“Excuse me, sir?” Chiyeon walked up to the royal advisor of the elves, Jungkook. She braced herself to lightly tap his shoulders, but her fingers went through him as if he wasn’t tangible.   “A ghost?” Aeri gasped, letting go of the cool front others usually perceived her as. She readied her long bow towards Jungkook, plucking the string backwards as it magically drew an arrow out of thin air. She had enchanted her weapon with some magic that allowed her unlimited ammo.   “No, not a ghost,” Chiyeon said, flinching and panicking when she saw the other had drawn a weapon. She moved her hands hesitantly, asking Aeri to put it down. “These people aren’t real. They are all just an illusion.”   The princess let down her guard as the arrow disappeared on its own when the string was softly released from her fingers. “An illusion?” She questioned with a frown.   “Mirage Forest obtained its name because it is filled with illusions. I’ve read about this too,” Chiyeon said, suddenly turning more serious as she was deep in thoughts.   Aeri noted this Chiyeon person liked to read a lot. She must’ve been a very studious and intelligent elf girl. Aeri felt proud and relieved that their race had someone as dependable as Chiyeon, though she was afraid to voice out her opinion out loud.   “Could this perhaps be one of your memories?” Chiyeon suddenly questioned. Aeri flinched, but Chiyeon soon dismissed her own conclusion. “Couldn’t be. This is your first time in the palace.”   Aeri hesitated whether she should keep going with her lie or let it be. It seemed to be hindering Chiyeon’s thoughts and knowledge.   “Uhm, either way, I think I know a way for us to escape this illusion. But I would need your agreement since you might not like it that much.”   “Go ahead,” Aeri simply granted permission. She was sick of the palace anyway. She joined the battle because she wanted to escape her fancy birdcage. She was sure her family granted instant permission because they knew many participants would die. The king had not changed one bit. Ever since her birth, he had always tried to get rid of her.   In the middle of her nostalgic thoughts that unconsciously built her rising anger, Chiyeon suddenly splashed ice cold water over them, followed by a high pitched shrieking from the two girls.   They squinted their eyes, shuddering from the cold. And when they opened their eyes, they were somewhere else.   Tall monogamous trees, dark green in color, surrounded them like a huge barricade. Every path in between the trees looked identical, and one was guaranteed to get lost. It was quiet, though they heard the occasional sounds of beasts and other forest animals roaming around. Considering how dark it currently was, it suddenly became more scarier.   “It worked! We broke through the illusion,” Chiyeon cheered for herself, forgetting that Aeri was completely lost at what had happened. The thing with Chiyeon’s knowledge was that she tend to forget others were not on par with her wisdom.   “Where are we?” Aeri asked, still shuddering from the cold. Her hair and clothes were all wet.   “We’re at the actual Mirage Forest, one where we aren’t consumed by its illusions.”     Namjoon raised an eyebrow of interest when he realized the grassy road beneath his feet had suddenly turned into a snowy pavement. The windy breeze morphed to a chilling temperature. He was sure he heard Jangmun clattering his teeth from the cold, though the guy tried his best to remain as composed as possible.   “It seems we are no longer at the forest of dreams,” he said. They had been walking for minutes or hours, following that broad path that led them to another place. At the end of the road, a huge palace was sighted, made entirely of shimmering and crystallizing ice.   “I wonder if anyone is in there,” Namjoon, as per usual, did all the talking as Jangmun replied either with a head bob or a shrug. He never disagreed—pissing off Kim Namjoon should never be tested.   Namjoon whistled a tune as he leisurely walked to the palace with the other trailing behind him. But the closer they got to the humongous icy entrance, the more noise they heard inside. In particular, an all too familiar voice.   “Yibyul!” Namjoon yelled instinctively. His inner strength was tremendously magnified as he let out a loud battle cry. He focused all his power towards his fists, bonking the icy gate furiously. A small crack appeared, but the ice was too thick to break through.   