Another pang of realisation attacked Kai’s heart as the melodious vibrations travelled through his eardrums, snapping him out of the daze of the breath-taking sight which laid before his eyes, thus lifting him back to the reality. His conscience eventually went blank, as he stared hollowly towards Krystal. “I don’t know.” Indeed, it was the similar answer as yesterday, yet the werewolf didn’t have a tiniest idea on how to explain the gesture of his legs, which automatically made a way towards the forest–as if his body had been programmed even before he had an encounter with Krystal.

The woman, however, only threw a piercing gaze towards Kai’s clueless orbs, before she wondered her eyes around, registering their whereabouts. “I want to try not to accuse you for false assumptions any more, but each days are getting stranger by your endless act.” Tone was low yet firm, accompanied by strong brown orbs which held a contact with Kai’s. Her silky brunette was ruffled softly by the cold breeze of a new page of spring, and the atmosphere felt peaceful, quiet, filled with carefulness.

Thin vapour vaguely escaped the man’s pale lips, as his eyes couldn’t get enough of the wonderful scene—along with how much he noticed about the perfect combination between the blooming spring and Krystal. Or perhaps, it was only him who had been blinded by his guilt and pasts about Ji Hye, which blocked him from discovering Krystal’s true beauty. A curiosity in another galaxy of daze asked on the top of Kai’s head; was it natural for a vampire to look so stunning? “Then accuse me those false assumptions.”

Startled by his abrupt response, the woman snapped out with a glance over his broad shoulder, catching a glimpse of a lone river which had been frozen by the glacial temperature of winter before. “What?”

“If the false answers will satisfy you so much—like the way you always did to yourself—then go ahead. Shoot me with your usual accusations.” Deep blue and pearly snow mountains invited themselves into the werewolf’s view once again, as the thick clouds cleared out of the way to give a chance for the sunrays to radiate the ices.

Those range of syllables were supposed to strike an arrow into Krystal’s sensitive heart–as he had just pointed out her ego–but the gentle voice of Kai and the way he stared at her softly in the eye, was different from the usual Kai who she thought she knew when Ji Hye was alive before. Contrasting with Kai who was aggressive, mysterious, and selfish in the past—the Kai who was standing in front of her stiff figure right then, was gentle, warm… and different. Different, as if there was a hidden identity inside of his dark soul. “You were the one who told me to stop accusing you things that you didn’t do before.” With a challenging tone, Krystal replied as her vampire-wisdom examined the gesture of the male across.

Despite the change of vibe around Krystal, which he realised had transformed into a spontaneous one (and even a new experience for Kai, since the woman never showed him anything except for the coldness in her hollow heart), the werewolf pulled up a line of smile, before he spoke up, genuinely “I know. But if that’s how you are—then I can do nothing about it. Even though there is a monster inside of you, you are still who you are. Even though it hurts me—I could bare it. Because I realise that you can’t help it. We can’t help it. We are the dark creatures of the world, after all.” Perhaps it was the fresh beginning of the day, which leaded Kai to flash Krystal with his hidden deep thoughts. Perhaps it was the blooming sight which laid before his eyes that caused him to overtake Krystal’s beauty. Or perhaps… perhaps it was just his heart. His heart. The exposed gates of it, which slowly was opened to release the guilt from haunting over his sincerity, and the removal of the dark curtains from blocking the lights of reality from striking in.

Krystal found herself lost in the sea of his dark brown orbs as her rationality inhibited her from speaking along the flying seconds which ticked by. A purely white petal landed beside her, as the pollens softly made a way across Kai’s tousled locks. “I… won’t.” In a hushed tone, she replied, and in an instant, a confused gesture filled her sight. With an unbroken gaze-locking between her and Kai, the woman eventually stated out, “I won’t accuse you false things again.” An egoistic part of hers whined in protest as a result to her lowered walls which surrounded her heart. Even though Krystal felt like a child who laid ten fingers on a table in defeat of loss of a game, there was still a deeper side of hers, which offer love and care.

A pair of crescents created its shape on Kai’s eyes as his smile widened in sincerity. “Glad to know that. So are you not curious now?”

“Curious of what?”

