Previously…

Consumed by her confusion and jealousy, Yujin tried talking with Wonyoung but suddenly, a strange distortion caused the princess to disappear…

***

“Wonnie? Wonnie!

Yujin frantically calls out for the girl’s name after being distracted by a buzzing sound inside her head. She cursed herself for letting Wonyoung’s hands go as she is trying to chase away those noises from her head. Yujin can hear some distant chattering as well as countless screams which disturbed her. As a result, she loses Wonyoung in only a split second.

Knowing that she could not find Wonyoung anywhere despite yelling like a madman, Yujin dashing towards her previous room and surprised seeing it turned into a dusty room. Looking around, the young knight realized that this maze seems abandoned somehow which makes her confused.

Where did everyone go?

She searched high and low for any clue of Wonyoung’s sudden disappearance but could not find any good lead. Frustrated, Yujin leaves the maze and heads towards her town, Luna. Relieves washed in herself as she sees a bustling town is still operating just like in her memories.

“Captain! You’ve got some guests in your quarter!”

Listening to her fellow squad member’s information, Yujin rushed over to her room after thanking her teammates. Her heart is beating loud as she is worried about the missing Wonyoung. Maybe, just maybe the little baby is just being teleported somewhere without Yujin and facing a time reversal again, is what Yujin hoped for. She just wishes to see Wonyoung safe and sound and hopes that this guest she expects to meet is the princess.

“Wonnie? Are you here?”

Barging in her own room, Yujin could not hide her nervousness as she approached a sitting figure at her kitchen. She grabbed the girl’s shoulder and peered at the surprise look of her visitor.

“What’s with all that sweat, Yujin?”

“Ah, Kwangbae unnie… I-I just adventuring with Wonnie. Did you see her anywhere?”

Trying her best to hide her disappointment, Yujin diverted the topic of their discussion while addressing the serious matter at hand towards Hyewon. Even though she sounds serious, Hyewon just stares at her blankly while sipping a bottle of tomato juice while giving Yujin a dumbfounded look.

“Wonnie? You get a new pet or is it the name of your griffin?”

“What are you saying, unnie? This isn’t some time to crack a joke!”

Yujin furrowed her eyebrows as she scowled at Hyewon, furious over Hyewon's lack of interest in an urgent matter which Wonyoung went missing. However, before Yujin can express her dissatisfaction, Hyewon shakes her head while questioning Yujin again.

“No, I’m also being serious here, Yujin. Who the heck is Wonnie?”

“It’s Wonyoung! You know, Jang Wonyoung? The crown princess?”

As much as Yujin tried talking some sense to Hyewon who looked purely confused, the latter just moved closer towards Yujin while placing her palm on the young puppy’s forehead.

“Weird. You did not seem to have fever or such. What’s with all this nonsense?”

“Unnie, you’re acting weird here. How come you didn’t recognize Wonyoung?”

Upon saying that, it is Yujin’s turn to receive a scowl from Hyewon. The talented mage shakes her head while sighing at the anxious young knight while replying, “There’s no such thing as Jang Wonyoung, the crown princess, Yujin. You know that all along we only have male heirs to the crown, right?”

“What the heck?”

***

“To think that our Yujin will volunteer to visit the library…”

Tone of astonishment accompanied Yujin as she slumped down onto one of the vacant tables inside her school’s library. Hyewon stared in disbelief upon watching Yujin flipping through every page of Wiz Empire history as well as every Noble's family register at lightning speed, as if the girl was doing a last-minute revision before entering the examination hall.

“Shut it, unnie. You’re making me look like a jock without any interest in studying.”

Dissatisfied, Yujin pouted at her Hyewon unnie without tearing her eyes away from the books in both of her hands. She alternately looks left and right while skimming through every detail in the book, ignoring Hyewon’s chuckles.

“Aren’t you though?”

A groan escapes Yujin’s mouth as Hyewon is messing with her. Not that she doesn’t know Hyewon’s nature, which is to mess around with people who are close to the young heiress.

“Unnie~”

Yujin whines as she shuts the book and slumps her head onto the hard cover. The young knight scowled as she couldn’t find any information regarding Wonyoung nor the Empress. All she finds is a foreign name which she didn’t recognize at all.

“This is really ridiculous.”

She let out a heavy sigh while trying to think calmly about her current situation. Yujin knows that most probably, she is being transported without even realizing it. Judging from little pieces of information that she is able to gather, Yujin can conclude that she might have ended in one of those infamous parallel worlds where another version of herself is living in. However, she couldn’t understand the reasons behind Wonyoung’s nonexistence in this certain world.

“Oh no, I need to go first, Jinnie.”

Watching Hyewon collecting every book hastily makes Yujin wonder. The soon to be Marquess is supposed to already end all her lessons as a mage. Yujin knows that as Wonyoung often talks to Yujin how hectic every lesson is to be eligible as a mage but once a person passes the exam, they’re quite free aside from when the empire is at war. Tilting her head, Yujin asked, “Are you going on a date with Chaeyeon unnie?”

Upon seeing the mage flinched, a smirk crept up on Yujin’s face. She can conclude that even in this parallel world, the relationship between her two favorite unnie is quite shaky but judging from Hyewon’s reaction, the heiress seems to be giddy.

“N-not at all! I’m just going to Eunbi’s evening party, all right?”

Yujin whipped her head towards blushing Hyewon upon hearing that name being mentioned. She pushed her chair and grabbed both of Hyewon’s shoulders as her breath intensified.

“What? What are you saying again?”

“Yujinnie,