The lost boys (and a fairy) were still not entirely comfortable of having the princess living with them and they were trying hard to make everything more convenient for her. They gave her a room to herself, kept cleaning the whole house and treated her with respect and nervousness, even if it was better than they would normally. Especially Soohyun was anxious because of her presence. Namjung gave up telling them to treat her normally and thought it was a bit cute. It was understandable that they would be a bit nervous.

“This is about the arranged marriage, isn't it?” Dongho, who had came to discuss things, spoke up.

“Oh, you're here. You always see right through me, huh? Well, it is, actually. My grandfather... he told me that I can marry someone who I want to marry, if I find someone suitable in two months. But I didn't want to tell it to the others, because...”

“I understand... it's complicated and a bit private, right? So, what are you planning to do?”

“I don't know,” she sat down and frowned. “I just knew that if I stayed in the palace, my chances would be even smaller. I don't think I will succeed anyway. But I still have to try... I was thinking of dressing up as a poor girl and mingling with the ordinary people in town. You know, it is almost impossible to find a genuine relationship if everyone knows you're a princess.”

“Dressing up as a poor girl might be a good idea. But you know it's gonna be hard to fit in, right?”

“I know... then, could you help me? Sorry, I don't even know what I want you to do... I just...”

“I'll see into it... Hey, don't worry... you'll find someone, I'm sure...”

“Thank you, Dongho,” she smiled. “You are my only friend. Oh, shall we go to where the others are?”

They went to the living room, where Hoon, Kevin, Kiseop and Soohyun were discussing something seriously.

“Are we interrupting?” Namjung asked politely.

“Oh, no, my princess, please take a seat.”

“I get that you are all a bit nervous, but please at least stop calling me princess. Call me Namjung. You look older than me anyway, how old are you?”

“I'm 232 years old, prin- Namjung-ssi...” Soohyun replied nervously and blushed a bit when he realized he had said her name.

“You see, I am only 203 years old. So drop the formalities,” she smiled. Soohyun just nodded and looked away.

Dongho studied the scene in front of him and tilted his head. Interesting... He glanced at Namjung, who was her usual calm self. He thought for a while. I'll have to think this over thoroughly later.

Shinmi was walking across the board and stopped when she saw her best friend in the back of the ship, attempting to hide from anyone who could see her (but failing to do so) and studying something there. She went over to her.

“Giyeon-ah. What are you doing here?”

Giyeon shot up, grabbed Shinmi and pulled her down, pressing her finger against her lips to signal to her to keep quiet.

“What does this mean?” Shinmi whispered.

“I'm trying to find out anything that will help us get out of here,” Giyeon replied, also whispering.

“Don't be like that, Giyeon-ah, what if you get caught?”

“I won't... I have to risk it. I think I might have came up with a plan-”

“What are you two doing there? Huh? Get out of there and go to work!” a pirate suddenly popped up behind them and pulled them to their feet harshly.

“If I find you slacking off one more time, you'll get punished! Really, what do they think they are? Paid employees? Little rascals like you shouldn't be tolerated... You're lucky I'm in no mood to deal with you!” he scolded them and went away.

“What did I say?” Shinmi said as they were leaving the place.

“I'm sorry! But trust me, it's worth it...”

“Giyeon-ah... stop it, it won't work anyway. It never did. We're lucky he didn't hear anything and let us go. If you keep doing this...”

“I won't give up! I need to get out of here. I hate pirates more than anything. You know it. But... Shinmi-yah,” she grabbed her best friend's hand. “If it worked, you would go with me, right? You would escape with me? I can't leave you here alone...”

Shinmi was a bit taken aback. “...it's impossible anyway. There's no point in such questions.”

“Kiseop, what were you trying to say when we talked before?” Kevin brought up the forgotten conversation. It was an evening already and Kiseop and Kevin were in Kiseop's and Hoon's shared room now.

“Oh, right! I almost forgot. Well, you've been upset about not being able to do anything to find your sister. And I thought of – I'm not saying it will really help – a possible way to possibly give you a possible hint.”

“Really? What's that? I'll try anything! Tell me, Kiseop!”

“Yah, don't get so excited. It maybe won't help at all. Besides, it will be... really uncomfortable for you.”

“Kiseop, you're driving me mad. I get it, I won't blame you if it doesn't work, just tell me already!”

“It's simple. You know I make magical potions. I can make potions that will bring back your memories. You will practically hallucinate and see the events again. Well, you do remember it, but your sub-conscience might have seen something you didn't really pay attention to. So if you drink my potion, you will see the event again and you could observe... look for any signs that could help you. Names, faces, signs, symbols, whatever you will see or hear... but it will certainly be painful for you to watch all this again...”

“But... it won't hurt me to try, right? It... it sounds good. I want to try it. I can bear the memories,” he added quickly. “You have no idea how many times I've replayed the scene in my mind.”

