We reached the ship safe and sound although I walked as slow as a snail.

Yunho sacrificed his shoe for me and he walked barefoot instead. He noticed my guilty face but he only smiled and said ‘A lady's feet should be protected’. And I end up crying a river again because of his kindness. 

His shoes were so large that I almost slipped from time to time. But he lent his arm for me to support. 

He’s too good for this harsh world. I don’t deserve him.

After he escorted us into sickbay, he excused himself to report to his captain.

I’m sitting idly in sickbay next to the unconscious Aurora on a nearby bed.

Poor girl, these guys don’t know how to handle a lady.

And shame on me for being heedless. If I waited for the guys, maybe I wouldn’t end up in such a bad shape.

I inspect my wound on the arms, there’s nothing serious but light scratch and swollen wrist that the merchant twisted. But the gash on my left foot looks bad, I hope it won’t infect. And my whole face is throbbing badly, there’s no mirror in the room so I don’t know how bad the wounds are.

Observing the wound makes me shake in my own skin so I try to distract myself by counting leaves of some unknown herbs on a table.This tragic event is going to be my nightmare for years. I almost die, like literally leaving this world forever.

Yeosang abruptly opens the door and interrupts my thought. His eyes go wide when he sees my condition and the unconscious Aurora.

“What the hell happens to you guys?” Yeosang looks angry. So I explain to him what had happened.

He calms down a bit after my story but his expression changes into concern.

“You were too reckless.” He says sympathetically. 

“But I had no choice, the guys are busy fighting so I was the only one available at that moment.”

Yeosang shakes his head as he observes the wound on my face. 

“Don’t worry. You’re still beautiful.” He says then gets up to prepare the herb.

“Aww, thanks.” I smile but immediately squawk from the pain on my mouth and cheeks.

Suddenly, the door of the sickbay opens. San storms inside and grabs my swollen wrist, pulling me up from the bed.

“Where’re you taking my patience away?” Yeosang instantly interferes with him by grabbing his arm.

“Captain.” San answers nonchalantly.

“Could he wait until I treat her wounds?” Yeosang raises his voice in annoyance.

“No.” San looks coldly at Yeosang while the surgeon returns him with an irritated look.

“Yeosang, I’ll be fine.” I reassure Yeosang.

San swats Yeosang’s hand away and drags me outside the room.

On the way, he walks really fast, not caring as I wince along the way

“Can’t you be more gentle?” 

My left foot is throbbing badly and San’s tight grip on my swollen wrist makes the pain worse.

But this guy ignores me and walks faster.

San opens a door to the captain's quarter. He roughly drags me in front of a long table where his crew are seated, then leaves me standing dumbfounded while he situates himself on a window sill. 

“Miss Star...” Hongjoong, who stands at the head of the table, calls my name but once he saw me he slightly taken aback.

“Holy !” Wooyoung gets up from his chair abruptly and walks over to me.

“Did you get into dog fight?” His mouth spouts nonsense but his eyes portray worriness.

But I manage to roll my eyes at him.

“Didn’t I say 3 of you to take care of her?” Hongjoong turns to Mingi and Jongho who are also in bloody faces and Yunho. Their faces are painted with guilt.

I thought they already told their captain what happened. I guess not yet.

“Uhh..” The trio are at a loss for words, eye shifting between me and their wrathful captain.

“It’s an accident.” I responded, making Hongjoong raise his eyebrows at me. 

I decide to tell them the incident and make sure to leave the fact that Aurora another escape attempt and her almost letting the merchant slip away.

“I remembered the merchant’s appearance from my premonition. So I shouted to them to capture him but he was with 2 guards so the guys got into a fight while I chased after the merchant.” I partly lied. I can feel the trio confused stare at the side as why I skipped Aurora's part.

“Is that true?” Hongjoong turns to ask the trio. They reluctantly nod their heads. Their hesitation adds doubt to Hongjoong as he narrows his eyes at me.

Soenghwa, who is sitting on Hongjoong’s right hand side, speaks up, “Didn’t you tell us the trade will take place at midnight? How on earth did you meet that merchant?” 

I also ask myself that question too. 

“Does that mean your prophecies aren’t accurate?” Seonghwa’s words jab to my heart.

This guy doesn’t let me live...

“There may be some factors that can change the future...” I trail off as my brain can’t find the right words.

“What factors?” 

Me, a reader, being here. But I can’t answer him that.

“I’m not sure either.”

“You don’t know?” Soenghwa raises his voice. 

