WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A BIRD THAT HAS BEEN CAGED THEIR WHOLE LIFE IS TEMPORARILY FREED FROM ITS RESTRAINTS?
It seizes the opportunity without hesitation of course, quickly spreads its wings and doesn't look back before hurtling into the infinite skies above.
In the case of the Royal Princes, they were too overwhelmed with their sudden freedom to even decide what to do with it.
Sunghoon and Jaeyun, quite similar to Jihye, had always been told what to do, how to do it, and when to do everything. From birth, it was as if they never had the opportunity to think for themselves when it came to any matter of their lives. Constantly reminded of what should be expected of them, a perfect image to their subjects that should never be tainted in the public eye. They were more of a stringed marionette than actual free-willed humans.
But as for Heeseung, he hadn't even realized how restricted his entire life had been until now. Days schedule to the very last hour, monitored by guards 24/7, and decisions made for him by others.
Of course, he would have never complained over the fact if he had realized sooner. There was a reason behind it all, he justifies. It's simply a protection that came at the cost of some of his freedom, a sensible price Heesung was willing to pay if it meant he lived a long life.
Nonetheless, now that Jihye has given him a small taste of what it's like to act on his own accord without the need of living up to the expectations of Royalty- he wanted more.
The rush, although nauseating at first, of defying rules at the risk of being caught, pumped through his veins in a way that made him feel indomitable. It made him feel if he wasn't so hopeless.
"He looks like he's having fun." Jungwon points out with a hint of taunt, referring to the intimidating Dragon that continued to play around in the water as if it wasn't such a large creature. Heeseung had to agree. Niki looked nowhere near menacing as he did when he first transformed, harmless even if it weren't the sharp talons and spiked tail.
"It's going to be a long descent to where Niki is." Jihye mentions from beside Sunoo, grabbing everyone's attention. She lifts up her hands, preparing herself to cast another spell in their aid. "I can open up another portal to get us down there to make it easier on us."
"We can just climb down. You shouldn't overwork your body by casting multiple spells under an hour." Jaeyun replies, a considerate look on his face as he skimmed hers. Although his gaze was nowhere near profound, Jihye still felt a warmth bubbling in her stomach at his consideration. "Besides, hiking wouldn't do us any harm."
Jongseong groans in disagreement. "That's easy for you to say. My boots weren't made for such laborious activities."
Jihye's eyes flickered to his footwear with a suppressed snicker and surely enough he was wearing a gorgeous pair of brown boots that were usually used for banquets.
"Jihye specifically told you beforehand to wear clothes and shoes that are adequate for tonight." Sunghoon imparts with a deep exhale of disappointment. "You wanted to wear those boots, now you're going to have to put up with it."
"I didn't even know I put these ones on until we got here." Jongseong denotes in his defense though he had no one to blame but himself for both agreeing to come and wearing inadequate footwear by accident.
Jihye turns her body towards the frowning Magian. "Jongseong, if you don't want to hike down to the lake I can easily open up a-"
"No, I'm fine." He rejects, bending down to tighten the laces at the back of his boots for the hike. Sure they had one heart-to-heart in that castle's turret, still had only been a small conversation. But he didn't feel comfortable enough to accept such an offer. "I can handle it. This is nothing."
"Alrighty then." Jihye shrugs with a mischievous tenor to her voice. She notices a trail that could possibly lead towards the lake below so she begins walking backwards slowly with her hands tucked behind her back. "Last one to arrive by the lake will get eaten by a Night Howler." She wiggles her brows at them. Ignoring their mortification, or simply unbothered by it, Jihye turns around and begins skipping her way down the path towards the lower ground.
"She's kidding, right?" Jungwon tumbles out, casting an unsure glance at the only other East Kingdom native for reassurance. "There can't be any Night Howlers out here."
"If you don't want to find that out then I suggest you don't get yourself separated from the rest of the group." Sunoo quipped low enough for it to not reach Jihye's ears, otherwise she'd surely chew him out in front of everyone for saying such cryptic things. But oh how he loved watching Jungwon's reaction, his Adam's apple bobbing and his shoulders tensing in fear. With a quick chuckle, he walks after Jihye.
Taking Sunoo's words to the heart, Jungwon quickly jogs down, lulling the rest to do the same as well.
