~ Jiao Lin’s POV ~

After arriving at the Wu palace I got immediately taken away by some of the servants, taking me to a room where I could stay while visiting. Zi Tao had followed closely behind, not leaving me out of sight which made me feel safer. I asked the servants to let my bodyguard have the room next to mine, just in case something would happen. They arranged it like I wanted to and then told us to get downstairs when ready.
 

Soon after unpacking, both me and Zi Tao made our way downstairs to the dining room where all the others already were seated. I noticed that the only one who was missing was Lu Han. And I looked at Joon Myeon surprised.
 

“Where’s Lu Han?” I asked curiously.
 

“Oh, he had to do something and had to go. He’s gone to the city close-by.” Joon Myeon answered. “Don’t worry. You’ll meet him again.” He said reassuringly. I just nodded.
 

Since the trip had been long and tiresome, the chefs had cooked something not too heavy, just a light meal, thinking that we must be too tired to eat. One of the servants told me that if there’s something I wanted or needed then it’s only to ask the servants and they’ll fix it for me. I got a bit annoyed that they only told it to me and not the others, but decided to keep it in for now.

“So… How was your room?” Chanyeol asked with a grin. “How about showing it to me later?” He mischievously added, earning a slap from Baekhyun. Chanyeol faced Baekhyun with a pained expression. “What was that for?” He cried out while rubbing his arm to ease the pain.
 

“Don’t flirt with the princess openly! What if the king sees it? Or… the prince?” Baekhyun answered while looking around the room cautiously. Yi Xing mimicked Baekhyun by also looking around the room.
 

“Well, speaking of that… where is the prince?” Xiu Min asked curiously.
 

“Didn’t you hear? He was too tired to keep us company, and decided to meet his father instead.” Joon Myeon answered calmly.
 

“Is that better?” Chanyeol asked sarcastically. “The king isn’t really… well… quiet…”
 

“What do you mean?” Yi Xing asked, interested to know more. “Is he like Jiao Lin’s father?” He asked excitedly. I sighed.
 

“Well… I don’t know her father so I don’t know. But the king here is definitely not like other people.” Baekhyun answered. “He is sort of strange…”
 

“What do you mean with… strange?” Xiu Min slowly asked.
 

“You’ll see…” Joon Myeon said quietly.

During the dinner, Zi Tao kept on staring at the empty plates after finishing his own food. We were the last ones to finish, and he looked a bit disappointed when there weren’t any more food left. I felt a bit sorry so I waved to one of the servants to come over.
 

“Excuse me… but is there a possibility to get some bread?” I carefully asked. He nodded and soon made one of the chefs take out some bread for us. Zi Tao looked delightfully at the bread, and soon ate happily once again. I glanced over at Yi Xing and didn’t know how to react at what he was doing.
 

I observed him with wide eyes as he was playing with the food, making something out of the bread that looked like small figures. Speechless I just stared at the small figures, noticing that one of them looked like a bird of some sorts and another looked like a unicorn. Right now he was making something that looked a bit like a dragon, and I must say that I was quite impressed.
 

“I didn’t know you could do that…” I told Yi Xing, still astonished. He looked up at me and smiled, showing his cute dimples. The others also noticed what Yi Xing was doing now and they seemed to also be amazed. “But I’m not sure if it’s really appropriate to do that with the food though…”
 

“Mm? Oh! Sorry!” He suddenly said when realizing what he was making the figures of. Embarrassed, he hurriedly put back the bread in the basket, and I couldn’t help but giggle.
 

“I wonder how the servants will react when they see those…” I chuckled, amused by just thinking about it. “Just imagine their faces when they see a dragon and a unicorn made out of bread!” I couldn’t help but laugh out loud, followed by Chanyeol and Baekhyun.
 

Zi Tao almost choked on his bread when he too visualized it in his mind. Crumbs flew everywhere when he started coughing like crazy. Xiu Min patted him on his back to help him. Joon Myeon poured water in a glass and gave it to Zi Tao who gladly gulped it all down, not leaving a single drop.
 

When we all had calmed down and finished eating, one of the maids came to me and told me to follow her back to my room. Since it was quite late, we all had to go back to our rooms. Unwillingly I said good night to my friends and left the dining room, Zi Tao also followed since his room was next to mine. After parting with him, I went directly to the room and sat down on my bed to read my book again. Not tired enough to sleep yet.

I had just opened the book when I heard a thud, and suddenly there was a guy in the middle of the room. Stunned I just stared at the guy, feeling the panic rising. The guy stared with widened eyes at me. It was quiet for a short while, not knowing if I should shout for help or yell at him.
 

 “What the…? Who are you!?” I finally let out loudly, blinking my eyes a few times at the weird incident.
 

“Eh? Ah! Sorry! I didn’t mean to! I mean… I just… I accidentally…” He stammered, lost for words. “I really…” He sighed. “I accidentally… teleported to the wrong place… again…” He scratched his neck embarrassed. I stared with him confusedly, not really catching what he just said.
 

“What? Teleporting…?” I asked puzzled. What did he mean?
 

“Ehm… Just forget about it! Just erase this moment, okay?” He soon said nervously.
 

“No… Why? I want to know! What do you mean with ‘teleporting’? Please tell me!” I begged him, curiously wanting to know if he really did mention it or that I just imagined him saying it.
 

