The hallway was filled with servants as they did their daily chores. Many of them noticed the two cloaked strangers that was led by the King’s right-hand man. However, they did not dare to gossip about it. They knew better than to discuss about such things in the palace where it was forbidden.

“This way please.” The right-hand man said as he brought the two strangers to a room. There were two guards standing at the sides of the door. The man signalled for them to open and they quickly pushed the heavy doors. “His Royal Highness has been waiting for you.” The man said and walked into the room.

The two strangers followed behind and saw the Yellow King right at the end of the room. The strangers finally removed the hood that was covering their face. A smile was lit up on the King’s face when he saw who it was. “Kyungsoo!”

“Joonmyeon.” Kyungsoo gave him a smile of his own as he hugged his friend. Joonmyeon was exactly how Kyungsoo remembered him to be when the two parted ways a few months ago. Joonmyeon was still as kind and thankfully, as healthy.

“How have you been? I didn’t expect you to contact me again so soon.” Joonmyeon gestured for his friend to take a seat. Sujeong stood behind Kyungsoo attentively.

The two Kings had known each other since they were kids. Their fathers would meet each other once in a while and would bring their heir along. As they grew up, they started to talk more with each other and found their personalities to be quite compatible.

When Kyungsoo’s father died, Joonmyeon had not heard from the White Empire for years. It was only after Joonmyeon ascended to the throne then did Kyungsoo contacted him. It was not that Kyungsoo did not trust Joonmyeon’s father. It was because he trusted Joonmyeon more than his father. The Yellow King then knew the hardships his friend had been through.

“I wanted to thank you for helping me build the house.”

Joonmyeon resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “You know that it was a small matter. You didn’t have to come all the way down to thank me.”

Kyungsoo shook his head. Joonmyeon was the only friend he has, and he would always feel grateful for the things Joonmyeon did for him. Kyungsoo had nothing. He had no riches, no army and no power. Not to mention, there were people who knew Kyungsoo’s real identity and were after his head. Yet Joonmyeon was still willing to help him, and with nothing in return.

“I need you to help me search for something. Do you know anyone with a tattoo that resembles an animal? Not only in the Yellow Empire, but in other Empires.”

Joonmyeon frowned as he rubbed his chin. It was an uncommon and weird question but if it was for Kyungsoo, he would search the whole world for someone like that. “Minseok, go and ask around.”

Minseok, the Yellow King’s right-hand man, bowed and left the room. Joonmyeon faced Kyungsoo with a smile on his face. And it was one of those creepy-weird-Joonmyeon smiles that always made Kyungsoo uncomfortable. The younger male quickly avoided his gaze and cleared his throat. Joonmyeon could sense Kyungsoo’s discomfort but was not planning on stopping.

“So,” Joonmyeon finally spoke and Kyungsoo look back at him. “Who is the lucky girl?”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened a little and let out a fake cough. “W-What girl?”

“The girl you made me build a house for! Unless it was a guy?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Kyungsoo avoided his gaze again.

“Your ears tell me otherwise.” Joonmyeon pointed at Kyungsoo’s red ears. He let out a laugh when he noticed the colour of Kyungsoo’s ears deepening.

Kyungsoo sighed in defeat. There was nothing he could hide from his friend. “She’s..” He struggled for words. He does not know where Jiae lies in his heart.

“She’s our new companion.” Sujeong spoke for the first time since they entered the palace. Kyungsoo quickly nodded in agreement. If he could explain his relationship to Joonmyeon, he would. But it was not his place to do so in revealing Jiae’s past.

Joonmyeon leaned back on his seat, a smile playing on his lips. This was the first time he had ever seen Kyungsoo flustered by a question and wanted to tease his friend. “Alright, alright. I was just teasing you.”

Kyungsoo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Getting up, he looked at Sujeong who gave a nod. He then shifted his attention back to the Yellow King. “We should get going.”

“I’ll tell you right away when Minseok is back with something. Chanyeol,” A man that seemed to tower over the two Kings entered and bowed. “Send Kyungsoo out of town safely.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Please follow me.”

The two Kings hugged each other once more, not knowing when would be the next time they would be able to meet.

