"Right then!" I nodded and turned toward the exit, my spirits high and my will rejuvenated.

"What are you doing?" Minki asked.

"Did you forget already? We must set out to find my beloved queen and your bewitched friend!" I looked back at him mildly impatient.

"Um, are you blind? There's a nasty blizzard outside right now. You almost died."

"Mother Nature cannot stop me from finding my queen."

"Actually she did. I had to drag you in here, remember?" Minki narrowed his eyes.

"And I appreciate it greatly! But now that my energy is back, I must focus it on finding my queen!"

"Even if you didn't die going out there again, how can you possibly find anything? The winds are too strong and they will only scatter the snow. If your beloved queen is still alive, she's probably in a safe place. She can take care of herself, can't she?"

"Are you suggesting that my queen doesn't need my assistance?!" My tone turned deadly.

"No I'm just trying to keep you from stupidity injuring yourself." Minki replied quite calmly. "Look, once the storm calms down, then we can head out. Okay?"

"I see your morals are not that off a noble knight. I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised." I sighed and pulled my eye shields over my eyes. "Very well. Rest in your safe haven while I go out venturing for my queen."

"Okay." Minki sat back down in front of the fire, poking at it with a small stick.

I gave him a look. "Have you stopped trying to persuade me to stay?"

"If you want to go out and freeze to death again, then fine." Minki replied. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."

I let out a stiff chuckle. "I trust you would come to my assistance if I were to fall?"

"I have to. We have a deal."

I looked at him a moment longer than turned toward the exit again, making my way closer and closer. The bright white light from the whirling snow made me squint and the bitter cold wind soon attacked my face. To my surprise, something in my body yelled at me to stop and turn around. It must have been my stomach, because it jumped, making me feel sick. I didn't not like the feeling of almost dying and I found myself backing away slowly.

"You changed your mind?" Minki asked from behind me.

I slowly turned around with my head down. "We will wait for the weather to brighten up." I replied stiffly.

"Glad you decided that."

A brief but powerful smell of meat attacked my nose and I looked at Minki. He had pulled out two slabs of beef and placed them on a platter of two planks of wood over the fire.

"You want some?" He glanced at me.

I slowly lowered myself in front of the flames, staring at the meat hungrily. "It may not be the castle's cuisine, but it will do for now."

Minki shot me another annoyed look as he turned the meat over. The smoke from the fire combined with the aroma of the meat spread throughout the entire cave, making the area quite warm and comfortable.

“Is this where you live?” I asked, moving my gaze to him after watching him cook for a moment.

“No.” He replied. “Well, not usually. It’s more like a storage cabinet. Me and my friend come here to store food and supplies if we are a little far from our other home.”

“So you two live together.”

Minki nodded.

“That’s quite the situation you have. The two of you must work very well together in order to survive and enjoy yourselves as well.”

“We’ve always lived together. It’s just the way we like to live.”

I noticed something change in his face and it made me rudely stare. “…do you…and him…”

He glanced at me.

I cleared my throat. “Pardon me. It was a foolish thing to ask.” I shook my head and leaned back.

“What were you going to say?” He arched an eyebrow at me.

“Please just focus on your cooking. Don’t mind me and my foolish way of thinking.” I lowered my head again, ashamed to look into his eyes.

He looked at me for a long time before slowly focusing back on the fire.

I took the moment to steady my breathing and calm my flushed face. The atmosphere became too quiet aside from the sparks emitting from the fire and I desperately wanted some kind of conversation to take place to cure the awkwardness.

“…so what’s the castle like?” Minki asked.

My head rose. “The castle where I carry out my noble duties as my beloved queen’s knight?”

He glanced at me again, his eyes narrowed. “Yeah. That one.”

Grateful for the awkward silence lifted, I straightened up as he pulled the now well-cooked meat off of the wood panels and started to rip them into tiny pieces with his bare hands. “Well you see, my queen ordered the castle builders to follow her vision completely accurately. Her vision was quite strong and she even drew out the design herself so her builders could follow it perfectly.”

“Huh.” Minki handed me a plateful of the shredded, steaming beef. “She seems pretty cool then.”

“Oh, absolutely.” I took the plate and sighed contently. “Her attitude is one of my favorite attributes. Even when she is being tormented by any of her less-than noble subjects, she speaks to them calmly and intelligently.”

“So there’s absolutely nothing wrong with her at all?” Minki raised an eyebrow and put a piece of beef into his mouth.

The natural answer to come from my mouth was “no”, but something surprisingly stopped me from speaking quickly. “…there was a…certain moment where I believed my fair queen had overlooked something…” I felt uncomfortable to say those words.

“What happened?” Minki asked.

The atmosphere was quiet in the ballroom of our proud castle. I had only ventured into there to check for any intruders or anything out of place as my queen kindly instructed me to. Today was the day a new knight would be assigned to protect our queen, but my first impression of him was not good. There was a pleasant smile on his face and a light air behind his walk, but I did not trust him. He had a certain quietness about him that made him seem like he was planning certain kind of scheme. I wandered around the ballroom lost in thought, my face narrowed in concern and thought.

“Minhyun?” A calm, beautiful voice sounded from behind me.

I turned around quickly and immediately lowered my head politely. “My queen.” I moved my arm across my chest. “I am pleased to announce that everything in the ballroom is in order.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” My queen smiled.

I remained in my position, already knowing not to lift my head in my queen’s presence unless ordered to, as I heard her footsteps draw nearer to me. Then to my surprise, I felt her fingers graze the tip of my chin.

“I want to ask you a favor, Minhyun.” My queen said. She lifted my chin and my slightly widened eyes met her light brown ones. I was a such a loss of words at her beauty and physique that I couldn’t answer her right away.

“…w-what would that be, my queen?” I managed to stammer.

She smiled sweetly at me. “Would you lead me in a waltz around this room? If only for just a few minutes?”

Her question made my head spin and my heart explode with anticipation, but I agreed nonetheless. In just a couple minutes, we had circled the entire room, dancing in the silence of music but in the noise of our breathing. I dared not get too close to her, but she was quite comfortable to get closer to me, resting her palm across the back of my neck and the side of her flawless face against my head. I felt as if this moment would ultimately lead to my death and I honestly didn’t care if I died right then and there. But then the image of the new knight’s face popped up unexpectedly and it made my mood dampen.

“…my queen?” I asked quietly.

“Yes?” Her soft voice was almost like a whisper against my ear.

“…the new knight… Sir Aaron… don’t you think his behavior is just a little suspicious?”

“Why do you say that?” The queen slowly lifted her head away from mine so our eyes could meet.

I lowered my head. “I know he says he means well and wants to protect you like Jonghyun and I…but there’s just something about him that doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Could it be that maybe he’s not from this area?” The queen asked.

“N-no, it’s not that.” I shook my head quickly. “But I see something in his eyes…especially when he looks at you. I don’t see any love or respect… I see something darker.”

The queen was silent for a moment and I took the moment to apologize for my honest comments. She lifted my chin again with her soft fingers so our eyes were meeting.

“I wouldn’t have chosen Sir Aaron to become my knight if I didn’t trust his intentions.” My queen said. “I’ve requested of you to trust in your queen many times before, Minhyun, and now is another one of those times. You do not have to worry about Sir Aaron. Do you understand?”

 “Yes, my queen. I will trust you.” I quickly agreed but my heart was still not moved. The nagging feeling in my heart remained ingrained until the ceremony where Sir Aaron would be added as another noble knight our beloved queen. It was that day when everything suddenly dropped into chaos…