3 : THE PRINCE

The second prince, Jeong Yo, was furious. He thrashed around everything in his room, scaring off the servants.

His father, the king emperor, was going to hand the crown to his older brother who is weak when it comes to politics. He had prepared his entire life, training himself and spending late hours at night on learning. He had hoped to change his father's mind in the end that he was a better option for the throne. But all his expectations died down when they announced the coronation party coming in the next two months for the crown prince.

He can't fail. He must succeed in his mission. It's his ambition since he was a child to rule the entire kingdom. No one can stop him from getting what he rightfully deserves. That brother of his doesn't even desire the position.

"Your highness, Lord Wu Jang wishes to see you." A guard called from outside.

Jeong Yo opened the doors and signalled the frightened servants to come inside. All of the servants feared him. They all feared the cruel prince with a mad temper. He knee that secretly, all of them doesn't wish to see him sit on the throne.

"Clean this mess. I expect my room to be organized when I return." The young maids turned pale by his command for he was brutal at punishing. Slaves are slaves. That's how he thinks of them.

Lord Wu Jang, the crazy old explorer whom the king calls as his trusted friend, travels far searching for answers to the world. Jeong Yo knows very well that there are no such thing as friends inside the palace, only foes. He can't trust anyone or they might use his weaknesses and stab him in the back.

"First, you were obsessed about humans shifting into wolves then spider-women and mermaids! What is it this time?" He mocked the elder and crossed his arms. He couldn't waste a time on these fictional lies when he could be planning how to overtake his older brother.

"I assure you, this is a wonderful discovery! We found this near the mountains, your highness." Lord Wu Jang presented the wooden box containing long feathers of ebony black and pale white. He touched the feathers, they were softer than silk yet thicker than ordinary.

"What's big deal on a bunch of feathers?" He complained. "These aren't any ordinary birds! Your highness, these feathers are three times the size of a chicken's feather combined. I believe it's the Trachi! They could possibly be hiding in the dark caves of Raikes Mountain!" He grinned, thinking that the old man finally lost his mind.

The Trachi, a fiction created to put disobedient children to sleep. Sharp claws and a very long beak on its human head. The body is like human, mostly but it has big wings that could fly faster without the need of the wind. Trachis are known to take away children in their sleep if they neglect their parents' commands and take them to their caves where they will feed them to their babies and use their bones as cages. A horrible tale created by another witty writer. His queen mother used to tell him that story when he was young, everynight, along with other myths to put him to sleep.

"Trachis don't exist. There's no such things as flying people, you're becoming crazier these days as you age Wu Jang."

"But your highness, we found more. We found these expensive scraps of silk. And no matter how I long investigate the patterns, these aren't from any of the other kingdoms. It's just plain silk." Only royals are allowed to wear silk, perhaps it was stolen.

"And these, weapons, made of sharpened stone with emblems on it!" Wu Jang moved on to the next box, opening it to reveal weapons of a different kind.

"Is this-" Jeong Yo picked up the stone dagger with a shining ruby red as blood, embedded on it. "Where did you find these?"

"On Raikes Mountain, we found them after the wildfire has been cleared." No one really visits Raikes Mountain anymore because of its haunting tales and wild creatures that lurk in its forests. But since Raikes Mountain is a part of their kingdom, and there could be a chance of trespassing assassins with wills to endanger the kingdom, then he would ravage them all.

"Search the forest and even the mountain too. Find if there's any assassin before my brother's birthday." If he could catch an assassin, then he will take the chance to change his father's mind and let him be the king instead.

Hid older brother Seung Jo, the incompetent bastard who stole his birthright, is near to the age of becoming king. Seung Jo might be a great warrior but he is too weak at heart, too kind for the enemy. Jeong Yo would not stop until he becomes the one to sit on the throne and not having to live his life under someone else's orders.

Before drifting off to sleep, he suddenly remembered his peculiar encounter with the insane woman who hid herself behind a tree. She weirdly postured herself, covering her body while her neck and head were only visible.

He have to admit to himself, that woman is a beauty, beyond compare to the high princess Ye Rin. More beautiful than the princess he desired to wed. Her pale skin and silky untied hair he wanted to touch. It was a gift for his sight, that naked beauty in the woods.

It was decided. He would visit the gisaeng house tomorrow night. In hopes of finding that woman again and drunking himself to his despair.

While he thought of her for a moment, she was already thinking about him for the entire day.