I woke up unexpectedly from a dreamless slumber, my eyes adjusting to the brightly lit room. Blinking back at the sun's rays, I glanced around the room and realized that I must've fallen asleep in Meilin's office. Looking down at my lap, I blushed a deep hue of red as I saw that Meilin was snuggled against my stomach, still fast asleep.

My back and shoulders were stiff from sleeping in an uncomfortable position, but the discomfort was worth it since Meilin had gotten a good night of rest.

Brushing back a few strands of his hair, I tilted my head back until I was staring up at the ceiling, my thoughts whirring back to last night. I had seen a part of Meilin that I had never seen before, and although I hoped to never see a pained expression on his face again—even if it was for the briefest second—I wanted him to open up to me.

"Meilin," I murmured, tasting the name on my lips. I had never called him that when he was awake, and I was positive I wasn't going to be calling him that any time soon. I wasn't close enough to him or confident enough to call him by his given name.

He was still sleeping, but he stirred slightly, nudging his face against my stomach, which cast color across my face.

After a long moment, he moved around and mumbled something before his eyes fluttered open. He squinted in the light and rubbed at his eyes, propping his elbows back to sit upright. In his attempt at getting up, his hand pressed against my thighs and I gasped sharply, my chest rising at where he had inadvertently touched. Though it was still my thigh, it was much too close to my womanhood.

He flinched back at the noise and whipped his head to stare at me, his eyes wide with confusion. He blinked back and removed his hand."Sorry about that," he mumbled.

I only nodded, averting my gaze.

"I slept through the night," he said in awe as he stared at the window and how the sunlight was casting a glow around the whole room.

"You should make an effort to sleep every night," I said to him, feeling as though I was chastising my younger siblings. Although I was trying to reprimand him for his lack of care for his health, my cheeks were still flushed.

He stretched his arms out before bringing a hand to the back of my head and pulling me close until our foreheads bumped. He smiled uncharacteristically and said, "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."

Pulling away from me, he came to his feet and ambled to his desk, where he lifted a few documents before letting them drop back on the desk. He scratched at his ear and plopped down on the seat, sweeping his gaze all over the documents and scrolls lain about him.

"You should go get dressed," he said after a moment. "I think I'll do the same after a moment."

I nodded, tucking a strand of loose hair behind my ear before turning away from him and leaving the room.

My heart was racing to a wild tune.

***

Nikator was nudging Atreus's shoulder and was waving his hands around, talking to him rapidly in their native tongue, Fadian. He looked excited as he spoke, his vibrant blue eyes gleaming with emotion. I stared at his wavy crimson hair, admiring the color since I had never seen a hair color like that. Thinking about hair color, I glanced over at commander Bohai, who was watching the two of them with a raised brow.

"Commander Bohai," I suddenly asked him. "Are you perhaps a little foreign?"

"Huh?"

"Your hair color." I pointed to it. "It's brown."

"Oh." He touched his short hair and smiled, bobbing his head. "My mother is from Kadios, believe it or not. I take after my father and I suppose the only attribute I attained from my mother is this hair of mine."

Just as we were going to continue our conversation, Nikator sped over to where we were at and touched my shoulder for a brief moment before pulling his hand away. Turning my attention to him, he watched me with his pretty blue eyes. "Lady Daiyu, are you prepared to leave this afternoon?"

My brows came together. "Leave? We're leaving this afternoon?"

"Yes, pretty soon too," he said as he glanced over at the sun's position. "We need to hurry to the palace anyway, since this place will soon be muddled with war. Master Drakkon is planning on finishing these pointless battles soon and he doesn't want to drag you into it. The sooner we leave, the better."

"But—" Right when I started thinking of Meilin in a somewhat decent light, I would be taken away from him and sent back to the palace? Not only that, but I wouldn't be able to talk to Yat-sen or see Atreus?

"Lady Daiyu, is everything alright?" Atreus asked me when he saw my distressed expression.

I smiled hesitantly. "I'll miss it here; or at least the company. Back at the palace, it's only Jia that I look forward to, and even then she only visits a little bit. I'll be alone."

Nikator frowned. "Vita will be with you soon, so you won't be completely alone."

"Yes, I at least have her to look forward to."

"Don't worry, once the war is over, at wedding the entire Peccata will be there," Nikator said excitedly, glancing over at Atreus. "How fun that will be? How many years has it been since all of us were together at once? Three?"

Atreus nodded. "Three. The last time was during Fang's wedding."

"You all haven't been together at once?" I asked them curiously. How was it that the six children that were raised together hadn't been in the same room for three years? "Was there a falling out of some sorts?"

Nikator shook his head while Atreus explained. "We all have been busy with our assignments, and our schedules and locations are always different than each other's. We all would like to be together as before, but it's hard to do so when we have so many other responsibilities. Of course there are times when five of us are together but the sixth is missing, or when we all meet up in pairs, but it's been a while since all of us were together in the same room."

"Why not ask the emperor? I'm sure he will give you guys a break every here and now—" I started.

