===There's a sacred tradition in the world full of crown jewels.===
Hurried steps resound throughout the palace halls, and as the continuous rows of palace women heard the shuffling and tossing sound of metal clanking against metal they bowed their heads immediately.
'As your gracious presence enters, General', they all greeted with the same flat tone and expression, well practiced, well taught and all hand chosen to serve the newly appointed Princess .
The General's gaze remains at the sliding screened door at the end of the hall, in which the silhouette of the said majestic woman awaits for him. He's only a few rushed steps away from the door, slowly; he relaxes himself and takes more précised steps.
He then stopped walking when he's only a few feet away from the door and in a snap of a finger, two palace women sat up from their kneeling position and elegantly opened the door for him.
He looks up, and eventually he kneels in one bended knee as he bows to the princess with much respect. "Your Majesty." The General avowed, his eyes closed shut to relax his mind from the thoughts of receiving an announcement which can lead to having more sleepless nights.
"General." The Princess replies. "My old friend, come and stand up." Gracefully, beautiful like a swan, the Princess continues after standing up from her seat. "Sit beside me, my loyal servant."
The General doesn't look up to the Princess, his gaze remains on the animal wool that's patterned on the floor. He stands up from his kneel, and then he walks closer to the Princess. The majesty pats on the cushion beside her three times, a sign of order or request for the General to sit beside her.
The Princess smiles softly when the General does, and gradually, she orders the Palace women to close the door and let the two of them be alone.
Once the sound of faint footsteps from the outside stopped, the Princess pulled the General by the nape and kissed him by the lips. There were times when they would talk first before they made love. There are times when they would play chest first, and there were those odd times when they would play with puppets first…
But this time everything is rushed, as if they're both running out of time. But in truth they are, because now that the Princess is in the right age, she has to find a King to solidify her reign and Kingdom.
===Continue the royal lineage and follow the traditions.===
Weeks have passed since the last time they've seen each other, felt each other's heat, touched each other's skin and ravished each other's lips. But here they are now, sitting inside the same room, facing each other with a perfectly carved and cut wooden table separating them, and then… There's also him.
The fine Prince whom Pai He's mother handpicked for her to marry. Inside the wide and bright room are the Queen, the young Princess, the General and the future King.
"Pai He, my beautiful daughter. This is Ye Zi, the man whom I've searched far and wide for you. He's young, and wise. His father is one of our own loyal soldiers and his Mother's blood is related to the past Kings of the past. Their influence is known in all provinces. I'm pleased with him and his family, and I wish for you to marry this man."
The Princess tensed her shoulders, still in repudiation at looking at the man she's about to marry. "I thought I would be presented with a fine man, honorable and reputable." She argues, her tone showing much distaste and disrespect to the man beside her mother. "I don't want to lay nor be with this man."
"Pai He!"
"Call for me once you've found me this man whose worth is like gold and salt. I refuse to view, let alone sit with scraps that can be found everywhere." The Princess ordered and damned. She stood up from her seat, making sure her posture is elegant once she steps away from the table. "Hero, my appointed General." Pai He calls out, voice all velvety and smooth but harsh in command. "Let's be on our way and continue our discussion inside my Chambers."
The General complied, standing up from his seat and not minding the soft sobs coming from the mother of the young man.
He bows to the queen politely before stepping out of the room, and he pushes that mere thought and sight that makes him feel that the queen is in suspicion of him and the Princess.
===Do it and honor it as your forefather's did.===
The Princess remains on top of him even after their short session which circles around lust mixed with a new found love for each other.
He can feel the Princess's smooth fingertips against cheeks, soft lips against his lips, and Pai He's distinctive and addicting scent filling his nostrils.
They remain naked and bare even after that. Their hair sticking in each of their foreheads, bare chest against chest, fingers laced and curled in one's own. The Princess stood up from her rest, prompting her body up with her hands against the floor before tugging and dressing herself up with her white under robe.
"I'm not going through this… I won't choose him, I won't marry that pig."
