Blink.

                  I groaned and opened my eyes, feeling pain in my lower region. I wanted to move, but Lord Chanyeol’s hands refused to let me go. I flinched when I saw his chest, as if I hadn’t seen it yesterday night. The memories came back at me and I had a hard time controlling the blush that appeared on my face.

                  God, he looked glorious in the morning. He was so beautiful. So beautiful that he looked untouchable and unrealistic. He looked more God-like with the sunlight on him. Gently, I brushed away the hair that was covering his face. My fingers naturally went down to trace this otherworldly creature. Just to see if my vision was real. If we did make love last night like I thought we had.

                  “What are you doing?” His hand caught my wrist and he snuggled me closer to his chest. His minty scent overwhelmed my senses and I happily indulged myself with the smell of his skin. We mated. We made love. I was marked his. Finally. His one and only. Not Joo Ri, but me.

                  “Stop struggling,” He chuckled when I wiggled a bit. “Stop! Woman, it’s morning, and you have to stop tempting me like that!”

                  I stopped moving and lied still like a rock. I dared not to move in fear that he would force himself on me. I heard that men were especially sensitive in the morning. My thighs were hurting from all the fingerprints, and my lower region was even more so. I suddenly thought of something and slowly pulled the blanket away from our tangled bodies.

                  Oh . There goes the proof of my ity.

                  On the white sheet, I saw red patches of blood near my thighs. I felt nauseated by the sight, as if something horrible had just happened. I was used to shedding blood, but when it came to personal stuff like this, I became mentally weak. My breath hitched, and instead of looking at it further, I wrapped my arms around the Lord’s waist and let his height hid my trembling body.

                  “What’s wrong?” He was fully awake now. His left hand was caressing my hair, while his other one was holding onto the blanket. “Does it hurt? Was I too rough?”

                  I hit his arms with half my usual punch’s strength and he winced in pain. “It freaking hurts, okay? Who told you to be so impatient during the Marking process? I am sore and I can’t move!”

                  “Good, then we can stay on bed all day.”

                  He laughed loudly, his head on top of mine as he affectionately nudged me to the center of the bed. I just noticed that we were sleeping in his room, which was twice bigger than my room, and had a more traditional setting than the other rooms in this house. There was a huge mirror on the bedside, accompanied by a tea table on the other side. Instead of plain backgrounds, he put on delicate carvings on the walls. The carvings looked as if they were made to come alive. The colors were neutral on one side and vibrant on the other. I sighed in envy.

                  “Why? Do you like the room?” The Lord finally let me out of his hold and shifted his position so that we were face to face when we talked. I stared at him, admiring his twinkling eyes that were full of playfulness and nodded.

                  “Then it’s set. You can move in today,” The Lord pinched my nose and smiled. “No, actually, you can move in now. I will just tell the maids to prepare the things you need and put them in the closet.”

                  “Why are you so rushed?” I snorted and held onto his cheeks, “I can just sleep in my own room.”

                  His eyes twinkled in mischief. I thought he would force me to comply, but he replied with a playful snort and laughed it off, “Alright. Whenever you want, My Queen.”

                  I could hear footsteps approaching. The person took two heavy steps at once, and from the sound of sighing, I could already guess who it was. Jinki knocked on the door gently, but urgently. His soft voice sounded strangely hoarse this morning, so I was a bit worried of what could have happened.

                  “I will go get the door,” I hurriedly got up, wanting to escape his embrace because I felt embarrassed and shy. Lord Chanyeol shook his head, no longer smiling and motioned at his walk-in closet near the bathroom, “No can do, Sweetheart. Take a warm bath and change into something decent first. I will talk to Jinki.”

                  I looked at my current condition and pulled the blanket with me as I walked into the bathroom. The Lord had stored in a lot of shirts and pants, and I finally pulled out one of his white dress shirt and the shower. I could hear mumblings outside of the door. Jinki sounded wary and mad at the same time, while the Lord grew colder and colder with each passing sentence.

                  “Someone was killed… No… I don’t…”

                  “…Cares for the matter of that woman…? It’s been years… How dare she…?!”

                  Even the warm water started to turn cold when I heard that. I soaked my hair with water and put more bubble in the tub. I purposefully took my time bathing, because only then, I could think clearly of what I should do next. I silently stared at the bruises on my thighs, and my shoulder, and my s. They were turning purple. I should have felt ashamed, but then I was not.

                  I put on his shirt. It reached my knees, enough to cover the marks. I opened the door and looked everywhere for any sign of the Lord. He was not here. I went out to the dining room in the upper level, where Baekhyun, Jinki and the Lord were sitting at, their faces grim and dark.