Jongseong sighs out, taking a step to follow after Sunghoon but instead of the sole of his boot coming in contact with a rough surface, he's met with the sinking sensation of mud. "Great..." He mumbles under his breath, his mood falling drastically. Shaking off his boot, he trudged to Sunghoon's side, realizing just how much muddied dirt was on the ground,
He spots Jihye way in front of them and for a second his visage contorts into an expression of disbelief. "How is she all the way over there already?" Jongseong mumbles for Sunghoon to hear.
"Because she's not complaining under her breath like you are..." Sunghoon refutes before his voice trails off. Eyes fixating on the darkened landscape below them, Jongseong's lips curl in a frown.
"I see you're starting to get your attitude back. I was starting to wonder where it went." Comes Jongseong's cheeky reply.
"I don't have an attitude." Sunghoon backfires.
Only then did Jongseong crane his head, his lips curling up and his eyes narrowing at his cousin. "Please, you get all fussy when-" His comeback dies on his tongue as Jihye's shocked yelp cuts through the air.
"Are you okay?" Synchronously, Heeseung and Sunoo call out at the same time, causing them to turn to each other in comedic surprise. Jongseong and Sunghoon search for what had caused her distress, expecting some type of beast or creature to be looming behind a tree. But upon seeing that it was only her boot was stuck in sunken mud, their shoulders slumped in relaxation.
"I only slipped, I didn't tumble to my death. There's no need to sound so concerned." Jihye responds, waving her hand dismissively while looking at her damaged boots. She lifts up her foot and shakes off the mud as best she could, an annoyed sigh escaping her throat.
"It's a bit dark down this path. I can't see all the rocks on the ground." Jihye murmurs, her hand reaching to hold onto Sunoo who now stood right by her side. He lets himself be used as a support as Jihye continues to shake her boots clean. Albeit, her actions do very little to be effective. Especially considering how deeply her foot had slipped, completely over her ankle.
"Or the filthy mud." Jongseong remarked with a frown. He had long given up calculating his steps to best avoid getting his boots dirty, stopping after the sixth time he stepped into a puddle of wet dirt. At least they weren't his favorite pair.
Out of the blue, Sunghoon speaks up. "Heeseung, why don't you cast an illumination spell for us to be able to see the path?"
Jihye subtly looks in the peripheral of her vision for Heeseung's reaction and watches as he tenses at the mention of his name. If Sunghoon was making such a request from the older boy then he must not know of Heesung's inability to use Magic. How Heesung would respond, Jihye wasn't sure.
Heeseung's eyes narrow for a moment, his gaze flitting towards Sunghoon with what Jihye guesses is a hint of annoyance. Jihye hadn't known he was capable of such emotion as she'd only seen him cheerful and bright.
"Why me?" He asks, although he had a feeling it was for his Kingdom origin.
Sunghoon eyed him with a questioning stare, contemplating whether Heeseung was playing dumb or actually being serious. "Aren't you from the West?" His question is clipped, but despite it being laconic, there isn't a single hint of accusation in his tone.
"Yes... but what does that have to do with anything?" Comes Heeseung's rasping response.
Sunghoon huffs. Did he have to paint it out for him? "Shouldn't you, the Prince of the West Kingdom, know how to cast a traditional illumination spell that your direct ancestors created?"
"I'm not a Magian." He declared to Sunghoon, the latter's brows shooting up almost immediately in the most comedic way.
"You're a Mortal?" Sunghoon splutters, though he regains his composure as quickly as he had broken it, clearing his throat before speaking again much more calmer this time. "I have nothing against it but how can that be-"
"I don't know either. I was just born into this world that way." Heeseung breathes out, his voice quiet, but resolute. And immediately, Jihye's face crumples, anguish painting her features. "I apologize for not being of any use."
Heeseung doesn't know why he tells him this, or why it's so easy to say the words out loud, when he hated admitting how ordinary he was compared to them. Part of him blames it on the fact he's in a secluded place and without any of his siblings being nearby to lecture for saying such self-loathing statements, albeit, his insecurities only developed upon meeting who he was technically competing against. Compared to the rest of the royal children, Heeseung had nothing truly exceptional about him. At least that's what he has grown to believe.
There's a tenseness that falls upon the group, similar to the atmosphere that had first surrounded them when they first met. Sunghoon wasn't sure if he should apologize for asking in the first place but he couldn't find the words to say it.
"It's okay, I know how to cast that illumination spell we need." Jihye suddenly pipes in, breaking the silence that had fallen over the rest of the group. Her intentions were to turn the attention away from Heeseung who didn't seem to be in the spirit to speak further, and luckily it did.
