Pov Anna
The market of the Feng Kingdom had always been loud—vendors shouting prices, children weaving through stalls, the clatter of pots and rolling carts blending into a lively afternoon hum. But that sound vanished the moment Lord Shou Feng stepped onto the main street.
It happened slowly at first.
A vendor recognized him.
Then another.
Then the whispers spread like wind through leaves.
"The Crown Prince…"
"Lord Feng is here…"
"Make space—make space!"
And suddenly the entire market rearranged itself without a word. Stalls shifted, people stepped aside, backs straightened, heads lowered. The noise drained from the air, leaving behind a fragile, stunned quiet.
Anna walked between Shou Feng and his younger step-brother Mong Feng, feeling very much like a decorative vase someone had placed between two very different bookends—one carved from thunder, the other from sunshine.
She leaned slightly toward Mong Feng.
"Does everyone always do… this?" she whispered.
Mong nodded proudly. "Yes. Brother Feng's face reminds them of every mistake they've ever made."
Anna glanced at Shou Feng.
Stoic. Calm. Expression unreadable.
Yes… yes she could see it.
Shou Feng didn't turn, didn't react—yet somehow Anna knew he heard every word.
They passed a vegetable stall.
The vendor looked up, saw Shou Feng, and instantly bent so low Anna feared he'd break something.
"My lord!" the man squeaked.
Anna waved awkwardly. "Oh no, no—don't bow! We're just walking."
The vendor bowed deeper.
Mong Feng whispered, "Good job, Miss Anna. You upgraded his panic."
"Mong," Shou Feng said quietly.
Mong Feng straightened like a soldier. "Yes, elder brother. I will behave."
He did not behave. Mong has this habit of doing opposite of what shou feng says .
The aroma of warm broth drifted through the air, pulling Anna's attention to a small noodle stall tucked beneath a wooden awning. Without a word, Shou Feng stopped. Anna blinked—he was actually letting her eat in peace?
They sat.
Shou Feng with his rigid, composed posture.
Mong across from them, already slurping like he was in a race.
"Anna," Mong said between mouthfuls, "brother Feng used to scare me away from his food when I was little. He'd do this thing with his face—"
Shou Feng lowered his chopsticks.
Mong cleared his throat. "A very heroic face, of course."
Anna nearly snorted into her bowl.
A small body crashed into their table.
Anna looked down.
A tiny boy stood there, trembling, eyes red from crying.
"S..sorry ...I—I can't find my mom…"
"Aww!" Mong Feng sprang up, ready to adopt him on the spot.
Anna knelt instead. "It's okay, we'll help you."
The boy nodded, then accidentally looked up at Shou Feng.
He turned to stone.
Mong whispered, "Brother… softer expression, please. You look like you're deciding his fate."
Shou Feng gave Mong a look strong enough to silence thunderstorms.
The child trembled harder.
Anna quickly took the boy's hand and led him down the street. Shou Feng fell in step beside her, silent but alert, scanning the crowd with sharp eyes. It struck her then—he was not just walking. He was watching. Protecting.
They found the mother soon—a woman shouting her son's name with frantic desperation. She rushed forward and fell to her knees in gratitude the moment she saw who had returned him.
"Please stand," Shou Feng said, uncomfortable with the worship in her eyes.
She stood instantly.
As they resumed walking, Mong Feng suddenly spotted something—
A fluffy white cat.
He gasped like he'd found treasure.
"Kitty! Pshpshpsh"
He crouched, extending a hand.
The cat slapped his fingers, hissed, and fled—straight under Shou Feng.
The Crown Prince, god of destruction, ruler of darkness…
Stumbled.
Just a fraction—barely a shift in balance—but enough for Anna's jaw to drop.
Mong Feng choked.
"A CAT… JUST ATTACKED LORD FENG!"
Shou Feng straightened immediately, posture perfect, face blank, pretending nothing had happened.
He continued walking with the cold dignity of someone who refused to acknowledge a feline had defeated him.
Anna bit her lip.
Failed.
Laughed so loud Mong joined instantly.
Shou Feng exhaled with the long-suffering patience of an elder brother who'd endured Mong Feng his entire life.
"Both of you," he said calmly, "stop."
And yet—Anna saw it.
A tiny twitch at the corner of his mouth.
A flicker of warmth quickly buried.
But real.
For the first time, the market wasn't silent because of fear.
It was silent because people had never seen Lord Feng look almost… human.
