FORMAT AS FOLLOW: Italics - Past | Straight (but really gay) - Present

 

TW: VIOLENCE

 

 

 

 

The wolf

Latin: canis lupus

Unlike most land mammals, this majestic creature hunts in packs. They are social predators who prey on herbivores, eating occasional secondary consumers if the pack is large enough. They caer0n achieve speeds up to fifty to sixty kilometers per hour, maintaining such speed for almost half an hour. They can hear up to sixteen kilometers in the open and are quick to detect slight movements. The wolf is very comfortable in the water and can swim almost thirteen kilometers with the small ebbing between their toes.

Now add a human into the equation and that throws the entire anatomy out of the loop. Given the torture against wolves centuries ago has unfortunately been psychologically passed down generation to generation for some.

Hyunjin spit out another mouthful of water as she doggy paddled to the Kim kingdom shores where she hoped, prayed, and wished it wasn’t as bad as her initial impression.

But as she woefully swam closer, the howls became louder, the snarls became sharper, the fire became larger, the smoke billowed higher. Was most of the damage caused by humans, wolves, descendants, or a mixed breed with capabilities greater than her own?

Another wave washed over her, sweeping her off course, the mix of ash and salt stinging her eyes and drying . The murky waters that once shone a see-through blue kept her away for longer.

She should have spent more family days in the spa, developing her swimming skills.

She should have spent her free days with her loved ones working on other talents, like breath control, rather than taking on extra missions to ensure the safety of her aunt Jinsol.

She should have done so many things to get to the Kim kingdom in time.

But nothing would prevent an event decades of karmic points have cashed in on, changing the fate of many citizens, knights, and royals for years to come.

---

“She’ll come. Don’t fret,” a harmonious voice cleansed the tense air.

“You don’t know that,” a jittery woman whined back, gulping in all the air the room could supply.

New kingdom teachers Vivi and Haseul had their first lessons today with ten-year-old Princess Chaewon. The council cut funds to the arts and things they found impractical like healthcare. As kingdom doctor and court musician, their jobs were on the line. But Jinsol and Jungeun mitigated their resignations and appointed them as official kingdom teachers, saving money for their former castle instructor’s travels and temporary stays in the castle.

(They despised his methods of never allowing his students to flourish unless they were anonymous and Chaewon wanted to banish him. Two wolves, one stone.)

Vivi would be representing her faction. Haseul: her entire family. She needed to do well so Yeojin and her parents could sleep blissfully in the safety of these castle walls for many nights to come.

But Chaewon was nowhere in sight. Haseul could feel her clammy hands soaking the lesson plans she had been working on all weekend. Vivi had been busy handling other needs in the village but Haseul was gracious enough to take over the agenda for the first week. A comforting hand on her shoulder softened her up.

The door creaked and entered another young girl. She wasn’t the stubborn, but sweet princess they expected but Vivi and Haseul couldn’t stop their smiles from growing. Anyone would smile under this magnetic girl’s doting grin

Jungeun and Jinsol must’ve set her up as their first student, free from the restrictions Jaden had to teach royal blood only. Maybe Chaewon would stay in school if she learned among friends.

Her friend.

Their first student.

And to Vivi and Haseul, their first girl.

By adoption and now, by class roster.

“Welcome to school, Heejin.”

---

If the Jung-Dong-Bang-Wong-Ha family was spending quality time together moments ago, the evidence of it would have been long gone by now.

The castle’s great chamber and courtyard was ablaze with knights, squires, merchants, blacksmiths, silversmiths, ironsmiths, horse wranglers (all who Yerim watched warily), doctors, nurses, and apprentices all preparing aid to the fallen Kim kingdom.

Even Yeojin was given orders to prepare herself if she was drafted after a low headcount. 

(Haseul pretended not to be nervous.)

From the second story, Sooyoung swallowed a lump in as she looked below at the courtyard of knights she could’ve had under her command. Jiwoo didn’t miss her wife’s change in demeanor but they would talk about it once the castle was a bit quieter. Even with one member of their trio missing, at least their family wasn’t in disarray.

Amidst the masses, the once reunited Jung family were swept up in their roles reviewing emergency protocols before they signed off on sending their best people to protect the human race. Jinsol was attending to milaristic needs, hunched over an updated map to show the best routes in and out of the kingdoms. Chaewon was exercising the sliver of power she had, sanctioning rations based on the supplies the kingdom had ready now, wielding her competence by checkmarking boxes and writing numbers. Jungeun was consulting the health aids, each of the doctors looking at the queen skeptically, like she shouldn’t have the authority to give orders in her state.

(Thankfully, the revered Healer Vivi was by her side, nodding along to everything Jungeun said to boost her jurisdiction.)

The atmosphere was tense because of their previous argument-

No, disagreement.

A small disagreement. A minor difference of opinions. Like pineapple on pizza or cheese in ramen.

Overriding any, for lack of a better term, animalistic feelings the Jungs had in their tiny spat, they had to put on their game face for the kingdom.

Lives depended on it.

Their sanity depended on it.

Their family depended on it.

“Wonder how many pills she took to tell us all of that?”

Jinsol clenched her jaw - trying not to remind herself of the time she clenched it after her sweet daughter’s last sentence to her. The judgement came from one of the nurses checking their bags.

“Heard she can’t sleep without some sort of serum. What a freak.”

Jinsol picked up bits and pieces of everyone’s conversation, donning her queenly demeanor, checking on the status of all the kingdom’s employees. Who was ready, who wasn’t, who still needed time to gather their bearings. What she was more worried about was the wellbeing of her wife (and deep down, her daughter) as the citizens let their true colors fly. With chaos and fear comes a lack of filter - something her daughter lacked as well - and Jinsol was not liking anything she was hearing. 

“Maybe we should do a mental evaluation ourselves. Being holed up in here for that long is something I’ve never heard a queen do.”

Jinsol may have lost her decorum in the spa room but she would not do so in the presence of these people. These commoners were degrading Jungeun like she was out of her mind, like she was unfit for the throne.

“Queen of what?”

Like she was an untamed animal.

“Crazyland?”

Seeing a flash of Jungeun’s red gown, Jinsol opened to call out to her. Wanting to make sure she was okay. That nothing the people were saying held validity. She had struggles that couldn’t be solved with a shot or a pill but it didn’t make her any less of a queen.

Any less of a person.

“If I was the queen, I would leave her.”

Jinsol turned around ready to silence whoever would say something so outlandish and offensive and completely unfounded but she was lost among the sea of people.

The sea of people Jungeun deserved to be a part of just like any other human.

---

“Which brings us to the untimely deaths of Queens Hyelim and Yubin…” Moon kingdom Head Knight Jongup recited to the new inductees.

Jinsol was the oldest student there and the only one coming from royal blood. Squires around her bowed their heads every time she glanced their way, thinking she was there to audit the knight training program. Instructor Jongup was shaking the pointer he was holding as he pointed at the blown up scale of the map.

He felt like if he said the wrong thing, Jinsol would have his head.

And she sort of did.

While he itemized facts and locations and death counts, Jinsol could only remember the secondhand memories Jungeun had told her of the tragedy.

How one wolf was imprisoned as collateral for Jungeun’s condition. Jiwoo had thankfully did quite a number on it, making it easy for knights to track it down and bring it into custody. Even in a human form, it didn’t say anything. Not giving up where it’s pack or others like it were hiding, what its strengths and weaknesses were, nor even what its plans were. It would simply sit in it’s cell scowling at anyone who dared look it’s way.

Jinsol, being two kingdoms away, didn’t get to sit in on these trials but the brief encounter she had with it, getting a tour of the castle from her future mother-in-laws, she would rather erase it from her memory. In particular it's haunting red hued eyes that glared at her. Why store something useless?

Locked into a silver barred chamber Vivi, Sooyoung, and Jiwoo impressively constructed, Jungeun passed through one moon cycle without losing her human status. But the cause for celebration was cut short. The wretched things’ packmates raided the party, destroying everything and everyone in their midst. The gated room proved effective for saving Jungeun and her closest friends, including a newborn Heejin. If only her mothers were in the room as well but per councils demand, they were to be on the other side of the castle in case Jungeun did transform. 

For their safety from their own daughter, they lost their lives to monsters.

“And that’s the end of that, moving onto the Great Attack,” Jongup wrapped up, his voice lacking of sympathy to what he just recounted.

No, it was not the end of that.

Jungeun was still suffering the repercussions of that attack. There was no end because Jungeun would relive the night of her attack, the night of her mothers’ attack, the night of her kingdom’s attack, and the night of her best friend and her family’s disappearance over and over.

It may have an end in the history books but not to Jungeun.

Before Jinsol could raise her hand - and practically stop Jongup’s heart in his chest - he wrapped up his recent history lesson with something Jinsol could agree on.

