AFTER finishing writing her letter to her fans explaining her sudden hiatus, Irene went downstairs only to see Seulgi having a video call with General Son. With her father’s suggestion of leaving the country for some while, Irene received a notice from the agency informing her that they were also given instructions by the King himself. She’ll be taking some time off of the spotlight with reasons of trauma after the baseball game attack.

The attack was released in the normal human world as a mass shooting done by an ex-soldier. They can’t just tell the normal humans that it was an attack by a shaman prince who just went on and shot beams at his father and all the other innocent people around.

It was a huge panic in the eyes of the normal people but it is on another level of panic when it comes to the nephilims especially to the shamans. Euigeon, the supposedly crown-prince who was dearly loved by his people for being a perfect prince of skills and virtue, attacked and attempted to kill his father. People are now having different theories of why he had done that. He was known for being a good and responsible son, he was also adored by all the lower-class shamans because of him being down to earth but to commit a crime such as that? There must be a very deep reason.

Even though they managed to twist the news before delivering it to the innocent people, they weren’t able to control the leakage of important information such as Seulgi cancelling everyone’s ability and managing to copy the abilities of her brother and of the physician. Though what she did during that time of cancelling and copying was right, people started to have suspicions about her.

She’s a negative.

The second one to be exact. And the first one didn’t really give a good pioneering to the title at all. If a zero is considered to be a vestigial organ, a negative is considered as a cancer.

A zero is just there, it does receive something from the distribution of nutrients but it doesn’t harm the body even if there’s really no use for it but a negative will be there to rob the cells of the nutrients it needs and later on destroy the body itself—just like the first negative did to the shaman kingdom before.

Unlike Seulgi, the first negative can control his powers since everyone thought that it was just another new ability. Just another new blessing from the ancestors. He trained himself on how and when to use it. Time passed by and he made himself believe that he is much, much stronger than any other shaman. If he can cancel their abilities and even copy them then no one can stand against him. Though he knows well that he would be nothing if there are no other shamans around him, he still pursued to be on top of the pyramid and he succeeded.

He made a lot of people suffer. He controlled everything with the palm of his hands and even attacked other kingdoms. He wanted to show the world of how capable he is despite not having an original skill of his own. He wanted to show the world that he has the most powerful power anyone could ever have.

The first negative did manage to achieve his goal but he didn’t foresee the weakness that attacked him like the cancer cell that he is.

Irene sat at the third to the last level of the staircase and watched Seulgi from behind. She could see that Seungwan is showing her how the Shaman King is doing. He’s just in bed, looking like he is just sleeping but there are shamans around him that seem like they are doing some yoga but they are all in their astral state.

“Do you think I should try to copy astral projection and help with finding my father?” Seulgi asked Seungwan, she seemed to be really considering the idea.

Irene heard the General sigh. “I also thought that it would be a good idea to do that. After seeing you copy the power of the physician and managed to make it even more powerful when you used it, I thought that you might really help us in finding the King but we can’t risk anything at the moment.

Seulgi listened thoroughly to the General that she once hated. “I know that you really want to find the King as soon as possible but if we let you enter here and unknowingly cancel everyone’s power then we might really lose the King.”

“But what about sending one who can do astral projection here then I will try to copy and use that ability from here?” Seulgi asked.

“What if you got into astral space and started cancelling those who are also looking for the King?” Seungwan asked back, which let Seulgi’s spirit even more down. “I know that you are just trying to help but you also have to take care of yourself. You have seen what’s happening right now, haven’t you?”

Seulgi nodded. Seungwan was pertaining to the protests the shamans are making against her and the King. People loved Euigeon so much and the whole kingdom grieved at his supposed death. But even though no one can deny that he faked his own death and even attacked the King, people think that he is playing the role of the hero. Why? Because he is trying to save everyone from the hands of the second negative—his own sister, Seulgi.

Now that her abilities are exposed to the public, Seulgi has become a threat to the people. They don’t want any more dictators. No one wants to go back to the ruthless, blood-filled reign of the first negative. Some people believe that Euigeon came back to save the nation and he is willing to give everything even though he has to attack the King who is under the control of the negative.

These Euigeon apologists started an uproar and are trying to convince people to stop trusting the King and his actions. They are even doubting Seulgi and Irene’s marriage. It seems like someone has already leaked that Seulgi used to live among zeros. This even raised even more suspicion.

What if the King ordered to kill Prince Euigeon because he wanted his negative daughter to be the one to take part with the truce to gain even more power? What if Prince Euigeon survived the attack but hid to find the right timing to spill every rotten secret of the King? What if he killed people knowing that it is the only way to save the nation?

It is good that the King’s trusted officials didn't turn theirs back on him. They are the ones who have seen the King’s efforts together with all his frustrations and desperation in search for peace. For Seulgi it is already a big blessing to their family.

“She suddenly got really broad shoulders.” Irene murmured to herself while watching Seulgi. She didn’t expect that the childhood friend she treasured is now her wife and also an heiress to the throne. But now that everything was thrown into chaos by the person that they trusted the most, Seulgi’s responsibility has gotten bigger. The King is unconscious yet she can’t do anything about it and has to protect herself in case they can’t bring them back.

