Chapter Text
The Rays of light pierced the beautiful lace curtains of the Monkey King's golden palace at noon, piercing a room located on the east wing of the location.
A young man slept happily in a bed larger than his body, saliva was flowing freely from his mouth due to his comfortable position.
Here was Qi Xiaotian, Sun Wukong's child and successor, the son of a nurse whose whereabouts were unknown, yet the infant from the moment he was born was treated like a king.
The sun's rays directly hit his face, prompting him to reposition himself to avoid the light's reflection. However, his efforts were useless, as his room door was slammed open, eliciting a muffled gasp from his mouth.
—Good morning, Prince Xiaotian —said a female voice, one of the maids in charge of assisting him with his preparations entered the room, her serene glance as she opened the curtains to let all the light inlet let made her feel how a mother wakes up her kid.
—¡Oh, Good morning, Miss Jiang! —the young man said as he exhaled, still scarred by the aggressiveness of the woman's entrance.
—Your majesty, today is your 20th birthday, ¿Are you excited? your father will hold a ceremony to which all of the kingdoms will be invited —
—¿Will the empire of the Western dragons also be here? —He was already up, stumbling as he put on his slippers and changed the robe he was wearing due to the emotion.
—Of course, they will come, the Princess Xiaojiao would never miss your birthday —said the maid laughing sweetly.
—Awesome! Could it be true, Jiang? I'm already 20 years old, I'll be able to sit next to my father and, and, what a thrill! —he exclaimed, jumping with delight.
The lady approached the young man, taking his hand to calm him down, he stopped jumping and was now staring at the woman, puzzled and curious.
—This is a present, from me and the maids of the castle, I hope your majesty likes it —She bowed before the prince and placed some gold wristbands in his hands, giving him a beautiful smile.
—Mrs. Jiang, what is this? —
—They are golden wristbands from the realm of Lotus blossoms, Prince Nezha and his family decided it would be a nice idea to gift them to you, so the maids and I journeyed weeks ago to get them —
—M-Mrs. Jiang, you didn't have to do that —the prince was clutching the gift, murmured, his face turned with embarrassment.
—Please, accept it, you have always been good to us, we couldn't be left behind with the others, it may not be something so valuable but the feeling is the same —the woman closed her eyes gently while taking the boy's hands, he did not hold back and jumped to hug the woman, it was not surprising that Sun Wukong's son had strength.
—Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! —exclaimed as he was still holding the woman.
Both exchanged small giggles, she headed towards the young man's closet while the boy got ready and took off his pajamas the woman's gaze changed to a duller countenance.
Although it was all laughter and feelings of joy, Jiang knew very well what awaited the young prince, a pressure in the chest formed in the woman's body as she remembered what would happen today.
The fate of Sun Wukong's son was a taboo matter; every servant and individual in the palace's command was already restricted from discussing it with Xiaotian; they knew that if the child discovered what was planned for him, he would flee as soon as possible rather than accomplish his task.
As she approached the young man to dress him, she took Qi by the hands and looked him directly into his eyes.
—Listen, your Majesty, you must promise me something, for nothing in the world would you remove your wristbands; I can't explain why, but you must promise me that if something happens to you, you will not remove your wristbands —
—Jiang, is something wrong? you are acting very strange... —he said concerned.
The maid felt she was acting too passionate, so she made a mental plan to do something quickly.
—It's nothing Prince Xiaotian, it's just that it would hurt a lot to see you without the wristbands...that's all —
She offered him a false smile and went about her task, repairing and combing the young man's attire as it should be.
This made the prince aware that something had occurred during their conversation, but the fact is that he's still naive, so he would merely listen to the explanation the woman provided him and not suspect anything.
On his shoulders, Qi Xiaotian carried orange-black and crimson silk clothing, therefore he resembled a prince worthy of a throne.
On his forehead, he put his father's ancient golden crown, which he had also worn in his youth.
It looked almost identical to him.
The prince came out of his room, with his pompous clothes, he even had to pick up the clothes from the floor since it was so long it appeared to be more of a feminine dress than a ceremonial attire, unlike all of his other birthday outfits, but the he was too happy to notice.
He went along the corridors, his heart full of joy, staring out the windows. The day was bright, seabirds soared through the windows, and ships approached in the distance.
His thoughts were so immersive that he didn't notice a voice calling him.
—Hey boy, wake up, come on, come on —
—¡General Macaque! —Sun Wukong's right-hand man and the general of the nation's military forces, he was in such a high position that he was considered part of the royal court and family to MK, a kind of uncle who was very close to his father.
The monkey approached the young man and hugged him fiercely before taking him off the ground and twirling him around euphorically while they giggled.
—¡Look at you kid! it seemed that yesterday you were a little boy who cried when he couldn't lift his father's staff —
The youngster laughed while he was spinning, and after he landed on the ground, the elder man gently held the boy's face in both hands to examine his features.
—A real man, I wouldn't be surprised if a girl wanted to marry you one of these days —
—Macaque, stop, it's embarrassing —said while he blushed and giggled softly.
—What? I only tell the truth, girls are dying for you —
Both began to walk through the hallway with the monkey's arm around the younger man's shoulder, looking out the windows and exchanging positive statements for both of them; the monkey could be described as his second father.
They came to standstill in front of one of the windows to see the day, which was as brilliant as the birthday boy.
The monkey shoved him close to the window so he could see all the ships arriving at the ports; colored ships with their corresponding flags were the largest decorations on the coasts of the villages.
The monkey stood against the window, watching the kid become enthusiastic and search for nations he already knew; among these, the fleet with the emblem of the family of dragons from the West drew his attention the most.
