“Did he really think, after the way he treated me when we were younger, that I was going to hand him the throne so easily like that? Men in Daegu are horrible creatures, and your father even more so.”

The lights died down when the mage slowly lifted her hands off the Queen. Despite just being exposed of her past, the tone of her voice was still haughty. Soojin could actually see where she was coming from. Being a female in Daegu was frustrating, and with so many siblings, she did not know how Queen Park survived for so long. Yes, murder was a step too far, but what if it was the only thing she could have done?

“You killed my mother?!” Chanyeol shouted. “You wench!”

King Park’s eyes brimmed with tears, though the harsh expression on his face never wavered. “We will discuss the matters of my first wife later. Right now, I want to know how my son ended up being sold to a mage.”

“I broke my promise to her and asked her to kill a second person for me. It was my brother.”

“So you chose me.”

Queen Park scoffed at Chanyeol. “It all happened too quickly. One moment we were arguing, and the next, she had a ball of fire in her hands. The three of you were in the room at the time.”

“That is no excuse,” King Park responded, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “I have known you for so many years, and I have found out so much more about you in the span of less than an hour.”

“At least I told you about him being turned into a dragon!”

“You only said something after he left the castle for good, Seunghee. And if Chanyeol could just switch back and forth between dragon and human, why could he not have just stayed in the castle?”

“You left because of me,” Yoora said quietly. “The burn mark that could never heal.”

The young princess lifted her sleeve to reveal and oddly-shaped burn mark on the line of her forearm. It was a faded red. Groaning to himself, Chanyeol shut his eyes wearily. It reminded Soojin of when she had accidentally touched him in the past.

The Queen looked all too smug. “The boy left on his own. He could not control himself and was switching forms back and forth. My dear Yoora got a horrendous burn on her arm because of him.”

Soojin’s mother spoke up. “I have a feeling that Princess Yoora was forcefully put in that situation. A caring mother would try at all costs to keep their children with them. If I were Prince Chanyeol’s mother, I would have broken bones just trying to keep him in the castle.”

What on earth was her mother up to? It was not like her at all to be speaking so much at what seemed like a formal dispute, even to the extent of adding fire to the flame.

“Do not speak of such nonsense!”

“Then would you be willing for another mind-reading session? Your dear friend here is completely capable of doing so. Just remember, lying is the worst thing you could do now. I am sure King Park will offer leniency by taking off the death sentence if you tell us everything.”

King Park merely watched in horror as his wife shook her head hurriedly at the mention of the death sentence.

“Not in front of the children,” she gasped out. “I will tell you everything.”

He nodded, calling for the guards to the children, including Soojin, and Queen Oh out of the throne room. He could not bring it to himself to say any more, and it was quite obvious that he was in some sort of shock. Chanyeol did not even protest when Soojin was brought out of the room. It was something that had to be settled with the four of them.

“Mother, what are you doing?” Soojin hissed, once they were outside. The two siblings had gone off somewhere, and the two ladies of Daegu were seated in the waiting room. Two freshly steeped cups of tea were placed in front of them, but drinking was the last thing on her mind. “How do you know so much?”

“Did you think I, the Queen of Daegu, was clueless the entire time? Honestly, Soojin.” She sipped her tea. “I knew you were different from your sisters, and I thought you would be smarter than this.”

“What? Do you know how rotten his true intentions are? Are you merely a puppet on a string?” Soojin’s head spun. It was too much information to take in. Her mother was the textbook example of how a lady should behave in Daegu. It was astounding to think that she would just bend to her husband’s will, no matter how horrid was.

“First of all, watch your tone. Ladies do not speak to their elders with such roughness. Secondly, I am not a puppet on a string. I love and respect my husband, and I would do what he asks of me because I trust his opinions. This is the way of Daegu women.”

All Soojin could do was supress a shiver and nod convincingly.

“The Bucheon strategy was already in the works long ago, but you went and messed up the plan by running away to see that Byun prince, and coincidentally there were talks of a dragon. That led to your father asking Queen Park to convince her husband to go for the hunt. They had some bad blood, considering their childhood, and that she refused to help him take over the Busan Kingdom. However, she agreed to help with convincing King Park as long as we fulfilled her request to kill the dragon.”

“She wanted to kill Chanyeol?”

She scoffed. “She was surprised that he was still alive. Of course, there were already rumours flying around that their first-born was supposedly put under a curse. Your father put two and two together; we realised that Chanyeol was a dragon. After more digging, we found out that his own mother was the cause of his misery, and that it all happened because she wanted to kill your father.”

“So you and father are intending on taking revenge on Queen Park?”

“It is the only right thing to do,” she answered, baffled at how Soojin could have asked such a question. Considering they had not had a real conversation in the past, and the most interaction they had was that very day, it was perplexing how mother and daughter had such contrasting views in life. “She wanted to murder your father, Soojin. Murder!”

Soojin did the calculations in her head. Her parents’ actions were far too risky to be considered as petty revenge. There was something else they set their eyes on.

