"Please, run! For your own sake, cousin, leave!"

Jisoo mulled over Yuri's words as she sat in the sedan chair once more. It was a long trek to the Northern Territory, but instead of using faster transportation such as a horse and carriage, or even a motor car - of which there were many in the human world - she chose instead the sedan chair, quite possibly the slowest available option.

She could easily have used magic, but she didn't want to.

The Royal Guards were also making a meal of the journey, stopping as frequently as they could in order to prolong it. An air of foreboding and grievance clouded them as they went. They had just gotten their Crown Princess back, and they had to send her off, certain they may never hear from her again. Who knows what those Vampire bastards would do with her? They had already disrespected her enough at the initial meeting.

Jisoo frowned as she thought more. The Vampires only sustenance was blood. What in God's name would she eat? Would they let her starve to death? Or even worse - force her to become a Vampire, too?

Would she lose her powers, then?

Or would she become a weaker version of herself?

Vampires didn't exactly have the easiest time. Sure, they had superior strength and healing abilities, but so did the she. Moreover, she had magic ability they didn't have. She could create illusions and projections and do all sorts of things. Very dark and disturbing things. She could draw out your worst fears and conjure them before your very eyes. Demons had the total ability to wreak havoc with their powers. That's why there were so many laws in place regulating what kind of magic was acceptable for a functioning society. She wasn't supposed to know half of the magic she knew, much of it was very illegal. She had been tempted to try out possessing a human while in their realm, but knew she would definitely be caught.

So becoming a Vampire... could one possess a vampire? Probably not. They had much better senses than humans when it came to detecting malevolent energy. She couldn't become a Vampire. No way. What good would it do her to lose all of her powers and be degraded to blood and being afraid of the sun, strength being the only thing left that would make her superior to a human? Vampires couldn't even eat proper food without throwing it back up.

She felt like she was being carried towards her death, all of a sudden.

Her heart rate rose quickly, her hand gripping the window frame of the sedan chair.

What to do, what to do, what to do?

Pulling the curtain back, her large brown eyes peered outside.

It was already too late.

The welcoming party was waiting for them.

She had been forced to wear a black silk robe that day, with a white under-layer of thick cotton. It was embroidered with patterns of pink and lilac petals. It was colder up in the north. Grabbing her thick fur stole, she wrapped it around her shoulders, pinning it with a large brooch.

Taking as deep a breath as she could, Jisoo found her heart rate wouldn't slow down. Her chest began to hurt, her nails clinging to the window frame as she struggled to breathe. Calm down, Jisoo. Calm down.

There was no celebration for her as they left the Guorun Palace. Rather, the citizens lined the streets in silence, all dressed entirely in either black or white. Many of them dropped flowers into the path as the sedan chair passed through. 

After a moment of announcement from her advisor, the door to the sedan chair slowly opened, and Jisoo sat up, quickly drying her eyes of any wetness lest she begin crying and ruin her make-up. Her chest still hurt, and her heart hadn't slowed down any, but she managed to disguise her fear by plastering on a look of indifference, a change from the angry expression she had so often met him with during his stay in the Guorun Palace.

Taking Yixing's hand, she carefully stepped outside, her cheeks tensing for a moment against the chilly wind. Spring had not yet come. Once more she met face-to-face with Crown Prince Kim Seokjin. His name was suitable for a king, she thought, and he had the dignified face of one. He stood tall, with pale skin, dark, wide eyes, strong eyebrows, hair styled into something less-than formal. It was parted, pushed up and swept over. He was handsome at least. He would be something nice to look at if nothing else.

"A final gift from the Royal Guard." Baekhyun said, catching her attention and handing her a bouquet of dark pink roses. She looked at them for a moment as they sat wrapped in pretty paper and then clutched them in her hand before continuing on.

Jisoo