He locked the door behind him. Taecyeon couldn't think straight. He sat on the egde of his bed, thinking about Yoona and nothing else. Why was he so bothered about Donghae's approach to Yoona just now, when he had nothing to do with her? It's not like she's very special to him or something. Am I falling for her? Taec! What the hell are you thinking?! It's impossible to fall in love with her at first sight. Taecyeon was abruptly speaking to himself. Maybe I'm just tired...I should calm down. Before he knew it, he rested his head on the pillow and snored quietly.

Three in the afternoon, Wooyoung knocked on Taecyeon's door. "Taecyeon-ssi! Wake up! I prepared snacks." Taecyeon groaned as he tried to cover his pillow over his face. After a few more nags from Wooyoung, he stood up and unlocked the door. "I'm up. Can you stop nagging already? It's really annoying." Both of them went downstairs and settled down in the dining room. Taecyeon rubbed his eyes while Wooyoung waited for an explanation.

"What?"

Wooyoung exhaled slowly. "I would like to know where in Solitaire have you been? Hey, you didn't know how long I have waited for you to arrive back here. I was worrying about you A LOT. So...what's your excuse?"

Taecyeon casually took a sip of his coffee. "Okay, I'm sorry for making you worry about me. I...uhh, got attacked by the Jesters..."

Wooyoung's eyes widened. "WHAT?! ARE YOU OKAY?"

"Relax. I'm fine, I just got my right shoulder injured. Luckily, I got saved by...a Queen." Wooyoung almost spat out his coffee. He couldn't believe how much trouble Taecyeon had gotten into. "Yoona-ssi saved me. She is quite...a beauty. Also, she helped me with my wounds and I slept there for the rest of the night. In the morning, I should've came back here but the Queens invited me for breakfast and I'm scared that they would be frustrated if I would turn down their request. Oh right, I finally know who those stupid Kings are." Taecyeon gritted his teeth. Wooyoung stared at him while his jaw dropped.

"What a lucky freshman you are indeed. No one has ever been treated like that by them! So, I'm not surprised that those Kings visited the palace. They passed by the Deck yesterday which made the Solitarians freak out. But, don't worry. None of them got hurt. By the way, since you knew they visited the Palace yesterday...what did they say?" Wooyoung leaned his head forward. Taecyeon told him everything he heard, that made Wooyoung confused.

"Marriage? The Kings should be out of their minds. They have NEVER been in a good relationship with our dear Queens..."

"I know. One of them approached Yoona-ssi. I actually wanted to push him away from her as I was scared he might do something dangerous. But, I just grabbed his wrist tightly..." Taecyeon looked up and saw Wooyoung giving him a sinister smile.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You like Yoona-ssi, don't you?" he smirked.

Taecyeon stuttered. "I...uhh...what are you talking about...? Of course I don't..." He felt his ears turning red.

"Oh look what we have here. Looks like, our dear ears don't lie. Agree Ok Taecyeon-ssi?" Wooyoung winked at him. Taecyeon slightly hit him on the shoulder. "Ouch...just kidding. Why so sensitive?" He stuck out his tongue while Taecyeon rolled his eyes.

"Hey, you won't mind if I could go around by myself right?"

Wooyoung's expression darkened. "Would you like to get yourself killed again?"

"I was just planning to visit the Palace, if you don't mind."

"Woah, hold on there. Are you even allowed? Solitarians aren't allowed to go there whenever they want. Strictly, prohibited." Wooyoung stood up and walked over to the sink to wash the dishes. Taecyeon followed behind him.

"Well, Yoona-ssi said that I can drop by if I'm in trouble."

Wooyoung looked back at him, raising his eyebrows. "Well...are you?"

"No...but-"

"Missing our dear Queen already? Looks like, our Taecyeon-ssi wants to spend a romantic time with Yoona-ssi eh?" Wooyoung wiggled his eyebrows. Taecyeon sighed.

"Please...Wooyoung?" he begged. Wooyoung dropped the rag he was using to wipe the counter as he faced Taecyeon. "I guess, I can trust you to be more careful this time. But before that, I have to craft a defensive tool for you." A smiled dawned upon Taecyeon's face as he patted Wooyoung on the back. "Thanks, Woo~"

-At the King's Mansion-

Leeteuk tapped his fingers on the table. The others focused on him with serious expressions on their faces. "It's hard to make the Queens agree..." he sighed.

Donghae smirked. "Hyung, we have our secrets remember?" The Kings' lips curled into a broad smile.

"You're right Donghae. Our abilities shouldn't be set aside right? Do not worry now. Even though we have failed to make the Queens marry us, we shall just FORCE them instead. But, they still want our war right? Let's plan out our thoughts one by one...shall we?" Leeteuk clasped his hands while the other eight Kings nodded.

"Besides, we're stronger than them. Right?" Siwon asked the Leeteuk. "Of course, we are. We just accepted defeat last year to let the Queens change their point of view about us, being weak. Too bad, it was only for a good show." Leeteuk replied.

"Sungmin. How's your mission going?"

Sungmin looked up and saw eight pairs of eyes staring at him. "It's...going well Leeteuk hyung..."

"Good. Now, let's not waste anymore time and plan our strategy as soon as possible. Sungmin, continue your job alright?"

"Yes, Leeteuk hyung." Sungmin stood up and bowed before he left the mansion. I hope I can be successful in this mission. This isn't going to be easy. Sungmin adjusted his black suit and wrapped his grey coat tighter around him. He can't let his brothers down. He musn't.

