Timeframe: almost two years since the end of DotW

“And he’s really a crown prince, a true, blue prince?!”

“Well….yes. At least, as far as we know.”

“Wow….”

“Iola, you look like you’ve never met a prince before.”

Iola rolled her eyes at Minseok. “Well duh, it’s not like we have that many opportunities in my world to meet a real prince.”

Kyungsoo blinked, eyebrows raised in question. “Doesn’t the monarchs in your world held audience and meet their people?”

“Well, perhaps, I don’t know. My own country back home doesn’t have a monarchy so I couldn’t be sure.”

“Really?” Baekhyun’s bounded up to beside her, his whole face lighted up with genuine curiosity and interest. “Then who rule your country? Do you have a group of councils like the Elders here?”

“Well, we have a president to govern the country.” At the confused looks that ensued Iola quickly explained further. “That means sort of a leader for the people.”

“And where does this….president?” Joonmyun shot her a look in askance, before continuing on when she nodded. “Came from? Is he a member of the royal family?”

“Well, no. Like I said, we don’t have monarchy or royal family in my country. The president or candidates for the presidency, usually came from political parties who nominated them.”

“Candidates?” Chanyeol tilted his head. “As in plurals, more than one? Then how do you select them?”

“Easy. Every few years there will be nationwide elections, where regular citizens could vote on which person to be elected as our next president.”

“So your leader was elected by the citizens?”

“Yes.”

“And everyone have the right to choose?”

“As long as they’ve reach a certain age and becomes an adult, then yes.”

Wufan had a deep, thoughtful frown on his forehead. “A system where the leader is chosen freely by the citizens…..interesting.”

Iola grinned at the rather confused and yet amazed looks that surrounded her, the way the Guardians always look whenever she shared snippets of her life back at her own world. Normally she would’ve indulged them and elaborate more, but right now there were more pressing matter at hand.

“Okay, enough about me. Now, are you sure that we’re going to have a prince visiting us a week from now?”

Jongdae scoffed. “Yes, yes. Didn’t we already establish that in the first place?”

Iola couldn’t help the excited smile lifting up the corners of . “Wow….a real, live prince. I’ve never met one before.”

Jongin raised an eyebrow, a lazy smile gracing his full lips. “Yes, you do. You know Glasnant.”

“He’s not a prince.”

“Well no, now he’s the lord and ruler of his kingdom. But before he ascended the throne he was the crown prince too.”

Iola flick a hand to wave it off. “That doesn’t count.”

“What’s so good about meeting a prince, anyway?”

Iola blinked. She opened to answer Sehun’s innocently enough question, but found she had trouble putting her mind into words. How does she tell them that she find it a rather curious novelty to meet royalty? And a prince, on top of it all!

She remembered all those bedtime stories her parents used to tell her when she and her brothers were young, of prince charming rescuing the princess, off galloping into exciting adventures. Her brothers were more interested in the adventures, but Iola, as any other young girl, was enthralled by the prince. She would spend hours playing up on her favorite tree at the park, pretending that she was trapped in a high tower and waiting for a prince to rescue her.

She’d grown up of the silly, childish notion, of course and a small part of her, the independent, perhaps slightly feminine pride scoff at the idea of waiting around for a man to solve all her problems. But she couldn’t help the smaller, romantic side of her heart that was curious to see a real prince, wondering whether he would look like what her younger imagination portrayed, if he would live up to the tales her parents spun for her.

In the end she couldn’t answer and just shrugged. “Just that I never meet one before,” she repeated again.

The Guardians seemed to accept her explanation easily enough and the talk veered to the many preparation still needs to be done for the royal visit. Although it was not the first time other countries ever send their representatives to Zolora for diplomatic mission, especially after Iola become the Chosen Soul, this would be the first time another kingdom would be sending their own crown prince and heir. Hence, more preparation was needed to welcome the royal court.

There was also an underlying curiosity over the upcoming visitors. Prior to this, the Bonelands kingdom have had no relations to Zolora, or even other countries near them. All they knew about it was from some old records in the royal library, stating that though Bonelands was a large country, most of its land was desert land and few vegetation or wild animals live there. Most of its people were nomadic traders, who move from one place to another. The last thing the record tells was that the kingdom lays southeast from Zolora, across the Dividing Sea, a distance of almost more than two-months of travel.

