The second day at the foreign island flew by breezily and for once Changsub was awake before the sun hung on the sky without anyone waking him up. Glancing to the other single bed beside him, he saw Minhyuk’s back as the older fellow was facing the other way, still in slumber. He must be very tired from all the lengthy palace tour yesterday to wake up early as he recalled him doing back in Seonghwa.

Before they were sent off to their respective rooms, with Hyunsik leading the way, he showed them a way around the Iseung palace ground. He even opened a couple of doors leading to his favourite spots with Chorong accompanying Naeun along the way. Seeing that it was only the earliest of morning, the Seonghwa prince decided to make his way out of the room and headed over one of the palace’s garden.

His choice of garden was the one with trees standing tall by the high walls which enclosed the area. As it was entering the summer season, most of the flowers planted within the area were growing beautifully, showcasing its colourful and vibrant shades just as the ones back at his homeland. The only difference it had was the strength it held on the inside of the stems making it having the ability to stand on its own without any form of support system.

Prince Changsub landed his bottom on a vacant bench in the middle of the garden as his eyes wandered whilst inhaling the fragrance morning air. Was it just his thought or his reason of being there changing? His mind began to retrace back to the conversation with the royal couple of Iseung. He noted the calmness in the aura radiated by these local as they welcomed them who came from Navillera. Are they expecting them or something? He had no idea but by the time he wanted to conclude his thoughts, he heard a recognisable fake cough from his front.

Turning his attention from wherever he was staring, Changsub found the Crown Princess’ figure leaning by the door. She then made her way into the garden with both of the hands behind her back and pursed lips. Once she was near about a metre away, Chorong titled her head sideways and spoke, “I see you’re already making use of the places Hyunsik showed yesterday.”

“Yeah, I’m not actually an early-riser to be honest so I just go wherever my legs bring me to.” Changsub replied before scooting to his right to make a space for the princess to sit. He heard him sighing when she plotted herself on his left and noticed her eyes were on one of the flower beds. “Well, I’m not an early bird too but I’m trying to be awake as early as possible. I have extra classes here and there. I also need to head to the village centre from time to time to check on them since my mother is not really in the best condition to do it.” She explained and got a couple of nod as a respond before she looked at him.

“How about you? What do you do back in Navillera? Compared to Minhyuk, you’re not much of a talker, are you?” Chorong genuinely asked as the curiosity got the best side of her. “I just don’t have anything much to talk about. Minhyuk is the gate keeper so he is the one who sees anything interesting happening between the villagers and royals. As for me, I only attend learning session and sparring with the other princes. So you can say I’m leading a semi-boring life.” He laughed at the end of his sentence.

“No life is a semi-boring life, Changsub. It’s the way you see it determines everything. Have you guys figured out how long you’ll be staying here?” She stated questioningly as her eyes tore off from the sight of flowers to look at the male’s side profile in wonder. Shrugging his shoulders slightly, he made his reply short, “I don’t know.”

For real, he did say he had no idea why he is there now that his reasoning seemed to change. So to set down a period of time to stay in Iseung was not something within his reach at the moment. Hence, the silence greeted the two royals of distinct lands. “Well, the three of them, Prince Sungjae, Prince Ilhoon and Princess Naeun already made plans of leaving soon. I don’t know how. Perhaps by sea since flying is not optional.” He said one of the few things he overheard from last night.

Yes, last night. A lot of things actually happened last night besides the palace tour. The eldest prince was sure he was not supposed to a part of the conversation or discussion rather since he was not invited in the other princes’ room. Sungjae was relatively a loud talker after all so not much information was kept secret throughout the talk.

Continuing off with a random topic such as exchanging subjects about the others’ island and such, they realised the many difference of the system and the element included. Yet there was one thing interest Prince Changsub the most. He heard the princess sighing again for the day before speaking.