“We may all agree that this war is far from over.”

---

According to the history her mothers have told her, it wouldn’t have been the first time in this century that this monarchy fell due to her lycan ties.

The rookie knight had scenarios mentally sketched out of what she would face if ever called for duty. A flurry of artillery between two warring kingdoms. A bar fight that tripled in size due to strong allegiances on both sides. A cat stuck in a tree. A burning hut. An emergency evacuation.

But not a whole wolf pack attacking an entire kingdom.

The helmet she wore wasn’t thick enough to hide the smell of burning wood, brick, flesh.. and fur. A scent she herself exuded when her transformation peaked. But on fire, it was vile. And unfortunately, she was running towards it.

Hyejoo growled to herself as she ran through the woods, closer to the source of the fires springing up in the Kim kingdom. As her heart pounded through her chest, Hyejoo could feel her nonhuman instincts kick in. Her ears tuned into every crinkle of leaves, every whoosh of air, every change in smell. 

She was furious.

Not only did her right hand leave her alone on a boat so she can act like a knight in shining armor.

(Which she was.)

She left her to fend for herself like she was capable of taking on whatever or whoever attacked the Kim kingdom without a commander.

(Which she would come to find out, she was.)

While she was sure she’d give Hyunjin a swift punch (using her human strength) for acting outside their required line of duties, she couldn’t judge her for her hasty movement. Hyunjin told her to get Caption Nagyung to safety and immediately jumped ship. It was like seeing a hound pathetically paddle but Hyejoo’s ears unfortunately picked up a word Hyunjin was repeating over and over like a mantra as she fought her way to the shore.

“Heejin. Heejin. Heejin.”

---

“Today we’re going to focus on goals,” Haseul said in her best-teacher persona.

Which wasn’t any different than her real self, besides the occasional pursing of lips and of her chin as if she was deep in thought. Vivi stifled a giggle behind her hand as she sat at their new shared instructors’ desk.

“I love football! Wish our women’s team was paid more,” Yerim chimed in.

“Hear, hear!” Heejin and Yeojin held their cups of water high.

“No, no, not those kinds of goals. I’m talking about goals in life. Things you want to do in the future. Ten years from now. Five years from now. Next month.”

“In the future, I want to eat lunch,” Yeojin finished off, glad physical education wasn’t part of their schedule today. 

(Vivi would add it to the next semester. Having four out of five of your students asleep before lunch hour wasn’t a good look for them when it came to audits.)

“Heejin, what’d you make for lunch?” Yeojin called loudly as if Heejin wasn’t sitting at the table next to her. With an empty chair beside her.

It would’ve been Chaewon's if she showed up to class. But the entire castlehold knew it was reserved for Hyunjin who was in for a nice surprise to find out she was enrolled into Vivi and Haseul’s Academy.

“AS I WAS SAYING,” Haseul startled herself by raising her voice, frightening everyone in the room except Vivi who stared at Haseul more intensely than before.

“I’m going to pass around parchment. Ask for more if you want. And you’re going to write down what you want to do in the future, what you want to be, what you want to become.”

Haseul slumped into her chair as her three students scribbled away. Even though Chaewon didn’t show up - Jinsol was on the hunt right now - she would say her first shift teaching wasn’t too bad.

Attendance went well, even if Yeojin tried to play off that she was both herself and Chaewon. History wasn’t a bore as Heejin had fascinating interjections relating to the many novels she read. Anatomy was interesting as Yerim had more knowledge of animal body systems than anyone knew. They couldn’t correct her on it but they took her word.

“You did well,” Vivi whispered, still taken aback by Haseul’s brief flare-up.

(Vivi had many feelings seeing Haseul’s jaw clench and veins protrude in her rolled up button-up but she would sort through that during lunch break.)

“You think?” Haseul looked over to her favorite co-worker.

“I know,” Vivi said, looking out at their students. She’d never seen any of them write as much as she did now and she was proud of Haseul for thinking of activities that revolved around the girls’ favorite topics: themselves.

They scrawled away, lost in their world of dreams, hopes, and desires.

All which the two teachers hoped would come true for each of them.

---

Chaewon rubbed her strained eyes, having had to speed read through many contracts. Licensing, bonding, and insurance paperwork for the many villagers volunteering to help the Kim Kingdom. Some because it’s their duty, others because they had loved ones there.

Just like they did.

Just one person.

But it was enough to shake up the castlehold.

But Chaewon didn’t want to think about who’d be going to check in on their loved one. Did she curse her mother’s staycation for speaking her truths hours before? It would only be a matter of time when Jinsol would have to valiantly step in to lead the Jung kingdom troupe.

Especially since their best knights were outside the now blockaded kingdom walls.

How could her mothers hide their worries about Heejin so well? Chaewon almost felt her heart collapse - Vivi told her that that wasn’t possible if she was still standing - at Yeojin’s shaky announcement.

(“W-w-what about the Kim kingdom?” Jinsol stuttered, glad Jungeun and Chaewon were there to support her in case she fell over.)

Yerim and Yeojin shared a look as they flanked the princess on both sides as she surveyed the carriages, following her every command to tighten a piece here or shave off a piece there. Chaewon was adept at noticing small details. A Jung quality she inherited. 

(She remembered seeing her mother come in with the randomest of trinkets because Jungeun eyed them once during their family trips to the market.) 

Carriage safety wasn’t her area of expertise but anything to get them out of the mayhem wracking their home. People didn’t even flock this much around the castle when they had birthdays - obviously not Vivi’s because they had to pretend it didn’t exist - and holidays - the New Year’s banquet would most likely be cancelled.

Neither of the three wanted to hear what people were saying about Jungeun.

And Jinsol.

And definitely not about werewolves.

(“Who attacked them? Another kingdom?”

“No, reports suspect werewolves are involved.”)

Yerim knew Chaewon was bitter towards her mother’s line of thinking but as a wolf representative herself, Jinsol had no reason to believe otherwise. The wolves she had met were bloodthirsty and carnal. She had fading bruises and scratches up and down her skin and armor to show that reason was beyond their realm.

“The good ones” were far and few.

After the dawn, Yerim was sure Jinsol’s bias would only deepen.

Yeojin had never come face-to-face with one of their kind so like Jinsol, all she absorbed were from anecdotes. Unlike Yerim and Chaewon, one of her two favorite queens (guess the second one) couldn’t wipe away the tragedy that befell because of werewolves. And neither could Yeojin.

After the dawn, she was unsure if their perspectives would only grow foggier.

“Chae…,” a gruff voice whispered from behind them.

Knowing that voice from anywhere, getting accustomed to hearing it daily, Chaewon faced Jinsol. But rather than seeing a woman scorned, Jinsol looked small. She had seen that look before when Jinsol apologized for her behavior on the piste.

But this time, could she forgive her?

It took no genius to figure out why Chaewon shied away from getting close to Jinsol. She wanted her family to prosper but their opposing opinions on wolves could cost them their reunion.

It did just that.

And now, Jinsol would have to go.

Could they squeeze in a proper apology at a time like this?

“Mom?”

Giving her mother another look, Chaewon’s hawk-like eyes noticed a piece of Jinsol’s outfit that wasn’t there before. A belt Hyunjin wore often and Hyejoo was adding to her outfit of the day. The fashionista in her squinted at how it mismatched the rest of her outfit but not before realizing what this meant.

“Are you leaving?”

Jinsol broke at how Chaewon’s voice faltered. If there was someone who should be feeling guilty, it should be her. She had underestimated that Chaewon would do her own research on wolves and come to her own conclusions. She would never blame Haseul or Vivi for instilling thoughts that wolves were misunderstood or unfortunate like how she’d heard on the streets.

But of course her intelligent daughter would pick up on those thoughts.

And possibly think the same.

But how could she know if she was never home?

She promised Jungeun.

As an annex, also Chaewon.

“Do you want me to go?” Jinsol held her breath.

The two Jungs met eyes and weren’t sure what they wanted Chaewon’s response to be. Would she risk her mother’s reputation for a few more days of awkward avoidance? Would she be selfish for herself and for her mother who was being battered and torn to verbal pieces in there? Would she be a future queen or a loving daughter?

“You should go, Jinsol.”

Both Jungs turned to the person they would’ve never thought would suggest such a thing.

And with such finality.

Jungeun couldn’t fight the tears in her eyes as she brought her two favorite people into an embrace, hoping she was making the right choice for all three of them.

---

“Are those all the signs for humans suspected to be wolves, Teacher?”

Sera sighed heavily as she wrapped up her last lesson before the full moon. Since news of Jungeun’s attack broke out, not many of her closest staff members wanted to be near the girl. She was already isolated in the castle enough but this made matters worse.

