"she changed her name to protect her identity; even though chances of the king knowing about her might be low."

this explains why taeri have been taking care of yuri more then she's supposed to. so she thought maybe the small note that yuri did before she left the castle for taeri, or taehee, was unnecessary. taehee might have been informed by seungcheol about them visiting the castle.

right, the castle. shouldn't she head back before anyone else in castle finds out she's missing? she wouldn't want anyone to find the princes and ruin whatever plans they have discussed.

"i think it's time for you to head back, your highness." seungcheol read her mind well. before he could gather everyone, the prince whom yuri assumed is jisung already walked towards them first. "i knew you were going to call us." seungcheol smiled and called the rest of the princes.

"it's time for princess yuri to head back before any suspicions arise." everyone understood. donghyuck, mark, jisung and chenle did their small introductions to yuri before jaemin spoke. 

"guys, if you wouldn't mind, i can bring her back myself, like how i brought her here."

"prince jaemin, as much as i know how powerful you are especially since you are the prince of diamond, more heads are better than one." seungcheol doesn't want his princes to act on their own and bring endangerment to themselves. after all, they are princes. prince mark stepped up.

"i agree. and we were aware of the fact that you fainted at the castle. thank god, you weren't caught. so to avoid any worse situations, i think it's best if we follow you guys, at least till right outside the kingdom of emerald." yuri could tell prince mark's leadership right there. jaemin sighed. he doesn't want anyone to get hurt, but he understood everyone's concern for him. thus, jaemin helplessly agreed.

everyone wore their cloaks to prevent them from getting recognised and left the base together, except for seungcheol, jeno and renjun. jaemin insisted jeno to stay as he doesn't want jeno to get caught by the people of his kingdom. renjun had to be with his partner, so he stayed.

"i'll miss you, yuri. we'll see you soon, sister." yuri hugged her brother and gave a last pat on his head before leaving with the others.

chenle and jisung used their powers to sense anyone within their location and avoid any form of danger. donghyuck used his ability to shine light at areas where it's too dark for them to move, whereas mark used his power to move objects that are blocking their way. they decided to save jaemin's energy for the last when he brings the princess back to the castle. yuri realised how much energy jaemin used the first time he came to the castle and back, alone. how is that even possible?

what yuri doesn't know is that the royal family of the diamonds are incredible in terms of their powers. that's why as much as both emerald and diamond kingdoms are treated the same, diamonds are believed to be the stronger one out of them. just that one time, somehow diamonds were defeated by the emeralds.

just as they reached the outsides of the emerald kingdom, prince mark spoke.

"hey, are you sure you don't want us to follow you there?"

jaemin smiled and nodded with assurance. "don't worry."

jaemin then held jisung's, donghyuck's and chenle's hands. he closed his eyes to use their abilities. a light can be seen emitted from their hands and that amazed yuri. jaemin then opens his eyes and breathed out. he turned to look at yuri who was looking at him with amazement. 

again, cute.

yuri almost jumped when jaemin decided to hold her hand and muttered, "let's go." before both of them ran off together, leaving behind mark, donghyuck, jisung and chenle.

"i'll carry you if you want to." jaemin said as both of them ran into the forest nearby the castle. before yuri could even say a word, jaemin already stopped his tracks and carried her bridal style, again.

"silence means consent, princess." he said as he gazed at the facial features of the princess. from her white-silvery hair, down to her slightly plump lips. every reaction the princess does amuses him, especially her shocked response. he got back to his senses and immediately used chenle's ability to navigate themselves faster towards her room at the castle. 

"hey, jaemin." the princess finally spoke.

"hmm?"

"do you not resent us, for what our parents did to your parents?" yuri could tell that jaemin's eyes turned sad as she said that. she didn't mean to hurt him. she just curious and concerned.

"sorry, i didn't mean to hurt y-"

"it's alright, princess." jaemin gave her his best smile.

"no, i don't resent both of you. i try not to. because both of you aren't the cause of the whole ordeal. it's the king who did it," yuri honestly couldn't say a word. it's her parents who caused his downfall, of course, she would've felt guilty. jeno would too. yuri could only hug jaemin by wrapping her arms tighter around jaemin's neck.

jaemin has a lot to say; there's instances where he would've to push his anger towards the siblings, but of course, it's not their fault. he can't blame them for what their parents did. instead, he's glad that they turned out different from their parents. 

and this hug makes him even better. 

he felt a rush of energy entering his body, and he's able to move faster. he doesn't know where it came from, but this means he wouldn't be worried about him possibly fainting later on.

soon he heard soft snores coming from the princess. 

she must be tired from the long journey.

jaemin couldn't help but admire how beautiful the princess is, how the smallest things she does makes it adorable to his eyes. the way she snores, the way she breathes. creepy, but breath-taking. of course, he couldn't stop himself from giving her a peck on her forehead.

thank god, jeno isn't here.

