The celebration for uncle Minseok's return was tonight, and I still hadn't came up with the chance to find him and show him the numbers Sehun and I had decoded. Either he was gone doing who knows what, or I had duties to attend to. Still, no matter where I went to, I'd always carry the journal with me, I just didn't feel comfortable leaving it away from me. Besides, every little piece of free time I had between chores I would use them to read the journal. There were still a few things I couldn't understand, mainly because there were written in another language, but all in all from what I could gather it tell the story of a being, so powerful and deathly, that was doom to live on an island for the rest of his eternity for a terrible crime that he committed.

There were also some drawings, probably made by the author of the journal, but they mostly consisted of horrible creatures. I didn't know if they were related to the story of this god-like-being or if they came from his sole imagination.

“Hwa-Young, you should be in your rooms getting ready, not in the kitchens” my mother snapped, which made me lost my trail of thoughts. Great. “There will be lots of important people and I expect the best of behaviours from you, as should be hoped from the future Queen”.

Before I could master some form of excuse, she left. I stood up from my chair, finished off my apple, and went to my room to get ready for a very long night.

The dress was suffocating me, don't get me wrong, it was gorgeous and it made me look beautiful, but I was not in the mood to socialize and have people who do not like me, tell me how pretty I look. I could do without the feigned compliments. It was a traditional hanbok, the top part a light orange that made me think of the sky at dawn, with white cuffs and flowers sewn onto the sleeves. The lower part was black, but not a very dark shade, being more grey than anything and in the bottom of the skirt, more flowers were sewn. The purple bow of the front highlighted the pretty flowers. My long, dark hair was tied into a bun, which made me look more civilized than my everyday looks.

When I reached the lower floors, where the party was being held, I realized that like usual, I was late. The place was finely decorated, and full of people. I was sure Sehun was on guard somewhere over here, so my plan for the night was to spend it next to him, either eating, chatting or maybe even both. As I was about to take one step into the place to search for him, somebody stepped in from of me, blocking my way.

“Hwa-Young you look lovely!” Baekhyun exclaimed, and bowed. I died a little bit on the inside, but the smile that came from me was purely genuine. If he was here, then that meant the rest of uncle's crew had to be here as well. “The rest of the guys are dying to see you, shall we go?” He asked, while stretching his arm for me to grab. I courtesied a little, and on we went. I knew all these formalities were not needed when I hangrf with them, but too many people watching made it a necessity.

“It's been too long since we last got together” Baekhyun said quietly, just enough for me to hear. “We were gone for too long this time, but the place was beautiful and we manage to find some untouched treasures, so I guess that made it worth it.”

“Not to worry, my five-year plan to leave unnoticed from here and join you guys is on the march” I joked and managed to get a loud laugh from him. Making Baekhyun laugh always made me giddy, like he was actually enjoying a conversation with me. And that was enough to make my mind wander into very unlikely scenarios.

“In that case, I can't wait to join you in your great adventure, Hwa-Youngie” He replied. I blushed at the nickname, not that I wasn't used to hearing it, but coming from him made me a little bit overwhelm. Baekhyun in general was such an easy-going person, that talking to him was no that hard for my troubled mind, even when it was trying very hard to process Baekhyun's close proximity.

Minseok was nowhere to be found, but the table was definitely easy to locate. The twelve, most closest men to my uncle were seated in a table at the very corner of the room, probably so they couldn't cause too much trouble, not that that was preventing them from causing such a ruckus.

Jongdae, Jongin and Tao were probably the loudest; and the moment we approached the table Jongin jumped from his chair and close the proximity between us, so as to lay his arm over my shoulder.

“Hwa-Youngie, you didn't even came to say hello the other day, I feel heartbroken” he said, feigning hurt, “that's no way to treat your friends”.

“Get your hands off the Princess, Jongin” Junmyeon chastised him, getting his arm from me, and guiding me to sit between him and Kyungsoo, in what I thought were his intention of getting me away from the younger ones, who definitely had no issue whatsoever with skinship, even in a room full of very judgy royals.

“Don't pretend to be so gentlemanly Junmyeon, you're all over Hwa-Young whenever she comes with Minseok” Jongdae replied, doing what he does best, irking people.

“Not in a room where she is future Queen” Junmyeon finally replied, and before I could c