Gulf cannot bear it. Everything was fine and now the man is back looking and behaving like his P'Mew. What will he do when Mew's faen comes back and take him away?

Tears fill his eyes and he wants to cry so bad.

'I was so over it. Why now?'

"TUA-ENG! What are you doing in the cold bath?"

Gulf wants to cry harder. They were sleeping; cuddled and cosy but then Gulf woke up to some nightmare. He is now in the bathtub with cold water, crying his heart out.

"Ayna!" Mew cusses loud and Gulf flinches.

'Is P'Mew mad?'

Gulf shakes hard and P'Mew picks him up. A towel covers his eyes and the Emperor starts rubbing his head vigorously.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Mew shouts and Gulf whimpers.

'I do not know!'

"Are you a fereking dimwit?! Do you know what time it is?! Do you know how cold it is???"

Gulf pushes away Mew's fingers that is trying to take off his robe.

"GULFIE!!!" Mew shouts and Gulf freezes. "You do not want me angry, Tua-eng! I am going to punish you the first thing next morning! What are you trying to do? Die of cold?!"

Gulf really starts crying but the angry faen is not moved.

"If I want to disrobe you, you fereking let me disrobe you. Understand?!" Gulf sobs to his palms and the Emperor shoves off his hand. "I ASKED YOU A QUESTION! ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW!"

"I... I..."

Mew cups Gulf's face and the fingers dig his cheek to the teeth. "Is there a fereking thing inside I have not seen already?"

Gulf shakes his head.

"THEN WHAT THE..."

Gulf starts wailing.

"Don't you dare start..." Gulf's teeth is already chattering and the Emperor wants to find a cane to redden those pretty thighs. He pulls Gulf to him. "Stand still!"

The wet clothes are ripped off and Gulf starts hiccupping. Mew does not care about the tears and wipes Gulf thoroughly but the way Gulf is crying is heart-breaking.

"If you have a very good reason, say it now!" Mew rubs Gulf's head again with the towel. "Wait... darling, are you hurt? Physically hurt?"

Gulf shakes his head again but Mew picks him up worried and fretting.

"I am..."

"Shut up, if you do not want the punishment now!"

Gulf starts crying again but the Emperor is used to tears for his ruthless words and behaviour.

Mew cannot really find any blood or wounds; except a few lover's hurt.

"Sweetheart... are you in pain on the inside?"

Gulf shakes his head again and Mew is this close to burst. "THEN WHY ARE YOU CRYING? WHY?"

"STOP ASKING ME THAT!!!" Mew is taken aback at Gulf's loud shout.

'Wow, do I sound like this too when I am mad. That is scary.' Mew gently pulls Gulf's ears and his faen sniffles.

"Hug me. You are cold." Mew does not wait for Gulf's reply and hugs the shaking fawn closer. He covers both of them in the thick Noshamarelin wool and Mew sighs.

Gulf has already started crying and Mew gets angry. "Did I hurt you?"

Gulf only shakes his head and Mew rubs his back soothing him. Gulf has promised himself he will not cry over this ever again. Yet here he is!

"What happened baby? Is it all so overwhelming to you?"

Gulf nods vigorously and Mew smiles.

Phew! That is okay then.

"Will you tell me?"

Guf shakes his head as vigorous as before.

"You will not?"

Gulf nods.

"Why not? I am here, waiting for the reasons. So I can..." There goes his beautiful Gulfie crying again. Mew sighs. "It is okay, darling... It is okay..."

He remembers when he cried after his first kill. It was a sleeping sparrow and he did not want to but his father...

Sigh!

It was nowhere close to the pain and fear he had, when he first killed a man. The man deserved to die for drowning his wife and younger daughter; all for some men complimented them as 'beautiful'.

Yet... he cried.

Like how his Gulfie is crying.

So, he does the exact same thing he could only wish for, when he was only eight years old. He hugged Gulf tight.

