Fealty

"I have been waiting for you, The King of Heaven"

Wang Kuan stood stiff and opened his eyes widely. Wang Kuan must've misheard it and someone couldn't know his identity. The last three words struck him to the core and he didn't say anything, instead, Wang Kuan stared sternly at him.

"How do you know?" Wang Kuan said coldly.

"Hmm, I could tell...," Tang Yuan replied mysteriously, looking away to the windows and stared far to the distance, seemingly thinking about something. In a world filled with many different species and humans, he was able to tell apart a king and a mortal, impressive indeed.

"It doesn't matter anymore, I'm no longer that person," Wang Kuan said emotionless, he didn't care what they think of him or know that he was a king. Wang Kuan looked expressionlessly at Tang Yuan as Tang Yuan avoided his gaze.

Tang Yuan turned around and bowed his head down with an emotion that Wang Kuan didn't expect from him, it was almost like he bowed down from his inferiority to him. Tang Yuan bent his head with abnormal respect to Wang Kuan as Wang Kuan looked at him. It was uncommon for a well-known strong cultivator to bent their head for someone that was presumed to be dead. Tang Yuan then proceeded to kneel to his feet.

"My king, I am so happy to find you safe and sound," Tang Yuan said grateful for him.

Wang Kuan looked at him coldly and lifted his hand, "Rise". It felt strange for him to say this since coming here. Tang Yuan did not get up and remained kneeling instead, he lifted his head and said respectfully,

"From this day forward, I swore to protect the king in front of me for eternity even death could not extinguish my loyalty to the righteous cause that will protect us from the wrath of the titans and tyrants, glory and blessings upon the Eternal Empire"

The Eternal Empire was the empire that the Eternal God ruled for most of his life alongside his companions turned traitors, it was one of five biggest empires there and it was known as the heaven. The Eternal Empire raised righteous and noble heroes for centuries but Wang Kuan didn't know what happened to it after he died, he did not have any hatred for the empire but love for them as it was the place he was born and raised. After all, he was the child of the previous king and a royal prince from their bloodline.

Wang Kuan placed his hand on top of Tang Yuan's head while the other hand held the sleeping Tian'er and recited the words he used to say, "I, the rightful ruler of the Eternal Empire and the leader of 12 divine children, acknowledge your loyalty and dedication to this king, glory and blessing upon the empire that lives on for eternity, please rise". Wang Kuan sounded like a noble king, making others unable to look straight at him due to his superiority. Tang Yuan had cold sweats and got up,

"My king, why have you become like this?"

"It's a long story that I wish not to disclose but tell me exactly how did you know my identity?" Wang Kuan said casually, curious about how he recognized him.

Tang Yuan nodded his head and said, "We have always known that you will appear before us but we refuse to tell you why because it is a deep secret of our sect".

Tang Yuan shook his head and continued, "We were created to protect you and making sure no harm to you and your family".

Wang Kuan understood cause he remembered finding a couple of sects in his past life to protect him and rescue orphans, training them into heroes but he didn't expect them to survive till today and exist somewhere in this strange world.

Wang Kuan nodded his head and they talked for half an hour. Tang Yuan bowed his head and said, "Your majesty, we offer you this sect to protect and help cultivate you and your daughter, we'll talk again tomorrow".

Wang Kuan agreed because he needed more power. Wang Kuan got outside to find Uncle Lan leaning against the door,

"Oh, you're done, it's late, let's go back home"

Wang Kuan teleported back to his apartment and placed Tian'er onto the soft bed. Tian'er was exhausted all day due to the sleepy protection spell he placed on her. Wang Kuan rubbed her head and placed a blanket on top of her. He then proceeded to call Qing Zhu,

"Wang Kuan"

"Qing Zhu, I'm back and Tian'er will be staying at my apartment, I'll bring her back tomorrow"

"Okay but don't forget to treat her well or else I'll rip your head off," Qing Zhu said angrily.

'Why does she always sound like she ate gunpowder when she's talking to me'

Wang Kuan felt itchy and the two talked for a couple of minutes, Wang Kuan felt happy that he was talking with her more and more unlike before, they didn't want to look at each other or be in the presence of each other. Wang Kuan smiled sadly and thought,

'She hasn't changed, maybe I'm the one who changed'

The night went by peacefully,

Wang Kuan had quite the dream this time and it was not about betrayals and traitors. It was more about his past.

Wang Kuan was born into the Eternal Empire as one of the emperor's children and a prince. His childhood wasn't as extravagant as others would think. He was born during the conflict between the Shiva Empire and his Empire. His background wasn't as great as his other siblings.

He was the child of a concubine and he didn't have as much privilege as his other siblings. When he came out of his mother's womb, he was immediately left to the maids and his mother left him for the emperor. He grew up to a fragile and introverted kid from constant abuse from his mother. His mother often vent out her frustrations on him due to her not receiving the emperor's attention and her jealousy of the empress.

