Walking down the main hallway of the palace, the light silver haired prince hastily bowed and waved over to the other royals he bumped onto as he was heading to a destination in mind once escorting the Navillera to their rooms. Conveniently for them, he simply instructed the palace servants before entrusting his good friend to make sure those people would not run away from their actual job.

Upon stopping at a recognisable dark wooden door at the corner of the passage, Prince Hyunsik gently landed his fist on it, knocking to gain the attention of its occupant who he knew would be in the room based on her schedule he almost memorised in the back of his mind. He only needed one set of taps on the door for the Crown Princess to peek behind the opened door. Mouthing an ‘o’ with her lips, it showed how surprised she was to see him at that kind of time.

Well, to be honest, Crown Princess Park Chorong already knew as in why the prince being in front of her room. They were close friends after all so he quickly informed her about the visitors coming to their island. “Visitors you say,” She spoke in wonder before a smile appeared on her face and he continued, “Yeah, come down by the throne room. There are five of them, four men and a girl.”

Once the news was told, Hyunsik made his leave with intention of adding an extra eye on the progress. By the time his figure was nowhere to be seen, Chorong closed the door, a subtle thud filled in her room as she advanced towards her window. She heaved a sigh where mix of emotions swirling in her heart. She talked with Hyunsik about this very day before out of randomness. Never had she thought it was happening.

When she gazed out, her eyes found to be fixed on her friend’s silver lock before a stranger’s figure appearing to jog over to them where a female palace servant carried two small crates in her hands, taking the burden off her with a hint of curve forming on his lips. His eyes seemed smaller than Hyunsik as he spoke something to the other.

“It’s alright, it’s my things anyway.” The words escaped the Seonghwa’s prince’s mouth while he transferred the crates from the taffy pink haired servant easily. The servant whom went by the name Yoon Bomi merely rejected the idea by voicing the fact the other should be resting before meeting with the rest of the Iseung’s royals especially the Park family.

“Another Park royal family huh? Why are they so powerful in both lands?” The prince, Changsub mumbled questioningly with no intention of letting the male by his side to hear. “Ah, I guess your place is ruled by the people of the same surname? Can it be they are related?” Hyunsik said in a friendly manner as he too good-naturedly took a handful of boxes in his hands before gesturing the other prince to place his on a cart.

“That’s possible, interestingly.” He replied whilst nodding. The two of them simultaneously walked to the insides of the palace building where his friends would be waiting for their stuff to arrive. “Prince Hyunsik, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Since you guys are just like us too, does that mean you have elements you can control?” Changsub questioned. It was the first few coming to his mind ever since they left homeland. If possible on his side, even before the voyage.

“We do. Two elements. I can show you mine but there need to be a plant within my reach. But if you want to see both, the Crown Princess is capable of showing the two at once.” Hyunsik told as if that was the most normal thing for the one from Navillera. “Wait, she can control both? There’s no one can do both on my land. There are the Seonghwa who conjures fire while the Haesang who bends water. Never both at once.” He fascinatingly mentioned, gaped at the new-found fact.

“She has the advantage since her parents has their distinct powers individually. My guess that might be how she actually can control both. On the other hand, there are disadvantages.” They were already in front of Changsub and Minhyuk’s room when the last statement came out of Hyunsik’s mouth. “And that’s for more conversation in the future. Anyway, I think you can just rest for the day. I’ll come when it’s time for dinner.” The Iseung’s prince said before leaving him.

“Changsub, why are you standing there?” Minhyuk eyed on the prince when he heard voices from outside so he decided to check out only to see Changsub stood idly, staring to nowhere on particular. “Great, you brought my things too.” The gate keeper spoke amusingly and moving half of the stuff from the trolley. Following his action, Changsub too started to join. In his mind, he kept on reminding himself to not over think of the capability held by the Iseung royals.

“Minhyuk,” The prince called in the midst of unboxing their things as they somewhat predicted their time on the island would take a while. “Do you think it’s possible for someone in Navillera to possess two elements at one time? Because from what Hyunsik told me moments ago, their Crown Princess can do both.” He told, grimaced at the number of tops coming out of his bags once he was done with the wooden crates.

“I don’t know but it can. What are their elements? Did you ask?” Minhyuk questioned before plotting his body on one of the single beds aligned against the wall. His eyes were kept busy by scanning the grey ceiling where yellow coloured bulbs hung a metre away from one another. “I did but he said something about needing a plant within his reach.” Changsub replied as his eyes glanced at the other once he tucked away his clothes in one place.

“So they can control the plants. I bet Hoseok would be the happiest person alive if he possesses that power.” The Seonghwa gate keeper randomly noted fascinatedly and saw the prince merely staring at him with his eyes furrowed. For someone who seemed to venture strangest places within the palace grounds, he had no idea who the older one might be talking about. “Jung Hoseok, one of the royal gardeners in our palace. He’s the one with sunset orange hair.” Bobbing his head, only then Changsub acknowledged the fellow’s existence.

“When are we meeting the Iseung royals again?”

“You know the ladies. They always take a lot of time to get ready but for Naeun to take this long? This is strange.” Ilhoon being the one closest to the princess informed once the time slipped through the night, darkness concurring a part of the sky as they met right outside of their rooms with Changsub stifling his laughter after hearing the younger’s statement. “She was not kidding when she wants to find herself a man in a foreign land.” It was Sungjae’s turn to sprout facts about the missing princess.

“Did she really say that?” Minhyuk asked as he had slight doubt since he did not expect her words to be an actual truth. “Are you labelling me a liar? Of course she said that. Oh, speaking of the princess…” The cheeky prince decided to pause on his words without any intention of finishing in the first place. The seemingly endless chatter between the males in the hallway with the only Iseung prince present halted. Hyunsik turned his attention from the guys and his gaze instantly fixed on the centre of attention.