"It will pass. You are new to this. All this can be scary but baby... I am here. You just have to look. Okay? You have done nothing wrong. If it is because you do not want to do what we do these days... please tell me, sweetheart. I promise we will take it as slow as you want."

Gulf sniffles. Then to Mew's relief and happiness, Gulf hugs him tighter before falling asleep.

"My beloved, you deserve a thorough spanking. Well, it can wait till tomorrow. Narak."

Yet, Gulf does not get enough sleep as Thorn starts crying for milk. Gulf's eyes are swollen and tired but the smile on his face when Mew places the baby on his chest is genuine and shiny.

The Emperor cannot wait to receive that smile for himself one day.

To watch Thorn suckling on immi is a blessing itself, as Gulf is not shying away, or worse take his son to the far end corner to breastfeed.

Thorn mumbles and hums around Gulf's nipple. "I am here, baby." He brushes his son's head with his fingers and Thorn cuddles closer.

"What does our son say?"

"Nothing just wondering if we are really here." Gulf smiles, kissing Thorn's head.

"We are here." Mew rubs Thorn's cheek with the back of his forefinger and the baby blinks open his eyes to look at his dad before closing them again. Gulf and Thorn falls asleep after breastfeeding, on his bed and if he could just keep on staring, he would.

He cannot see enough of his wife sleeping with his son clutched to his heart. Thorn is squished tight and Mew is honestly jealous of his son.

He will have to wait for the day when Gulf will hug him like this and sleep in a cold winter night if he is lucky some days too.

Mew sighs.

The tiny bastard is as small as a lemon. Mew rubs his son's head and the little turd kicks his foot and cuddles to mae even more closer.

"You should be happy that you are my son. That is my wifey, you little button." Mew leans down and kisses Thorn's head.

Mew has to wait before sneaking off.

The investigation is pending. Someone is after his family. His future; his son; his heir to be precise.

Mew jumps down the window and whistles twice. Nyaar comes right away but the other animal is not seen anywhere.

Mew grumbles and whistles again.

"Coming... ferek... wait for a minute, Mew!"

"I have been waiting for hours, Siwat!"

"I heard your first whistle a moment ago!"

"I am the Emperor."

Siwat grumbles. "Getting old, man." He ties his belt around his pants. "Damnation! My wife is frisky today."

He winces at the pain on his tip and Mew pushes him to the ground for no apparent reason whatsoever.

Mew also smacks Tae who is busy eating Kook's face.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Ripened balls." Siwat answers and all of them coos.

"Sowwy, man. But... what happened to the mighty EMPOOOOROORR!" Tae teases Mew almost beheads the man.

"Oh! I am the Emperor, look at me!!! Look look!!!" Kelinya says in her very high pitched voice and everyone laughs. "I also have ripened balls because my faen does not care! O.M.G!"

"Wh... what omegee?" Kook asks and everyone grumbles.

"F.M.L" Kelinya dashes to her lioness.

"What is efemmel?" Mew nods back with a smile when Kook gives him a wink.

Everyone groans and drops their acts to tease Mew. "You are the youngest of us but you behave like a thousand-year-old, JK!"

Hiter is with the weapons outside the palace and they fight over them for a few seconds.

Nyaar shrieks to the sky and Rudra takes Mew to the night.

The banter has helped his blood thirst go down but it comes back with full vengeance when he is far away from his family and friends.

It is an internal play; Mew grinds his teeth.

Someone knew Thorn is his son and Gulf is his wife.

The fact that no one has been captured means someone powerful is backing these culprits up.

"Anger." Rudra neighs and stomps when the Priestess of Mae Coman appears out of nowhere.

"You have some nerve to come in front of me, Jip"

"Emperor, please"

"Do you have any idea what your parents went through? What Hiter went through?"

"I no longer bear the soul of my family. I am in one with Mae Coman from the day I was born"

"How could you? Do you know how broken Hiter is, Jim Opya?"

"I am no longer Jim Opya I am the Priestess of Mae Coman."

"Right before your marriage. Why did you not at least bear him of that pain?"