"But we need you to save your energy to bring us back to the castle. We can't risk the chance of getting stuck all the way out here." Jaeyun mentions, fearful they'd end stranded if they weren't careful enough.
Despite the kind gesture, Jihye felt a bit of offense in his words. "But I feel perfectly fine." She tells with furrowed brows.
Heeseung shakes his head with a sigh. "We're almost at the bottom anyways."
She watches Heeseung from the corners of her eyes as they all begin walking again. It didn't seem like the correct time or place to try to console Heesung in any form without being heard by unwanted listeners.
Tongue flicking out, Jihye licks the seam of her mouth, before pulling her lower lip between her teeth and gnawing on it. "If guys insist..." Jihye said at last, her voice sounding off even to her own ears.
Sunoo tugs her to walk, able to tell she was troubled for Heeseung just by her sullen pout alone. However, Jaeyun had a point, even if Sunoo greatly wanted to disagree. He didn't know much about Magic, but he did know a few basic things which were Magians could only cast one active spell at a time, and that with each spell, their energy drained with it.
Having Jihye heavily exert her body for tasks they could easily do without the need of Magic seemed like an unwise and foolish thing to do. Especially as she was their only ticket back to the castle.
Sunghoon's eyes stay trained on Heeseung's figure that walked in front of him, only looking away when the ground level and the shore area of the lake is a few steps away from them. Immediately, Niki emerges from the water as if he had been waiting for them during their entire descent down.
"There's Niki!" Jungwon points, running excitedly ahead of Jihye and Sunoo who lead the group. "He looks much bigger up close." The young boy marveled.
The word 'bigger' didn't live up to what was standing in the large body of water. Based on what was visible, the Dragon's foot alone could squash any of their bodies with an easy single step.
"Look at those teeth..." Heeseung swallowed, both frightened and mystified. "They could probably bite through stone."
Stepping in front of the magical beast without her feet touching the water, Jihye can't help but look up in awe. She couldn't believe that the Dragon was the same being as Niki. Though his narrowed gaze remained the same in both forms.
Niki allows her to take everything in for a few moments before lowering his head down to her height. Stiffening, Jihye simply continues to stare at his scaly complexion though her gaze flickers to his large orbs in wonder. An endless myriad of emerald green speckle the vast abyss of his irises, while pinpricks of amber were splattered around; each small detail twinkling brighter than the next. Despite the darkness that shrouds the lands, Niki's eyes were easily noticeable.
"You have such pretty eyes. I've never seen irises as detailed as yours before." She complimented even if she wasn't sure he could hear, her hand itching to touch him but prevents herself from doing so.
Niki huffs out a breath through his nose which causes Jihye to shut her eyes as her hair is blown away from her face. As the sudden breeze settles, Jihye peeks up at him again and this time Niki's snout is much closer than before. He huffs again before closing his own eyes and simply keeps his head lowered in front of her.
Muddled by his actions, she quirks a brow. "Hmm?" Jihye hums in thought, her features faintly twisted into a look of mirth. She wasn't sure what he was trying to say through his mannerisms. But taking the chance, Jihye reaches forwards and hesitantly cerrases the patch of rough skin she was able to reach. Amazed by the texture, Jihye risks a quick scratch and cutely enough, a deep rumble emits from the Dragon's throat, nearly a purr of some sorts.
"He doesn't let just anyone pet him." Jaeyun says incredulously as he comes up behind her, cocking his head to the side. "Not even me." Though, Jaeyun had no sensible right to feel aggrieved.
Truth be told, Niki had never even personally met the charming South Prince until two months ago, when the South King had called for him specifically to be Jaeyun's personal guard. He'd only passed his squire exam a few weeks prior which caused an uproar between the other knights who had been serving under the King for multiple years. But it was Niki's incredible swordsmanship and ability to turn into a Dragon that had convinced the South King to appoint him instead of any other Knight.
The first time Niki and Jaeyun had properly met, it had been quite the experience. As soon as Niki's eyes fell upon the Prince, he had felt an off-putting feeling settle in his stomach. Niki wasn't sure why but he was incredibly weary of Jaeyun, so much in fact he preferred not to speak with him unless it was to answer a command for their first few weeks together.
It wasn't until their journey to the East Kingdom that they finally eased into a friendlier relationship. Jaeyun continued to insist they should spend their time crammed in a carriage getting to know each other at a closer level. Niki had no other choice but to go along. He had also gotten tired of keeping his mouth shut for such a long time.