“About how I found my way to your old house and to the right path of this forest? Seriously, even the waterfall is not far from our spot.”

“That—it will remains as a secret that you don’t have a ball to talk about.”

“Hey!”

Occasional conversations accompanied the serene walk throughout the thickly filled with freshness of nature forest, which was away from the touch of a human who could destroy everything with the tip of their fingers. Beams of sun were gleaming on the top of their heads, and just then–in between the exchanged grins which occurred in an alien yet familiar vibe along with each other’s company–Krystal found out that Kai had been carrying her for the remaining hours of yesterday towards the forest, which explained why she woke up in a land of spring rather than in the late winter snow.

A silent smile plastered on Krystal’s lips when Kai’s shoulder softly brushed against hers, as there was barely a gap in between them, and it undeniably sent warmth into her figure. Her slender fingers ruffled the cryptocrystalline black locks aside, tucking it loosely in between her ears and silky strands of hair. “It really isn’t an amnesia—nor a fake memory loss. Because I could remember being a vampire since before. But like what you’ve said, I couldn’t remember my family clearly, or even Lay oppa as my childhood friend. Basically, I couldn’t remember my childhood days, and my adolescence stage when the heart-fluttering love will usual spark up.” As a response to Kai’s casual question before, Krystal stated out with a thrown gaze to the front. The lonely frozen river was now in sight, framing everything in place; from the dancing seaweeds, to the swimming fishes. And if Krystal hadn’t seen the clear river wrong, she could spotted a tiny movement of tail from the trapped fishes.

A gentle nod waved as an appropriate gesture from Kai as his soft gaze landed absentmindedly towards the giant roots of the pale trees, which fought against the gravity as it stood out from the soil, creating a tiny yet strong gateway. His dark chocolate locks tousled with the flow of the breeze, cheekily playing in the first page of spring. “You know—I am glad that you’ve experienced the same thing as me. Because sometimes, it just feels weird—to wake up in a bed and live just like the way you are, even without a single memory of the past.” Silence engulfed the atmosphere momentarily, as the words took its time in sinking into their minds. “I thought I was the only one,” came a pause and a grin with turned head towards Krystal, “who think to have a memory loss—although not certainly.” The corner of his eyes crinkled upwards, along with a nostalgic reaction to be shaded on his face.

Krystal unintendedly stared into his dark brown orbs, which eventually were cascaded downwards, before she found herself lost in the sea of his nostalgia. Deep inside, she had never thought about any possible similarities of events to happen to him, since Kai had always appeared to be a typical kind of troublesome and a mysterious guy. On a second thought—perhaps, he was deeper than how he appeared to be. And just like that, Krystal found his perfectly yielded mask inspirable. “I understand.” Her reply was hushed yet soft, gaze eventually was thrown to the front, as their feet were only about a meter away from the lone frozen river. An exhale of breath reached out of her lungs, before Krystal’s orbs refracted the wonderful view ahead.

Puzzled by the halt in her act, Kai spun his head around and silently examined the vibrant colours of blooming trees which have awaken from the light pearls of snow that was drying around them. Mists were casting its magic into the hollow of rays, filling the streaks of light with pure crystallised vapour as it rose up from the ground in a slow motion. Cerulean blue with snow shaded mountains stood proudly in distant, although it were zoomed closer than before when they were in the wood.

Kai blinked.

Once. Twice.

No matter how much his eyes were trying to shove away the mesmerising sight through Krystal’s orbs, his body seemed to betray the vividly red warning in his mind, which urged him to gaze away, as his wolf-self might act something out of his rationality if they kept plastering their souls onto the same spot like that. But maybe—maybe it wasn’t his wolf-self which was giving him a warning. Maybe it was something else. Something deeper… hidden, trapped in the shadow of his dark heart. Perhaps it was more than something which appeared clearly on the outside. Something like—humanity? Or was it a new sensation that Kai was feeling? It was as if something was trying so hard to jump out of his demeanour. Like care, warmth—love. However, it was not long until his rationality got a full control of his heart, as Kai eventually tore his serene stare away from Krystal, and watched the frozen seaweeds beneath them. Right then, a horrible feeling registered inside of him. Had he been an easy man to forget the guilt and the love for his girlfriend ever since? Sure, he was half animal and barely felt anything (even mercy) towards the preys—but Kai still had a guilt for a thousand of things which he had done. And most importantly, he knew that he was a hard person to approach, or to even socialise. Then why was his heart beating so fast, with just a mere gaze into Krystal’s gorgeous eyes which refracted the hidden innocence inside of herself?