Mew looks at the girl who once was like his little sister. Their family is so far down to dirt in his dad's eyes. Yet, Mew was - still is - loving to this little kid who used to climb up his lap without a care.

Look at her now.

Bald head, tattoos on her once blemish free face Mew is now a stranger to her. She will not hug him screaming Mighty Phi or try to steal his sweets anymore.

"I have somewhere to be." Mew shifts Rudra to the other side.

"Hiter was never in love with me." Her voice shakes and Mew has to hold in the feeling of protectiveness.

She is not your Nong anymore, Mew.

"Phii..." There goes Mew's resolve and he turns around. The tears still do not belong in his Nong's eyes. He wants to jump down and pluck her up to his shoulder to sooth her pain whatever that is.

"I am not the one for Hiter. He knows; I know. It is you and our family who we betrayed but it is still not my story to tell. I was never meant to be a wife, Phi Mew."

Mew remains silent.

"Are you happy?" Mew wants to know. It is still his little Nong who gave him her cherished wooden doll only because she saw him crying. The doll is still in his Royal Private Cabinet.

"Serene, Emperor."

"I will take it as happy. I have to go, Nong. My..."

"Sometimes the answer is not the one you will ever consider." Her eyes glow cyan. "A pretty fawn, alone in the thick forest, My Emperor. Sometimes, the hunters are not lions, tigers or jaguars."

Mew is pinned in place by her stare.

"It could be hyenas too."

Mew's heart drops to the floor.

Rapists!

It was Gulf.

They were after his Gulf and Thorn just happened to be a what? Bait?

Goddess!

His wife.

"Now, how hyenas reached is the question that you are currently searching for, Emperor."

The Priestess vanishes to thin air before Mew could utter a word.

Nyaar screeches in the sky and Mew's heart is screeching too.

His wife!!!

Gulf is unaware of the whole commotion as Thorn takes all of his time in the morning.

"Thorn, let my friend go."

Ja is currently letting Thorn pull out his hair for umpteenth time since he woke up.

"My pleasure, Empress."

"I am not the Empress, loyal friend. Maybe..."

"A position is not just in the words, Wise Empress. You taught me well. You will be my Empress even without the Royal Sceptre."

Gulf shakes his head. His words were to describe his own life not to follow as a philosophy.

"Weeeee!!!" Thorn licks Ja's face and the man almost cries with happiness.

'You my friend. I lick.' Thorn can be as possessive as his dad to his loved ones.

Gulf smiles when he thinks of his husband.

"You are so beautiful on my bed, sweetheart. I have some Royal Errands to run. Emperor is basically a high paid errand boy. Do not tell anyone, alright? I will be back soon. Kisses on your lips."

P'Mew is so adorable.

Gulf winces thinking of the warning of a punishment. How can he tell his Emperor that he is afraid that the real faen will come and snatch his happiness away?

No, no snatching.

It is Gulf who is trying to snatch away the Emperor for the man truly belongs to that person.

Gulf rubs his lips thinking of the times the Emperor and he had kissed.

He blinks back his tears and bottles down his desire to claim P'Mew as his own.

He should never come in between a true love.

It is not Mew's fault that Gulf fell in love with him, is it?

"EMPRESS!!!" A Royal Maid comes running and Gulf recognises Tyl. She is one of the very few persons in the palace who seem to care about Gulf as a person. So, he is worried to see tears falling down her face.

"What is wrong? JA!" Gulf calls out to Ja and the man comes running holding a giggling Thorn. "Ask this lady what the problem is."

Gulf demands and she does not make a lot of sense.

"The whole village will be massacred, My Empress. They are begging for your audience. Only you can help them, my Empress. The Emperor can only be calmed down by you. The Mighty Lion is already thirsty for blood, My Empress..."

Gulf starts running as soon as he heard Mew is going to kill the village people in his name.

What has happened to his sweet husband?! He was so happy last night, though they had fought. He remembers the kisses and sweet words before falling to dreamland.