Kitchen staff would play games to see who’d lose and bring out her meals. Gardeners would hide behind bushes when she went out for strolls. Her swimming instructor faked an illness the kingdom has never heard of.

At least she had Vivi.

And her new best friend Jiwoo.

And her most, trusted knight - even if she fell in the ranks due to “losing” Jungeun that evening - Sooyoung.

Sooyoung echoed that sigh as she took a look at her best friend’s notes, scribbling madly into her book, noticing small tick marks to see if she herself was exhibiting all those signs. As a treat, Jungeun was allowed to pick the topic of today’s lessons and she wanted to know everything and anything she needed to know about werewolves.

Everyone knew why.

Like the rest of the kingdom, Jungeun was terrified that the bite on her back had been deep enough to penetrate into her humanity. This next full moon would tell as she was bitten quite late into the last cycle to experience her first shift. Silver laced bars surrounded her room for preparation.

Newly smithed silver-arrows were stocked into every knight’s quiver.

Their favorite teacher consulted her notes once more - both students noticing how she was already half-packed in case the rumors were true - to see if there was a sign she missed.

Something that would give Jungeun hope that she would be okay after all.

---

The Kim kingdom, one of the oldest kingdoms on this peninsula, was the archetype of wonderful architecture and culture. They paved the way for kingdoms to take their foolproof blueprint and develop their own kingdoms, paying homage to the cherished historial nation.

But with the streets upheaved, roofs concaved, and the screams of terror from every direction, the kingdom was far from its inspirational image it once had.

Parents looking for their children.

Children looking for their friends.

Lovers looking for their salvation.

Much like Hyunjin was looking for hers.

The wolf descendant’s keen sense of smell wasn’t doing her any favors as the smell of burning flesh, fur, and brick was overpowering.

Yanking her helmet off, she squinted into the blazing city that she used to roam.

In the village square, a buzzing market plaza was the cornerstone of socialization and exchange. It’s where Jinsol and bought a cream from the famous Robyn Fenty. It’s where she would look for little souvenirs for her dear sister. It’s where she would peruse books she thinks Heejin would like but would never buy.

A funeral pyre had replaced the colorful stalls. Werewolves, humans, and in-betweens were tossed into it by knights, squires, and those brave enough to fight. Sacrifices to the survival of humankind. As daylight made its way to the town, few werewolves were turning back to their human forms, screaming for help before their voices were muddled with the crackling flames. Painfully, the other werewolves lacked that control and died as the monster they became.

Hyunjin turned her head away as she could make out faces of every age among the flames. Young children figuring out what they wanted to do for the rest of their life. Retirees thinking they’d be able to go out in peace.

They didn’t ask for this but it was the only way to make sure the remaining citizens of the Kim kingdom survived.

Turning her nose north, she tried again to hone into her senses, tracing a smell she would recognize at first whiff and listening for a sound she could pick out among a chorus.

But the fire was too strong.

The people and former people were too loud.

Heejin was nowhere to be found.

---

“The running speed starts slowly, but gets faster each minute after you hear this signal. Remember to run in a straight line and run as long as possible. The second time you fail to complete a lap before the sound, your test is over. The test will begin on the word start. On your mark. Get ready. Start.”

“Do we have to kill them?” Jinsol huffed as she ran alongside Hyunjin in this ridiculous fitness gram.

Either the knight was holding back or Jinsol had actually picked up speed. They were more than seventy laps in and she was keeping pace with Hyunjin. It was working in her favor as the bobbing heads of the deciders of her fate kept her going.

“What do you mean, Aun-Your Highness?” Hyunjin coughed a bit before turning around at the line.

“I mean, killing seems drastic. Incarceration and rehabilitation seems less messier,” the new inductee ran off, knowing the council would think otherwise to hush her.

Even if what she was saying was blasphemous, she was the voice of the people. The council may control her every move but she had far greater rights when it came to speech than anyone there. Jinsol had heard the whispers when she attended knight classes - ironically all scheduled at night. The squires wanted a complete dismantling of the system in place.

And she would use her voice for goodness.

“Um...that’s a good suggestion, Your Highness.”

But that’s not to say that Jinsol had forgotten the long-lasting grudge she had on the species that took away her wife’s family, her best friend, her best friend’s family, and if Jiwoo was too late, her wife as well.

She would like no more than to behead every single wolf in her wife’s honor.

But now that the days were counting down to her knighting, she had to be realistic. Knights ranked lower than queens and by lowering herself, she had to lower her power.

(Something she hoped her family would understand.)

Citizens wanted the wolves gone.

Her family wanted the wolves gone.

But could she do it?

“Is it hard?” 

Hyunjin bit her tongue as she thought of how to answer the question. Was it hard killing the kind of people that are part of your family tree? That’s what Yerim once asked her with an attitude but she brushed it off and rode into town, hoping Yerim would forget.

(She never did.)

Why did Jinsol have to go psychological on her? Knight duties were a job. She did what she had to do so she could collect a check and continue her parents’ legacy.

“We'll find out.”

Whatever the move was, Hyunjin and Jinsol wanted it all to stop. If the eradication of all wolves was what was on the council’s agenda, who were they to stop it.

---

As soon as the cavalry filed out of the ballroom, Sooyoung and Jiwoo made use of the emptiness on this side of the castle and pulled each other into a tight embrace.

The entire day had been difficult to get through and it wasn’t even midday.

They weren’t even sure if they ate with all the ruckus.

As they heard the first wave of carriages flock out, they were relieved none of the family was on it. Jinsol was dressed for the mission but she stood her ground. A stoic Jinsol, an anxious Jungeun, and a stone-faced Chaewon waved them off, thankfully none of them on board.

Before Jiwoo and Sooyoung could ask for an update, the Jung family had gone off to their private quarters, clearly needing to get some things off their chest.

(After that fight in the spa room - now closed off for until further notice, as they immediately shut all water tunnels leading into the kingdom - those three needed to talk.)

Speaking of threes, the two Ha’s worried for their daughter’s safety. Breathing each other in, they caressed each other slowly, trying to massage out the worries they knew the other was feeling. They knew Hyejoo would be boarding the S.S. Fromis the first day after the cycle and that unlike other wolves, their daughter had excellent control turning back. Their boat had probably docked by now. 

They worried about her diet during her cycle but Hyejoo was one of the smartest girls, wolves, and hybrids they knew.

But that’s not to say her journey, which would unfortunately have a stopover at the Kims at Hyunjin’s request, would have a rude rerouting.

“What are you thinking about, my love?” Sooyoung brushed Jiwoo’s hair back, seeing the worry lines deepen since Yeojin’s announcement.

“Hyejoo…” Jiwoo whispered into her wife’s chest, tucking herself into the crook of her neck.

Jiwoo could see the regret as Sooyoung looked out towards the knights getting suited up for the mission. They both made sacrifices for their family and she wanted Sooyoung to know that knighted or not, she would love her.

(And now that they were growing into their domestic life, Jiwoo preferred the “not” side more.)

Sooyoung nodded, squeezing her wife tighter.

“...And Hyunjin.”

Especially since Hyejoo struggled with her emotions, they hoped she’d be able to console Hyunjin if the worst happened. Only being a part of this family again for a couple of weeks, they knew one loss would devastate them. 

“The girl who just learned my name?”

Heejin’s transfer had allowed Hyunjin to clear her mind. Addressing people more as she made her way down the halls, an extra skip in her step. When she called after “Aunt Sooyoung” and “Aunt Jiwoo,” promising Hyejoo’s safe return, Sooyoung had to look off into the distance to hold in tears of joy.

Jiwoo turned her head up to her wife and a small smile, one Sooyoung had been missing all day, graced her face.

Before she could joke back, the sound of hooves brought them out of their reverie. Did they forget something? As inexperienced Chaewon was, she had a knack of making sure everyone was prepared. Something she inherited from both sides of the family no less.

But it sounded like only one carriage had turned around as few neighs were heard.

Yeojin’s booming voice echoed through the castle, finding its enthusiasm since having to deliver such depressing news earlier.

“PRINCESS SEOHYUN HAS ARRIVED!”

---

“YOU’LL BE HEARING FROM THE COUNCIL!”

All heads turned at the doorway as Chaewon was wiggling over Jinsol’s shoulder, Jungeun followed after with parchment, quills, and a cheese platter to make up for Chaewon’s absence on the first day of school.

“I ALREADY KNOW ALL I NEED TO KNOW TO RULE!”

“OH REALLY?!”

“JUST SAY OBJECT TO THINGS YOU DON’T LIKE, RIP UP CONTRACTS YOU DON’T LIKE, AND BEHEAD THOSE WHO DISAGREE WITH YOU!”

“CHAEWON, NO!”

“CHAEWON YES!”

