Don't make the same mistakes I made

GENERAL KANG'S POV

As the Emperor took me away from my wives we headed towards a group of high-ranking nobles and generals who were talking amongst themselves. They were all members of Arsen's royal council.

"Let me greet them before the ball formally begins in a moment." He explained to me as we walked towards them.

As we approached they immediately bowed before the emperor. "Your majesty." They greeted him in unison.

"Gentlemen, I hope you're enjoying yourselves this evening so far." His majesty replied back to them.

"Yes we are, please send our birthday wishes to his highness the Crown Prince." One of them responded. "We haven't had the chance to talk to him ourselves." He added.

Prince Teon was currently in the company of his governess and knight. They were watching over him to make sure he didn't do anything 'funny'.

"Of course." the emperor responded and proceeded to exchange a few words with them. When he was done his Majesty insisted to leave then one of the General's suddenly spoke up, General Talon was his name.

"I don't know if you remember my daughter your majesty." The elderly General said with a smile as a young woman suddenly sprang up from behind him. "She just turned 21 and is making her way in high society."

Uh oh. I thought to myself. Basically, his mentioning that his daughter was exploring high society for the first time was a way to say his daughter was single. His daughter stepped forward, she was a pretty young woman with short light brown hair and grey eyes.

"It's an honor to make your acquaintance your majesty." She said as she flirtily fluttered her eyelashes at him.

The Emperor's eyebrows sprung up, surprised by the girl's brazen behavior. Everyone could tell that General Talon was trying to get his daughter to catch the emperor's interest.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too." His Majesty greeted, then quickly turned away from her with disinterest. Deep down I knew he hated it when women were thrown at him at public events but he always handled the situation with grace.

"If you'll excuse me, gentlemen ." He said politely as he slowly backed up from them and walked away. I quickly followed behind him.

"Great work General Talon, you chased him away I didn't even get to show him MY daughter." Another one of them quietly complained as we walked away.

"Well, aren't they rather shameless," Arsen commented.

Whilst the emperor had never publicly announced the fact he didn't want to have another harem again or play around with women as he used to, everyone knew it.

If the emperor was his previous self he would have been openly looking for all the beautiful young women at the ball and there's no doubt he would have added General Talon's daughter to the list. Even when he had his harem he still continuously looked for new women. He wasn't like that anymore.

However, despite displaying a clear disinterest in the behavior he used to exhibit 3 years ago that didn't stop people from throwing women at him. They still hoped that the lust-filled emperor was still somewhere in there. And they could use women to gain his favor as they did before.

This was why he had slowly come to despise royal events. In a way, they reminded him of who he used to be.

"I realized I haven't formally congratulated you." His Majesty said to me changing the topic as we reached the podium. "Truly congratulations to you and your wife Laika."

"Thank you, your majesty," I said sincerely.

"And you look so happy, It's nice to see you this way since I know the work I had been giving you had been stressing you out." He laughed as he sat down on his throne.

I thought about it for a moment as I went to stand next to him. "I am happier. Things with my wives have been interesting lately I suppose. The news with Laika, Ayan's change in character, Samira and Maris have also been treating me well."

"Mmmm," Arsen contemplated loudly. " Zaryn, are you sure you give all of your wives attention?"

"What do you mean by that?" I asked him curiously.

"I just happened to notice whenever you talk about your wives you only talk about 4 of them but you have five wives.

"You mean Rina?"

"You never talk about her."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm not saying this to criticize you, I'm just hoping you make time for all of them." He paused awkwardly for a moment. "I don't want you to make the same mistakes I made, that's all." He finished off.

What? Did he seriously think my harem was going to poison each other out of jealousy like his had? That's ridiculous.

It was true I didn't always spend time with Rina. However, it wasn't that I disliked her or anything. The others were more outspoken than her so I wasn't always going to notice her. She was the youngest of my wives and I was still taking the time to know her. However, we had many more years to come together. It had only been two years since we married eventually I would call upon her more with time.

"I appreciate your concern, your majesty but things are well at the estate."

"Very well," he said to me but he didn't sound convinced.

The announcement for the first dance was made and the crowd began to part to make room for the dance. The Prince was brought forward and made to go to stand in front to begin looking for a dance partner.

