Winter woke up late the next day. As he sat up , the covers slipped showing the purple bruises scattered all over his body.
'I told you I didn't want the throne...'
He looked to the side , Thunder was not beside him which means that she was probably practicing the sword.
'I trusted you but you didn't trust me...'
He freshened up and wore a tighter robe to cover his hickeys. He was clearly on his way to court but instead he found himself in front of Summer Room.
'Why ... why do you keep hurting me ?'
He raised his hand to knock , but he couldn't lift it. He slowly slid down to the ground, his forehead on the door.
"Summer..."
Hearing no response, he caressed the door like it was Summer hair , Summer have always liked his hair caressed , he said that it made him feel comfortable.
"Summer....You won't leave right? You will stay with me forever right?"
"Summer , You're my best friend, the only person I have left in this world , I can't let you love thunder ..."
"Summer please talk to me "
"Summer... I am sorry "
Tears spilled from his eyes and his body trembled , He knew that Summer was right there , just a block of wood behind them but there was nothing he can say but apologize repeatedly.
'Don't leave me ... I am sorry .'
💖💖💖
It's been 3 months.
He and Summer were starting to talk to each other as usual , as if nothing happened. Summer had come out of the room the next day and asked if they should have dinner together. Winter had accepted immediately and followed him. They never talked about that day, they never talked about the binding contact, they never asked about each other feelings towards thunder ; like it was a kind of foggy memory thrown to the back of mind.
They were so normal it was errie.
A beautiful Spring day after court , As he was strolling the garden , an idea popped up in his head.
He waved an attendant over and whispered into his ear , the attendant nodded and rush to find them.
Winter have just finished negotiating with the painter when the two generals strolled in.
"Come the two of you " He pulled them both to the bench and sat down on one , he placed Thunder on his legs , then Summer right behind him " Let's paint a picture "
Thunder smiled , but her gaze was intense " A couple painting will be nice"
"But what about Summer, he's my best friend"
"Why don't we just paint that separately?"
"Why can't we just do it at once ? it will save money and show our bond for each other"
"Winter , if not that you married me , I would have started thinking something else "
Winter swallowed " like what?"
Thunder let out a laugh and faced the painter,the anger in her eyes was yet to fade.
"You have sex with me , you can't be that kind of person"
Winter felt something in his chest sting. He have never had a fight with thunder before and their relationship was relatively peaceful. However this was crossing the line.
"Thunder I …."
Winter felt a warmth on his shoulder and he looked up , This was the first time that Summer was touching him in a long time , he couldn't help but stare at him.
Summer voice was soft "Why don't we do it separately?"
Thunder glared at Summer "I changed my mind, let's do it together"
Winter eyes turned a deep blue "You …"
Summer grip was tight on his shoulder "We do whatever the queen commands "
"Good" She let out a sigh and looked at the painter "Please hurry up, I have things to do"
Despite the initial conflict between them , the painter managed to make jokes and soften the atmosphere. Everyone relaxed and the painting was able to be done successfully.
When the painting was done , He shooed them away and watched the painter hang it in a corner of the palace.
Summer as usual was staring at Thunder.
No wonder he was so adamant on preventing conflicts, he didn't want to worry thunder.
Winter ignored the discomfort of his heart and smiled stiffly at the painting.
His family was still together , that was all that mattered.
💖💖💖
Thunder realized she was pregnant in the 5th month , Demons don't have morning sicknesses , gastric discomfort and other pregnancy illnesses , the only thing was that their stomach will grow bigger which sometimes don't happen until late in the pregnancy.
He was so happy at the news , he threw a big feast to celebrate.
Thunder had nagged and nagged about the extravagance but she still smiled and gave him a soft kiss.
Spring was born in April , she had the softest smile and laugh , she waved her tiny fists in the air , making Winter heart fill so much , it almost burst.
Summer stared deeply at the child , his gaze was intense almost murderous; but when Winter blinked, it was gone in a flash.
"She looks a lot like her "
This time winter looked closely at his expression." She only took her mom powers and facial structure , I think she looks a lot like me ; White hair and blue eyes "
"Hmmm what's her name?"
It turns out the look was just in his imagination.
"Spring storm " He kissed the baby cheek and smiled at the quiet Summer " As from now on , you are her Uncle okay ? "
"We are not related "
"But your my best friend , closer than a brother !!!"
"Yes... best friends "
He smiled in satisfaction and kissed the baby again , happiness evident in his face , Summer watched him softly for a while before lowering his head.
💖💖💖
12 years speed by like seconds.
Spring was already grown and Thunder was pregnant again with another child. Summer didn't like to stay too much in the palace and will often spend months with a friend at the pheonix clan.
The news was much hurtful than he expected.
He and summer have been best friends right from the time, they were created by the moon goddess, summer was his everything, Why give his friendships to another person? Didn't he promise to be his friend forever?
The phenoix prince wasn't even a good person. He had rumors surrounding him for being double faced, he was a concubine son and he wore makeup.
Thinking about it , Summer didn't tell him his type in men, was the phenoix prince his type? No he can't allow it , Summer might be used by that evil prince.
He shared his worries with Thunder who just stared silently at him , her gaze was unreadable.