Nikator clucked his tongue. "We're doing all of this for Master Drakkon. He insists we take a break and he doesn't like how some of us do our work, but he can't force us to do something we don't want to do. We want to do this for him."

"You all are very loyal to him," I said softly, awed once again by their trust and affection of Meilin.

"Of course," Nikator said with a wide smile, "he raised us and taught us everything. He's family."

"Family . . . " I smiled and patted his shoulder, before moving past him.

Would Meilin and I be a family one day? Would we have little children running around? If we had children, would they be as wild as him?

The biggest question I wanted to ask myself was how I was going to handle being the Empress. It still boggled my mind that I would soon be the wife of the emperor.

An emperor that apparently had killed his family, and yet loved and raised and protected six children.

***

I felt as though Meilin was sending me away. Nikator and I had set away from the base later that evening; Meilin hadn't come to see us off and only Bohai, Yat-sen, and Atreus had waved and said parting words to us. I was more conflicted over my feelings for Meilin and couldn't understand why he wouldn't come to say goodbye to me. It would take months before we would see each other again, so why had he not seen me? Right when I thought we were brought the teeniest bit closer, he pushed me away at arm's length once more.

During our travel, Nikator was talkative and was very vocal about his opinions on everything, unlike Atreus. He spoke about anything and everything, his tone chipper, his eyes bright, and his way with words simple. I learned a lot about the Peccata from him. About how Atreus was the quietest boy among the group but the best fighter. How Minos was the oldest of the group and loved to be with women. He told me about Vita, who was calm and composed most of the time, rarely being flustered. He told me that Thera was spontaneous and had so many lovers he couldn't even remember their faces. He also told me about Remus, who was the crybaby of the group and the youngest.

"We're almost there," he said on our sixth day of travel.

"That's great," I said, out of breath as we walked along with the horse that was carrying us. We had ridden on horse throughout the entire ride, and since I didn't know how to ride one, Nikator and I had ridden on one together. It was uncomfortable and my whole body was stiff, but I was more worn out when we walked around to loosen our taut muscles.

"We'll be in the capital by the afternoon," he noted as he stared up at the sky. "By that point, it won't take long before we're in the palace."

I nodded.

Family.

What happened between Meilin and his family to make him kill them? By the way he treated Nikator and Atreus, it was obvious that he knew of the concept of family and love.

Ever since I found out about Meilin killing his family, I couldn't stop thinking of that question, especially since he had shown traits of loving another person—like Fang, Bohai, Atreus, Nikator, the other members of the Peccata.

"Nikator," I said suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Has Meilin loved—" I started.

"Other women?" Nikator said, blue eyes wide and cheerful. "Of course he has. He's had lovers before, you know? He's loved two women from what I remember. One was this really pretty lady with long legs and a sweet voice. Another was this lady with a giant bosom." He waved over at his chest and laughed. "Obviously, things didn't really work out between them. I'm glad they didn't; I didn't like either of them, but I like you, lady Daiyu. You're prettier than them and you're nicer."

I blinked back, surprised at his answer. I had wanted to ask about Meilin's family and his way of loving, and what he considered love, but I hadn't expected Nikator to tell me this new information.

Meilin had lovers.

I shouldn't have been that surprised, considering he was older than me and thus lived longer, and because he was extraordinarily beautiful. Beautiful enough to garner the attention of the world and every woman in it.

"I remember back at Sanguis he would have a new woman with him every night. We were too young to understand so whenever we accidentally stumbled upon the women as they were leaving, he would always tell us she was just tucking him into bed and singing lullabies to him," Nikator said with a loud laugh, rubbing the side of his neck sheepishly. "I actually believed him."

A new woman every night?

I didn't like the sound of that.

"What else happened?" I asked slowly.

He stared at me for a moment before smiling. "He fell in love with Erato, but she was always mean to Remus and me, since we're . . . different." He paused. "I'm from Lebel, the place with the red haired people. People don't like people from Lebel. Remus . . . Remus is different too, but I can't really say how, since it's not my secret to tell."

He shook his head, as if brandishing all negative thoughts, before being as chirpy as usual. "Master broke things off with Erato and then later he had Doris. After Doris broke his heart, he slept with lots of women. I'm talking two or three women every night." He smiled and ran a hand through his vibrant red hair. "Remus would cry sometimes because he wanted Master to tuck him in and hold him. Of course, Master would come, but he was always a bit flustered and he would always talk about how children are hard to take care of." He laughed again, grinning widely. "I now understand what he meant. I mean, how can you spend time with women when you have a seven year old crying and asking you to hold him through the night? Still, he held us at a higher priority than any of those women."

I honestly didn't know what to feel from this conversation. Meilin had been with plenty of women before me, much more than I had thought he had been with. Not only that, but they were mostly women from Sanguis, and Sanguis was said to have beautiful and daring women. Why was it that Meilin had chosen me instead? I was beautiful, but I wasn't experienced or daring like the women from Sanguis.