“I am in favour of what the Vampire King has suggested. It would be good for the two of you to leave for some while. Even the Vampire Kingdom is having an uproar since the first negative slaughtered a lot of vampires during his reign. Let’s try to cool down the issue first and we will do our best in searching for the King.” Seungwan then took a deep breath. “But then, during that time of absence you have to promise me one thing.”

“What is it?” Seulgi asked, her heart beating double the normal rate.

“I will ask a few of my men to deliver you a highly confidential book that we have kept in the depths of our library. I want you to study that and see how you can use it to help you.”

“W-What is it?” Seulgi asked once more.

“You will know once you see it. The King won’t want you to read that book but at times like this I believe you are our only hope.” General Son closed her eyes in frustration before looking back to Seulgi. “Prince Euigeon is really powerful. All his mentors, including me, won’t stand a chance against him. That’s why his sudden death caused a huge damage to us but the King comforted us and convinced us that everything would be fine. But now that the Prince is back as a villain, we can’t see anyone else who will take the role of the hero other than you.”

“B-But I—”

“You managed to copy and cancel his abilities.” Seungwan stressed. “If you manage to control your abilities then you will be the most powerful of our kind but…”

Seulgi gulped. She knew there would always be a ‘but’.

“You shouldn’t let your powers control you. You should be the one to control them.”

Seulgi fell silent before giving the General a nod. “I will do my best.”

“I’m sorry… for making you carry this burden, Princess.”

The Princess’ eyes widened. She couldn’t believe that the person who didn’t leave her a very good impression is actually apologising to her.

“G-General—”

“Too much for that, I have to go back to searching now. I have gotten enough rest.” The General took one last look at Seulgi and gave her assuring nods. “We will definitely find the King right in time. You better do your part.”

“I will.”

“Be safe,Princess.”

With that, Seungwan ended the call and left Seulgi letting out a deep, deep sigh. She then noticed a notification on her phone that Sunmi also tried to call her but couldn't reach because of the on-going call she had with Seungwan. The aunt sent her a message that says,

“I’m sorry I can’t see you off, Seulgi. I am monitoring the health of your father’s body and I am feeding him potions from time to time. I already heard General Son’s plans. I’ll be sending you potions together with the book and I hope those will help you as you train. I’m sorry for suddenly giving you all the burden, Seulgi. Please always be safe. I will go back to work now.”

“Sunmi-unnie…” She sighed before typing her reply.

Seulgi then flinched when she felt something from behind. She looked behind and saw Irene giving her a back hug.

“Joohyun-ah…” She called and turned to her before hugging her back. “Are you done with the letter?”

Irene nodded. “I have scanned it and sent it to the agency already.”

Seulgi smiled faintly and started patting Irene’s head. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to affect your work with what’s going on with our kingdom.”

“No…” Irene moaned and looked up to her wife. “I have to attend to your needs more than mine.” She then hugged Seulgi tighter. She wants to let Seulgi feel that she will be there for her no matter what happens. It’s not because she’s feeling guilty of what her brother did to Seulgi’s mother but she truly loves her. Well, there’s pity present but the love she feels for the other girl is much stronger.

The Vampire King has told them what happened before—about Irene’s brother, Jiwoo, and how he ended the life of Seulgi’s mother. Seulgi seemed to be more composed while listening to him while the King himself can’t even face Seulgi properly because of shame.

But instead of getting angry, Seulgi assured the King that she isn’t angry with the vampires as a whole. If there’s someone that she should be angry at then it would be Jiwoo. But now that the vampire isn’t even existing anymore, Seulgi assured him once again that she will pursue the peace that everyone is longing to have. She promised to take care of Irene and protect her from all kinds of harm.

“Do you want to take a nap first?” Seulgi asked her wife but the girl shook her head once more.

“I’ll just wait with you until Sakura arrives.”

“Want to grab something to eat?”

“Okay.”

Seulgi then held her hand and took her to the kitchen. They took out whatever they could eat from the fridge. They will be away for some time, no one knows how long it will take so they just tried to eat those who won’t survive during the time they are away.

They were in the middle of cleaning everything when Seulgi suddenly spoke. “Joohyun…” she called. “When we arrive in Scotland, let’s proceed with the marking right away.”

“Y-Yes—” Irene was about to look at her wife when the latter managed to swiftly pull her for a kiss. She was surprised but she managed to answer her kisses. She can feel how much Seulgi is finding assurance and comfort with her kisses and she wanted to respond to all her yearnings.

Seulgi then stopped with the kisses and went by her shoulder. Irene thought that she would succumb to her favourite part once more but Seulgi just placed her head on Irene’s shoulder before letting out a deep sigh.

“I feel more useless than ever…” Seulgi whispered, her tone filled with frustration.

“Seulgi…”

“I need to be strong…” She then hugged Irene. “But I am so scared of what’s going to happen. I have all these fears inside my head that’s crippling me. I always believed that all my hardwork would pay of