By the time they had arrived at the East Castle, Niki's initial gut feeling about Jaeyun had completely been forgotten and replaced with a much more amiable one. But Niki still considered Jaeyun as only a person he was meant to protect rather than befriend.
"Is that so?" Jihye asks brightly, giving the Dragon another scratch near his snout. "Well, I'm honored Niki."
She truly was honored. She'd say they have taken a huge step from where they were at before. Though Jihye wished it could've been sooner, since the beginning.
Seemingly content, Niki draws back from her touch. His immense body begins to glow the same way it had done when he first took that risky leap off the cliff.
"What's he doing?" Jungwon asks, a bit dejected he didn't get to ask Niki if he could mount his back.
"I think he's shifting back." Heesung answered.
"He's what?" Jaeyun, who had wandered off to admire the glowing flowers that happened to be nearby asked, his head whipping towards Niki's direction. His eyes nearly bulged out upon confirming Niki was indeed shifting back to his normal form. It regularly wouldn't be a problem for him to do such a thing, but there was something they had both left out about the process of shifting forms. Which wouldn't be very appropriate in front of a crowd with a girl present. "Niki, don't-" Jaeyun tried to warn.
But it was all too late.
"You guys were taking your time walking down that cliff." Niki says in his human form, standing in the shallow end of the lake completely bare of any clothing, the dark water barely doing anything from shielding his body.
"Oh my!" Jihye gasps at sight. Suddenly, her vision is obstructed as a heaviness weighs her shoulders, her back pulled flush against a firm chest. Dazed from the action, Jihye raises her hands to her eyes and the tips of her fingers are met with a pair of hands.
"Give a warning next time!" Sunoo yells at the boy, not at all happy he had flashed the Princess.
As if barely registering that he was completely naked, Niki's eyes widened into giant saucers. "Sorry! I'll get dressed quickly." He apologizes in stammers, sinking into the water to hide himself.
"We'll wait over here." Jongseong tells leisurely, his head still trying to wrap around what he'd just seen as he walks away.
Wanting to do the same, Jihye nudges her friend. "Sunoo, I can't see where I'm going." She informed, attempting to peel away his fingers from her face.
He only tuts while maintaining his hands exactly where they were. "Be quiet and keep your eyes closed."
Doing as he asked- more like demanded, Jihye allows Sunoo to lead her away from the obscure scene, leaving Jaeyun and Niki who were both equally embarrassed, alone.
Once the coast was clear, Niki steps out of the lake then sheepishly takes the sack of clothes he tossed Jaeyun earlier that night. Fully dried and changed, Niki follows Jaeyun as they make their way to where everyone had fleed.
As soon as they heard their steps approaching them, they tense and are hesitant to turn around to greet them both.
"I'm fully clothed this time!" Niki declares, feeling antagonized by their distrustful actions. His eyes meet with Jihye's once she pivots on her feet, he sucks in a breath as he steps closer. "Sorry about flashing you." He expressed his deep regrets to her, his hand lifting to soothe his neck out of pure shame.
"It happens to the best of us." Jihye reassured him with a smile, finding no use in talking on the topic any further for his sake. "But do you feel better now that you've shifted?"
"Yes, actually... Even my fangs went away." He tells, pointing at his teeth and surely enough those sharpened fangs had disappeared, replaced with flattened teeth.
"That's great to hear, buddy. But what are we going to do now?" Jongseong buts into their conversation, genuinely wondering what they were to do now since the main reason they had even deliberately broken curfew was for Niki to let loose.
"I thought we could explore the forest before heading back." Jihye fiddles with her sleeves, trying to pull them lower to warm her cold hands. "There's still a few hours until sunrise, which gives us plenty of time to explore." At that Sunghoon's ears perk up in interest.
"Explore? Like just wandering around the forest?" Niki asks.
She hums but seeing some of their uncertainty to aimlessly walk to nowhere, Jihye opts to suggest a task they could complete as well. "You know, I've always wanted to do something that requires being outside..." She says to grab their interest.
"And what's that?" Sunghoon finds himself asking, curiosity licking at his inner being. As far as he inferred, there shouldn't be much that Jihye wasn't able to do. She was the most influential and potentially powerful than all of them here for the sole reason of being the only inheritor left of the East Kingdom. What could someone who has it all possibly want to do?
"Build a campfire." She confesses.
"Really?" Sunoo snorts, clearly amused by her wholesome suggestion. "Of all the things to do in the world? You choose that?"