A sigh escaped his pale lips as he lowered his head down, staring intently towards the green lichens, which were holding itself onto an old stone. A logical snap hollered in his mind, and with a despair smirk, Kai decided to set his aim high (for returning the life of his girlfriend) in order to prevent Ji Hye from being a skipping stone for him to reach out for Krystal.

“You might kill me, but we actually are following the mountains for now, because it will lead us to the waterfall, which is at the end of this forest.” The thin voice of Krystal snapped the werewolf out of his trailing thoughts as the woman turned her attention towards Kai, who seemed to be in a daze. Eyebrows knitted, Krystal tilted her head sideward, allowing her silky hair to brush off her shoulders. “Kai? Are you feeling all right?”

Thrice.

Within the third blink, the man eventually gathered himself together and nodded with a faint smile, after he’d lifted his gaze up and only spared Krystal a slight glimpse. His hands were buried into his pockets, when the last winter wind peeked through the freshness of spring as it ruffled his brunette. “It’s okay. I won’t kill you.”

Even though those syllables were supposed to sound playful (as it always did) in Krystal’s ears, she couldn’t deny the fact about his crestfallen reaction in between the low vibrations of tone which he used. “Right. I think we can walk on this river. It’s frozen.” Due to his abrupt gesture, which had changed cold, Krystal chose to limit the access of words from her lips, as she stopped examining Kai, and began stepping onto the ice river. Somehow, she couldn’t help but to wonder; was this how it felt like whenever Krystal pulled up her coldness towards him?

Blindly trailing after Krystal who was leading forward, with her first baby step onto the ice, Kai slowly lifted his gaze up, unintendedly observing her figure from the back. Dark silky hair was hanging on her waist level as it dangled softly from side to side. Despite the war of guilt which was attacking his heart again and again, Kai couldn’t stop wondering about how soft her hair would feel like beneath his warm touch. So then, accompanied by hesitation which had perfectly been ignored, Kai reached out his palm, and the strands of her hair, gently. He could sense the woman’s gesture, who was about to spun around, when a sharp shook could be detected, tickling their feet. A cracking sensation trailed after the tremble of ground, sending thrilled vibration throughout the forest.

Eventually, Kai pulled his palm away from Krystal, as the woman carefully spun around, giving him a look filled with fear. Cold adrenaline rushed down their smooth fleshes, eyes were plastered with each other’s, and both noticed the atmosphere had turned dry and frigid in a pure abruptness. Krystal’s eyes widened when a sensation of cracking ice could be felt beneath. Her figure, which had been turned 90 degree towards Kai, remained frozen on the spot even though her bones were shaking in terror.

Soon, the black veins of cracks painted the lone river, spreading out illegally on its whole surface area. Just before Kai could throw a protective grip around Krystal, the ices beneath her cracked completely, dropping the helpless vampire straight into the glacial liquid. His legs dashed forward along with a shout, and Kai found himself fell onto his knees, one of his arms was reaching out for Krystal, who was sinking furtherer along with the melting ices. His inner-wolf ears perked up upon catching another sound of cracking, coming from behind. Slowly, the man changed his attention towards the source of vibration, before his breath hitched. A dreadful sight of an uneven line, which was branching in the middle of the river, was chasing after him. A scream which was hidden with ear-splitting growl echoed throughout the place, before the werewolf rapidly spun his head around in a search for Krystal.

But she was nowhere to be found.

An extreme panic attacked Kai as he stood up in a rush, bright silver orbs were searching for any sign of Krystal as his legs hopped off the cracking ice, and successfully landed on another one. In a crouching gesture, the man hollered for Krystal, yet no reply could be detected. Only the sound of flowing water could be heard, along with the cackling of ices—which seemed to be a music to a euphonious voice. Wait… a singing voice? In between the breathless moment, Kai thought out as his ears focused on the fragile tune. However, the mysterious song was soon replaced by glacial vibration of liquid, which filled up Kai’s ears as the ice beneath him cracked, forcing him to sink into the swift flowing of river.