Plopping her down on the empty seat next to Heejin, situated right in front of Haseul and Vivi’s desk, Jinsol looked apologetically at their new teachers. Jungeun delivered the goods and began smoothing down her whiny daughter’s hair. They hoped that being taught by familiar figures would make their daughter be more studious.

But they were greeted by her faking the plague upon her wakeup call.

Then later, catching her attempting to sneak into one of the delivery carriages leaving the grounds.

“Do you not want us to be your teachers, Chaewon?” A soft voice called from behind the desk.

Chaewon’s eyes widened and shook her head. She didn’t care much for her previous instructors but Vivi and Haseul, she would take an arrow for. They were like her kind aunts and often kept her many shenanigans under wraps, allowing her parents to think the world of her.

(They knew some of her antics but knew not to speak on them. Especially since she was currently more interested in werewolves and they didn’t want to partake in that phase of her life.)

Receiving the prompt from Haseul, Chaewon got to work, quill flying across the pages. Haseul let out a sigh as Vivi massaged the unnecessary stress from her shoulders.

Nodding fondly at their friends, Jungeun and Jinsol made their way out, knowing their dear daughter was in good hands.

It was time she developed her own mindset.

A mindset that would have to look over an entire kingdom when it was her time to rule.

---

Hyejoo had never felt as exposed as she did now.

Even decked in a complete set of armor, she felt bare walking into a conundrum of occasions.

Past the entrance of the once lively open plaza were so many people. People mourning. People in hysterics. People dying. Those were just the people. The remaining non-humans were hanging onto shreds of hope as they tried to prove their innocence in the sunlight. 

But these wolves were nothing like her.

When she was trained by their dear family friend, the same that built the cage for them, Hyejoo harnessed her strength in ways that kept her family safe and her stomach full. It took several rough months for her to grasp how to transition effortlessly from her different forms but at dawn, which felt like another era ago with all that was happening, she easily shook back into her human form.

So why weren’t these wolves doing the same? Why were they still tearing into the flesh of these humans without hesitation? Why could she picture her wolf form attacking her parents?

Shaking her head she gripped her sword and tried to refocus. A parent cried out to their spouse, begging for them to change back, their toddler crying in their arms, wanting their mother back. The wolf took a moment looking at them in recognition, Hyejoo foresaw a happy ending.

Until the wolf’s eyes glazed over pitch black and tore through their lover and child without mercy.

A group of peddlers were holding a small wolf down, begging for their loved one to change back. The wolf didn’t seem to hear them and bit the air around them, wanting a taste of those pleading for a silver lining.

But once the wolf got ahold of one of their hands, a sword sliced right the wolf’s neck, then again at the amputated friend, the group not wanting to take the risk again.

Hyejoo fought the bile rising up .

A gust of wind flew by her as one of her kind leapt on top of her, knocking her helmet off, saliva dripping from their bloodied jaws and leaking into the now exposed area of her suit. Hyejoo couldn’t feel more grateful that she was bitten at a young age, having absorbed the life-changing spit years ago. With her skin intact, she was safe regardless.

Flipping the wolf onto their back, Hyejoo held them down by their shoulders, ready to bestow her knowledge onto it.

Judging by the size of its current form, this former human was a little shorter than her. A lankier build and a thinner frame, Hyejoo felt like it was a female.

But she couldn’t find her voice.

This could’ve been her.

This monster could’ve been her.

---

“Hyejoo, focus on my voice please,” a soft voice called out, wavhing a metallic pendant. “Come back to us.”

With another painful shiver running through her body, Hyejoo mewled as she turned back into her human self. Rubbing her tired eyes she blinked her golden eyes back to their natural tone. The last three days had taken everything out of her and the feeling of standing on two legs again felt foreign to her causing her to stumble.

Jiwoo was quick to catch her daughter, swaddling her in a plush blanket as she crouched into the silver cage Sooyoung and their dear friend constructed, having built one years ago. They didn’t think they’d team up again for a project reprise but anything to keep Hyejoo in their hands.

“Mommy, I’m tired,” Hyejoo whispered before passing out in Jiwoo’s arms.

Carrying Hyejoo to their small cot, Jiwoo tucked their exhausted daughter in, adding a second layer to make up for her lack of clothes all while giving her soft praise for her amazing feat.

Sooyoung came up behind her wife, brushing Hyejoo’s matted hair back and wiping the blood off her lips from the steaks they gave her. Embracing Jiwoo from behind, they watched their daughter succumb to an overdue sleep, as their friend packed her things.

She had been more than helpful and in their time of need, the energy and effort she spent deserved more than they could afford.

(Not like any of them could work anymore. They were “dead.”)

“Thank you so much, Vivi.”

---

Yerim buried her face between her hands as she plummeted from the aftermath of a hectic day. The kingdom wasn’t ready to host even a single guest after having sent off most of their supplies and rations in carriages.

But Queen Seohyun came alone.

A blessing and a curse.

That observation alone was enough to turn the castle around. Jungeun and Jinsol weren’t even preparing for bed yet, now hunched around a roster of the kingdom’s finest citizens to plan the second wave of aid for the next day.

(Jinsol was doing most of the work with a pained Jungeun mourning the death of her aunt - and possibly more - beside her. They were counting down the hours until it was Jinsol’s turn to leave, now having to fill in for the late Head Knight’s Minho spot.)

Chaewon had slammed her bedroom door shut before dinner, announcing an early shuteye. Yeojin and Yerim knew better than to check on her until the next day. They only hoped her mothers would attend to Chaewon once their work was wrapped up.

Sooyoung and Jiwoo were dodging some sort of serious conversation the two young ones couldn’t describe but might have something to do with Sooyoung volunteering to take Minho’s spot not sitting well with Jiwoo.

Haseul and Vivi?

They had accepted the worse and for the first time in a long time, the two would be sharing a bed.

(But not for reasons the castle would hope for.)

Everyone was waiting for Hyejoo and Hyunjin’s speedy return, hoping not to add to the unavoidable grief cascading over the castle residents. Yeojin tried to finish her midnight snack, finding it hard to place her appetite. It seemed like with every announcement she made, it made matters worse.

Maybe she can ask Vivi and her sister to dig up that yearly writing assignment they had so she can reconfigure her dreams.

A pained cry above her took away her thought carriage.

Yeojin put down the buttered bread roll and joined her friend on top of the counter.

“You don’t have to comfort me Yeojin.”

Yeojin’s eyebrows shot up with her hand halfway raised to pat Yerim’s back. Hyunjin was great at catching things with her peripherals but Yerim wasn’t even looking at her.

Must’ve been a Dong family trait.

Like the Jungs and their knack of perfectionism.

Correcting herself, Yerim put down Yeojin’s hand and cuddled up into her side after wiping her tears. There was so much on her mind that she almost forgot to camouflage her natural instincts.

“But thank you anyway.”

Hearing Yeojin’s heart rate return to normal, Yerim squashed her worries of coming clean, hoping her sister remembered to do the same.

---

“Um….hello?”

Hyunjin wasn’t sure she heard her aunties right. Barely making eye contact with her, Jinsol and Jungeun had announced another role she would take on in the castle. Hyunjin sprinted to the reading room for answers.

She was to be a new student alongside the younger castle residents. As if knight school was enough for her. She had just got back from one of her training sessions at the arenas. Why the Pacer was considered a good measure of knighthood still puzzled her.

Peering in, the students were writing vigorously, including a rare sight of Chaewon keeping still at her desk.

Haseul’s eyes shot up when Vivi motioned over to the newcomer at their door. Her friends, more so Yerim’s than hers as Hyunjin was spending less time in the castle, didn’t stop their studies until Haseul stood up from her desk.

“I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be here,” Hyunjin uttered, not entering unless she was truly welcomed.

“Only if you want,” Vivi and Haseul said simultaneously, motioning over to the single desk by Yerim’s other side.

(They all noticed Heejin pout at the seating arrangements but the school year just started. They’d find a way to reunite the two former best friends again. But partner projects were hard with an uneven amount of students).

“Come on Hyun, join us,” Yerim cheered, slapping a blank piece of parchment onto her assigned desk.

Bowing her apologies of interrupting the group’s quiet time - something more rare than Chaewon studying - Hyunjin took her seat as Haseul recited their writing prompt.

Future dreams, huh?

Besides making her parents proud, Hyunjin drew a blank. Her paper ended up being the shortest in length.

---

Hyejoo didn’t know how she had gotten in the woods but that’s the only way she could keep track of the wolf she couldn’t control.

Unlike the citizens not giving the newborns a fighting chance, she was trying to get the wolf to change. The sun was in its highest position and the wolf didn’t seem to be making the effort to change back.

Hyejoo’s voice was buried under her confusion as she grappled to keep the wolf pinned under her.

Why weren’t they turning back?

