"Princess YooA?!"

Ten looked down at the girl he held in his arms. "Princess YooA?" He asked in disbelief as he suddenly furrowed his eyebrows and stared at her with an even more intense look.

How had he gotten there? One moment, he had been saying goodbye to Yuta and had set off on a journey. The next he had been caught stealing an apple by the royal guards. And now? He'd almost bumped into a person with a black mask, making them almost fall back, before he caught that person. Making that person's black mask fall off in an instant, revealing that it was actually a girl. And not just any girl, but Princess YooA, to be exact.

"Let go off the Princess this instant!" One of the royal guards called out.

"Ah crap," Ten mumbled as he stood back up straight and let go off YooA in the process. He glanced back to look at the guards who made their way to him before he turned back around and jumped on the roof of one of the nearby stands. He went on jumping from rooftop to rooftop, until he jumped back on the floor of an alley and was gone.

Mijoo looked back over at YooA to see how she just stood there. Frozen. She only stared off at who knows what with a dazed look.

"This idiot has fallen already," Mijoo said as she shook her head and clicked her tongue. A sigh escaped her lips as she made her way over to the girl before the royal guards could. "Come on, before the palace people get you."

At those words, YooA snapped out of her frozen state and looked up at Mijoo. This time she was more alert and aware of the fact that the royal guards were heading in their direction to take the Princess with them.

"We need to run," YooA said as she heard the guards calling out to her.

Mijoo nodded and the two started running off down a street and into another. Soon they reached an empty alley and stopped to catch their breath. "Princess, huh?" Mijoo asked in between breaths.

YooA who leaned agaisnt the brick wall behind her glanced over at Mijoo. "Do not even start with that," She said as she faced the wall in front of her. "Did the others see?"

"I don't think so," Mijoo said as she shook her head. She thought about it for a moment before she realized they had gotten separated from Kihyun and the others who hadn't noticed they'd gotten left behind. "How do we find them now?"

YooA shrugged. She clutched the black mask tightly in her hand as she looked down at it. "I do not know," She mumbled as she kept staring at the black mask. Frustration came over her and she suddenly kicked the wall behind her as she cried out, "How did I let myself get caught so easily?!"

Mijoo sighed as she watched YooA go crazy, not knowing what she could do given the fact that she'd only been in that world for two days and could barely even process what was going on. "YooA, I know you're feeling really disappointed in yourself right now for being seen by everyone, but we should probably head off and find the others."

YooA who had been kicking the wall continously came to a halt and turned around to face Mijoo. "You're right. Let's go find them," She said as she started gaining her senses back. She looked down at her black mask and put it on before she started heading down the alley. "If my predictions are correct, they should have made it down to the poorer area of the kingdom, where most rebels surface."

~~

"Hand back the princess to me, or else I do not know what I will do with this sword."

"Never. Even if I have to hide in the mountains, even if I have to cross the forbidden forest, I shall never hand the princess back to your filthy hands."

"You are my brother."

"Family no longer means anything to me."

"Are we really going to have to do this?"

"I guess we are."

Sending each other their final glares, the two boys, princes, who had grown together as brothers, launched at each other with their swords of which had been specially crafted for their use only when they were born.

Clashing sounds of the swords were heard as the two brother's began their fight, sweat trickling down their faces as they shuffled back and forth and made several spins and turns. Panting heavily-

"Will you two not stop playing around already? We have to prepare for the ball," A loud voice interrupted the playfight of the two youngest princes'.

Jaehyun, the middle child, quickly turned around and bowed before he stood straight and apologized to the eldest of the three who stood at the door with a flaming glare in his eyes. Jaemin, the youngest of the three, groaned as he stomped his foot and turned to look at his brother. "Why must you always ruin our fun?"

"Fun?" Scoffed Jaehwan, the oldest prince of the three, the loudest and brightest, and the heir to the kingdom. "Is right now a time for fun? Our parents have died, we have no king or queen, I must get ready for coronation, and you want to have fun?"

