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16. FEAR

Wrapped in a cocoon of troops, Taemin returned victoriously into his palace. But the new King barely looked presentable. Hours of battling with the enemy has created dark circles under his eyes and black dots on his jaw.

The guard brought him through the dishevelled corridors, as hundreds of servants all lowered their heads into a bow or a curtsy. Taemin should be used to this, since he was surrounded by bows since his birth. But the words leaking out of their mouths sent prickles into Taemin’s heart.

“Your majesty.” They all say.

And when he sees his mother covered in a black veil and in a black coat dress, he felt himself shatter into pieces. Through the thin veil, Taemin could see the Queen’s dark pupils. She was about to raise her hands and cup his cheeks, just like how she greets her son, but as reminded of his title, the Queen bent her trembling legs into a curtsy.

“Your majesty.” She said.

A shot of pain pierced through Taemin’s eyes, as he held his mother to stand. “Mother, we have fought off the Alzamian troops. General and Lord Kim are finishing off.”

The Queen forced a smile, as she nodded stiffly.

An official sent hushed whispers into Taemin’s ears, hurrying him to face his cabinet.

Pain struck his face again. As much as he knew he had a King’s responsibility on his shoulders, he was just a young man who has lost his father. Along with the Queen, the mother and son both both loss their husband, their father, their leader of the family.

Through the fabric, the Queen noticed her son’s agony. She raises her trembling hands and to land on her son’s cheek.

“Go, my son. Your country needs you.” The Queen’s voice almost broke, as Taemin engulfed his mother into his arms.

“Father told me that he loves you.” He muttered into her ears.

The Queen forced down a sob as she tightened her arms around her son.

After a second of silence, the Queen was first to tore herself away from Taemin. As much as he was her son, he is now the King, and he has the weight of a country on his shoulders. She stepped back and lowered into a curtsy.

Taemin stifled a gulp as he turned to the archdoors.

The doors swung open. Taemin moved to take his regular seat when the chamberlain stopped him and gestured at the chair at the end of the table.

The King’s chair.

Jaw clenching, Taemin switched seats. He looked up at the line of faces who were doubled his age as they spoke one by one.

“What will be done to the residual Alzamian troops?”

“Our general and Lord Kim are finishing off. Alzamia’s main troop is annihilated along with the general. For the others, most have either fled or diminished into flesh, sir.”

“And the infiltrations of the west wing?”

“Colonel Choi has removed the forces. The palace is secured.”

“What about the traitor?”

“Count Yoo and his family has fled towards the West. We’ve sent our special forces to track them down.”

After listening to a whole bunch of words from the officials, the new King merely pursed his lips and spoke with darkened eyes.

“Bring the traitor and his family back as soon as possible.”

“I need them to face their fates.”

……

A streak of light appeared through the thickened, grey blankets.

“We won the battle at the Northern front!” Someone shouted across the streets.

The civilians stretched their heads out of their closed windows, as the town bursted into tears of relief, joy and erupted into cheers and shouts.

Yet, none of them knew, that their country’s victory came with a price.

The loss of their precious monarch.

……

“Naeun! Naeun!” Krystal shook her friend awake from slumber.

Naeun struggled to keep her heavy eyelids open, as she mumbled weakly. “Huh?”

“The guards said Colonel Choi has fought off the infiltrations, and we can leave our room now!” Krystal exclaimed in Naeun’s ears, blasting her fully awake. Naeun widened her eyes as a large curl appeared on her lips.

“Really!” She closed , then hesitated.

“B-But… what about…“ She trailed off.

“They said the Northern front has also ended in victory!” Krystal had twinkles in her eyes.

“Though they keep on saying that the King has returned, but no one mentioned the Prince…” She frowned.

“Don’t worry, if the King is back, then Taemin oppa will be safe too!” Krystal smiled with a gleam in her eyes.

Naeun nodded, as Krystal held her up. She felt like her legs had been asleep for days and weeks, while they stayed crumbled and hidden in their rooms.

She shook off the dust on her long dress, then glanced at the mirror.

She wondered if she’ll see him returning with a huge grin on his face. She wondered if he’ll appear through the gates amongst the huge crowds of welcomers, just like when she saw him the first time, long before the contest.

She wondered what she should say to him when he comes back.

Welcome back?

How was it?

You did a great job?

Or…

I missed you.

