Poking her food with her fork, Mina stared blankly at her plate. She’s still thinking of how Sehun’s doing. She hasn’t seen him for a day since that night when he entered her room with a scratch. She had a hard time patching him up. When he regained consciousness, he made her promise to not tell anyone about what happened.

“Did the steak insult you?” Suho asked. Mina snapped out from her musing and looked at him. He had a playful grin on his face. “You’re stabbing the steak with your fork.” He chuckled at her blank expression.

“What are you thinking about? We might help,” Lay inquired. Mina glanced at him and at Chen who was sitting behind him. She shook her head, putting the fork down.

“I was just thinking of something really trivial,” she answered with a lopsided smile.

“Is the food not of your liking? You know, we can always ask for something else. Do you like seafood? I can tell the head chef to prepare it as soon as possible,” Chen suggested and she shook her head quickly.

“No. Really, there’s no need to do that. I like the food.”

The three boys stared at her, scrutinizing if she’s telling the truth. They all shrugged when they did not find a hint of a lie on her expression. She internally sighed before her eyes rested on the quiet guy sitting on the same table as them. D.O.’s extremely silent. He hasn’t said a word to her since she moved to the Manor. Mina quickly looked away when D.O. looked at her direction, catching her staring at him.

Suho, Lay and Chen started talking about something that they found funny. They were exchanging small jokes now and then. The atmosphere’s just light. Not having Kai and Baekhyun with them is like a breath of fresh air for her. Aside from Suho and Lay, she has grown fond of Chen who she tagged as the mother hen. He often nags and she was reminded of how her mother did the same when she’s still the same. She misses even the annoying nagging of her mother.

When they heard someone entering the dining room, they all looked at who it was. Chanyeol went straight to the counter to pour himself a glass of cold water without minding the stares. He glanced at their direction and he met Mina’s eyes. A small smile crept on her face, trying to look approachable. But when Chanyeol gave her a judging smile, the smile was wiped off.

If Baekhyun’s stare was intimidating, Chanyeol’s purely judging.

Chanyeol placed the empty glass on the counter and started walking away. “Where are you going?” Suho asked but Chanyeol kept on walking. “Park Chanyeol, I’m asking you a question.”

Mina stiffened when Suho’s tone sounded colder than usual. It was firm and demanding. It sounded more of a command. Chanyeol stopped on his tracks and turned around.

“Out,” Chanyeol deadpanned.

Mina heard Lay sigh. “You do know what Yunho said about going out, right?” Lay asked.

“My skill’s not really unstable,” Chanyeol started as he looked at Mina as if he was talking about her. He gazed back at Lay. “So I’m not going to get killed. It’s not like Core’s that safe now, is it?”

Chanyeol did not wait for another word from any of them and he walked out of the room. Suho sighed in surrender as he shook his head. “That guy’s going to be the death of me,” he muttered, massaging his temples. Mina wondered how Suho’s holding up being the King of the Royals when his friends are acting like jerks.

She turned to Lay when he held her hand. She’s not even sure if he could see her cheeks reddening. “Don’t mind him. He’s just all bark and no bite. I mean…he does not bite like a dog but-”

“I think she knows what you mean,” Chen interrupted. “Chanyeol’s just being sensitive. It’s that time when he’s having a mood swing. He’s worse than a girl on her period.”

She forced a smile on her face. Lay pulled his hand from hers. There’s just something about Lay that makes her feel so light. Maybe it’s the way he looks at her with those kind eyes or the way he smiles at her, showing his charming dimple.

Minutes after spending some more time with the boys, chatting while eating, Mina found herself alone in the common room. Looking around, she realized that it’s really spacious. She was not even sure if the room got bigger than before because she was sure that it did not feel that big when she first got there. Maybe she was not paying that much attention before because she had so much going on inside her mind. She wondered if she could invite Sia there. Then again, the Royals is exclusive so it must be next to impossible.

Her eyes rested on the book lying on the glass table. As if there’s a magnet there, she was drawn to it. She picked it up, looking at it intently. “Twisted Kingdoms,” she read as she traced her index finger on the title. The pages looked worn out as if they were read countless times. It’s the book that Jinhee talked about in her entry. She put it back before anyone could see her.

“You trust people so easily.”

Mina felt her heart drop when someone spoke from behind. She quickly turned around and saw D.O. staring at her with a stoic expression.

“You must be cautious of everything around you or else you’ll get hurt,” he added before his eyes drifted to the book on the table. “Don’t trust anyone. We all have skeletons in our cabinets which we are all trying to hide. And some are even willing to kill to keep them a secret.”

His words made her shiver and his low tone was not even helping at all. He’s warning her, that’s for sure. When D.O. took a step towards her, she automatically stepped back. He slowly picked the book and looked at it before looking back at her. She was already holding her breath. She couldn’t explain why she’s feeling jumpy. His stare’s unnerving. She raised a brow when he handed her the book.

She studied his expression, trying to look if he’s really giving the book to her. Mina reached for the book with her cold hands. She pressed her lips into a thin line before opening them.

“C-Can I trust you?” she asked with a soft voice. She was holding unto the book tightly as if her life depended on it. If D.O.’s that concerned of her to warn her, he must be someone who can be trusted. There was no change in his expression.

“No.”

The two of them fell into a moment of silence. D.O. turned around and started walking away without saying another word. After taking five steps, he stopped on his tracks and slowly turned to her as if he remembered something that he wanted to say.

“Be careful with Jinhee’s diary.”

When those words left his lips, she felt goose bumps all over her body. He knows. The words that she was thinking of saying died in .

“Don’t let anyone see you with it,” he continued. “Or else her killer might come after you.”

For a whole day, she’s been bugged about what D.O. told her. It’s clear to her that Yoo Jinhee, the previous Queen, was killed. She doesn’t know why but she’s scared that someone might be targeting her at the moment. She’s just mentally tired of everything happening. She feels like she’s being buried by secrets.

“This might sting a bit,” Doctor Kim stated as he looked at Mina with a small smile on his face. She just blankly stared back at him as he inserted a syringe on her arm. She winced a bit but the puncturing pain faded right away.

When Doctor Kim said that she’ll go through her first mental training, she did not imagine to be placed inside a white room with nothing but a single chair on the center. The doctor explained a while back that her training’s specially made for her because of her special case. She has not received any kind of mental training ever so the first thing to do is awaken her Alice fully. She’s half scared and half excited.

She was starting to feel dizzy. She shook her head when she her vision became blurry. From her peripheral view, she saw a woman in black enter the room. Doctor Kim turned to her, nodding. “It’s time,” he said before the woman in black walked to where Mina was sitting. When she placed her hands on either side of Mina’s head, the latter shut her eyes and she found herself surrounded by darkness.

There she was, standing in the middle of the forest with nothing but a key dangling around her neck. She scrutinized the old key which looked like one of those ancient keys which could open a chest full of gold, diamonds and precious stuff. There’s something about the forest that made her feel like something’s not right. She could not hear any chirping or any sound from the insects which were supposed to inhabit that place. The gentle rustling of the trees made her look around.

Then, she looked down at her feet. She was not wearing any shoes. What surprised her even more was that she’s wearing a dress that she swore she never