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LinGuang-Jun has done it! He had successfully taken the crown.
After years of enacting his plan, first going after that scheming human rat that dares to take over the Northern Kingdom with his reformation. He’d successfully gotten rid of the little pest with an “accident” down a ravine as he was on one of his “diplomatic” trips across the Northern Dessert. To think, if his nephew really intended to keep his human safe, he would have kept him close, but instead sent him out to do the work of a completely different set of demons. Wasn’t he a spy? What use was he to him, but a toy to play with. Something easily discarded… but wasn’t.
No. His nephew kept the little thing and placed it on a pedestal. Dressed it up with furs, silks and silver, fed it luxurious food that was scarce in their country, gave him a position of power as a diplomat, a respectable title! A human, of all things, in the land of demons! —Next thing they’ll know, his nephew would be taking this male human as his bride! Preposterous!
So when the time was right, just one careless choice from his nephew, he took his chance. Set-up a trap, the whole procession going down the ravine due to weak formations in the ice. An untoward accident. A fatal accident. One no one would blame him for.— It succeeded.
-0-
Mobei Jun wasn’t pleased with the death of his human. A pathetic sigh he was. Going as far as digging out the frail little thing’s corpse with his own hands and keeping the sorry mangled sight in his room. Stinking-up the whole palace with its bloody human stench. Granted, his nephew had used the most complicated sets of Ice spells to keep it presentable at least.
-0-
It’s been years since he’d set the dice rolling. And anything about Shang Qinghua was buried deep within the secret confines of the court, only seldom bringing his name up when it regarded to one of his treaties or laws. Or when the elders grumble about the king’s unreasonable attitude to finding a consort— or birthing an heir.
For a strange reason, his nephew had kept him close. Well, closer than normal. He gets requested to attend court as often as when his brother was still alive. More often now, as if he was already being groomed to be the next sovereign. He bristles at the thought.
The more he works, the less Mobei-jun shows his face. Some days, not even leaving his room. Not even coming out after weeks, and no one can get him out. And when he does, his face betrays nothing but cold indifference to everything.
-0-
Lou Binghe rubs him the wrong way. He simply despises him and his hundreds of wives. Rather, he loathes men like him. Taking the ones he wants, without a care if they already have someone in their hearts- maybe he sees a bit of his brother in Lou Binghe, maybe it’s why he sees him a tyrant leader. Maybe that’s why he knows to loathe him without forgiveness nor reason. Either way, the moment he becomes king, he will break off from his forces. The Emperor can try to take on his army and the Ice lands of the North. He swore to himself, he will not submit to such a disgusting half-blood.
-0-
The elders had stopped pestering his nephew for an heir, and instead, turns to me for an heir. If I can provide one, that would give me the advantage to cement my position as next King. If I could give them something my stupid nephew couldn’t, wouldn’t they favor me more? Maybe even join me in killing off my sorry excuse of a nephew.
It was a loveless contract of sorts. How else could I gain an impressive heir if not from one of the strongest demon blood in the realm? This specific race of demons are all strong pure-blooded demon women. They only accept women in their little island far west. The women would ambush ships, fuck the men, kill the men and when the babies are born, only girls would be kept while the boys are thrown into the lake.
I had a hard time getting my hands on one of them, but at last! I had taken one pure-blooded descendant from the ancestry of the Heavenly Demons. One who’s purple mark shone brightly on her forehead and one who loathes men to such a degree, she wouldn’t hesitate to kill if they so much a looked at her the wrong way. Perfect for a Mobei bride, one that wouldn’t be stolen from him, even if they tried. After a drafted contract, one rushed wedding, three nights in the chambers, and a few months later he has a demon son, a divorced wife sent back to her tribe with a daughter of her own and a pleased council of elders.
-0-
During the naming ceremony, Mobei-jun took one look at his infant cousin, and smiled. A rare sight nowadays. A very rare sight, it was almost chilling— foreboding. Haunted.
He never held nor touched nor said a word to Linbei-jun, but he did give a nod of approval. And just like his father, he never cared to glance at the child. Typical. Like father like son, I scoffed. — I will not be like them.
-0-
The North continued to run its court, A-Bei is growing heavier and bigger each day. It wasn’t the first time I’ve held a babe, but being the father feels much more different than taking care of someone else’s child. There’s a deep sense of pride and joy that is unexplainable— I just can’t understand why my brother wouldn’t want this feeling. Knowing that it’s only a temporary accomplishment, raising a son, before they are both thrusts into a role to play as pieces in a game of court and royalty… Isn’t this better than nothing tho?
Every day is like having a little Mobei-jun again. Before he realized his wife was stolen from him, underneath his very nose. And the person he thought was his, was actually his brother’s spawn. He was young then, very young. He thought his family would be kind enough to respect him despite his inexperience, but he was wrong. Apparently, his much older brother just takes what he wants, not caring even if the one he wants is his brother’s already. The one his brother loved the most in the world.
