Xie Lian came to slowly.

He was very aware of what had happened before he'd fallen unconscious, so he wasn't confused as to where he was. However, he was confused about the state of his body. He was in significantly less pain than he had been just a few hours ago. So, in order to check himself over, he threw the covers off him and took a look down his body.

His feet were bandaged properly, as were the wounds he'd received during the war last week, which had kept reopening because of his constant moving around. They could finally start healing. He wanted to take a closer look still, and attempted to move his feet closer to his body… only to realise that his feet had been shackled to the bed.

Xie Lian sat up in a fit of panic, which only caused him to get dizzy and he needed a moment for his equilibrium to stabilise itself again. However, this moment was enough for him to notice that his hands had not been shackled to the bed, since he was able to clutch his head. He checked his wrists and the rest of his arms, just to make sure, but they were indeed free of any sort of shackles or chains. Well, this is curious, he couldn't help but think, his blind panic ebbing away.

Given that the shackles were only on his ankles, he figured he wasn't allowed to get up, but that the intention wasn't actually to restrain him out of maliciousness. Maybe it was just done in order to prevent him from running around, so that he wouldn't aggravate the wounds on his feet.

Xie Lian knew that this was quite a stretch, he couldn't really imagine any owner to be this benevolent, but he also couldn't think of another reason at this moment.

He didn't have the chance to ponder over his current situation either, because the door opened and someone walked in and straight up to his bedside.

Going by his scent, the man was an omega, and seemed strangely cheerful. Which was also curious.

Xie Lian had to admit to having slacked off on his studies regarding the customs and laws of WuYong, because the country had never been a threat, and a peaceful neighbor with minimal interaction between them. Apart from that, even if he thought the customs and laws of WuYong to be draconian, what could a tiny country such as Xian Le have possibly done about it? WuYong was much too strong to have any need whatsoever to comply with requests of little Xian Le. It wasn't like it would've been possible to threaten WuYong into listening either, because Xian Le would've been crushed within a day.

WuYong had always been far beyond their capabilities, so he'd put all of his focus on the neighboring countries that he could help - either by overtaking them or by throwing out friendly suggestions over a diplomatic dinner. It had always been Xie Lian's mission in life to achieve something like equality between the dynamics, difficult as it was.

So now that he was enslaved in a country where he couldn't actually be sure of how omegas were treated, he felt a bit unsure. The king of Yong An had suggested that the king of WuYong had a harem full of omegas, but Xie Lian didn't know if those omegas were gifts like him, forced to join, or if some of them were actual workers, who had joined voluntarily. He didn't even know if that was an option here.

However, seeing an omega walking around the palace freely, without any guards following him around and supervising him, Xie Lian allowed himself to get his hopes up just a little bit. The man could be an exception, but Xie Lian didn't want to believe that. If anything, the king had seemed like a good person yesterday. He wanted to believe that omegas didn't have a terrible life under his rule.

"Oh look at you, you're awake!", the omega cheered, and sat down at the edge of his bed.

"My name is Shi QingXuan, and I'm your doctor. I-"

"Wait", Xie Lian interrupted this omega calmly, because his brain had short circuited. "Where am I?", he asked. He knew he was somewhere in the palace of course, but he didn't need anyone here to know how his condition really was. He couldn't fool a doctor when it came to his physical well-being, but he could still pretend to be disoriented and befuddled, maybe fake some slight amnesia to make him let his guard down. Anything to buy himself more time. The fact that an omega could be a doctor here, and not just a nurse, was really a bit too startling.

"Oh, you're in the infirmary. His Majesty brought you here himself yesterday, it was quite a surprise to suddenly see him standing in my office, let me tell you! He usually never comes here. Anyway, he told me how you were tortured over the last week and personally wanted me to nurse you back to complete health before you set foot out of here again. Which is why your feet are shackled to the bed, by the way. You seem unreasonably strong, so even if you somehow manage to get out of the infirmary with the bed still attached to you, I can still save my butt by saying that, technically, your feet are still in the bed. But enough of that, I-"

Xie Lian didn't even have to pretend to be overwhelmed by the ramblings of this doctor, and could only lift a hand up in hopes to silence him again. He also didn't quite know whether to laugh or cry at his situation. The reason why his feet were shackled to the bed was… basically a joke? At least that was how it sounded like to him.

