Koji Fights The World - Chapter 8 Dinner With The Royal Family

Before the dinner banquet, Zelea and Koji rested in separate rooms. Koji was surprised when Head Servant Hu insisted on guiding him to a different place than where his wife was staying. After all, newlyweds usually preferred to spend as much time together as possible so that their transition into a married life will be smoother. He chalked it up to a peculiarity of the Royal Family.

Not surprisingly, the theme of Koji’s room was red. His guest room consisted of a soft bed with red satin sheets, a dozen pillows of various sizes and firmness, a writing desk and chair, and a lantern. Red paper lined the walls. Koji felt the Yang Qi of the guards outside his room, and he briefly wondered if he was a prisoner.

Koji sat cross-legged on the bed and began to cultivate. He pushed his Yang Qi to circulate through his three dantians for refinement into Qi Stones. Unfortunately, the seals placed on his dantians made this task extremely slow. Frankly, Koji was upset by what Zelea had done to him.

When people ambushed him and Zelea on Wuu Men Street, Koji wasn’t confident that he could defeat the opponents with his lessened strength. He was fortunate that the servant of Daethix hired amateurs to kidnap Koji. If an expert fought Koji instead, then he would have lost the fight.

If the seals lessen over time, then they should weaken sooner with frequent cultivation of his Qi. Thus, Koji resolved to spend all his free time cultivating until his seals broke apart. While he prefers to spend time practicing his martial arts, the restoration of his dantians was Koji’s top priority.

While his Qi circulated, Koji felt a strangeness in his body. His Qi was no longer purely Yang Qi because Zelea had inserted her Ying Qi directly into his Lower Dantian. However, he could not refine her Qi. Thus, the Ying Qi flowed through the meridians of his body. Koji once heard of a dual-cultivation technique to process both types of Qi. He would have to ask Zelea about it shortly.

Koji pushed the thoughts from his mind and focused entirely on cultivating his Yang Qi. The time passed until a servant shook his arm gently and broke his concentration.

“Sir, it’s time for the dinner banquet,” the girl said. The servant worried that the Prince Consort would yell at her for entering his room without permission. However, he didn’t answer the door no matter how persistent she knocked. Thus, the girl came without permission to take him to the banquet hall.

Koji rolled off the bed, smoothed his clothes and followed the servant out of his room. He rejoined Zelea in the hallway.

“About time you showed up,” she groused.

Koji couldn’t help but stare at Zelea. Her red dress had gold trimmings; its tightness revealed her slender, feminine figure. The middle of her dress had a black silhouette of an arrow over an orange-red sun. She wore a jade necklace which drew attention to her small breasts. The servants braided her hair, and the hairstyle made Zelea look like a new person. Interestingly, she chose to keep her lamia form.

Suddenly, Zelea whacked his arm. “Stop gawking,” she complained while blushing.

“Sorry,” Koji apologized. “I was stunned by your beauty.” He rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment.

The servants giggled at the awkward exchange. However, they immediately stopped when Servant Hu’s harsh glare landed on them.

The head servant approached and bowed to the princess. “Please follow me.” The older woman walked in a dignified manner with a straight back.

Koji tried to imitate her posture but failed miserably.

Zelea sighed softly and suddenly grabbed his left arm. She slithered across the path and made her husband adopt her pace.

The guards stood attentively as the trio passed through. Soon, they arrived at another building. Music drifted from the open door.

Head Servant Hu entered the banquet hall and announced in a loud voice, “Fourth Princess Zelea and her Prince Consort!”

Koji saw a long table with a dozen seats on each side and one on each end. To his surprise, King Aphraphus did NOT take the position at the end. Instead, he sat to the right. Next to him were two half-Asian looking young men followed by Princess Daethix.

“Welcome!” the king said and rose to his feet. With a right arm, he gestured at the empty chairs on the left side of the table. “Please have a seat,” he said jovially.

As the couple followed the head servant, Koji glanced over at the musician. Although the Asian woman was middle-aged, she was stunning with shiny black hair and stable but nimble fingers which plugged the strings of the Chinese zither without pause. Also, Koji saw the coiled body of a snake on the ground with the colors of the rainbow on her snakeskin. He realized that the musician was Queen Herecia!

As Koji sat in the second seat from the left, he kept glancing at Daethix to compare the daughter and her mother. The curious young man noted the strong resemblance between the two.

King Aphraphus laughed boisterously at Koji’s antics. “So you noticed our two beautiful flowers, eh kid?”

Zelea elbowed Koji’s ribs. “Stop embarrassing me!” she hissed in warning.

Koji rubbed his bruised ribcage. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“You better keep an eye on him, Zelea. That husband of yours possesses a wandering eye,” her father warned jokingly and laughed again. “You must be thirsty! Drink up!” he urged and raised a shot glass.

Koji took his cup and reached across the table. The two glasses clinked, spilling some foul-smelling liquor on the table and creating dark stains on the red tablecloth.

King Aphraphus took the glass to his lips and downed the liquid in one gulp.

Koji copied the man, but he started coughing as he felt a burning sensation down his throat!

The king laughed and pounded on the table.

“Stop teasing your new son-in-law, dear,” a feminine voice scolded him.