-0-
A-Bei cried first, he cried for no reason while in my arms, and I suddenly have an ominous feeling. It was when a servant rushed in did I finally get the answer. “Mobei Jun is dying!” The servant announced. “He hasn’t much time my lord. You must go to him to claim the inheritance.”
After leaving A-Bei in the capable hands of the nurse maid, assigning guards to protect him, and a few more guards to aid me in my inheritance, I set off to Mobei-Jun’s quarters. For some reason, he refused to go to the King’s Hall like his father and the others before him, choosing to die instead in the private confines of his room. Well, he was a privy little deviant. No doubt he wants to be a secretive one till his death.
-0-
What greeted him instead was the dying body of his nephew entangled with a corpse which had died a decade ago. The corpse of Shang Qinghua, dressed in fine white robes, had his bonny arms around his nephew’s waist, and leg over his nephew’s leg. His head on the king’s chest, looking almost asleep if it weren’t for the chilling smile of contentment frozen over his face. As if stating, ‘I’m taking him now.’
LinGuang-Jun had ordered the removal of the human from his nephew’s corpse. Stating it was a shameful sight, for a king to be seen entangled with a whore human by the council and the court who will be arriving to pay their respects. However, try as they might, Shang Qinghua’s corpse was frozen stiff over the king. How it managed to move over like this was a question that racked everyone’s minds. A stiff corpse cannot rise again. And Shang Qinghua was definitely not just sleeping. After trying everything, no one was able to remove Shang Qinghua, and the visitors who came to pay their respects were met with the sight of the two lovers. What they thought and felt, LinGuang-Jun gave not a care.
-0-
Lou Binghe and his wives pay their respects as well. They haven’t taken a step into the chamber when they saw the King and his lover, before the Emperor stops in his tracks, he says their condolences from the threshold and stepped away. Almost afraid to intrude on the intimate moment between the King and his lover. As if sure this was enough to truly pay their respects. LinGuang Jun scoffs. He lets them be.
LinGuang-Jun took seven days to absorb his nephew’s inheritance. Seven days of looking at the indecent sight of the two lovers. Shang Qinghua’s face facing his direction, looking at him as if he’d known what he’d done, keeping it a secret, like the blackmail the stinky rat had over him while he was still alive. Smiling, even as he’s cold and dead, clutching to his nephew as if he was married to the king. It infuriates him. Even in death, even in death… the human finds a way to crawl under his skin, flaunting the love he never received. The family he never had, the loyalty no one gives to him. He leaves the chambers after he’d absorbed everything, not turning back to say parting words to his nephew and lover. Mobei Jun’s body already freezing over, encapsulating itself in a thick layer of crystal ice, a true testament to his powerful line of Ice demon, and with it, his little human.
LinGuang-Jun orders the chambers to be locked-up. “Don’t bother touching them.” Not until a few months, when the Ice has settled at least.
-0-
The few months happen in a blink. He receives the crown, LinBei becomes the heir, the palace is at a turn-over while he himself gets summoned by the Emperor to do his duties. Swear his allegiance to him or face the armies of both realms. -He has no choice of the matter. He becomes a retainer, not like his nephew. He get seated in the council, but not as second-in-command. It infuriates him, but he is nothing but tolerant. Lou Binghe complains about him. Not as powerful as Mobei-Jun, he said. Not as reliable either, he says infront of his entire court. LinGuang-Jun grits his teeth, and bows. He hates Lou Binghe.
-0-
A year had passed when LinBei finally walks up to him and asks about his family— his cousin. For the life of him, he doesn’t ever remember when he’d met Mobei-jun other than that one time during his naming ceremony. None the less, he brings him to the previous king’s chamber, stating it was about time they moved him to the Royal Crypt.
The door was frozen shut, the soldiers and servants having to break it down. What greets them instead is a baffling sight. Encased in the crystal Ice was Mobei-Jun and Shang Qinghua in a mutual embrace, unlike the position LinGuang had remembered leaving his nephew. Mobei had his back to them, on his side, the little human in his arms as he tucks his head on Mobei-Jun’s neck, his chilling smile visible from Mobei-Jun’s shoulders. Once more, looking at the door, as if stating those who enter. ‘He is mine. And I am his.’
LinGuang-Jun grits his teeth. “Bar the doors, and block this wing. Make it so this chamber is never to see the light of day again.” His final orders as he leaves the lovers in their space frozen in time. “No words are to spread about what you have seen.” He orders as he takes LinBei with him.
The impressionable child, one look at the scene, suddenly felt a rush of longing. ‘When I grow-up, I want a love like that…’ he says to himself. - A promise so destructive already taking root in his heart. A thought his own father could not save him from.
LinGunag-Jun will learn... why his brother suddenly wishes to feel nothingness.