SHIFTERS

six

One evening, Prince Wang Qing came their guest room. His steps stopped in front of a room where the youngest prince supposed to be occupied. The prince thought it was time to finally made a decent talk with the omega like civilized people. He still didn't think that further for accepting the marriage,  but at least he wanted to have a small talk with the prince first.

As he was about knocked the door, few servants passed bye, "My prince,  who do you searching for? That room is unoccupied."

The dragon prince frowned, "What? Isn't it supposed to be occupied by the prince from Cathlea?"

"Yes, my prince... But he has moved after you rejected the marriage. He asked the king to take him as his mistress. The king granted his wish and now the prince is staying in the servant quarters."

The dragon prince dumbfounded. He... He didn't know that. Where was he all this time? How could he didn't know none of this? Was he too full of himself and being that ignorance of his surroundings?

Without saying anything anymore, the dragon prince turned around,  determined to have a talk with his brother.

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"Why there was no one informed me that you already took the omega prince as your mistress?!" Wang Qing almost shouted as he entered the king's working room.

The king calmly put down his parchment as he lifted his face, "Well,  hello to you too my dear brother. I hope you realize that what you did is not the decent way to greet your king."

The dragon prince ignored the king's sarcarsm, "Why you didn't tell me?" He pressed once again,  this time his tone was firmer.

"Because I didn't see the urgency in telling you," The king stated. His voice was so flat and unaffected. "After he found out about your refusal about the marriage, he was devastated. Desperate to protect his kingdom, to make this alliace keep happen despite your rejection, that day he begged to me to take him as my mistress. Seeing someone who is willing to sacrifice his happiness for his kingdom,  I don't have a heart to refuse."

A moment later,  the king eyed his brother suspiciously, his eyes narrowed, "Why do you so upset knowing this? It's not you already changed your mind about the marriage, did you?"

"Of course not!" The dragon prince answered quickly, almost too fast. "I'm just surprised. I thought after sister in law passed away, you don't want to take any partner anymore."

"That is very true. Not even once I was thinking about looking for a new partner. But I couldn't stop the change of heart. That boy is so pure and lovable, it actually won't be hard for me to care for him. Love will come when the time is right."

"But..." He swallowed back his protest. To tell the truth,  actually the dragon prince himself didn't know why he was so upset knowing his brother took the omega prince as his mistress. He should be happy in fact. No one going to force him in a marriage he didn't wish anymore.

"Your worry right now is quite questionable for me,  dear brother. You are not in disadvantage position from my decision to take him as my mistress. Him being my partner won't threat you as the kingdom heir. Even though later he will giving birth to my children, you know that the child of king's mistress don't have right for the throne. Why you have to be this upset?"

The dragon prince himself didn't know why he was so anxious. Now everything seemed like an annoyance to him. Even when the king mentioned that the omega will giving birth to the king's child, the prince found he had to hold back from grit his teeth. Why should he feel this way? He even didn't meet with the omega yet.

"Have you meet with Dayu in person, brother?" The king asked again. "He is no longer a prince. As my mistress, he was as good as the other servants. He works very hard here, doing every jobs he never touched before as a prince. Yet I never see him complaining or whining. The other day a messenger from Cathlea came and informed him that with the help from our troops, Cathlea successed to fight off the vampire and werewolves. Dayu had the biggest smile on his face. It was the happiest of him I've ever seen since he came to Cavelean. He said, everything happened here didn't matter anymore, finally he could do something for his homeland." The king heaved a long sigh. "He is just innocent boy who desperately want to protect his kingdom, brother. Let's not make it harder for him to be here, shall we? I hope you accept the fact that he is now my mistress and give him a little respect."

The dragon prince found his stand became unstable. What happened? Why did he suddenly feel the pang of emptiness inside his heart?

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