Aphraphus immediately stopped laughing. He had a pale expression on his face. “Yes, honey,” he nodded meekly.

Zelea patted Koji’s back for a minute until he stopped coughing. “Here, drink this,” she ordered.

Her husband took a sip of cold water and drank until he emptied the cup. The discomfort in his throat soon lessened. “Thank you,” Koji said in a low voice.

“Dear, not everyone is a heavy drinker like you,” Queen Herecia admonished her husband. While everyone was preoccupied with Koji’s distress, she claimed her rightful seat at the head of the table.

Koji lowered his eyes to stare at the table before him. His face turned red with embarrassment.

King Aphraphus was disappointed to learn that the newest member of his royal family wasn’t a social drinker. Nonetheless, he smiled broadly at Koji and clapped his hands.

A long line of servants entered the banquet hall carrying trays of traditional Northern Chinese cuisine such as pickled cabbage, stuffed eggplants, meat buns, pork and chive dumplings, pork with cellophane noodles, and steamed trout with ginger and onion. But the most astounding dish offered was bear paw stew!

“Don’t hesitate! Take whatever you want,” the king urged.

Koji nodded and took a bun and a few dumplings, plus the cellophane noodles. When King Aphraphus tried to give him a bear paw, Koji immediately declined by putting a hand over his plate!

“It’s wonderful for your growing body!” King Aphraphus said with a disappointed look.

“It’s quite all right,” the guest declined politely.

The king placed the paw on Prince Heretrios’ plate, and the young man, who appeared to be in his mid-twenties, frowned. However, the harsh glare of the father gave Heretrios no choice but to eat it.

Koji looked across the table and gave the prince an apologetic look.

The royal family ate in silence until the plates emptied.

Queen Herecia cleared her throat to draw everyone’s attention; she held up her cup to make a toast. “I congratulate my daughter Zelea’s union with her Bonder, and may your marriage be a long and happy one,” she said.

Everyone leaned forward to clink their cups and drank.

Princess Daethix raised her hand to draw attention to herself. “I wish to bond with Koji as well,” she announced.

“WHAT!” the king muttered with wide eyes before he regained control of his emotions. He was surprised at the notion of two princesses, including a successor to the throne, marrying the same Bonder! This situation was unheard of in the history of the Nephosian Kingdom!

Queen Herecia turned to face the future queen. “Why Koji?” she asked in a calm tone of voice. Her eyes danced with curiosity because Daethix was willful as a child, and always declined proposals from mighty warriors and influential families in the four kingdoms. And because Daethix will be the next Queen, the mother did not force her daughter into a political marriage without Daethix’ consent, or else her daughter will kill the poor young man.

Princess Daethix smiled sweetly and said: “10,000 Power and 5,000 Qi.”

The eyes of Koji and Zelea bulged. How did Daethix learn of Koji’s secret statistics? “Mazea,” the couple said in unison.

Zelea was visibly upset at the old healer’s betrayal.

Daethix raised a hand to forestall her sister’s anger. “I coerced Mazea to tell me of Koji’s confidential information. She also admitted to placing a seal on his dantians,” Daethix explained.

SLAM! King Aphraphus pounded his fist on the table in anger. “Outrageous!” he roared. “I will personally lead my men to raze Wuu Men Street!” He jumped out of his seat.

However, Queen Herecia intervened and used her Telekinesis to force him to sit down. “Stay,” she said quietly. However, the queen’s powerful Will backed her command, and Aphraphus couldn’t fight back. She smiled at Zelea and said, “Please explain why you sealed your Bonder’s dantians and crippled him.”

“I was afraid that once people learned Koji is a prodigy, they would kill me and steal my Bonder,” Zelea admitted with tears forming in her eyes. Her spirit severely deflated because her attempt to hide the truth about Koji failed. Now, the couple’s lives were at risk!

“If I bond with Koji, then no one would dare to steal him from the two of us,” Daethix pointed out.

Her father shook his head ruefully. “Little flower, you’re missing the most important issue, which is whether Koji is qualified to be your Bonder and the Royal Consort.”

Daethix giggled. “Dad, Koji is a fighting maniac. After I turned him into a villain in the eyes of the public, Koji slew almost everyone in the arena by himself in a 15-to-1 fight, and he came out on top without injury. When I learned from Mazea how outstanding his Power and Qi are, I decided that Koji was the most suitable man to become my Bonder,” she concluded.

“Winning a 15-to-1 fight, eh?” King Aphraphus said with a look of admiration at Koji. He was surprised that Daethix convinced the other newcomers to gang up on Koji–and lost! The king cursed inwardly for missing this fight! He nodded in approval. “Daethix, you have my permission to marry Koji.” He turned toward his wife to seek her opinion on this important matter.

“I will test Koji before I grant permission,” Queen Herecia replied. She turned toward Koji. “Will you accept my test?”

The young man looked around the table and scanned the faces. Everyone wanted him to accept the challenge. Koji realized that he would lose a considerable amount of face if he declined the opportunity to become the future queen’s Bonder. And everyone would see him as a coward. Koji winced inwardly at the realization that the Royal Family had backed him into a corner. “Yes,” he answered with a deep bow to the queen.

Herecia smiled sweetly like a predator eyeing her prey. “Very well. I will summon you when I’m ready to conduct the test.”