"What? It's a harmless activity." Jihye replies, crossing her arms.
"Why don't we do that then? We could all look for some firewood and meet back by the lake to build a campfire." Jaeyun backs her suggestion.
Not entirely convinced but willing to do at least something to make his time worth the hassle, Jongseong agrees. "Alright, let's split up. Us four and you four." He imparts, gesturing towards himself, Sunghoon, and the South boys before gesturing to the rest. Everyone nods in agreement at Jongseong's suggestion.
Jungwon especially felt motivated with the division of teams. "Our group is going to get the most firewood. Just watch." He claims, his body eager to begin a competition.
Jungwon's zealous aura seemed to rub onto Niki as well, the latter grabbing onto the South Prince's arm. "Not a chance! Come on, Jaeyun let's go." He countered before running off while dragging Jaeyun.
Not wanting for their team to get an advantage, Jungwon runs in the opposite direction, completely forgetting to wait for Jihye, Sunoo, and Heeseung.
"You're going to get lost if you run off on your own!" Jihye shouts out for the boy but he was already too far into the forest.
Sunoo shrugs, not a single ounce of worry in his body. "Let him. We'll find him eventually. If not, it's every man for themselves anyways."
"Sunoo!" Jihye barks, and hearing the disapproval in her voice, Sunoo's face reflexively scrunches into a defensive frown.
She turns to Heeseung with an apologetic smile. "He's only kidding." Heeseung would have liked to hear from Sunoo personally, but he'd take what he could get.
"Let's get started, shall we?" Jihye asks as she links both her arms with the two boys, creating a three person chain of intertwined limbs. Sunoo instinctively pulls Jihye closer to him, making sure there was a gap between her and Heeseung. But Jihye only pulls the flustered Prince closer to her side.
Pleased with herself, Jihye induces them to begin after Jungwon. Multiple minutes later, all four of them were walking through the thick woods, arms filled with lumber they had achieved in collecting. Jihye had taken the role in leading them, the position feeling natural for her to take. But Sunoo didn't feel so happy jovial being someone who was doing the more laborious task.
"I didn't agree to come along just to be carrying dead trees in my arms for a stupid fire." Sunoo tells, an attitude laced in his voice as he frowns.
Jihye ignores the harshness of his words, she rolls her eyes dismissively. "What are you talking about? We're having fun! Aren't we, Jungwon?" Jihye asks over her shoulder to which Jungwon ardently nods in agreement, hauling more wood that he's able to carry.
"You and I have different definitions of the word fun." Sunoo mumbled, but was still able to reach Jihye's attentive ears.
Hearing his words, her own features furrow, her mouth curling downwards as she stops herself from glaring up at him. "No one likes a killjoy, Sunoo." Jihye replies cheekily as she readjusts the wood in her arm while pulling out the compass she had brought along in their journey. She makes sure they had been walking towards the west, where they had originally agreed to meet back with the others. Thankfully, amidst their chattering and bickering, Jihye had managed to keep them on track.
"The lake should be this way. I'd say we'll see it soon if we continue walking." Jihye notifies, turning her head around to check on the small group.
Sunoo takes a few quick steps to match her oddly large strides. "How can you even be so sure about which direction we're going?"
"Because I'm the one with the compass obviously." Jihye deadpans as she flashes him the golden contraption in her hand. A lopsided smirk lazily crawls onto her lips, her eyes twinkling with a mischievous glint. "What? Did you want to be the navigator? If you wanted to you could just have said so at the beginning." She coos at her friend.
Scoffing at her remarks, Sunoo felt the tips of his ears heat up and he's grateful for the dimmed moonlight that hid his embarrassment. "And who made you the navigator?" He makes a weak attempt at an argument.
"Once again- I'm the one with the compass." She remarks back, ensuring a fervid debate between the two of them.
Picking up their own pace, Heeseung and Jungwon catch up to the bickering pair. "How many pieces of wood do we have altogether?" Jungwon asks as he begins counting his own.
Heeseung glances at his occupied hands. "I'd say enough for an entire winter."
"Winters in the West must be very warm then." Jihye replies, flashing Heesung an impish grin.
"Do you think that's enough to beat the others?" Jungwon inquires, a look of determination etched on his face.
Jihye feels her arms growing tired, but nonetheless she continues to smile. "Let's keep our fingers crossed."
