Jiyong sat in the darkness of the room, silently contemplating to himself as he flipped through the hologram that Youngbae had sent. News articles of riots and political unrest cropped up on the front of his feed---burnings of houses of the old JYP Manor, the discrimination and belittling of citizens towards the old employees that had been working for JYP rampant in all the different cities, now that their ruling leaders had mysteriously disappeared alongside their Queen.

Jiyong's hands clenched, the bright purple irises of his eyes narrowing almost dangerously. Someone had leaked out this information specifically to cause unrest. What they had worked so hard to contain---telling the citizens it was a malfunction of a prototype of a humanoid in production backfired on them as the secret files and contents of what the attack truly was : A JYP Remnant and Rebel attack, had taken all the citizens up into a vicious rage of anger and retribution. To sum it up, the country that he had left perfectly in place was a huge big mess. Jiyong's teeth grinded together in chagrin. Luckily whoever had leaked this information had not gotten hold of the fact that Taeyeon was visiting other races in secret, though it was apparent that the news of him disappearing from the throne had indeed been leaked.

Jiyong scowled deeply at the emboldened headlines that boldly proclaimed: SILVER HOLLOW IN PERIL BECAUSE OF AN IRRESPONSIBLE KING? The glass cracked under the intense pressure in his hands, the stray pieces of glass embedding themselves into his flesh.

“Jiyong!” The joy in Taeyeon’s face faded as soon as she saw the blood dripping from Jiyong’s palms. Her face instinctively paled, and Jiyong quickly waved his hand, closing the hologram with a simple flick of his hand, watching with gentle warmth in his eyes as Taeyeon cupped his hands frantically, whipping out her handkerchief desperately in an attempt to stem the blood.

“Its fine, Taeyeon. Its going to heal and close up within the next few minutes.” He gently pulled her from the floor, taking his hand away from her tight grasp. Taeyeon bit her lip as he withdrew his hand, the worry creasing deep within his eyebrows as he cupped her cheek gently, brushing aside stray strands of her dark hair. She studied his haunting eyes intently, light brown meeting intense purple in a clash of worry, love and nervousness.

“Well. If you say so.” She murmured lightly, gently withdrawing herself from his embrace with a slight step back, her cheeks burning deeply at their close proximity. Jiyong stiffened slightly at her retreat, an awkward smile flitting across his face at her withdrawal. He cleared his throat tightly.

“Well, mind telling me about your day? You had the brightest smile on your face when you came in.” A fond grin lit his face as he teased Taeyeon slightly. “Nothing endangered any of you, right?” Taeyeon shook her head shyly, before reaching into her bag slightly and pulling out the glass fish that Sunny had gifted to her upon their parting. The dwarf had insisted that she take the artpiece since she’d help created it.

“I made this at Sunny’s place. With her help, of course.” She dropped the glass fish into Jiyong’s palms, flushing at the surprise on his face. “Its not a gift with any special meaning. Just junk.”

“Don’t let Sunny hear you say that.” Jiyong chuckled, gently putting the gift aside to pull her in for a gentle hug. “Thank you for the gift, love.” He tapped her forehead with his finger slightly with a low chuckle. “But I may have to leave for a while. Something’s happened in the citadel.”

“Something happened?” Taeyeon twisted in his arms, alarm coloured her pretty face delicately. “I knew it! You shouldn’t have left! Go back immediately, Jiyong.” She ordered, pushing him back as gently as she could. “You know you have to.”

“Well, I know that I’ve entrusted the city into good hands, so there’s nothing much to worry about.” Jiyong instinctively backtracked on his words, displeasure adorning his face at Taeyeon’s quick attempts to push him further away, feeling slightly irked that she seemed eager for him to leave. “Maybe I should stay. You know, to---”

“If you don’t leave, I’ll leave you.” Silence filled the gap between them as Jiyong stared at Taeyeon incredulously, who clenched