He gasps when he sees his village people kneeling on the sand on hard wood.

Haeseryata is glowing red and Gulf does not know what to do.

"ONE KNEE!" Mew screams and soldiers start to swish the whip to scare the people who would not do as the Emperor commanded.

He hears the screams of moms and kids. Gulf's eyes water and he rushes to Mew.

"My Emperor!"

Mew stops and turns around with surprise in his eyes. "Love?! What are you doing here? Are you okay?"

Mew hugs his thighs and picks him up like he weighs nothing.

Gulf is too worried about Mew's behaviour to wiggle away from this public display of affection. Gulf wants to keep all their lovers' cuteness away from others' eyes.

"I am fine, King, a... are you?" Gulf looks down at Mew and the man kisses his chest.

"I will be fine... what are you doing here?" Mew lowers him back to the floor and Gulf squints at the Emperor.

"Why are you mad? Did I do someth..."

"No!!! Tua-eng did nothing wrong! You are.. " Mew gulps. He kisses Gulf's forehead and Gulf wonders what had gotten into him. Gulf waits but the man do not finish his sentence.

"Why are you punishing our village people?"

"OUR VILLAGE PEOPLE?!!" Mew starts laughing and Gulf looks at the people. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA ... no, you don't and..."

Gulf sees pain in Mew's eyes and the kiss that falls on his cheek is relief-filled.

"P'Mew." Gulf calls and Mew hugs him.

"Go back to your room. That is an order, faen. JA! Take my heart, back to his room."

"Wait, P'Mew wha... Wait!!!"

"I will give you twelve seconds to give me the names that I want!" Mew ignores Gulf and Ja takes him to the room.

Mew does not come to their room that night and Gulf hates to admit he is lonely. He wants their alone time and maybe even ask why Mew is angry towards a whole village.

Gulf does not let his throbbing heart to make his eyes water when the man does not return even after he rocks Thorn to sleep after his midnight immi-love.

He is not waiting; not at all. He is just, sitting on the divan and...

A peck wakes him up and he sees the Emperor jumping away.

"I was just looking if uh you were sleeping." Mew is flustered.

Gulf shakes his head first but then he remembers what he was admitting and starts to nod.

Mew cannot take his eyes off his wife and Gulf squirms.

"I was just..." Gulf nibbles his lip.

"Let me take you to the bed." Mew cradles his wife to his chest and Gulf circles his hands around. Gulf is worried and he wants answers. He does not know how to ask though.

If Mew does not want to talk he does not want to irritate or worse, hurt the tired Emperor.

Mew tries to lower Gulf to his bed. "Sleep Tua-eng, I have to take a bath."

"I will help..." Gulf blushes when Mew stares at him. "...to wash your back. The valets have retired to bed and I..."

"You can wash me anytime. No excuses needed." Mew tastes Gulf's upper lip.

"P'Mew."

"Yes, love?"

Gulf remembers his place and he wishes if the man's real faen is here. He has the right to ask; unlike Gulf, he has the right to know.

"Is the water temperature okay?"

"Your hands make everything okay, Tua-eng if I can see your smile, then there is nothing I have to worry about."

That day Mew rests his head on Gulf's chest. He cannot imagine what he would have done if anything happened to Gulf.

Gulf wakes up smiling to a beautiful morning and then he takes a little too longer to get ready. Mew has interrupted his sleep.

Gulf blushes.

He pokes the marks on his neck. P'Mew begged to touched him everywhere and maybe Gulf has let him.

Touching is okay so is biting.

"Empress, quick!" Gulf knows the situation is dire when Ja allows him to follow the maid despite the Emperor's orders to stay in the bedroom.

He hears screams of bleeding people and Gulf rushes to his Emperor.

"Please save us, N'Gulf. We did not know you were... you were..."

"SILENCE!!!" Mew shouts and everyone whimpers.

Gulf kneels down when the Emperor orders the village people.

"My love." Mew picks him up gently holding his shoulders. "You do not include in this. Go to our sons and then nap sometime, alright, sweetheart?"