"Sorry Jaehwan," Jaehyun mumbled under his breath as he faced the floor and held his hands together like a five-year-old.

Jaehwan nodded and turned to Jaemin who, unlike Jaehyun, sent a glare to him as he held his fists at his sides. "You two should go get ready for the ball. Go get fitted for the clothes you'll be wearing now."

"Yes hyung," Jaehyun called out immediately while Jaemin only mumbled a small, "okay."

The two younger ones watched the eldest of the three walk out the giant doors as they closed behind him. Then they turned to each other and Jaemin was the first to speak as he let out a groan. "Why? Why has he changed so much? That guy right there," He said as he faced Jaehyun and pointed at the large doors, "is not my brother."

"Seriously Jaemin?" Jae Hyun asked as he rolled his eyes and started walking away. "How many times do I have to tell you, Jaehwan is still our same brother."

Jaemin watched the older guy walk away as he, himself, came to a sudden halt. He shook his head as a sigh escaped his lips and his hand went up to his hair, looking up at the painting in front of him. "No, Jaehyun. The brother I know would always laugh with us and join us in every game. In fact, he would always start and then we would join. He is just not the same since mom and dad died."

Hearing the younger's words, Jaehyun stopped walking and turned to look at his brother. A sad and pitiful look crossed his face as a breath escaped his lips and he looked at Jaemin with a softer gaze. "Tell me, Jaemin. What was Jaehwan supposed to do when both our parents suddenly died right before his twentieth birthday? You were almost twelve, and I was fifteen. We are lucky to have had him take care of us after that. What else could he have done."

"Laughed with us, comforted us, told us everything was going to be okay even if it wasn't. Not shut us out from his life as he worried by himself and busied himself with millions of other things to the point that he could not even remember our birthdays."

Jaemin let out a shaky breath after letting all of that out and faced the door as he quickly blinked his eyes to stop anything from falling. Jaehyun was ready to call out for his brother to stop, as he held out his arm to reach for him, but he shut his mouth and watched him walk out the doors. He knew Jaemin had had it hardest after think he death of their parents, having been so young and being the most used to attention.

"He's right," Jaehyun mumbled as he glanced at a painting that hung on the wall in front of him. It was a family portrait. Jaehwan, Jaehyun, and Jaemin all standing behind their parents who sat on fancy golden chairs. It had been painted right before the death of their parents, and Jaehyun remembered that day so clearly it scared him a little.

That Jaehwan would have never forgotten our birthdays. He would not have put work before us. He would have joined us in our fun. He would not be the way he is now.

The white rabbit closed his book shut as he watched Jaehyun walk out of the room. He looked around, making sure no one was left around before he hopped into his normal human form and began walking around the room.

"This room is too small for the ball. . ." He mumbled as he walked around and observed the place. "If I'm going to get around this palace during the ball I should learn everything now."

~~

"I can not believe we lost them," Kihyun groaned as he kicked the wall.

Wonho who sat on the floor beside him shifted away, afraid he would get kicked by Kihyun. "Yeah, I swear they were behind us one moment, and then after a while, they just disappeared."

"Maybe they just got lost behind us in the crowd," Jooheon said with a shrug.

"Doubt it," Yein, who leaned agaisnt the wall of the alley with her eyes closed and her arms crossed, said after a moment of staying silent. "I knew we should not have trusted that Mijoo girl. And the person with the mask seemed to have been using us. I say it is better to continue on our own."

"No way," Kihyun said as he shook his head. He thought for a while and no matter how much he thought, he felt like he had to find those two. "They have seen our faces, and Mijoo has a lot of knowledge on us. We can not lose them. If by any chance she were to spread our plans or hideout or something to that masked person or anyone else. . . We would be doomed."

"We can not lose any more time," Yein spoke in her usual sharp tone, "The ball is not far away and we have to attend. We only have the rest of today and then we have to set off tomorrow morning if we want to make it."

