*Jaejoong’s POV*

Daehyun, the three guards that traveled with us, and I stood before the palace gate, awaiting our departure. Three carriages had been prepared. One for the snow prince, one for Daehyun and I, and a wagon for the prince’s belongings and gifts that King Jang had sent along. Several guards, servants, and nurses had been assigned to the trip (more than I expected) and they stood with us, waiting for the prince.

A crowd of citizens stood outside the tall gates peaking to see their prince as well. It was strange though, I’d never seen the prince before or even heard of there being a third prince. Nor had I seen him within the last two weeks. But judging from Daehyun’s reaction there really was another prince, so I didn’t question the validity of the King’s offer. And for some reason, I had a hunch that I might’ve met him before. But I couldn’t figure out who.

A horn was blown, and the large front doors swung open. Two knights walked out first, followed by the King and Queen. The crowd began to whisper as the next set of people walked out. Princess YeEun and Prince Hyungseung came out next, with a third person that stood between them.

All the royals wore a pale blue attire, however, the person in the middle wore pure white clothing. He wore a thick robe that covered his entire body, barely showing the white decorated suit he wore underneath. He also wore a long hat that casted a thick veil, covering his face and around his head.

I raised an eyebrow. This must be the prince. I noticed Daehyun straighten up as the snow prince came closer with his siblings on either side of him.

The princess held on tightly to her brother’s arm and the crowned prince walked close next to him. Though the crowned prince kept a poker face, worry was prominent in his eyes. I tried to get a glimpse of the mysterious prince’s face, but it was difficult to see with the veil covering it, along with the mask he wore, and I didn’t dare to stare at him for long.

We bowed as the King and Queen approached us, with the exception of Daehyun, who barely bowed his head. “Thank you for your cooperation.” I thanked them, sincerely relieved that we were able to avoid a war. “No. Thank you for your patience.” King Jang said, sounding just as relieved. I smiled and nodded.

“Please tell King Jung to accept our gifts of jewels and our finest linen. I handpicked them myself.” Queen Jang said. “I will be sure to tell him. Thank you.” I told her, receiving a wide grin in return. At that moment the three siblings stood behind the king and Queen. “And please take care of my son. He’s very precious to us.” King Jang said, sounding somewhat desperate.

However, Daehyun let out a purposefully loud scoff before I could respond. Thankfully, the two ignored it, though the Queen sent a quick glance to him. “We will.” I promised. The king nodded, and the two royals stepped to the side allowing their prince to step up.

We bowed, including Daehyun. The mysterious prince returned the bow with an extended one. Daehyun stared at the prince, watching him closely. “Thank you for your cooperation your highness. I know this must be hard to process and even more difficult to accept, but I am grateful to you for being brave and helping us prevent a war.” I thanked him sincerely.

I felt bad for forcing him into something him had nothing to do with and dragging him to a place that was the complete opposite at home, but unfortunately this was the only way. “We’ll make you feel as comfortable as possible, you have my word.” I promised firmly.

The prince nodded and bowed before the knights guided him to his designated carriage. “Please take care of him.” Prince Hyungseung said. “We will.” I promised, determined to make our new guest feel at home and adjust. To my surprise Daehyun nodded as well.

The horn sounded again, signaling that it was time for us to go. The prince was already inside the carriage, and the servants and knights that were traveling with us were ready as well. I bowed to the king and queen and said my final goodbye to the royal family before we entered our own carriage.

Our carriage left first, then the snow prince’s, and the wagon followed behind. We exited the gates and passed through the large crowd of citizens that waved their prince goodbye. It was still mind-boggling how everyone here knew of the third snow prince, and yet I’ve never seen or heard of him before. I didn’t even know his name. It hardly made sense, unless the king purposefully kept his son a secret from the rest of the world. But why?

It was a while before we made it out the city and were now traveling through the towns that surrounded it. I was actually going to miss the Snow kingdom. It was a beautiful place, especially during the winter, and the people were lovely.

I had a few friends here and one of my close childhood friends lives here. “Hopefully we can come again soon.” I said, gazing out the window. I wanted to come back and enjoy it for its beauty and not work. My last experience here wasn’t the best and I wanted to change that. “if we come back then I hope it’s to return the prince.” Daehyun remarked.

He stared out the other window, his arms folded.

I studied him carefully. He was mad. He seemed angrier than when we first arrived. I’d expected him to have at least been happier than before, since we were going back home. But instead he was extremely angry. “Do you know the prince?” I asked him curiously. Daehyun let out an annoyed breath, “Yes.”