Kyungsoo and Sujeong rode back to the house on their horses. When the house came into view, Kyungsoo frowned a little. “Who are they?” Sujeong said, noticing the same thing as Kyungsoo did.

Sitting on the porch of the house was a guy and a wolf. The wolf seemed to have heard the entrance of them as its perked up and it stood. The guy noticed the wolf’s actions and his head snapped up towards them.

Kyungsoo and Sujeong reached the house and they slowly halted their horses. The guy got up and walked towards them. Kyungsoo could sense the guy’s discomfort and narrowed his eyes at the stranger. Who was this person and why is he lurking around here? Where is Sehun?

“Who are you? Why are you outside of my house?” Kyungsoo questioned.

“I’m Jongin and this is Kai.” Kai wagged its tail when it heard its name. “You must be the ‘Sire’ then?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about. Leave this area.” Kyungsoo demanded before getting off his horse. He quickly headed into the house. He was not interested in the stranger and wanted to get Sehun to chase him away. Jongin opened his mouth to say something when Sujeong stood into his view.

“It’s best that you never do the opposite of what he says.” Sujeong warned. Jongin frowned in confusion. He does not know who they were. All he wanted to know if Jiae was okay. That was the least he could do after getting her injured. But he simply nodded and Sujeong went into the house.

The moment she entered, she saw a woman who seemed like the doctor Kyungsoo had invited over. The question was why she was still doing here. Kyungsoo, on the other hand, was facing Sehun who had his head hung low. Kyungsoo’s back was tensed and his fist were clenched tightly. Sujeong was sure something bad had happened.

“What do you mean by she was ‘supposed’ to be recovering?” Their King demanded.

“Mr Do, if you would allow me to explain.” The doctor spoke. “The wound is doing well. It’s recovering and there are no signs of infection. The three new wounds are considered quite shallow. However, the poison that had entered into her body are-”

Kyungsoo snapped his head towards her so fast she could have sworn she thought he broke it. “What do you mean by poison?” He hissed. He had only been gone for a few hours. How did so many things happen within that short time?

“It was caused by three daggers.” A new voice joined the conversation. Everyone in the room turned to look at Jongin who had let himself in because Sujeong was still by the door. “She did it to protect my father.”

Kyungsoo felt himself getting irritated. Why is he still here? Walking towards Jongin, he glared at the taller male. Jongin may be bigger in size, but Kyungsoo had never felt threatened by someone larger than him. “Who are you? Why is your father so important that she had to risk her life for him?”

Jongin narrowed his eyes at Kyungsoo when he heard that. “Who are you? Who are you to question her actions?”

Sujeong sensed the tension between the two males and quickly stood in between them.

“You need to leave. You have no place here.” Sujeong wanted to close the door on Jongin before Kyungsoo does something reckless. It was not like Kyungsoo to act so aggressively and she knew that it was because he was very worried about Jiae.

“Soo,” Jiae called out and Kyungsoo’s attention was immediately shifted to her. There Jiae stood, a few steps behind Sehun. She looked pale and weak, and leaned onto the wall for support. Kyungsoo ignored Jongin and went to Jiae. He noticed she was breathing heavily, and beads of sweat were formed on her forehead.

Jongin saw that Jiae was at least awake. And there was a doctor in the house too. Although he was relieved, he still felt guilty. Kyungsoo easily picked Jiae up in his arms and she wrapped her hands around his neck before resting her head on his shoulder. At least, she is with some she trusts.

Kyungsoo gently placed Jiae down on the bed and tucked her in. Sitting on the chair beside the bed, he reached out to move the stray hairs from her face. “Why did you get up?” Kyungsoo frowned. Jiae mimicked his actions subconsciously. Reaching out, she used her forefinger to gently poke the area where his two eyebrows meet. The tension in his forehead was released and she smiled a little at that.

Kyungsoo’s eyes grew soft when he saw her smile. Now that he was here with her, he was able to see with his own eyes that she was alright. He had a shock earlier on when he heard what had happened. He had expected for something far worse than her current condition.