The lake finally comes to view and all of them waste no time to toss all their wood together in a pile with relieved sighs. Jihye sits on the pile to let her feet rest, her head thrown back in alleviation. Not too far behind, the other four's chatter could be heard closing in.
"We're back!" Jongseong announces their team's arrival.
"And with a lot of wood!" Niki doesn't forget to add after. He carried nearly twice the amount then what a normal person could carry, causing Jihye and her group to gawk up at him.
"I think it's pretty obvious we won just by looking at our pile." Niki tells after setting down all of their combined wood, it's size is significantly bigger than the other.
"The only thing that's obvious is that you guys cheated!" Jungwon acuses.
Niki's face twists in indignation. "And how could we possibly cheat?"
"With Magic of course! There are three Magians in your team and only one on ours. Not to mention you're probably stronger because you're an Amalgam!" Jungwon sibilates.
Heeseung grimaces, trying his best not to deeply frown at Jungwon's words as he knows his intention wasn't to upset him. But it still stung to hear Jungwon assume their team faced defeat because he wasn't a Magian.
"It's alright, Jungwon. We gave it our all." Jihye pats his back in reassurance, to which he sighs in acceptance. Then he realizes something.
"But... how do we start a fire exactly?" Jungwon asks, staring at piles of wood on their feet.
"With wood and matches of course." Tells Niki as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Everyone knows that but do any of us have matches?" Said Jungwon and at that, Niki purses his lips as he shakes his head.
"Great. We basically gathered wood for a fire we can't even start." Sunoo grumbles, cracking his tired fingers.
Jihye frowns. She wasn't going to let their efforts go to waste. Instead, she spots a stick nearby before picking it up and gathering a handful of leaves. "We'll have to do this the old fashion way." She tells, kneeling in front of a log with the stick in hand. With rapid momentum and a bit of aid from Magic to reduce the strain on her muscles, Jihye begins twirling it into the log.
Unable to tear their bewildered stares away, the rest of the group gape at her as if she were deranged.
"What are you doing?" Sunoo finally voices what they were all thinking.
From the corner of her eyes, Jihye's gaze flicks to Sunoo, before returning back to the task at hand.
"Creating friction." She states simply.
Sunoo quirks a brow. "You're just spinning a stick."
Jaeyun's face lights up upon realizing what she was trying to do. "To create friction." He repeats for her, regarding Sunoo with a cool stare. "Spinning the stick into the log will make a hot ember in the whole which you can use tinder- or dried leaves in this case for it to catch on fire."
Sunoo looks back at Jihye and is surprised to see smoke arise from the hole she drilled with the stick. Swiftly, Jihye grabs the dried up leaves and places them on top of the smoke and log.
"Lo and behold! A flame!" She claps her hands once the tinder catches on fire. Jihye stands and dusts off her knees. "Now we can put the wood on top to get a real fire. The bigger logs you guys brought can be used as places to sit."
Jaeyun and Sunghoon set up the campfire while the rest spread out the remaining logs to surround the ever growing flames.
"We could use some more wood just in case." Niki suggests upon seeing they had used up most of the wood for the fire. "I'll go get some."
"Are you alright going by yourself?" Jaeyun asks as if finally takes a seat, his hands hovering by the heat.
Niki scoffs. "I'm pretty sure whatever's out there can't be much scarier than a Dragon."
"Most likely, but just don't wander off too far." Jaeyun advises which Niki concurs to before leaving.
"I'll follow after him to make sure he doesn't get lost." Jongseong offers, to which Sunghoon finds incredibly bizarre from his part. Though he chooses not to express his confusion out loud. Sunghoon watches his retreating figure until it disappears deep into the woods.
Embers from the tame fire flicker in the air, and pleased with all of their hard work, Jihye leans closer to watch as the smoke rises and disappears into the darkness that shrouds the lands above.
Heeseung fixes his gaze to the Princess who sat across the fire, admiring how shades of mellowed scarlet and amber illuminated her face in just the right places. Regardless of the breathtaking view of the lake not so far away, he finds himself watching Jihye as she spoke with Sunoo about something that couldn't quite reach his ears.
He still couldn't fathom how quickly he had grown to esteem Jihye. Though there wasn't much to dislike. She was equally interested in literature, even liking the same genres as him. She had a very genial and amiable personality which always cheered him up. In all, Jihye was an amazing person. It made it all that harder to find a reason not to agree to a possible arranged marriage.