“Hyunsik aren’t supposed to tell people about that. No one other than my parents and him know about my dual element.” Chorong pouted and her nose scrunched as a sign of disappointment when Changsub asked about her power. “My mother told me I should only use one out of the two. I mastered the ability to control plants faster as it is easier to handle while the other…let’s just say it’s kind of destructive if used wrongly.”

“Do you mind showing? Well, I’m not forcing but I guess it’s fair to say our elements can be dangerous too. We had a war and huge joust because of them.” He mentioned and only then he noticed the female was indeed staring at him but switched view immediately after. “Oh, what are yours then?”

“Clearly you weren’t really paying attention to Minhyuk’s explanation during the dinner.” Changsub lightly scoffed with a smirk visible on his face. But he did not leave the Crown Princess in wonder for so long before extending his right arm out. Before she could question him, a blaze of fire conjured steadily on his palm. It vanished into thin air as soon as he closed his palm.

“I think I remember now. Seonghwa is the one possessing fire while the Haesang possesses…water, is it?” Chorong gleefully told as she clapped her hands once to show her level of excitement like she was playing some sort of guessing game. Holding in a laugh in the back of his throat, Changsub merely smiled since he could not restrain from doing so. “Yeah, you’re right. To make things even, tell me the other one.”

Once the oldest prince of Seonghwa stepped out of his room, he might have closed the door a tad too loud for the gate keeper to return back to his sleep. He was partially awake as his body already got use to waking up early for work. Lightly groaning, Minhyuk lifted his body off the bed before he saw a stray of light began to pass through the drape, indicating the morning had indeed came.

The dark silver lock on his head was ruffled, making it appeared messier than it supposed to but that was the least of his concern which brought his legs to the nearby bathroom down the hallway. When he was out of the room with towel wrapped around his neck, his eyes found the Haesang princess walking out as well in the similar fashion.

“Good morning, Princess Naeun.” Minhyuk good-naturedly said with a bow and a smile plastered on his face. Giggled at the appearance, she made her reply short before heading to the vacant bathroom. Seeing that he stopped in front of the younger princes’ door, Naeun quickly washed up to make way for the older to do the same. By the time she was done, the fellow was already leaning by the wall as he waited for his turn.

Since staying in the room was more boring than she ever thought in her life, Naeun instantly exited the place with her steps softly walking to a location she remembered Hyunsik showing. Speaking of a prince, she suddenly went of a train of thought without her realising it. Her mind rushed to the plan they made regarding leaving the island. What happened to the excited Ilhoon she once witnessed back in Navillera? He appeared to be persistent about the trip home too. It had only been a one night stay.

Princess Naeun’s mind then halted from any further thinking when a recognisable light silver hair appeared in her peripheral. He even called for her name a couple of times only to have no verbal response until now. Curtly bowing, Hyunsik returned the gesture with a single nod. “What are you doing roaming around alone in the morning?” He asked as he too happened to be walking around Park’s quarter.

“The room is getting stuffy for my liking so I decided to walk around on my own.” Naeun frankly answered and saw Hyunsik bobbing his head again. “Since you’re awake, how about early breakfast for everyone? We can head to the village centre right after. That way we can have extra time to show around the island.” He suggested with a bright expression while tilting his head slightly backward, showing the direction of the dining hall subtly.

“That sounds nice. I’ll tell everyone.” She swiftly brushed pass the prince’s figure, leaving him a bit disappointed as she left a bit too early for his liking. She was the only female in the group of voyagers yet the way she portrayed herself to strangers such as him and the others seemed fascinating. “What am I even thinking?” He whispered upon grasping where his mind was heading.

Moments flew and they filled their stomachs with delicious meal served by the kitchen servants, the group exited the hall with excitement, anticipation and nervousness? At first, Changsub thought Hyunsik would be the only one leading the trip to the village centre but when he saw particles of yellowish sparkle zooming above their heads, Hyunsik shook his head because the Crown Princess last minute invited herself to join in the fun.