Lungs were begging for oxygen as Kai gasped and lifted his head out of the surface of the water. His hands pushed his weight upwards, though hopelessly since the flow was too strong to fight against. And on the top of his consciousness, the man pondered how Krystal could save herself from the killing waves. With a high eagerness in not letting the key of his future to suffer, Kai forced himself to concentrate on purpose to transform, shoving away the thoughts about werewolves which couldn’t transform when they were panic. Eyebrows furrowed, veins stood out from his tan flesh, and eyes were shut, before he slowly changed in shape.

A slight relief reached Kai when he felt his wet dark silver fur and paws, allowing him to swim affectively against the blade-like waves which suffocate the weakest. Given a long nose as an asset to breath out of the surface of the glacial river, Kai swam with his head tilted up. Not long after his transformation, the werewolf could catch the fragile voice once again, and somehow, it lured him to move towards the source of the sound. Perhaps, someone was trying to give him a sign, for having Krystal safe in the right hands—or at least that was what he was wishing.

Occasional harsh slaps from the waves along with blocking ices appeared in his way as his paws shoved them away, although he realised that he could barely survive against the choking glacial temperature of the lone river. Another pang of panic thundered inside of him when the singing abruptly stopped. And the effect which it had on him was larger as he realised that he was lost. Because deep inside, Kai knew, that without Krystal, he will always be lost, and will always be wondering aimlessly in the endless sea of life. Silver orbs rushing for signs, or even any nearest land, but he found himself stuck in the middle of the river, which eventually extended its size due to the melting ices. Just when a hopeless feeling began to creep into Kai, he could detected a strong tug on his legs, before the werewolf was harshly being pulled deeper into the liquid of horror.
 

Travelling cocktail of air bubbles popped up onto the surface of the sleeping water, before it vanished completely, dispersed in between the sea breeze and the harsh slapping waves. Wavelength of rays refracted the colours of the ocean, turquoise and teal and navy mixed together, painting the kingdom of the underwater with the harmless guarding colours. Passing the gradient of the shades of blue, was a peaceful yet nostalgic appearance of a lost city. Faint vibrant of rainbows dissolved in the water here and there, casting illusions to the trespassers of the cerulean castle.

Deep inside the castle, sat a mermaid with a pair of aqua-painted iris. A glimmering tiara sat on the top of her delicious brunette, looking as majestic as its owner. Her hair waved off, reaching her waist level and a pearly white dress emphasised her exquisite features. A dark golden tail was trailing after the short dress, gracefully waving against the wall of water. Soft grin shaded away the icy demeanour of her flawless face, as her slender fingers a girl’s jet black hair.

A light flinch from the girl halted the mermaid’s gesture, as she pulled her palm away, setting both hands below the level of her stomach. Her aqua orbs refracted the fluttering of the girl’s eyelids, which seemed to be in a daze. She eventually opened her eyes slowly, before her head was tilted to the side, asking the mermaid in a voice which sounded like the soft tune of harp in her ears. “Where am I?” A shot of longing registered in the mermaid’s fragile heart, before her fingers resumed the girl’s hair. “You are in the kingdom of Atlantis, Soojung.”

Frown was visible on the girl’s forehead, before she spoke out, “My name is Krystal, not Soojung.” Her tone was firm but filled with fear, unfamiliar with her abrupt state. Palms supporting her sitting position on the giant clam-shaped bed as her dark chocolate orbs were trying to observe the surrounding. With the swirl of wheels in her mind, Krystal eventually realised that her last memory was to be suffocated by the crashing of ices. “Who are you? And why am I here?”

A frail smile graced upon the mermaid’s thin lips, before her palm met with the vampire’s cheek. Krystal didn’t know why, but she remained serene and didn’t budge from the soft touch. “So that is your new name; Krystal.” A pause was taken as the mermaid curled a strand of hair behind Krystal’s ears. “Does not suits a bad-tempered vampire like you, must I say.” A scowl from Krystal registered in her mind before Krystal’s hand yanked her touch away harshly. That gesture, however, failed to flatter the soft grin from her features.

