Chapter 11.

"Life takes you to unexpected places. Love brings you home."

The moment Hanbyul regained consciousness, she felt her stomach churn and her hand shot to , holding back the urgent need to throw up. When she blinked away the remainder of her haziness, fully alert to her surroundings.

It was dark in her room, save for the sliver of light coming from a small window. She wasn’t bound and when she stood slowly, her legs wobbled and she almost toppled over.

From the way the ground rocked back and forth, she assumed they were on a ship hence her severe seasickness and her fears were confirmed when she peered out the window in her room, the only source to the outside world. The ocean was dark and endless and dread settled in the pit of her stomach as she realized the gravity of her situation.

“No…” She rasped out, before breaking into a coughing fit, parched. Her hand went to , attempting to sooth the pain and when she felt the leather material under her fingers, her eyes shot open.

What the hell was this?

“I wouldn’t pull on that if I were you.”

Hanbyul whipped around at the new voice, her back pressed against the wall to get as far away from her kidnapper as possible.

“What do you want?” She demanded, praying her voice didn’t shake though her entire body trembled, coiled with dread. “Who are you?”

Another person joined the stranger in her doorway—a boy with dark hair and emotionless eyes—and this time, Hanbyul felt a chill run up her spine at their sharp gaze.

“We are the anti-Neo faction,” the boy said slowly, gauging her reaction. And from the way her eyes widened a fraction, he could see that she was beginning to piece together the reason behind her abduction.

There had been rumors that the King had been making frequent stops to the town called Seasons and the gossip had travelled down the roads to several merchants and eventually, the anti-Neo faction had picked up on the news as well.

“They say there’s a woman,” one of the merchants had said.

“That would explain why he even goes back to that dingy town with nothing to see. But hasn’t the King been with several women before? What makes this one so different?”

The merchants eye’s glimmered. “This one keeps him coming back.”

Hanbyul felt panic constrict her heart, warring with fear and dread, as the realization of what their end goal was finally hit her.

“What do you plan to do with me?” Her voice quivered much to her dismay and the man took slow, deliberate strides until he stood directly in front of her.

She flinched away when he brought his hand to her face, roughly grabbing her by the chin. “You’re quite a beautiful, young girl. It’s no wonder the foolish King was smitten enough to return to that scrapyard of a town. Lucky for you, a buyer already decided to purchase you. Though is it really lucky?” He let out a dark snicker. “I can’t guarantee they’ll be as gentle with you as was the King.”

“What?” Disbelief and denial rang from her voice and it made the man’s conniving grin grow wider.

“Paying handsomely that lad is—a whole five thousand coins. That’s nearly quadruple what our other items typically sell for. Consider it a compliment if you may, that you’d be worth such a high price for your beauty.”

Item.

Buyers.

High price.

It felt like she couldn’t breathe, icy comprehension squeezing the air out of her lungs.

Human auction.

Hanbyul glared at the man in front of her. “And what purpose does this serve for you?”

"Ah,” the man said with delight, “Don’t you see? You’re the main pawn on the chessboard we’ve set up. The Queen. The King is emotionally driven—we can all attest to that as seen when the late King and Queen passed. When you’re sold, you will never see daylight again and the King will never recover from his loss. True love be damned, the Kingdom will fall on harder times than ever and the anti-Neo faction will gain traction and support to overthrow the royal family for good."

“He won’t give in to cowards like you,” she spat, anger winning in all the emotions whirling inside her. “I don’t know what you’ve heard but I’m nothing to the King.”

The words cut her as she spoke them and her voice wavered but she kept her gaze firm.

The sneer on the boy’s face deepened. “You overestimate him. On the contrary,” he said, his eyes locking onto hers, freezing her in place. Then, “You mean everything to him.”

Her breath left her and she felt like she’d been punched in the gut.

He turned to leave, motioning for the other man to follow. “Let’s go, Taeil. We’re leaving.”

“Yes, Commander Heechul.” The man named Taeil bowed his head slightly.

There was a distinct click as they locked the door to her room, leaving her trapped in the darkness on a rocking boat to an unknown destination.

And then, all the tension that had coiled in Hanbyul’s body released and she quickly grabbed the bucket near her bed and promptly threw up.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been to Seasons,” Haechan commented lightly. “I miss Hanbyul and her baking.”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “I feel like you miss my sister more than I do sometimes.”

“Yeah but not as much as Captain misses her.” Yuta let on a grin and Lucas chuckled.

“When is he coming back?” Lucas asked Doyoung, who sat behind the desk, completing leftover paperwork that Jaehyun hadn’t had time to get through.

Doyoung lifted his head from the contract he was reading and looked at the clock. “He should be here soon.”

“He’s been in so many meetings regarding the anti-Neo faction he hasn’t really had time to make a trip back to Seasons,” Chaeyeon huffed, placing her hands on her hips. “You know what that means?”

With a slightly weary look, Johnny quirked an eyebrow and turned his attention to the Princess. “What?”

Chaeyeon’s eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands together. “We should just invite her over to stay at the palace!” She exclaimed and then with a more mischievous look, she added, “We could always use more patisserie’s and she’s one of the best. Besides, if things with the anti-Neo faction are as bad as we’re suspecting, it would be better to have he