"I am a villager, my Emperor. A man of this village to be precise. If all village people are criminals, so am I."

"Gulf, you have no idea what is going on. So, go and take rest."

"Tell me then, my Emperor. What have my village people done to you, Your Highness?"

"What they did to me?! You want to know what they did? Nothing nothing! They could do nothing."

"Then why my Lion is so angry at..."

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU?! YOU KNOW WHAT THEY WERE PLANNING?"

A beautiful young mother like Gulf is vulnerable. Many men; old and young, married and unmarried, strong and weak wanted to know how Gulf feels like in their bed. Some just does not care if Gulf wants to be in their bed.

There is no way a man like Gulf is rejected by his husband. If the husband was dead, then where are the in-laws and other family?

Gulf is a harlot; the society has decided.

Gulf could not believe the old lady right next to his home also propagated the false news, only because his husband was not seen.

"These men! They would have raped and used you like a..." Mew cannot finish his sentence.

His wifey, his singing paradise bird, his love, his beautiful faen, would have been bitten down to pieces and Mew's power, his strength, his mage powers could not have saved Gulf.

"I cannot imagine what would have happened if you started searching for Thorn instead of crying for me. What would have happened if... if you did not trust me again? Hell! I know how much I do not fereking deserve it." Mew gulps. "They..."

Gulf notices six men standing naked with welt marks on their bodies.

The rapists.

Gulf now knows why Mew is angry but this is too far. Why are all the other innocent women and children being punished too? What mistake did they make? Live in the same village?

"You do not have to think about this. Go to our room and wait for me, alright, Tua-eng. I.."

Gulf touches Mew's stomach. He sees the shirt that is ripped lying on the other side. Mew's muscles are tight and bunched around his abs. Gulf thinks how handsome and muscular the Emperor is.

Does the man know how much Gulf likes his body?

Of course Mew does.

The man's masculine beauty is sung all over their world.

"Go." Mew brushes Gulf's cheek with his lips and his faen blushes.

"Nothing happened though." The muscles curve inward and Gulf knows his statement made the Emperor angrier. So, he rubs the tight abs. "I chose to trust you, my King. I am here. Please do not let the clouds of rage mar my Sun's brightness of justice."

Gulf bites the tip of his tongue.

The words just pop out.

"They would have hurt you badly and the villagers who you love so badly would have thought you were just a harlot and deserved the death you got! Now tell me not to be angry!" Mew hisses and his sword swirls in his hand. "Tell me my anger is not real."

So beautiful; Gulf wonders.

His eyes shift to the village people who are huddled closer. Young ones, old people and women.

"They would have laughed and pitied you but never helped you, my faen!" Mew does not like the way Gulf is looking at many villagers like they are innocent.

"I would have married you." A man interrupts the Emperor and Mew freezes. "You, I would have married you. I asked you to give me a night, you never did, Gulf. Now my friends agreed I would have given you a life as my wife." The man tries to touch Gulf's hand.

"Gulfie..." Mew calls. "Turn around and walk. Do not look back. I mean it. N'Mild take my Gufie to your room. I have some 'misunderstandings' to clear."

Mild pulls Gulf's hand.

Gulf turns around and a loud scream reverberates just a moment later. "You tried to touch my faen! Why should you have your palm anymore?"

A deep stench of blood fills Gulf's nostrils and he holds in his gag.

"My Emperor." Gulf does not turn around but he knows Mew is listening. "If you punish the culprits, I am no one to stand against you but my Leige, if you punish every villager for this crime, do understand I also am a villager. An order is an order, my mighty beautiful Lion. I will be in your chamber waiting for you till then."

Gulf walks away as the Emperor cuts of the man's tongue.

"You called my faen by his name!"

Gulf only hopes when the Emperor comes to see him Mew has calmed down to talk or the village will be a blood river.

"P'Mew. I am here; nothing has happened to me. Just do not let this cause anything happen to you."