"Lia, dear, you should be careful. You've grown so much, from a little girl to a beautiful adult. I don't want to call out things but Min doesn't mean it," Elder L patted her shoulders.
"Thank you Elder L for always supporting me," Lia slightly bowed.
"Elder M," she added.
Elder M nodded and said, "take care of yourself," before he walked away.
"Good, good," Elder L mumbled and also watched Lia disappear before he returned to the hall.
"Where's Elder M?" Elder Z's beard loved to be stroked.
"He left," Elder L didn't sit down.
"What's wrong, L? Can't sit anymore?" ELder P sneered again.
"I will not participate in this," Elder L resolutely said.
"Me too," Elder H finally spoke up after anxiously sitting for a long while.
"The K family has too much power-"
"Elder C, this is not the right way to deal with things. The Ghost King has returned and we-"
"Elder L! The K family will only grow in power with Lia being the Ghost King's future wife!"
"It's alright. If both Elder L and H do not wish to adhere to the plan then so be it. However, I hope both families will respect our decision and not interfere or else," Elder Z spoke.
"We will keep out of the matter," a slight worry flashed across Elder L's face but he recollected himself.
"Then," Elder L and H left the room.
Outside the palace, Elder M met with a younger girl. He waved her to him and moved to a dark spot where no eyes could reach them, "Maria, pass on the message."
Meanwhile, Lia tended to every need of Min. In other words, she was trying to grab his attention while he sat at his table and ignored her. She pressed down the suffocating feeling in her chest and preserved.
"Do you want some tea?" Lia wanted to sit next to him however Min waved her away.
"Go now. I still have things to do, you're in the way."
"Ok," she smiled and walked out. Once outside the door, she took a deep breath before she aimlessly wandered around the palace.
She had hoped once he'd be crowned Ghost King, once their engagement and wedding were announced, things would be different but she was just stuck in her wishful thinking.
As she sat in the inner garden of the palace, a familiar cheerful voice called out, "What's with the long face?"
Leo rubbed her head and grinned.
"Nothing, just tired," she playfully bumped him in the sides.
"Oh right, got a message for you. Your father says you should go home because of your mother..."
"Ohh..." Lia understood. Her mother was against the marriage and Lia spent a great amount of time convincing her.
"I got it, thanks!" she jumped up but Leo held her back.
"Listen Lia, if Min doesn't treat you right, just tell me and I'll bend him straight again."
Lia laughed, "It's fine, don't worry about me."
"Ok," Leo was cheerful but once she was gone he sighed.
His face expressed longing and his heart hurt but he couldn't do anything about it. He could just watch like he had always done.
***
On the other hand, Elder Z slowly made his way to Min.
"Did anyone see?" Min raised his eyebrows as Elder Z came in.
"No, have you decided when yet?" Elder Z sat opposite of Min.
"Tomorrow night," Min didn't look at Elder Z and just continued to stare at the documents in front of him.
"I saw Lady Lia leaving the palace. It seems like she's headed home, won't this be quite troublesome?"
"It is. I can't let her die," the documents rustled on the table and Min rubbed his temples.
"Power is a fickle thing, sacrifice is needed."
Min hollowly laughed, "Elder Z, I agreed to give you full control and powers over the council. Don't pretend to be self-righteous here."
"The council for me and the entire world for you. It's best if Lady Lia is kept by your side tomorrow evening so we can assure she won't ruin our plan."
Min didn't answer.
"Ghost King, this means tomorrow you will have to bed Lady Lia so she won't hear the alarm."
Min's face turned sour, "Alright, I have no other choice."
"Very well, then you will need to give us the permission," Elder Z held his hand out.
Min grabbed it and green light flourished out of his hand branding a symbol into the back of Elder Z's.
The immortals were truly immortal, they didn't die and they could decide when they would stop ageing. Their wounds would heal quickly and no ordinary method could kill them.
The only one who could kill immortals was the Ghost King, as a punishment, and the only way for immortals to kill each other was to either have powers or attain the permission of the Ghost King and the approval of at least four families.
If this requirement was achieved, the Ghost King could briefly transfer some of his power to the receiver and thus immortals could be killed.
