Hi Guys, Thank you for all your comments. The next weeks are heavy for me in my real world so I still ask for patience in case there are delays in my updates. This story is nearing the end. I estimate only three chapters left after this. See you in the next chapter! :D

 

Chapter 8

 

 

 

 V felt something approaching. V knew who it was with the sound its wings were making. V’s eyes thinned.

 

Taeyong landed in front of him.

 

V’s eyes sharpened. Thick ice covered Taeyong’s feet as a big ball of ice came his way. Taeyong’s jaw clenched as he pulled himself up and flew away breaking the ice on his feet. He avoided the ice ball a hair strand away before it hit his body.

 

And then Taeyong felt another ice ball approaching, he flew higher. But V followed him.

 

Taeyong is frustrated. He does not need this at this moment. He needs to get back to Seulgi right away. He has to stop V from attacking him and make V listen to him.

 

The thing is, if he were in V’s shoes, he would actually do the same thing.

 

Tsk! This is going to be difficult.

 

And then Taeyong saw spears of ice following him and they were pretty close. Taeyong flew faster and changed direction.   

 

“You’re lucky my warriors did not shoot you arrows.” shouted V.

 

“Train them better. You’d need that.” said Taeyong

 

V’s jaws clenched, he slowed down his speed.

 

“What are you doing here? Did you change your mind? Are you returning to me?” asked V

 

Upon hearing V’s words, Taeyong also slowed down and faced V.

 

“Do you still hope that I would return? Your hope is in vain.” said Taeyong.

 

“Do you think taking Seulgi with you would break our bond as brothers?” asked V.

 

Taeyong could hear the anger and the frustration on V’s voice. Taeyong could already taste the bitter bile of his betrayal against the brother who had always believed in him.

 

 “You thought you could convince me that you have completely abandoned us by abducting my sister.” said V. “But you see… I know what Seulgi is to you. Out of all the people you could have abducted, you took the woman you could not hurt.”

 

Taeyong shook his head as if saying V is delusional.

 

“If you are not returning to me, then why did you come here? You are not here to attack me, you’ve been avoiding my attack and you did not fight back. Besides… if you plan to attack me, surely you know you need an army to do that.” said V

 

“I need to see Jisoo.” said Taeyong.

 

V’s eyes widened.

 

If Taeyong had gone all the way to the North to find Jisoo then that means...

 

“Is someone injured? Who is it?” asked V

 

V’s throat moved as he realized why Taeyong would risk his life leaving the South and go to the North on his own, unarmed.

 

“It’s Seulgi…” whispered V. “What happened to my sister?”

 

--------------

 

 

Jisoo could not believe it… it had been months… Sir Taeyong took Seulgi and they’ve been gone for months. Now Sir Taeyong is standing in front of her. He went to the North even when he knew V might kill him for abducting his sister. Some would say Sir Taeyong is foolish…

 

But Jisoo thinks otherwise…

 

Sir Taeyong went all the way to the North for Seulgi… Because Seulgi was needing… she was in pain and he could not help her. Or maybe the better way to put it is, the Princess refused to get any help from him.

 

It seems like Sir Taeyong is in love with the Princess.

 

Jisoo gulped.

 

“Are you going to stare at me all night?” asked Taeyong

 

Jisoo shook her head.

 

“Forgive me I just… my mind was going somewhere else.” said Jisoo

 

Jisoo went to the cabinets and opened them.

 

“Hurry, Jisoo.” said V. “Seulgi’s pain is going to get worse and worse as the night progress.”

 

Jisoo put several bottles on the table. She took a pouch and put the bottles inside.

 

“One bottle tonight. Just one. No matter how much she asks for another bottle, don’t give her another. This version of the needing medicine is very potent.” said Jisoo

 

“It’s her first needing. It would be worse than a normal one.” said V

 

Jisoo went to another cabinet and took out some leaves and put them on another pouch.

 

“This is Fed leaves. It will lower her body temperature.” said Jisoo. “I just discovered this a few weeks ago and many needing dragons have said it helped the needing medicine work faster. You need to have this boiled. Boil it for an hour on low heat. The water would look black. That’s when you know it’s ready. Let the Princess drink it.”