“It will be different. It will feel as if you were living it again. Very authentic. Very live.”

“I understand. When can we do it? Let's not waste time!”

Kiseop nodded, stood up and started searching for something on his shelves. He returned with a small bottle.

“I have a couple of bottles of different potions always prepared,” he said, handing it to Kevin. Kevin took it and observed the transparent fluid in it. “Remember, it's just a memory and you're looking for hints. You can feel hopeless because you won't be able to move as you wish – you only observe. I'll be beside you all the time.”

Kevin drank the potion and his vision got blurry, but started to sharpen right away. Except what he saw wasn't Kiseop's room, but the inside of a hollow in a tree. Kevin felt like crying, but no tears were escaping his eyes. No wonder, he was too scared to cry at the time this happened and his current emotions couldn't affect the memory. It was a funny feeling, he felt his body move when he didn't want to and when he tried to move, it did nothing. He mentally shook his head (because he couldn't actually do it) and focused on observing.

“Oppa!” he heard suddenly. My little sister. He started crawling out of his hide-out. He already saw the little girl running near the place. But before he could do anything, a silhouette of a big pirate appeared. No. No, let her go, you dirty pirate! Kevin screamed in his head. He tried opening his mouth to sing and hypnotize the pirate, but it was of no use. He could only watch his sister being lift... again. Focus, Kevin, he thought. He was frantically looking everywhere he could to see anything that could help him. But there was nothing. He couldn't even see the pirate's face. He was going to lose all his hope. If he could control his body, he would close his eyes to stop it. But little Kevin didn't close his eyes back then. So Kevin was forced to look, no matter how frustrating it was. And at that moment, he saw the pirate lift his arm and put his sword, covered in blood, into the scabbard. This brought Kevin's attention to the scabbard* and his eyes (mentally) widened when he saw a big emblem embroidered on it. The pirate went away. “Oppa! Oppaaa~” his sister cried out and Kevin's vision started getting blurry again.

“Aaaaah!” he screamed out loud and was taken aback because he could really hear his voice this time.

“Kevin? Kevin! Are you okay? It's okay, it was just a memory. I'm here, do you hear me? I'm Kiseop!” Kiseop was trying to calm Kevin down as he knew the male fairy must have been frightened.

“What happened?” Soohyun and Hoon barged in after hearing Kevin's scream.

“I gave him a potion to relive his memories,” Kiseop explained. He met Soohyun's death glare. “What? I had good intentions and he wanted it!”

“Did you see anything?” Hoon was the one to ask. The other two brought their attention to Kevin too.

“I saw... M.”

“Huh?”

“Just... M. In a circle.”

In the meantime, Eli was recovering from the shock that Shin Dongho, the one that he was assigned to help get rid of, the one his father wanted to harm, had saved his life. It was such an irony. He wasn't blamed by his father for what had happened in the Vast Plains. What the hell happened anyway? No one knew. But Dongho... from what Eli had observed, he was a good person. Yes, pirates were bad guys, of course they harmed good people now and then, but... it just didn't feel right to harm Dongho. Moreover, Eli owed him his life. Was his father in the wrong? No, Eli never thought of his father like that. He never doubted his decisions. He always did what he was told by him and never questioned it. But... Eli started to have doubts. But he was trying to push them away, not to think about it.

Eli unconsciously ran his hand over his chest and a strange item stayed in it. He observed the object he was now holding, it was some kind of a cheap bracelet. Weird, where did I get this? He never held on items like this nor did he know anyone who did. The only weird places he had been at lately were... the Vast Plains and the place Dongho had brought him in. The Vast Plains... right, there was that girl I grabbed... it probably is her, it must have gotten caught on my clothes and stayed there until now. Umm, my bad, it's priceless... I should just get rid of it, he thought and raised his arm, prepared to trow the bracelet into the water.

“Young master, the Captain would like to discuss something,” he was interrupted. He unconsciously slipped the bracelet into his pocket without even noticing and went to see his father.

“Yah, stop following me!” AJ shouted at Hyona, who was giving him puppy eyes.

“I want to go everywhere you go,” she said with a smile.

“You're so creepy.”

“And you're so dreamy. See, it rhymes. We're destined.”

“Jung Hyona!”

“Yes, jagiya?”

“Nevermind.”

Woohoo, I unexpectedly wrote a chapter today! Lol, I loled by myself at the last scene. Hyona going on stalker mode.

*By the way, a scabbard is the case you put a sword in. It's an unusual word, lol I've looked it up on Wikipedia because I couldn't even remember how to say it in my own language at the moment.

@Grey_Storm: Don't jump into conclusions, haha. Maybe she is, maybe she isn't :P *teasing* Namjung doesn't have anyone in mind in particular yet, I hope it's clearer in this chapter :) Lol, looks like you're gonna be the only one to comment. Anyways, I love you for commenting!