Do not be fooled

"What?" asked Long Jun, confusedly. He was still behind Lu Meili and thus couldn't tell if she was serious or not. 

"That's our Commander! Capturing a criminal without even breaking a sweat!" One of the male shifters said, delightedly. 

With Lu Meilin finally captured, the rest of the dragon shifters put their guards down and turned back to their mortal forms. Lu Meili looked at the seven dragon shifters that surrounded her: two females and five males, including the commander, Long Jun. 

The male shifters mostly looked at her with curiosity. They looked far more carefree now compared to when they were trying to capture her. However, not once did they remove their gaze from her, as they took the opportunity to inspect the new prisoner. 

"Handsome, sir, I think your soldiers intend to hurt me so bad…" Lu Meili murmured, sounding scared, as she took a step back towards Long Jun. 

'Handsome, sir?' Long Jun tried to understand if she were usually like this. He tried to figure out if Lu Meili was just being kind, or if there was a hidden meaning behind her flowery words. 'It sounded like she was flirting.'

Of course, he wasn't the only one who was confused with how she was acting. 

"Commander! Do not be fooled!" Lou Mary immediately noticed that something was wrong. "I will help you make her unconscious!" She volunteered as she brought a potion bottle towards them.

"No!" Lu Meili refused, her eyes glistering and lips trembling. "Commander! You promised!"  

"She is only using your kindness., Your Highness!" Lou Hana decided to use a higher form of address to make sure she got Long Jun's attention. 

'Stupid.' Lu Meili couldn't help but feel bad for Long Jun. His soldier had just given away their hidden card. What if she were an enemy? With her being so close to royalty, it would have been pretty straightforward to use Long Jun as a hostage. Trained soldiers or not, it would have been near impossible to run away from a suicidal enemy's bomb. 

She could tell that the rest were probably thinking the same thing, aside from Lou Mary, as they all glared at Lou Hana.

"Are you all questioning me?" He asked, threateningly, through clenched teeth. "I have everything under control, don't I?" He had never liked how Lou Mary dealt with things. Aside from that, Long Jun was also aware of the female shifter's romantic affection towards Long Cheng. With that being said, it was best to separate the mate, as they wanted them to be as far away as possible from each other.

Lou Mary, however, would not give up. "But... But... It is best if she is unconscious. So-" 

"Enough! There is no need for that!" Long Jun exclaimed commandingly,  allowing no room for any further rebuttal. He then stepped to Lu Meili's side and looked at her, "No funny business. Just do as I say."

Lu Meili nodded indifferently, while Long Jun studied her face for a moment before releasing a deep breath. 

"Follow me." He uttered finally.

Just as they made their way to leave, a familiar female voice came from behind. "Aren't you a little overconfident, Prince Jun? Is this the right protocol, when she kidnapped a royalty?" 

It was Han Lu who had appeared with five personal guards- as apparent by the Han dragon clan crest that they were wearing. 

Han Lu seemed to have gone home only to change her dirty clothes that Long Cheng had vomited on earlier. Yu Han had changed from her black dress to a white one. It was still, however, a skimpy dress, definitely not suitable for the muddy, rainy environment of the Thunder Forest. The fact she had on a pair of high stilettos was also very amusing for them. 

There was a moment of silence as they watched the woman and her entourage get closer. While doing so, Han Lu was not hiding the fact that she, too, despised Lu Meili. 

'Surprise, surprise.' Lu Meili did not mind being glared at. She would only retaliate if she were being attacked physically. 

Lou Mary discretely glared at Han Lu, before realizing Han Lu could be the key in disposing of Lu Meili faster. 

"Lady Yu, What, Why, and how did you know where we were?" Lou Mary exclaimed, feigning respect, making her way towards the woman.