Jiyeon and Kyungsoo stood inside the maze in the garden. She looked ravishing in the black lace dress she was fitted in, topped with a lace hat with sunken red lips and dark makeup. Kyungsoo was not far off, with a pitch black suit and his face half concealed behind a white mask. The phnatom of the opera. Jiyeon had received his letter earlier that day.

" You look wonderful tonight, Jiyeon. " Kyungsoo commented.

She chuckled and nodded. " And I you, Kyungsoo. We will make a very matching couple in the ball. Unintentionally perfect, I suppose. "

" True, we'd be the perfect pair. But, " and he sighed. " it is disappointing that you fancy my brother. Or I would've tackled you sooner. "

Jiyeon giggled, " That is unfortunate, but it's just a matter of taste. You're not so bad yourself, I'm sure there will be a line of girls just waiting for your proposal. "

" Not as much as Junmyeon, I'd have to say. " then he cleared his throat. " But I have heard your rivalry with one of the contestants. Irene Bae, is that her name ? "

" Oh, that gossip. " and she flicked her hair. " Well, I have nothing to worry about since the prince is wise enough to know who is suitable for being future queen. As for Irene, she is nowhere near as I am to Junmyeon. "

Kyungsoo smirked and nodded slowly. " Is that so ? But as his brother, I tend to know him better. Junmyeon might seem like the calm and collected prince that he is poised as, but trust me when I tell you he tends to be more of a wild card laid upon the desk. "

" I think there's more to this conversation, Kyungsoo. As far as I know, you're not the type to lounge about and chat petty issues. "

" Smart, you really are meant to be future queen. But I'm not sure you'll make it through without anyone's assitance. Trust me, any one of the girls competing now has a chance to win his heart. Junmyeon is not always sure of his decisions, his choices will change from time to time. And I know you are very eager to win the throne, as much as I want the best for my brother before he becomes king. "

Jiyeon was silent for a while, the more she thought about it the more Kyungsoo's words grabbed hold of her. He was right, she had more than one archnemesis to go against. But she knew it was going to be very hard to win by playing this by the rules. She always fancied Junmyeon, and she was certain her future was to be queen. She didn't think he would hesitate to marry her, so the Selection was just a fake gameshow in the end. She didn't think he would fall for anyone else.

" Even so, what can you do to help me ? " she asked curtly, not showing her eagerness.

Kyungsoo smirked again, " I have a few tricks up my sleeve, not many know that. We'll take everyone down one by one, I'll explain it to you on the way. "

" There must be a price, I reckon. "

" Just say yes, and we'll begin. "

When Yi Fan said he'd give me the signal, he wasn't joking. Three days after the gala, there was a note on my balcony late at night. I was getting ready for bed, that was when it seemed like out of a storybook when I saw the note. People might've thought I was having an affair, but I knew that untidy handwriting and messy scribbles that were almost impossible to decode.

I put on my cloak and ventured to the dock, once again late at night. Only, since we were narrowed down to the top ten, doing your own thing was getting harder to not get noticed. I only brought a kerosene lamp, and tried my best not to get caught. To make things worse, a few slaves were brought through the borders not so long ago. Something about relations with Ottawa again, and trading slaves were a normal thing.

The logic behind all that was pushed aside for me.

I knocked twice on the yacht door, and Kris let me in. He was wearing a casual white shirt, jeans and I noticed, a new ring on his finger. I took off my cloak, and sat down on the couch. " So ? Any news ? " I asked him.

He poured a glass of whiskey and settled it on the table for me, " I'd rather be drunk than see what I'm about to show you. " and he went to the chest of drawers, took out some documents and laid it on the table.

" Take a look at this, I took some important ones back. " he said.

" Hold on, how did you get these ? " I asked him.

