SHIFTERS

five

That morning Prince Wang Qing walked back and forth inside his room.  He had a dream last night,  a dream about the cat shifter he met the other day. The prince didn't know what triggered him for having that dream, but he had a vision the two of them played happily in the middle of Savannah. It that dream the prince felt so happy, the happiest of him he ever felt. The last time he was that happy was very long time ago when both of his parents still alive.

Wang Qing tried to reconsider about his rejection to marry the Cathlea's omega prince. Did he already made a mistake? But Wang Qing didn't think so. Dragon race was too mighty to be paired up with those weak creatures. As the heir of Cavelean, Wang Qing also has a responsibility to protect the pureness of their lineage. What was his brother thought paired him up with a cat shifter? Then why did the prince felt so unsettled like this?

When the king summoned him for a breakfast,  the dragon prince still looked as if he was deep in thought.

"What's bothering you?" The king asked him.

"About the alliance... why do you choose Cathlea? Don't you want to keep the pureness of our race?"

The king put down his spoon as he sighed heavily. "When our father passed away and I have to take the throne earlier, I once questioned myself,  would I be able to shoulder this responsibility and continue Cavelean's glory like what our ancestors did all this time? Keeping our pride as the strongest race in the entire realm. But at the same time, I realized the era had changed. We are strong, but it doesn't mean that we are invicible. Sooner or later,  if we keep blinded by our arrogancy as the strongest kingdom and ignore the changes of our surroundings, our kingdom will be destroyed by our own pride. We are bound to ask for help from others,  no matter strong we are now. We will never know what will happen in the future. The population keep growing, the land are limited. When the time comes,  without we realized we will find our kingdom being ambushed from the direction we never expected. We will find ourselves trapped in a battle for whatever its reason. Our pride alone can not help us to win that battle."

The dragon prince listened to his brother carefully.  He suddenly remembered once their late father said,  a good leader was the one who could envision the future and made the best decision based on it to protect his kingdom.

Before this, to forming an alliance based on the elder's prophecy alone wasn't a strong reason. They still could solve the problem without forming an alliance. The dragon prince never knew that the king actually already thought for that far in the future.

"I have investigated Cathlea kingdom thoroughly before, they are honorable kingdom. They love peace and freedom. They treat their people with care. And their youngest prince is a selfless and caring person. They will make a good ally for us. I thought, knowing all of this will be enough,  I didn't mean to force you to shoulder responsibility for a decision you don't see fit, my brother."

"You are truly a good leader, my leader. It was me who keep acting like a selfish brat."

The king chuckled, "You have grown up."

-

Just like the other day, the dragon prince came to the same farmland where he met with the cat shifter the other day. The prince waited as he hide himself behind a large tree.

It didn't need too long for him to wait as he could smell the pleasant smell of grass and lavender, as later he saw the same boy walked closer with a small basket on his hand.

"You are the stubborn ones, aren't you? I warned you the other day that this area was dangerous. You shouldn't go this far to take the vegetables."

The cat shifter jumped up in shock by the sudden voice. In quick motion, he turned his body around. His eyes widened in surprised as he could see the dragon prince.

"No, stay there. I assure you that I mean no harm." The dragon prince stated quickly as he sensed that the shifter wanted to run away again. "I just want... to ask."

"Your kingdom...  Cathlea... tell me about your kingdom." The dragon prince asked.

Even though, the shifter seemed hesitated at first, slowly his expression softened with the rememberance of his kingdom. For awhile,  he suddenly forgot about his fear of the intimidated dragon prince as he proudly talked about his beloved kingdom.

"We surely aren't as strong as the kingdom of werewolves or vampires in strength. What's making us withstand in this never ended battle is our will to protect the land we dearly love." There was so apparent passion in the shifter eyes as he explained about Cathlea.

"Then tell me about your master. Aren't you stay here to serve the youngest prince of Cathlea?" The dragon prince realized the shifter was showing a strange reaction as he questioned him.

There was a long pause before the shifter finally opened his lips, "Dayu... I mean,  Prince Dayu is truly a helpless person. He is weak and incapable."

The dragon prince frowned, totally taken aback that the shifter in front of him would talk so negatively about his own master.

"Born in omega body, he envy his brothers who can fight in a battle to protect Cathlea. All he can do is being a burden to people around him. That's why, if he can do something to protect Cathlea, no matter how small it is,  he will never think twice to do it."

The shifter turned his face toward the dragon prince, a smile suddenly appeared on his face, "But it doesn't matter anymore! Finally Prince Dayu is here. No matter how hard it is, at last he can do something to protect his kingdom."

The dragon prince stunned. He never expected this kind of answer when he asked this servant about the youngest prince of Cathlea,  his supposed to be arranged mate.

"You are the strange ones," The dragon prince commented. "What's your name?"

"...Da Wei. The name is Da Wei."

-

In the following days, the dragon prince kept coming to the same place. He found it was a pleasant to talk with the cat shifter as he talked more with the boy.

Even though he warned the shifter that the area was dangerous, the shifter still coming every day claiming that the vegetables around that area was more fresh than the other place. The dragon prince offered him protection while he took the vegetables. From there, the dragon prince felt like he started to built some kind of a friendship with the shifter.

During their meeting, the dragon prince asked more about Cathlea. He enjoyed the glisten in the shifter eyes as he talked everything about his kingdom.

Something had changed about his perspective. Maybe Cathlea wasn't as bad as what the dragon prince thought.

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