"I will inform the others," a small smile appeared on Elder Z's face when he left.
Min only ridiculed how pathetic and power-hungry Elder Z was.
***
Not far from the city, located close to the outskirts, along the river was the residence of the K family. The mansion was cut off from any other buildings and had its own land.
Lia, in the courtyard inside the mansion, looked at the scenery. It has been a long time since she came back home. She has spent all of her time helping Min to become the Ghost King.
As the K family were the only one with the powers left of the previous Ghost King, they had the right to find a new successor and once they appointed one, the candidate had to go through various trials in order to fulfil the criteria.
However, since Min had no powers, it was Lia who accomplished most of the tests for him.
The garden bloomed with flowers and juicy green grass and the breeze of the wind was comfortable under the moonlight. Footsteps appeared and halted next to Lia.
"So, you finally decided to come back?"
"Mother..." Lia nervously laughed as her mother pulled her by the ear.
"I'm just paying a visit because you missed me so much!"
"Who told you this crap?" Lia's mother was a beautiful woman yet contrary to her husband who doted on their daughter, she was strict.
"Father did!"
"That-"
"You didn't congratulate me," Lia sulked and rubbed her ears.
Her mother narrowed her eyes, "Do I need to? I'm still against the sorry excuse of your fiance and still can't forgive you for breaking the family rules!"
"I'm sorry..."
"Do you think a sorry can turn back time?"
"No..." Lia mumbled and moved further away to escape her mother's grip.
"Lia's happy and that's all that matters," Elder K came and patted Lia's head, "She's not young anymore, she can make her own decisions."
"Not young but sill naive and wet behind her ears," Lia's mother scolded and gave up after seeing the father-daughter pair spoiling each other rotten.
She still felt uneasy about this marriage however if Lia was truly happy she couldn't refute. But her husband being such a weak wimp was unacceptable.
The wind was getting stronger and Lia's mother felt something ominous brewing. She just hoped she was wrong.
"The dinner should be ready soon," she humphed and left.
After dinner, Lia retreated to her room and laid on her bed. She stared at the ring Min gave her and smiled. A knock on the door pulled her back to reality, "Miss, the bath's ready."
An attendant briefly appeared, Lia nodded her head. She looked at her ring again and decided to take it off for the bath. It was precious and she didn't want anything to happen to it. She put the ring on the drawer next to her bed and walked to the bath to soak in the warm water.
The bath comforted her and gave her a feeling that tomorrow when she saw Min again, he wouldn't treat her bad.
The next day, Lia returned to the palace and the first thing she did was to find Min. She burst into his studies and sat next to him. Min wore his expressionless face like always but this time he actually faced her.
She tilted her head waiting for him to speak. It felt like hours have passed when he finally opened his mouth, "Stay here with me tonight."
Lia dropped her face, her big eyes widened and it took her a minute to process before she jumped at him and hugged him.
"Ok! Ok!" She was happy, way too happy. She hoped for this day to come when he would return her feelings but for it to actually happen?
Tonight would be the time Min would start to adore her. She was sure of it.
***
Ghosts scurried across the quiet city painted in black. It was unusually deserted. The lights in the houses were the only source of reassurance that this wasn't a ghost city.
The wind howled as loud and unified steps echoed in the distance. The darkness seemed to swallow all living beings up and the ghosts flew around to circle troupes of men in black.
In the front, four males in white robes with dignified and imposing manners walked and behind them, the soldiers marched. It was a sight sure to engrave horror into people's minds.
On one particular male clad in white, a green glowing pattern appeared on the back of his hand and signalled the oncoming calamity.
Elder Z stroked his beard and the green glowing moved up and down catching the ghosts' attention. The more they ventured to the outskirts of the city, the more vengeful spirits were attracted to this ominous troupe.
Next to Elder Z, Elder P, Elder C and Elder G all raised their hands and a green colour lighter than Elder Z's appeared and controlled the vengeful ghosts to leave them.
No one seemed to notice the march of doom heading towards a battlefield that would be tainted with innocent blood, ripped apart flesh and gruesome corpses.
And so they continued on without anyone realising what was about to happen in this eerie night.