“Do you not like him?” I questioned, wondering why he was so upset. I know he didn’t want us to take the prince with us, but he never said why.

Daehyun paused before responding, thinking about his reply. “No. it’s hard to dislike him. You’d have to be a fool to dislike him. A sick bastard.” He said, sounding surprisingly solemn.

I didn’t ask him anymore questions, knowing that doing so would anger him more. I was lucky that he even answered my questions without much resistance. I turned my attention back towards the window in wonder. What was it about the prince that made Daehyun this angry? Even the prince’s siblings seemed upset about his departure. And no one seemed this upset about Prince Kikwang’s leave.

I decided not to think about it too much. I’ll find out eventually. But I know one thing for sure, that I’ll do all I can to make him comfortable.

-

We traveled through the next few days, only taking short breaks here and there. We didn’t stop for camp until the night after we were out the snow kingdom. “We should be in the water Kingdom within a day or so.” Kangin, our navigator instructed after we were out the carriage. At that moment the head servant from the Snow Kingdom walked up to the five of us. “The prince will not be coming out tonight. It’ll be best to keep him in the carriage than set up a tent for him.” Shindong informed. The other three guards seemed confused by nodded anyway.

“Wouldn’t it be better to stay at an inn or hotel at the water kingdom instead?” Daehyun spoke up.

“No. If we go then the outcasts will find out we’re there and they may follow us. Plus, our horses are tired. I don’t think they’d be able to go an entire day longer. But here is completely out of the way and the outcast won’t know.” Kangin explained.

“We mapped out all the areas where the outcast and populous.” He said, handing Daehyun the map for him to look himself.

“We could always fight them off.” Daehyun said, sounding unimpressed.

“That would be too risky.” Kangin countered.

“How is he?” I asked Shindong. “He’s doing well. He’s not used to traveling for so long so he’s a little antsy.” Shindong chuckled slightly. “But he is excited about seeing the water Kingdom. He asked if we were going to stop and see the city for a little bit.” He continued.

I noticed Daehyun unable to contain his smile, however it vanished when Kangin spoke. “We’re not going to stop at all except for a couple of times to restock. The water kingdom received a threat from the outcasts not too long ago about their fertile prince. It’ll be too dangerous for him to go out anyway.” Kangin said.

“Yes, that’s what I figured. So, I told him about the danger, but he understood.” Shindong nodded.

I couldn’t help but frown, feeling bad for the snow prince being unable to explore his sister kingdom. “Okay, let’s get set up.” I nodded and with that we dispersed and helped set up camp.

It didn’t take long to set up camp since we were going to leave early in the morning. The snow guards took turns guarding the prince’s carriage, each getting at least a few hours of sleep.

In the middle of the night, right before I fell asleep, I spotted Daehyun quietly sneak into the snow prince’s carriage, while the guards were dozing off.

I raised an eyebrow at this, curious about his relationship with the prince, but went to sleep not wanting to pry. He wouldn’t even give me the chance to if I wanted to. I sighed at the thought and closed my eyes.

The next morning came quickly and soon we were back on the road. Like the snow kingdom, the water kingdom was also beautiful during this time of year. Most of the water had turned to ice, allowing children to skate around as much as they pleased. We only stopped a few times to restock and tend to the horses a little bit. During those times Daehyun excused himself to roam the area, which was a bit surprising, since he never cared for other Kingdoms except for the celestial and Sunshine kingdoms.

Our guards insisted on going with him, but I instructed them not to. Daehyun was a smart kid and can easily take care of himself.

The pattern continued throughout the next 2 weeks. Every time we left a kingdom, we camped for one night and Daehyun would sneak into the Snow Prince’s carriage every time. We only stopped two to three times in each kingdom we passed through and during each beak Daehyun roamed around and came back with some sort of book or souvenir each time.

The last kingdom we went through was the Sunshine kingdom.

“This’ll be our only and last break here. People probably already know about our travels by now. And here, the Sunshine prince was almost kidnapped. We don’t want to risk anything.” Kangin informed us. I nodded in understanding, “That’s fine.”

The fire kingdom wasn’t far from the Sunshine Kingdom, so going the rest of the trip without a break wouldn’t be too bad. “Since this is our last break shouldn’t we let the prince out. He’s probably cramped from being cooped in the carriage for the last week and a half.” Daehyun spoke up.

Shindong seemed a bit hesitant.

“I don’t think keeping him cooped up in a confined space is very healthy.” Daehyun said, earning a frown from the head snow servant. “He’s going to have to come out anyway.” Daehyun argued despi