Surprised as the wolf began shaking violently, Hyejoo relented some of her grip, glad she could save at least one being from a swift death. Limbs shrinking down. Back losing its arch. The fur receding, revealing a pale face, scared brown eyes staring back, a small black mole dotting the skin beside their eyes.

“L-l-leader?” A groggy, deep voice called out.

But a loud reverberant wolf howl from deep afar in the forest abrupted the wolf’s full transformation and the beast made a comeback, knocking back a stunned Hyejoo.

That had never happened to her.

Was this a new species? Something the knight textbooks and anecdotes never researched? The texts have outlined how werewolves lacked self-control and Hyejoo had grown up believing that they were lies. But she was the only example she had. Until now.

It was two shifts per month. Human to wolf then wolf to human. But this wolf seemed to be controlled by something omniscient, something beyond their control. Snout pointed towards the direction of the howl, the wolf answered back with only a wimpy howl of their own.

How could a newborn have a pack already?

The distant wolf howled back a series of notes before the wolf snapped back to Hyejoo, taking a command Hyejoo didn’t know a wolf could follow. When it was her cycle, the only commands she took was her own, barely registering human speech.

(She was better at it now but she loved frustrating her mothers and pretending not to understand “put me down.”)

Before Hyejoo could ask questions, hoping this new breed would be able to understand her, it stalked its way over baring its teeth.

“CHANGE BACK! IT’S NOT THAT HARD! CHANGE BACK!”

Gripping onto her sword, a terrified Hyejoo also hoped she wouldn’t have to become her worst enemy.

---

“Not that we have much experience but I would say this went smoothly,” Sooyoung whispered as they stepped outside the shack they called home.

Jiwoo limped out a few seconds later, reassuring Sooyoung she was okay to walk.

Since Hyejoo got her new identity, her sense of hearing had been sharp. Even if she was fast asleep, her parents and temporary wolf trainer had the courtesy to keep their voices down.

“Remarkable even,” Vivi murmured to herself.

The two Has turned to her, wondering what she was hinting at. Vivi herself had said she had no experience with wolf wrangling, her only real first hand encounters were the wolf the Kims captured and the gang of them barking outside Jungeun’s barricaded doors as the remaining Kim castle survivors awaited the full moon’s departure.

They have come to learn that wolves had no sense of control but Hyejoo didn’t prove to be too much of a responsibility.

Hyejoo paced around in her cage. Ate the monstrous amount of food her parents had prepared. (More than necessary so they were glad they could have meat skewers tonight).

And even if her shift to the animal was painful, her shift back was almost effortless.

Maybe they wouldn’t even need the cage in the coming cycles. With Hyejoo growing up, she’d have to learn how to roam the woods on her own. Eventually she’d have to leave the nest.

In their case, the cage.

Whether she was ready or not.

Vivi promised to bring back books of wolf dens and architecture on her next visit.

“It was as if Hyejoo was still Hyejoo.”

Jiwoo hugged her sweater close, not wanting to build up too much hope behind Vivi’s observation. She did fear that Hyejoo would snap at her, but each time she got close Hyejoo only tilted her head curiously. She almost opened the cage prematurely to hug her child if it wasn’t for Sooyoung and Vivi holding her back.

Maybe the books were wrong.

Maybe Hyejoo was a new kind of animal? The house did unfortunately reek of a wet dog smell, proving Jiwoo wrong.

Sooyoung nodded along, taking in what Vivi was saying. This went against all her training manuals but the castle physician had a point. Hyejoo was far more controlled than any wolf she’d ever encountered when she still wore the badge.

Wishing her luck as she prepared Chaewon’s lesson plans, waiting for the sun to be fully up before greeting her goodbye, the Has went in and prepared for Hyejoo’s bath and congratulatory feast, wishing all the transformations would end with their precious child safe in their home.

---

Jinsol wiped her face clean, looking into the mirror at her sunken eyes. It was almost morning and she hadn’t slept a wink. They were running on the few jugs of water they saved, having cut all water flow temporarily.

Jungeun looked back at her through the mirror, having finished her nighttime routine minutes ago, but not wanting to leave her side. Since Jungeun weighed in on Jinsol’s predicament to leave, they hadn’t unloaded the reasons behind it.

“Do you want me to go because of my argument with Chaewon?”

Tossing her towel onto the bathroom counter, Jungeun pulled Jinsol into her arms. She was furious at both of them for ruining their family day more than Yeojin’s announcement did but that didn’t take away the undying love she had for them.

“It’s not that. That was a misunderstanding.”

She was well aware of how they felt about the lycan kind but she thought they’d have more time to discuss it in private.

Time they weren’t allotted because Jinsol would be on her way out on the second wave of aid first thing in the morning. Time taken for granted because she spent days crafting the perfect speech, only to stow it away for Jinsol’s return voyage.

“A misunderstanding? So you agree with her?”

Jungeun couldn’t meet Jinsol’s eyes. They had been on the same page for years and while they basked in their honeymoon stage, she was certain that was still the case. Jungeun wasn’t as strong as an advocate for werewolf rights like Chaewon was but she wasn’t curbed by pent up hatred like Jinsol.

“Don’t take it like that.”

There had been a time Jinsol had reversed her perspective, coming from knight school with a fresh set of eyes. She still harbored vengeance but it wasn’t as volatile. But after her second mission out, the fire in her eyes were stoked afresh and Jinsol was gone for too many days for Jungeun (and Chaewon) to make sense of it.

“Do you think she’s right?”

Until that fencing match with Sooyoung, Jungeun thought it was all sorted out. That Jinsol had revealed all her transgressions. She was foolish to expect her to change opinions overnight. Much like her and her condition.

“How could I know if I’m too scared to leave this castle?” Jungeun fought back tears as Jinsol held onto her tighter, shaking her head at her wife’s admission.

She knew Jinsol hated hearing about her illness because it was the fuel to her fire. The fire she kept with her on missions. The fire she’d have to stoke again for tomorrow’s trip.

From Seohyun’s accounts, the number of casualties was far greater than any sole kingdom attack they’d known. Even if it was half as much as the attack that claimed Hyunjin and Yerim’s parents, that would be a ton of work to redo.

“I don’t want to go back to the way things were,” Jinsol whimpered so Jungeun didn’t feel like she was the only one coming clean.

Even with their disagreement, she was reuniting with her daughter. A daughter who she thought she knew. Even with their night time cuddles, she was reuniting with her wife. A wife she thought would be fully healed by now.

“We can’t let them,” Jungeun fell into Jinsol, fortunate a wall beside kept them upright.

Jinsol had thought they had wanted her to stay but Jungeun had asked her to go so effortlessly and by the way she said it, it seemed like those feelings had been brewing for days.

(They were aware the council would want their poster child knight to go anyway but tonight they’d pretend they made the choice on their own.)

“Promise me we won’t take this long to come back? To me or to Chaewon.”

A reset.

“I promise.”

Their Head Knight perished like before.

“Come back to me,” Jungeun whispered against Jinsol’s lips, the wind of her breath making her dizzy.

A member of their family was missing like before.

“I always will,” Jinsol murmured back, unsure how soon they’ll be able to feel this again.

Jinsol would have to prove herself doubly to make up for the negative feelings surrounding Jungeun again. From herself and from the ignorant commoners. Like before.

Meeting for a chaste kiss - time was of the essence - Jinsol and Jungeun hid themselves away for the night, pressing every inch of their body against each other in slumber until duty called.

---

Jungeun didn’t think she’d become a queen so quickly but with the events unfolding around the castle, that would be the case.

Her engagement to Jinsol would be shortened as she knew there was no way her mothers survived that attack.

Straightening her back and adopting a queenly demeanor, Jungeun did a quick check on the room. Seven bodies were huddled in safely in the center of her silver-caged bedroom.

Having to regain her kingdom’s trust, she would be celebrating her non-transformation in the wings of the ballroom. But when the doors burst open, Jungeun and her closest confidants’ isolation made it easier for them to escape.

It would’ve been eight bodies if Teacher Sera didn’t struggle up the steps, telling her favorite students to save themselves.

Sooyoung held Jiwoo close, hoping both of their parents would find asylum somewhere. Vivi threw some of Jungeun’s cloaks, reeking of her royal perfumes, out the window for a diversion of the wolves gathering below. Key and IU consoled a shrieking newborn Heejin, wincing as they heard more and more growls outside Jungeun’s doors.

“Sweetheart, you need to keep quiet,” Heejin’s mother wept, feeling her resolve fade as her only child could cost them all their lives.

But Vivi held her hand out, discouraging IU from continuing.

Letting Heejin cry out, the number of growls multiplied. Everyone was unsure if Vivi had officially left her logic in the ballroom.

If this plan fell apart, Sooyoung wouldn’t hesitate to throw Vivi out the window too.