"Yein is right," Jooheon said as he stood up and walked to Yein's side. "Let's just spend the rest of today looking for more people to accept into the rebellion and then head back tomorrow. Let's worry about the others tomorrow."

Kihyun looked down at Wonho who sat on the floor and saw him send him a nod. He guessed there was nothing else he could do and decided to go with Yein and Jooheon's words. He was sure he'd have another chance to meet the other two again, but a chance to sneak into the palace of prince Jaehwan was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"Okay, then let's head off now."

~~

It was night time, and it had been hours since Ten had almost been caught by the royal guards. After that he had stayed on the low, trying to figure out how to escape the walls of the kingdom, knowing there would be more guards at the gates and all around the wall, searching for him.

If only he hadn't stolen those things. Actually, usually it wouldn't have mattered that much, but just because Ten had the luck of running into the princess at that exact same time, the guards seemed to have thought he'd taken her or something and were more on edge than before.

"If I climb the wall. . . I could die," Ten mumbled as he looked up at the giant wall that surrounded the kingdom. His eyes lingered on the wall as he thought about it, before he quickly shook his head and turned around as he returned to pacing back and forth, trying to come up with something.

"I could try a disguise, but I am not sure they would believe it. Besides, where could I get a disguise now? Maybe I could find a store, but wait, no, all the store owners in this kingdom hate me-"

"Are you talking to yourself?" A voice called out from behind him and he quickly spun around and tripped over his own feet, making him land on his .

Ten had been too busy trying to figure out how to get out of the kingdom to notice the two figures behind him. "W-who are you two?!" He stuttered out as he titled his head up to look at them.

"Is that important?" The darker figure asked as it raised a sword up to him.

Following his fast reflexes, Ten jumped up on his two feet and pulled out his own sword that he always carried with him. The tips of the swords touched and they both stared at each other for a moment before the other person, Mijoo, stood in front of them and said, "What's up with you people and having to always take out your swords? Why can't we just talk like normal civilized people?"

"Finally someone who gets me," The white rabbit, who watched crossed legged with his chin resting on his palm as he watched fron the top of the wall, mumbled before he released a yawn.

Ten and the dark figure, YooA, turned to look at Mijoo before they looked back at each other and lowered their swords. YooA took off her mask, feeling herself suffocating from wearing it all day, as she put her sword back in place.

"You're princess YooA, aren't you?" Ten asked as he watched her closely.

YooA who had been fixing her hair stopped and looked at him. A smirk corssed her face and she spoke in a flattered (more like snobby) way, "Of course I am. I bet you are feeling quite touched to be in the presence of a beautiful like princess like myself."

"Not really, no," Ten answered flatly with a blank expression. YooA who had been in the middle of a hair flipped stopped and looked at Ten with an alarmed expression. Mijoo snorted and quickly covered to stop herself from laughing out loud.

"What do you mean by that?" YooA asked as her face grew furious and Ten took a step back.

"I mean, if it were not for you earlier, I would have been able to escape the kingdom quietly and would not be in this situation right now," Ten said with a shrug.

YooA stared at the guy for a moment, processing what he said, and understanding a little more. Although his words still made her mad. "How old are you? It seems like I am older, why do you speak so informally?"

"I am twenty."

"I am twenty-one and the princess, raise your honorifics."

"I do not believe in honorifics and inequality."

"What?" YooA scoffed as she grew more in disbelief with the guy standing in front if her. "It is not inequality, it is respect!"

"Respect can be given in other ways," Ten responded calmly. "For example, if you were less rude, then I would have respect for you and we would not have to be dealing things this way."

"Did he just," YooA muttered in disbleief as she pointed at Ten.

"Oh no," Mijoo mumbled, knowing what was going to happen next from the way YooA was acting. Following her instincts, Mijoo quickly grabbed a hold of the princess as she launched herself at Ten and kept on yelling at him, "You do not have respect for me?! Do you know who I am?! I am princess YooA and this is my kingdom!"