The castle came into view just as Shou Feng drifted ahead of them, silent and unreadable as always. Anna watched him move with that calm arrogance he carried everywhere—like gravity itself bowed for him.
Mong Feng walked beside her, humming some tune he clearly invented on the spot.
She decided to bring up something that had been bothering her.
"Um… Mong Feng?" she said softly.
"Hm?"
"Earlier… when we were in the sky, with the dragon… Shou Feng laughed."
Mong stopped so fast she nearly walked into him.
He blinked once. Then twice. Then stared at her like she'd told him Shou Feng had performed a cute dance routine in midair.
"He. Laughed?" Mong whispered.
She nodded, confused. "Yes? Why are you reacting like that?"
"Because my brother doesn't laugh," Mong hissed. "He only has three settings: silence, threats, and 'I will destroy your whole family.' Laughter is not in his system."
"I didn't knew that," she says.
Mong leaned closer, squinting like she had just confessed to seeing a unicorn.
Anna shrugged helplessly. She didn't understand what the big deal was.
Ahead of them, Shou Feng turned slightly. "Come," he said simply, leading her through a corridor.
She followed him—until she noticed something odd.
"Um… this is your room," Mong mouthed silently behind Shou's back.
But Shou turned to her with a straight face and lied, "This is your chamber."
Anna stepped inside without suspicion. The room was large, cold, filled with polished black and silver—absolutely not decorated with anything remotely feminine or welcoming.
He continued calmly, "Rest."
Before she could question anything, he moved with such gentle precision—yes, gentle—that she didn't even realize how she ended up tucked under the blankets of his massive bed. By the time she blinked, Shou Feng was leaving the room, sliding the door closed.
She drifted into sleep, unaware she was wrapped in the sheets of the God of Destruction himself.
Later that night, under the ink-black sky, two brothers sat on the castle roof.
The moonlight reflected off their bottles of alcohol. Mong was already on his third drink and swaying like a tree in a storm. Shou Feng, on the other hand, looked completely unaffected—he could probably drink an entire river and still speak perfectly.
Mong's eyes, however, were locked on his brother. Unblinking. Staring. Observing.
Shou shifted uncomfortably. "What."
Mong pointed at him like he had discovered a scandal. "Explain."
"Explain what?"
"That you have a soft side."
Shou scoffed instantly. "I don't have a soft side."
"Oh really?" Mong crossed his arms. "Then what was that laughing in the sky? Hm? And giving her your room. YOUR room. And she calls you Shou. Shou! Not 'Lord Feng' or 'Prince Feng' or 'Your terrifying darkness.' Just Shou. Like you're a normal human."
Shou's jaw tightened. "I laughed on her. Not with her. She was terrified. It was amusing."
Mong stared.
Shou continued, "I gave her my chamber to protect her. Only a stupid person would dare attack my room."
Mong raised a brow. "Brother… you didn't even let Kiyoshi call you by your name. And that boy literally grew up with you. She's known you for what? Few days?"
Shou took a slow sip. "It's not soft. I'm returning a favor."
"What favor?" Mong asked.
Shou's eyes drifted to the horizon, to the white moon glowing above them. A rare softness—too brief for most to see—touched his gaze.
"She saved me."
His voice was low.
Mong blinked.
"I thought no one would come," Shou continued. "I thought I'd stay in that place forever. But she came. Even though she didn't know who I was. Even though it was dangerous. Even though I was a stranger.I thought i will be stuck in that place for like next thousand years."
His grip tightened around the bottle.
"I killed her lover," he said quietly. "I burned a kingdom that gave her love. She hates me. She has every right."
Mong stayed silent, listening.
"But it's not like I'm in love with her," Shou said quickly, almost too quickly. "I just… have this tiny admiration for her."
Mong slowly raised both eyebrows. "Tiny?"
"Yes."
"Tiny admiration?"
"Yes."
Mong nodded dramatically. "Very interesting."
Shou glared. "Do not start."
"Oh, I'm starting," Mong said cheerfully. "Next thing you know you'll be writing love poems and carving her name on rocks."
"I will throw you off this roof," Shou said.
"That's the spirit!" Mong grinned.
Shou looked away, but Mong saw it—the smallest twitch in the corner of his brother's mouth.
The God of Destruction was smiling.
And that terrified Mong more than any monster ever could.
End of the Chapter .
(Shou feng and mong feng are like sun and moon .)