"Doctor-", he started, but got interrupted immediately.

"Call me QingXuan."

"QingXuan", he tried again. "I-… I'm sure we can come to an agreement regarding the shackles? I don't think keeping them would be very practical. If you don't trust me not to run away, you can lock the door, or chain one of my wrists to the bed. That would also do, right?"

Shi QingXuan considered it for a moment.

"Since the end result would be the same, why are you so opposed to my method?"

"Because your method prevents me from using the bathroom."

Shi QingXuan blinked at him, and then hit himself on the head.

"You're right, I didn't think of that", he laughed. "However you're not allowed to walk, even without the shackles. So, the shackles will stay on to ensure your obedience. But don't worry, when you have to go, just call me and I'll carry you over to the bathroom, no problem."

Xie Lian really didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It turned out he was a prisoner after all. As nice as Shi QingXuan seemed, Xie Lian had enough experience at dealing with people that he knew the doctor wouldn't budge. So he decided to distract himself from this awful conversation by breaching a new topic.

"Did His Majesty say anything about when I'm expected to… start working? And what exactly that work entails?", he asked, even though he knew the answers already.

"Obviously you will start working once you're healed. Your job will be very physically taxing, so of course His Majesty wants you to be in your best condition. I have to say it's gonna be a few months until I can allow you to even stand up again, so don't worry about work so soon. Right, that reminds me, as soon as your wounds are all healed and don't run the risk of reopening again, I'll have you start doing some simple exercises in bed to make sure you don't lose too much muscle mass. You'll especially have to keep as much of your leg muscles as possible, it's already an advantage that you used to do physical exercise a lot.

"You know, a lot of omegas who start that sort of work often come here in the beginning to complain about how sore their whole bodies are. It's quite pitiful, but I'm sure you won't have that problem, so you don't have anything to worry about anything as long as we do some exercises to keep your muscles up those next few months, hm?"

So this confirmed it then, didn't it? The fact that he would have to join that king's harem as a-... a concubine. He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little scared.

"How-… how does His Majesty treat his omegas?", he couldn't help but ask.

Shi QingXuan looked at him in confusion.

"You mean his omega employees? Well I cannot say that I can't complain about anything at all, but the pay-"

"No. I mean the ones in his harem", Xie Lian explained, feeling slightly frustrated.

The look of confusion on his doctor's face deepened.

"There are no omegas in his harem?", Shi QingXuan answered, even though it sounded more like a question.

The statement stumped Xie Lian, and he went speechless for a good few moments, trying to connect the dots.

In the end, it was Shi QingXuan who had the aha-moment.

"Oh! You thought you were going to work in His Majesty's harem! Haha, sorry to disappoint, but he doesn't allow omegas in there. He's a bit strange like that, saying he doesn't want to risk having kids out of wedlock. Apparently that'd be too much of a headache for him. He's very picky about his harem members, you know? Only beta and alpha males are allowed in there, and only aged between 18 and 25. For now. Who knows when his whims are gonna change again", Shi QingXuan laughed, doing nothing to ease Xie Lian's confusion.

"Then… what work am I supposed to do?", he asked.

"You'll be one of his dancers of course! His Majesty doesn't want omegas in his harem, but he still enjoys looking at us, of course! It's why only omegas are allowed to be dancers here, and only those whose looks got approved of by him personally. As I said, incredibly picky. His Majesty must seem unbelievably peculiar to you, right? I can only imagine what he seems like to people who have never met him before.

"He always pretends to be this aloof, uncaring, cold and harsh meanie, but in actuality he's very nice! You just have to look past his exterior, listen to what he says and not how he says it. He treats all of us very well, you know? Everyone here gets paid on a weekly basis, even the members of his harem, all of them, no matter if they happened to be picked to work during the week or not. The dancers, too of course, no need to worry about that", he grinned.

Shi QingXuan really was talking too much, Xie Lian thought. His mind was still reeling at the fact that it was expected of him to dance of all things, so how could he possibly comprehend the fact that he was apparently going to get paid for it? He needed a moment to think, and asked Shi QingXuan to get him something to treat his headache.

