Park Seojoon, the oldest prince of the nine-tailed fox clan suddenly stood up. "I didn't steal it, I found it. And all this time I kept the book."
All princes were shocked to hear Seojoon's words, especially his younger siblings. They were in disbelief that all this time Tsutsuji book was in the hands of their brother.
Seojoon smirked. "Your Majesty, I've read the entire book. Isn't there something you have to say? You said that the way to become king is to get Azalea. You're right about that. But why did you lie by saying that the only way to getting Azalea is by marrying her or him? You even lied saying that we would die if we forced a marriage with Azalea? Why didn't you say the truth?"
*****
"Guards, take Prince Seojoon to the dungeon. As your punishment, I will hold you there for a month." the king ordered.
"Your Majesty, the King. You can't punish me, I didn't steal the book. And it isn't a crime to read Tsutsuji book. It's you who is guilty of hiding the truth from us." Seojoon resisted from the Royal Guards' grip.
"Your mistake wasn't returning Tsutsuji book to me. And read it without the King's permission is also a crime. If it wasn't for me having this emergency meeting, you might still not admit it. Luckily I only imprisoned you for a month."
"Guards, make sure he is treated like other prisoners. Don't give him special treatment." added the king. Prince Seojoon shouted hysterically as the guards dragged him to the dungeon. "Jung Hoseok, help me." He shouted.
Hoseok, as one who served the prince of the nine-tailed fox clan, automatically moved closer to saving his master. But Park Hyungsik held him back. "Don't help him, it's an order."
Hoseok hesitated, his two Princes gave different orders. According to the rules, he will obey whoever gave the order first, so he ignored Hyungsik's commands and approached Seojoon who was still struggling.
"Jung Hoseok, stay away." this time Jimin roared.
Suddenly Bogum standing in front of him. "Seojoon Hyung did give orders first, but three other princes gave the same orders. He is guilty and deserves punishment. Stay away."
Finally, Hoseok could only look at his oldest prince who was dragged farther by the guards.
"What exactly are you hiding from us, Grandfather?" Yoongi didn't expect that his grandfather had been hiding something. It's okay for him to hide that from other clans' prince. But he is his grandson, his flesh and blood, the prince of his clan. How can the King hide something from him? Especially something that so important.
"Tsutsuji book is a book that is thousands of years old. It's a book containing the writings of the previous kings, from the first king to the last king before me, about how they got Azalea. It also has all the information about Azaleas and the history about us. The book disappeared three months after I became King. Because of my carelessness, the book was lost. Up till now, I was still searching where Tsutsuji book was, never imagined that the book is in the hands of the nine-tailed fox clan's oldest prince. About what Prince Seojoon said, is not wrong, but also not entirely true."
"We sincerely hope that Your Majesty deigns to convey the truth to us," said Bogum. The prince who is considered by the King has the best personality and manners among the other princes, even his grandson.
"In the past, when I was a prince, what I know is the same as what you now know. That to be a King, the only way is that the prince must marry Azalea. And if the prince forces the Azalea to marry him, then he will die. That was what His Majesty, King Park Tae Joon - the king before me, had said. And I believed those words, so I married the Azalea. I continued to believe those words, until the day I succeeded to become a king. I received the Tsutsuji book which is an ancestral legacy that will be given to the new King. From that book, I know that what I have believed so far isn't one hundred per cent truth. At that time I felt deceived, but after I read the book again, I can understand why King Park Tae Joon did that. After considering everything, I decided to do the same with what he did before."
The King cleared his throat before resuming his words. "Not all of you are kind-hearted and have good intentions. I know that most, or even almost all of you, are very ambitious and aiming for this throne above all else. All you want is just a rank, glory, and honour. That's why I can't tell you the truth. But since Prince Seojoon already knows it, it's not fair if the other princes don't know the truth about it."
