"yeap, he's really the rumoured diamond prince who is still alive," mingyu exclaimed as jaemin uses his abilities (more specifically chenle's nature enhancement ability) for the rest to travel to the base faster. for some reason, jaemin felt more powerful than before to the point he's able to navigate everyone in the group without getting too tired. unfortunately, they had no horses for them to travel towards the base. if anyone of the prince had teleportation, that would be great.

"i guess you've been practising a lot since i was gone." praise yuri.

"maybe it's because you're here." jaemin expected an oblivious reply from the princess which he always gets every time he flirts (it was a genuine flirt). but yuri seemed quiet.

"hey, what's wrong?"

"u-umm, sorry. i was out of my mind. but yes, i'm fine. don't worry." yuri smiled at him and assured him that she's well.

she's hiding something.

"we're reaching soon!" taehee who is ahead announced.

from far, they could tell that the other princes and seungcheol are waiting outside for their arrival. jeno was the one that was the most worried. being the protective brother he is. once they reached and landed, jeno and yuri immediately ran towards each other and hugged. jeno's eyes panned towards a familiar figure but skinnier behind one of the new face's back.

"oh god, father! oh my god." jeno released his hug from yuri and ran to his long lost father. wonwoo let the king down but makes sure he is supported before letting him go for jeno to embrace his father.

"j-jeno, my son." yuri's ability worked for him slowly.

"i thought you are gone for real," the strong jeno finally drop a tear from his eyes. "i missed you too much." jeno didn't want yuri to be left out, so he gestured her to join the hug too.

"and goodness, yuri. i'm so worried. and i'm sorry that i couldn't be there to help you." he said as he hugged tighter. the other princes joined him. yuri and the king felt like they're being crushed. at that moment, jeno temporarily forgot that he's also one of the strongest people ever.

"i-i c-can't breathe..." everyone immediately released them.

"oh god, yes. i'm sorry. but you are not hurt or anything, right?" jeno asked.

"yeah, i'm good. and i made more friends along the way. everyone, here's wonwoo and mingyu." both of them bowed to the princes to show their respect.

"thank you for saving them."

"let's go in and take a rest, alright?" seungcheol said and guided everyone into the base safely.

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"what do you mean she escaped?!" the "king" roared, and his voice echoed around the basement. the head guard could only scratch his head out of confusion. he couldn't even reply to the "king's" question. jeonghan is behind the "king", trying his best to act accordingly.

"i-i d-don't know."

"you appointed the best guards and yet still cannot detain a frail girl?! this is ridiculous." the "king" immediately massage his head to release the stress that he had to go through.

he needs to get the princess back. she's too dangerous for him.

"what about the other important prisoner? is he still there?"

"i-i'm sure he's still there, your highness. we had the best security there." the "king" just quietly made his way to the other prison cell where the "special" prisoner is held at. the head guard and jeonghan followed behind him along with his own guards. from the back, they could tell the weight of the anger that the "king" is carrying. as he gets nearer, his footsteps get slower and then to a stop.

"explain." buckets of sweat pouring down the head guard's face. the security that he claimed to be the best isn't the best no more when the "king" clearly sees the guards all tied up and still dozed off. not only that, the door is opened.

the head guard has nothing to say but could only run in front of the "king" and beg for forgiveness.

"please, your highness, please! i beg for your forgiveness. i wouldn't make the same mistake again, please! give me another chance!" the head guard bowed a million times, begging and begging.

"alright, i will accept your apology."

"really?" the head guard stood up quickly.

"thank you so much, your majesty. i will..."

a heavy-sounding object fell to the ground, bounced and rolled across the floor. and then another heavier object fell. the floor seemed wet almost immediately. the stench of iron spread across the area in an instant.

jeonghan didn't expect the head guard to fall so hard. but he certainly didn't expect his father to cut the head guard's head off with no warning. he's getting tired with his father's cruelty. jeonghan flinched a little too late when his father put away the bloodied sword.

"jeonghan."

"yes, your highness."

"find the princess and the impersonator."

"yes, your highness." jeonghan immediately ran out of the basement, being in a hurry. not to do what his father asked him to do.

time to save the queen.
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the people of the base got along well with the newbies, wonwoo and mingyu, especially seungcheol. it's as though they've been friends for years. maybe it's because they found out that they graduated from the same school and that seungcheol is their senior. now that the princess is back, they thought that they should celebrate and take a break before focusing on how to save the queen and defeat the "king" or the unknown.

while everyone is laughing and joking around at the arena where they have their battles, yuri wanted to have some time on her own with her father in the nurse's room. to heal her father as well as father-daughter bonding.

well, not really. she wants to heal the king as he takes a nap. and she is also trying to understand something.

what does he mean by that?

miss lee yuri found out that she has the ability of clairvoyance, which is to read other people's thoughts when looking into their eyes. when the "king" suddenly showed his real features and the queen coming back to her senses, she heard the "king" talked but his mouth didn't move at all.

she needs to be kept. she's my only weakness. but i could take advantage of it.

till now, she didn't understand what she did that made the "king" upset and kept her in the dungeon/basement. being clueless, she is.

