“Okay, I’m sick of this.” Daehyun slid to a stop, successfully keeping himself from falling over.

Himchan now only grasps what the Knight was referring to yesterday. “I thought you said he understands.” It was his first time witnessing the seemingly docile Knight in such a state of violence.

“It’s because you said, ‘failure will not be tolerated’,” Daehyun mimics Yongguk's previous words. The Knight didn’t say it often but Daehyun has noticed it enough to figure that those certain words were problematic. “Yesterday you didn’t say it and he was fine! Why did you have to say it today–,"

While the talkative Knight have been complaining nonstop, Yongguk is using his time well to think of a way to stop Jongup. The last time, they relied on strength to put the Knight down but there has got to be a more effective way. He looked over to Himchan. “Any ideas?”

Himchan’s mind worked quickly. “Turn off the systems.” With no catalyst, it should stop the actions. 

Within a breath, Yongguk quickly jumps onto the high landing to get to the control panel. Bringing the system to a stop, he looks through the window at Jongup but the Knight only takes his anger out on the walls that enclosed the arena.

“Any better ideas?” Daehyun questions.

“This isn’t working.” Yongguk appeared back beside them. “We’re physically putting him down.”

Daehyun silently groans knowing he isn’t going to be leaving scratch-free. “Let’s go, newbie,” Daehyun urges Himchan as he begins his charge. Just like last time, he’ll grab Jongup’s arms–,

As Daehyun reached out, his hand never managed to successfully grip the Knight’s arms and instead, the targeted Knight shifted– furthering the problem. “Goddamit,” he cursed underneath his breath as he stared at Jongup’s large stature. While Daehyun is distracted by the change, he didn’t notice Yongguk’s appearance.

The oldest Knight reached for Jongup’s arm and flipped him over. The sight pulls Daehyun back to attention and he sprinted forward to keep Jongup flat on the ground while Himchan made his way next to Yongguk, handing the cuffs over and snapping them on the thrashing Knight. 

Within seconds, the Werewolf shifted back to his human form as the three heaved a heavy sigh. 

Jongup snarled up at the three, clearly still unsettled. 

“I told you not to go crazy, didn’t I?” Daehyun huffed.

“What’s the trigger?” Himchan’s sudden question draws the two Knights’ attention.

“What?” Daehyun confusedly asked.

“He’s only like this inside the arena– otherwise you wouldn’t trust him to protect the Princess. There’s a reason why he only explodes during training,” Himchan responds, assuming it has happened numerous times before.

“I don’t know much about him to answer that question nor does he speak… much,” Yongguk says tiredly. 

Himchan observed the Knight, now a little more relaxed but something seemed strange about his mannerisms. His eyes were downcast as if ashamed. “He’s not doing it on purpose.”

“Jong Up… not bad… not bad.” 

Daehyun stares at Jongup after hearing him and soon turns to Himchan. “…Where are you getting all of this from?” 

“You can tell a lot just by body posture and language.” 

“Then, you tell us what the ‘trigger’ is. You can figure that out, right?” Daehyun hoped that to be the case, he didn’t want to have to go through this all the time they needed to train.

“But, you two don’t even know his past.”

“When we ran into him, he belonged to a group of Lone Werewolves who were intent on attacking the castle– the same group of Lone Werewolves that are dipping their hands into those drugs. The Princess made an assumption that he may have been mistreated and taken advantage by the pack.” But that was the extent of Yongguk’s knowledge on the Knight sitting before them. “Enough information?”

“But, I would only be making inferences,” Himchan answers. “That’s not reliable.”

“That’s better than nothing,” Yongguk reasons.

“As long as you get him to stop with his episodes, then whatever,” Daehyun adds.

All at once, the Knights noticed the approaching visitors. For a while they had forgotten about the castle’s uninvited guests. After a few minutes, the steps came to a stop before the door to the training center opened. 

“Hard at training?”

The four Knights looked up to greet the King entering. 

“Yes, sir,” Yongguk responded to King Mansoo. It seems he has already gotten comfortable. “King Mansoo, is no one showing you around?”

“I’m sure I can find my way around, Red.”

