"They call me the Prince of Wolves, but hyeong, I am your loyal servant, and nothing more," Sakura confesses while looking nervously at Jaeyeon, waiting for a response.

Sakura's heart is racing. Mama warned her to always stay humble and keep a low profile. Will Jaeyeon be jealous or angry to know about her "real identity" and send her away? Or will he think that she is joking or lying?

However, Jaeyeon just breathes out a long sigh and collapses on the mat.

"Hyeong!" Sakura quickly kneels and checks Jaeyeon's pulse and temperature. Her worst fear became reality. Jaeyeon is sick, no wonder he acted weirdly.

But there is nothing new, isn't it? Sakura has been taking care of her sick mother for seven years, and this time Nako has even given her some Eunbi's potions left from the mages' competition. She moves Jaeyeon closer to the fire and gives him a potion. She also asks Growl to lie next to Jaeyeon to keep him warm.

"Saku-chan, will it bite me?" Jaeyeon whimpers.

"No, hyeong, she will not," Sakura says in a pampering tone.

"Are you really a wolf prince?" Jaeyeon mutters, "can you order her not to bite me?"

"Yes, hyeong," Sakura smiles. The sick Jaeyeon suddenly becomes a child. She immediately passes the message to Gwal. Gwal who doesn't dare to move, hums as a response.

"So am I safe?" Jaeyeon's voice breaks. "This place must be bewitched."

"No, hyeong, this place is not bewitched, only you are sick."

"Am I? My little prince?" Jaeyeon grins with watery eyes, "I'm sorry you have to take care of me again."

Sakura giggles, "I am your loyal servant, my lord! Let me get you some water, and please close your eyes and sleep."

With the effect of the potion, Jaeyeon finally relaxes and falls into a deep slumber. It doesn't take a long time for his body temperature to go back to normal. Sakura now understands how Eunbi won her respect from the commoners.

The rain gradually stopped. The wolves went to hunt a couple of rabbits, and Sakura made meat soup for Jaeyeon and herself. She chatted with the Alphas and listened to the wolves' stories until she fell asleep in mama Alpha's embrace. She even dreamt of herself as a wolf cub who milk from the mama's .

It feels so nice to be in a family. Sakura thinks when she wakes up early the next morning. The sky has brightened up a bit and it should be time to move. She is happy to see Jaeyeon wakes up as if nothing has happened. The boys saddle and mount the horses when the wolf pack leads and proudly their prince and his human back to the magic castle.

***

The roads became quite messy after the rainstorm and it took Jaeyeon and Saku extra three hours to reach Magic Town. It has passed dinner time when they bid goodbye to the wolves.

To their surprise, Eunbi is standing outside the castle gate, arms akimbo, accompanied by Hongki and Nako.

"Where have you been? Why didn't you answer my telepathy? Why do you look like a bagger?" Before Jaeyeon can greet the Princess properly, Eunbi fires her questions like cannonballs. Then she turns to Saku, "are you alright? Have you eaten? Are you tired?"

Jaeyeon is stunned by the Princess's interrogation while Saku freezes on the ground. No one dares to say anything.

"Go wash and come to the dining hall," Eunbi snorts and turns back into the castle.

Jaeyeon and Saku exchange a look and rush to the dormitory after handing their horses to Hongki.

Nako managed to collect the leftover food in the kitchen and turn it into a nice meal.

Sakura is the first to arrive and her eyes never leave the food.

"Why don't you eat first when the food is still hot?" Nako smiles.

Sakura bows lightly and starts eating like a hungry puppy. Yes, she is hungry as hell, only had some rabbit meat last evening, leaving all the bread and cheese to Jaeyeon.

"Eat slowly, sweetie." Eunbi's voice suddenly rings from behind, "or you will get a stomach full of gas."

Sakura quickly stands up, with a mouth full of food and covered with sauce.

Eunbi chuckles, "sit down and eat! Silly Kkura."

Eunbi sits across Sakura and watches the child eat while sipping the tea Nako just poured her. The teacup perfectly hides her unsuppressed smile.

"Your wounds seem to have healed completely, and your hair needs a trim." After a while, Eunbi leans in and extends her arm to fiddle Sakura's damp and messy hair, "short bob with bangs will suits you well. Let me ask someone to bring you to the barbershop tomorrow."

Sakura almost chokes on Eunbi's suggestion. But then the princess suddenly turns to the entrance at Sakura's back and raises her voice, "Who permits you to grow a beard?"

A gust of wind fuzzes at Sakura's back when Jaeyeon leaps a few steps ahead and bows to the princess.

"I am sorry, I was in a rush so there was no time for shaving..."

