Jiae carefully cleaned up her blood-stained katana with a piece of handkerchief. The group had rested by a lakeside when Jiae had singlehandedly gotten rid of each and every single enemy of Yongguk’s. They could have continued with the journey but Yongguk ordered them to stop. He needed every enemy killed or it would risk the exposure of his final destination.

Yongguk wordlessly watched Jiae as she cleaned her weapons. He knew that she was the one he had been looking for. Most of his guards were good. But she was different. It was like she was the only insane one to be reckless when she fights. She does not think. She just acted like how her body had been trained to. Taking another swig from his bottle, he headed to where Jiae was while his guards watched him.

Taking a seat beside her, he passed her the bottle of water. She stopped what she was doing to stare at the bottle, as if Yongguk poisoned it. After a few seconds, she took the bottle from him and drank some before passing it back. Yongguk reach forwards to the lake to refill the bottle while Jiae continue to clean her katana.

“Why don’t you clean yourself first?” He asked, noticing some blood on her face that did not belong to her.

“The blood will rust my blades.” She simply said before giving it one last wipe and throwing it up in the air. Yongguk thought she was crazy when she suddenly stood up and the katana landed right into the katana holder that was behind her back. She stretched her body and turned around to face Yongguk when she bumped into his chest instead.

Letting out a small yelp, she jumped backwards and rubbed her sore nose. Yongguk mentally chuckled at her cute actions as a small smile danced on his lips. Yongguk went nearer to her and used his wet handkerchief to wipe away the blood stains on her face. Jiae realised what he was doing and quickly took the cloth from him, muttering a soft ‘thank you’.

“Let’s get going.” Yongguk told his guards and they quickly got up.

“I’m staying behind to see if any enemies caught up. I’ll catch up later.” Jiae said as she took out her dagger.

“Take a guard with you.” Yongguk said but she shook her head.

“I work better alone.”

Yongguk thought for a while before agreeing. “Return to me soon. I’ll meet you in Regan.” He ordered before getting into the carriage.

And Jiae knew there was another meaning behind his words.

++

“Have you found the exact location of the sorceress?” Kyungsoo asked. Sehun bowed his head in apology but Kyungsoo waved it off. He knew that it would not be easy. It was only until recently he knew sorceress Nam Gahyun was a friend of his father’s. Kyungsoo believed that she knew something about his parents’ death.

“Do you think someone around here would know about her?” Sujeong suggested. They had spent the whole morning look for the sorceress. At first, they went to her old workplace that Sehun told Kyungsoo. But the hut was long ago abandoned as layers of dust was collected in the house. And there was nothing left in that place that could lead the trio to the sorceress.

“Well, anything is better than nothing.” Kyungsoo said as he took his umbrella and headed out of the inn that they were currently staying in Regan.

The trio went from shops to shops asking anyone who knew the sorceress but ended up with no information on the mysterious woman. Kyungsoo was not even sure if she was still alive. But he had to give it a try. She was very important to him and his mission to avenge his parents.

“Sir, I’ve already gotten us a place to stay for the night.” A familiar bell-like voice caught Kyungsoo’s attention and he immediately turned towards the direction of where the voice came from. However, all he saw was a tall man with other people surrounding him. The group was two shops away.

“I’ll be done with this soon.” The man seemed to be talking to someone in front of him but Kyungsoo was unable to find the owner of the voice.

“Then I’ll go and check the area first.” The owner of the bell-like voice finally moved from behind the man.

Kyungsoo in a breath when he realised why the voice sounded so familiar.

It seemed like everything happened in slow motion. The girl that he had been dreaming about was in front of him. She did not seem to see him though, as she was headed to another direction but Kyungsoo caught the side of her face. Her long, black raven hair and familiar bell-like voice was more than enough for Kyungsoo to confirm that he was not seeing things. And when he reached out to pinch his own cheeks, he knew that he was not dreaming.

Kyungsoo wanted to chase after the mysterious woman who always appeared in his dreams when Sujeong grabbed onto his arm. “Kyungsoo!”

Kyungsoo finally teared his eyes off the girl to look at his best friend. She was looking slightly irritated, as if it was the not the first time she had called his name to grab his attention.

“Kyungsoo, we have some information about the sorceress.” She told him and dragged him to the person who had the information about Nam Gahyun. Thinking back about the girl in his dreams, he looked back to find that she was no longer there and mentally cursed his best friend for districting him.

He needed to talk to the girl. He needed to know what her real identity was and if he could, he wanted to bring her along with him on his journey. Although it might sound like he was in desperate need of being loved, he knew he could not shake his little canary out of his mind. Not when he finally realised she was a real human being.

“I do not know where she currently is.” An old man around the age of 80 said as he cleaned the bowls. Sujeong was asking around for information of the sorceress when she met this old man who sells noodles. “But I know where her old house was at.”

Sehun sceptically looked at the old man. The old man looked healthy, but no one could tell whether his memories were still fresh.

“How long has it been since you last saw her?” Sehun asked.