“C’mon, Soenghwa, we already got the map. And she even got into the fight to get it.” Mingi says, slight anger evident in his tone.

I look at Mingi with gratitude. He’s shielding me from the cold-hearted quartermaster.

Seonghwa is about to taunt back but Hongjoong glares at both of them.

“Miss Star, we’ll talk about your prophecy later but this.” He points at an old yellow paper on the table, “What’s the meaning of this?” He swallows his anger but I could still hear it in his voice. 

I realize that the paper is the Wonderland map.

“The wonderland map.” I say.

“And do you know what's wrong with this?” 

I limp closer to the map and I see what’s the problem. The map is blank. 

“Did you lead us to get the wrong map?” Soenghwa says as he slowly rises from his chair. His accusation made my blood start to boil.

The members in the room look at me confusedly and wear disappointed expressions. 

“It’s the real map.” I confirm them.

“How so? When you see there’s nothing on here?” Seonghwa keeps pressuring me. His finger tapping on the map.

But I’m sure that this is a 100% real map. 

“Look at the corner, does the symbol remind you of anything?” I calmly point at the bottom right corner of the map. 

Hongjoong and Seonghwa squint their eyes at the symbol.

“Teardrop...Miss Aurora’s pendant?” Hongjoong says, a glint of realization flashes in his eyes.

“Yes.” I answer curtly.

“So that was why you said she is the key part of this.” Wooyoung turns to ask. He also bends down to look at the symbol.

“Yes.”

“Where’s Miss Aurora? Bring her now.” Hongjoong orders. 

“In sickbay.” I answer at the same time as San gets off the window sill, ready to fetch Aurora in the sickbay.

Is he planning to drag her here unconsciuosly? 

But the door opens as a raging Yeosang stride in.

“No one take my patient away.” He snaps at Hongjoong. He stands beside me which eases my nerves.

“Yeosang, this is not the time to-”

“That can wait, we already got the map,right?”

“We are still unsure that this is the real map until it is proved by Miss Aurora.” Soenghwa says coldly.

“Miss Aurora is unconscious, you need to wait until she awake and take a rest before you start interrogating her.” Yeosang stands his ground firmly.

Both Hongjoong and Seonghwa are glaring at Yeosang but he never shows a slight fear.

I think I found someone that can save my life while being here. That person is Yeosang.

He’s not afraid to fight against authority. If I get in trouble, my retreat plan is to seek for Yeosang.

“Yeosang, you understand clearly that we can’t waste anymore time. If this is the fake map, we’ll have to start from zero again.” 

“Think about it Seonghwa, why would Miss Star risk her life for the sake of us? If it isn’t the real map.”

“Who knows what her scheme is.” Venomous fill in the quartermaster’s voice which I can hear loud and clear.

His word pierce through my heart. 

I let out a scoff and look at Soenghwa disbelievingly.

I know he doesn’t trust me but does he really think that my action is for a scheming?

“You-” Yeosang is about to retaliate but stop by Hongjoong’s shout, “Stop it both of you!” A crease appears between his eyebrows. He appears to get irritated from his crew argument. 

Both Seonghwa and Yeosang scoff at the same time and look away.

“If this is the real map, do you know how the map works?” Hongjoong ignores them and turns to ask me.

“No.” I answer.

Actually, I know the meaning of the blank map but I won’t tell them. Because first, it’s Aurora's line to be the one that reveals the mystery of the map. I won’t steal her line for the sake of being their heroine. And secondly, I feel disheartened that they doubt me. I’m being petty, okay.

Hongjoong sighs, “Fine, we’ll discuss about this tomorrow when Miss Aurora awake.”

Seonghwa’s face twists at Hongjoong’s conclusion but he remains quiet and glares at my direction instead.

What’s wrong with this guy? Why is he so distrustful of me? 

“Miss Star, on behalf of the crew, sorry for your suffering and we’re grateful for your help. I’ll make sure to punish my crew.” His words make 3 people in the room pale. 

“No need, they didn’t do anything wrong.” I object Hongjoong because my condition is the consequence of my recklessness, it’s not the trio's fault.

Hongjoong nods at my response and then he turns to Yeosang.

“Yeosang, take good care of them.” 

Yeosang nods in return. Then he gently supports me out of the room.

As I am leaving the room, I hear Hongjoong’s harsh voice speaks to the trio, “Now explain everything.”

Yup, they undeniably don’t trust me a tad bit.

// Thank you for reading this story. I hope you enjoy it.
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