“How come I never see you wearing anything like this back at the Haesang palace, Naeun?” The prince of the same part as her questioned out of pure curiosity. To be frank, Princess Naeun was simply dressed in her favourite bubble-gum pink full-length dress where a white ribbon wrapped around her waist making her appear apparently different than the ‘normal’ dresses. She just thought it would be nice to wear something decent for a good first impression. “You can stop staring, you know. It’s disturbing.” She spoke softly but the one who retreated away from the glare the fastest was the Iseung prince himself.

“Anyway,” Hyunsik stuttered, earning a couple of glances and by a couple that meant by Changsub and Minhyuk as they were the nearest to him. “I’ll you to the dining hall. The Park royals are already waiting for you.” He added on in a hasty manner before spinning on his heels and strutted away and the others trailed along the long hallway.

Opening the door, Prince Hyunsik gestured for the fellow Navillera to enter the grand dining area situated not far from their rooms. It only took them about four minutes or so they thought compared to the distance the Seonghwa princes would often take for them to reach their respective dining room in their quarters. Upon stepping into the room, the oldest prince was amazed by the interior design of the place.

One thing he quickly picked while going about the Iseung palace ground so far, they preferred to use a lot of wood element for their structures and decorations. Other than the walls and support systems which held the building for many years, the dark hardwood would be their choice for the chairs and tables arranged in the rectangular hall. Red carpet underneath the table with the same shade of colour as drapes only enhanced the richness shining brighter in contrast to the night sky from outside.

“Prince Hyunsik, did you tell the Crown Princess about our guests today?” The Queen voiced a question over at the male in a motherly tone. The kind of tone that would easily ease any tension that greeted in their consciousness. By the time the question reached his ears, Hyunsik was already by the royal couple’s side with a wide smile on his face. If it was to grow wider, his eyes would disappear. “Yes, I did your majesty. Even if I didn’t, she’ll be here for dinner anyway.”

“Of course, don’t just stand there kids. Please do have your seats. The dinner will be served soon.” The King casually told them and he saw the dark silver haired fellow hesitating yet he was the first to signal the leader to pick his spot before he would choose his.

After a round of introduction, it was only then Changsub noticed Hyunsik joined the dinner as well which was unexpected and uncanny from his point of view. Was he supposed to stay? Shouldn’t he be heading back to his quarter for his dinner with his family? Maybe he was staying in the same quarter as the Park family for all he knew. The Iseung did have very different style compared to the ones back in Navillera after all.

“Ah, what takes you so long? Thank goodness the food was just served so it’s still warm.” The mother in the room inform as a female figure entered the room, gathering all attention to one point. But one pair of eyes lingered on her a bit too long and she sure noticed the sensation of being stared at. However, when she looked at the source, he was already diverting his gaze to answer her father’s question.

“Prince Changsub is here with his friends and they are such a warm bunch. I don’t mind getting new visitors like this in the future. What are your plans for tomorrow?” Looking at his fellow friends by his side, Changsub meekly nodded his head once after placing his utensil gently on the plate to answer. It was only then the corner of his eyes catch the Crown Princess sat across him. “With all honesty, your majesties, we still have no plans or whatsoever to do here. All I had in mind was to find out if there are indeed more people like us beyond our island.” He simply said.

“How about Prince Hyunsik take you and your friends out for a quick tour around our island? I know he will be more than willing to do so since he will still pass his exams even if he skips a few classes, am I right?” The mentioned one almost spewed whatever he was chewing after hearing the statement coming out of the Queen’s mouth. Did he mentioned they were that close with the other to be able to be visually that close. It was at one point of control, he dabbed his lips with a napkin before straightening his position.

“Sure, only because technically I have only one class tomorrow. I don’t think Teacher Kim would mind my absentees.” He told but the female by his side revealed another interesting fact, “Teacher Kim will never mind about your absence in his classes, Hyunsik. You’re the star student. You’re too precious for him to be kicked out anyway.” She playfully sneaked a glance and as she thought, she saw the glare and heard him saying.

“Chorong! I thought we made it a promise not to tell people about that.” He huffed before rolled his eyes, stabbing the piece of meat on his plate. “Pardon for her words. The Crown Princess can be very annoying at times.” Hyunsik continued which triggered the princess to stop her eating motion. Changing the role in a blink of the eye, the prince cowered as he put his hands up to the side where he could prevent Chorong from hitting him.

“Alright kids, stop. We have guests, remember?” Chorong’s father called the two and they immediately halted. Sheepish laughter escaped their mouths. As for the so-called guests, they simply smiled in return. “My guess we will have to get use at this kind of surrounding.” Minhyuk noted in a friendly manner, showcasing a genuine smile over at their direction.

They proceeded with the conversation, exchanging conversation in the midst of dinner. Chuckles and heart-warming talk filled the room and the oldest female figure sitting in the dining hall did most of the talking from the start. Changsub would turn his head to his left side where Minhyuk easily earned her good side. But behind the cheery façade he put up, the younger one knew the reasoning of his action. He missed chatting with his own mother in such way so it was no wonder for the older fellow to charm his way into the Iseung Queen’s heart.

Unbeknown for the Seonghwa prince though, he was being eyed by the local Crown Princess in keen. Since Changsub was not much of the talker as she pictured upon her first impression entering the dining hall, it only made her more curious of him individually. Unlike the youngest prince in the room who would ask her weird questions about the island, she looked forward for the approaching days with these new people surrounding her.