"In the past, thousands of years ago, this world was only inhabited by humans. But over time, hunger, natural disasters, fires, poverty, and turmoil occur everywhere. Finally, God descended from heaven to become a human and call himself as Azalea. He helps human but once they get back their decent lives, they persecute him. Seeing this, God's warriors can't stay still. So the three God's warriors also descended to the earth. Kyo - a blackbird, the one who conquers and control the sky. Raiko - a nine-tailed fox, the one who conquers and control the land. And Kija - a white dragon, the one who conquers and control the water. They tried to help Azalea from danger, only to be shunned by him as he loves humans despite their flaws. Raiko can't accept that. Azalea was treated so badly by humans, but he still loved them above all else. Every day Azalea returns injured but still smiles and says that all is well. Until one day, Raiko saw a group of humans beat Azalea until he was battered and seriously injured. Raiko angrily burned the humans. When he was about to help him, he was slapped by Azalea who scolded him for killing humans. Raiko is furious. He couldn't stand the sight of Azalea, who was always injured, his condition was getting more and more pathetic, but he still loved and defended humans. Finally, with his own hands, Raiko killed Azalea. Since then, Raiko, who had previously only been able to control the land, now also can control water and sky. The power of God possessed by Azalea was absorbed by Raiko. He then becomes dictatorial, becomes a tyrant. Claiming himself king. Kyo and Kija try to stop him, but in vain because Raiko is too strong. One hundred years later, the Azalea reincarnated. The descendants of Kyo and Kija try to get the Azaleas in order to gain absolute strength and stop Raiko who still serves as King. From then on, every hundred years, the princes of each clan tried to get the Azalea so they can become a King. The appearance of Azalea, which is every hundred years, is a sign that the power struggle has begun. That is the history, the beginning, why today the human population is decreasing, and the world is controlled and dominated by the three clans. This is the story of why every hundredth year, princes of each clan will compete to get Azaleas in order to become a King."
The princes are stunned. This was the first time they had heard the history of Azalea and the beginning of the power struggle every hundredth year. All this time they thought that the three clans had ruled the world since from the beginning, that the struggle for power to become King was a cycle that was supposed to happen like that, that Azalea was destined to die.
"So, based on what Your Majesty said, to get Azalea and become a King we have to kill her or him?" Park Hyungsik asked, breaking the silence.
"No. Killing him doesn't make you a king. Raiko didn't just kill the Azalea. Neither did me, I didn't just marry the Azalea so I became a king."
Min Jaehyun took a deep breath, "To become a king, all you have to do toward the Azalea is ..." the king's words halted because of the sound of explosions coming from outside the palace. Soon a second explosion rang out, making the palace door shattered.
The royal guards immediately protected the King, as well as the warlords who quickly protected the princes. Except for Jeongguk who came alone.
As the smoke from the explosion disappeared, it's seen dozens of royal guards lay lifeless and a man stood between the dead bodies.
"Jeon Wonwoo." Hoseok and Jaebum mumbled together, but Jeongguk and the other princes could still hear it.
Wonwoo smirked, walked towards them. His eyes slowly changed colour, making everyone gasp when they saw his right eye which was red and his left eye which was blue. He then changed to his real form.
Large wings appear behind his back, like a blackbird, but the wings are white. Not only that, scales appeared to cover his body, like a white dragon, but the scales were black.
He walked closer, then with a smirk, he said: "Your Majesty Min Jae Hyun, we have something to talk about."
"Who are you?" asked the king in a voice as calm as possible.
"I'm the one who will protect Azalea from greedy people like all of you."
The King and Wonwoo stared at each other in silence, until finally, Min Jaehyun said something, "Okay. Follow me. I also have a lot of things I need to say to you."
*****
The first Azalea
Kyo - The Blackbird ancestor
Raiko - the Nine-tailed fox ancestor
Kija - the White dragon ancestor
Hello ... I'm back again. 🙋🙋🙋
Just yesterday I posted a new chapter, now I'm posting again. Hopefully, you don't get annoyed seeing me appear again and again on your notifications. 😁😁😁😁
What do you think of this chapter? 🤔🤔
Who exactly is Jeon Wonwoo? Who sent him?
Is after knowing this fact, the princes will still try to get the Azalea?
Is Min Yoongi going to keep his engagement with Taehyung?
What exactly do they have to do towards Azalea so they can become a King?
Ah, I'm really curious... kkkkk 🙊🙊🤐