and pressed his thumb over her pulse painfully. “Did you forget I studied traditional medicine? I can tell most illnesses just by checking one’s pulse.”