A sweet melodious voice of a fifteen year old girl filled the one of the rooms behind the high walls of the Haesang palace. The chirping birds became one with her random singing for the day as she was getting ready for breakfast. Her room was very neat and tidy since she rarely stayed in the room to begin with. Right out of her window was a tree which she strictly told the royal gardeners not to take down ever since she was little.

Once a hearty morning meal with her family, each and every one parted ways just like any other day. The girl sighed as soon as the door of the dining hall closed behind her. Unlike her brother, she had no particular plan besides reading a good book at the garden just as her previous days. Walking aimlessly through the seemingly numerous number of hallways, Kim Jiyeon, the Princess of Haesang gathered books mainly the ones she had not read yet and instantly went to the palace garden.

Being the ones that possessed the water element, the Haesang palace had its own not just one but two different gardens in the palace ground. Both held its unique characteristics and had different atmospheres. The chosen garden by the Princess would be her typical spot whereby the Sun shone brightly, giving her all the necessary natural light to read or doing any other activities of her choice.

Leaning her back on the bark of the same tree in front of her room’s window, she took a moment to calm herself down for the adventure she would dive in her new book. She had not read any fictional books lately as her parents would want her to read something more intellectual. Sure, she liked skimming through them as that what makes her constantly trying to beat her brother at but she also loved to let her brain loose by imagining things involving an interesting character and plot which she might never experience.

The book she had been holding is a book titled ‘Between Two Realms’. The title itself had intrigued her to buy them during a merchant visit at the palace entrance. She was there wandering around but seeing that the man could use some help, she advanced without any second thought. Judging from the first few pages, it reminded her of Navillera. The similarity was uncanny. Maybe it was because the writer got inspired from the land while trading or something. That sounded possible.

As Jiyeon was deep into the story she had been reading for the past two hours, she overheard someone coughing by her side. Looking up, she saw one of the royal gardeners, his son to be exact. She smiled when she saw his bright smile that she swore it could outshine any working light bulb. They did not talk for seconds until he decided to burst the bubble. “You didn’t come down by the lake garden, Lady Jiyeon. I thought I should remind you that or the flower will turn droopy.”

“Oh my, what is the time?” Jiyeon asked almost instantly, arranging the books in stacks. Unfortunately, she did not manage to finish the book which was so unlike her. “It’s only one in the afternoon. It’s not too late to pay the garden a visit. I’ll take my leave.” The young man bowed slightly before walking out of the garden without realising Jiyeon following a couple of steps behind him before parted ways.

She placed her books that thankfully not many (just three of them) on a nearby table in the hallway. Her legs immediately continued to bring her to her actual location of the day but once she realised it was on the other side of the palace ground, she increased her pace to a run before a chestnut shade of brown sparkles floating around her. Flying fast, she zoomed through on of the hole located on the top of the wooden door leading to the second garden.

Flying passed a water pump where she saw a filled wooden bucket, a trail of water followed after her butterfly form, forming a single line of water over a flower bed of various coloured flowers. Going back and forth, she ended her daily watering routine by perching on a stone bench by the water pump. Transforming back to her human form, Jiyeon let out a long tiring sigh and stared at the flowers thoughtfully.

“I’m sorry for being late again.”

Making a circular motion with his right index finger, he propped his chin using his left arm out of boredom. The small bubbles of water followed his smooth movement which he put his entire attention at the moment. His surrounding was filled with the typical sounds of water sprinklers, lawn mowers and rustling of trees. It was then he had to accept the fact he was indeed back in his hometown.

His mother’s voice reached his ears, causing the waters to spur in different angles in a blink of the eye. “Are you slacking off again? Didn’t I tell you to fix the water sprinkler up at the north east of the grape yard?” Mrs Jeon stated somewhat calmly which was rather surprising. “Why bothered fixing the sprinklers when we can just conjure water out of our hands to water them, mom?”

“Well, if you want to pass out after draining your energy, please do.” Another female voice randomly joined the conversation. Glancing to his left, he saw a girl who happened to be a year younger than him but with almost the same height as his. Jung Yein had been that one neighbour living next door that practically knew about Jungkook way too much. Too much at one point she could list his weaknesses just for the sake of fun.

“Why are you here then? Don’t you have things to do?” Jungkook questioned with intention to chase her away because her presence was not helping him to cope with his tension. He rolled his eyes before getting back to play with water that he conjured out of his hand. Creating a mini tornado, Yein simply shook her head as well as Jungkook’s mother. Just when he thought they left, he heard her replying aloud to her mother calling by her full name. If there was one thing he could put into the same category, it would be the loudness of the mother and daughter. They literally screamed five metres away from each other.

“Alright, I’ll fix the sprinkler. And then I can continue with whatever I was doing?” He said when his mother instructed him with the same work. As he walked towards the mentioned spot, he saw Yein walking with her back facing her actual direction. And it was not a safe way to walk if he was to add. She did it on purpose. “Why are you walking backwards?” He finally asked when he was nearing to the edge of the cliff.

They were many flat grounds in Haesang as it was where most of the fertile soils for farming purposes were but some preferred living higher than others for the view of the vast sea that seemed infinite. The hill where Jungkook called home was not the highest in Navillera but it was high enough for Jungkook to suddenly scream when Yein suddenly fell off the cliff out of shock.