                  “What’s going on this time?” I leisurely took a seat next to Baekhyun and gave him a questioning glance.

                  “Lady Ara’s second-in-command, Hayoung was murdered last night.”

                  “Hayoung was murdered? How could that be?” I pondered and stared at them bashfully. Last night she stuck to her Lady like glue to paper. It was painstaking to lure her out for even one minute. A small smile slowly curved up on my lips, and I asked, “How was she murdered?”

                  “Stabbed by a thousand ice needles,” Jinki replied and casted his disdain towards Baekhyun. “Those needles were especially made by the assassins of Winter Court to eliminate their enemies in the most torturous way.” All the blame was on Baekhyun now. “It is not like this ain’t good, but Baekhyun, your ability is on par with that Lady. How could you manage to kill her without being injured anywhere?”

                  Baekhyun looked at me. I tilted my head and understood what he wanted to do. I had to confess my sin. “I lured her out. I injured her, not Baekhyun.”

                  “You…?” The Lord’s eyes were once again, focused on me. He didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry. Jinki was left in disbelief, as he pointed a finger at me and accusingly yelled, “Outrageous! I didn’t spend half a century teaching you to be a fool! Now you have drawn all the blame on our clan!”

                  I retorted, “On behalf of my self conscience, Teacher, I have to defend what I did last night. I simply lured her out because I wanted to get a revenge on Baekhyun. I tortured Lady Ara’s best friend, and she countered attack by delivering a deathly blow to Baekhyun. That poison she gave him was hard to remove. I almost died from it. It is only fair that I attacked her second-in-command to avenge my pain. But!” I glared at Jinki, and then at Baekhyun, “I did not kill her.”

                  “I killed her,” Baekhyun simply stated, “She was the leader of my division before I became the Prince’s bodyguard.”

                  “That doesn’t explain it…!” Jinki was about to launch into a full preach session but the Lord raised his hand and Jinki stopped talking immediately. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or happy, but the look in his eyes was almost indifferent. I suddenly felt uneasy just by sitting there, listening to his chilly voice as he interrogated both of us like a father to his children.

                  “When did this happen? As far as I know, you never left the ballroom.”

                  “She was outside in the balcony, admiring the moon and whatsoever. So I went to greet her. Lady Hayoung was quite the vicious one. She tried to destroy my face, so I burnt her internal organs and left her injured on the spot.”

                  Jinki shook his head and mumbled something incoherently. He appeared distressed and sad, so I asked cautiously, “Is Lady Ara declaring war against us?”

                  “Yes.”

                  Silence. So this was my fault.

                  “They want us to deliver the murderer in a week or they will strike with their allies. Lady Ara is really mad this time. She even asked for a Fallen’s help.”

                  “Fallen,” Lord Chanyeol scowled and folded his hands together. His lips were pressed together into a thin sarcastic smile as he puffed, “Those good for nothing wanderers. They could only look pretty.”

                  Baekhyun looked down at his fingers and muttered, “Lady Ara’s brother Kris is one of the Fallen. He holds quite the influence amongst them. Even Yongguk, the ex-Lord of the werewolf clan listens to Kris. And not to mention, plenty of subordinates that follow his path to be a Fallen. If Ara ever asks, Kris will comply.”

                  “A week, huh?” I toyed with the cup on the table and lazily stared at the three men, “Do you really think they will wait that long for the murderer to come out? Think about it. Baek, you should know best what kind of person Lady Ara is. Is she unreasonable?”

                  “No. She is quite the mature one, actually.”

                  “Is she very devoted?”

                  “She is willing to die for her clan.”

                  “Is she cunning?”

                  “Intelligent and cunning, yes.”

                  I smirked and twirled the cup for them to see, “My Lord, from what I see, Lady Ara has been itching to get her claws on us. But she dares not to, because of your influence to the minor clans, and because she didn’t have a valid reason to strike. If she attacked alone, it was impossible for her to win, no matter how famed she was. She slyly avoids provoking the other major clans and minor clans to gain their support one day. Now is the chance to raise the flag of war. She will try to justify this by blaming our clan for the murder.”

                  “Sora, no matter what, Lady Ara is a level-headed person. She won’t attack, unless she is sure she will win the battle. With the Lord on our side, she can’t possibly win this,” Baekhyun reasoned. I nodded and thought back to our mission in the Water Prison. A series of possibility ran through my head and I grimaced at every single one of them.

                  “My Lord, you know the Water Prison technically belongs to the Faery clan,” I opened my mouth and spoke slowly, “You sealed half of your power into the sword Durandal. And you have never been separated from it, ever.”

                  Realizations dawned on Jinki and he paled.

                  “What if they got the sword?”