The prince resided to the king's Chambers as soon as the meeting was over with Han Xulian trailing behind him like a lost dog. As soon as the price stepped into his father's room,the temperature dropped to freezing degrees. Han Xulian shivered from the cold, the prince's magic was so strong that his emotions controlled the atmosphere around him.
Now it was freezing. Han Xulian was the only one who could stand beside the prince in such times. Normally, the prince was able to mask his emotions but it was in this room that he could let them loose.
Han Xulian locked the door behind h as he stepped inside the room.
"Xulian get out!" the prince commanded
"I'm not going anywhere brother," Han Xulian retaliated moving closer to him.
"Don't!" he said "I don't want to hurt you."
"I know you won't, now please cheer up you might find 'the one' tommorow." he joked just to change the freezing temperature in the room. If this continued, he would kill the king.
"You believe in that 'shit'?" the prince asked with a low chuckle, the temperature in the room increasing at a rather slow pace.
"Yes I absolutely do," Han Xulian smiled even though he was cold, "Imagine these halls roaming with beautiful women, I cannot wait to grab one for myself, maybe for a couple of nights."
"That is not a bad idea actually," the prince said, "I do need somebody to tend to my needs."
"Brother," Han Xulian chuckled "You had so much time for that, now it's time for you to get married, this will be interesting."
"You know I will only marry one girl." he said ripping his jacked his body, "Her," he said pointing at the ruby tattoo on his chest.
"She looks better than last year," Han Xulian mused looking at the tattoo with bewilderment. It changed every time he saw it, seemingly ageing while Qin Yifan had accepted the mark as a part of his body and the significance of it.
"You have a ball to prepare for, go!" Prince Qin commanded, pushing Han Xulian with an invincible force. Once again, Qin Yifan pushed Han Xulian out of his father's room, to face a secret he had been keeping for so long.
Qin Yifan slumped back into his seat, his expression turning solemn and regretful. With his somber mood, the weather outside changed, the sunny blue sky was replaced with stormy grey clouds and Soo it began to rain heavily. His magic allowed him to manipulate the weather and all those heavy raindrops are the tears he never shed.
"Father," he said holding the king's hand, "I'm sorry, please forgive me."
His fingertips were radiating warmth into the king's body, melting the veins that started freezing and soon his body was at a normal temple and he was breathing steadily, better than before.
Before he could continue his remedy's blinding light illuminated the room. Qin Yifan squinted his eyes in concentration to see what was happening.
"Master Lee," Qin Yifan greeted falling on his knees, "Please do something." he begged.
"You have to let him die," the sage said, "His time came long ago, your magic cannot keep him breathing for longer. Let him go, he needs to unite with his ancestors."
"But he--" Qin Yifan started but stopped himself, "What if I find her?"
"Yifan you have to understand that, he needs to go..." Master Lee tried to make him understand, "And if you find her, the magic will be too strong to revive him, you might just burn his body to ashes."
Qin Yifan slumped on his knees defeated, the storm outside intensified as his emotions unraveled themselves.
"Control your emotions Yifan," master Lee said looking out of the window, "It's dangerous to keep on doing this, and plus we do not want those maidens traveling on muddy roads do we?"
"Master Lee," he warned, his hand absentmindedly touching his mark, "I just want her and only her. If she's not there, I'm not getting married."
"Very well my prince," master Lee said, "Please think back to what I said, do not act on impulse when you find her and Yifan, learn how to smile how are the maidens going to approach you if you brood all the time? Your magic is too powerful for them to come close so please keep yourself in check and approachable."
"What about the magical barrier?" the prince asked.
"Your magic keeps it from crumbling, but it is very weak as you are not king yet." he confirmed the Minister's words.
With that master Lee dispatched in thin air leaving Qin Yifan and the king in the room. The prince took deep breaths and the rain stopped pouring.
•••
Despite the storm outside, Han Xulian kept on barking orders to the palace staff, decorating the grand ball room as well as the entire palace according to the prince's taste. Han Xulian glanced outside the window and he frowned, the rain kept pouring heavily and unnaturally.
He kept on working even if his stomach was twisting with worry for the prince. Soon the rain ceased and the blazing sun took over and the temperature rose. Han Xulian continued with his work making sure the palace was ready.
"Lu Man!" Han Xulian called the palace maid.
"Yes sir," she answered keeping her head lowered.
"Inform the tailor to prepare a suit for the prince and I," he ordered.
"Yes sir," she bowed before she ran into the opposite direction.
By the time Han Xulian was finished with the preparations, the time was after the tenth hour of the evening. Han Xulian resided to his room thinking that the prince went back to his own but unbeknownst to him, the prince slept on the cold floor of the king's Chambers.