*The Imperial Place: The Emperor's bed Chamber*

An urgent knock on the door, followed by a deep, familiar voice calling his name, alerts Emperor YiLei. Glancing at his sleeping wife, Empress Rouhu, he gently removes her arm draped over his middle and slips out of the room, closing it behind him. "General, what brings you here so late in the night?" The emperor inquiries, his eyes take in his surroundings.

The man addressed to as General bows, "My apologies, your Majesty, but I think you need to come with me to the observation tower."

Emperor YiLei's eyes glimmer with hope. "Lead the way, General."

******

The two men are almost at the base of the observation tower when they are intercepted by YiYang.

The crown prince bows to the two men. "Father, I was on my way to see you. There is something I need to tell you."

"Son, not now, I am..."

"What I need to tell you can't wait, and it will only take a..." YiYang stops speaking at once when he realizes where they were. He lowers his eyes. "Pardon my rudeness, father. I will wait for you here."

The crown prince keeps his eyes lowered as the two men leave. 'I wonder if it's something related to the homecoming beacon.'

Not a moment later, however, he catches a royal guard rushing towards his father's chamber.

"Halt!" YiYang bellows, making the guard stop dead in his tracks. Relieved expression flutters across the guard's face as soon as he spots the crown prince. He changes course and is by YiYang's side in an instance. "Prince, a few hours ago, we heard a suspicious boom at the eastern groves. But we couldn't enter it. A barrier of Yuanjian make stopped us from venturing inside. We went to find the second prince but found his chamber empty. We decided to locate-"

YiYang sighs, "Don't worry about it. I was the one who put up the barrier."

"Your highness, we were not-"

YiYang shakes his head. Ignoring the guard, he continues. "I have camouflaged YiHuang's signal as well. Rest assured, everything is under control. No need to bother father over such trivial matters. He has enough to deal with already." He pauses, observing how the guard was processing the lie he had concocted, and smiles when the novice nods.

"Inform the tactile team to ignore the eastern groves for the time being. I am conducting some experiments that might startle our citizens if they were to venture there; make a PSA asking the citizens to refrain from entering it."

The guard nods.

"If your team has any questions, I ask that they be directed to me. Is that clear?"

The guard nods again. He was new, yet he had heard about the crown prince's lack of interest in anything to do with politics, science, and courtly matters. But now, looking at him, the guard wonders if he was ill-informed all along. For the man in front of him oozed authority and seemed intelligent.

"Is there anything else?" YiYang inquiries when the guard continues to gape at him.

Shaken out of his musings, the guard bows. "My apologies, your highness."

The prince chuckles, "I don't blame you, good man. I have been known to leave women and men speechless on more than one occasion." A wink follows the chuckle.

'At least they were right about him being a flirt.' The guard bows once again, and without catching the prince's eyes, he leaves.

*****

*Eastern grove*

"Was the food to your liking?" YiHuang gestures at the fruits. The human responds with a smile.

'Why does he keep smiling like that for no reason? Is he so glad to be alive?' The Yuanjian wonders, all the while hoping that he can protect the man and his smile till his last breath.
A moment later, however, the smile drops off Zhang's face. A frown replaces it and follows it up with a wince. He puts his hands over his ears. "It feels odd!" He exclaims, closing his eyes and leaning forward.

The prince, unable to keep away, cups the human's face in his palms, making him look up at him. "Odd, how?"

Zhang blinks, "Ask me again." He requests.

"What do you mean by 'feeling odd'?"

And just like that, the smile returns to the human's lips. It's more open and brighter than the two before.

It's YiHuang's turn to feel bewildered. 'Why is he smiling?' He wonders, feeling at once conscious of how close he had let himself get to the human. Yet, he stays put. His muscles refuse to move away from the heat radiating from Zhang's cheek and seeping into his palm, making him feel wonderful.

"You have a lovely voice," Zhang whispers softly. The stranger's closeness doesn't feel threatening. If anything, he feels at home.

"You can hear me!" The Yuanjian exclaims, returning the human's smile with a small one of his own. There is something familiar...comfortable in the silence that follows.

