"How is she?" All the princes crowded around the physician as he came out of the room.

The King and Queen were also there, wanting to make sure this prized bodyguard was alright. "Come on boys, give him some space." the King muttered, pulling the princes away from the physician.

The Imperial Physician nodded in thanks. "Well, she's basically out of the danger zone." he told them. "It's lucky that she only took a really small sip of the soup. Tiny amounts of cyanide can be fatal." he warned.

"She's still unconscious for the time being," the physician told them. "But she will wake in around an hour after the effects of the herbs wear off. Don't let her consume anything until eight hours later, let her stomach rest. Keep her meal light and easy to swallow and feed her the packages of herbs I prescribed. If you continue this way, she'll be alright within a week."

The princes heaved a sigh of relief in unison. Which was rather loud when all six did it together. HAII~~~

"So can we see her now?" Baekhyun asked urgently. The Physician frowned. "I'm afraid you have to keep away for the next one hour until she wakes by herself. She needs the rest as much as she can." he told them. "After that, keep your visits short. She'll need to sleep."

Baekhyun nodded, not knowing how he was going to tolerate waiting for the next one hour.

"Oh, your majesty." the Physician went over to the King and whispered. "I wanted to talk to you about the whale meat dish." he produced a silver needle that had now turned black. The King and Queen gasped.

"His bowl was poisoned." the Physician spoke in hushed tones. "Only his. I tested the other three bowls but they hadn't showed any signs of cyanide."

"That's strange. Kim Court Lady told us that she had already tested for poison in the kitchen." the King frowned.

"That means the cyanide was added only after that." the Physican warned. "And it had to be someone familiar enough in the Palace to know when to go about doing it, and that Kim Court Lady would serve the both of you, while Jung Court Lady served Jeonha. The person had to know to add the cyanide to Jung Court Lady's serving."

The King felt a shiver. Who would that be?

"I'll leave the unravelling of mysteries to you, Pyeha." the physician bowed. He excused himself and walked away, leaving the Queen and King unsettled. "This is the second attempt on his life." the Queen whispered. "Just who wants him dead?"

The King shook his head. He had no idea. "And it doesn't make sense. Because if they want to overthrow our family as sovereign they could try to take me down. Who would have advantage if Baekhyun was dead?"

The Queen shook her head. "I don't know. I don't know at all."

The one hour wait was, put simply, TORTURE.

The six princes were restless and couldn't wait till Byul was up. They waited in her room (it was officially her room now, Baekhyun had her transferred there so he could look after her) and even Sehun was exceptionally quiet to allow Byul proper rest.

She finally stirred and fluttered her eyes opened a little more than an hour later. She squinted around her, feeling really tired. "Noona!" Sehun was the first to notice that she had woken up. The princes crowded around her bed anxiously while Kai and D.O. helped her sit up.

"How are you feeling, Byul?" Chanyeol asked worriedly.

Byul sighed tiredly. "Like my throat's on fire." she croaked. "Is there water?"

Baekhyun rushed to get her a cup and fed it to her slowly. He sighed, feeling guilt overwhelm him again. Was he some type of jinx? Why did she get into so much trouble because of him all the time?

"You were right, Han Eunbyul. There was cyanide." Baekhyun muttered sadly. Byul cracked a weak smile. "I know. My instincts told me so." she said softly. "That's why I only let my lips touch the soup and it. Didn't know it was strong enough to knock me unconscious though."

Baekhyun felt his heart cringe. Why was this girl so inhumanely strong even at such times?

"Byul noona looks weak. We should let her rest." Kai reminded them that the physician told them that they should keep the visit short.

Byul smiled weakly, suppressing a yawn. "Bye Byul." D.O. waved. "Rest well."

Byul nodded, waving back. She settled back into the soft fluffy bed that seemed to be engulfing her whole body, and sighed comfortably. She caught Baekhyun staying behind, watching her with unreadable eyes.

"Aren't you going?" she asked sleepily, her eyes barely able to open.

Baekhyun shook his head, taking a seat beside her bed. "No. I'm not going anywhere. Ever."

"I'm hungry. It's just half an hour can't you let me eat now?" Byul pouted, resting her chin on her elbows.