A clanging rang throughout the room, indications of the wolves all trying to break in. After, a scurry of wolves recoiling from the burning silver spikes, the wolves whimpered in pain, paralyzed and injured. For the wolves not strong enough to make it down the stairs, they died outside Jungeun’s room. The remaining Kim kingdom family listened to the whimpers dying down before they were encased in a resolute silence.

As impulsive as it was, even if she couldn’t control it, Heejin saved them.

---

A small habit knights picked up was keeping track of their wolf kills by finding one distinguishable character of each wolf they had. Like all humans - something knights would never think of comparing their kills to - wolves had noticeable features.

The wolf Hyunjin had to pry off her back had a sharp and crooked snout.

The wolf Hyunjin threw over her shoulder had one limb longer than the others.

The wolf Hyunjin hurtled towards had an anguished Hyejoo backed up against a tree. 

Hyunjin added the woods towards the mountains as her next search. She had seen strays howling in that direction, crawling their way over as if in a sort of trance. This behavior wasn’t new to her, but at this scale, it was worrisome. Hyunjin wouldn’t be shy to say it was almost like a cult.

Scooting back on the rough terrain, Hyejoo adjusted her vision to see that her savior was none other than her right-hand.

How much did she see?

Did she witness her giving a wolf sympathy? She knew of her identity, if the game scattered around the Im kingdom for her was any indication, but this wasn’t her about anymore. This was Hyejoo saving other wolves.

Treason against the knight code of conduct.

(Being a wolf had long been written off as wolves wouldn’t dare sign themselves up.)

“Hyunjin I’m sor-”

“Are you hurt?” Hyunjin gritted, not taking her eyes away from the newborn.

“What?!” Hyejoo shook her head. Hyunjin sounded mad but it wasn’t directed at her.

“Are you hurt, Hyejoo?”

Hyunjin could taste Hyejoo’s confusion. There was much to talk about from their island quest but now they’d have to add this to their list of inquiries. Why wasn’t Hyunjin parading her head on a stake by now? Did she also notice how Hyejoo was unlike these spineless wolves?

Did her being different save her?

“No.”

“Good.”

Hyunjin waited for the wolf to trot its way north. Hyejoo didn’t need to see her kill her own kind. She didn’t even think she was in the right state of mind to do it. Taking another life wasn’t in their current list of duties.

Another strong howl made its way south, shaking the ground they stood on. Believing the wolf would take that as a signal to join the pack, the wolf snapped its head to face the two knights with eyes of pure black.

Their teeth shone a gleaming white and neither of the two wanted their blood to be its first stain.

Hyejoo tried to find the human face that was making its way out before. Not remembering what side of her body the sword was on, she fumbled through her person. Unsure if she would rather die at the wolf’s hands to save herself from Hyunjin’s scolding later.

But Hyunjin had chosen her side.

Like clockwork, she too observed the wolf but not to find its salvation.

To find her marker. 

Nothing out of the ordinary except the ashy hair above their eyes. But she wouldn’t come back to claim this kill once the bodies were counted.(Especially when she processed who had hair a similar shade.)

Slicing her hand, she fumbled behind her for an arrow from her water-soaked quiver, and forced it deep into the wolf’s skull. 

---

Jinsol lifted one finger in the air to shush a giggling Jungeun and she flopped onto the bed, exhausted from knight camp.

Jungeun was doing a fine job taking over her queen responsibilities - at least ones she could do safely within the castle walls - but that wasn’t to say Jinsol still had to pick up the slack outside the castle. But she would grant all the time in the world for Jungeun’s recovery, hoping her new job would cut that time short or give her no worries at all.

Rubbing up her wife’s back, Jungeun’s touch helped her destress for the day.

“How was school?” Jungeun chuckled, a question she would’ve never thought of asking Jinsol in this lifetime.

“Terrible.”

Before Jungeun could laugh again, Jinsol’s teary eyes met her gaze and Jungeun fell back on the bed to get closer to her troubled lover.

“They taught us how to kill werewolves today.”

Jungeun pursed her lips and nodded. Jinsol always talked about getting rid of wolves to make the kingdom safe but words were different than actions. She didn’t want to ask what kind of simulations Jinsol had to go through to be so distraught.

(“You want to be a knight and you can’t even kill? Knew you royals were all talk good for nothings.”)

The academy would never bring in a wild wolf for practice but Jinsol didn’t have a murderous bone in her body. Even stabbing a dummy would shake her.

(“Don’t you want to exact revenge!?”)

“You know, something I’ve heard Hyorin tell her kids is how we’re better than werewolves because we have control.”

“Control?” Jinsol whimpered, relieved Jungeun wouldn’t find her worries pitiful.

“Mmm-hmmm, I don’t know what she meant but maybe that’ll help,” Jungeun closed her eyes as Jinsol worked her way between her arms.

Control.

Humans had control to become who they wanted to be. They could write their dreams, their destinies, their desires and plan a course of action. Chaewon and the younger ones had an assignment and even though it was wishful thinking, Jinsol couldn’t break it to her that her path was already set for her.

If humans - never mind the royal part of it - could have complete control of their lives, they should be able to control how to kill.

(“Fine! Have your wife suffer for the rest of her life in fear.”)

But Jinsol had no control. She wore the crown and soon the badge. She had no autonomy since birth and now she was the council’s best puppet. All reminders of the fate she had little say in. 

---

Vivi and Haseul didn’t welcome the sun peeking through the windows, losing track of time as they floated aimlessly on their beds.

They had been laying side by side for hours, unable to shut their eyes peacefully. Even without words, they could piece together why Queen Seohyun arrived alone.

The damage had been too great for Seohyun to hide in the next kingdom, having to go two kingdoms over to the Jungs. Having come so soon after the attack’s announcement meant she was rushed out of there to protect the throne.

Royals wore full coverage insurance when it came to their lives.

Their staff didn’t have that protection..

Vivi and Haseul wouldn’t accept it - last time they did, the people they thought were dead came back - but the chance of Heejin’s survival was minimal. She was unskilled at the sword and a bow. A fresh, young body for wolves to take under their wing.

The married duo felt the other fail to fall asleep, touching their hands briefly. If they broke, it would mean they believed the assumptions to be true. But lying next to each other because they didn’t want the other to do this alone was saying enough.

Haseul was astounded she made it in time to see daylight creep in, until she felt the bed vibrate next to her. Taking a broken Vivi into her arms, Haseul ran her hands up and down her back, wondering who she was grounding more.

As the sun blinded them, Vivi snuggled closer to her light who was ironically giving her a comfortable darkness as the sunlight rudely shone in.

Haseul frowned at the stress lines etched on the otherwise peaceful woman, unpleasurable sobs emitting from the sweetest woman in all the lands.

Haseul could count on her fingers how many times she's seen her wife cry throughout the years of knowing each other. She never questioned it, just accepted that the physician wasn't the crying type.

Yet since the arrival of the princess alone Vivi had been fighting back tears.

Haseul took charge to be a pillar for the woman she loved. Vivi always took care of her but this time Haseul would be the doctor. Scooping her wife and taking her to bed to cry it out on her shoulder as she ran her fingers through the pink locks. Humming lightly to the lullaby she would often sing to Heejin.

No matter what, they were a family. Even if the marriage was just on paper, Haseul wanted her wife to know she was here for her.

Now she knew why Jinsol did what she did.

(Vivi would stop her the moment Haseul thought about submitting her name to knight training.)

Wanting to take the pain away, Haseul let her instincts take over, kissing the lines away, smoothing them over with her lips. As she worked her way down Vivi’s face, her lips brushed down the bridge of her nose.

Haseul knew the timing was terrible but they couldn’t deny this thing between them anymore. Gazing at each others lips a loud trumpet blaring snapped them back to reality.

“Vivi, I’m so sorry, I-I shouldn’t have done that-- I just lost control,” Haseul couldn’t stop her own tears from falling, hating herself for taking advantage of the poor physician.

A reality where Haseul and her weren’t really together.

“It’s okay, Haseul. Honestly. Please don’t beat yourself up for this,” Vivi reached out, biting back pain as Haseul jolted away from her hand.

A reality where their daughter was missing.

---

“PRINCESS SEOHYUN HAS ARRIVED!”

The Jung family stopped their ascent up the stairs, Chaewon and Jinsol jumping the last three stairs to see their relative. On any other day, Jungeun would’ve giggled at their child’s play but her cousin was here for the first time unannounced.

Sooyoung and Jiwoo greeted the princess, asking if there was anything they could get her.

“How many guests?” Jiwoo asked hopefully, looking out to see if any other people were unloading the carriage.

“Just me,” Seohyun was always the quiet type but Sooyoung and Jiwoo almost tipped over trying to hear her response.