He went down the open space searching I watched uninterested as I wondered which wife I should dance with first once the ball began. Then I remembered I'd promised Maris the 1st dance.

Looking at Prince I noticed he had picked a partner. I wondered whose daughter he'd chosen. She looked tall I thought. The realization then dawned on me, it's because she was a woman, not a girl. What's more, she looked familiar.I squited my eyes as I looked closer.

Was that..?

"Isn't that your wife, Zaryn?" His Majesty asked me puzzled by what he was seeing.

It really was Ayan. " Yes, yes it is," I answered slowly as I was just as surprised as him.

I was curious to see what kind of trouble the prince would cause this time around, however, this wasn't quite what I was expecting. Why had the prince chosen Ayan?

I watched flabbergasted as the two began to dance on the dancefloor. The crowd also had equally shocked expressions as they watched. The prince had just embarrassed all of the women that had hoped their daughters would be chosen.

Afterward, the two came for Arsen's blessing and Arsen was fuming. I looked from Ayan to the prince trying to figure out what the connection was. Once they had received the blessing the two immediately stood up and Ayan went toward one exit of the ballroom. Prince Teon went for an exit on the opposite side of the room. The announcement was made for the start of the dances.

"I want to have a word with my son, " His Majesty told me as he got from his seat and followed after Teon. I also wanted to talk to Ayan but the crowd had already begun to disperse so I couldn't follow after her.

*****

AYAN'S POV

I walked out of the ballroom and went to look for a place I could rest for a little while. I wish Kaylee was with me however I'd left her in the ballroom. I went down the hallway and looked for a place to sit. There weren't any immediate rooms near the ballroom.

I finally found a large balcony area as I rounded a corner. This will do I thought to myself as I opened up the balcony doors and went inside.

It was a massive balcony that extended to another side where there was another set of doors to enter it from. From where I was I went towards the nearest bench that leaned against the wall. Sitting down on it I let out an exhausted breath as I processed what had just happened in that ballroom.

I took off my shoes so I could massage my throbbing feet. There was a giant plant pot next to the bench I say on that blocked the other side of the balcony. I looked up into the night sky and took in the cool air as a breeze blew past me.

Then suddenly the doors on the other side of the balcony opened up. I heard 2 people walk in.

"Why do you have to cause trouble every single time!?" A deep masculine voice yelled out which I recognized to be the emperor's. "Why can't you do as you're told? Is that so hard."

A shiver went down my spine. I quietly moved closer to the large plant pot to hide myself. Why...why did they have to come here as well? I was guessing the person he was yelling at was the crown prince as that was whom Arsen had followed out of the ballroom.

"Why didn't you pick one of the young ladies like I'd told you to? Do you know that you've embarrassed them all? "

There was no answer.

"Answer me!"

I was too scared to peek from behind the plant pot in case they saw me.

"Just punish me already like you always do. It's not like you ever believe what I say. " The prince said to him. He sounded cold and uncaring.

"Teon you have to understand that you are a prince you can't just do as you please. You have to be more responsible of your actions."

"I never wanted to be a prince!" He screamed out. "You forced this on me!"

The emperor went silent.

Though I couldn't see them I could sense the tension in the air. It felt thick enough to be able to cut through it with a knife. I knew they had a bad relationship but I never imagined it would be this bad. Their communication was terrible.

The silence continued on for a while before the Emperor spoke up again.

"You caused General Kang and Lady Ayan a lot of trouble."He simply told him, he sounded resigned. "You'll apologize to them when you go back into the ballroom, you understand?"

"Yes, your majesty," Teon responded reluctantly.

I felt bad for the prince it was his birthday but he couldn't even enjoy it. Especially since I felt he was innocent in all this.

Soon I heard a third figure walk onto the balcony, "Come with me Crown Prince," the person said. I was shocked as I recognized it was his governess's voice. That woman, though I didn't know much about Teon's situation I felt she'd had something to do with why the Prince had chosen me to be his dance partner.

I heard the sound of two people leaving and I assumed it was Teon and his Governess. The balcony became quiet once again. I waited for the Emperor to leave as well...but he didn't leave. He stood eerily still.

"I know you're here, come out now, "His deep voice slowly commanded.

Was he talking to me? My blood went cold as I realized I'd been found out.