“Good morning!”

Soojin groaned as she heard Baekhyun’s loud voice. It should have been illegal for someone to be that energetic so early in the morning. She pulled the blankets over her head, hopefully enough to block out the oncoming noise.

 “It is time for you to get up!”

“Why are you so excited?” she grunted, finally pushing the blankets off. “Is it afternoon? Did I sleep till now?”

He grinned. “Actually, the sun has not even risen yet.”

“Baekhyun!”

“I cannot be that early,” he said, pointing towards a bowl of water and a cloth beside her which was not there the night before. “It seems that the maids have already tended to you. Ah, our hardworking Bucheon maids. They are supposed to be preparing for the grand feast but still tended to you. As expected of Bucheon.”

“You just woke up a sick person,” she huffed. “A princess, at that! Have you no manners?”

“I purposely came in here before sunrise because I was afraid I would not get to see you, with all the maids tending to you and whatnot. We are having a grand feast!”

“What?”

Baekhyun’s eyes sparkled in delight. “The King of Busan has agreed to join our fathers on the hunt! According to my sources, your father has contacts there, so it was made quite easy. They are hosting a grand feast to celebrate the unity of three kingdoms!”

Soojin was horrified. “What contacts? And why would you be so happy to hear that they are after Chanyeol?!”

“Oh, that is right,” he deflated at her words. “I was excited because Kyungsoo is finally returning to the palace! His father is invited, being the Minister of War. He is obliged to bring his son. And do not fret about Chanyeol, he will be safe here in the palace grounds.”

“Have you forgotten the fact that he has not transformed into a dragon for days now? His body might have a mind of its own and he might transform right where everybody can see him!”

“We can go out of the palace grounds today,” he said after a while. “The palace staff will be too busy with preparations for the grand feast that I hardly think they will notice our absence. I have done this before. The only person to watch out for is Advisor Lee.”

“When are we leaving?”

He lifted a brow. “We? I was under the assumption that it was only going to be me and Chanyeol since I have manners and I would not overexert a poor, sick princess.”

She scowled.

“What do you think about Chanyeol in armour? Do you think he would make a good soldier?” Baekhyun mused, beginning to pace around the room as he planned their quick getaway. “That way, we would not even have to escape too stealthily, since everyone would see us accompanied by a soldier.”

Soojin scratched at her arm. “He has a good build. I believe he would pass off as a soldier.”

“I am quite nervous about bringing him out of the secret chambers for the first time, though. Do you think he will be alright? He would want to check his dwelling as well, and I am afraid the trainees at the army base might see us.”

Oh. Baekhyun did not know that Chanyeol had somehow escaped his tiny cell and had gone to visit her in the night. Come to think of it, was he the one to break her fever instead of the maids?

He was still waiting for an answer. “Do tell me what you think. The people of Bucheon listen to both men and women.”

She almost forgot about how the customs in Daegu worked. Thankful that he did not suspect anything amiss, she answered him. “I think he will do just fine.”

-

“Why are you so tired?” Baekhyun asked, peering curiously at Chanyeol who had yawned for the third time. “I thought you would have plenty of time to rest in that chamber of yours.”

Chanyeol waved him off.

“And you,” Baekhyun continued, now turning to face Soojin. “Why do you keep scratching? Did the royal physician not give you any medicine?”

“It makes me very drowsy,” she admitted sheepishly. “I would rather stay awake when we head on over to the dwelling.”

Chanyeol gave her a pointed look. “Then you should not have come. You have to heal. How is your fever?”

“How did you know she had a fever?”

He waved Baekhyun off again. They arrived at the royal stables and mounted their steeds. The stable boy looked incredibly sleepy, but it was all the better. They wanted to leave as quietly as possible because if less people were involved, the probability of something going wrong would be lower.

Baekhyun, claiming to have memorised the route to the dwelling despite only being there once, lead the journey. Soojin and Chanyeol rode alongside each other behind Baekhyun, forming a ‘V’ formation.

Soojin snuck a glance at the man beside her. His arm looked fully healed, and he was riding so smoothly that she would not have guessed he had injured himself just days prior. He was also in Bucheon’s royal guard armour. She was right. He did have a good build.

“Are you sure we are going in the right direction?” she asked, eager to break the awkward silence. “I do not see the army base.”

Baekhyun tensed. “I am fairly certain?”