A sour pout appeared on Krystal’s scarlet lips as her eyebrows were knitted together. “Shut up. And who are you to judge me?” Upon noticing the lack of answers from the elegant mermaid who had been ruffling her hair since before, Krystal eventually snapped up at her—even though she couldn’t find any valid reason to be furious at the mermaid. A silvery hum tuned out of the creature’s pastel pink lips—and Krystal couldn’t deny the mesmerising moment which trapped her soul. At the back of her mind, Krystal had acknowledged the fact about a mermaid who could lure a human being by singing, or simply by humming. However, the fact that Krystal realised that the mermaid’s hum was drawing her into a perfect daze, was driving a trepidation into her remaining consciousness—because Krystal was not a complete human being to begin with… or at least that was what she had assumed.

60 seconds flew by before the mermaid halted her humming, which brought back Krystal’s full consciousness in an instant. A slight frown appeared on the mermaid’s smooth forehead, as her palms rested on the corner of the gigantic bed. “Well, I am glad that confirms it.” Not a second after the hushed syllables left her lips, a relieved smile smoothed out her frown. Krystal tilted her head to the side in confusion, and was about to spill out a question, when the mermaid cut her off, “I am Jessica. The princess of this Kingdom.”

A palm was stretched out for a handshake, and Krystal accepted it without any further hesitation. That name, however, rang a bell in between her hidden memories. “I thought the city of Atlantis is lost? And even if it is still living till now, aren’t ghouls and phantoms will be the one to rule it instead of a mermaid… or a merman?” She retreated her palm from the familiar touch—even though Krystal wasn’t afraid of witnessing a mythical sea creature as she had been believing in its existence, the extreme familiarity of Jessica’s presence by her side was sending chills to her spine.

Raise of eyebrows responded Krystal’s question, as the mermaid spoke up in an uninterpretable authority. Or perhaps, it was just her position as a princess which brought up the tone. “Won’t a single ‘hello’ be nice?” With lips pressed in a thin line, Jessica exclaimed, staring intently towards Krystal.

The younger woman seemed to be taken aback by her sudden authority, which caused Krystal to shut up and stared towards the princess in bitterness. Her head was tilted down, somehow, Krystal felt ashamed for misbehaving—even though vampires shouldn’t be feeling that way since they have been the life out of people as a norm.

A soft sigh escaped the mermaid’s lips before she tapped her fingers on the surface of the blushing bed, gracefully creating a simple tune as a background music. “To answer all of your bullet like questions; yes. This city of Atlantis was lost. But you have to keep in mind that those creatures could not stay long underwater, since the hell owned them. So we rule this city that was found by the first king ages ago, instead of leaving it abandoned and wasted—and you can see that we had made some quite awesome changes to Atlantis.” Her aqua orbs wondered around the huge carved room, which was later trailed by Krystal, as she observed the high ceiling and the neon stars which had been hung by twinkling strings. Dashes of vintage pink here and there, which made the whole space blushed, casting a fairy-tale illusion to the viewers.

Despite the overused vintage pink and pearl white colours, Krystal had to admit that the room was decorated perfectly for a princess like Jessica. “Oh. Um, but Jessica?”

“That is your highness for you.”

“Right. Your highness?”

“Yes?” Due to the mermaid’s firm reply, Krystal flinched slightly before she asked in a complete puzzle, “How—can I breathe?” An urge to snort at her own question trickled inside of Krystal, as she noticed the high level of silliness on how the syllables sounded like even in her own ears.

The older one let a posh chuckle to make a tune out of her voice box, perhaps amused by the way the vampire placed her words together to form a proper question. “Is that really what your most concern is about?”

“Pardon—?”

“Are you not curious about how you ended up here, or are you not even concerned about that poor werewolf?”

If Krystal didn’t saw it wrong, she could swear that the corner of the princess’s lips lifted up for a faint smirk, as if the emphasise of her words contained a hidden meaning, somewhere behind. Eyebrows furrowed, with a jolt of her figure, Krystal eventually asked, “Did you took care of the werewolf as well… your highness?”