The old man thought for a while before looking at Sehun. “It has been around five years. She was not the friendliest. But she loved my noodles. My grandson would always deliver it to her house a few times a week.”

A lot of things could have happened in five years, but Kyungsoo was willing to follow any information that was given to him. Taking down the address the old man told them, they immediately headed to the next destination.

It was easy to spot the sorceress’s house. It was the only house that lived up in the small hill beside the town. The only tiring part was climbing the hill. When they finally got to the house, Sehun knocked on the door but nobody answered.

“Should we just barge in? It seems abandoned anyway.” Sujeong suggested.

Kyungsoo reached out for the orb and twisted it. The door easily opened, and the house seemed as abandoned as the sorceress’s workplace. The air was filled with dust and the whole house was empty. There was not even a furniture inside. It was like a room with four walls and nothing in the inside.

But that did not stop Kyungsoo from searching the whole house for any clues. And he managed to find one.

“Guys, come here.” Kyungsoo said as he stared at the full-length mirror in front of him. Like the rest of the house, the room was empty except for a mirror right in the centre of the room.

“What is it?” Sujeong and Sehun stared at him in confusion. They went to Kyungsoo but could not understand what is so interesting about this particular room.

“Can’t you see this?” Kyungsoo pointed to the mirror in front of him.

“See what?” Sujeong tried to figure out what Kyungsoo was looking at but could not. All she could see was the three of them.

Just then, the Kyungsoo’s reflection in the mirror changed. While Kyungsoo was staring at the mirror in confusion and pointing at it, his reflection had dropped his hand to his hand while a smile was on his face. If Kyungsoo had not known better, he would have thought the mirror was haunted.

“I finally found you right?” Kyungsoo spoke to the mirror and his friends stared at him like he was crazy. To them, he was talking to the air. His reflection nodded, the smile never leaving his face. His reflection then waved him over, as if asking him to enter the mirror.

“Guys, I may be crazy for either seeing something I shouldn’t, or that I am about to walk into a mirror.” Kyungsoo said and grabbed onto his friends’ hands. Without giving them a chance to respond or protest, he walked into the mirror, following his reflection.

The moment he set foot into the glass, their surrounding changed. Grass and flower sprouted from the ground and the house was gone. Thick, white clouds filled the blue sky and birds chirped happily. This looks like the place in my dream. Kyungsoo thought as he looked around. Sujeong and Sehun was flabbergasted. They had no idea how they went from one place to another.

“Welcome, young one.” A gentle voice spoke from behind them and they spun around. Standing there was a woman that looked no more than 25 years old. Her bob hair landed halfway down her neck. She was in a cream coloured dress and the smile on her face told the trio she meant no harm. “It’s nice to finally meet the White King.” Pulling her skirt up a little from the sides, she gave Kyungsoo a curtsy.

“You are sorceress Nam Gahyun, am I right?” Kyungsoo asked and she nodded.

“I thought you are meant to be nearly 100 years old.” Sujeong said.

“Sadly, I am no longer around in the human world.” The sorceress explained. The trio grew pale when they realised what she meant. The ‘person’ in front of them was actually a ghost. Seeing their scared expression, Gahyun let out a chuckle.

“I am not a wandering spirit. When I knew my time was almost up, I made a spell to keep my spirit. The spell will only break when I finally meet the new White King.”

“You have been waiting for us all these while?” Kyungsoo asked. He was confused. Gahyun was a sorceress. If she had something for him, then why did she not find them all these years?

“Yes, indeed I have. I know why you are looking for me. I wish to be able to explain everything but I do not have the time. Unfortunately, I am unable to find out the people who murdered your parents. But you will when you find the pieces.”

“Pieces? What pieces?”

“Pieces as in retainers, loyal followers or however you want to call them. These ‘pieces’ are special. They are there for a reason and they will be able to lead you to what you really seek for in your heart.”

“What about us?” Sujeong asked Gahyun.

Gahyun shook her head. “Unfortunately, the both of you are not one of those pieces. They each come with a special birthmark of an animal.”

“But how would I know if they are the right one?” Kyungsoo was confused and worried. The sorceress he had spent so much effort in trying to find was not really giving him an explanation.

“You will know, because you are the White King. Just like how you are able to see the mirror. Everything has been pathed down for you. You just need to find the way.” Gahyun gave him a smile like a mother would to her children. “You have actually already met one of them.”

Kyungsoo opened his mouth to ask the next question but could not say anything. He was unsure of what he should ask. If Gahyun was actually keen on helping him, she would have told him everything clearly from the start instead of talking in circles. None of the things she said seemed to make much sense.

“Time’s up. I wish you good luck on your journey, my White King.” Gahyun gave another curtsy before their surroundings changed once more.

They were now back into the room of the abandoned house and Kyungsoo could no longer see the mirror that once stood there. It was like the mirror had gone once the sorceress did. The three of them stood in silence, thinking about what the sorceress told them. They had no idea what had happened and was not expecting the sorceress to actually be of no help at all.

It was only then did Kyungsoo finally said something as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “What the hell just happened?”