The next day, Amber showed Key around the rest of Seongnam, but more distant from him then yesterday. She still can’t shake the thought that Key had kissed her on the forehead yesterday. At the end of the day, Amber insisted to Key back to his hotel, and they did do so. But when they got to the corner that they supposedly was to turn on to get back to the hotel, they both smelled smoke.

“What’s going-?” but before Amber could finish her sentence, Key grabbed her hand and rushed for the hotel.

“Oh my gosh! What’s going on?!” Key asked one of the nearby servants of that hotel, who is now covered in smoke and stained with black splotches all over.

“One of the newcomers didn’t know how to use the stove and it blew up in flames within minutes!” he explained, coughing.

“Sire!” Someone called from a distance. Amber and Key both turned around to see Mr. Lee running toward us from a distance.

“Mr. Lee! Thank god! You’re okay!” Key exclaimed when Mr. Lee got there. “I was so afraid that you were in there!”

“Thankfully I had a couple of errands to run before all this happened. Unfortunately, we don’t have a place to stay anymore.” Mr. Lee muttered disappointedly.

“You can come stay in the palace!” Amber blurted out. Wait. What am I thinking?! Amber! Are you stupid?! They can’t stay at the palace! Amber scolded herself.

“Really?” Key asked. Amber was hesitant, but she nodded.

“Thank you Princess.” Mr. Lee thanked. Then they went back to the palace together. On the way back, Mr. Lee and Key gave each other the same evil look. They were thinking about the exact same thing. Taking the throne should be a piece of cake now!

Key has join them for dinner and so did Mr. Lee. However, Amber, Victoria and Mr. Lee looked like complete outsiders. Because everyone else, and by everyone else means the princesses, have surrounded Key. All they did was talk about him and asked about his life while Victoria, Mr. Lee and Amber ate in complete silence, separated by this huge princess barrier.

After dinner, the princesses and the queen did their usual night stroll, which Key and Mr. Lee (but mostly Key) were invited to. Amber and Key walked together side by side in silence.The sisters walked on ahead, laughing and talking whereas Mr. Lee has lagged behind.

“So…” Amber started, trying to break the awkward silence between them.

“So…” Key copied.

“I overheard that uh… you have 4 older brothers.” Amber said awkwardly.

“Yeah. Yeah, I do.” Key said. “But even though, I was never close with them. Well, at least not as close as you are with our sisters.”

“Really? Why’s that?” Amber asked.

“Well, they’re all older than me so they’ve been following my father around about how to rule a country properly.”

“Oh.” Amber muttered.

“Yeah. The second youngest of us 5 is 10 years older than me. So, since they’ve been so busy with the country stuff, I’ve been brought up alone.” Key explained. “But don’t get me wrong, they do care about me, no matter what happens.” Then Amber laughed.

“I never questioned that fact. I’m sure your brothers love you.” Amber said staring up to the stars smiling. Key eyed her and smiled. Then she turned to face Key again. “What are their names?”

“Oh. Uh… Taemin, Jin-ki, Minho, and Jonghyun.” he listed.

“How about you?” Amber asked.

“Huh? What do you mean ‘What about me’?” Key asked startled.

“Surely, Key is just a common nickname that people has changed for you. Key isn’t your full and real name that you were born with now is it?” Amber said. He stared at her for a moment and then looked up at the stars. He paused for a moment, deciding whether or not to tell her.

“Ki-bum. My name since birth is Ki-bum. But many complain it being too long so they shortened it to Key.” Key finally said, smiling.

“Ki-bum. The name’s really cute. It suits you.” Amber smiled back. Key blushed.

“Thanks.” he said.

~

Amber has had a habit of drinking a cup of warm milk before she goes to bed so that night, when everyone else has gone to their rooms for the night, she went to the kitchen to get her some.

“Aigoo!” someone said. It was coming from the kitchen. The lights were on so Amber went to go check out what’s going on. It was one of the servants. Actually, that servant’s name was Carol Liu and she was the one who’s watched Amber grow up and has taken care of her the most whenever their parents were out doing something important and has looked after her in their parents place when they died. Making it so that they’re really close with each other.

“Carol!” Amber yelled rushing over to her. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine your highness.” she bowing her head slightly, rubbing her ankle.

“I told you to stop calling me that whenever there’s no outsiders around. You can just call me Amber even when Mr. Choi or my sisters are here. They know.” Amber said little frustrated. “What happened? Are you hurt?” she asked worriedly.

“Well, I sprained my ankle the other day so, I was a little careless and I fell over.” Carol explained.

“You should’ve asked for a day off! I could’ve gotten someone else, anyone else, to temporarily take your place!” Amber said frustrated.

“That’ll be too reckless.” Carol said.

“No. What’s reckless is that you’re putting your health aside, worrying about some stupid job. Come on, I’ll help you back to your room.” Amber said, wrapping one of Carol’s arms over her shoulder, trying to help her up.

“But, the tea…” Carol started.

“Forget about the tea. I’ll deliver it for you. What you need is rest. I’ll arrange a different servant to take your place tomorrow.” Amber grunted.

“But-”

“No buts! I, taking my place as a princess, order you to rest well until your ankle is healed completely.” Amber ordered.

“Yes your highness.” Carol smiled. Amber returned the smile and helped Carol back to her room. Before Amber left, Carol mentioned one more thing.