Zhang doesn't try to pry away the Yuanjian's hands from his face. In fact, he wants to lean into them. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "I want to know so much." He breaths. Warm puffs of air caress the prince's face.

"All in good time. Rest now."

Zhang struggles to open his eyes. "Will you stay?" He asks. The thought of the princely-looking stranger in front of him leaving makes him feel melancholy.

"Mn." The prince nods, "I will not leave your side. And when you wake up, I will tell you everything." He reassures. He points at the leftmost corner of the cave where he had placed the items retrieved from Zhang's personal quarters. "I took the liberty to go through your personal belongings. I apologize for the rudeness, but I was just looking for something that I could use to make you more comfortable."

Zhang follows the latter's gaze and finds a well-made bed, his bed. A thin quilt was tucked over the nylon air mattress that he had hastily stuffed into his backpack before boarding the spaceship. The quilt was special. It was hand-knit by his mother. She had gifted it to him on his fifteenth birthday.

Soon after Zhang had regained consciousness and interacted with his savior, he had guessed that something had gone wrong with the landing. He had assumed that everything he had owned was lost. 'Not everything is lost.' A relieved sigh leaves him, and he tries to reach for it. Unfortunately, his knees give way. Fortunately, he doesn't fall.

"Easy there!" YiHuang's cat-like reflexes catch him before he hits the ground. "You have still not recovered. If there is anything you need, just tell me." The prince states, carrying the human as if he weighs nothing and puts him down on the mattress.

Any man of Zhang's stature would have felt embarrassed at being carried princess style. However, it didn't bother Zhang. Nonetheless, he is sure that had been any of his teammates who had done what YiHuang had, he would have died of shame. "Thank you." The officer mutters as YiHuang helps him lie down. Within seconds the human falls asleep.

"Thank you." YiHuang parrots, "Thank you for showing up...Zhang." Intertwining their fingers, the second prince settles down next to the injured human on the cold hard floor. The discomfort he should be feeling doesn't register. For the Yuanjian's eyes and heart are both full...full of the most precious treasure in the entire universe.

*****

*The Imperial Palace: observation tower*

As promised, the crown prince waits for his father under the observation tower. It's not long after the inquisitive guard leaves to inform his higher-ups about the lies YiYang had fed him that his father returns.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, son." The emperor apologizes lightheartedly, looking ten years younger. He dismisses the general, and the duo starts walking towards the royal chamber. "What did you want to tell me earlier?"

"Father, since I fell overboard, I have been thinking about reinforcing the barrier. I spoke to Huang, and we have found some discrepancies as well. Over the next few days, he might have to travel the kingdom. However, eastern groves will be his base when he returns to conduct experiments. In keeping with this, I have placed a barrier around it to stop civilians from entering." The prince looks up, fringing guilt. "I failed to put a sound barrier in place and foolishly worried the tactile team. I have to fix it now and conveyed my apologies to them."

"So you took care of the matter?" The emperor enquiries.

The crown prince nods. "Ah-Huang asked me to leave it up to him. Father, this matter will keep him occupied for a few days at the least. So..."

The emperor draws a deep breath. "Fine, I will not send for him unless it's an emergency. Is there anything else?"

The prince bows. "Father, since we don't know whether Ah-Huang will succeed, I feel it would be better to keep this information under wraps."

YiLei narrows his eyes. "Looks like the unfortunate fall instilled a sense of responsibility in you. You are truly thinking like the crown prince now, son." His words are laced with pride and joy.

"I am glad you feel that way, father." YiYang smiles and asks, "Father, if I may ask, your visit to the tower, did it have something to do with the homecoming beacon?"

Emperor YiLei cocks his head to the left. "You have never shown any interest in the happenings of our kingdom before; I wonder what brought about this change."

'Father is deflecting.' YiYang concludes. "I guess everyone has to grow up when the time comes. And I think my time has come too." The crown prince replies. He winks at his father, making the old man shake his head, and then giving a curt nod, the prince turns heel and leaves. "Go to bed, father. Mother won't take it kindly if she thinks I was the reason for your absence from her side. I don't want to be subjected to mother's wrath any more than you do!" He calls, disappearing into the night.

{Author's Note:- Word count: 1704

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