“That…” He started, not sure if he should really tell. “Teleporting means that I can travel-…”
 

“I know what it means! But is it true? You can teleport?” I interrupted him. He looked at me confused.
 

“Eh? Yeah…” He shyly answered. “But I really didn’t mean to appear in your room! I just wanted to find Joon Myeon…” He trailed off when he saw my excited expression. “What…?”
 

“Ah! So cool! Your power is really amazing!” I couldn’t stop myself from saying it out loud, earning a surprised expression from the stranger. “Wait! What’s your name?”
 

“Eh? Oh… Sorry… I’m-“ He got cut off by the door opening, showing Zi Tao and Chanyeol ready to battle whoever had broken into my room.
 

“Who are- eh?” Chanyeol stopped midsentence, surprised to see the person I’ve been talking with. “Kim Jong In? What are you doing here?” He suddenly asked and I glanced over at the stranger again. Then I looked at Chanyeol once more, a bit confused about why he knew his name. But then again… he did mention Joon Myeon earlier…

 

“Ah! Chanyeol! I’m happy I found you! I’ve been searching for you! Where’s the other two?” Jong In asked while looking around. Zi Tao had made his way to sit beside me on my bed and unexpectedly held my hand.
 

“Oh… They’re probably in their rooms, why? Did anything happen?” Chanyeol asked curiously, studying the sudden change in Jong In’s expression.
 

“Right! Let’s go! We have to get Baekhyun and Joon Myeon too! You three have to help me! Yi Fan’s been hurt!” Jong In said in alarm, dragging Chanyeol out of the room with him.
 

Dumbfounded I just sat there on my bed. What just happened?

It took a few hours, but soon the four guys were back with a fifth person. I waited for their return in the main hallway, Zi Tao also with me. They were still in the garden but we could see them coming closer every second. They were talking loudly, and laughing too…
 

Weird… Wasn’t that Yi Fan person injured? Or did I hear wrong? But I’m pretty sure Jong In said that Yi Fan was hurt… that was the reason that they were in a hurry, right…? I shook it off and returned to look at the five silhouettes outside of the palace coming nearer, the door was wide open because I had told the servants that I wanted some air and they wouldn’t let me go outside. I had been worried about the person that was hurt all this time and couldn’t go to sleep because of it…
 

They soon were near enough and I could finally recognize the faces of four of them. Chanyeol was smiling widely as he came closer and seeing me waiting for them. Joon Myeon was talking to Baekhyun and Jong In was smiling widely too. In between Jong In and Baekhyun walked a really tall guy, even taller than both Chanyeol and Li Yuan. I tried to look closer and soon noticed his light hair and handsome face. Shocked, I stared at the beautiful man in front of me and I gulped nervously. Suddenly I felt warm and my heart felt like it beat faster. I tried to calm down when they soon walked inside, Chanyeol stopped in front of me with a huge smile.
 

“Hi! Princess! Did you miss me?” He teasingly said. Baekhyun just rolled his eyes before smacking his friend on his arm. “Ouch! What now? I just greeted her!” Chanyeol cried out with a pout.
 

“Whatever you say…” Baekhyun said with a sarcastic tone and glared at Chanyeol. Joon Myeon and Yi Fan continued to walk pass us, making their way upstairs. “It was only false alarm…” Baekhyun said with a crooked smile and glanced over at Jong In.
 

“What? He was hurt though!” He blurted out. “I didn’t say it was critical…” He sheepishly smiled.
 

“Well… If a scratch is worth getting help for…” Baekhyun began. “Then I don’t know what.”
 

“Jiao Lin! You should’ve seen Yi Fan’s face when we all came to get him though! It was hilarious!” Chanyeol said happily, almost too happily. “He kept on yelling at Jong In, how unnecessary it was to even bring us all. In fact it wasn’t because he was hurt that he wanted help. It was because he needed to get rid of all those girls that chased him!” Chanyeol laughed out loudly, hitting his knees violently.
 

“Eh?” Was all I could say. Not sure why he would need help to get rid of some girls…
 

“Let me explain a bit more…” Baekhyun spoke this time, putting his arm on my shoulders. “So, you’ve seen him now, right?” I nodded slowly. “Well, since he’s really attractive and all that, he needs to disguise himself every time he wants to go outside or else he’ll get chased by crazy girls who’ll do anything to get him for themselves. It’s just that this time… his clothes that he usually uses when disguising, were all gone. And so this happened…” Baekhyun explained it slowly, so I wouldn’t miss anything.
 

“It’s just that he gets embarrassed talking about being chased by girls…” Chanyeol barely got out between his laugh attacks. “And so, Jong In just… well… told a white lie…”
 

It took a while to digest it all, and I thought about it carefully. But then another thought popped up.
 

“Okey… but… who is he anyway? I mean… not everyone can just enter the palace however they want, right?” I was a bit clueless since they’ve been mentioning their friend in the palace before, but they have never really said anything about his position. He looks too handsome to be just a servant… right?
 

“Yi Fan? Oh, sorry! Haven’t we told you about him yet?” Baekhyun asked surprised. I shook my head as an answer and he stared at me for a short while before telling me. “Well… he’s Wu Yi Fan. He’s the crown prince’s younger brother.”
 

His unexpected answer made me speechless. He was Li Yuan’s brother? That gorgeous man is the prince’s younger brother? What?!