What have I gotten myself into?

 ~~

 "Look, we'll help you out," Mijoo said as she looked down at Ten who sat on the grass. She then turned to YooA who sat besides Ten while crossing her arms and facing a different direction. "And you have to behave now. No picking fights."

"Only if he speaks formally with me," YooA said as she sent Ten a look.

"Only if you speak formally to me too."

"That will never happen."

"Well then the same goes for me."

"Excuse me, but I am actually the oldest here at the age of twenty-two," Mijoo said to stop YooA and Ten from getting into another argument. That wasn't very true, given she was just a high school teenager in the real worls, but this wasn't the real world. She could be as old as she wanted. And also the fact that Haeryung had told Mijoo she was the same age as her with her witch powers or whatever and she was twenty-two.

"Now you two be quiet as I talk. Anyways, Ten, you said you're trying to get out of the kingdom, right?"

"Yes."

"Well so are we, and I am sure YooA can get us out. But we'll only help you if you can take us to the kingdom of Prince Jaehwan," Mijoo stated as she stopped pacing around in front of Ten and faced him. "Can you do that for us?"

"The kingdom of Prince Jaehwan? Hmm." Ten pursed his lips as he thought about the deal he had just been offered. It was a good deal, actually, but there were minor details he had to take care of. "Okay, look, I have to travel to a cave in the forbidden forest, and if you little ladies would follow me there and go through all of that with me, then I will take you to the kingdom of Prince Jaehwan once I am done with the business I have to take care of."

Mijoo furrowed her eyebrows, confused at Ten's words. The forbidden forest? What was that? She turned to YooA to see if she knew what he was talking about, and the look on her face let Mijoo know all she needed to know.

"The forbidden forest?! Are you crazy?! What business would you have to attend to there?" YooA asked in disbelief as she looked at the boy as if he were insane.

"That is my personal business," Ten stated and YooA couldn't help hut feel offended once again and rolled her eyes in annoyence.

"Deal," Mijoo quickly agreed and YooA turned to her with wide eyes as she practically yelled, "Are you crazy?! Nobody ever makes it out alive after going into the forbidden forest!"

"There's always a first for everything."

 ~~

"Jiae! Get over here right now!" A shout so loud that it was heard throughout the whole kingdom of Prince Jaehwan. But the townsfolk were used to it.

Jiae's step-mother, one of the wealthiest people in town, always called out for Jiae at the most random times during the day, never letting her see the light of day. It was no secret in town that the girl was badly mistreated by her step-mother, and the two horrendous step-sisters.

But Jiae was a strong and independent woman. She never let anyone talk over her, and in all honesty, her step-sisters' were a bit intimidated by her.

"What is it now?" Jiae asked with obvious irritation as she walked into the living room where she found her step-mother and sisters crowded around a letter.

"We have been invited to Prince Jaehwan's ball," Yuji, the older step-sister, and more horrendous one, said as she held up the letter and waved it in the air.

"Fantastic," Jiae said with sarcasm as she rolled her eyes. "Is that all?"

"You are not allowed to attend," her step-mother was quick to say and Jiae couldn't help but let out an amused scoff.

"Not like I would have gone anyways. Those things are stupid," Jiae said as she crossed her arms and stared at her step-mother and step-sisters.

"Of course you would think so," Her step-mother said as her step-sisters shrieked, offended at Jiae's words. "You are truly such a plain girl, Jiae. Anyways, I need you to prepare our clothes, and you will also be in charge of our makeup. Also, whenever we leave that night, I expect you to clean the whole house and I will also have a list of other chores for you to do."

"I would not expect it any other way from you," Jiae said as she turned around and headed back to her room, not wanting to deal with the idiots any longer.

"She is truly something," Hyeyeon, her other step-sister, said as she shook her head.

Thank you all of my readers for reading this chapter and subcribing and commenting and being wonderful!

I hope you enjoyed this update!

 ~Jackie