Iola was too busy discussing over all the things need to be done, it was much later when she noticed Yixing’s dark gaze on her. The glint of his eyes was unfamiliar and though he sent a small smile once he caught her eyes, she couldn’t help feeling slightly confused and uneasy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Iola tapped her leather shoes on the stone floor, feeling jittery and somewhat nervous. The crowd at the Great Hall was thick though not pressingly so, and she had a clear line of vision towards the dais at the center of the hall.

Up on the small raised platform were the Elders, all decked in their finest official robes but the small, young girl at the center took all attention, her own garb even more luxurious than the ones surrounding her. Her golden and silver dress sparkled from the candle lights, the jeweled circlet on top of her head seemed burning with stars of its own. As beautiful as it looks like, Iola knew the heavy fabric of the dress itches like no other and the circlet was so heavy it almost always brought a headache pounding on her temples every time she put it on.

An old man with a thick mustache and wavy mop of white hair across the hall caught her eyes and Iola had to bite back a grin seeing his obvious distress expression as he gazed at the girl on the dais, or to be exact, at her dress.

The castle’s principal dressmaker had slaved for days to make that particular dress and she had been patient with the numerous dress fitting he insisted, though the dress was much too flamboyant for her taste and her legs was numb from hours of standing perfectly still as he measured her over and over again. No matter how exquisite the dress was, it wasn’t her style and she couldn’t be happier when the deception plan was made.

The old man now sighed and gazed longingly at the luxurious dress he’d made, obviously frustrated to no end to see that Iola wasn’t the one wearing it in the end. He must’ve sense her gaze and turned to glare at Iola, as if it was her fault this happened and she bowed her head in apology though she wasn’t particularly sad about it.

A chuckle finally burst out from her when the dressmaker just huffed, as if he knew what she thought. Glancing down at her unassuming, plain yet comfortable clothes, she figured this was an added benefit of the Guardians’ plan, not that she would admit it out loud, of course.

Considering that Zolora never have any diplomatic relation with Bonelands, Wufan wanted to increase the security around the castle more than usual, which was just his roundabout way of saying having more security for Iola. His argument was that they were still not sure whether the other kingdom doesn’t have any hostile intention, so it was better to be prepared for anything until they can be sure that the Bonelands’ prince and his entourage doesn’t have a hidden agenda. The other Guardians and the Elders agreed with him, and it was Joonmyun itself who had come up with the plan.

So here Iola was, mingling around in the crowd looking as unsuspecting as she can be while another young girl, a castle maid that have roughly the same height and complexion as hers, was standing among the Elders, looking every inch like how the Chosen Soul should be. Remus and Romulus had even been told to stay by the girl’s side, even though they were whining about it and keep trying to leave their place to go to her. 

From the corner of her eyes Iola caught sight of Jongin and Baekhyun moving among the crowd. She tried to turn her head to search for them, but they were gone before she could get another look. She shrugged internally, knowing that the others were close by even though she couldn’t see them.

Wufan and Joonmyun had instructed the other Guardians to mingle among the crowd too, wearing the same inconspicuous clothes as hers. The story of the Twelve Guardians of Zolora was almost as famous as its Tree of Life, and any outsider would know immediately who Iola really was if she was seen with twelve men by her side. Hence, the Guardians had merged into the crowd leaving only Wufan and Joonmyun on the dais with the Elders, but Iola knew that they were watching her, ready to interfere any time a threat arise.

The crowd’s murmured conversation were halted when a trumpet sounded and all heads turned to the golden, double door. The doors were pushed open and the Bonelands’ court walked inside the hall, accompanied still with the sound of trumpets, though Iola heard the deep boom of horns among the notes. People pressed close, fighting for a glimpse of the visitors and Iola craned her neck to see them.

A tall man stood up from the rest of his companions and Iola immediately knew he was the prince. Not because he was walking ahead of the others, nor because of the lavish garb he wore, though Iola had to admit the clothes were splendid. More than that, it was in the way the man carried himself.

He walked ahead with a confident step, each gait sure and