 

“Which does she take first?” asked Taeyong.

 

“She must take the needing medicine as soon as you come back to her. There would be a slight improvement.  But the medicine takes time to work fully. Once she drinks the tea from the Fed leaves, she would feel greater improvement.” said Jisoo.

 

Jisoo held Taeyong’s arm.

 

“Sir Taeyong, I’m afraid I have not successfully improved the taste of this medicine yet. It still tastes… horrible according to the dragons. So make sure Princess Seulgi drinks every drop.” said Jisoo

 

Taeyong nodded.

 

Taeyong went to the window. But he stopped before he flew away. He turned to V and Jisoo. He stared at them… and Jisoo felt tightening, her eyes watering as she saw the longing in Sir Taeyong’s eyes.

 

“Jisoo, catch!”

 

Jisoo opened her palm as a black pouch fell on it.

 

And then Taeyong flew away.

 

“I wonder what that is.”s aid V

 

Jisoo opened the pouch and found some dried leaves inside. Jisoo smelt the leaves.

 

“Hmm… familiar…” said Jisoo. “I wonder why he gave me these leaves.”

 

“Must be a gift for helping him tonight.” said V

 

Jisoo’s eyes narrowed.

 

“I have a feeling it’s more than that. I’ll look into it tomorrow.” said Jisoo.

 

Jisoo sighed as she wrapped her arms around V.

 

“You did not stop him from leaving?” asked Jisoo

 

V shook his head as he dropped a kiss on Jisoo’s brow.

 

“My sister is stubborn. Do you think he will allow a male to relieve her tonight?” asked V

 

Jisoo sighed.

 

“She would rather bear the pain.” said Jisoo

 

“That’s why I can’t stop Taeyong. No matter how much I want to pin him down and get his plan out of his mouth, I can’t delay him. My sister needs him. I can’t let my sister down.” said V

 

Jisoo lifted her face and kissed V’s lips.

 

“Did you see how worried he was?” asked Jisoo

 

V nodded.

 

Jisoo smiled.

 

“Then all is well.” said Jisoo

 

V sighed.

 

And then he carried Jisoo in his arms.

 

----------

 

 

Taeyong will not waste time, Seulgi needs the medicine as soon as possible. Taeyong flew at his utmost speed.

 

"It's been a long time since you last updated me, Taeyong." said Kong

 

Tsk! Of all the time that the beast would talk to him!

 

"It is because everything is doing well." said Taeyong. "There is nothing that is worth mentioning about."

 

"You know I hate it when I do not know what is happening, Taeyong."said Kong

 

"You still continue to have trust issues with me. I don't think that's fair." said Taeyong. "You are going to be King soon. If you can't wait a while longer, then maybe you should wait for two more years." 

 

Taeyong felt the force of the beast inside him increasing. There was pain as Kong tried to fight him. Taeyong slowed down.

 

"There is no other way than to trust me if you want to reign King earlier." said Taeyong. 

 

"You better be sure you are not fooling around. Because once I find out you are, I am going to use every bit of my power to devour your consciousness until you are no more. And then I will kill all those who matter to you... starting with that girl you brought with you to the South."

 

 

------------

 

 

Seulgi slowly opened her eyes as consciousness crept in. 

 

She was disoriented for a while until she remembered what happened last night. Yesterday, her first needing attacked. It was so much worse than she expected. She knew it would be painful. She knew it would burn. But she did not know that it was that kind of pain that felt like you're dying. The worst kind of pain was when Taeyong tried to touch her. It was as if relief was at hand but she can not claim it. It was so excruciating. 

 

But what hurts more than the pain in her body was the pain in her heart. Taeyong's rejection. He cared for her but he did not love her.

 

Seulgi sighed. Memories of last night started coming back to her. After Taeyong rejected her, he left. Seulgi thought she would suffer until morning or possibly more. But Taeyong came back after a few hours. And when he did, he made her drink something which smelt and tasted foul. Seulgi tried to resist drinking it. She had enough hell to deal with. But Taeyong's hold on her head was firm and the hell rising liquid was forced on her, all of it. 