His mother used to be a maiden that came from the far east of the world, she was beautiful enough to catch the emperor's attention and she was of a high-class family. He fell immediately in love her and took her as his concubine. He had at least 1000 concubines in his harem and his mother was one of them. His mother became the emperor's favourite and the empress could do nothing but hide her jealousy behind a mask.

One day, she fell pregnant and the emperor was overjoyed. He orchestrated many festivals and galas for her alone even the empress wasn't as pampered as she was. Filled with jealousy, the empress started a rumour that his mother committed adultery and made up fake evidences, the emperor was foolish enough to believe her and banished her to the darkest part of the palace.

It was considered merciful that she wasn't executed due to the child inside of her. She gave birth to him during a war and it was considered bad luck for a prince to born during this time. She was then released and she immediately left the infant for the emperor. The emperor was nice enough to acknowledge the bastard's existence and made him a legitimate prince but that didn't clear away his name of being a bastard, The abuse continued for most of his life from everyone. It was also the beginning of his sense of justice

He was also engaged to the neighbouring kingdom princess and it was decided by his royal father, the princess was kind and virtuous, making the young Wang Kuan fall for her. Their friendship and his crush on her lasted for years.

Wang Kuan had an older brother who was an infamous playboy but dutiful prince, he was extremely handsome and all the girls swooned for him. He would always be stuck up with Wang Kuan and his fiance, he would tease him and joke with them. He was the only sibling he was close with and he considered him a true brother. They laughed and had a strong friendship, he was aware of Wang Kuan's obvious crush but he chose to keep it a secret cause Wang Kuan wanted it to be kept shut.

One day, Wang Kuan went with his father for a hunt and his brother stayed behind. He was excited to come back and charged into the room, to find his trusted brother in bed with his fiance. The revelation caused Wang Kuan fell onto his knees, his older brother smirked and whispered something cruelly into his ears,

"You filthy rat, don't think you deserve respects"

Wang Kuan ran as fast as he can to some unknown place, giving up on his relations and family. He went through hardships and life-death situations, making the man he was. He met his friends and enemies along the way. One day as he was training, he heard something about a revolt happening in his kingdom and found out that his brother killed his mother and his close friends there. Filled with hatred, he ran back and was almost killed by his older brother.

The brother he once trusted and still hated, became a cold and sadistic man, killing everyone in his way to be emperor and tried to kill him. Wang Kuan remembered the abuse and betrayal he suffered from him, Wang Kuan took out his sword and murdered everyone...

Annihilating everyone including his father emperor, the empress, the concubines, his other siblings, the maids, the courtiers and his once loved brother in one swish blow. The palace was filled with desperate screams, sufferings and pain. He stabbed his brother in the heart, whispering the same words and bathed the palace in blood and misery.

After the massacre was done, Wang Kuan found himself onto a mountain of corpses, with blood streaming like a lake. Anyone who witnessed hell was killed on spot by Wang Kuan. No one survived the massacre, Wang Kuan sighed in memories of them and proceeded to make sure everyone was dead. His blade was used too much that it almost broke.

It was the darkest moment in the empire but sadly, no one dared to mourn, afraid of him and his wrath. Wang Kuan crowned himself king and emperor with his friends attending. He made no mention of the massacre and no one dared mention it. It was a missing part of the empire's history. Those who dared to was killed by his followers. His followers and the commoners considered him the greatest man in history and dedicated their lives to him. This caused the neighbouring kingdoms to fear him but Wang Kuan ruled to be quite the noble and spread his teachings of justice.

'A moment of history that was not written but known by his generations'

Wang Kuan woke up and went to make breakfast. As he was making breakfast, he heard a cry from the room and immediately rushed there, to find a little girl sobbing with tears flowing. Wang Kuan's heart softened and said tenderly,

"My sweet daughter, what happened?"

"Tian'er saw Papa got hurt and two monsters were pushing Papa down, Tian'er also heard a loud scary bang," She sobbed, "Huhu, Tian'er don't want to lose Papa again," The little girl said while tears couldn't stop falling from her eyes as she rubbed her eyes.

Wang Kuan consoled the little girl, "Papa is here, safe and sound, no need to be scared". Wang Kuan tried consoling the little girl but she couldn't stop crying. Wang Kuan had to pull an old trick, he took candy from the drawer and gave them to the little girl, her eyes immediately brightened and took the candy gratefully. Wang Kuan didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

"Eat breakfast then you can eat the candy," Wang Kuan touched her little nose.

The two had quite the morning as Wang Kuan played games and watched cartoons with her. Wang Kuan was reluctant to let her leave but he needed to get stronger to be able to protect her. She was much more cheerful than before and seemed to lose the gloom when he first met her.

Wang Kuan dropped her off and said to her in a voice as gentle as water,

"Tian'er, you must be a good girl and listen to your mommy, then Papa will come back, okay?"

"Hehe, Tian'er will be at her best behaviour but Papa has to come back," Tian'er said smiling cutely.

Wang Kuan then looked at Qing Zhu and nodded his head.

"Be careful," Qing Zhu blurted out.

Wang Kuan nodded and walked away with a hidden smile.