It was lively, the village centre compared to the one in Seonghwa. He did not know in a Haesang point of view but judging on how Naeun clinging on Ilhoon’s arm as she pointed her surroundings, he could only assumed Haesang was very different from Iseung. Some of the local villagers would wave and bow over in their direction in respect. They were the royals after all, minus Minhyuk but they did not know that since Changsub kindly lend him his clothes.

“I believe you guys are truly lucky.” The group of people from Navillera turned their heads to Chorong as she beamed a smile as she showed a piece of paper in her hand. Passing it to the nearest person who happened to be her fellow friend, Hyunsik skimmed it before he too smiled. “She’s right. It’s starting tonight. How did I forget about this?”

‘Forget…as if I would forget this.’ The Iseung prince added in his mind after he was done and gave the paper to Minhyuk for the rest to see. “There will be an upcoming village event called the ‘Moonlight Dance Festival’ at the village’s square. That sounds fun. What is it about?” The eldest one questioned with eyes clearly thrilled just by reading them.

“It’s a celebration where the people, villagers and royals alike gathering to see the moon at its highest point. It happens every three years and people are expected to bring partners.” Chorong did the honour of explaining before looking at Hyunsik for him to add on. “Not that it’s compulsory but at least the feast is amazing.”

“Hey, I went with you all the time. Was I a bad company or something?” The Crown Princess frowned which made the one in question hissed in pain when he felt her powerful slap on his arm. “We weren’t even dancing, Chorong.” He told, “Besides, feel free to find a new partner because I want to experience the dancing part at least once in my life. It’ll be weird to dance with you.”

“Why?” The one word question came from Prince Changsub whose eyes were constantly glancing at the two friends, completely aware they openly arguing in public, something he would never picture happening in Navillera. “It’s slow dancing. We will have to stand so close. May nature forbids it from happening to me with her.” Hyunsik laughed in a joking manner but obviously she was not amused.

When they reached the end of the of the village centre, Sungjae spoke an interesting fact. “This reminds me a lot like in Seonghwa. Does every village centres end with a dead end like this?”

Just as told, lying in front of them were rows of trees standing in clusters, creating a dense forest as a boundary to whatever it might lead to. The Iseung royal never been deep into the forest before but apparently Crown Princess Chorong hastily proceeded on walking with Prince Hyunsik trailing behind in worry.

“Chorong, you know better I was playing.” Hyunsik comforted the female from metres away while the others simply stood behind in the same worry expression showcased on their faces. Patting him on his back, Changsub advanced forward to head over to the princess but then they felt a trembling sensation underneath their feet. Being the only ones aware of her power, the prince was fast enough to shift into his butterfly form and held her shoulders once he returned back to his human state in seconds.

Soon, they heard the rustling trees around them before the trees’ branches grew closer to the group stood around the area in confusion. Eyes landed on the Crown Princess’ static figure, Changsub gathered his friends closer as the only princess latched herself on Ilhoon’s side. For some one appeared to be brave on the other, there was still a hint of cowardice in her body.

Crawling closer to their perimeter, Minhyuk instinctively grasped onto an incoming branch as a way to prevent it from coming closer and stabilising his position on the shaking ground. Unconsciously, he unexpectedly igniting a small fire on the plant and before they knew it, the movements stopped. Followed after was a scream from the Iseung’s Crown Princess. When they were sure everything was alright, Changsub was the first to arrive by the pair’s side.

Prince Hyunsik was shaking her shoulders as an attempt to regain Princess Chorong’s consciousness since she knocked down for an unknown reason. “Maybe she overused her power.” Changsub pondered logically based on his experience being in the midst of sparring session in the past. He heard Minhyuk panting beside him so he turned his attention on him instead.

“I’m fine, if you’re wondering.” The gate keeper voiced in between his panting. Thankfully, he was not stumbling on his own words. He did not know what was going on with his body to make out the current situation they were in. “What was that anyway?” Sungjae asked when he took note the still atmosphere around them. Hyunsik craned his head from gazing at the princess and replied with a small knowing smile.

“That is her first time that her double-element showed at once, in the open.”