 

And then Taeyong left her again. For some reason Seulgi felt the burning subside a little. the waves became weaker. It was still far from true relief but it had calmed her a little. When Taeyong came back, he made her drink tea.   It had a familiar scent which reminded her of the dragons. She drank that tea as if she's parched dry. the tea did not taste bad. It did not taste good either. But after she finished the tea... it seemed like the burning weakened to the point that when Seulgi closed her eyes... she fell asleep. 

 

Now she's awake... and ! This part, how she got , was not part of her memory no matter how hard she thinks. 

 

Seulgi sighed. 

 

And then the door opened. Seulgi gasped as she pulled the blanket to her neck.

 

Taeyong entered the room and sat beside Seulgi. 

 

"How are you feeling?" asked Taeyong

 

"Umm... I think I am well now." said Seulgi.

 

Seulgi's stomach grumbled.

 

 "Just hungry." said Seulgi

 

"Good. First needings are tricky. I heard it can continue until the next day." said Taeyong. 

 

"I... don't feel burning anymore." said Seulgi 

 

"Good." said Taeyong.

 

"It was Jisoo's needing medicine, isn't it? That foul tasting liquid you forced on me." said Seulgi

 

"You make it sound like I tortured you." said Taeyong

 

"Well you did." said Seulgi

 

Seulgi waited for Taeyong to answer her.

 

"It was the needing medicine." said Taeyong. 

 

Seulgi's eyes widened.

 

"You went to the North?" asked Seulgi. 

 

Taeyong sighed as he stood up.

 

"It's good you're feeling better. I have asked another servant to bring me breakfast this morning. I told them to bring more than usual. " said Taeyong. 

 

“Wait… Taeyong… how… did I end up ?” asked Seulgi, a blush heated her face.

 

“You were drenched in sweat.” said Taeyong. “I couldn’t let you sleep in that.”

 

Seulgi could feel the warmth of Taeyong’s words like a blanket.

 

"Did you already eat, Your Highness?"

 

Taeyong nodded.

 

"There are still a lot of food. make sure you eat so that you can regain your strength." said Taeyong. 

 

And then Taeyong left the room.

 

He went to the North...

 

he went back to the North no matter how dangerous that was. What if her brother attacked Taeyong? What if the dragons did? He went back there to get her needing medicine from Jisoo...

 

Seulgi held her chest as a painful squeeze in her chest made her eyes close. 

 

"Is it possible… Does he love me?" 

 

 

-------

 

 

Seulgi found Yeri washing some clothes.When Yeri saw her, Yeri immediately pulled Seulgi away from everyone’s view.

 

“What happened to you? You did not get the King’s dinner and another servant was ordered to bring food to him. Also this morning, someone else brought the King breakfast.” said Yeri. “I was so nervous. I thought the King caught you looking for the contract.”

 

Seulgi sighed.

 

“I was actually not feeling well.” said Seulgi

 

“What? You should have told me. I could have helped.” said Yeri

 

“It’s not the ordinary kind of illness. It’s only an illness of my kind. I had to rest away from people. So the King had to ask other servants to bring him food.” said Seulgi. “There’s no need to worry. I am fine.”

 

“Then were you able to search the King’s room?” asked Yeri

 

“Yes, I was able to. But then I did not find the contract there. What happened to your search inside Miss Sunny’s room?” asked Seulgi

 

Yeri sighed.

 

“Miss Sunny was out of the castle the entire day yesterday so I was able to do a thorough check. There was a warrior guarding me but I gave him a tea that induces sleep and he fell asleep the entire day. I search every corner. But there really wasn’t any contract in there.” said Yeri

 

“Miss Jihyun said the only ones who knew about the contract that night when it was made was Miss Sunny and Kwangsoo.” said Seulgi

 

“Then that means Sir Kwangsoo has it.” said Yeri. “However, Sir Kwangsoo is more careful than Miss Sunny. He never allows servants to enter his quarter unless he’s there. Even servants could only clean his room when he’s there. I have been trying to go to his room. I have cleaned it so many times the past months. But Sir Kwangsoo always guards his room with a hawk eye.”

