Taeyeon’s POV

I may look calm outside but on the inside, I don’t know what to do.

My family members are here and I have to keep them safe, no matter what. But A.D. is very powerful now. To say the truth, she is even stronger than me.

End of Taeyeon’s POV

Taeyeon looked at Nayeon and found that she was going to take out her wand.

“Nayeon!” Taeyeon went to hug her. “Don’t use your wand no matter what happens. You have to hide your powers.” Taeyeon whispered and let her go.

“Yah! You can’t go around, hugging Nayeon. She’s mine!” Jeongyeon said, at the same time pulling Taeyeon away from Nayeon.

By the look in Taeyeon’s eyes, Nayeon could see that she was worried. “Do as I say.” Taeyeon said.

“What is she saying? What are you going to do? You aren’t leaving me for her, are you?”

Taeyeon sighed. She had had enough. She snapped her fingers and Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung fell asleep right away.

“Yah! Why didn’t you make Nayeon fall asleep too?” Jessica shouted.

Taeyeon said nothing. She didn’t want Jessica to know that Nayeon was her daughter and Yoona was the other mother.

“Looks like you have feelings for that beautiful mortal. So I’m not going to take your soul. I’ll kill you.” A.D. said, a wicked smile plastered on her face.

“You can kill me but I won’t let you lay a finger on her.” Taeyeon raised her voice.

“Wow! But she is in love with that mortal, not you. You have no hope, Taeyeon. You are still the same as before. Didn’t I tell you? Following those meaningless rules will never make you a Queen. You will only be a slave to those rules.”

“You are nothing better! Still a bad girl I used to know.”

Taeyeon thought, ‘Why can’t I sense her weakness? Aish… this dark forest is truly beneficial for witches.’

A.D. continued, “Nayeon, this won’t take long. I’ll give you this world after killing this woman.”

‘Nayeon-ah, don’t let these witches know that you are a wizard,’ Taeyeon said in her thoughts.

“I don’t want to be with you! If you kill her, I’ll curse you to die!”

‘She is getting very angry. I wish she won’t lose control. Or else, A.D. will know that she is a royal wizard. This will only increase her interest on Nayeon.’

“You aren’t a witch. How can you curse me, kid?”

“I a-”

“IM NAYEON!!!!” Taeyeon shouted.

“The Queen likes to shout, doesn’t she? Well, let’s get started A.D. This useless talk will get us nowhere. I’m tired. I want my beauty sleep and of course my Jeongyeon.”

‘This witch’s weakness is easy to be found.’ Taeyeon thought.

“Jessic-”

“I know. She is my best friend. I know well about her.” Jessica replied and started to fight Yerin.

Yerin and Jessica were fighting in the living room so Taeyeon didn’t know what was happening to them. And the room she was in, was too small for a fight to take place. But it was not that she had a choice. They were trapped in there.

“You are weak, Taeyeon. I don’t know why but I can feel it. You can’t hide from me. So I’m letting you choose, thanks to the friendship we had before. Let me take Nayeon’s and all of their souls. I’ll let you live.” That earned a laugh from Taeyeon.

“You are crazy if you thought I would believe you. I will never believe that you will spare my life.” Taeyeon casted a spell and began her attack.

Taeyeon did it not to kill A.D. She did it to find her weakness.

“Taeyeon, can you do this alone? I think she is very powerful.”

Hearing what Yoona said, Taeyeon smiled genuinely for the first time in the past few day. Knowing that Yoona was worried for her made her feel stronger.

“You can’t do this alone!” Nayeon who was sitting near Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung said.

Taeyeon said with a smile, “I will always love you. Know that I will always be looking after you no matter what happens.” Then she looked at A.D.

“Finished saying you goodbyes?” at the end of A.D.’s words, everything became pitch black.

Taeyeon could not see or hear anything and she could not move. But she knew, there were people around her.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Sunny could not stay still at home, not because Sooyoung was with her, or Mrs. Yoo, who is literally in a coma, was there. It was because she was worried.

Firstly, Taeyeon said some weird things. Secondly, Chaeyoung had gone missing and Jeongyeon and Nayeon had not come back yet. There was no news from them, not even a phone call. Besides, she had a gut feeling that something was happening; something bad, something dangerous.

