"What's going on here?"
Lisa's father snapped his head at his back, and immediately recognized the young man who had interrupted his conversation with the guards.
The guards stood up straight, holding their spears firmly on their sides as one of them explained the situation, "This old man said that he needed to talk with the prince. He also mentioned that he was the father of the girl that Prince Jungkook was looking for."
Jimin directed his gaze at Marco, squinting his eyes a little bit. It didn't take long for him to recognize the old man. His expression immediately went soft as he lightly bowed his head, as a greeting to Marco.
"Mr. Manoban, what are you doing here? What do you need to talk about with Your Highness?"
Marco felt really glad that the prince's right hand recognized him because if he didn't, he was sure that he wouldn't be able to talk with the prince.
"It was about the beast that took my daughter away. I learned something very important that would let us beat her."
Jimin's eyes widened at the news. He wanted to ask more questions regarding that but he knew that they weren't in the right place to do that. "Follow me, I'll take you to the prince."
Just as Jimin instructed, Marco silently followed him while roaming his eyes inside the humongous palace.
Marco's heart was beating so fast in nervousness and excitement. His hands were clammy and his knees were slightly trembling. He keeps taking deep breaths to calm himself as well as rubbing his palms on his clothes to get rid of the sweat.
He can't wait to see the prince.
He can't wait to spill everything on him.
He can't wait to save his daughter.
He can't wait for his family to be whole again.
Jimin stopped in front of a humongous wooden door and knocked on it.
"Your Highness, this is Jimin. I have arrived." Jimin announced. After a few seconds, the prince responded, asking Jimin to come inside the room.
Jimin motioned for Marco to follow him but the moment they stepped their feet inside the room, he gestured for him to stay just behind the door and wait for his signals before he made his appearance.
Jimin continued walking, searching for his Lord. When he finally found him, he knelt on one of his knees and lowered his head even though the prince had his back on him.
"Your Highness, I just got back from searching all over the forests you asked us to search for Lisa, but we're very sorry to inform you that we still failed to see her or the beast."
Prince Jungkook let out a long sigh before he faced Jimin with his hands on his waist.
How long has it been since he last saw Lisa?
More than a year had already passed but they still couldn't find at least one clue about Lisa's whereabouts.
He's getting impatient and worried with every passing day. Who knows what that beast could do to his woman? He had sworn that if something bad happened to Lisa, he would chase that beast down to hell.
"But there's someone who wants to talk to you about that beast. He claimed that he knows how we are going to defeat that beast." Jimin said, still having his head low and kneeling with one of his knees.
Jimin looked back at Mr. manoban, signaling him that he should come out already to meet the prince.
Prince Jungkook furrowed his brows as he directed his gaze at the person who had just emerged onto the scene.
Just like Jimin, Lisa's father fell to his knees. "Forgive me for bothering you, Your Highness, but like what your right hand said, I learned how we are going to defeat the beast."
"Mr. Manoban? H-How come?" Jungkook asked, confused. He'd been doing everything he could to find the beast, to gather any information about her, but he had never gained anything.
Now here is Lisa's father, claiming to know how they would defeat the beast that they barely have any information about.
Mr. Manoban understood where the prince's confusion was coming from and for the prince to believe him and understand how he gained that information, he should explain everything that happened, starting from when Lisa visited him before his birthday ends until today.
The Prince's knees buckled, leading his butt to fall onto his chair, when Mr. manoban finally finished his story.
Jimin, of course, hurried to his side and made sure that the Prince wasn't hurt.
"I'm so sorry for saying everything just now. I was so scared that the person that was keeping an eye on me would suspect me and then inform the beast. I was so worried that they would do something terrible to my daughter."
Jungkook stood up from his chair and approached Lisa's father. He bent down to tap his shoulder, which made the old man look up at him. He gave him a smile and motioned for him to get on his feet before he straightened his body again.
"It was fine, Mr. Manoban. You did the right thing. Now, leave everything to me."
After 1 year of being in a dark corner, Jungkook just saw a light shine upon him, giving him hope that sooner or later he would see and be with Lisa again.
One week after that talk, Mr. Manoban received a letter from the prince. It was sent anonymously, but based on the construction and the content of the letter, he was sure that it was from the prince.
In the letter, he said that they were now devising a plan on how they would rescue Lisa. They were leaving the search for the beast's place to Mr.Manoban since he's been there before.
Normally, if only he knew exactly where it was, he wouldn't hesitate in giving it away. But when they brought them to the beast's place, they were unconscious. And when they send them back Marco's eyes widened when he recalled what happened when the beasts' servant sent them back.
They weren't unconscious.
The beast's servants just tied something to their eyes so they wouldn't see where they were.
He was conscious all that time, trying to pinpoint their location based on his other senses. He heard water streams, chirping sounds of birds that he had never heard before, and the deep grassy smell of the trees and grasses around them.
He can start looking for them at the location close to where the beast found him and his wife 20 years ago. He wasn't sure if he could find them based on what his other senses had observed, but it was worth trying.
He would do it for his daughter Lalisa, for his whole family.
Betrayal
Start from the beginning
