When Yue stepped inside the manor, but then he heard a noise coming from inside the room.
He placed the food tray on the table and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't open—so he knocked.
Hearing the knock, the noise stopped, and after five minutes, the door opened.
"Who are you?" a woman asked. She was the royal tutor who had come to teach Prince Han.
She middle aged women whose hairs were turning grey but she was more arrogant than her age
Yue pushed her gently by the shoulder and went inside.
A small figure was sitting on his knees, and there was blood on the floor and even those blood stained gown were telling a different story—but on that child's face, there was no emotion, not even pain.
Yue turned around and noticed the wooden and steel stick in the tutor's hand.
Seeing that, his temper rose because he couldn't stand when someone bullied kids who were much weaker than adults.
He quickly rushed to Han and knelt beside him. And wanted to hug him but he didn't do and it stop himself cuz han was prince after all
"Your Highness, are you alright? Let me see your knees—are they hurting a lot?"
"Wohoooo… it's hurting!"
Han started to cry, and seeing him cry made Yue very angry.
He had a soft spot for kids in his heart, so he couldn't quietly accept this kind of behavior.
Yue stood in front of Han to protect him.
"How dare you hit Prince Han? Are you tired of living, old lady?"
The tutor grew angry because Yue was speaking informally and taking Han's side.
That's why she raised her stick and was about to hit him—but in a second, Yue grabbed the stick and, with that same stick, struck the tutor once, but with all his strength.
She felt extreme pain in her arms, like her skin was peeled off, and her tears wouldn't stop. Still, when she glared at Han, he was also death-glaring at her from behind Yue.
The tutor ran away in a hurry, and Yue turned toward Han again. He lifted him up and gently laid him on the bed, then sat beside him.
"Your Highness, are you okay? Did that old lady hurt you anywhere else?"
Han grabbed Yue's hand and cried even harder. "She hurt me!"
Saying that, he pulled up his gown and showed Yue his legs.
There were marks from being beaten by the stick, and a few wounds looked like they'd been cut open—blood was oozing out from them.
Seeing that, Yue's blood boiled. How could someone hit a little kid like this?
Yue couldn't help but pull Han into a hug. As he did, Han felt warmth for the first time.
Since he was born, no one has hugged him. No one had comforted him.
He had been alone since childhood. Feeling that, he clenched his fist around Yue's clothes.
"Hic… please hug me a little more," Han whispered, his little voice barely audible.
Yue didn't let him go. He kept hugging him, and after a while, when he finally let go and wiped Han's tears, he started searching the room for medicine.
But he couldn't find anything, so he turned toward the door and was about to step out.
"WAIT!"
Hearing that, Yue glanced back. "Your Highness, I'm just going to grab some ointment for you. Wait a few minutes, okay?"
"No, don't go! Please… she'll come back… what if she comes again when you leave?"
"Don't worry, Your Highness. I'll be back in a minute."
As Yue stepped out of Han's manor, two knights suddenly stepped in front of him.
---
Meanwhile, in the Imperial Palace…
Hao was in the main hall with the ministers present. Just then, the royal tutor rushed inside and fell to her knees in front of Hao, bowing her head.
"Your Majesty, please grant me justice!" she begged.
Hao, sitting on the throne, looked down at her. Darkness filled his hair, and his eyes glowed like a red lunar eclipse.
He wore a black hanfu, sitting there with an imposing presence.
"Royal Tutor, rise and tell me what happened," he said.
Hao also noticed that she was injured—her arm had a cracking sound, and blood was oozing from it.
Seeing that, Hao raised an eyebrow, and the other ministers began to murmur—something to gossip about.
"Your Majesty, that insolent Beastman hit me—with that bastard Prince Han! Please give me justice. You must punish the guilty!"
Hao tapped his fingers on the armrest of his throne as he listened carefully. When she mentioned "Beastman," Hao instantly knew who she was talking about.
Even though he had never seen Yue before, Beastmen were easy to recognize among humans because of their ears and tails.
"Very well. I will go myself to punish those who disrespected the royal family. It doesn't matter if they are my own flesh or not."
Hao left the Imperial Palace and made his way to Prince Han's mansion, which was located in the farthest corner—secluded, so that Han couldn't meet anyone and would stay alone.
Many knights and his personal guards were with hao.
When they reached the entrance of the manor, Hao saw two knights passed out on the ground in front of the gate, and the smell of alcohol was strong in the air.
Hao glanced at one of his guards. Seeing that, a guard stepped forward, knelt down, and checked the breathing of the soldiers.
"It seems they drank too much, Your Majesty. That's probably why they passed out."
But that was wrong. They hadn't passed out from drinking.
It was Yue's strength that overwhelmed them—so much so they couldn't stay standing and ended up unconscious.
That's what they got for trying to harass Yue again. They messed with the wrong person.
Hao walked inside directly, ignoring everything. The door creaked, the walls of the mansion were cracked, and it looked like no one had cleaned the manor in ages.