Forevermore

Ao Ye was in a good mood.

He walked around the town-which name he had forgotten for it did not matter to him-basked in both admiring stares and jealous glares. His black hair was fashioned to a typical rich young man’s way: half of it tied into a bun with a long silken ribbon, golden in color to match the rest of his attire, while the rest flowed down his back, reaching above his bronze colored belt. His straight black hair shone like liquid onyx under the sun, even the girls had to envy the male.

Clad in yellow dress with golden patterns and linings, sleeves and pants of the purest white, Ao Ye looked even holier than the royalties themselves, who were believed to be selected by the gods themselves. Along with his polite smile and the waving of his paper fan-more of an art piece than a mere accessory with the detailed water ink drawing of mountains immersed in soft, misty clouds-it was as if he was an illusion, or a glimpse at the paradise in heaven.

‘Look at that man,’ a young woman of late teens whispered to her friend as she spotted Ao Ye while they were choosing jewelry at a store. Her gaze tried to remain on her friend, yet it kept darting back to Ao Ye to drink in his splendor. She raised her non-bending fan-a hint to her rather high social status-covering her mouth as she spoke. ‘I wonder which family is he from.’

The other girl giggled, and copied her friend’s move, covering her lips as she replied. ‘I don’t know. I have never seen him around here before…’ She looked at Ao Ye, pondering about the possible answers; the purpose for coming to this store lied forgotten in her hand. ‘Maybe he is of royalty!’ She muttered to her friend excitedly as she came to this conclusion. ‘It must be. I mean, look at him!’

Ao Ye smiled, hearing the girls’ gossip as he passed by. Their whispers fed Ao Ye’s already sky-high ego. Of course they would think like that, he thought, marveling at himself. After all, I am the Dragon King of the East Sea. He paid, however, no attention to the negative comments around him, despite of how little there was. They were only jealous of him, Ye said to himself mentally.

The East Dragon King was by far the most obnoxious of the five brothers. His was the most handsome of them, along with his twin brother, Ao Guang, and he was also blessed with intelligence of a scholar, strength of a skilled fighter, and charisma of a God’s, which made him better than his brother who shared the same face as he did as Ao Guang didn’t possess all those blessings. Yet, the younger twin was content with what he had and never hated his twin for the unfair godsends, so there was never fight or argument between them.

Today, Ye had successfully slipped out of his heavily guarded Crystal Palace and his responsibility as the East Dragon King, and therefore, having a day off. He was never hard-working or patient, sneaking off to the surface every now and then. Luckily, he didn’t have a lot to do as the East Dragon King, and should anything happened that required his immediate attention, he had Ao Guang to help him. So, all was well with Ye, other than his personal guards was most likely hunting him down at the moment. Though it was easier said than done, since they didn’t have a single clue where he might be. He could be in a small village by the coast, enjoying the direct sunshine, or the capital of the closest country, raiding the kitchen of the palace for the delicacies.

Ye licked his lips at the memory. Humans sure knew how to enjoy their lives well with all those good food, probably due to how they could cook with the miraculous thing called ‘fire’- a red and orange gaseous thing that could emit both light and heat- something that couldn’t exist under water.

As Ye drown in his thoughts, admiring himself through listening to others’ praises about him, he failed to notice the running man behind him, resulting in a collation of both man. Ye managed to remain standing, whereas most would have fallen onto the floor given the same situation. He pulled back the young fellow as he stood up and prepare to run again.

The male looked around twenty years old. His face had not lost the childish trace completely, but it didn’t diminish his good looks, rather giving him a touch of youthfulness, not that he needed any considering his age. His clothes were of inky green and black rims, obviously made of expensive, top quality cloth, so Ye assumed he must be from a prestigious family. He didn’t have the stunning effect like Ao Ye, but he wasn’t far from it either, giving a gentle and well-mannered impression. A scholar, perhaps?

The young adult frowned, stopping in his tracks, a look of panic appeared on his face briefly. ‘I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t-’

‘Why are you in such a hurry?’ Ye interrupted, asking in a calm manner, surprising the young man who was expecting Ye to shout at him for the accident.

He took a second before getting over the surprise, smiling at Ye. ‘You must be an outlander, sir, for everyone here knows about today.’

The East Dragon King was intrigued. What could possibly be so important? Perhaps it was the emperor’s birthday, or the princess’ wedding? He nodded in confirmation, signaling the younger to continue explaining. ‘General Lin has decided to choose a husband for his only daughter since her eighteenth birthday is near. Every man between the ages of eighteen to twenty-five is welcome to try, though I would expect the trials to be very tough, since General Lin is known for his protectiveness over his only daughter,’ he chuckled, as if finding how the General acted was amusing. ‘Still, nearly all the men who fit the requirements within this town came to try, and some of the contestants actually come from other towns after hearing this news. I myself do not reside in this town either.’

