"I told you many times to stay away from Morin. Are you trying to use my innocent son and make him one of your followers?" Queen Lorey said to Crown Prince Arin in a threatening voice.

Arin Helev stood still, regarding his stepmother impassively. "He is not just your son but also my brother."

"Crown Prince!" The Queen snapped. "Stop acting like a caring brother! Don't fool Morin anymore!"

"The one who should drop the act is you, not me." Arin simply said with a nonchalant face. "Stop attempting to instill your sick mindset on Morin. He is just a young boy."

"Arin Helev! You think that you can do anything, right?" Queen Lorey sneered and glanced at the Crown Prince right in the eyes. "Morin is my son. I will raise him the way I see fit!" She firmly declared.

All at once, the Crown Prince calm face was replaced by an eerily darkened one. Then he took a step towards the Queen. "Do you know why I still allow you to live despite all your failed assassination attempts against me?" He took another step forward, intimidating the Queen who took a step back.

"It's for Morin. I don't want my brother to suffer the same fate as me. If he lose his mother at such a young age, he will grow up in loneliness. I want him to be always carefree and happy like he is now." Arin made a deliberate pause and slightly leaned towards the Queen. "So, you should be a good mother at the least. If not... it will be my turn to make a move and you won't like it."

Before the Queen could say anything, Arin turned to the door and walked out of the room while Iria who witnessed everything from outside the room quickly walked away.

* * *

The Kingdom of Jerivia

On a vast ground, soldiers were perfectly arranged in a line. Each of them had a spear on their hand, shouting and training in unison. On each of their uniforms, the symbol of Jerivia was tailored - wolf.

However, these soldiers had another symbol tailored below it, it was a Sun, the symbol of the Alewine Army. When Iria's grandfather established the Alewine Army around 40 years ago, he personally chose this symbol, hoping that the Alewine Army could be the Sun that shone above Jerivia and give energy to the kingdom.

On the pavilion which was built around 15ft high, a woman and a man were standing, glancing down and observed the training which was currently going on. The woman wore the familiar mask which the Commander always wore - a silver mask with the Sun curved in the right. She was Jolene disguised as Commander Iria.

"Don't you think that we should write to the Commander? She will surely be distracted, thinking about us." Jolene said to Zire who was standing next to her.

"No, you heard her order. As it requires a huge risk, we should only write to her in case of an emergency." Zire slightly smiled and said, "When it comes to patience and self-control, no one can surpass our Commander. Don't worry."

"We are rivals with Qalagon for several decades. Though Commander went there as the Princess, I'm afraid that she will be having a hard time. After all, the former Commander, her father was assassinated by the Qalagons. She will surely wish to avenge him." Jolene said. She seemed to be quite troubled but her mask hides most of it.

"She never puts her own interest first." Zire promptly said and turned to Jolene with an assuring smile. "So, let us not worry and do our best to follow the plan that she made. I will assist you in every way possible."

* * *

"You seem to be in a bad mood today." Hanson Lorin said to the Crown Prince who was more than concentrated on the target he was currently aiming with his arrow.

Not losing focus, the Crown Prince hardly pulled the string of his bow and released the arrow, hitting the bulls-eye on the target which was at a distance. Without saying anything to his friend, he took another arrow and did the same.

Hanson shifted his attention from the Crown Prince to the target and easily hit the bull's eye too. But still, he was too distracted by his friend's over aloofness today. Arin was always aloof but today, he truly hit another level.

"I'm curious, Arin. Why did you break the custom that day at your wedding? It won't be a problem even if the Crown Princess knelt just once. After all, that's the custom in every kingdom." Hanson was also curious about why his friend asked the marriage officiant to cut most of the normal wedding vows! But he decided to not ask about that.

Arin Helev slightly narrowed his eyes at his bow and two scenes crossed his mind. First, Iria tightly clenching her fist in secret during the feast when two men insulted the Jerivians. And second, her change in reaction when the kneeling cushion was bought in. However, he brushed it away and turned to the target again.

"No particular reason." He said to Hanson while aiming at the target. "I just think it's not necessary."

Hanson only nodded but smiled when one thing crossed his mind. Then he leaned a bit towards his friend. "The Crown Princess is quite a beauty. Do you already fell for her?"

When Hanson glanced at his friend with a scrutinizing gaze, the latter turned to him with an annoyed face. This made Hanson instantly pulled back and turned away.

Now, the Crown Prince's lips curved into a slight smile. "Not as beautiful as the Prime Minister's daughter. That's what you think, right?"

Hanson frowned and glanced at the Crown Prince with an upset face. "You don't play fair, Your Highness."

Arin simply smiled and aimed at the target again. He failed to release the arrow last time due to his nosy friend. However, just when he was about to let go of the arrow, he changed his mind and turned to his friend again. "If you don't make a move soon, you won't have a chance. She is the pearl of the Prime Minister and she has many suitors."

Hanson frowned even deeper. "If you are not the one who says that, I will surely take it to heart but you... " He helplessly shook his head. "You only say that to tease me."

Arin nodded and simply smiled once again, placing his hand on Hanson's shoulder. "Alright. Then don't you dare make a fuss when she married another man."

Hanson brushed away Arin's hand and put down the arrow with a displeased face. "I won't practise with you anymore." He muttered and walked away from the training ground while the Crown Prince shook his head and simply continued to practice archery.....