Though Yongguk had remained polite, all of the castle’s Knights knew they couldn’t just have him wandering around while there was complete absent of trust. They watched the King come to a stop at the railing with his Knight right behind him. He looked down and noticed something strange–, 

“Why is that Knight in cuffs?” He eyed Jongup, whom was still sitting on the floor.

“Training, sir.” Yongguk simply replies and without hesitation.

The answer received a nod from King Mansoo. “Strange method of training.” With no other response from the Knights, he heaved a sigh. “Well, I’ll continue my exploration–,"

“Sorry for my rudeness," Yongguk speaks out gently. “I think it’s best if one of the Knights could show you around, King Mansoo. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be hospitable of us.”

A small smile graced the older man’s lips. “Very well. Would you join me, Red?”

“Of course, sir.”

Yongguk shares a quick look among the Knights before heading towards the high landing to meet up with the King. Once the door closes behind them and when they could no longer hear the footsteps, Himchan is the first to break the silence.

“They can’t know about him.” 

Knowingly, Daehyun looked down at Jongup. “Let’s be on our best behavior– if I’m saying it, it’s gotta be bad.”

***

Lunch has never been more stifling. Maybe it was because it wasn’t just my father and I having a meal together but now we were sharing the dining table with five other guests. I ended up pushing my food around in my bowl.

“Princess Haewon, how are your studies?”

I looked up to meet King Minjong’s eyes. “They have been fine, thank you for asking.” Before coming here I was told to remain polite no matter how I felt– it would only worsen our position otherwise.

“Maybe it’s time for a new instructor.”

At King Mansoo’s comment, I pressed my lips together. “My teacher has been exemplary at his job.”

“I beg to differ,” he retorts. “I believe there’s a lack of understanding on your duties and what role you are supposed to play in the whole grand scheme of things, Princess.”

“King Mansoo, I can assure you that we found one of the best instructors for Haewon,” my father interjected before I had a chance to respond and maybe it was better that way.

“Did he teach Princess Haewon to give honor to Lone Werewolves?” He chuckled at the ridiculousness. “Today in the training center, they had one in cuffs.” 

The other four Kings remained silent as King Mansoo continued.

“Do you know what they call your Knights, Princess Haewon? A band of misfits. Instead of choosing from proper Independent Werewolves, you chose two Lone Werewolves and an exiled Knight.”

I clenched my hands. No matter what, I needed to hold it in. “King Mansoo, it is my right to make my own decisions regarding my Knights–,"

“This is why another instructor would have been better,” he interrupted before I could get the rest of my words out. “But, we shall see how they fair in the tournaments.” He offered a smile that did nothing to appease my silent anger. 

“Red was last year’s champion,” another King chimed in.

“King Kwangmin, you’re aware the champions change ever year– no one holds the title for long,” King Mansoo simply responds.

“Red just may be the first,” my father spoke up casually before taking a sip from his glass.

***

“You should have heard him.” This time, there was no reason for me to suppress my fury.  All the anger I had consciously stowed away until this very moment burst opened. “Telling me to get a new instructor– if I were to sum it up, he was telling me to make complete changes to my life –as if I’m the problem.” 

“Princess, you must stay calm in front of him.”

I met Yongguk’s gaze, there was slight urgency to his tone. “…Has he been up to something?”

“I believe he may not be here on such amicable reasons.”

“Haven’t we already come to that conclusion?” We already knew it was no good that these Kings were here. Especially under the orders of the council that the region of Kkum had put together.

Yongguk leaned forward and I mimicked his action. “His behavior is drastically different from the other Kings, he may be here for a different reason. Please stay alert and attentive.” For a moment, a small smile visited my lips. Taken aback, Yongguk questioned, “Princess?”

“This is the first time you have ever let me in on your secrets, willingly,” I answered softly.

Gently breathing a sigh, Yongguk focused me back. “Princess, this is serious.”

“Yes, I know but I just– alright, I’ll be serious.”

“Tomorrow morning, we’ll be outside training. Something went wrong today in the center,” Yongguk informed me.

Upon hearing his words, I eyed the side of his face. “What happened during training?” I reached out to skim my fingers across the healing scratches on his cheek. I noticed it earlier but temporarily occupied with King Mansoo, I had forgotten to ask.

Remembering the incident, Yong