The Cruel Prince

A POSSIBLE CURE

"There's still the fact that you're harboring a demon inside the palace." Prince Jungjae took a slow sip of his tea, calm beyond his distress. "The servants are going to be curious, and rumors are going to spread, people are going to speculate, and before you know it, the people outside the walls are going to demand an answer. This is more trouble than you bargain for, brother. There's no way around it."

Prince Wang Jian flexed his muscles, trying to keep his temper under control, his glare kept firm hold on his brother. He hasn't had any good rest, nor meals in a while and it's clearly showing on his haggard and exhausted face.

"Don't you dare call her a demon again." He growled.

Jungjae sighed and with contained calmness, he said to his brother... "Will all due respect, I'm being serious. You need to do something about Ying Yue. She's turning into one of them and before long, she's going to get hungry, and she's going to hunt. She going to prey on the servants, and there'll be litters of dead body all over the palace."

There was a wild snarl, the kind of snarl that rattled the walls of the room and grabbed the attention of the guards and servants in the halls.

Wang Jian fumed unable to keep his temper in check any longer. He was on his brother in a blink of an eye.

"There won't be a reason for any of that to happen because she's never going to turn!"

He groaned, Jungjae reddening at the pressure Jian placed on his chest. "You have to consider part of Banye's soul lives inside her, that would be nearly impossible to cleanse."

Wang Jian slammed his brother on the wall, he was furious being reminded of the bond. A deep guttural snarl crept up. "What're are you trying to say, Jungjae?!"

"I'm suggesting you might have to kill your wife, and if you're such a coward that you couldn't do it, I will be the one to do it for you."

Wang Jian slammed his brother on the wall with so much force that the wall cracked, "you speak about killing my wife again and you will suffer my wrath!"

Jungjae sucked a breath and it took a lot of control not to lose his temper and get into scuffle. He knew how stress out Wang Jian is, but he needed to protect the palace, and right now..." You're not thinking properly brother. It is a blessing father hasn't found out yet. Can you imagine what will happen if he were to find out your harboring Ying Yue here?" He loosened a breath. "He'll have her killed in an instant."

"So, what're you going to do little brother? Are you going to run to father and tell on me?"

"And here I thought you were the tattle tell." Jungjae purred.

The door opened, it was Lord Chua along with the shaman. Both Jungjae and Jian whipped their heads at the same time, Wang Jian released his brother from the wall.

"I apologize if I interrupted something."

"Come in Lord Chua, we're just getting done." Prince Wang Jian sauntered back to his chair, taking his seat while Jungjae groaned and rearranged his robe, getting ready to leave.

"That's fine, Lord Chua. I have better things to do than get threatened by my brother." He shot Jian a sharp accusing glare on his way out.

"Oh boy, the testosterone in this room is unbelievable!" The shaman grimaced, she's an older lady dressed in a crazy ensemble of mismatched attire. She approached the prince examining his face.

"For such a handsome young man, you certainly have a lot on your plate." She clucked her tongue and grinned. "But nothing I don't have remedy for. I could see that you're worried about your wife, and you have the right to be. She got tangled up with the nastiest demon there is." She gave Wang Jian an appraising look and a raise of a brow that suggested her opinion of the situation.

"I placed a pretty sturdy barrier in and around the palace, that should hold up for a while. I'll have to reinforce it occasionally to make sure it stays intact, but since I heard her illness progressed further than normal, I suggest you reverse the progression by introducing her back to being human."

He leaned in attentively, Wang Jian held his firm gaze on the shaman. "What do you mean introduce her back to being human?"

She threw her arms up as if it was something so obvious and simple. "Feed her regular food, bring her out to the garden. Take her out on dates!"

"Are you saying if drag her back to the light, feed her normal food and she'll be alright? What about the bargain? How do we exorcise his soul out of her body?"

The shaman moaned in contemplation. "Based on the information I gathered from Lord Chua here," she flicked a glance at him who stood far back by the door. "She actually spent time living in their world, so that means she must've eaten their food, and she also harbors part of his soul, so that's the reason she's turning. You take care of introducing her back to this world and I'll try to come up with something to break her away from him."

"You could do that?" Prince Wang Jian gleamed with hope.

"I'm not promising anything, this is the first of its case...at least for me. Let's just hope she hold up until then."

"Very well." He murmured but was interrupted by a groan. The shaman held up her palm. "I expect a payment in advance."