“That sounded more of a question than an answer.”

“Do you have your map with you?”

“No!” she exclaimed, looking quite frazzled. “You said you had perfect confidence to lead us to the dwelling!”

Chanyeol’s deep voice rumbled. “Quiet down. I can see a glimpse of my cottage further down after the stream. We must have taken a different path here.”

Miraculously, Baekhyun was subdued by Chanyeol. He was a prince, but Chanyeol’s firm personality and regal aura around him had even royalty listening well to him. Soojin almost let out a snort.

As they neared the dwelling, she found herself growing excited at the prospect of finding out Chanyeol’s past. He had mentioned having journals kept securely there, and that he had not read them for a long time. Perhaps his writings would contain important information and help to jog his memory about how and why he ended up as a dragon in the woods. She was itching to know who he really was. (She was itching all over her body, too.)

When they reached, Soojin hardly recognised the grand place she used to awe over. The building was completely wrecked, with the walls crumbled down, the stables now a mess of wood, and the cottage ransacked. To top it all off, there was a flag planted into the dirt at the entrance. The familiar navy blue flag of her kingdom made her stomach incredibly queasy.

This had to be her father’s doing. One of King Byun’s troops had searched the place the day before, so what was her own kingdom’s flag doing there? The only thing she could think of was that her father was too prideful to let the cottage just sit there prettily, or that he had the Daegu soldiers tear down the place much earlier than yesterday. She hoped the journals had not been taken.

Chanyeol picked up one of the bricks lying beside his feet before laughing mirthlessly. “What a surprise.”

“Chan-”

Baekhyun was cut off by the taller man’s eyes flashing red. The horses whinnied behind them.

“Do you know how much this place meant to me?” he asked quietly, his eyes now b with tears. “I spent years and years alone, where my only comfort was this cottage. I felt secure, I felt content when I looked around and saw what I had before me. It gave me the push I needed to go forward, because I had already made it this far!”

Soojin could already sense the built-up emotion and she figured what he was going to do next. “You’ll attract attention, don’t-”

He did not even hear her. Chanyeol transformed into a dragon right before their eyes in a swirl of bright lights. It all happened so fast, that she could hardly believe her eyes.

Standing before her was the familiar, red, giant dragon. He let out a deafening howl and set the Daegu Kingdom flag on fire with a single puff, before flying up to the clouds in one swift motion. He reminded her of the first time they had met, where he had let out a terrifyingly loud howl too, but it did not seem as ferocious as this one. It sounded like that of a wounded animal.

Noticing her discomfort, Baekhyun said something that sounded like a bad attempt at a joke.

Soojin did not even process it, much too preoccupied with the dragon circling the air above them, letting out puffs of fire every now and then. The last thing she wanted was for the trees to catch on fire, and they would all be in a giant mess. He roared violently again.

“What should we do?” she asked, frightened at how different he was behaving. The blue of the flag was obscured by the orange flames, and smoke was rising.

Baekhyun glanced at her a little strangely, with a hint of softness. It was probably because she had always shown her loud and unrelenting side to him. Right now, she looked like a damsel in distress.

“Stop trembling,” he said. “Chanyeol just needs to blow off some steam. It will be alright.”

Was she trembling? She did not even notice that her hands were shaky. Inching closer to him, she found that his presence did not do much to soothe her. “What if somebody hears? Or what it Chanyeol accidentally sets the entire forest on fire? Then my father will have an even stronger will to kill him. What do we do?”

“Do not be afraid-”

“I am not afraid! I am merely worried!” she asserted, not wanting to seem too helpless. “Baekhyun, do something!”

They both stared up at the dragon who had stopped breathing fire but was still flying above them and Soojin could not help but let out a choked sob. The sound of his ferocious roars was incredibly frightening.

A few moments later, Chanyeol, or Sir Loey, did a sharp turn towards a part of the woods a distance away. He swooped downwards, presumably switching back into his human form.

“See?” Baekhyun said. “He is fine now. All we have to do is wait for him to return. It might take a while since he has to travel on foot.”

She sniffed, nodding her head. All they had to do now was wait for Chanyeol to return on foot, and they could start searching the cottage for any undamaged items. He could take his time to inspect the place and they could all go back to the caste. Then, she could have a glass of that white willow drink and sleep the day away.

Suddenly, they heard a noise coming from a different directio