"yuri? are you alright?" she turned around, and jaemin is there. she doesn't know or understand what she's feeling, but she can't stop staring into his eyes and smiling as he walked closer and sat beside her, by the bed where the king is sleeping.

"hey, do you need a glass of water? you seemed lost in your thoughts just now."

"it's okay. i'm all good."

"let's take a break for a while at the garden." it took a bit of convincing before yuri nodded and kissed her father's forehead before leaving the nurse's room.

"i heard from the guards that you found out what's your ability already?" jaemin initiated a conversation. yuri honestly wanted to tell everything that happened in the basement to jaemin, but she didn't have a starting conversation to go with. so she's delighted that he started it.

well, too delighted and excited.

"yes! so what happened is that initially wonwoo and mingyu were bullied by the head guard for not doing their work well, but i really do think that they did their job well! i don't know what's wrong with the head guard and then he decided to kick mingyu! that's so horrible! and then and then...." yuri kept talking and talking as they walked towards the garden. jaemin just attentively listened to yuri, amazed at how she felt finds positive things out of the terrible situation she was in. maybe that's why he's falling for her even more.

how much more charms does she have in her?

yuri could only focus at one thing at a time, so there are instances where she would suddenly stop walking out of nowhere or walking at the wrong direction, and that jaemin had to navigate her towards the correct path again. and that didn't bother him at all. instead, he finds it cute. even till they reach the shelter decorated with flowers and vines, with him standing directly in front of her, she still has a lot more to say. at that point, jaemin couldn't focus on her story anymore.

he also has things to say to her too.

"...so both of them started kicking their butts off, and all of them flew across the room like birds and th..." yuri stopped when jaemin cupped her face with his warm hands. it's so comfortable. she has no idea what he's doing. so she decided to ask.

"jaem-"

the princess didn't know what to expect, but the last thing she expected was jaemin leaning in, pressing his lips against hers. yuri's eyes widened, and her heart never beat so fast ever. jaemin slowly retracted and looked into yuri's eyes with sincerity.

"yuri, you don't know how much you meant so much for me, how precious you are you me, how much i adore you, how much i admire the things that you do for people around you. to me, you are the strongest person that i ever met, and i can't express how much i respect you for all the things that you've done for other people. your innocence, your curiosity, your big, helpful heart, your sincerity, your willingness to learn more; it's incredible. i've learnt so many things from you. but without knowing, i've slowly fallen in love with you. i love you, yuri. I don't know how much i could return for what i get from you. but for now, i want to be with you, protecting you and loving you." jaemin finally let out all of the things he's been keeping.

it took a long time for yuri to realise what just happened and comprehend what he just said. but all she could feel is all the blood rushing to her cheeks, blushing so hard from what jaemin had confessed. even her vision started to blur.

she has no idea what to do.

but somehow, her legs started moving on its own and ran away from the situation she was in. again, she doesn't know what in the world she's supposed to do.

"w-wait! yuri!" jaemin could be heard trying to catch up with her. but thankfully for the poor, clueless princess, she manages to hide away from him, hiding behind bushes. she doesn't know why she reacted that way. but what she knows is that she can't face jaemin right now.

she's too shy and embarrassed by her reaction.

this is the first time someone has confessed to her so straightforwardly, and she wasn't even prepared for this situation in the first place. she won't be able to reason and react or reply in time when she never experienced it before.

yes, a reply. what is she supposed to reply? even she doesn't understand what love meant. what if jaemin's definition of love is different from what she defines love? what do people do when they are in love? why can't she forget about the time their lips touched? all these still seems confusing for the princess. so before jaemin finds her, she ran towards where the other princes were.
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"yuri? come back to the world, please." jeno already waved a million times to the princess' face. the other princes also wondered what the princess is acting this way. all of them were slightly surprised when the gloomy-looking yuri suddenly approached them as they were taking a break.

"oh, i'm very sorry. i'm just... tired."

"your face says there's something more than that. come on, tell us what's on your mind?" renjun spoke.

"it's nothing really."

"another thing, it's weird for you to be with us instead of jaemin." jisung realised.

"n-no. w-what are you talking about? you are my friends, of course, i would be with you guys." the princess stuttered. the rest caught up with it.

"did something happened between you and jae-"

"no!" mark didn't finish his question, but the princess already insists that they're wrong.

"alright, that's it. what did jaemin do to you?" jeno already stood up and cracking his knuckles. of course, renjun again calmed him down, but only slightly since yuri is still a younger sister to him. even if jaemin, his best friend, tried to hurt her, he wouldn't hesitate to let jeno release his anger, or even amplify it.

"oh, god. no, no, he did nothing wrong. please calm down, jeno oppa." yuri tried her best to convince them that she is alright. was pretty dried so she decided to drink.

"did he... confess to you?" yuri almost choked on the glass of water she was drinking when chenle spoke.

"bull's eye! now, tell us wh-"

someone could be seen and heard running towards them. it's mingyu.

"sorry to bother you, your highnesses, it's about the king. he's awake."

yuri's heart is happy that her father woke up in time. not only that she's glad that he's healthier, but she also doesn't need to talk to the princes about what happened.

she needs time to calm down.