Zhang Zitao sighed as he put down his book, standing up and crossing his arms. He glanced out the window, watching as the snow fell to the ground. It was late in the day, almost sunset. He was getting very bored, and maybe even a little hungry.
Zitao was the prince of the Elven Kingdom. He had long, dark hair that was currently tied back with a red ribbon. He wore a headband made of purple roses, a mark of royalty in the Mi Region. His bedroom had high ceilings and was decorated with lavish furniture of navy blue and lavender colors. It was a comfortable room for the young prince.
"Hey! Give that back to me!" a voice cried out, causing him to turn and find two teens rushing into his room. One boy twirling something between his fingers, letting out a soft laugh as the other boy tried reaching for it. This boy was tall, about 180 centimeters, and he had short dark brown hair. He had a mischievous look in his eyes. This was He Yuming, but he preferred to be called *Jean.
"Is this your guy's playground or something?" Zitao asked with raised eyebrows, staring at the two of them. He was a little annoyed that the two of them were wearing casual black robes. They should have been wearing their royal lavender robes his mother provided them with. "I was reading, you know. It's very rude to interrupt."
"You are not reading," Jean said, stopping the twirling action and looking at the thing in his hands. "You are clearly standing and staring out the window."
"He Yuming–"
"Jean," Jean corrected, tossing the item towards the boy that had entered behind him. It was a golden pen. This other boy was named Ding Jiaxiang, but he preferred to be called Max. He was shorter, about 170 centimeters tall. He had pink hair, something he thought would be cool and extremely comical.
"It's Jean!" Jean continued on his rant. "Call me Jean! How many times do I have to tell you?"
"Excuse me?" the young prince asked, raising his eyebrows.
"You heard me," Jean said, plopping down on Zitao's bed. Max brushed his pink hair out of his eyes, glaring at his friend before also joining him on the bed. "What put you in such a bad mood, Maxxy?"
"You are absolutely ridiculous," the pink haired boy, said. "He's absolutely frustrating, Levi!" Levi was the dumb name they gave to Zitao. Zitao hated it.
"Why do you guys have these weird obsessions with these names?" Zitao asked, rolling his eyes. Max and Jean were Zitao's childhood friends, but also the two servants assigned to him. They came to him shortly after his father passed away, taking care of him the last eight years.
"We always have to have code names. Duh," Jean said, rolling his eyes. "If we ever leave the Mi region, people won't be able to figure out who we are! It keeps us mysterious!"
"Yuming, you are really dumb," Zitao said, looking back out the window. He loved his friends very dearly, but they irritated him sometimes. "Did anyone return from the search mission yet?"
Eight years ago, the Elven Kingdom was attacked when the Aoki Devil started reeking havoc on Meixia. During that time, he killed Zitao's father and Zitao's twin sister, Ziting, went missing. Since that night, Zitao's mother has sent out search parties every other month, searching the whole of Meixia far and wide. They weren't going to give up until they knew Ziting was home safe and sound. Because they knew her body had never been retrieved, they also knew she still had to be alive. And they were going to stop at nothing to find her.
"Yes, but they found nothing," Jean said. Zitao's expression grew complicated with those words.
"Then we need to go find her ourselves," Zitao finally decided, turning to look for his travel bag. "I am sick and tired of them constantly coming back with absolutely no news. We need to find her and we need to find her now!"
"Levi, it's not safe," Max said with a small frown, leaning forward on the bed and resting his head in his hands.
"We've all trained in cultivation, have we not?" Zitao asked, glancing at him. "And because of my Elven heritage, it makes me an even stronger cultivator! Of course it's safe!"
Zitao's mother was a half human cultivator, and half demon. She raised Zitao in cultivation practices, making sure he was ready for anything that came his way. After the raid on the Elven Kingdom eight years ago, the queen didn't want to take any chances. Zitao proved to be an extremely strong cultivator and spent every single day training and growing stronger and stronger.
"Of course you have the means to protect yourself," Jean said, picking at some lint on Zitao's bed. Zitao and Max stared at him as he did so. "But Max is right, it's really not safe."
"I've been on plenty of night hunts and I have survived, have I not?" Zitao asked, causing his friends to exchange looks before nodding their heads. "We can always bring Mingshu and Xiao."
"Like your mother would allow you to go anywhere without them, anyway," Jean spoke up. "You won't even be able to protect yourself without your most precious bodyguards."
"I mean I would be able to," Zitao said, shaking his head and going back to dragging out his bag. He started going through his wardrobe to find his best clothes for travel.
"Be able to what?" a new voice asked, causing the group to look up. The only Elven friend of Zitao's stood in the doorway with his arms crossed. He tilted his head to the side in curiosity, awaiting an answer.
"Zemin ge," Zitao said, bowing his head slightly but not stopping in his packing frenzy. Zemin was practically family to him. He was the oldest son of Zitao's father's cousin's husband. So naturally, Zemin spent his life making sure to take care of Zitao, alongside Jean and Max. Zitao always called him his cousin if he introduced him to anyone.
"We're going on a search mission for the young princess," Jean stated. Zemin stared at them with a questioning look, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. His bangs were just a little bit too long, but he refused to cut them.
"You are, huh?" Zemin asked. Zitao glared at Jean and punched his arm. The latter let out a soft whine, rubbing the spot where the prince hit him.
"I want to find my sister," Zitao said, finding the robes he wanted and stuffing them in his bag. "And I'm tired of no one bringing me any news on what's happening!"
"Did your mother give you permission?" Zemin asked with raised eyebrows, walking over to his cousin. He had no intention of stopping Zitao, he just wanted to understand his decision.
"She doesn't know, and she doesn't need to know," Zitao told him. Zemin frowned at this and shook his head. He glanced at Max and Jean, who was watching them as if they were watching a dramatic play. "You had better not tell her, either! I swear to god, Ge!"
"Zitao," Zemin said with a deep sigh, reaching over and messing with the younger boy's hair. "This is really not a good idea. You know that, right?"
"And it's really not a good idea to leave my sister all on her own out there," Zitao said said in response, pushing Zemin's hand away. Zemin looked between the three boys before slowly nodding his head.
"Fine, I'll go with you," Zemin said, seemingly making up his mind. "But I am not talking to Xiao and Mingshu for you guys. That's all on you."
"Why are you guys always so scared of them?" Max asked, looking back and forth between them with a look of confusion. "They're super cool!"
Jean laughed and nodded his head in agreement. The two bodyguards of Zitao's were actually extremely friendly, soft looking guys. They did everything to help out and protect the prince. Mingshu was a little more head strong, but he was soft spoken. They were also the Kingdom's strongest cultivators, so this is why they were chosen to be Zitao's bodyguards.
Zitao let out a hum as a response, not really interested in this conversation anymore. He finished packing his bag, placing it to the side and making sure he had a sleeping bag with him. Not that he would really use it much, but it was always good to have. He looked at his three friends with raised eyebrows.
"Well? Go get ready! All of you!" Zitao cried, waving them away. The three of them made their way towards the door at these words. "And tell the two of them to pack their bags as well. We leave at nightfall."