Author’s POV

“What do you mean fake? How can a Queen be a fake? Are you lying?” L exclaimed, slamming his spoon onto the shaky wooden table and frowned at Peto. The muscles in L’s arm screamed in pain but he didn’t care. He wanted to know if Peto was lying.

“Shh, quiet down! My wife doesn’t know about this!” Peto held his head down and had a finger to his lips, shushing him. When Peto was certain that L would not speak he continued revealing the entire story. “All right, my sister fabricated everything. It was a rare chance for us, y’know. Being a historian was a tough job. We didn’t have money nor a place to leave in. Ito was lucky to be able to work in the palace – and as the Queen’s maid. She was the luckiest amongst all.”

“You mean you have more siblings?” L interrupted, keeping his voice low.

“Yeah, but all of them died. I’m the eldest now.”

“Oh.” L said. “Go on.”

“Ok, so. One day while the entire Royal family went for an outing in the woods, the Humans somehow knew about this plan and attacked them. All of them died except for Ito. This sudden loss was too much for the citizens. They rely greatly on the Queen and demanded for a new Queen. The Palace was pressurized by all the riots and stuff and so Ito fabricated the Will. She ascended the throne as the king’s sister. There’s something in Ito that made the citizens believe her and none of the ministers or officers disobey her. Well, I guess it’s a good thing too but something amazing just happened.”

“What?” L probed, too engrossed in this conversation that he had forgotten about his meal. Peto leaned even closer and whispered to his ear.

“I just received a letter from my sister and it seems like the Princess is alive.”

“Princess? Who?”

“Everyone thought the baby Princess died but apparently she showed up with violet eyes and all. Maybe you know her. She came into Estrovia the same day you did. Just that she’s alive and you’re half-dead.” Peto laughed and gulped his wine like it’s water. L watched in amusement as he drank but was dragged back to the topic again when he thought about Kyung Mi shifting into an Estrovian.

L’s head hurt when he tried to remember what happened during that day. White hair…Violet eyes… Kyung Mi… “Oh God. I know the Princess. She’s my student.”

“Wow, that’s a twist. Well, I guess you’re going back to your world so I’m going to erase your memories before you do anything wrong - ” Peto shifted into his Estrovian form, light green eyes and mystical dark blonde hair with streaks of white in it. His eyes glowed even under the sunlight but L stepped away and hid his gaze away from Peto’s eyes. Grabbing a solid object, he brought it to his front and threatened for Peto to stop whatever he’s going to do on L.

“Don’t. I swear if you do anything to me I’m going to kill you.” L said through gritted teeth. His ears perked to listen for any movements.

“Well, you can’t kill me if I erase your memories. I’ll make sure you remember me as somehow whom you hold dear to.” Peto’s voice was threatening; way different from the way he was acting just now. But he had a reason. He can’t risk for L to tell the Princess about this. He’d overlook this factor and he must prevent the worst from happening.

“No. I know why’d you want to do that. I promise, I won’t tell the Princess about this. Don’t erase my memories.” L said, convincing Peto.

“Well I can’t do that… It’s too risky for me to.”

“I promise, Peto. In fact, I won’t even be able to meet the Princess if I go back to my world.”

That convinced Peto enough. If L goes back to wherever he’d come from, all these troubles would be over. It was his mistake for telling him the truth. But having to keep this secret for years is weighing down on Peto. He had to relieve his burden from time to time. “All right, I believe you. You may open your eyes now, lad.”

“It’s L,” L corrected peto and he slowly opened his eyes. Peto was back in his usual form. “You have some cool powers there.”

“I know. But it’s useless, somehow.”

L smiled. “It’s not. Maybe it’ll come in handy.”

“Honey, would you mind getting some fresh vegetables from the store? We ran out of vegetables because of somebody – ” Lily, Peto’s wife hissed as she emerged out of the kitchen. She glared at L but smiled when she saw Peto.

“All right, I’ll go buy some veggies. Wanna come, young lad? I’ll show you around before you return back to your homeland.” Peto rubbed his beer belly as he asked, voice sounding gruff.

“All right. But won’t people suspect me? I’m a Human, still.”

“Nah, they won’t. But for safety purposes, do wear a cloak. Some of us still don’t really like Humans after all.” Peto threw him a dark cloak and L put it on. He flipped the hoodie over his head to hide his face features. “That’s more like it. Let’s go, lad.”

“It’s L.”

“Right, fella.”

**

Jael’s POV

“So we’re really heading to town to get my measurements for the clothes for horse-riding? Aren’t there like Royal Tailors to do that in the Palace?” I asked, fumbled by the fact that we had to travel so far just to shop for some clothes.

“What choice do we have if the best tailor doesn’t want to be brought into the Palace? And don’t forget the fact that I’m accompanying you, Jael.” Kai muttered under his breath, loud enough for me to hear only. I scoffed and hopped into the carriage without having the soldier to lift me up.

Kai joined me inside, sitting beside me and then Kyungsoo went up, sitting on the seat opposite the both of us. He looked at us weirdly and then decided to play with his little dagger instead of interfering with our endless bickering that started from just requesting a lunch. Who’s childish? Definitely not me.

The carriage started moving and I drew the tiny curtains opened to get a view from inside the car. I must’ve fell asleep while watching the beautiful landscape of Estrovia because when I woke up, my sight was obscured by a solid wall and I felt wetness on the corner of my mouth. Damn, I drooled.

“Had a nice nap, my cousin?” I was wiping my mouth halfway when the voice dragged me back to reality. I snapped my head up and found Kai’s bright blue eyes staring right at me. He placed his finger on my head and pushed me back up. My jaw dropped opened and heat slowly rose up my cheeks.

Kyungsoo passed Kai a napkin and he took it from him, wiping his shirt mockingly. “You’re a lady and you drool. It’s gross.”

I blinked and slapped my head to get out of this trance. I took the napkin from Kyungsoo graciously and wiped the rest of my drool with it. “I’m sorry I drooled. You should’ve pushed me away earlier.”

“Unlike you, I’m still a gentleman who takes care of a girl.” Kai smirked. “Oh and shift to your form, we’re getting down soon.”

I cast aside all my embarrassment and looked out of the mini window. A soldier was riding beside our carriage and he politely backed away so that I could get a better view. I smiled at him thankfully. We are moving into the town where the Estrovians are busy shopping for their stuff. Unlike the previous time I came here, this was much more crowded.

No wonder Kai brought more guards. It’s nearly impossible to find when I get lost. All of the Estrovians scattered one side when they saw the Royal carriage approaching. Some of them tiptoed to catch a glance of Kai, maybe but most of them bowed respectful.

All except for one who blatantly walked in the middle of the road. One soldier had to call out for him to move over. He was wearing a dark hoodie so I couldn’t see his face. The citizen finally noticed the incoming carriage and stepped aside, slowing down his speed so that he could be beside my carriage.

He was just beside me when my carriage passed by him. I leaned forward to get a better view of this mysterious man and just in time, he looked up too. Our gazes locked for a second before he was hauled away by the soldiers.

But I knew who he was immediately.

L.