HyunAe moved towards bedroom and sat down on her bed. She didn't use it for sleeping much, mostly as a place to sit.

Her room was a mess, having left all her treasures out and all over the place. She glanced over them quickly, her brother hadn't thrown anything away, yet.

But the more she thought about her treasures, the less she wanted them. She would give up all of them, for the warmth and comfort of his hand in her hand again. She wouldn't see him again though, her father was probably angry at her for associating with someone like that.

She would be cooped up in her room all the time and not be able to go out anymore. She sighed sadly, she should have watched the time better when she went exploring but then she wouldn't have met him at all.

And that would have been even more disappointing.

A knock at her door interrupted her muse and she laid back on her bed, about to pretend to sleep in case it was her father when the door opened. She knew that it wasn't her dad, he would have announced himself before entering.

That meant it was only one other person in the house, "Yunho oppa." She greeted him without even looking at the door. She had just gotten comfortable and she didn't want to get up even for him.

"Tired, baby sis?" He asked her, moving towards her bed and lying beside her. 

"A bit. Is Father really mad?" She asked him meekly. She looked at him and she could see the tired circles forming under his eyes. He had been working too hard lately with the overambitious elites of the kingdom trying to get a higher position.

"At you, yes. At your friend, no." Yunho answered her tiredly, "You really need to stop going out after dark, he worries for you a lot. There are people who aren't very friendly."

"I know. You tell me all the time about the people that are vying for a position closer to the throne but Father only wants to keep you at his side." HyunAe replied.

"If you know, HyunAe, then you should do it. Stop making him worried. Though, I think he will stop being worried now." Yunho said. 

"What does that mean, oppa?" HyunAe asked him. "What is Father making me do? Will I not be allowed to leave the castle anymore? Will I be stuck reading in the library again?"

"Father has asked that friend of yours to stay closer to the castle grounds and that's all that I'm allowed to tell you." Yunho said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" HyunAe said, raising an eyebrow at him. "You can't be saying that my friend will stay longer, are you?" 

"I can't say anything, baby sis. You're just in a for surprise tomorrow. Father won't punish you, but you will have to learn responsibility and fast. You're not getting any younger. You will be Queen one day, you know." Yunho told her.

"You're my older brother, oppa. Why can't you be King?" She asked him.

"I passed the age where I can be King. I needed to be married at the time and I am still not." He told her. "You're the heir to the throne now."

"I will accept this, but what if I don't find someone I love who I can marry?" HyunAe asked him, worried. If there was no heir to the throne, then an election would have to be held and all those power-hungry merman would be vying for their chance to win.

"I'm sure you will fall in love, HyunAe. It's you, after all. Just make sure that the person you say you love is the person you can't live without. Or else, it's not true love." Yunho told her, before giving her hug and leaving the room.

Closing the door behind him, he sighed to himself. If only he could follow his own advice.

---

Yonghwa swam straight home to his mom, where she was waiting for him before she ate dinner.

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay. You were gone for so long. I wasn't sure if I had to go to the kingdom and bail you out or something." Her mom told him, gripping him into a hug.

"It's fine, umma. I'm fine. The King just had something to discuss with me." He told her.

"Come, we can discuss this over dinner, you must be starving." His mom said, setting the table and giving him a plate. They ate in silence at first until his stomach was nearly full.

"The King wants me to hang around the kingdom more often." Yonghwa told his mom.

"That can happen, you can work less and it'll be fine." His mom said.

"He's willing to pay for us to move closer to the Kingdom. And he'll give you another job there." Yonghwa said more clearly.

His mom's jaw dropped and she swallowed slowly. "Well, that's definitely big news. All you did was his daughter back and he wants us to up and move closer?" She asked him.

"His reasoning was that he can trust me. He can trust me enough to her back to the castle no matter what. I'm guessing court politics are crazy." He reasoned.

His mom frowned slightly, "They are, I know that for sure. It's the whole reason why we moved out here in the first place." She told him.

"How do you know, umma? Does it have to do with appa?" Yonghwa asked her. 

"You don't know but there was a time where we all lived close to the castle. You were a small infant at the time. Your father wanted a spot as an elite, there was an opening and he ran for it. But he was a middle class and many of the elite greatly disliked that. And they eliminated him in the only way they knew how. He disappeared mysteriously in the middle of the night. And was never seen again." His mom told him. 

"The politics of court are that bad?" Yonghwa asked her. "They got rid of appa?"

"They did. I know they got rid of him, they had to win their spot, your father was well-liked and they stood a chance at losing. The King might not even remember the uproar that it caused." His mom said.

"He couldn't do anything about it though. The elites are a different branch and he has no control of them." He said, based on what he had heard from the King.

"You're right about that. I don't hold the King at fault, but the elites are a different story. You being there will upset them, if the Princess falls in love and gets married to you, then you will be able to see reason for her. Right now, they are confident that HyunAe will marry an elite and therefore, be able to be manipulated for their desires." His mom warned him sternly. She was unloading a bunch of information onto him at once, but he needed to know before they left.

"I still want to be there. We can ask Hongki to do the deliveries from now on." Yonghwa told his mom. 

"Very well. As long as you know what you're getting yourself into." His mom said and that was the end of the discussion. They would start packing up as soon as they were done with dinner.

"I don't want her to be tricked because she is pure-hearted." Yonghwa said.

"Just don't lose your own heart in the process." His mom said.

Author's Note;
here is another update~ ^^
it was like.. a while. sorry it was half written. :o
I have final coming soon though :(
Sorry people. there will be a short break between my take-homes and the actual ones tho.
I will try and update this  more often though~