The general couldn't restrain himself when he spotted his careful attention to the ship, the eyes of the prince gleamed and a little blush of emotion appeared on his cheeks, he couldn't wait to shake the prince out of his concentration.
—So the dragon girl comes there, you seem very excited about her arrival huh —
—I am, without a doubt! Xiaojiao and I only get to be around each other once a month or at dull political meetings, you have no idea how much I miss her when she leaves; I can't wait to see her, I have to see her immediately! —
—Slow down, champ; you don't want your father to see you messed up, I'll cover for you if he asks, but you'll show your face if he catches us, do you understand? —
—¡Yes, general, see you later and thanks for everything! —he said as he ran away, tripping a few times because of the length of his dressing, but this didn't stop him from continuing on his way.
As the boy began to walk away Macaque's dominant look became an irritated one, his little theater was just a farce to continue with his role, he just had to continue with the script.
He cursed and blamed Wukong for not telling his son about how he would sell him like cattle for what he had caused, and although Macaque missed wars and would have risked his life a thousand times to kill his enemies, that was no longer an issue.
More importantly, a pressure in his chest reminded him that, like it or not, he had become fond of the youngster, and seeing the boy's face after they transported him to the Demon Bull King's realm would devastate him.
But his duty was not to meddle.
More optimistically, the boy sprinted towards the palace's main door, leaving a trail of smoke in his wake; his hurried footfall was heavy, and he even sent some servants comically flying due to his hurry. There was only one thing on his mind and it was to hug her best and most memorable friend.
The golden door opened slowly to reveal a female figure with her parents and companions, the drums sounded but these were interrupted by Xiaotian's high-sounding shout.
—¡Xiaojiao! —The young man yelled as he pounced on his best friend.
—¡Xiaotian! —When the girl encountered the prince, her eyes lit up like the sun, both were overjoyed.
The prince wasted zero time in turning into a gold, crimson, and brown dragon, ready to jump on the princess who had also shed her human body to assume her dragon form.
Because the force of the impact was such, both teenagers went flying through the air outside the palace and ended up playing on the stairs in their dragon forms, bites and joyful growls could be heard while the dust from their motions became increasingly noticeable.
All the servants, soldiers, guards, and guests looked annoyed and shocked at the attitudes of the young adults who were more than immersed in playing with each other.
Two nearly 6-meter dragons were playing on the royal stairs, preventing other guests from passing and prompting numerous rumors and unpleasant views about the prince's maturity to be circulated to all visitors, much to the horror of Xiaojiao's parents.
The princess's father cleared his throat in such a way that it was heard all the way, both young people stopped moving for a few seconds and then observed the Dragon King's penetrating gaze, the teenagers immediately stopped and returned to their human forms with low and embarrassed expressions, Xiaojiao was the first to speak.
—I'm sorry father, we got carried away —
—Enough, please Prince Xiaotian, let's go inside the palace as quickly as possible —
—Yes sir, immediately —
Both friends gazed at each other sorrowful but still smiling. All the guests from other nations came to the palace, the kingdom of lotuses, tigers, spiders, turtles, dragons from the east and west and guests from faraway lands came just to see the son of Sun Wukong.
The boy led everyone to the main living room next to the offering room, where gifts and details abound. Xiaotian couldn't help but squeal when he saw how many gifts had arrived; this was going to be one of his best birthdays, all he needed was someone to start the preparations, and that person was Sun Wukong. Where will he be?
—I already told you DBK, my daughter is in my palace waiting for your little one, trust me, I have given you my word for more than 19 years and it is time to fulfill the pact, once they get married, your nation and my nation they will live in peace, you are lucky that my little girl and your offspring are slow to age —he said laughing to calm his nerves.
The Monkey King was at the Demon Bull King's palace, standing in front of him with a confident expression as if he didn't mind lying although he was on the point of death. He didn't want to be misunderstood, he was indifferent to the fact that his son was getting married, one day the boy would have to establish his heritage, but he didn't want his little one to marry the son of his greatest enemy, especially if they had lied about his gender for nearly 19 years. He was afraid that something would happen to him, but there was no turning back.
—I don't care whether the girl lives to be 21, you'll give her to me and I'll raise her with my firstborn; perhaps it will teach you not to fight your enemies in the last millennium —
—Hey buddy, no hard feelings, I'll do my job and you'll do yours, that's it for the conversation; if you don't mind, I'll leave —he was just about to leave when the deep voice of the bull king spoke.
He froze upon hearing the king's voice.
—If I find out that you lie, I will end your daughter and everything dear to you Sun Wukong, do you hear me? —
—Whatever you say bud, peace —
So he walked back to the limits of the palace, his eyes were nonchalant on the outside but frightened on the inside since he had done something foolish once again. Now he'd have to deal with it, and he'd have to come up with a backup plan quickly in case something went wrong.
With a whistle, his flying cloud arrived quickly to pick him up, and while he was gone, a boy with flaming reddish hair kept moving his leg impatiently in his room.
Although he had spent the entire morning preparing himself to be presentable, he was more than immersed in his thoughts, he wanted to marry the girl with whom he had been engaged, and in relationships between demons, mutual love doesn't matter as long as income is generated.
He did, however, have high aspirations.
The "firstborn" will be the most stunning woman Red Son had ever seen, and if she wasn't, he'd make fun of her as much as anyone else who was inferior to him.
He only had one job in life, and that was to get engaged and married; it was his purpose in life, and he had accepted it from the moment he discovered it; all he wanted to do now was complete his duty and make his father proud, all he had to do now was wait until night time to introduce himself in the palace, and what a surprise he would receive once he did.