“I seem to only bring you trouble, huh?” Even her voice sounded weak and all Kyungsoo wanted her to do was to rest. He sensed the sadness in her voice and shook his head. She was anything but trouble.

“What exactly happened?”

“It’s not Jongin’s fault.” She sighed. “I saw that they were in trouble. And I wanted to help. Just like how you gave me a chance to survive, I wanted to do the same for them.”

Kyungsoo wanted to scold the injured girl. He knew his priorities when he saved her back then. And he had backup. But all she had were her swords and a wound. Doesn’t she know that she had to take care of herself first in order to protect others? It was either she does not think twice and that she was trained to be like that, or that she was just that selfless.

“How are you feeling now?”

“I’m okay. Doc got all the poison out. I’m just having a fever as a side effect.”

He nodded at her words and saw her drooping eyes. It seemed like it took her quite an effort to get out of bed just now. It could have been she did not want him to lash out at Jongin, or that she was eager to see him. Kyungsoo hoped that it was the latter. “Go to sleep.”

Jiae yawned and shut her eyes. Kyungsoo smiled when he saw how peaceful she looked. Her eyebrows were not too thick or thin, and it has a natural straight shape, giving her that innocent look. Her cheeks were flushed due to her fever. Her lashes were long, and her lips had a natural rosy colour.

“Soo,” Jiae suddenly spoke and Kyungsoo almost jumped in his seat when she broke the silence. He realised he had been staring at her and it was like she had caught him in action.

“Y-Yea?” He stuttered and mentally cursed himself.

“Can I call you ‘My Lord’?” Jiae’s eyes were still closed so Kyungsoo could not read her expression. “When assassins address someone as their Lord, it means that they have decided to follow, trust and respect that person. I have never called anyone by that title, and I want you to be the first and last.”

Jiae finally opened her eyes as she searched for his. His expression was soft, and there was something else Jiae could not understand. But she knew he would agree to it.

“Don’t you want to call me ‘Soo’?” He asked. The sides of her lips tilted up a little at the sound of the nickname she gave him. Deep down, Kyungsoo wanted her to always call him by his name. He likes how the nickname sounded so good coming from her.

“Then, I shall call you ‘My Lord’ when there are outsiders present, and ‘Soo’ when it is just the both of us. For other times, I’ll just call you by your name.”

“Okay.” Kyungsoo did not really care what she called him. As long as she was okay and by his side, he was happy. “Now, rest.”

Jiae nodded and shut her eyes.

Kyungsoo watched as his little canary fell to sleep. Her breathing was soon even, indicating that she had fallen into a slumber. Kyungsoo knew that Jiae had led a tough life, and wanted life to be peaceful for her but he needed her as she was one of those pieces. And for his own selfish reason, he wanted her by his side.

He had dragged her into this, but he promised himself he would protect her, just like how he would not like endanger Sujeong or Sehun. They were as important to him as Jiae was.

A gentle knock on the door interrupted Kyungsoo’s thoughts. The White King got up and headed out of the room so that the intruder would not disturb Jiae’s peace. Sehun stood there with the same guilty expression ever since Kyungsoo reached back.

“Sire, I have failed you.” Sehun bowed lowly. Kyungsoo let out a deep sigh. He knew that Sehun was not really at fault. Sehun had always been meticulous and had never betrayed or questioned Kyungsoo’s decisions. Jiae must have somehow found her way into danger where Sehun was not nearby to save her.

“I know you did your best.” Kyungsoo patted Sehun’s shoulder and the taller male finally raised his head. “Go and find out everything about the boy and his wolf.”

Sehun nodded and left to do as he was told. Kyungsoo did not want to concern himself with Jongin and Kai. But there was something about the duo that bugged him. He did not know whether it was because Jongin managed to involve Jiae in something dangerous, which made him suspicious. Or whether it was because the concern he had for Jiae exceeded the amount he should give someone who he had just met.

Either way, Kyungsoo was wary of Jongin, and he could not even explain why.

Author's Note

Welp, I finally got this chapter done. Sorry for the super late update. 

And did anyone see Kyungsoo's kiss scene in '100 Days My Prince'? I almost died.

And I that replay button.