Honestly, he should've been relieved to only have to dance, that he wouldn't have to enter the harem. But, twisted as it was, he almost would've preferred the harem. At least that way he'd throw his dignity away in front of only one person. If he was supposed to dance, then he certainly would have to dance in front of audiences too, during banquets or any other sort of party.

He'd never attended a party in WuYong, but given the sheer size of the country, they would have to be big, even if only the people in the highest positions attended. And he would have to dance in front of them?! He didn't even know how to dance! At least not like that! He would embarrass himself much more if he were to dance than if he were to just let that king do whatever he wanted to his body!

Xie Lian wanted to cry.

The months Xie Lian was confined to his bed in the infirmary crawled by slowly, and he thought he would've already gone insane out of sheer loneliness if it wasn't for Shi QingXuan keeping him company whenever he had the time.

Xie Lian was also trying to come to terms with his future as a dancer. He wasn't sure if he could believe what Shi QingXuan had told him about that king, or if the purpose of making Xie Lian dance was to humiliate him. He wanted to believe Shi QingXuan, but he couldn't help but think it was the latter.

Either way, there was nothing he could do about it. He didn't have the power to go against the king, and he doubted he could start a revolution. Never mind the fact that he was an outsider, from what his doctor had told him, the king was actually quite liked and well respected. If that was true, he didn't want to throw a perfectly peaceful country into chaos, just because of his own misfortune.

The door to his room opened, snapping Xie Lian out of his thoughts.

"Hello hello hello〜", his doctor chirped. "Do you know what day it is today?"

Xie Lian thought for a second before he answered. "I honestly don't."

His reply made Shi QingXuan stop for a moment, before he sighed, and came over towards his bed.

"It's the day to get those shackles off of you! I already told you yesterday that your feet are looking pretty good, did you not listen to me?"

Xie Lian smiled sheepishly at having been caught. He always tended to not care too much about his own injuries.

"I swear to god, you little-! Never mind. I'll get them off, and then you're allowed to try walking, okay? But tell me honestly if you feel even the slightest discomfort. That's an order from your doctor."

Xie Lian nodded obediently and wiggled his toes in anticipation. He couldn't wait to get out of this damned bed!

Luckily, Shi QingXuan made quick work of his shackles, and allowed Xie Lian to not waste another minute before he could finally try to get up.

Thanks to the exercises he'd been put through, his body didn't protest any of his movements, and it took him no time to get up. Best of all, his feet felt a little tender, but otherwise they were absolutely fine, even after he'd put all of his weight on them! He gave Shi QingXuan a big, happy grin and clasped one of his hands in two of his.

"My feet don't hurt at all! Thank you so much!", he exclaimed, shaking his doctor's hand like crazy. It probably should've been embarrassing to show so much emotion, but he was truly beyond elated that he wouldn't have any lasting damage from those burns.

Shi QingXuan laughed with him, before he forced the both of them to become serious again.

"I could indeed heal your feet, but I couldn't erase all visible marks of your injuries. There's an especially big scar on your right ankle, I-"

Xie Lian waved him off with a smile.

"I don't care about having scars, it's a non-issue. I'm just happy I can still use my feet."

"Alright then. General Nan Yang should arrive here any moment now. He's the one in charge of protecting the dancer's and harem's quarters. Which means His Majesty trusts him a lot and that you should be careful not to cross him, alright?"

"Of course I won't", Xie Lian reassured him.

It was at this moment that the door opened once more, and a man in fully decked out armor walked in. He gave off an air of seriousness, competence and honor and Xie Lian understood immediately why the king trusted this man with the protection of his harem and dancers. If it had been Xie Lian in the king's position, he would've acted no different.

Shi QingXuan took it upon himself to introduce Xie Lian to this general.

"Feng Xin, this is Xie Lian, the new addition to the imperial dancers, I'm sure His Majesty has already told you about him."

"He has", the general said, and gave Xie Lian a polite nod in greeting, which Xie Lian returned.

"Xie Lian", Shi QingXuan continued, "if you run into any issues, no matter what they are, you can always tell one of General Nan Yang's subordinates to go fetch the general for you. I'm sure he can help you with anything and everything."

"Thank you in advance, General", Xie Lian said politely.

And then, with a very insistent push to come visit Shi QingXuan whenever possible, the doctor sent Xie Lian off.