"You were away for seven days and you said you have no time?" Eunbi folds her arms in displease.

"But I think he looks pretty y with a beard!" Chaewon suddenly appears in the dining hall out of nowhere.

"Unnie!" Eunbi blushes instantly.

"Jaeyeon must be hungry," Nako quickly puts a big plate of food in front of Jaeyeon and winks.

"I will go to the barbershop tomorrow and shave it, Your Highness," Jaeyeon bows lightly and sits down next to Sakura. But before he eats, he takes out a paper bag and shows Eunbi the Trivisa Berry.

"What is this? Is it a Trivisa Berry? How come it's so big?"

Jaeyeon then tells Eunbi about the Trivisa Berrie Plantation and how they were chased and nearly killed.

Eunbi falls silent. She leans her head to one side and thinks seriously.

"It is dubious. There must be a plot behind that." After some time, Eunbi turns to Chaewon, who is now examining the fruit with her hands.

"This is not a normal fruit, it must have been re-engineered," Chaewon says, "its genetic blueprint is messed up."

"Does it mean it is more harmful? Maybe we should not touch it with bare hands, unnie?" Eunbi frowns.

"I don't feel it more harmful, it actually has a thicker skin than the usual fruit," Chaewon says, "but I am curious about the scent Jaeyeon talks about – this fruit doesn't even have a strong smell."

Jaeyeon takes out his notebook, "I think they have refined it with heat or methods that can cause evaporation, it should be the evaporated substance that has created the strong scent – you see, this is a sketch of the site, there are houses at the far end with chimneys that resemble wine refineries."

Eunbi nods, "I think I have more clues now – good job, Jaeyeon."

Jaeyeon hesitates for a moment and then looks at Sakura, "actually, the credits should be given to Saku-chan."

Eunbi raises her eyebrows in a delightful surprise, "oh, I want to hear more."

Sakura looks up with a mouth full of food.

Jaeyeon continues. "Yes, Saku-chan was the one who discovered the scent, he has a superb nose. And this sketch was drawn by him. Only he has vision sharp enough to see the houses. No to mention he saved my life twice."

Without warning, Saku abruptly jumps up and runs to the doorway.

"Excuse me, Your Highness..." the boy's voice descends along with his disappearing footsteps.

"Saku-chan!" Jaeyeon shouts but Saku has left.

"What happened?" Chaewon asks.

Jaeyeon is dumbfounded. “Should I chase him back?”

Eunbi shakes her head, "let him. By the way, Jaeyeon, can you make it more clear? I don't get why he could smell something that is miles away and see something that you couldn't?"

"He could also hear the sound that humans cannot hear. When I pulled out the fruit I didn't know I had triggered the automatic crossbows and he warned me just in time."

"What do you mean by 'humans cannot hear'?" Eunbi is intrigued, "do you mean Saku is not a human?"

Jaeyeon gulps.

Eunbi arches her brows, "yes?"

"He...eh...he..." Jaeyeon gets nervous and stammers, "at least he is not a werewolf..."

"Werewolf?" The three witches exclaim in synchronization.

Jaeyeon waves his hands vigorously, "no, no! No, he is NOT. He...he acquired extraordinary senses a...after being bitten by that...that big – Dark Lord...and those wolves who...w...went to his dream – that we saw, said that he is the...the...P...Prince of...Wolves."

Eunbi inhales deeply, but she doesn't look surprised. "No wonder I have the hunch that he was hiding something from me. Remember I asked if the wolves were expecting him? He said yes, but he was avoiding my gaze. Now it makes sense – why will a human child be expected to save the wolves? They were expecting a prince to kill the Dark Lord!"

Chaewon and Nako instantly eye sharply at Eunbi.

"Your Highness," Jaeyeon sounds very nervous, "Saku-chan...he...actually doesn't...he was...reluctant – he was scared. He told me that there was a stud farmworker who always bragged about his abilities. The man was sent to the military zone alone and never came back. Please, Your Highness, please don't punish him..."

"Jaeyeon! What are you talking about?" Eunbi raises her voice, "why should I? Saku is a treasure to all of us."

Jaeyeon leads out a sigh of relief, "thank you, Your Highness."

Eunbi rolls her eyes. "Eat first."

Jaeyeon nods and eats. But Eunbi continues to speak, "By the way, when you go to the barbershop tomorrow, bring Saku with you. He will look nice in a short bob with bangs."

Jaeyeon nods, "that's the very typical royal page boys' style."

"He will look good in it – also, you go to the taxidermy studio to see if they have finished the product. I've checked and they have not delivered the goods yet."

