Soojin found herself in the kitchens on the way to see Chanyeol once again. She had ignored the suggestive looks on the maids’ faces when she said she was hungry for a midnight snack. They probably thought that she was going to meet Baekhyun. They were not wrong, but it was never in that sense.

Baekhyun was already there when Soojin entered the secret chambers. He greeted her with a soft hello while Chanyeol remained silent. She had an inkling that it had to do with her forcing him to feel the lightning as he described by holding onto his hands. Come to think of it, the situation was incredibly inappropriate as well, with her holding the hands of someone from the opposite gender. She felt bad.

“How are you faring?” she asked, nodding towards his arm. It looked much better than that of yesterday’s, but it was safe to say that being a dragon did not give him any miraculous healing powers.

“I am alright,” Chanyeol answered dismissively before turning to face Baekhyun. “Now, what was it that you wanted to tell me? You said we had to wait until Princess Soojin arrived.”

“Oh yes, it seems that King Oh of the Daegu Kingdom is planning to slay you.”

“What?!”

Soojin cringed. She did not know how to react in this situation. Chanyeol looked livid, and she did not blame him one single bit. However, this was also her father, and she was always taught to put her country and family first.

“He is leaving with my father tomorrow to invite the King of Busan on their quest. I do believe you should stay here in the palace. I could get you a position here, or something.”

“I have to go back to my dwelling. I have very important things in there that need to be saved before everything gets destroyed.”

Soojin had a feeling that it was his journal. Without it, he would not be able to remember anything. However, she chose not to say anything as she did not want to anger him further. Daegu was terrible in his eyes.

“Let us leave tomorrow after the kings have left for Busan,” Chanyeol suggested. “We can make a quick trip to and back.”

“I think that’s impossible. Your arm is still in a cast and we are not allowed out of the castle in broad daylight without being accompanied by any royal guards,” Baekhyun pointed out.

“What do you think, Princess?” Chanyeol asked, finally making eye contact with the said girl.

“Me?” she squeaked. “You are asking for my opinion?”

“Yes. Assert your stand.”

Soojin her lips, which were now feeling incredibly dry. She tried her best to look at him in the eye as she spoke, but his strong gaze made it difficult. “I feel that it is unwise for you to go out there into the forests when there are so many risks. Moreover, your arm is still badly injured and it has barely been two days since you have started receiving medical treatment. Perhaps, Baekhyun and I could retrieve your journal for you?”

“What journ-”

Baekhyun was cut off by the sound of people talking in the kitchens. Their voices were getting louder as the seconds ticked by and he excused himself to go check it out. To Soojin, it sounded like Baekbeom’s voice, who seemed to have come down for a midnight snack again. She hoped that he would leave just as easily as the previous time.

Now that Baekhyun had left, there was an awkward stillness in the air as Soojin tried to avoid Chanyeol’s eyes. She knew she had to apologise for her actions in the afternoon, but her pride as a princess did not make it easy.

“I do not blame you,” Chanyeol said suddenly. “So do not act so afraid. You are not your father.”

She traced a pattern absentmindedly on her dress. “But I am from the Kingdom of Daegu. My father has caused you so much trouble- he is the one who landed you in this predicament.”

“The remorse in your voice tells me you do not agree with his actions.”

“Who could agree to such barbarism?!” Soojin burst, clenching the hem of her dress. “Frankly, I did not know about his past as a dragon hunter, but I have to support his decisions as he is the ruler of Daegu. And as I am his daughter, I cannot go against him.”

The voices outside now sounded like an argument. However, they paid no heed to it. Chanyeol reached out a hand to pat her on the shoulder to comfort her now that she looked like she was about to cry. She was terribly conflicted about the entire predicament. Family, or her morals? Granted, her parents did not really treat her as the Byuns did to their children, but to agree with her own family’s choices was sort of second nature.

The look on his face was awfully awkward, but there was a tinge of pity. “It is not wrong to disagree with your family. You know that, right?”