Military wise, the West Kingdom was the weakest out of the Four Kingdoms, making it an easy target for external attacks. An alliance with a much stronger Kingdom such as the East could nimbly alleviate those chances. While an arranged marriage could be seen as a heartless concordant, Heeseung could genuinely see himself learning to care for the Princess if they were to marry.
Though he doubted Jihye could say the same. Not with two much more puissant individuals like Jaeyun and Sunghoon. It would be a miracle if he was even considered as a better contender by the East King. In the back of his mind, Heeseung was convinced the King had only invited him to his Kingdom out of pity.
"Niki, you're back already? Where's the wood?" Jaeyun asks, pulling Heeseung out of his train of thoughts. He stares at his hands that although they were cupped to hold something, were completely missing the lumber he had promised to bring back.
Niki strides over to his companion. "I found some berries but I didn't want to be rude and eat some without you guys so I picked them to bring here instead."
"Berries?" Jihye shoots up from her seat. "Let me see them."
"Sure! They look very pungent and juicy. It took all my willpower not to eat them on the spot." He giddily shows the berries to her only for Jihye to immediately smack them out of his hands.
"Why did you do that!" Niki shouts as he cradles his palms to his chest.
"Niki, did you eat one of those at all?" Jihye asks, scanning his pupils to see if they were dilated.
He shakes his head, inching away from her close face. "No... I told you I thought I should wait to eat them with you guys."
Sunoo looks over to the tossed fruits, eyes widening at the sight. "Are those-"
"They're zannyberries." Jihye finished for him.
"No way! You found zannyberries?!" Jungwon exclaimed, tempted to pick one up.
"I guess I did..." Niki trails off, completely lost. "But why did you slap them out of my hands?" Asks Niki, looking like a puppy that's been kicked.
Jihye supposed there could've been a better way to handle the situation but smacking his hands had been her first instinct. "They're stimulant berries that make you hallucinate. If you even swallowed one, you'd be seeing things for hours."
"Hallucinate?" Niki repeats, now grateful she'd prevented him from consuming them. "Like some sort of drug?"
Jihye's brows crease, not entirely sure she would have used that exact word. "Sure. Let's go with 'drug'."
Niki drops his gaze to where the vermillion berries laid now covered in dirt and mud, a sigh leaves his lips. "Well there goes my late night snack."
Feeling a twinge of self-reproach, Jihye gingerly places a hand on his bicep. "Are you hungry, Niki?"
He nods. "Kind of..."
"Here." Jihye pulls out a small pouch from the pocket of her coat, placing them in Niki's awaiting hands. "I originally brought these in case I used up too much energy, but you can have some as well."
Opening the stringed pouch, Niki grins when he sees handfuls of nuts. "Thanks!" Niki immediately guzzled on the roasted nuts while Jihye ate one by one, purposely eating at a slower rate so the boy could have a bigger portion.
Sunghoon, who had been gazing into the woods, speaks up and asks, "Where's Jongseong?"
"Why are you asking me?" Niki counters, still chewing.
"He followed after you to make sure you wouldn't get lost." Sunghoon replies, getting up from his seat.
Jihye suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise, her senses began to spike and she wasn't so sure why. There had to be something looming nearby.
"I didn't see anyone-" Niki is cut short as the deafening sound of twig breaking fills their ears.
In the blink of an eye, Niki turns and out of reflex, throws something so quick that Jihye's eyes only register as a silver flash before it hits the trunk of a tree with a loud thump. Taken aback, they all whip their heads towards the direction the twig had broken.
Niki had thrown a dagger of all things, and right beside the newly pierced tree, stood a wide-eyed Jongseong, his expression mixed with shock and anger.
"You nearly sliced open my throat!" Jongseong howlers, his hand hovering slightly above his heart as he waited for it to stop hammering against his chest.
Jihye whips back to look at Niki and surely enough, there was another dagger in his hand, the sack of nuts discarded on the floor. Her eyes flit to his pockets as she asks herself where he could possibly have them stashed. "You brought daggers with you?" She asks bewildered.
"I am a Knight who was sent to serve as Jaeyun's guard. What kind of Knight would I be if I didn't always carry at least a dagger with me in case someone attempts to do him any harm." Niki explains, waving his weapon around.
Jihye looked at his hands and wondered how she hadn't noticed it before. The pads of his fingers and palms were incredibly calloused, most likely due to the multiple hours and days slaved away to his training. Niki was still young, yet his skin was already littered with lesions no boy should have.
"You can turn into a literal Dragon. I think that's enough to keep your Prince safe." Jongseong says lowly as he pulls the dagger out the bark with great force.