“Should we go find them?” Sooyoung asked.

“Yeah, I think we should.”

The two left, but made sure no one could harm Mrs. Yoo, who would be alone without them.

“Why don’t you find them? I’m not good at that.” Sooyoung said and hold the shorter girl’s hand.

Sunny tried to look for Nayeon, but everything in her vision was vague and dull. But she flashed to where it was.

“Whoa! Why are we…” Sooyoung looked around. “In the dark forest?”

“That’s what I want to ask. I couldn’t track the princess. The vision was very blurry. So I flashed and somehow, we got here.” But deep down, both of them knew that no matter how fuzzy the vision was, the magic was never wrong.

“There’s a house there!” Sooyoung pointed.

“Why is there a mortals’ house in the middle of the dark forest? Don’t witches build their houses on trees?”

“Dunno. But since you brought us here, maybe Jeongyeon and the princess is in that house.”

Sunny looked around the house. “Something is happening inside. Get your wand ready.”

“I can feel the presence of witches inside.” Sooyoung said, approaching the house.

‘Two witches, one must be very strong.’ Sunny thought.

The two went closer to the house and tried to get in but the doors were locked; the same went for the windows.

They could not see what was happening inside but could hear sounds, as if they were in a battlefield.

“We have to get in. Let’s go to the back of the house.”

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

“Yerin-ah, why are you doing this to us?”

“I’m a witch, Jessica. I am a witch. I can break rules, promises… I’m a witch!”

Jessica noticed that Yerin was saying a chant. So she covered her ears. Chants did not work if one could not hear them. Yerin stopped and smirked.

“You’re no fun, Jessica. How are you going to fight me with your ears covered?” she laughed.

Jessica started to fight. “You are my best friend. Or should I say you were? I know you well, Yerin; like when you get defenceless.”

Yerin was trying to say something but she couldn’t because Jessica was strangling her.

“Now I’ll show you how to put a witch into a deep sleep.”

Yerin fainted, falling onto the floor. It was a piece of cake for Jessica to kill Yerin. But she was not a witch and was not interested in killing someone. It was Taeyeon who came into her mind the moment she defeated Yerin. She was the only one who can help the shorter in fighting against Yerin. She returned to the dining room and was freaked out. She had never thought this would happen.

Taeyeon was on her knees, looking up at the ceiling. Nayeon and Yoona were no different. Jessica realized they were trapped in the spell. Again, it was never easy to fight a half-wizard, half-witch.

“Hey, A.D., this isn’t a fair fight!”

“Jessica, I do what I want to. Looks like Yerin lost. She needs more training.”

“I’m not here to chit chat. Let them go or else!”

“Or what? Can’t you see the Queen kneeling before me? Do you genuinely believe that half royal wizard blood of yours can defeat me?” A.D. went closer to Jessica.

Jessica had never felt scared that much in her life.

“I was going to let you live but you chose the wrong people as your team. Now, you will undergo the same thing as them.”

Jessica closed her eyes and waited for the moment the spell fell upon her.

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard. The windows broke and the utensils fell off. When she opened her eyes, A.D. was on the dining table and the table, of course was broken in half.

“Do you really think you can hypnotize me that easily, Sunmi?” Taeyeon stood up.

Jessica checked Yoona and Nayeon. They were under the spell for sure.

“Taeyeon, what happened to them?”

“They need time to regain consciousness.”

“I should not have underestimated you.”

“Yes, you shouldn’t. I know you’re stronger than me but I can give up my life to kill you.”

“Give up your life to kill me? You look even weaker than before, Taeyeon. You’ll have to give your life but I don’t think you can k-”

Taeyeon didn’t let her finish and threw an energy orb towards her, resulting in A.D. crashing into the wall. The wall almost fell down.

“Taeyeon, stop! You are going to die if you use up all that energy!!” Jessica shouted.

“Good for you if it happens, isn’t it?”

“Shut up! I don’t want you to die! Sto-”

 Taeyeon threw another one before A.D. could stand again.

“Don’t!! She is fooling you! She is trying to tire you out.”

“I’m sorry, sis. But I… I won’t listen to you.” Taeyeon was trembling. She couldn’t stand straight.

“Why are you so stubborn, KIM TAEYEON?!” Jessica was frustrated to