When Jungwon and I arrive at the front of the castle and through the main gates while panting and out of breath, we're met with the sight of a few women in aprons dispersed around the staircase while cleaning something off of the steps with damp rags.
I glance over at Jungwon for a moment with my eyebrows knit together in a frown, causing him to mirror my expression before we begin to ascend up the staircase. Once we reach the first woman I peek at what she's cleaning, and what I see makes my eyes widen.
"Oh god.." I grimace while staring down at the pool of crimson blood. Immediately the woman looks up at me in surprise, then when she shifts her eyes to Jungwon her eyes widen.
"Your highness," she bows politely while pausing her ministrations to greet Jungwon.
Jungwon sends her a nod of acknowledgment before continuing to ascend up the steps with me trailing hot on his heels behind him. I try not to look at the pools of blood as we pass by more cleaning women, so I keep my eyes trained on Jungwon's back instead.
Once the guards open the main doors and we step inside the castle, I'm met with the sight of even more drops of blood, dispersed around the floor in what looks to be a trail.
"What the hell happened here?" I whisper while leaning into Jungwon's side as an uneasiness settles at the pit of my stomach.
"I don't know.." he trails off with his eyebrows deeply furrowed as he looks around the room, "but let's find out. I have a bad feeling in my gut."
I nod silently as we continue to walk the castle, following the trail of blood drops. We meet a few other cleaning ladies on the way but neither of us really acknowledge each other, too focused on our own perspective missions.
As the trail of blood becomes faint and we reach a very familiar arched wooden door, I take in a deep shaky breath before pushing open the door to the infirmary with the palms of my hands.
Immediately I'm met with the sight of people yelling over one another, while many bodies move frantically around the medical room. My eyes immediately land on Sunoo, who is placed in a chair beside a bed that is occupied by a wounded figure. He seems to be entirely focused on aiding the woman in the bed, completely ignoring all the men who shout in protest to this.
"We're far more injured than that priss! Why the hell aren't you helping those of us who need it much more!" one of the men shouts at Sunoo, to which he simply ignores.
"Answer us you witch!" another man commands, causing Sunoo to look up with a scowl, aimed at everyone who won't shut their mouths.
"I am helping her first because she is the only one who has the decency to shut her mouth and let me do my job properly!" Sunoo hisses back, making it go silent in the room and a snicker to escape from the girl.
As I stare in shock at the situation it seems that the room grows even louder than it was before, causing Sunoo to let out a huff before shaking his head in frustration and continuing to help the girl.
"Sunghoon hyung.." Jungwon murmurs from beside me, making me whip my head around to see what he's talking about.
Sunghoon stands in the far corner of the room with his arms crossed in front of his chest, far enough away from all of the commotion going on.
Jungwon begins to walk quickly over to him, making me pick up my speed almost into a run to follow after him.
"Sunghoon hyung, what is going on? When did you arrive?" Jungwon asks worriedly.
"What happened to everyone?" I quip in, causing Sunhoon to purse his lips together in a straight line as he looks over the two of us.
"The rangers and I.." Sunghoon trails off while scanning over all the people around the room. "Sorian troops were waiting for our arrival in the woods. They surrounded us and left us stuck for days, some of us did not make it back.." he explains before wetting his dry lips with his tongue, his eyebrows deeply furrowed together.
It is now that I've realized that there is a significantly less amount of rangers in this room than there had been the day they first set off to the woods.
"But I thought.." I trail off while turning to face Jungwon with a frown, "I thought that we made a deal with Sorian, and that the two kingdoms are at peace."
"The troops must not have known that yet.. at least I hope that is what happened," Jungwon responds while crossing his arms over his chest as a frown paints his face.
All of a sudden the sound of glass shattering to the floor echoes out in the room, making me whip my head around to the source of the noise.
"Oh for god's sake just let the girl die! She's not worth anything but extra weight for us anyway! If you were smart you would help those more important first!" a blonde man shouts in frustration in Sunoo's way, holding half a broken glass potion bottle in his bloodied hand while the other half is shattered across the floor.
The girl scowls at him in disbelief, while I hear a groan of frustration come from Sunghoon as he pushes away from the wall with his foot to stand up straighter. "Leah is the one who saved all your asses and this is how you treat her?" Sunghoon bellows out almost in disgust. "If she had not bought us time to escape Sorian's troops we would all be dead right now. She risked her life for us all, show some respect you bastards."
The room goes silent as everyone seems to be registering what has just been said, until the girl who I assume is Leah, snickers slightly. "I appreciate it brother," she says in amusement.
A few noises of protest emerge in the room, but then it ultimately goes silent. I turn to face Sunghoon with my eyebrows scrunched together, curiosity filling my veins.
"Brother? You have a sister Sunghoon?" I question while staring up at him curiously.
"Well, technically no. We are not related but we treat each other as such," he admits, making me nod in understanding.
All of a sudden I hear the sound of frantic knocking on the wooden door, making me turn my head in curiosity. As the door slowly opens a girl with two short braids and a belt full of potion bottles peeks in the room, making me immediately recognize her as the same girl from the village.
"Daiyu? What are you doing here?" Sunoo questions as the girl fully walks in, carrying a large basket full of various items. She quickly walks up to Sunoo with her back stiff and straight as everyone in the room eyes are trained on her.
"Mrs Cheng could not make it, so she sent me instead," she explains quietly while setting down the heavy basket on the floor besides Sunoo's feet, then looks around the room nervously.
Without thinking, I slowly stride over to them with my hands clasped together in front of me. Daiyu's eyes land on me in surprise as I stand a few feet away from the trio.
"Ah Minji, I haven't seen you all day!" Sunoo exclaims with a smile which I return. He goes back to working on his task almost immediately, leaving me to awkwardly stand as I watch his ministrations.
"You!" Daiyu blurts out while pointing at me with wide eyes. "You were at the village, you are the one who gave that soup to my siblings! I recognize your skirt and cloak!" she declares in surprise, leaving me stunned.
"Minji, you went to the village?" Sunoo questions slowly while gazing up at me in confusion.
"Well I-" I begin to try to come up with an excuse while nervously fiddling with my cloak sleeves, but before I can, I feel a presence step up behind me.
"We went to the village," Jungwon corrects, causing me to turn around to face him with wide eyes. "Since it is Minji's last day in Hania, I thought it would be fun to visit the village at least once together before she has to leave."
Sunoo nods slowly in understanding, making me purse my lips together in a straight line as I direct my gaze down for a moment. "Just be careful you two," Sunoo retorts, causing me to simply nod.
"Prince Jungwon, it is a pleasure to meet you," Daiyu greets with wide eyes while slightly bowing down. Jungwon gives her a sheepish smile back, causing her to straighten up before turning back to Sunoo. "Do you need any help? I can help with taking care of everyone."
"I would really appreciate that, thank you Yu," Sunoo responds gratefully, causing a bright smile to appear on the girl's face before she grabs a few things from the woven basket and rushes off to a random ranger in the room.
"Hi there," the girl in the bed greets, making me look down at her in surprise. "I'm Leah, one of the rangers and also apparently a priss. Your name is Minji, right?" she says, causing me to snicker as a small smile grows on my face.
"Yes, that's me," I respond in a laugh.
For the rest of the day Jungwon and I stayed in the infirmary until every last ranger had left the room. I tried my best to help out as much as I could, by that I mean I would fetch Sunoo whatever he needed to complete his task.