Chapter 14 : He became the General and She became the Slave

The night was moving fast, and the shadows of the plants are growing taller due to the bright moon. A long silence went by as Zhang Wei stared at the woman, she was telling the truth since she did not twitch her eyes while she speaks up to herself, 'She was not the princess.' He took a bite from his apple as he moved into a space where he could breathe and it was near Zina's bed from the left corner.

Once he settled on the window, he thought about the Princess. Generations of Queens were trained to serve the Kings by fulfilling the duty of being a Princess. Other problems about developing an ideal Princess as what he learned in history, some have fallen into the dark side that ruined themselves in the last years before they died. And Zhang Wei had it in his head that he must restart everything. He will not rebuild the old history that the Queens suffered due to the Kings abandonment of their responsibility as a husband too. His actions, although have not progressed yet because of being unwedded, he was nowhere near promising. The priority changes from time to time and sometimes it had never been put up into a foundation, and now the executive branch department does not support his idea of restarting the history as he tried to build a good relationship with King Foster by constructing high fortifications for the benefit of their soldiers and people. The continuous conferences held in Fort Pampanga resulted in unraveled tensions and a fine line of danger brewing in different positions around the neighboring states too.

They assembled there to discuss attacks and acts of vengeance; it had been apprehended in that residence. Along with King Foster, Zina's father had watched his plans when he takes over as Emperor. The throne cannot be vacant for too long when power serves the greedy people well. Sons of the other royalties can come over the Port Pampanga to rule, but since he was there, they cannot just sit on the throne directly. Not until he was proven dead.

Now there was no move from the enemy's side, however, there were secret signs that he could detect by just observing the rest of his soldiers. Showing a hint of betrayal, their heads would be hanged like flags at the fields.

Zina on the left corner side of his back starts to feel sleepy as she naively watched the fake General deeply sink into his own world. Each moment passed by felt long for Zhang Wei—one of the few things that a prince must do was to rethink his present goals and what he did in the past to see what differences he made.

"I hope that you were the Princess, sorry to bother you with your rest." Zhang Wei said, his interest in seeing the princess was replaced by a sneer. "But may I ask, what is your name? Why are you here in this room?"

Zina lazily sighed as she answered, "I am Clarrie Shaun, a slave. I serve Princess Zina." She conceitedly proclaimed. 'Oh, dear Clarrie, forgive me for using your name without telling you about it.'

However, Zina still wondered if the General could not remember any of their conversations before. He already knows that she was the princess but now, it seems like he had no memories of it. She was trying to make him confused but at this time, she was the one who tried to hold herself back in confusion. "The Princess asked you to keep me here and use her status so that it would not cause any rumor on the port about giving a slave some room, she assigned no other individual but you." She glanced her lazy eyes at the ground, 'I can't believe I just lied, hopefully, he would not be wary.'

"Right, I remember now, I should get out of this place," Zhang Wei advised himself. "Not to leave you again but I have to let you sleep so you can close your eyes now."

"General, if it is not for the Princess, I would not have to ask for you to agree in watching over me from time to time. Not when there are some people who put me in danger together with the Princess. The prince is the one who could lend some help." Zina said, making herself feel uncomfortable about mentioning the prince since she does not know what kind of man he was. She really can't escape the engagement. Unless Clarrie participated in canceling it.

"You seem to really dislike the prince," Zhang Wei looked at the slave lying in the bed, giving her a threatening stare.

Zina could not continue talking with the General, she could not even hold and eat the orange anymore. Her appetite was not working. Or probably, she was not hungry anymore. And then in silence, for the second time, she took back her words, as her stomach spoke up with a rumble.

Zhang Wei had to understand the slave's current condition, "Even if you are not a princess, you must still eat. You must live to serve her well forever, even if she is married to me."

"She will not marry you," Zina defended but she practically shouted, and then she changes the phrase quickly, "I meant she will not marry you for now because she is waiting for me to fully recover," She looked simple hungry and Zhang Wei could not leave the room with his conscience staying here. He looked at the orange and headed towards Zina.

Of the two of them, Zina was currently the most persistent slave he met. The other slaves that served him a month ago resigned, they'd chosen to have a peaceful life, because working with the Prince like Zhang Wei himself, death was waving and it was like creating a coffin or digging their own grave. So, he would be contented if the slave would listen to him and eat the orange for the utmost portion.