She had slept for another six hours and spent another half an hour begging for Baekhyun to give her food. After being starved since breakfast since she hadn't got to eat her lunch, she was STARVING. Caps.

"The physician said to feed you after eight hours. It's been seven and a half." Baekhyun looked up at the sky at the sun. "Just wait a while more."

Byul puffed her cheeks, annoyed. "But I'm hungry now." she grumbled. "I'm sick and weak and starving. I NEED FOOD." she emphasized. Her stomach growled appropriately and she pinked.

Baekhyun wrinkled his nose. "But..."

"Ddong-ha, on the account of me saving your life again, please please pleeeeeeeeaseeeee just give me something to eat right now." she pleaded. "A bun would do. Or maybe two. Heck, make it three." her stomach growled again.

Baekhyun chuckled and ruffled her hair that had been let down from her usual tight pony tail. "Fine fine. I'll consult the physician and if he says it's okay to eat, I'll get you food."

Byul grinned. "Great." she clicked her tongue. "Get going now! I'm dying not of cyanide but hunger."

"Tsk. Demanding." Baekhyun teased. It was rather late, around nine at night. He barely swallowed his dinner as he waited for Byul to wake, and was relieved beyond words when she began bickering with him the moment she woke up.

He found the physician and confirmed that it was now alright to consume food, and went to the Imperial Kitchen himself to get her meal. He watched and instructed as the cooks cooked, adding comments about too much oil or too much salt. He insisted to use the best ingredients available, much to the cooks' annoyance.

Finally, he was ready with a whole array of goodies that looked mouth watering but were low in oil, salt and sugar. He walked back to his quarters with five maids following behind him with trays of food and led the way.

"I'm back." Baekhyun went into Byul's room.

"Finally!" Byul brightened, sitting up. "Where..." her voice got lost in as the five maids followed into the room with trays of food each. Baekhyun ordered for them to put it down on a makeshift table and smiled proudly at her. "What do you think?"

"Are you feeding an army?" Byul blurted in surprise. "I requested for three buns, Ddong-ha, not the whole kitchen supply!"

Baekhyun made a face. "You're recuperating. You've got to eat." he insisted. He picked up the best dish of all, birdnest's congee with abalone and put it on the table that was placed on the bed. "Eat this." he urged.

Byul blinked. "But I'm just a bodyguard and-"

"You saved my life, Han Eunbyul." Baekhyun muttered. "It's safe to say your life's worth as much as mine."

Byul looked for him a bit and her lips twitched upwards. "If you're sure." she shrugged. And then she snatched the spoon from him and gobbled the entire bowl down, not minding the heat. And she moved on the clear another one plate of tiny shrimp buns, a large bowl of bibimbap, and another even larger bowl of Ox Bone soup.

"Woah." Baekhyun blurted as Byul finally fell back, satisfied. "You can eat."

"Of course I can eat." Byul wrinkled her nose. "Don't bother talking about me getting fat because it doesn't bother me." she stretched. "Whew that was full, don't you suppose...." she trailed off, blinking when she realized he was looking at her intently.

She pinked, suddenly self conscious. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Baekhyun bit his lip. "Thank you Han Eunbyul. You saved my life. Again."

"Aish it's nothing-"

"It's not." Baekhyun cut her off. "I only have this one life, but you've saved me for so many times. I'm sorry for not believing you. If I was alert enough, If I hadn't listened to Dahae..." he swallowed hard.

"Hey." Byul looked up at him with a small smile. "Don't beat yourself up because of it. I'm fine now right?" she yawned. "I'm going to continue with my speech tomorrow if I remember so let me sleep first hm?" she murmured.

Baekhyun chuckled softly and nodded. He tucked her into bed, and before he was done with covering her with the blanket, she was already fast asleep. Baekhyun brushed the stray strands of hair away from her face and sighed softly, watching her.

"I owe you more than my life, Han Eunbyul." he whispered as he watched her, trailing his finger from her brows to her nose. "I'm sorry. I don't deserve a bodyguard like you."

His gaze softened as he watched her sleep. "How can you be so cheerful and strong when you almost died today?" he asked in disbelief. "You're really something else Han Eunbyul." his fingers traced her lips. In response, he his own.

"From now onwards, you'll not be the one protecting me." he gripped her hand. "I'll protect you too."