The princess looked a mess, her gown tattered, her brooch in pieces and her signature cloak missing from her shoulders. Face a vampiric pale and hair tangled from its updo, a testimony to the struggle she had gone through. From the way her dress was dragging, she had lost her shoes along the way. She couldn’t even offer a smile to her cousin, her lips trembling too hard to turn upwards.

“Yeojin?” Seohyun cleared , looking at the (unofficial) royal announcer.

Jinsol, Jungeun, and Chaewon were all too familiar with that mannerism.

It meant Seohyun was back to her royal title. Not the warm bookworm they remember visiting throughout the years.

“It’s Queen Seohyun now.” 

---

They always said exercising was better with a buddy.

The same could be said for the knight duo.

They refused to speak of the murder they committed and made their way back to the kingdom where the smoke cleared. The sun was beginning to set and the smoke started to clear. The unpleasant smell stayed, remnants of the battle between species that ensued moments earlier.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) the wolf Hyunjin killed didn’t change back in its last moments to reveal its identity.

First stop was the desolate castle. Hyejoo kept shut as Hyunjin ran through the halls, screaming a name they both knew wouldn’t answer back. With the ripped curtains, the broken stained glass, and the mangled horses, any fleeting hope of a living and breathing human here was squandered.

Hyejoo had wanted to ask one of the knights doing body counts of news of the castle residents. Hearing nothing but “Jung kingdom” in the Kim’s knights’ side conversations, the two were off.

Stripping off their armor as they ran, neither knights questioned how they were able to match each other in speed. Hyejoo was in shock how fast Hyunjin responded to the wolf lunging at her. No ordinary human could whip out an arrow in time.

“Are you like me?” Hyejoo called out, avoiding another oak by swerving around it at breakneck speed.

“What do you mean?” Hyunjin asked back, no quiver in her voice.

Hyunjin couldn’t be a wolf if she was safe in the Im castle - albeit helping her satiate her hunger - during her transformation. 

“We’re not exactly the same if that’s what we’re asking,” Hyunjin catapulted over a large boulder, almost causing Hyejoo to lose focus as she watched an epic feat.

Hyejoo regained speed again, now running closer to Hyunjin, listening closely for evidence of Hyunjin huffing like an exhausted human but she couldn’t even smell sweat dripping from her body.

“Do you call out to a leader?” Hyunjin pushed Hyejoo slightly to the right to avoid another tree.

So it wasn’t just her who heard it. But matching her for knowledge as well as velocity, Hyejoo was at a loss for answers.

“I didn’t know I was supposed to have one.”

Moment of truth. Hyunjin could use her freakishly strong self and end her now.

“Neither did I.”

Feeling simultaneously free and in control, Hyejoo and Hyunjin zoomed past the sign marking the border of the Jung kingdom territory.

---

Heejin screamed as darkness befell her eyes.

“Shhhh, it’s just your favorite Kim aunt,” Seohyun giggled as she wrapped black fabric around Heejin’s eyes. Taken aback at how the young chef could make a blindfold look like a fashion statement, she pushed the girl into the room she promised she would show her.

“That would be Aunt Jungeun,” Heejin teased.

“Technically, she’s a Jung now.”

Heejin felt the air around her get cold, knowing she was now in the coveted Kim library.

The fabric fell off her face and Seohyun wished she would have hired a portrait artist to depict the awe in Heejin’s eyes.

A portrait of a young Kim castle staff was before her. She knew Seohyun replaced the current staff portrait for her but she felt like she was transported in time. Vivi was poised with purpose, looking every part of a woman not to be taken lightly. How she managed to look so proper with such soft pink hair, Heejin didn’t know. Near her side Sooyoung stood, a splitting image of Hyejoo in her knightly getup minus her daughter’s triangle lips.

If she wanted to be a knight again, Heejin wouldn’t blame her.

Next to them were Heejin’s parents.

Ripe and full of vitality, like nothing could take them away. Her mother’s obvious beauty beside her father’s handsome yet soft features had her curious who she favored more. Neither of the young women who looked at the portrait knew who approved of non-hired family but Sooyoung’s modelesque parents and a newborn Heejin cradled in her mother’s arms, matching beauty marks in tack, was the perfect touch to send Heejin to tears.

Seohyun excused herself to make sure the rest of the room was in mint condition.

But she couldn’t focus on the massive shelves filled with books, scrolls, and pamphlets. Nor could she admire the paintings and statues lined and glazed with the finest protection. Nor could she appreciate the lush sitting arrangements from couches to arm chairs to swinging chairs.

Smoke creeped in through the cracks in the windows, masking the oblivious woman’s feet.

Any onomatopoeia read by the dulcet tones of Aunt Vivi and Aunt Haseul sounded pleasant reading them off the page but her years with her nose in the books would’ve never prepared her for a sound as blood curling as Seohyun’s scream.

Finally tearing her eyes away, Heejin saw the elegant princess collapsed onto her knees and beyond her, a broken queen dangling limply from the beast’s jaws. 

---

Jinsol knew Jungeun or Chaewon wouldn’t be greeting her farewell. Jungeun had a hard time letting her even go to her private quarters after breakfast.

Chaewon still hadn’t left her room and the mothers decided to let her process the tragedy on her own terms.

(“Maybe I’ll be back before she knows I’m gone,” Jinsol tried to joke, only making Jungeun cuddle into her harder.)

Taking a deep breath, she made her way down the steps to the second wave of doctors, ironsmiths, construction workers, morticians, and the second string of knights. Vivi would not be joining as Jinsol wanted to keep as many of the residents there. For her sake and Jungeun's. Leading this group, Jinsol would be taking the front of the pack.

(That should make up for the letter they would undoubtedly get for her not going on with the first wave.)

She gulped as she saw how young some of these people were. Skirting around Chaewon’s age and they were risking their lives to be completely selfless. Jinsol felt like she should learn a thing or two from them, having stayed back to hold her family closer for a little while longer.

“Yeojin?”

The young squire wore chainmail longer than her torso and boots larger than her feet turned around, struggling to keep her helmet open to see who called out her name.

Jinsol didn’t recall seeing her name on the draft when they finalized the list last night. Then again, she couldn’t remember much of anything except Jungeun telling her she should go.

“I’m volunteering Aunt Jinsol!” Yeojin proclaimed loudly, ignoring the gasps from the citizens who’d never heard of anyone in her rank refer to the queen informally.

For years, Yeojin kept missing the mark on her exams actually brought great calmness to the castlehold. Even if Yeojin had the brains and brawns to be a knight, her size and impulsiveness worried the family.

And Jinsol wasn’t sure if Haseul could take another missing family member so soon.

“Yeo-”

“No, I can do it!” Yeojin beat against her chest, wincing at the iron scratching her knuckles. Her thumb wasn’t even tucked correctly for a correct punch; how was she going to take on a wolf?

As Yeojin’s helmet closed again, Jinsol looked at her own reflection. She looked a fright but now could see what it must’ve looked like every time she rode off. She was taller and more agile than Yeojin but her family must’ve seen her the same way.

Just a young woman going out with no guarantee of a return trip.

“And the queen should stay here!”

Yeojin didn’t possess supersonic senses like the Dong family and or the hyper awareness the Jungs had but Yeojin was nosy and perceptive. Chaewon was nowhere to be seen. Jungeun and Jinsol were clutching every moment they had together. Sooyoung grumbled at every knight walking through, breaking Jiwoo’s heart at each passing. Her older sister and Vivi were sitting at opposite ends of the table. Even Yerim lost her gorgeous smile.

Yeojin asking Seohyun what happened only made matters worse but she couldn’t see the castle wallow anymore.

If Jinsol being home the last few days gave them the greatest indoor beach days, Heejin and Hyunjin finally confessing, and the Ha family moving in, then logically, Jinsol was the common denominator.

“Yeojin, you’re not taking my place,” Jinsol argued, fighting a smile as Yeojin winced as Jinsol clamped a heavy hand down on her oversized uniform. “I know what you’re doing.”

“Really? Because even I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Jinsol thought the same thing when she asked Hyunjin to submit her name for knight training.

“Knights don’t have to always go to battle to prove how strong they are. You can prove it here. Protecting this castle right now is top priority and I’m going to need people I trust to do that for me.”

“Like Hyunjin and Hyejoo?” Yeojin brooded, feeling her ego deflate at every one of Jinsol’s words. Once those two returned, Yeojin’s importance would fall off the ladder.

“And like Yeojin.”

Unlike some of them, Yeojin could control her destiny and while being a knight was an honor, making a life-changing decision at the face of an emergency could ruin her.

Jinsol could already tell the castle wouldn’t be the same once she returned but hopefully Yeojin wouldn’t lose that spark.

The squire’s eyes lit up at her aunt’s compliment but it disappeared quickly as her helmet closed in on her again. Jinsol had her last laugh of the day before escorting the youngest in their family back to the castle where she belonged.