 

“Can’t you give him the sleeping tea?” asked Seulgi

 

“I can’t do that to him. Sir Kwangsoo is an intelligent person. Yes it may not look like it. But he knows a lot about herbs. He would not only realize I am trying to put him to sleep, but it would jeopardize my cover and my people.”

 

Seulgi sighed.

 

“That means it’s almost impossible to search his room.” said Seulgi. “What if he had put it somewhere else?”

 

“I have searched almost every room of the castle, Seulgi. “I have not found it. But I will keep on searching.”

 

“We have to check Kwangsoo’s room just to be sure.” said Seulgi

 

---------

 

 

It was the day when Kwangsoo and Taeyong left to make a surprise visit to a village. Seulgi faked a back pain so she couldn’t go with them. Taeyong was not happy that he would leave her.

When Seulgi was sure that Taeyong and Kwangsoo was already gone a long way, she started her plan. Yeri gave the tea to the guard outside Kwangsoo’s room. As soon as the guard fell asleep, Seulgi entered the room.

 

Seulgi took a deep breath. She must find that contract. But she must also be careful, Kwangsoo can’t find out what she’s doing.

 

Seulgi saw what looked like a library. There are hundreds of books. If the contract is in one of this book, this will be a toilsome work. She has to check each book and return them properly.

 

After several hours, Seulgi did not find the contract in the books. She went inside another door and found a bedroom. She opened the cabinets thoroughly checking everything one by one. To her dismay, she found no contract. She was already on her way out when she heard footsteps. She tried to find a place to hide but there was no more time. Kwangsoo stood directly in front of her. Seulgi gasped.

 

“Well well well… what do we have here?” asked Kwangsoo

 

“You were supposed to be away.” said Seulgi

 

“The King was anxious to come back. And the village was not even an hour’s ride away.” said Kwangsoo. “What are you doing inside my room?”

 

Seulgi gulped.

 

“I thought that I need to clean your room. You were so nice to me when we went out with the King last time. I wanted to repay you.” said Seulgi

 

“I am touched. But did you have to put my guard to sleep just to repay me?” asked Kwangsoo

 

She’s caught. She’s in trouble.

 

“So tell me the truth why you are here in my room.” Kwangsoo’s eyes had changed from his usual carefree one to being scary.

 

Seulgi is doomed.

 

She may be in trouble but she can’t allow Yeri and Lady Jihyun to get revealed. She must protect them.

 

“I… wanted to ask you a favor.” said Seulgi. “I went here because I need your help.”

 

Seiulgi touched Kwangsoo’s arm.

 

“Help me get free from the King. I am his prisoner and I want to go home. Please… help me, Kwangsoo.” said Seulgi. “I miss my family… I miss home.”

 

Kwangsoo’s lips arch into a smile.

 

“You are asking me to help you get free?” asked Kwangsoo

 

Seulgi nodded.

 

“There is no one else who can help me.” said Seulgi. “You are powerful enough to devise a way for me to leave. Please… help me.”

 

“I don’t even know who you really are, Seulgi.” said Kwangsoo. “Why will I ever help you? Why will I betray my master for you?”

 

Seulgi sighed.

 

“I know I am nobody to you… I know that my life is nothing. But Kwangsoo… don’t you ever wanted to do something good for someone? Have you ever wanted to just do something good?” asked Seulgi

 

“No.” said Kwangsoo. “Doing good never fed me. Besides, master Kong saved my life. When I thought I was surely going to die… he was the one who saved my life. I will never betray him.” said Kwangsoo

 

“He’s an evil person. How can he save your life?” asked Seulgi

 

“You know nothing. I was going to be beheaded by the King back then because of my mercenary ways. I have caused deaths of many people. But it was only because that was the only way I know how to feed myself… how to survive. The King wanted to give justice to those I killed.  He did not listen no matter how much I have pleaded. I was also a victim… I only wanted to survive.” said Kwangsoo. “And just before I was beheaded, master Kong came and stopped my punishment. He saved me. He protected me and took care of me. He made me his right hand. A prince made a mercenary his right hand. No one else had tr