From what Nikator was telling me, Meilin liked women. He would most likely have many concubines after me.

I must've been making a grim face before Nikator patted my shoulder and gave me a toothy grin. "Don't worry, Lady Daiyu, Master Drakkon cares for you so you don't have to worry."

"Thank you, Nikator," I said with a sad smile.

Was I destined to be with a man as fierce and scary as Meilin? Who would keep dozens of concubines at his side once his chase with me was over? Once he caught his 'little rabbit' between his teeth, was he going to toss me aside and bring countless others to his bed? Our bed?

I wanted this marriage to work between us, but the more I got to know Meilin, the more difficult it was becoming to see any potential.

"Lady Daiyu," Nikator said quietly, looking somewhat upset and bashful as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry . . . I shouldn't have told you all of that. It's only natural you'd get upset—"

"It's not your fault," I said softly, trying my best to smile. "I would have found out sooner or later."

"Master cares for you," he rushed. "I can tell."

"We don't know each other that well," I said. "He—"

"Master will come to love you," he said. "He is beginning to, anyway."

"Nik—"

"He told me that you shouldn't get even one scratch during this journey and that he didn't want you to be scared," he said calmly. "You're under Master's protection, Lady Daiyu. That clearly means he cares for you. Eventually that will spout into love."

It was reassuring to know that Meilin cared for me, but I already had an inkling of knowledge about that, since he had been gentle to me and I had seen signs of his caring—as slight as they were. But to see Nikator so excited and adamant to prove to me that his dear Master cared for me, made my heart melt at the youth's love for Meilin.

"Thank you, Nikator," I said once he was done talking. "You're a really kind boy."

"I'm not a boy anymore," he said, frowning. "I'm already sixteen."

"You're a really kind man, then," I told him without missing a beat.

He ruffled his own hair and laughed. "You really think so? Even though I'm from Lebel? You don't mind?"

I shook my head. "You're from Lebel and I'm from the Huo Empire and Atreus is from Sanguis, but we're all people."

His eyes were wide. "Do you really think I'm . . . the same as everyone?"

We both had stopped walking and at this point, I was staring at him in shock, completely taken away at the vulnerability he was so randomly showing me. My heart softened at the sight of him, shoulders hunched and brows pulled together in confusion. He must've had a rough life with the discrimination people from Lebel faced in Sanguis.

Most people from Lebel were slaves, having red hair and being savage. All people from Lebel were from tribes and many people from around the lands often sought out to capture children and people from Lebel. Although there were many people that weren't slaves, Sanguis often viewed any red-haired people as slaves and usually assumed they were.

"You have beautiful red hair," I told him softly, taking a step near him and placing a hesitant hand on his shoulder. "I don't view you as any different than anyone else. You're a kind person with a cheerful heart, and there's nothing you should be ashamed about. People are people, and I truly believe that."

He was staring up at me in awe, like he couldn't believe the words coming off my lips. "B-But," he stammered. "You only just met me; how can you determine all of that? Everyone else got to know me before they—"

My heart trembled at his words.

Did he honestly think that everyone around him only tolerated him or cared for him because they believed he was different than the other people from Lebel? Did he think that they thought he was an exception?

"Just because you're from Lebel doesn't mean that you're a savage," I said as I brushed my hand through his hair, tucking it behind his ear as I would do to my younger brothers and sisters when I was consoling them. "You're a beautiful person, Nikator, and you shouldn't think that you're any less than anyone. People shouldn't assume anything about you."

He raised his chin, his blue eyes suddenly guarded. "I'm not weak-hearted and I don't care what other people think, but sometimes I wonder why people act the way they do. You took me by surprise, Lady Daiyu, that's it."

I placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Don't fret about talking to me. If you ever need an ear to listen to, I'll always be here."

"Thanks, but I'm not a kid, you know," he said, flustered.

We continued to walk, both of us quiet for a while.

I spared a glance at the red-haired boy beside me, taking in the way his eyes were guarded to the world and how he was strong willed, but in that moment I had seen a spark of vulnerability, a questioning as to why he was different than everyone else. Though it was only in Sanguis that people from Lebel were often discriminated against, it wasn't rare to find it in other parts of the world.

"Have you ever heard the tale of Myskia, the red haired man?" I asked him.

"Of course, he's the one that caused terror throughout the world," he answered calmly.

"People say he freed slaves from all over the world," I told him.

"People also say he killed hundreds of people and that he destroyed many cities."

"He's a very conflicting person, don't you think? Thought of as a villain to the world, he was a dangerous figure," I said softly. "They say he destroyed armies. I think he's the reason people are so scared of Lebel."

"No," he said softly. "He tried to save slaves, but he used to be a slave himself. My people have always been singled out. 'Hair the color of blood'. We are the people that bleed."

I shivered. "Nik—"

"It's alright, I've learned from Master Drakkon to never let anyone step on me and that if anyone thinks that he can enslave me, that I have the power to kill him and that I am more than the chains that bind me."