"The phenoix prince have rumors to his name but I heard that he's a nice man"
"Rumors have an element of truth to them"
Thunder rolled her eyes and swung the sword "Stop overreacting"
"But ..."
Thunder stopped the weapon she was swinging and stared straight at him " Why are you so concerned about who he's moving with? Remember he's your brother not your lover "
"….. okay"
She was right, it's not like he was his partner, in the end , they were just best friends.
But why does it hurt so much to see them together? It even hurt a lot more than thunder.
He really hates this feeling.
The Huli Jing clan grew in excellence; they were already in the top clans , prosperity around the corner.
Spring showed interest in court so he started taking her there , she was independent and ambitious , a very good quality of a ruler ,But she was also hot tempered , often getting into fights with the daughter of the Tribe leader of the formless demon clan .
Autumn was born on the day the Akeriod star shined bright. He was quiet after his first cry of life , just spending his time sleeping.
A fortune teller from the stork tribe said that he was born under the destruction star , he was destined to be a warrior ; a General.
Akeriod serves Polaris , Akeriod can only shine if the Polaris star was bright. Spring was born under the Polaris star , Autumn was destined to be her sword.
As soon as Autumn started to walk , Thunder started to train him on the act of war; never allowing him to have fun.
Thinking about it now , he should have really spoke out more on training the children. Autumn was a gentle child who preferred to sleep and draw all day , but because of the harsh training , he was turned into a subtle killing machine who thought his life purpose was to be a weapon.
Winter felt he failed in many aspects of his life.
💖💖💖
Summer settled back home , a year before Spring turned 16 years old , the age to be crowned. He was now silent and moody ; often snapping at anyone who tried to talk to him... including Winter.
He didn't know why seeing Summer mood changed for the worse made him happy. The vixen must have broken his heart , next time, Summer will be careful to not make friends again.
He also discovered a kind of animosity between Summer and Thunder. They would often snap at each other and it got worse day by day , they cannot stay within the same room with each other without vitriol spitting out.
This development should have worried him , but instead he felt a huge sense of relief. Summer probably doesn't want thunder anymore, he could now be at peace.
One night as he was strolling through the palace he caught Summer craving a doll into a wooden block, Feeling interested , he stayed behind a corner and watched the doll take shape.
The doll looked a lot like his wife.
He felt his heart start to ache , Summer still liked thunder? What about the feeling of hatred ?did he mix hatred and passion?
He needed to ruin that seed , he should probably do a marriage anniversary banquet and…
The next thing Summer did ; made his blood run cold.
He rubbed the doll gently between his palms before wrapping his fingers around it and detaching the head, his gaze was intense , almost like insanity.
"Die... thunder why don't you just die " He crushed the head with his fist and started to break the doll apart " Just die !!!!"
Winter at the moment realized something... and that's realization was followed by a tingling in his spine which was followed by terror of getting caught.
But it was already too late ,Summer have already raised his head , Their eyes locked together for a long while as if waiting for the other to react first.
Summer stood up and in one leap , grabbed Winter wrist and pulled him into the room.
"Summer..."
As soon as the door closed , He slammed his back against it and placed his lips against his .
"Mmmmphhhhh !!!"
The kiss was overly aggressive, a mixture of anger, resentment and heartache.
Winter managed to release a hand, he slapped Summer but Summer only tinted his head slightly before grabbing him again.
The kiss became even more aggressive, summer started to drag his lips into bites.
Winter groaned and then the punches became softer and softer till it couldn't be felt any more.
His palm laid on Summer's chest as if confused between holding him or pushing him.
After a long while , Summer stopped the kiss and raised his head. Blood spilled down from his mouth and nose giving him an helpless look, with the intoxication in his eyes ,it made him look more pitiful.
"Winter ... I like you so much " He rubbed his head against his chin ; he looked gentle as if he wasn't the one who just kissed Winter earlier " I loved you first . I loved you way before she came ,way before they came ... winter ..."
Winter didn't say a word , he pushed Summer off him and ran out of the room . He ran out of the gates , passed the civilians life , he ran till his lungs gave out.
Only then did he fall to the ground and allowed the tears to fall.
How could he not have noticed ? How could he have been such a source of pain for Summer for so long? How could he have missed the signs , the bitter laughter , the silence , the gazes ? How could he have misunderstood them as attraction towards thunder.
And why did he feel so relieved about it?
You are not angry that he kissed you , you are more angry about not noticing quickly...
Winter covered his ears and curled himself as if that would block out the impure thoughts.
"He's my brother not my lover..."
He told you from the beginning that he liked guys ,You knew you just didn't want to acknowledge it... Why were you so afraid to acknowledge it ? What are you really afraid of Winter?
"Shut up !!!"
Is he really just a brother to you ? a best friend? Why are you so scared of him leaving your side?Why did you really make him your Huli Jing slave?Why were you so relieved when you realized it was you he liked not Thunder?!
"I love Thunder !!!"
Do you really?! Who do you love? Is the throne, is it Thunder or is it ..?
"Shut up!!!"
You like ….Summer?
He swallowed and hugged himself, his throat choked up.
"No … No … I …"
Then answer
"It's…It's…."
He still can't answer the question ... even till now.