castle runaway. ᵈᵒⁿᵍʰʸᵘᶜᵏ

FIFTY FOUR

Monique's POV

Shimmer was a fast transportation. It was taking us long so I thought that maybe she was tired or something. I told Haechan about my concern but he said his mentors live a bit too far away and there's no problem with the horse.

We went on like this for I think about an hour now. The path we were also taking was aimless and there is no particular road. "Shimmer knows the way, right?" I asked him while we were passing by Criest Kingdom, Queen Rapunzel and King Flynn's kingdom.

Haechan nodded. I was getting sleepy on our ride and I was hungry. It's lunch already? He chuckled. "You know I can hear your stomach," I lightly groaned and buried my face on his back. "Don't worry, my mentors makes food everyday." He said with a wide smirk.

"We also do. What's the difference?" I rolled my eyes. He just laughed. "Are we there yet?" I asked again. I decided to close my eyes and take a nap for a bit. "About one more kilometer then we are there." I sighed, relieved and frustrated at the same time. "Oh, thank God."

I opened an eye when I felt him grip on my hand and caressing it softly. "Are you that hungry?" I pinched his stomach and he winced. "Yes. Do you have a problem with that?" I heard Elyas bark in front and Haechan exhaled. "Ah, we're here."

I looked to my side and saw a brown house sitting in the middle of the forest. The only thing that was weird is because the chimney was covered with whipped cream and round colored candies.

"Holy moly," I gasped. The door was made of crackers and the windows were from candy canes. In short, the whole house was from favorite snacks and desserts. "I-Is this—"

"Yes. The Gingerbread House. This is where my mentors live." He said. Shimmer paused in front of the place. Elyas hopped off the horse barking happily and ran towards the door.

Haechan went down first before helping me. I laughed at Elyas when he bit off a cracker from below the window. The door of the gingerbread house opened and there came out a woman in her late thirty's.

"Elyas! I told you not to bite off my house, didn't I?" She rubbed his head and looked up at us. "Oh, Haechan! Wow, you have grown!" The woman laughed and went over to hug Haechan. "Of course, I did. How are you and Hansel?" They patted each other's backs.

My eye twitched. Did he just say 'Hansel'? Then I'm guessing the girl could either be his wife or..

I was cut off from my thoughts when the woman approached me with a polite smile on her lips. I smiled back. "Hello. I'm Monique, Haechan's friend." I said and held out my hand. She shook it and smirked. "Friend? Are you sure she is not—"

Haechan groaned. "Yes, she's just a friend." She laughed and looked at me again. Her eyes were comforting and somewhat familiar. "Nice to meet you, Monique. I'm Gretel, one of Haechan's mentors and a witch slayer."

"Haechan!" Gretel and I looked back and saw Hansel giving Haechan a big bear hug. "Ugh, you smell!" The younger complained and tried to push the other away. Hansel laughed and pulled away and Haechan was finally able to breathe.

The two of us girls started to walk towards them. Haechan glanced at me and pulled me next to him. "Oh, Hansel, this is Monique, my friend." He said. I waved a hand and smiled. "It's nice to meet you, sir."

"Please, just call me Hansel or Hans. I'm Haechan's mentor, by the way. His real mentor. Not the other shadow — ow!" Gretel hit his head and just grinned, annoyed because of what her brother said. "Don't mind this immature beast here," She paused.

I lightly gasped when Gretel took a candy cane from the window. "Would you like some?" I took an inch from the cane and bit it. "This is delicious." I exclaimed. "Yes, but don not eat too much of it. The sugar rush is crazy. You should probably get inside." The two siblings made way for us and we strided in.