He kept yelling, more enraged than before. He continued slamming the door to no avail. Until something quick swooshed by, causing the entire door to break and fall into pieces.   Namjoon looked to the side, seeing Jangmun’s arm all stretched out with the multi-barrel handgun in his hand. Smoke was emitted from it after a successful aim.   “Thank you,” Namjoon was always polite with his words and walked inside the empty palace. He knew Yibyul was there and had to be extra cautious. “Jangmun, stay here. We don’t know who we’re dealing with. So keep your identity a secret.”   Jangmun nodded and lowered his arm. He still remained on constant guard, ready to cover Namjoon if he was in danger.   Namjoon furthered his stroll inside the ice palace, and was soon met with an incredible sight as soon as he entered the main aula.   Yibyul had pulled out her daggers, charging towards Biah who was a much more easier target judging on her weak physique.   Biah gasped, holding unto her staff with trembling hands. On the side, Jongdae had taken a seat on the throne to leisurely watch the battle happen. Unbeknownst to him, the tiny white dragon, Bacon, was fishing for something in his pocket. Was the dragon actually busy trying to steal money while Yibyul was targeting her meal?   “You’re mine now. Tee-hee~” Yibyul shouted with a devilish giggle. She jumped up with great agility that matched an assassin’s, and swiftly made her way to Biah’s front in no time. In that split second, everything went in slowmotion, and she could taste the delicious fear on the human’s face.   Before she could stab her weapon into the prey, she completely forgot all about Hoya. Right on time, the knight knocked Yibyul’s hand aside, flinging the daggers away from her grip. The playfulness on her face turned to shock, and Hoya took this chance to swing his sword towards her. He would’ve slashed her hands off, if only someone didn’t pull Yibyul away from his aim with remarkable speed.   Hoya widened his eyes in shock, stopping midair with the sword frozen in his hand. He saw Namjoon’s sudden appearance who was closely hugging Yibyul by the waist. His signature smile was changed into a cold frown for once, and that made it all the more scarier.   “What’s your name?” Namjoon suddenly asked.   The question caught Hoya off guard. “That's none of your business,” he answered, glaring at the other.   “Lee Hoya, I presume.” Namjoon watched the human’s surprised flinch, proving he had just made a correct guess. He smiled at that. “I will make sure to remember you,” he said kindly, but there was something unnerving about his words. He then took Yibyul’s hand in his and pulled her away.   “Sorry, I was just hungry,” Yibyul apologized with a pout, for she might have angered Namjoon.   “That’s okay. We will eat soon.”   Yibyul’s frown returned to her bright smile. She then turned her head to the rest who were watching them leave, and waved her arm. “Bye humans, I had fun. Let’s play again next time.”   The rest were simply perplexed, not knowing what had actually happened.   “Are you okay?” Hoya interrupted the silence as he checked his wife for any wounds.   “Of course. Because you protected me, just as I knew you would.” Biah smiled. When her husband so worriedly placed his hand against her shoulders, she began to giggle instead. He still made her feel so giddy inside.   It did not reassure Hoya even a single bit, because he realized his mistake allowing her participation in the battle. She had an unbelievably amount of trust in him that he could not fulfil every single time. She depended too much on him, which was dangerous.   “You need to learn how to defend yourself,” Hoya told her, but the words just seemed like foreign language to her. He grew even more worried now. He had to stay by her side, forever.   Baekhyun watched the couple with some sort of sympathy. “Seems that human girl is only good at healing and not for any offense attacks, right Yeon- Holy mother of bacons, what are you doing?!”   He was completely baffled when he saw Bacon and Yeonji dropping some Gold coins into a pouch she always carried around her waist. “Did you—” he stared at Jongdae and back at her, “Steal from him?”   “I’m simply borrowing without the intention of returning it,” Yeonji told him with an overly sweet smile that somehow made her theft appear acceptable to him.   “Hm, I was hoping we would experience our first death. The parting of a married couple would be interesting,” Jongdae sa