“I already have your cup of milk ready in the microwave. It should still be hot.” Carol stated.

“Thank you.” Amber whispered as she gave her a calming smile. “Oh, I forgot to ask, who’s the tea for? Victoria?”

“No. Queen Victoria had her tea a while ago. It’s for Prince Key. He requested for some before he left for his room.” Carol explained. Amber’s face flushed pink. Thankfully, it was dark so Carol couldn’t tell.

“Oh. Ok then. Good night Carol.” and with that, Amber shut the door behind her. ‘What the heck?!'’ Amber thought, freaking out for a moment. Then she took a deep breath in and headed back for the kitchen. ‘Oh well. Let’s just get this over with.'’ Amber went to the kitchen and opened the microwave door and just as Carol said, the cup of milk is still hot. Warm at least. Amber drank it and hurried to get the delivery over with.

As she approached the guest room’s door where Key was staying with the tray of tea in her hands, she was ready to go in. In, then out. Easy as that. If he asks why, tell him exactly what happened then leave. Easy. Right?’ she took a deep breath in, about to knock on the door but something stopped her in her tracks. She heard Victoria’s name. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop but curiosity took over so she peered through the small opening of the door and listened to their conversation.

“...suspect a thing. Well done your highness. I’m impressed.” Mr. Lee said.

“Well, you’d be surprised as to how much a little acting can do for you.” Key said proudly.

“You’re sweeping her off her feet and she doesn’t even know what’s really going on! Naive. Naive I tell you.” Mr. Lee chuckled. ‘Key is sweeping who off her feet? They’re not talking about….’ Amber thought.

“...She wants you. You know she does.” Mr. Lee continued. “Once you have her, I’ll arrange someone one to…” then Mr. Lee used the side of his hand to hover a slice on his neck. Then they both laughed. “And Victoria will never see it coming.” They laughed again.

“Then the throne will be mine!” Key shouted proudly. Then, more laughter. Amber turned her back against the wall. They’re using me as a leverage to take the throne?’Amber thought in shock. Tears rolled down her face. These terrible thoughts and fake memories filled her head, making her eyes pour with tears and she couldn’t stop them. Her whole body went numb, eventually, her hands dropped the tray of tea on the floor, creating really loud noise.

“Who’s there?!” Key shouted. Amber heard Key’s footsteps as he headed outside to see where the noise was coming from. Without thinking, Amber broke into a run. By that time, Key has made it outside to see Amber running away.

“Crap.” Key muttered under his clenched teeth. “Amber!” he shouted after her. Then, he broke into a run. Calling her name as he ran after her. Amber never knew that she could run this fast, but she ran. She ran faster than what she’s ran before. She made it to her room door and struggled to open the door. Key, who was still calling after her, was going to get to her within seconds. But the overflow in her eyes is preventing her from opening the door. On top of that, she’s shaking. From being tired, lied to, betrayed, sad and scared. But most of all, from a heart that has been shattered in an instant. Finally, she managed to open the door and just in time too, to shut the door in Key’s face. She locked the door and blocked it with a nearby drawer that was just next to it. Key is outside, pounding on the door, calling her name every few seconds, asking her to come out for him to explain everything. Crap! She heard everything! Now she’s locked herself in her room! I’m screwed. he thought as he pounded on the door. But he never gave up. His pounds echoed through the halls. Then he realized that he needs to stop. I’m going to draw too much attention. I’ve got to stop. I’ll wait outside. he decided. She’s going to have to come out sooner or later through this door.’ But little did he know, that was not the only door that she could go through. There is actually a secret passage that leads into different parts of the royal palace just under the carpet flooring in the corner of her closet. It’s hidden it the shadows so that it isn’t as noticeable unless you knew where to look.  Those passageways were made as a backup to leave the palace in case anything happened so generation after generation, the kings, queens, princes and princesses were to know about these hallways at some point. It was made mandatory. That secret passage way was a place where all the sisters went down to play in when they were little. So Amber knows those passageways inside out. She decide to tell Victoria about what she heard. She’s not going to let her beloved sister get hurt. So she took that very passageway to get there undetected. Amber made it to her sister’s room successfully, hoping that her sister was still up at this hour and thankfully enough she still was. Victoria was all snuggled up in her bed, reading a book and Amber startled her by stepping out of her closet.

“Amber! You scared the heck out of me! Why’d you go through the passageway? I can understand why when we were kids but not now!” Victoria shouted quietly, stepping out of her bed. Then Amber fell on her knees and started to cry like a little child. “Amber? What’s going on?” Victoria asked worriedly. But Amber didn’t say anything, she couldn’t say anything. She’s too upset to. Being the understanding sister that she is, Victoria held Amber in her arms the same way a mother would’ve done to their child to comfort them to stop crying. Victoria rubbed Amber’s shoulders trying to calm her down.

Seconds soon minutes, then hours has gone by. It took a really long time for Amber to stop crying, or, at least stifle her cries but once she did, she told Victoria everything. What she heard and why she entered through the passageway.

“WHAT? KEY? THAT JERK! WHAT THE HECK? WHY?! WHAT DID YOU EVER DO TO HIM? And just when you were-” then Victoria cut herself off. She knows well enough not to continue because Key has already broken her heart. It doesn’t help to restate what Amber thinks now. So instead, she let out a sigh and continued comforting Amber. “It’s okay Amber. It’s all over now.”