23 THE TRADITIONAL WEDDING IS SET

Prince Gen woke up, feeling a bit of a headache, but it wasn't a problem for him at all. The fact is that he is getting married. And that's all that matters.

He slept late the previous night, not because he was worried, but because he was too happy for sleep to take him away to a dreaming world.

Prince Gen stepped down from the bed and headed to the door. He was wearing a white nightgown. He held the knob of the door and twisted it until the door was opened. The guards at his door entrance bowed as they greeted him. He didn't utter a word, instead, he nodded his head and also waved at them. He walked down the passage that leads downstairs. The more he walks to the sitting room, the more he meets the palace guards. Probably, the maidens were busy with their usual work. That's why he didn't come in contact with any of them.

Prince Gen walked down the staircase until he found himself in the sitting room. He went to his father's table, where his writing materials were kept by one side of the table. Prince Gen looked for a blank piece of paper and set it on the table. He smiled at the blank paper before extending his hand to take out a feather that was inside a cup. The cup contains black ink for writing. He placed the tip of the feather on the paper and began to write. He started with greetings before going deeper into any part of the letter. The letter concluded that the traditional royal wedding will be tomorrow. Prince Gen didn't want to waste any time for the wedding. After writing the letter, he took it to his father to sign, and King Wang Lei signed it.

The prince took the letter to commander Bingwen and gave it to him.

"Take this letter to Neville's kingdom and deliver it to the king. Make sure that the letter is delivered to him." Prince Gen said to commander Bingwen.

"Yes, Your Highness." Commander Bingwen responded as he collected the letter from the prince. Prince turned around and left.

Commander Bingwen took three of his men to follow him to the delivery of the letter. They took off on their horses as they headed towards the Neville kingdom.

They arrived at the city gate of the kingdom. Before they could reach the gate, it was already opened for them by the gatekeepers. Some guards on the city tower saw them from afar.

"Greetings, to the great warriors of this great kingdom." Commander Bingwen greeted the gatekeepers who were standing in front of them at the gate.

"Greetings to you, great warriors of the Decresh kingdom. How may we help you?" One of the gatekeepers responded.

"We are here to deliver a letter to the king." Commander Bingwen answered.

"Can we have the letter then?" The gatekeeper asked as he stepped forward to receive the letter from commander Bingwen.

"Am sorry that I can't give it to you. We were instructed to deliver it to the king ourselves." Commander Bingwen replied.

"But outsiders are not allowed to deliver any message directly to the king. It must be handed over to our commander before he takes it to the king." The gatekeeper replied, and commander Bingwen turned and stared at his colleagues and then back to the gatekeepers.

"Then we would like to witness the delivery of the letter to the king by your commander." Commander Bingwen said.

"No problem about that. You can come in." The gatekeeper ushered them into the kingdom. Immediately after they entered the kingdom, they climbed down their horses and tied the horses close to the city gate inside the kingdom for the remaining gatekeepers to take care of.

Commander Jiang was called to see the warriors who brought the letter. The gatekeeper explained everything to him before leaving.

Commander Jiang received the letter from commander Bingwen after exchanging greetings. They were led to the king's presence. They found king Dingbang sitting on his throne. Furthermore, they all bowed down and greeted him in unison.

After honoring the king with greetings, commander Jiang introduced commander Bingwen and his men to king Dingbang and the reason for their coming. After telling the king about the Decresh men's reason for coming to the kingdom, he gladly received the letter from commander Jiang. King Dingbang opened the letter and as he read the letter, peace of mind took the best of him and commander Bingwen saw it. How did commander Bingwen notice it?

Of course, from the visible smiles on king Dingbang's face. There was no doubt that he was happy that prince Gen and his father had accepted their apology and princess Fen's request.

"We beg to take our leave, Your Majesty." Commander Bingwen said as he fixed his gaze on the ground. "You are free to move." King Dingbang replied.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Commander appreciated, and he and his fellow men left the king's presence. They have successfully delivered the letter as they were instructed. Commander Bingwen was happy to see the king smiling when he read the letter.

Commander Bingwen and his men left the kingdom. They got home and commander Bingwen went to prince Gen's room to tell him what happened in the Neville kingdom when they got there. He didn't find prince Gen in his room. Commander Bingwen asked the guards who were in position in the passage that leads to prince Gen's room.

"Where is the prince?" Commander Bingwen asked one of them.

"I don't know where he goes." The guard answered.

"I think he must have gone to the garden to have a quiet time." Another guard said.

"Oh, that should be true," Commander Bingwen said. Commander Bingwen rushed down the stairs.

He found prince Gen sitting on a seat in the garden alone. His eyes were closed as he rested on the seat and faced the sky. A dim smile was on his face.

He is staying alone now, but from tomorrow, everything will change. Everything? Not all. Some things in his life, which include staying lonely. Commander Bingwen thought to himself.

"Your Highness," commander Bingwen called out, but prince Gen didn't hear him.

Commander Bingwen went ahead and tapped his shoulder with the tip of his fingers, but still, prince Gen didn't notice commander Bingwen's presence. It was like, he was in a dreaming world, or maybe it was because he didn't sleep early the previous night.

Commander Bingwen snapped his fingers close to prince Gen's ear. That's when he heard the sound of commander Bingwen's fingers, and he jumped out of his dream.

"I apologize for waking you up, Your Highness." Commander Bingwen apologized.

"It's okay. When did you come back?" Prince Gen asked as he sat properly on the seat.

"Just a few minutes ago. I went to your room, and you weren't there, so someone suggested that I should come and check on you here." Commander Bingwen replied.

"The person must have been studying my movements." Prince Gen reluctantly said.

Prince Gen asked commander Bingwen what happened when he got to the kingdom, and he told prince Gen everything that happened when they got there. The prince was happy to hear what Bingwen told him about the king's reaction to the letter.

"That was a good job." Prince Gen applauded commander Bingwen.

"My pleasure." Commander Bingwen said as he placed his right hand on his chest.

"This is what I want you to do. Gather some warriors and send them to different kingdoms and inform them about the wedding, especially the Luna kingdom. Inform prince Liang that my wedding is tomorrow in the Neville kingdom, and he will be expected as early as possible." Prince Gen told commander Bingwen.

"Yes, Your Highness." Commander Bingwen responded.

"Don't forget to tell them that, there will be no disappointment this time." Prince Gen added.

"I will, Your Highness," Commander responded before he turned around and left.