---

No idea where this bravery came from, Seohyun found herself dragged along by Heejin as she started running down the long hallway. The chef had a peculiar way of running with both arms angled like wings behind her but there were more pressing matters to focus on.

They came at a crossroad.

One doorway would lead to a corridor to Jungeun’s former bedroom where the silver bars could prove as effective. The other led out to a narrow hallway down the fiery courtyard where the snarls and moans were the loudest.

But before they could choose, the doors to the safest route, tore open and a body threw itself to the floor. 

“Save yourselves,” Minho grunted, picking himself up weakly and barreling his way back the way he came in, closing the door that could lead to their only refuge.

Courtyard it is.

Allowing themselves to digest the situation in seconds, the girls blocked out a pained cry and the crunching of bones. Ankles suffering from skipping steps frantically, the light they were running towards wasn’t the gentle daylight.

Fire.

The castle was under siege. Bodies of citizens, knights and wolves littered the land. Fires started throughout the yards to keep the wolves at bay, doing more harm than good as it grew out of control.

As the doors broke off the hinges, a pack of wolves cascaded outwards, nose sniffing for its next prey. Heejin whimpered at Minho’s garments hanging loosely from their jaws. Seohyun begun formulating a plan when she felt her cloak get tugged off of her.

Heejin wrapped the ornate material around her body, looking decisively at the direction the wolves were pouring out of. The chef herself wasn’t a target but if masked with Seohyun’s garments...

“Heejin, no you can’t--”

Seohyun knew of how Hyunjin purposefully failed Heejin’s knight submission so she wouldn’t be faced with decisions like this. Knighted or not, one never had full control of their destiny. 

Sacrifice wasn’t in her job description.

Heejin had two mothers, a lover, and a family awaiting her return.

Seohyun couldn’t hear whatever cheesy quote left Heejin’s lips as she ran towards the woods, attaining the wild adventure years of novel-reading had prepared her for.

---

Hyejoo grumbled as Sooyoung and Jiwoo did a full body inspection of her, taking note of every small scratch, bump, and blister. They didn’t question why she lacked proper protective gear or why her face was smothered in dirt and grime.

(Hyejoo also didn’t question why her mothers seemed oddly distant from each other.)

“We’re so glad you’re okay honey,” Jiwoo’s eyes were watery at her return, something Hyejoo was used to.

“We knew you’d be a great knight,” Sooyoung stated, something Hyejoo was used to hearing, except with more emotion behind it.

“Like you, Mom?” Hyejoo jibbed.

The atmosphere in the kingdom was something Hyunjin and her expected to walk into. Bowing politely to the morose citizens preparing a journey east, the knights didn’t expect to see Jinsol checking the supplies, getting a brief hug from the queen before being asked to go inside.

Seohyun needed a personal guard and the girls didn’t dare ask why Minho couldn’t do it.

Or why Seohyun came alone.

“Yeah, like me,” Sooyoung breathed out, turning her attention back to the carriages lining up at the gates.

Hyejoo wanted to ask why her mother was in a mood, remembering to keep her voice down when a flash of purple hair made her think otherwise.

With the onslaught of information she received today, she forgot to include Yerim as a factor. If Hyunjin was “like her,” in whatever cryptic connotation that carried, Yerim would nonetheless be the same. She would be able to hear her no matter what volume she spoke in.

Tilting her head to the side, Hyejoo asked silently if Yerim picked up on their conversation, eyeing her tense mothers then pointing at her ears.

“They’ve been that way since yesterday,” Yerim said in the quietest voice, one she knew only Hyejoo would pick up.

Yerim had a feeling this day would come, waiting for the acceptance to cross Hyejoo’s face. She had figured out Hyejoo’s identity weeks ago. Her racing heartbeat, her warm temperature, her voracious appetite. Secrets always were revealed in trial times. Yerim figured something triggering happened to her sister and Hyejoo along the way for them to finally break the barrier between them.

Like the painful cry piercing through the day.

It wasn’t a sound just Yerim and Hyejoo heard.

Jiwoo and Sooyoung turned their heads to the agonizing screams coming from the stables. Even Jinsol dropped her brave facade to let her heart break for a few seconds. No one questioned why the bravest knight of their time lost control over the apathetic image she’d built over the years.

In the still of the quiet morning, Hyunjin collapsed to the ground, seizing a hold of her aching chest, crying out for the only girl she could ever love.

---

The teachers believed it would be best for an early dismissal, not wanting to overwhelm their students. They didn’t even assign homework for the next school day.

(“Homework? We’re already doing schoolwork in our own home!” Yeojin stomped, trying to start a riot the first day.)

“What did Yeojin write?”

Haseul braced herself for Yeojin’s wild imagination. The two teachers were excited to read the students’ personal development assignments, seeing that most of them wrote parables. With a better sense of what paths the children wanted to take, they could cater the lesson plans to help with that.

No more quadratic formulas and powerhouses of the cells if none of their dream careers needed to learn about that.

“A blockbuster?” Vivi scrunched her face, needing a translation from Haseul. Parsing it, it meant a person that busted blocks.

The court musician rolled her eyes. Blockbusters didn’t exist anymore, their services cut out of the budget indefinitely. 

Yeojin still dreamed of being a knight, a career they believed the girl would go to the grave with. Chaewon went on a long tirade of how she already had a path set out for her but she dreamed of doing something for herself, not knowing what it was. Yerim touched their hearts about wanting to use her talents for good. Whatever talents she was referring too, the two teachers believed in her.

Hyunjin’s one-sentence response of making her family proud wasn’t an eye-opener. Vivi would later suggest Hyunjin accompany Haseul to her troupe audition she hoped Haseul was still preparing for.

“What’s on your mind, Teacher Vivi?”

Vivi snorted. “Haseul, you don’t have to call me that. I’m not your teacher.”

Haseul grinned sheepishly but kept quiet as Vivi hasn’t answered her.

“I’m thinking about those people who leave home before they’re ready.”

They finished out with Heejin’s paper before they turned in for the night - in their separate bedrooms.

“I dream of making an impact in the world.”

For a housebound chef, that seemed implausible but as her teachers and her mothers, they knew that Heejin would find a way to make this happen. A young bright girl like her shouldn’t be able to go out without making her mark in the world.

---

Chaewon worked out the kinks in her neck as she looked down at the parade of carriages, gearing up for their pilgrimage. A small creak of the castle gates marked the beginning of their journey and the starving princess could have sworn her mother on horseback was looking up into her windows.

Whatever Jinsol wanted to say to her, she could say it when she was back safe and sound.

The princess had to learn how to control herself. dried and her chest burst when she learned that her two doting mothers’s fairytale reunion was taken away from them. Part of it was her own fault for testing the waters with her unqueenlike opinion but she didn’t expect it to create a domino effect and send one of her mothers out the door.

Aunt Seohyun was crowned overnight, bypassing the marriage law in trial times. Chaewon knew better to not wish for marriage now, knowing that that could’ve been her. 

Practicing her queenly demeanor, Chaewon straightened her posture and did a quick check on the kingdom that could be hers from her window.

Yeojin was half-dressed in knight attire, saluting the second wave off.

Sooyoung and Jiwoo waved at them, letting go of their joined hands when the last carriage passed by.

Haseul and Vivi closed the gates in uncoordination, fumbling through the locks and backing away from each other once the task was done.

Hyejoo and Yerim made their way to the stables hand-in-hand, where a bale of hay flying out narrowly missed them.

Jinsol made her way to the back of the procession, sending a longing look to Chaewon’s room and then to the castle steps where Chaewon leaned over to see her other mother standing there. 

Jungeun gripped onto one of the pillars, a telltale sign that once Jinsol’s back was turned, Jungeun’s recovery would be all for naught. Even from the distance, Chaewon could feel her mother’s body wavering.

Chaewon closed her eyes and used the desk to prevent her from falling over in sympathy pains, wondering how she can use the little power she possessed to regain control of this wide reaching tragedy.

 

 

NEXT CHAPTER UPDATE: NEXT FULL MOON

 

Q (ourtuneisohigh): So...who has the most creative Heejin theory? Next chapter takes place about a month later so we'll see what happens to our heroines and when we return, some of them may have new jobs. Come yell at me on CC, Twitter, and the comments. Just remember, all endgames have been decided and they will be together one way or another. Until next time. Twitter | CC 

N (LazyNinja on ao3):  Did you buckle up like I told y’all? hah, hope this chapter doesn’t cause you too much stress but you’ve got to feel what our main characters feel! Also the poll on my twitter was a ruse! We will be writing about everyone’s backstories bwahahaha!! Gonna make you care about everyone in this world lol. Thank so much for reading, the kudos, comments and questions we get make this so much fun. Take care and drink water. Twitter | CC