Beauty and Beast [boyxboy]

08 You must leave!

~A week later:

"Xiao Zhan, don't be stubborn! In order to have my whole mind focused on the kingdom problems I need to know that you are in no danger!
Didn't you see that they tried to kill you? Imagine if they would manage to kidnap you, then to blackmail me! I would be useless for my kingdom's safety, because the father would make decisions, before the king.
They almost killed Peony's lord Liu Haikuan, thank god that he recovered very fast and was able to travel back home, two days ago. Poor man, he must love his dog dearly, he even insisted to sleep with his injured dog in his room, even though he was not in a better state than his dog.
Anyway, you must leave urgently, even today if possible!"

"But why, father?
Everyone keeps calling me Beauty! I don't want to be like a beautiful, but useless ornament from The Rose's showcase, I want to fight, too, for my country!", Xiao Zhan protested at his father's request.

"My ZhanZhan, understand that this is not the right time to get rebellious, these are very dangerous times! The kingdom would lose not only the land, but its whole meaning, maybe even its identity, if gods forbid, the king would be annihilated along with his unique heir.
I don't want to be dramatic or to scare you, but anything can happen in life, even an unfortunate event like a king being assassinated by villains hungry for power and wealth.
And what would be The Rose's fate if the king's son wouldn't be alive to save the kingdom and to avenge the king's death?
The Rose and its people need you safe, your king needs you, your father needs you!
Besides, King Xiao is ordering, and the subject Xiao Zhan must obey!"

Beauty kowtowed before the king:
"I'm sorry father, I will obey my king, of course!
But can I ask you a few questions?
Can I take ChangChang with me?
And where I must leave and for how long?"

King Xiao grabbed his son by his shoulders and hugged him tightly:
"Of course that lord Wang ZhuoCheng will accompany you, I put my whole trust in him to take care of you.
You will be away from the country until the last scamp will be disclosed and punished. But before that, all the crimes must be proved with strong evidence. Yes, we know who they are, but our secret service needs to work for some time more to gather all the evidence needed for their trial.
That should take a few months, probably.
I will call you back when everything will get back to our usual stable, peaceful, happy Rose country.
Now about the place where you will go.
These last few days I was in permanent contact with a few countries' ambassadors who were always friendly to our Rose.
I will present to you all the offers and you will be the one to choose.
If you ask me, I think that the offer coming from The Dahlia kingdom would be the first to be taken into account.
The Dahlia princess is young and beautiful, she loves animals the same as you do, and she..."

"Wait, wait!
Father, what are you talking about?
What does a princess have to do with me going into exile?", Beauty shouted, getting increasingly agitated and panicked.