He drank my glass of whiskey, " I knocked out one of the lab assistants, I went around as him. " then he looked at my horrified face and smirked. " Don't worry, I didn't kill him. I locked him up in the basement then I fed him some memory serum. He doesn't remember a thing. "

I sighed in relief, " That's good. "

" Look at this, these are reports about prisoners and their acts. Then look at this, ' Wiped Memory', then there's ' Insert Memory ', these have something to do with the Amnesiac Serum. " 

I looked closely at the reports, each discovery making me feel even more disgusted. Subject : Kim Arin, she was the woman I saw get dragged out of the secret department. Wiped memory : extremist activities, Insert memory : castle maid ( five years ), everything they were going to do with her was wrong. 

If I was right, the government's plan was to eliminate anyone found guilty, and to make them believe they were living as someone else's fake life after that. It was more than disgusting, it was horrifying. Then it occured to me, were they going to do that to Sunny ? 

" What about the information I told you to find about Sunny Lee ? " I asked him.

He was silent for a moment, the movement of his hands clutching his wrist. A sign he wasn't ready to tell me something. That made me even more anxious to know what he was about to say.

" She was a common case, smuggling isn't something serious. So they left her unguarded in the wards, it was easy to break through. " he told me. " It was stupid though, what they did to her. " he remarked. " Getting her out was the hard part. "

I was biting my nails, " What do you mean, ' getting her out ' ? " 

" Come on, I'll show you. " he got up and went to the room downstairs and followed him. The small staircase creaked like a mouse with each step I took, then I wondered how much time it took him to carry Sunny. But what made Sunny so weak till Kris had to carry her ? 

" Brace yourself. " he warned me before opening the door. 

What came afterwards was inexplicably numb, like gusts of freezing wind attacking me down my spine. Sunny lay on the bed, equiped with life support and an oxygen mask. Her eyes were closed, as if she was lifeless. I tried not to cry and edged closer to the bed, and I took her hand. It was like holding a lifeless doll, she was clinging onto dear life. 

" Oh, Sunny..." I breathed. " What happened to her ? " 

" Judging by the life support, she was shot and she was in critical mode. I don't know what does it have to do with you, Irene, but you can see how those bastards treated people. They're inhuman and cruel, you have so much more to fight for. For her, for her life that was just wasted by others. "

I knew he was right, Sunny didn't deserve to be in the state she was. Her hair was rested on the pillow, her brown locks just somehow perfectly sprawled. She still had color to her cheeks, she still could be saved. " She's still alive, isn't she ? " I asked, more to myself for reassurance.

" She'll be okay when the time comes. " he answered. " And I'll make sure of that, for you. "

I felt like he still wasn't telling me something, but I didn't say more. I put on my cloak and went back to the castle.

I was in that dark room again, and I had no idea why I was there. I lay on the cold floor, with rooms surrounded with rock walls. I was wearing ragged pants, which was a surprise. There was an instinct in me that told me to run, so I got to feet and sprinted through the double doors.

I could hear myself panting heavily, and fear churning through my gut. I didn't know what I was running from, but I just knew it'd be death of me if whatever-it-was caught on. I entered the never ending hallways, zipping past windows and doors filled with gore and horror. Then I came to a halt when I saw the lights flickering ahead. 

" Life...life is short, y-yesss ! " the man in the wheelchair. " Click ! Click ! Click ! Hahahah ! " he kept mumbling. 

My feet were still moving, my heart was racing. Maybe, just maybe if I didn't bother him, he might ignore me-

" YOU !!!!!! " he grabbed me by the arm, revealing his distorted features, Jungmo. His mouth sagged, ripped apart, eyeballs visibly white. He looked like a morphed demon, I screamed. He grinned creepily, " Didn't think you could run, did you ? From it ? " 

There was violent clicking and snorting from behind, so I peaked. That forsaken giant boar was heading our way, its tusks aiming at Jungmo and I. I was pleading him to let me go, " Let me go, please ! I'll take you with me ! "

He cackled, " Too late, Joohyun ! Come and join us in hell !!!!! " and he forced me to look behind as the boar ran towards us.

I screamed bloody murder.