-At the Palace-

Yonghwa placed the plates on the trays and slotted them in the trolley. The Queens have just finished their dinner and Yonghwa tidied up the dining room. He was about to enter the kitchen until he heard, glass shattering in the living room. He dropped his white rag on the carpeted floor and sprinted to the living room.

"Ouch..." He found Seohyun on the floor holding her hand which was bleeding. "Omo! Seohyun-ssi! Wait there, I'll get the first aid kit!" He ran to the storage room to get the first aid kit. He grabbed it swiftly and walked briskly towards the living room. He kneeled down on the floor beside Seohyun and took out a white cloth and a bandage to wipe off the blood that was dripping from her hand. Seohyun cried bitterly as she let Yonghwa cover up her wound. Yonghwa gently wrapped the bandage around her hand as Seohyun winced.

"Does it hurt? I'm sorry Seohyun-ssi." Yonghwa apologized to her as she shook her head.

"I'm alright. Thank you Yonghwa-ssi for your help..." Seohyun wiped her tears away that was trickling down on her face. Yonghwa's heart ached as he looked at Seohyun's tears.

"What happened your highness? You lost quite an amount of blood." Yonghwa carried Seohyun from the floor and placed her gently on the white sofa. "I accidentally hit the vase when I placed a book beside it." Seohyun frowned as she stared at her injured hand. Yonghwa sighed.

"It's alright Seohyun-ssi. I'll clean it up now before your sisters see it." Yonghwa stood up but he felt Seohyun's hand grabbing his wrist. He looked back at her. "Please stay here with me, first. I don't mind if my sisters would see the broken vase." Seohyun begged him with an innocent look. Yonghwa cleared his throat. For the first time in his life, Seohyun begged at him.

"Sure, Seohyun-ssi. I'll stay." Yonghwa awkwardly sat down beside her. "Are you alright Seohyun-ssi?" Seohyun looked at him and noticed that he was still concerned about her. She smiled. "Yes, Yonghwa-ssi. I'm fine. Don't worry. Can we talk for a while?"

"Anything you want, your highness." Yonghwa smiled at her.

"Yonghwa-ssi. Have you ever been scared that one day, everything might not turn out well?" she asked. Yonghwa rose his eyebrow.

"I...uhh, won't probably think negative though."

"What if, the Kings might win? What if we might die...?"

"We probably won't Seohyun-ssi. I believe that each and everyone of you Queens will be successful. Don't worry about those Kings. They are just making you guys weak by making you scared. But, I know that all of you are strong and you might be able to defeat them. Just believe in yourself that you will overcome anything as long as think positive and be brave. Do this for the Solitarians and for the whole of Solitaire. They will be very proud of the brave Queens who saved everyone from the evil Kings." Yonghwa smiled as he noticed Seohyun staring at him. "Seohyun-ssi...?" He waved a hand infront of her and suddenly, she hugged him. Yonghwa was surprised and awkwardly hugged her back. He closed his eyes and smiled blissfully.

"Thank you Yonghwa-ssi. I'm glad that I got a chance to chat with you." Seohyun grinned.

"You can always talk to me Seohyun-ssi. Feel free to ask anything." he smiled. Both of them released each other form their hug and stared into each other's eyes. They leaned closer until their faces were just centimetres apart.

"Ahem..." Tiffany disturbed the two's conversation and both Yonghwa and Seohyun backed away. "...Tiffany unnie..." Seohyun mumbled. "Your highness." Yonghwa bowed at Tiffany. She winked at both of them. Yonghwa and Seohyun blushed.

"Sorry for interrupting your conversation. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. Anyway, Seohyun it's time for bed. Yonghwa, clean up the mess and you may go." Tiffany climbed up the stairs as Seohyun followed behind. She mouthed a 'Thank You' to Yonghwa before she disappeared. Yonghwa felt his heart beating fast as he re-called what they almost did earlier. He shook his head and cleaned up the mess before he went to his own bedroom.

"What was that all about?" Tiffany asked Seohyun while they sat on their beds.

"Just a friendly chat...why unnie?"

"Yeah, right. Yah, Seo Juhyun don't think that I don't know what was going on..." Tiffany grinned as she crossed her arms.

Seohyun panicked. "It was really just a friendly chat. Okay, unnie I need to get some sleep."

"I'll let you pass this time." Both of them laid on their beds as Seohyun switched off the lights. I'm lucky that Tiffany unnie didn't ask any more questions...Seohyun thought as she slowly closed her eyes.

"NOOOOOO!!!!!!" Yoona shouted as she woke up from a bad dream. She was breathing heavily and tried to calm down. Yuri woke up after hearing Yoona scream. "Yoong! Are you okay?" Yuri stood up and sat beside her.

"I'm having bad dreams again Yuri..." Yoona pinched her temples as she tried to catch her breath. "It's alright Yoona, it's just a dream. Relax." Yuri patted her on the back. "It's different this time Yuri. I dreamt that someone was forcing me to kill a Solitarian. The Solitarian looked back at me with teary eyes. The Solitarian made a confession as I pointed my spade at the person. My mind was actually forcing me to kill the person while my heart told me to drop my spade. Is my dream telling me something?" Yoona asked Yuri worriedly.

Yuri thought hard. "Maybe your dream this time, really has a meaning behind it. I don't know what it is but I'm sure it does." Yoona sighed as she tried to find an answer to her dream. "Let's just sleep now Yoong. I'm tired." Yuri yawned as she went back to her bed. Yoona rested her head on her pillow and stared at the ceiling. Questions filled her mind. Who is the Solitarian? Who's the one that is forcing me to kill the person? Why did the Solitarian made a confession that made me listen to my heart? I guess I shall just sleep this feeling off. I think I'm just tired. Yoona slept with questions etched in her mind.

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