Jaeyeon nods again and continues to eat.

Chaewon and Nako eye each other and say nothing. Tonight, the Princess looks a little different to them.

The silence was soon broken by some quick ascending footsteps. Saku, who has suddenly run away, comes back.

"Saku-chan, you shouldn't run, you've just eaten," Eunbi warns with a smile.

Sakura is panting heavily, so she simply hands a tiny object to Eunbi.

Chaewon illuminates her fingertips and lifts the object to give a better look for everyone.

"It should be a cigarette ," Jaeyeon sniffs the object. "But this is a kind of cigarette that I have never seen."

"These tiny dots – I think they are words," Eunbi says.

Jaeyeon snaps his fingers, "Saku-chan, can you see these dots? Do you think they are words?"

Saku nods and picks up the pen and draws the "words" in huge size on Jaeyeon's notebook.

"This is not Tokkizan nor Arukasian, and not even IZland." Chaewon says while Saku is "drawing".

Eunbi's expression darkens, "I can't understand its meaning, but these are definitely Cistumonion letters."

Dead silence falls in the dining hall when Saku, now calmed down from panting, says innocently, "I have seen soldiers smoking this in the military zone."

Eunbi's gaze is burning in rage, but her voice is gentle, "this is the most important point. Good job, Saku-chan."

***

The next day is busy. When the expert task force is doing their last preparation before they the Princess back to the Capital City, Jaeyeon brings Saku to a barbershop where he has a clean shave and both have a nice haircut. After that, they went to the hat shop to collect Saku's new helmet and then to the taxidermy studio. This time, Saku felt more at ease visiting the studio, probably because the preserved wolf's head was already sent to the castle while they were in the barbershop.

But Sakura inevitably has to "meet" the wolf's head. After a short lesson with Great Yoonjung, she found that all the palace members were waiting in the lounge outside Yoonjung's office. The head of the Dark Lord is placed neatly on a small table in the middle of the lounge.

Sakura feels her heart beating fast when she sees the head again under the bright afternoon sun that shines through the windows.

Feeling Sakura's anxiety, Yoonjung puts her arm around Sakura's shoulders, "Let's go together?"

Sakura bites her lips and nods.

Escorted by Yoonjung, Sakura steps ahead and stands a few feet before the table. The images of being attacked start to loop uncontrollably in her head. Her body language must have shown it as Eunbi also steps to her side.

"Will you be able to touch it?" Eunbi asks.

Sakura looks at Eunbi with great hesitation.

"Are you afraid?" Yoonjung asks.

Sakura turns to Yoonjung's side and nods.

"Then learn to face it," the archmage looks straight into the child's eyes. "Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your unguarded thoughts. You must be thinking about how this wolf has hurt you now. But he is dead and can harm you no more, yet you are still hurting yourself with your own fear."

Upon hearing the grandmaster's words, Sakura feels a weight suddenly lifted from her chest. She looks at the wolf's head again and feels surprised that the disgusting smell of death doesn't exist anymore. It looks smaller than in her imagination, and its "expression" doesn't look evil at all – maybe it has been modified by the artisans? It actually looks magnificent now.

Slowly, she walks closer to the table and stretches her hand, not without hesitation, but eventually able to touch the tip of the wolf's nose. When nothing happens, she becomes bolder and touches the bridge of its nose and finally its forehead.

Great applause breaks out in the room.

Sakura turns around, bowing to everyone in embarrassment. When she faces Eunbi again, she finds that the Princess is holding the wolf's head in her hands.

"Kneel down," Eunbi commands, in a playful tone.

Without hesitation, Sakura kneels down on the floor and Eunbi places the wolf's head on her head. Something has been fixed inside of the wolf's skull so it fits perfectly – it's a hat! Sakura instantly realized that it had been all well planned!

"Saku, I now investiture you as the Prince of Wolves," Eunbi announces with a wild grin on her face.

Sakura's jaw drops. She doesn't know how to respond.

"You deserve the title," Eunbi winks and bends down to whisper beside Sakura's ear. She then gently presses a kiss on her burning cheek.

Another round of applause.

Sakura is so shocked she cannot move an inch. It feels like a dream. The Princess must be joking, but everyone takes it so seriously that they all come to give her a big hug of congratulations. She looks at the grandmaster to seek help, but Great Yoonjung just smiles and pats her cheek, "Saku my child, drop your fear and guilt to accept and enjoy anything life brings you."

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading. So this is the end of part 2 of Precious Slave. In the next chapter, Eunbi will be back to the palace to prepare for her wedding and her own investiture as the Regent. The storyline should move faster from now on.