The General looks at the Princess. Though he wasn't shocked with the Princess's statement, he is worried. Not only for the princess, not only for himself but he's also worried for the Kingdom and its thresholds and responsibilities to be reached and fulfilled.
The General is named Hero. Born from a powerful military lineage. He's part Japanese, part Chinese, mainly because his parents met at the time of King Wei Yin's reign. Mixed race children nor marriage isn't allowed back then, but when the King allowed and abide it, the General promised his never ending loyalty to the King's family.
And also, that general points that his son will protect the next generation of the kind King, which explains why Hero has been loyal to Pai He since the beginning.
He doesn't know when it started, doesn't know when they've felt such deep and treasuring emotions for each other. He assumes it started with their friendship, with trust and a promise to keep each other safe.
Maybe it's confusing friendship between love, or confusion between responsibility from what is to be done and what is to happen. Maybe it's a combination of both, or maybe it isn't…. But in the end, who knows? Maybe they're just both lonely, and they saw and thought of each other as comfort, comfort until that feeling transformed into something deeper…
Until that comfort turned into need.
He sees this kind of relationship end anytime soon, primarily because he knows of Pai He's duties and responsibilities all too well. Pai He needs to marry soon, she needs to continue and move forward, she needs to find someone to have and raise the new generation with.
She needs to find someone, and Hero knows well that the certain someone is not him.
"You have to." Hero replies briefly, turning his body a little to the side to hide himself from the Princess. "No one else can continue the royal lineage, only you."
The Princess tittered for a moment; her eyes all narrowed clearly implying that she's more than displeased. "Do I have a sister or not? I do, right? Then why are you saying as if the Kingdom and its reign will end without me?!"
"But it's different! You're different!"
"What is?" The Princess screamed with her face only a few inches away from Hero's. "The only difference is our faces and height, habits. Isn't the flesh and muscles around our bones the same? The blood running through our veins?! Whatever I can do, she can too!"
The General stood up from his rest, moving away from the Princess a little. He's getting too uncomfortable. Like there's little to no room for them to move. "But she's not the first born daughter! The continuation of this Kingdom rest on your shoulders, and if you don't do something about it the other Kingdom will definitely take advantage of that situation!"
The Princess sighs to calm herself up, her fingers massaging the spot between her eyebrows. "Hero… I don't want to be with him. You know that I only want to be with one person until my dying day… And that's—
"No." Hero states with finality, picking up with robes and armor on the floor to take his immediate leave. He doesn't want to be on this kind of ground again, if he stays here he'll just listen more to the Princess's promise of forever with him.
He's a soldier, he's a trained fighter.
The man who fights in bloody battlegrounds for his country's honor.
But within the presence of the woman that he loves, he's nothing but a tamed lamb in need of his shepherd's love and care. He wants to escape that routine, which explains the reason why he needs to go. "Don't you dare say that."
"Do you not love me anymore?" Pai He asked in desperation before Hero could take another step away towards the sliding door. "Do you loathe me now? Do you detest the idea of being with me? Do you?"
The General breathed out through his mouth.
He wants to turn around and tell the Princess that growing old and dying beside the woman he loves is a dream come true, but if he tells her this now, he knows that they'll have one of those inevitable and gruesome endings. "Stop thinking like a foolish child and act like an adult. Pay heed to your responsibilities and be a good Queen to your future King and counsels."
The Princess snapped forward and pulled on the General's hand, bringing the beautiful male closer to her until they could feel each other's breath on their skin. "You are the one who is acting childish!"
Hero jerked his hand away, not giving a single care even if Pai He's long fingernail's scrape against his skin, wounding him and letting out blood, he had experienced much worse than this. "Let's stop for today, your Majesty. Both of us clearly need some time to think."
Hero takes a few steps back, heading towards the sliding door once again. He asked the Palace women to open the door for him, and when he heard the familiar sound of wood rubbing against the holder he made a quick move of dressing himself with his inner white robe. "I'll be taking my leave, your majesty."
And with a bow as a sign of respect he leaves the room without saying another word.