____________________________________________

"princess, we're here." yuri didn't realise she fell asleep throughout the rest of the journey. she yawned, and jaemin put her down on her bed. yuri was too tired and sleepy to stand up, so she just sat at the corner of her bed. jaemin looked at her within her eye level.

"i have to go before the sun rises." yuri smiled and nodded. jaemin pat her head and muttered, "see you tomorrow." before jumping out of the balcony. yuri thought she heard wrong when jaemin said tomorrow, so she just waved at him goodbye before flopping back to her bed.

it wasn't long before she started snoring, again.

____________________________________________

"your highness, it's time for you to wake up." yuri didn't want to move. she needs more of her beauty sleep. the whole event last night was fun, but tiring for her. she opened her eyes to see taeri, trying to wake her up.

"good morning, taeri. i'm not feeling well today. can i not go for classes today?" yuri hoped that taeri would let her go just this once, but taeri went on to put her hand on yuri's forehead.

"you are fine. wake up, princess." taeri nudges yuri even more. yuri groaned. she doesn't want to leave her bed. taeri sighed.

"there are no classes for you today. the king wants to see you." yuri sat up quickly, causing her to have a slight headache. the king? why so sudden?

"he visited your room yesterday, and you were nowhere in your room. and then he saw your note for me." oh no, yuri thought. are they caught? she prayed not. after the whole storytelling that jeno gave yesterday, her fear for her parents, especially the king, increases.

"me too, i pray that we are not caught." right, she almost forgot about who taeri; or taehee, is. taehee then gave her a wink before pushing the princess to take a bath before meeting the king.

____________________________________________

"your highness, i brought the princess here."

"come in." yuri could've sworn that her legs shook upon hearing the king's voice from inside her parents' room. the doors were opened by the royal guard for them to enter, only to be greeted by the king and queen, sitting down proudly at their throne.

"it's been long, your highness." princess yuri bowed and greeted her parents.

"where were you yesterday night?" wow, straight to the topic. yuri couldn't look into the kings' eyes, but she could feel his eyes digging into her soul. she tried her best to give the most believable lie.

"i needed some fresh air, so i decided to explore outside the castle for a bit. i might have gone outside the boundaries you gave me, but i was too scared and afraid that i would be lost, so i head back as quickly as i could. i'm sorry, your highness." okay, i think that should be alright. it's the first time yuri lied, and she felt terrible about it. she hoped that he'd believe it. while waiting for his reply, yuri went to look at her mother for a moment, to see what's her reaction. 

it's her poker face, again. why isn't she showing any form of expression? why does she look like she's out of her mind? she barely hears her mother speak. it's always been her father who will speak for her.

"with, that," the king spoke, as yuri quickly look down to the floor, prepared to hear what her punishment would be.

"i will assign a royal guard to be with you, 24/7." her heart dropped. this means she's going to have lesser freedom than before and that means, she'll never be able to meet the princes again. especially her brother, and prince jae-... no, no, only her brother. she would've cried there and then but she held it. because it's her parents whom she's talking with. 

"guard, please don't let her out of your sight." "yes, your highness." yuri's head still faced down, yet not accepting the fact that she has to go through something worse. 

"princess yuri, let's go back to your room." she heard taehee spoke and automatically walked to her room, still facing down. she heard other footsteps right behind her, assuming that might've been the guard that was assigned to her. once, she reached her room, she immediately flopped to her bed and went under the covers. she let her tears fall as she silently cried. as much as she wants to escape, she's pretty sure that her father would be able to catch her immediately, with the help of this new guard. 

"princess yuri, please sit down, and look at me." 

"i'm alright, taeri. you can go now."

"i insist, please sit down and look at me." it's taeri, yuri can't ignore her, as much as she wants to be alone. she slowly opened her covers and sat at the corner of her bed, with her puffy eyes showing. she doesn't even want to look at the guard whom she felt is in the room with them.

"everything's going to be alright, trust me." taeri said as she held yuri's hands tightly.

"and i'll make sure to keep my eyes on you 24/7, my princess."

wait, that voice. it's familiar. yuri quickly turned her head around and looked at where the source of that voice from.

na jaemin.