Ye raised a brow at the man’s words, his lips tugged into a slight smirk. ‘She must be a very beautiful woman then, or else how can she attract all these men?’ It seemed to be quite a challenge to Ye, not to mention he could see a beauty that attracted every male within this town, or even the entire country.

‘On the contrary,’ the man laughed. ‘No one has seen her face, other than her parents or the servants in her house, not even her relatives or when other nobles visit the Lins.’
The disguised man couldn’t hide his confusion, which caused the young man to laugh louder when he saw the look on Ye’s face. ‘You must think we’re all crazy then.’ He pinpointed Ye’s thoughts, though the later didn’t dare to admit it, returning a laugh awkwardly instead. ‘It’s okay. I expect most people will think that.’

‘Then…’

‘I not too certain myself either,’ he shrugged, earning an eye twitch from Ye at how he carefree acted. Should he call that stupidity, or idiocy? This girl might become his future wife, yet he seemed not to care about her. ‘It may be the way how the General is so protective over her, leading the people think that she must be…unique and special; it may also be when the she played the Guzheng. You may think that you’re hearing a Goddess playing the instrument instead of a mere girl.’

Ye scoffed mentally at this comment. Humans tended to exaggerate things. He heard countless Goddess play different kinds of instruments before, and had yet to impress the king of the depths. He highly doubted she could play better than a real Goddess.

‘But the most mysterious rumor is about her looks,’ the young man continued, perking Ye’s interest. It appeared to be secret, judging by how he lowered his voice suddenly. ‘The General had strictly forbid the servants to say anything about his daughter, but one of them slipped something about her when he was drunk.’ The man continued. His eyes slowly focused in the air before him, getting dazed by the tale he had probably memorized by heart. ‘He said General Lin’s daughter was probably the most beautiful person you would ever see. She was like a porcelain doll, with skin as pale and as smooth; and her face was simply perfect. She was neither overly dressed up nor excessively adorned with jewelries like the princesses or other daughters of the nobles, dressing in countless colors like a butterfly and in the midst of a bunch of flowers and putting numerous hairpins in their hair that actually makes people dizzy just by looking at them.’

At which, Ye surpassed a laugh and smirked a little. He remembered sneaking into a party in the palace to see what the human emperor’s was like. It was quite a disappointment to Ye since it was not as grand as he had imagined being, or even half as majestic as his brothers’ palaces, though he was amazed by how big the palace was. He supposed it was only because there was a sorts of plants on the surface which allowed them to build gardens for each flowers, while there were only carols and other sea plants that wasn’t as colorful, so he didn’t want to build gardens for plants that look plain and boring.

While he got lost at one of the royal gardens, he had the misfortune to see one of the princesses, who wedded to another country’s prince, as he heard later on. That woman wore one the best dresses in the entire country, yet it looked ridiculous on her. The problem wasn’t the dress itself-it was of silk and satin, dyed with the colors that only the royalties could use exclusively, sewed with flourishing flowers and butterflies that almost looked alive instead of mere sewing-yet it just didn’t match her. It had thoroughly bemused Ye. How could one look so…graceless in such a dress? Or perhaps it was just how she acted-how she yelled and threw a fit when a maid got the wrong tea-or how horrible her makeup was. He believed his maids at the Crystal Palace would have attracted more men; and they were actually fish.

The man smiled a little at Ye’s reaction. ‘And she didn’t use any make up like the rest of the women who are constantly obsessed about it.’ Ye’s smirk grew wider as he heard about makeup. ‘Or to be more precise, the servant said she didn’t need them. She was already blessed with a face that makeup would have ruined her beauty.’

‘Impossible,’ Ye commented, thinking about the princess he saw years ago. He couldn’t believe any human woman could look good enough naturally, let alone the rumor about makeup would disgrace her. ‘She’s just a…’ Ye shut up immediately. He almost said the wrong thing, ‘She’s just a human.’ Coughing to clear his throat and mask his uneasiness, Ye rephrased his words. ‘I mean, the servant was drunk, so I highly doubt it is reliable.’

‘True,’ the man nodded reluctantly. ‘But still, it may be true, and that’s only information anyone have on the mysterious girl…Oh darn, I am seriously late now!’ Before Ye could say anything in response, the man ran away.

‘Sir…’ Ye extended his hand, trying to pull the young lad again, but he was out of reach. The green silhouette slowly disappeared in the seas of crowds. Ye watched until he could no longer spot the unique green. He then realized he hadn’t even asked the young man’s name. What a shame, Ye thought. He seemed to be a decent young man too. Ye could’ve gained a drinking partner on land.

‘It seems that there’s something interesting going around here,’ Ye snapped his fan shut, placing it under his mouth. His eyes twinkled with a mischievous glint, and his smiled turned into a playful grin. ‘I wonder…’

With a chuckle, Ye stepped towards the direction the young man had disappeared in. This visit might turn out to be worthwhile after all.