Grinning seductively, Jessica nodded with a gesture for the young woman to trail after her. “Yes. Come with me. He is in the cage.”

“What?”
 

The elegant princess did not lie when she stated out about Kai.

Krystal let a frown to crinkled her smooth forehead as her gaze was thrown to the snarling man, who seemed to be desperate in transforming into a wolf, but couldn’t. Perhaps it was the fact that they were in the water, or perhaps it was due to the cage with its own spell for not letting the beast to jump out of Kai’s drenched figure. For a moment, Krystal pondered why he was wet—to an extent that her wild eyes could even spotted his chocolate abs—when she was all dry.

“Your little pet had been screaming for help, and throwing himself at the metal bars, maybe he is terrified of us.” And Jessica’s statement had just answered the unspoken questions of Krystal. Golden tail of hers swayed gracefully, moving towards the cage along with Krystal’s legs to step slowly onto the ground. It was as if the vampire was walking on the surface of a moon, with no gravity and invisible force to balance herself.

Whimpers escaped Kai’s lips as he shifted closer to the gold metal bars. Eyes were silver and dagger teeth were flashing. Even with those sharp features, Krystal didn’t find it threatening as she continued walking towards the man, before a palm graced upon his bronzed cheek, sneaking an arm in between the bars. “Hey, it’s okay. These creatures came with good intentions.” A tremble filled with fears caused Krystal to be anxious of his shock over the mermaids and the merman. Perhaps, it was still a new thing for him. “Your highness, would you mind releasing him from the cage?” With a half-turned body, Krystal pleaded as she stared into Jessica in concern for the werewolf.

A strong hesitation appeared on the princess’s face, before she eventually spoke up, “As long as he wouldn’t throw a fit again, then yes.” Within a single nod towards a merman who was guarding the cage, the metal bars swiftly bowed down, planting itself into the hard sand.

Krystal’s palm retreated on her waist as her dark brown orbs refracted the scene ahead, before Kai dashed forward and engulfed Krystal in an embrace filled with longing and anxiety. His face was buried in her locks, his muscular arms were resting on her back, and his chest was thumping rapidly. In an attempt to comfort him from being terrified by the new creatures, Krystal ran her palms up and down against Kai’s back, along with occasional pat as a sign that everything was going to be just fine.

Inhaling the scent of lavender from her hair, Kai eventually calmed down, before his silver orbs disappeared along with his wolf-teeth. “I thought that I’ve lost you.” Tone was hushed yet fragile, hands were pushing Krystal’s figure closer to his, feeling the warmth creeping inside.

Shaking her head with a faint smile, Krystal brought her hands onto the back of his shoulders as she rested her forehead against his broad chest. “It’s okay, Kai. Everything is in a good position.” Her grip eventually loosened, before she pushed Kai out of the embrace gently, parting away the warmth.

“Do you, perhaps, remember?” A sudden boom of voice from Jessica snapped both Krystal and Kai out of their small world, as the older woman stared at them with a judgemental look. A puzzled expression from both of them, somehow, managed to answer her question as Jessica waved off her palm softly. “No. Nothing.”

Raising her brows up, Krystal then changed her attention back to Kai, before she exclaimed, “This is a mermaid, who is also a princess of this kingdom. Her name is Jessica. Do you happen to know Atlantis?” A shook of head from Kai confirmed her intuition, as she sighed out her acknowledge. “You don’t need to know what Atlantis is. But you do know what kind of creature they are, don’t you?”

Kai focused on Jessica’s golden tail momentarily, who flashed him a formal grin, before he shook his head once again. “No. Are they humans or fishes?”

Literally face-palming, Krystal responded, “I suppose you don’t even know what fairy tales are?”

“No.”

“God. Where have you been, Kai? Even a creature like you came from the dark side of a tale, how could you not know?”

“I just don’t know.”

Sighing, Krystal left the questions hung in the middle of the air, before her figure shifted towards Jesscia who wore an amused smile. “Your highness, I apologise on his behalf for the ignorance of your existence. But I suppose we could give at least a gratitude towards your kindness for saving us?”

Nodding in acknowledgement of Krystal’s apology, Jessica flashed Kai an unreadable grin, before she asked, accepting the offer of returning the kindness. “I know that you have a long journey to your destination, but could you at least spare a couple of days here?”

