“This is not good, isn’t it?” Donghae asked, as soon as they reached and walked into Kyuhyun’s and Sungmin’s cottage as Hyukjae had suggested to stick together for now. The attack on the King had been a mere hour ago, and Hyukjae, as the guard that he is, instantly tried to help the other guards to calm everyone down and to guide people back safely towards their houses. He was eventually allowed to go to safety himself, and he had dragged his waiting friends along with him.

“I don’t even understand what just happened,” Ryeowook sighed, worry and fear written all over his face, much like Donghae’s. “Is the King dead?”

“He is not dead, he is cursed,” Hyukjae replied. “I saw it myself.”

Hyukjae had instantly sprung forward as soon as the King collapsed and was one of the first people to check on him as others were too afraid to close in on him; scared that maybe whatever the King was suffering from was contagious. As soon as Hyukjae seemed to be alright being close to the King, though, all the other guards on duty took over and Hyukjae started helping with calming people down.

“Black magic… I don’t understand, though. We never did the Witches of Viribaea harm,” Hyukjae continued pensively, and he slumped down onto a brown leathered couch.

“How do you know it’s the work of the Witches of Viribaea?” Ryeowook asked, curious and confused, and he sat down next to Hyukjae, who instantly put his arm soothingly around him, as he could see how fed up Ryeowook was feeling at that very moment.

“I read about them. You saw the King somewhat vomiting black liquid before passing out, right?” Hyukjae asked, to which Ryeowook slowly nodded as his answer. “It’s a side effect from a ritual. Rituals like these are committed by Witches, and as far as we know, the only Witches existing are those from the Fields of Viribaea.”

“Who says it weren’t the Wizards from Miracul Island?” Sungmin interrupted a little too suspiciously for his liking, but he was still overly anxious of being discovered even though it had already been an hour ago and no one had questioned either him or Kyuhyun in that time.

The moment the people on the plaza had started to panic, and the moment some guard had looked directly to Sungmin who was the only person not panicking as of yet, he just knew he was exposed. But the guard strangely enough had turned away and had started to aim his attention on Jongwoon. Ever since then, Sungmin had expected guards to come and arrest him, and he still thinks guards can storm their cottage at any moment now.

So anything that could lead to the truth had to be questioned; Sungmin had to try to make people believe other things, because the less they knew, the better and safer it was for him and Kyuhyun.

“Wizards don’t do dark magic rituals,” Hyukjae stated matter-of-factly, and Sungmin wisely said nothing in return, as he had already reacted suspiciously before, which luckily had gone unnoticed by the others.

‘Did your father say anything? What should we do, Kyuhyun?’ Sungmin contacted Kyuhyun in mild worry the moment Hyukjae continued his knowledge-sharing about the Witches of Viribaea, and Kyuhyun continued staring at Hyukjae with interest while replying.

‘He said to stay low for a while. We need to cover Jongwoon and find out what he will do, and in the meanwhile Ordova and Orar will continue setting up their army and march here as soon as possible.’

‘So we can’t go home yet,’ Sungmin concluded, disappointed.

‘Not yet, but soon,’ Kyuhyun replied solemnly. Sungmin was not allowed to know, but deep inside he was happy he wasn’t allowed to go home just yet. He was pretty sure Jongwoon needed him at this very moment, especially after his father was deadly cursed. And somehow, deep inside, Kyuhyun wasn’t ready yet to leave Osis or his supposed fake friends. Despite missing his family, the thought of leaving Osis and his “friends” behind made him sadder than the evening his parents had left him at the walls of Osis to start his mission. He was not yet done here, and until he was, he wasn’t going anywhere.

It had only been 6 hours since his father had collapsed on stage in front of dozens of people, but if you told Jongwoon it had been more than a week ago he would instantly believe you. That was how slow the time had passed for him. It was seriously dreadful.

“King,” someone suddenly exclaimed hesitantly, and Jongwoon, who was sitting on the windowsill of his bedroom-window staring outside, turned around to glare at that person who dared to call him King. A small fragile old man with a somewhat ridiculous purple outfit stood in the doorway and stared at him questioningly; wondering if he was allowed to come in.

