Zhan's POV:

What had I done.

I hurt him.

I hurt him really badly this time. So badly that he had tears in his eyes. I had never seen Yibo cry, never. Not until his death in my last life. But today I saw the tears in his eyes and pain on his face. He looked like he was in so much pain.

I knew I had done wrong, this Yibo truly loved me and till now he hasn't really harmed me, in fact he has done nothing but love me. He has put effort and did everything he could to steal some moments together with me.

And I treated him like an inconvenience, I made him feel like his presence was not wanted. My heart ached when I remembered the look on his face.

However I couldn't help the anger that overpowered my sanity when he threatened to harm Ziyi, who was like a little sister to me. And I knew that he could do it. He could hurt Ziyi and I didn't want that.

Other than that, having him under the same roof as my brother brought flashbacks from my past life that I wanted to forget. My brother's beaten and battered dead body—I couldn't get those images out of my head. And him standing here and threatening Ziyi drove me over the edge. I couldn't let him hurt my family. Not again. Not ever.

"Zhan."

I looked at my brother who called my name, "I knocked but you did not answer. What did you want to talk about?"

I turned to him, my brother looked at my face and walked towards me, he knew something was wrong. My brother Marius was like another parent to me. I had always looked up to him, I had always tried to be like him. He was my idol. My mentor, my first teacher. The first person who taught me how to hold a sword.

My brother was my first friend. I loved him and I couldn't imagine him getting hurt or dying again. He was as tall as me but right now I felt like a child again in front of him. He kept a hand over my shoulder and gave me a gentle squeeze, "What's wrong?"

I took a deep breath and looked at him, "Brother, I..."

"Hmm..."

"I want to support Prince Simon for the throne, I want to remove the current emperor from the throne and for that I need your help."

There was silence in the room. My brother stared at me and I held his gaze, "There is something else I want to tell you too."

And then I told him about the goddess Ankh's blessing, how I saved Prince Simon and my 'vision'. He seemed stunned when he heard all of this. He slowly sat down on a chair trying to process everything I told him.

"Brother, our family and everyone we know would be in danger. The current king is cruel and Crown Prince Gideon is just like him. I could not see my people suffer anymore, I could not see people dying for standing up for the right. You know what happened with General Azarael, and you know that he was right."

My brother sighed, "I know." He then gently patted my head and said, "Even I couldn't take it anymore. I always spent most of my time at the border even when I am not needed there because I could not deal with the emperor's tyranny anymore. And I knew that if I said anything I could put everyone in danger.

I was being a coward. I wanted to do something about the emperor as well. I will help you, Zhan. I am on your side."

I smiled when I heard that and hugged my brother tightly, "Thank you, brother."

"No, thank you, Zhan. I finally knew what a coward I was being. Running away was not the right thing to do, our family's duty is to serve and protect the people and kingdom, even if we have to protect them from their emperor too."

I smiled, "I will inform Prince Simon about it."

~~

"Who was that who came here yesterday?" Ziyi asked me as I fixed my hair in front of the mirror, currently I was getting ready for the Evercrest family's celebration.

I had no interest in attending, however I wanted to see Yibo and I wanted to apologize to him. I had wronged him. I never wanted to hurt him.

"He was Wang Yibo, the eldest son of the Wang family, and the commander of the royal knights."

Ziyi nodded, "That man... who is he to you?"

"Why do you ask that?" I asked as I looked at her, "Are you interested in him or what?" I asked jokingly.

"No... but he seemed off. Do you know anything else about him? Has he ever been involved in occult?"

I now looked at her, "What do you mean? What did you see?"

Ziyi sighed, "You know that I can see people's auras, right? And I can also sense evil spirits and curses."

"Yes, I know that. Did you see something?"

Ziyi looked a bit worried and I was getting anxious, "That man, his aura was wrong. He is cursed."

"What?!" I asked, feeling baffled, "Cursed?"

"Yes, you guys have different auras, it's like you guys are under goddess Ankh's protection and her grace but that man... he was completely covered in darkness and not just some ordinary darkness, it was like someone who was abandoned by gods."

"What are you saying, Ziyi."

"I am not lying, that man is cursed. I want to know more about the Wang family."

Ziyi was a curious girl, ever since she came to my house, she had made everyone fall in love with her, she was kind, lovely and a helpful girl, my mother and sister adored her. She was also good in martial arts and she was a quick learner.

"The Wang family is an old family that has always been loyal to the crown, that family only exists to serve and protect the crown. They are like guard dogs of the royal family."

"I see. Anything else about them? About its members?"

"Currently the Wang family has four members—the patriarch, his wife and their two children, Yibo being the eldest."

"I see."

"Wait, there was another member of the Wang family, I don't know his name but he was Yibo's uncle. However, he is already dead."

"Okay, so his father married into the Wang family?" Ziyi asked and I nodded.

"I see," she said, "but Zhan, you should stay away from that man."

I just gave her a nod and said nothing after that, but I could not take what she told me out of my head.

"Can I come with you too?" Ziyi suddenly asked.

"Alright, but you will have to stick close to Haoxuan."

She smiled and nodded, "Done!"