His body jumped from his spot to the edge and his head looked downwards. The tense shoulders however slouched as his eyes rolled in annoyance upon seeing a familiar golden brown coloured butterfly fluttering in front of his eyes. He could hear her laughing in his head and he stood up from his apparently crawling position. After dusting of the dirt of his shirt, Yein flew within his side playfully.

She immediately flapped in panic when she saw him smirking at her. She knew what had installed for her which was why when Jungkook was about to blast her, she already left in the fastest pace she could. He scoffed unbelievably when he knew his plan did not work. There were still bits of water floating around since he was still in control of it. He randomly threw the leftover over to the grape vine behind him. Not expecting his mother yelling his name and wet… because of his carelessness.

“Mom! My goodness, I’m sorry about that.” He apologised before jogging towards her to help.

Back at the palace, Jiyeon had decided to stay by the lake garden longer than usual. None of the servants seemed to call her for lunch which she assumed they might be at the other garden trying to find her. It was her typical routine to visit the lake garden after breakfast but for an unknown reason, she felt like switching her habits around.

It looked strange when the gardener’s son came by, reminding her about watering the flowers but to many it was not an odd thing as the Princess would always offer a hand in tending the particular garden. She treated the flowers as if it was her friends by talking. Not to say she had no one to talk with but she felt a tingling connection through communicating with plants.

Standing up from her seating position, Jiyeon walked nearer to the flower bed where she crouched to be off the same level as the plants. “Don’t look at me like that Daisy. It’s not my fault Rose doesn’t remind me to come by today. At least Hoseok swung by the other garden to remind me of you.” She said before pouting at the animate yet not verbal living creature. She burst laughing every time she realised her actions which made her stood up again.

The lake garden had always been the silent part of the palace ground as not many preferred to walk distance just to be there. Besides the royal gardeners, she had a good feeling she was the only one that loved to come by after breakfasts. That thought though did not linger long in her mind once she made out a familiar figure from her spot.

The crystal clear lake in the Haesang palace situated at the corner of the palace’s map. From what she knew, the lake was not supposed to be within the palace’s boundary but seeing that water is their strength, it was only logic to let it be in instead of having it out. Sounds of water splashing reached her ears as she advanced towards the lake where the figure was found.

Upon closer inspection, the figure was not a stranger after all. It was the Crown Prince of Haesang, her one and only brother, Kim Myungsoo. She stopped a metre away from him to see what he was doing, careful not to disturb him. ‘So this is where he’s gone to in the afternoons? I bet he’s here when I left after watering the garden.’ Jiyeon self-concluded the information she managed to gain within seconds.

Seeing that he was conjuring a massive bubble of water right in front of their eyes, she could not help but to gasp in surprise. She never witnessed someone forcing all the water droplets to form such huge sphere of clear water. Myungsoo, who heard the sudden gasp, broke his current attention causing the water to splash into multiple directions which unfortunately included them. Drenched, he turned around and got ready to yell at the one responsible for his distraction. Upon knowing it was his own sister, he softened.

“What are you doing here, Jiyeon?” His question was a short one but that did not stop from her to answer lengthy. “I’m here all the time in the morning but I forgot to stop by to water the plants today. So, here I am, watching you conjure up the biggest ball of water! How did you even do that?” A small smile appeared on his face.

“Well, I can see that.” Myungsoo responded as his eyes landed on the sparkly flowers that his sister already tended. Of course he noticed it the first step he took entering the lake garden for his daily now-not-so-secret practices. Why a secret? That was because his mother would not let him do any sort nuisance regarding their powers unless necessary. She preferred seeing the royal Kim siblings anywhere in the palace ground, reading.

“What book she made you read this time?” He asked and they sat by the lake. Looking up at the bright afternoon sky, Jiyeon replied, “I finished most of the books she told me to read but today I decided to read a fictional one.” Ended her answer with a long sigh, she turned to look at her brother.

“It’s about a guy who lives in two different worlds. It sounded a lot like Navillera minus the parts where he rides a horse as a form of transportation. I bet he must be so good-looking while doing it though.” She continued before laughing when she saw Myungsoo’s typical shake of the head whenever he started to judge her. “Imagine as you wish, Jiyeon. Who knows it might happen one day? You’re only fifteen, there’s a lot to anticipate. One day someone might come through the gate and-”

“And it shall be a very charismatic Prince, riding his majestic white horse handsomely! That sounds so nice, don’t you think? I wish that is possible.” Jiyeon said hopefully and it almost seemed that her eyes dazzle just by the single thought of her imaginary scenario which crashed when Myungsoo added.

“I was going to say some peasant coming in with a donkey full of more of your favourite fictional books but that works too.” He chuckled, causing the Princess to pout before pushing the Crown Prince into the water. “Now who’s laughing?” She stated playfully with her arms crossed. It was indeed downright different from her gentle self.

As she was distracted, a force of water hit her hard on her torso, pushing her to land on the ground. She whined helplessly when her robe was then twice as soaked. A hand came in her view thus pulling her up. “We need to change if we want to eat lunch later though. Come on.” Myungsoo good-naturedly informed and the two walked towards their respective rooms.