She felt her cheeks flare up at the confession, as they stepped towards the doorway.

Krystal creaked open the door and exchanged a few mutters with the guards. Shortly after, she turned back to Naeun.

“The guards said they’ll us towards the North Wing. Though Colonel Choi fought off the main forces, they’re not sure if there’ll be any lingering soldiers or anyone sneaking around.”

“Usually they would do blanket search to ensure the palace has been cleared, but most of the men were sent to the Northern front for the main battle, so we just have to stay alert.”

“Don’t worry,” Krystal added quickly. “If the main forces are gone, Alzamian soldiers would be powerless anyways. I’m sure most of them are wiped out already.”

Naeun nodded with a hesitant nod. As much as she thanked the guards and Krystal for keeping her safe, she felt guilty for the handful of people that had to cocooned around her.

She bit her lip as they travelled through corridors. Sensing her silence, Krystal turned back with a smile. “Don’t feel bad. It’s our duty to protect you.”

Krystal raised a cheeky smile as she leaned in for a whisper. “Our duty to protect the future-Queen, under the orders of the Prince!”

Naeun’s cheeks flushed again.

Suddenly, a scream screeched pass the marbled walls.

Their hurried footsteps were interrupted.

The guards drew their swords and narrowed their eyes, while Krystal had her hands on the helms of her sword.

Emerging from the hidden corners, was a handful of masked men. All of them had a darkened glint in their eyes, just like a predator’s yellow gleaming pupils.

Naeun’s blood turned cold.

She only had four guards, while the enemy had six.

What was going on? She thought Krystal said that most forces would be cleared. Why would there still be so many soldiers lingering in the walls of the palace?

But Naeun has no time to contemplate, because one of the masked men lunged.

In a split second, each of the guards clashed into their opponents. Krystal grabbed Naeun’s wrists and dragged her towards the other direction.

She heard a yell and a grunt followed by a thump on the floor. Krystal tightened the hold on hers, as she pulled her into a sprint, but Naeun couldn’t help but to glance back.

One of the guards has been diminished into a blob of scarlet flesh, as he slumped onto the white marbled tiles.

Naeun felt sweat tricked down her back as her hands trembled, but her legs was in no time to rest, because, while Krystal was dragging her, Hayoung was also pushing her down the abandoned stairs.

The guards had sacrificed their lives for Naeun.

They bought time for her to escape.

She realised this as they sprinted through corridors, and Naeun couldn’t help but to feel the moist at the rims of her eyes.

But she gulped down the rising steam in her eyes, because someone else had block their path.

Two masked men appeared at the end of the hallway, with their darkened eyes narrowing into a glare.

Krystal stepped up, entirely hiding Naeun from their view.

She muttered to her friend.

“Go."

Naeun sent a look of concern to her, but Krystal drew her sword.

“RUN!” She shouted, as she clashed into the two soldiers.

Hayoung yanked Naeun, and they dashed through the doors, with their hands tightly gripped against each others.

They bolted around one corner, then another. Hayoung led them to an inconspicuous alcove with a small door and shoved her through—into the servants’ halls.

“Left!” It was the first time Hayoung had ordered her lady, as she yanked the door shut and grabbed a service tray that had been left in the corridor. She wedged it into place while Naeun ran, past pallets of supplies and maintenance equipment, storage cabinets and broken sculptures.

Hayoung was taller than her, so she caught up easily.

“My lady,” Hayoung said as they bursted open another door, sprinting past the wind that hurled against their ears.

“Two corridors back you’ll go down to the foyer.” She said. “I’m sorry, my lady, but I’ll draw them off quickly and circle back around to find you.”

Naeun turned sharply to her. “No. I can’t leave you alone, it’s too dangerous.”

Footsteps thundered in the distance.

Hayoung raised into a huge grin that only sent tremors into Naeun’s heart. “My lady, I’ve always been the faster runner than you.”

“My job, is to keep my lady safe. It had been my only job for the past ten years.”

Hayoung shoved her towards the other direction and she took off running again, just as she heard the footsteps catching up.

“There!” someone yelled.

Hayoung disappeared around a corner.

Naeun fought back the flooding in her eyes. She passed one corridor and heard more footsteps, but couldn’t tell which direction they were coming from. She froze, scanned her surroundings, and yanked open one of the storage cabinets. Rolls of