“It is my duty as a princess to support my family.”

“It is also your duty to marry Baekhyun, is it not?”

Soojin blushed, hitting him on the arm. It was purely out of reflex now, with how often he was making her lose her composure. “That is different!”

She realised a second too late that she had hit his bare arm, watching him pull back ever so slightly. Throwing away all the pride she carried, she apologised. “I am sorry about what happened this afternoon. It is in my nature to have everything that I desire, so it was on impulse that I forced you to feel the pain in your head. Again, I am sorry if this apology is not up to standards because I am not used to it and I will have you know that I am rarely in the wrong! As in this situation, I was also not entirely wrong because I heard you speaking about your mother… And…”

Soojin knew she was rambling. But she could not stop now, with all her repressed emotions tipping over the surface and in the form of word vomit. The amused look on Chanyeol’s face did not particularly help either.

“You may stop talking now,” he said, his voice coming out more like a rumble with his repressed laughter. He appeared to be gazing at her almost tenderly. “I take it that this your first time apologising, but I can tell that you are sincere. Cease your worrying.”

Soojin gulped. Why was he laughing at her, who was clearly having a hard time apologising?

He noticed the look on her face. “Oh, do lighten up! Where is that fearless Princess Oh Soojin who went to ask a dragon to kidnap her?”

The arguing from outside became softer. Soojin stared at him defiantly. “She is right here!”

Chanyeol raised a brow, though his expression was still soft. “Ah, I did not know Princess Oh Soojin mumbled. I am rarely wrong and blablabla…”

He was clearly referring to her ramble and how she had mumbled towards the end. However, since he had implied that she was weak and not fearless, she braved up and spit the words right at him.

“I said that I was not entirely wrong about the touches because I heard you speak of your mother. You muttered her name under your breath.”

Chanyeol froze.

“Well?” Soojin prompted. “I am sure you saw your mother in your visions as I held your hands. Please tell me about her, Chanyeol. I just want to send you home. What if your family is waiting for their lost son? Could you do that to your parents?”

“I could. Thanks to that vision, I do not want to return to my family even more.”

“What do you remember?”

He sighed. “It is not everything, but I could feel a sort of fear within me when she appeared in my vision. She was smiling, but I was not.”

Soojin frowned. “What does she look like? Do you have any clue who she could have been? Or who you were?”

He paused before shaking his head unconvincingly. “I do not.”

Before she could call him out, Baekhyun reappeared through the door, expression dark. He did not make eye contact with either of them, and the tone of his voice was surprisingly biting. It was the first time Soojin heard him speak like that.

“We have to go.”

-

It was bright and early in the morning, and everyone in the castle was forced out of bed to have breakfast with the kings before they left for Busan. They were in high spirits, chattering about how they could get the King of Busan to join them if they met face-to-face.

“Now for us to have energy for our trip, we have prepared a sumptuous breakfast!” King Byun announced to the table where the royalty was seated. “Might I add, my Prince Baekbeom even supervised the preparation of the meal.”

The said man smiled bashfully while Baekhyun scowled. It seemed that their argument was worse than Soojin had thought.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, announcing the arrival of one of King Byun’s troops. They entered the room with a deep bow and the captain stepped forward, requesting permission to present his report on the investigation of the dragon’s dwelling.

After a quick look around the room, King Byun answered. “You may speak here. It would not bring any harm for our family members to know of this information.”

“Our troop has just completed the scouting of the dragon’s dwelling. It is empty of people and creatures but we found items in the house to suggest that a man has been living there. There are tapestries, plants and books. The books seem to be from a standard reading syllabus for young scholars and there is a large tapestry of the words ‘For your kingdom. For your family’. The stables in the dwelling have been embroidered with the word ‘LOEY’ as well.”

“That does not give us any clues,” King Oh commented.

“What we do know, is there is someone conspiring with this dragon. Someone who knows how to read.”

“The dragon is gone.”

“It is alright,” King Byun reassured. “We c