"Not only that but he's the greatest swordsman in the entire South Kingdom Military." Jaeyun pipes up in a futile attempt to ease the ever growing tension between Niki and Jongseong. "I'm pretty sure that's why he was appointed as my personal guard."
"Greatest, huh?" Jongseong questions, Jaeyun's accolade towards Niki striking a cord. Back home, Jongseong was considered the best swordsman in their family, even surpassing Sunghoon's skill. Hearing Niki being called the greates swordsman didn't sit right within him. "Then why did I manage to knock his sword out of his hand that one time we were sparring?" He asks, pointing Niki's own dagger at him.
"I was holding back that day obviously." Niki retaliates. "And you looked like you needed at least one win for the sake of your pride after being tossed across the field by the Princess." He gripes and hearing his response makes both Sunghoon and Heesung snicker.
"Alright then, Mister Hot-shot, how about we have a rematch right here, right now to settle if you're bluffing or not." With each word, Jongseong stepped closer to Niki until he was right in front of him.
Sunghoon sighed, knowing that once his cousin felt threatened by another person's skill he just had to prove he was better than them. "Jay, there's no need to point his own dagger at him-"
"Look, if I went all out like you want me to, the match would end in twenty seconds. Maybe even ten." Niki barks at Jongseong, cutting Sunghoon off. "Do you really want to embarrass yourself in front of the Princess?"
Niki had been suppressing his emotions since he came to the East in fear he'd accidentally shift out of anger. But they were in a secluded forest where it didn't matter if he shifted or not. It was about time he let his talons out.
Now entirely provoked, Jongseong pulls his arm back into a fighting stance, prepared to deul at that very moment. "Just because you can turn into a Dragon doesn't mean I can't kick your-"
He didn't get to finish his sentence or even make the first move as the dagger in his hand as well as the one in Niki's were suddenly whisked away from their grasps. The two turn to see the culprit which happened to be Jihye, surprised she had managed to easily snatch the weapons from them.
"I'll be holding onto these until we go back to the castle." She tells, tucking the daggers into her belt. "You two can have a proper rematch there, with actual swords and not these measly daggers."
Coming down from their adrenaline rush, Niki and Jongseong plop down by the fire. Though Jongseong shoots the younger boy a glare. "You got lucky this time."
"I'm already quivering at the mere thought." Niki feigns a tremor to mock him.
"So now you want to be a conversationalist, huh?" Jongseong attempts to reach for his collar but is stopped by his cousin while Jaeyun pulls Niki away.
Ignoring their competitive squabbling, "What time is it?" Heeseung suddenly asks, his gaze fixed on Jihye.
She pulls out her pocket watch and shows him as she says, "Quarter past three. Two hours until sunrise."
At that exact moment, a fatigued yawn escapes his throat. "I think we should head back now. It won't do us any good if we don't get at least some rest."
"Aww you're no fun, Heeseung." Jungwon complains, having no desire to head back yet.
Jihye tuts as she shakes her head. "No, he's absolutely right. My eyes are starting to droop from how tired they are. And you need your energy to eat breakfast tomorrow, Jungwon."
"I suppose you're right..." The younger drawls, finding it hard to contradict Jihye.
Jihye turns to Sunoo who was fighting against his own eyes to stay awake. "Ready to go back?" She nudges him, but he only grumbles back in response.
She chuckles before announcing to the other four it was time to head back to the castle. After successfully putting out the fire and reopening a new portal, one by one they began lining up.
"I'm exhausted..." Jongseong mutters behind Sunghoon.
"All you did tonight was complain." His cousin taunts just as they both crossed the portal, both their voices disappearing into the other side.
Finally it was Jihye's turn, who had insisted she'd be the last one to enter to ensure everyone was able to get back safely. But she stole one last glance at the enchanting forest, a smile on her lips. This wasn't going to be their last escapade together. Jihye was going to make sure of that.
Fulfilled with the time she got to spend with her new friends, Jihye steps into the portal and closes it behind her.
••✦♥✦••
WORD COUNT: 7k (I sincerely apologize)
NOT EDITED
[a/n]
No one:
Jihye: ✨FIRE✨
this chapter was incredibly chaotic and feels like a filler but it's kinda needed to open up the path for a very special someone's character arc. Yup you heard that right.
I'm still not sure how dark I should make some characters' backstories but if y'all suddenly see this story marked as mature... that's why...