She made a wild guess. “Chanyeol gets the throne, which makes our family have a very high possibility of securing the Queen’s position. Somehow, the public would fall out of favour with the sadistic Queen and foolish King. It would make it easier for an attempt at assassination.”

“A spur-of-the-moment sort of plan. Quite well done, if you ask me. And it all started with the appearance of a dragon.” Queen Oh nodded approvingly, probably for the first time ever, at Soojin. “And your wedding gown does not have to go to waste!”

Soojin almost choked on her spit. “My wedding gown?!”

The Queen nodded absentmindedly as if the conversation meant nothing to her. “The Byuns are calling off the marriage, so you are available to the Parks.”

It was as if she was nothing but some piece of property ready to be handed off to landowners. Seventeen years of living in Daegu, of being a Princess of Daegu, and yet her life was being made a mere chess piece in her parents’ schemes. “And you are telling me all of this because…?”

“Because it is how it is. You can do nothing to change it.”

That pushed her further into the thoughts of how her life was not even hers anymore. Thinking back to the past few weeks in Bucheon, they were probably the most exciting moments of her life. She had the freedom to do what she wanted, and she had seen so much more than ever. She had ridden a dragon, travelled to the forest at night, gotten poisoned, and all in the span of a few days. The most heart-racing part of all? It was when the people of Bucheon did not care so much for her gender.

In the midst of wallowing in self-pity, she did not notice a growing heat in the castle. It was only when a loud shriek was heard, when Soojin jumped out of her seat.

“Do not jump like that. It is not ladylike,” her mother nagged, but there was a frown etched on her face as well.

Soojin held her skirt up and as primly as she could, and hurried out of the waiting room to see what the commotion was all about. Queen Oh followed along, not too far behind her.

Before they could even exit the room, there was a sharp bang, followed by silence. Royal Guards around the area rushed into the throne room, and that was when Soojin noticed smoke coming out of the room. That could have only meant one thing.

“Chanyeol!”

“How disgusting.” Queen Oh coughed. “Of course, there is no smoke without fire. That boy had to lose control.”

The guards emerged from the room, carrying out a weak queen, unconscious prince, and a mage bounded by gold chains. King Park was in the best shape, and managed to escape the throne room on his own.

“Are you alright?” Queen Oh hurried over towards the King, speaking in a soothing voice. “What happened back there?”

“If it were not for the mage, we would have been burnt to death, I think.”

“Because of Prince Chanyeol?”

Soojin, still holding her skirt up, rushed towards Chanyeol. His eyes were shut and his breathing was shallow. He looked as pale as ever. He must have over exerted himself.

“It is not his fault,” the King said, shaking his head. “I do not blame him for his outburst.”

The way Soojin was hovering over Chanyeol’s weak body reminded herself of just a few days prior when she was doing the exact same thing in the forest. Though, this time his arm was in a cast and it was not much better. She stared at him, not knowing what else to do.

Slowly, Chanyeol’s eyes fluttered open and he looked confused. He coughed. “Everything hurts.”

“Why did you do that? You know your body cannot handle the stress,” she admonished. “That was a stupid move.”

“Did anyone get hurt?” he asked, trying to sit up slowly. His eyes darted around the room, checking if anyone had sustained any injuries. It appeared that it was him who was the most injured. “I could not help it. My emotions got to the better of me.”

“What did your mother say?”

He exhaled. “I do not want to talk about it.”

“But I do,” the mage said, still bound by the gold chains held by two Royal Guards. “Queen Park only told you half the story.”

“She said that there would be no way to bring things back to normal. It would be impossible for Chanyeol to be fully human. That is why he was so upset,” the King supplied. The two ladies of Daegu nodded solemnly, and Soojin felt an overwhelming feeling of sadness and helplessness. At the back of her mind, she had always thought that he would regain his old life after finding the truth about his past.

“It is okay,” she murmured to him. “There will definitely be a way to overcome this.”

Chanyeol, now gaining strength rapidly and already sitting up, responded gruffly, “She cackled, Soojin. Cackled! Then she told me there was no way I could break the spell over me.”

“Queen Park mentioned half the story,” the mage repeated, looking quite frustrated. “There is a way to break the spell.”

Everyone in the room perked up.

“The one and only way is by true love’s kiss.”

“Is this some sort of fairytale?” the King barked. “How dare you have the audacity to joke around like this! It seems that you really want your parents dead!”

“I am not lying! My word is true,” she said, as the guards tightened the chains around her hands. “True love’s kiss will break the spell. The kiss of a soulmate is powerful and binding. However, it is not easy to come across a soulmate, thus the reason for the Queen’s disbelief.”

Soojin felt her face turn red. Avoiding Chanyeol’s gaze, she ran the possibilities of the situation through her mind. She definitely felt a connection with him, but was it the same with him? Did she like him more than he liked her? What seemed like a teenager’s romance was now of great importance.

“How could he tell if he met his soulmate?