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He was a one of the royal couriers, and he was currently disrupting an unexciting meeting between the emperor and the empire\'s council members.

The rows of arguing men lining either side of the room fell silent in curiosity as the courier fell to his knees before the emperor.

"I have urgent news!" the man exclaimed, slamming his head into the ground in a much too exaggerated bow.

"Very well," Calix sighed, pressing his fingers into his forehead. "Tell me what the news is."

For some reason, meetings with the council felt even more frustrating than usual lately. In the beginning of his reign, everyone had bent willingly to his every whim. Now that the shock of a terrifying new emperor had worn off, however, leech-like councilmen had brought his plans to a screeching halt with their irritating political stalemate.

"There\'s a messenger from Mevani here to see you!" the courier declared, immediately sending intrigued whispers through the council members.

Calix grinned, tossing the useless meeting itinerary to the ground. "That sounds like a nice change of pace. Send them in."

At the courier\'s ascent, the audience hall doors swung open, revealing the messenger in question.

"Mevani sent.. a child?" Calix scoffed to himself as the Mevanian boy confidently strode toward the throne.

"Need I remind you, Sire," Ira, who was currently busy gathering the emperor\'s discarded documents, hissed, "you were around that age when you took over an entire empire."

"Hmph," Calix shrugged, turning his attention back to the boy.

He looked to be around eighteen or nineteen years old with shoulder-length brown hair and fierce green eyes. His broad shoulders and thick arms made it clear he was no ordinary messenger. Whichever weapon the boy was used to welding, there was no doubt he was highly skilled with it.

"Your Majesty," the boy bowed politely in front of Calix.

"Speak," Calix ordered sternly.

"My name is Dashien from Mevani, and I\'ve come to make a deal," the boy cut to the chase, boldly raising his head.

"I only make deals with those who have something to offer me," Calix replied coldly, shooing the boy away. "You may leave the way you came."

"If I may be so bold, Sire," Dashien continued, unfazed by the emperor\'s icy words, "I believe I can offer you something of value, after all."

"Tell me what it is you have to offer," Calix conceded disinterestedly. "I\'ll be the one to decide."

Dashien smiled irksomely. "A golden-haired beauty and bargaining chip against the king of Mevani."

Calix\'s ears pricked.

"A golden-haired beauty, you say?"

"That\'s correct," Dashien nodded. "Princess Adriell is known across the continent for her magnificent hair and unparalleled looks."

"... Princess Adriell." Calix suddenly became disappointed. "Why is it that you think I\'d want her in the first place?"

"She will be your key to Mevani," Dashien responded immediately. "And Pandreia and Vitocia will fall soon afterward."

Calix sighed. Mevani would have done much better to send a decent actor. The boy in front of him might as well be reading directly from his script. Just what was the old king playing at?

"Well, let\'s say I do want her," Calix mused. "How can I be sure this isn\'t just some trick?"

"You will be able to verify for yourself when you see the princess," Dashien recited. "She is the only woman on the continent with golden hair."

"The only one?" Calix growled.

No. She wasn\'t the only one.

Shortly after taking the throne, Calix had probed Itzae about the supposed heir he\'d found in Mevani and, in doing so, discovered there were two golden-haired girls there.

Princess Adriell, beautiful, well-spoken and most definitely not Halrad\'s heir.

Then another, an orphan that had been picked up by Itzae just as Calix had been.

\'Seeing as she isn\'t the princess, what is stopping you from bringing her to me?\' Calix had questioned his teacher.

\'Ha! You think I\'d let my beautiful Keliyah be raised by the likes of you and your two friends?\' Itzae retorted.

\'You are aware you\'re speaking to the emperor right now, correct?\' Calix rolled his eyes.

\'Emperor or not, you\'re still a wolf, and I won\'t send that adorable girl to be eaten by you!\' Itzae insisted.

Calix had been dumbfounded at the man\'s sharp words. He sounded like an overprotective father warding off a troublemaker trying to woo his daughter.

\'Teacher,\' the young emperor sighed, \'Sometimes I have to wonder what you actually think of me.\'

Eventually, left with only a name and instructions to retrieve the girl when he could prove himself (whatever that meant), Calix was left to his own devices. Itzae disappeared, giving his pupil nothing more than an old leather book with the tiniest bit of information about the heir he\'d found in Mevani.

Itzae had never told Calix, but the reason he refused so adamantly to tear Keliyah away from her home, the reason he, himself, spent so much time in Mevani, was because of another child.

When he\'d discovered the golden-haired girl on the streets, she wasn\'t alone. The young boy who fiercely defended her and took care of her moved the old man\'s heart so much that he couldn\'t bear to leave the boy behind.

So, he ended up posing as the boy\'s uncle and using his hard-earned reputation in the Mevani palace to secure stable positions for both children.

The boy he\'d rescued alongside the girl was nothing special. He was strong and skilled, but was related in no way to dragons or the continent\'s destiny.

Still, Itzae loved him as his own and joyfully watched him grow as the perfect protector for Halrad\'s heir, the wild blonde girl with fiery eyes.

Strangely enough, the only two men left on the continent who knew the wild blonde girl\'s identity were facing each other now, completely unaware of the other\'s knowledge.

"The only one?" Calix repeated angrily.. "I know for fact there is another. The princess\'s body double also has golden hair, correct?"