“Well, of course. But why the request of staying?”

“Because I missed being close to you.” A sincere smile and a glance towards Kai. “Plus, your man needs to know what kind of creature we actually are—which is, of course, not a dark one like a werewolf.”

Like a pair of expected guests in the royal palace of London, Kai found himself sat across the previous mermaid with a firm-like humour, and a merman who had his muscles built up perfectly—even he had to admit that the merman was better in shape than a werewolf like him. But, of course, they were the royals anyway. And Kai had better things to ponder about rather than thinking about the mythical man’s well-toned body… like why did those creatures were so kind to save them from suffocating? Especially for the royals who had a dozen and more authorities to do.

Hazel-painted irises observed the frown on Kai’s forehead, before a genuine smile graced upon his plump lips. “Welcome to our kingdom. I am Princess Jessica’s fiancé, Prince Donghae.” Along the lines, a gaze was thrown towards the chuckling princess with a palm covering .

Very royal-like, indeed, Kai thought as he nodded curtly. The corner of his eyes caught a glance towards Krystal, who was sitting silently beside him. “Thank you. Um, your highness, I hope you are aware that both Krystal and I could not stay here for a long time. Perhaps we will leave when the dawn comes.”

An abrupt appearance of the tense of air halted Kai’s heartbeat, as the mermaid furrowed her eyebrows before her voice hollered in his eardrums, “Are you questioning my only request, after I have saved your own life?” A protective arm s around Jessica’s shoulder, attempting to calm her down.

“No, your highness, it was just—”

“Do not speak without permission in this palace!”

“Jessica—”

“No, Donghae oppa. This man is trying to take control over Krystal!”

“Your highness, I never have any intention in trying to control—”

“Guards!” Not a second after the mermaid’s voice echoed throughout the tea hall, two lines of merman, who wore armour along with a silver sword in their grips, barged in. Their massive arms rapidly chained Kai’s hand down, who was struggling for free as he was forced to his feet.

Fear mixed with shock registered in Krystal’s mind, before she threw her hands around the wolf’s waist, pulling him away from the guards. “Princess Jessica, please! I’m begging you, let him go! He didn’t have any bad intention!” With tears began to form in her eyes, the vampire pleaded as she stared desperately towards the mermaid.

Hushed encouragements for placing a halt in the scene escaped Donghae’s lips as his palms rubbed Jessica’s arms smoothly. His eyebrows were knitted in the abrupt change of his princess’s behaviour, knowing the fact that something had gotten into her usual calm demeanour. The mermaid, however, only remained still as her aqua orbs refracted the sight ahead. Her figure stood still, frozen on the spot with a hardened expression. “Lock this beast in the underground prison.”

Grunts and wails filled the hall as both Krystal and Kai tried to break free from the unwavering guards. The woman shook a merman’s arm harshly, but she only got thrown to the ground as a return. In the process, her head hit the corner of the majestic table, causing blood to rush out of her head in an instant. The incident, somehow, registered in the werewolf’s mind in between the crowded scene, and as much as he wished to rush and treat her, the firm grip around his arms leaded him to a failure. Just when his figure was forced to spin around towards the exit door, a frail voice halted the guards’ movement.

“Stop… stop it. Soyeon unnie—I—I’m bleeding.”

“Take him away. I will take care of my sister.”

Why did it turned out like this? /cries a river/ the orginal idea was for a bear to wake up from hibernating and fight with them (lol). Then where did the lost city of Atlantis plot came frooooooom? T_T anyway, I should tag HaeSica here.. hohoho. I've just read the featured story, 'Joie De Vivre' and realised how crappy my story is compared to hers T^T

What do you think happened in this chapter btw? What's with Jessica's act towards Krystal? How can they be sisters if one is a vampire and another is a mermaid? How? Hooow? /cough cough/ sorry I did too much singing today. Anyway, a problem with Kai. Do you think he really is using Ji Hye as a skipping stone?

Ta daah!! A trailer made by me! It's not as good since this was my first time in trailer-making, but well. I tried :P do drop a comment below and let me know the answers to the curiousity!