“As long as my father is alive, I am no King,” Jongwoon replied coldly, while gesturing for the man to come inside, who looked nearly relieved that he was allowed to come in, and who looked regretful for the word he had used to address Jongwoon as soon as Jongwoon had finished his sentence.

“Yes, I’m sorry,” he mumbled, and he bowed in apology like someone would only do to his King. Jongwoon eyed the man warily, and felt slightly awkward as no one had ever bowed to him before. “The elders request your presence.”

“The elders?” Jongwoon repeated, as he somewhat remembered a group of old men that his father had once introduced to him as the town elders; men with a lot of knowledge who advised the King in nearly everything.

“Yes, sir. They are waiting for you downstairs in the guestroom,” the man said, and he bowed again before leaving; he was just a messenger, he didn’t felt like he should stay in his … King’s bedroom any longer uninvited.

Jongwoon watched the man leave in what seemed like a hurry, and sighed as he knew he had to go downstairs to meet these wise men. It was not something he felt like doing though. He still was unaware of how his father was actually doing, as the doctor had taken his father to his own house and hadn’t come by with some information yet. As long as his father’s wellbeing was still an unknown fact, Jongwoon just wanted to stay in his room doing nothing other than worrying. And he was worried alright; awfully worried.

He trudged down the stairs and went straight for the guestroom. Three old men were talking with each other rather heatedly, but stopped the very moment they noticed Jongwoon walking towards them. They all stood up and bowed, and Jongwoon couldn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes at it; bowing to him seemed to be the new trend in the castle.

“We have news about your father,” the seemingly oldest man said, and Jongwoon instantly was all ears and sat down next to another elder, who eyed him fatherly.

“Is he well? Will he be better?” Jongwoon hopefully asked, his hope reviving as fast as a dragonbird can fly. It stopped as soon as he saw the facial expression of the man next to him, though.

“He seems to be in some kind of comatose state. Probably cursed. We don’t know this curse, though, as we from Osis stay away from the Witches of Viribaea. The doctor knows no cure as well. Your father, Jongwoon, is moribund. I see no other option than for you to take over his job and to return peace to Osis. If Ordova finds out about this they will most likely attack us, and we are in a vulnerable sta—“

“Excuse me?” Jongwoon interrupted, listening to the man in utter disbelief. “My father is not dead yet, and until he is I will not give up on him. Hope isn’t gone yet, my godfather might—“

“We have no time for this. Ordova will find out, and they will attack our city. The people are too scared and confused now, you need to stand up as King and guide them!” the man nearly yelled into Jongwoon’s face, not having expected Jongwoon to disagree with the made decision, and Jongwoon looked at the other two men astonished, who averted their gazes rapidly and said nothing.

“But my godfather can help him,” Jongwoon replied in mild anger, not believing that these elders who had worked with his father ever since before he was born would just give up on the man this easily, when help was just a few days away.

“Your godfather is located in Atlum, no one is foolish enough to go there,” the man who had been speaking since the start replied solemnly, and Jongwoon gaped.

“I can—“

“You can not,” the man ended the discussion with authority, and Jongwoon couldn’t help but feel agitated. What was this man thinking? “You will stay in your room until further notice. Please prepare for your future job.”

With that, the three elders stood up and walked out, leaving a rather flabbergasted Jongwoon behind. Weren’t these men advisors of the King? Why were they forcing him to do what they had chosen and he highly disagreed with?

He waited for a while for the elders to have left, before he walked to the front door of the castle himself. Like he would just sit inside and do nothing, what did these men think, really? Jongwoon barely listened to his own father, let alone three old unknown men.

Besides, the men had said his father was cursed and dying. He couldn’t just sit inside and do nothing while his father’s life was at stake. He didn’t want his father to die just like that. He—He couldn’t. He loves his father, he really does. And he still needs his father too. If his father dies like this, Jongwoon had never once in his life made his father proud. He would not be able to live with that.

“Halt!”

A sudden sword was shoved in front of him, and Jongwoon eyed it warily.

“You can’t leave,” a guard attached to the sword mentioned, and used his sword to point inside, so Jongwoon knew where to head to. Or more like where he was allowed to head to.

“But—I need to see my friend. My fath