Minwoo woke up, got dressed and fed, then went to check and make sure that Lapis had left like she was supposed to. The chamber she had used for the night was empty; only her scent lingered. His next stop was Suyeon’s chamber and he tapped on her door lightly before he eased it open slowly.

“Suyeon”, he called out softly as he turned the light on and looked around the room. She wasn’t there and just as he was about to go check to see if she was somewhere else in the castle, he saw an envelope with his name on it propped up against the baby bed he had made centuries ago. He went over and picked it up and opened it. His eyes went wide as he read the first line and then he sat down heavily on the floor as he read each line carefully.

My dearest Minwoo,

When we talked last night, you asked when I was going to back to Italy and I couldn’t tell you that I was leaving as soon as the sun set. I need to take care of things there as soon as possible so that I can come back to you a whole woman. The events that passed in the time we spent apart changed me and I want to make sure to leave every bit of that person behind me before we start our life again. I knew that if I told you, you would try to make me wait and I needed this.

Please forgive me, I will return as soon as possible.

Your love, now and forever.

Suyeon

He read through it again to see if he could find any clues as to how long she would be gone but there was nothing written between the lines. He got up and rushed to his room to try and call her, she probably hadn’t been gone that long, the sun had only set less than an hour ago. When he called her phone went straight to voicemail. He had no idea what flight she had left on and no other way to reach her. In a of depraved panic, he frantically he dialed the number he had for SooKyo, but her phone also went to voice mail. He left a message this time.

Tell Suyeon to call me as soon as she can.

He hurried to the office the security staff had and burst through the door.

“Why did you let her leave?”, he said to the first person he came to. The man turned to look at him and shrugged.

“She said you knew she was going to Italy for a while so I didn’t think that I needed to get you.”

Minwoo clenched his fists, “Let me see the footage from sunset to now”, he said lowly and the man nodded and they walked together to a back of monitors along one wall. The security man sat down and hit some keys on a keyboard and the scene on one monitor changed. It showed the empty hallway, then two people that came from opposite directions. They didn’t speak as they passed but one of them, he could tell that it was Suyeon by the way she walked, turned and walked beside SooKyo and they left the building together. The limo that SooKyo had arrived in picked them up and after that he lost their position.

“!”, Minwoo said and slammed his fist down on the keyboard and everyone looked at him.

“For all we know something could have happened to them”, he snarled, “I want you to track that license plate and check all flights leaving for Italy, I need to know that she is okay”, he his heel and walked out of the room without a further word.

He went straight to Jinnie’s chamber and banged on the door until a sleepy eyed Hyesung answered. He had crazy bed hair and had a sheet wrapped around his waist.

“Your Majesty”, he mumbled sleepily as he looked at him. He saw the anger on his face and stiffened.

“Let me get Jinnie for you”, he said and left the doorway. In a moment Jinnie stood in his place. He had slipped a pair of jeans on but they weren’t buttoned yet.

“Syung said you looked angry”, Jinnie said as he stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind him.

“She left for Italy”, Minwoo said and crossed his arms over his chest, “she knew I would stop her so she left without telling me.” Jinnie’s eyes widened as he realized that Minwoo was talking about Suyeon. Minwoo handed him the letter she had left for him and Jinnie scanned it quickly and nodded.

“She’s coming back though, right?”, Jinnie said and Minwoo nodded.

“Then stop worrying, she knows what she is doing”, Jinnie said gently and reached out at touched Minwoo’s arm.

“I’ll do no such thing”, Minwoo snapped, “anything could happen to her there and I can’t do a damn thing about”, his face was dark with anger. Jinnie sighed and gripped Minwoo’s arm gently.

“You can’t make yourself sick with worry, Minwoo. She needed to go take care of more than just her belongings, right? She knows that she needs this time away. When she comes back, she will be the woman that she was before”, he said as he handed the paper back. It was like the words had taken the wind out of Minwoo’s sails and he sagged slightly. He folded the letter and tucked it into the back pocket of his pants and scrubbed his face with his hand.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you, Jinah. I just wasn’t expecting her to leave so suddenly. I wanted to have time to tell her goodbye first”, his tone was mellow and he hung his head in shame.

Jinnie pulled the short ruler in for a hug and patted him on the back.