Chapter One: The West Wing

In the west wing of the castle, a man with dark long hair pulled into a ponytail stood in a study. He looked over the shoulder of a boy aged about ten or so. This boy stared at the books in front of him placidly, his brown-gold eyes hinting feelings of boredom. His gaze turned from the musty books to the large window, and he sighed.

"Xiang, are you paying attention?"

"Yes… sir."

The man laughed and patted Xiang's head.

"Didn't I say you can call me Yao?"

"Sorry, Yao."

Yao smiled at Xiang. Xiang was a smart boy, though very reserved. He used to be more outgoing, just a bit, but… he changed. Still, he worked hard and did as he was told.

Well, that was what he was being taught to do, after all.

The long-haired tutor glanced at Xiang, who was still staring out the window absently. They spent most their days together, and Yao had grown a fondness for the boy. They got along. Both of them resented the king and queen. They ate together, studied together, and talked casually with each other. Yao thought of Xiang more as a little brother than a nephew.

Gathering up the books, Yao thought about everything. His brother, the king. His sister-in-law, the queen. His niece, the princess. His nephew, this boy he was tutoring.

How had he gotten so involved in this sad ploy of separating Xiang from the one he loved most?

—

"Your majesties, I apologize, but I cannot bring myself to assist you. You know the bond between them is…well, unbreakable. Separating them would destroy them."

Yao had pleaded with the king and queen, so many years ago.

"No it won't. You'll understand." They had responded coldly, malicious half-smiles forming on their lips. Yao remembered shivering at that moment, an ominous feeling forming inside.

"But your majesties—"

"Silence, Yao."

He had done as told.

"You will take Xiang and live with him in the west wing of the castle. Understand? You will tutor him and teach him to be obedient. We will take Mei and teach her ourselves, the way of nobility. Each will be taught for a period of four years, and then reunited. Good enough?"

"Why don't you teach Xiang as well?"

At his question, the king had laughed. It wasn't a happy sound at all, more sinister than anything.

"Let's just say, Mei will be much easier to teach. Besides, as far as the citizens know, we have one child. Even the servants think Xiang is just an orphan child we took in as a playmate for our daughter."

The king and queen seemed to be pleased with their deceit. Yao had resisted the urge to scoff at their response.

"And if I refuse to take part in any of this?"

Yao had expected them to look surprised, but they didn't. The queen just made a motion with her hands to one of the guards. Yao had felt his stomach turn when they brought out his beloved little girl, hands and feet bound in rusty shackles. She was only two years older than his niece and nephew at the time.

"Papa, why are they treating me like this?" She was glaring angrily at the queen and king before them. She had always been more of an aggressive rebellious type, unlike him.

"Y-You, what are you doing to her! Let her go!"

"Look at her, Yao. Do you like seeing her like this?" the king had questioned nonchalantly.

"I didn't even do anything!" Yao had listened to his daughter retort. The only response she got was one of the guards yanking her dark hair, and she let out a cry.

"Stop it!"

Yao remembered screaming at the top of his lungs at the king and queen, not caring at the amount of disrespect he had just thrown at them. But this was his own daughter, bound and guarded as if she was a captive or criminal, not an eight-year old child.

Before giving them a chance to answer, he had made a move to run towards her, wanting nothing more than for her to be free and safe in his arms. But guards had restrained him as well, and he kicked and spit at them, curse words spilling from his mouth.

"You cruel bastards."

"Now now Yao, you wouldn't want anything to happen to your darling little girl, correct?"

"She's your niece! How can you treat her like that, like a prisoner?"

"Agree to our proposal and she won't be thrown out of the kingdom."

His insides had felt as if they had turned to mush. He had lowered his head in defeat, fighting back tears.

"…fine. I will tutor the boy."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the queen snapped her fingers and the guards removed the shackles from his daughter. The guards restraining him released their hold, and within seconds he had his daughters in his arms again. Yao had picked her up and carried her out, not speaking another word to the malevolent rulers in that room.

"Papa, what did they want you to agree to?"

Only then had he realized what exactly he had done, and it haunted him for years to come.

Yao had agreed to help sacrifice his niece and nephew's happiness in exchange for the insurance of his own.

—

Yao promptly snapped out of his own thoughts, resuming his duty of putting the textbooks back in their respective places. He took a look at his pocket watch, staring at it unblinkingly for a few seconds before returning it. He had been standing there thinking for much longer than he had planned.

He turned back to where Xiang was still sitting, the boy's gaze still out the window. Yao laid a hand upon the boy's shoulders.

"Aiyah, Xiang, what are you staring at? We were supposed to go and eat some time ago."

Xiang turned to him, unfazed.

"I wasn't looking at anything in particular." He stood up and waited, looking expectantly at Yao.

Yao felt a pang of remorse.

'He probably knew it was time to eat, but said nothing. He will not lead, only follow. Because that is how he is to be taught.'

The tutor forced a smile despite his inner feelings and put an arm around the shoulder of the boy, leading him out of the study and into the direction of the west dining hall.

'Even if it is not for long, I want him to at least know something other than following.'

So, they walked side-by-side through the halls, guilt gnawing at Yao the entire time.

Perhaps this was the real reason he had such affection for the boy.

:)

I know it's not much (I'm noticing my chapters are quite short), but I'd rather take my time with character and background development than to rush into everything. Once things start to elaborate a little, I'll try to write more, okay?

Reviews, ratings, and comments are always welcomed and read~