A black stallion-pulled carriage pulled up in front of the very castle in which Daesung had exited on his own. A man in a form-fitting tunic stepped out of the carriage, his fur cloak resting comfortably on his shoulders.

The slight breeze ruffled his black hair and his smirk was plastered on his face. His dark eyes twinkled mischeviously as he shut the door, making whatever or whoever he had arrived with to wait patiently, awaiting his return.

He looked up at the hill, with squinting eyes, covering his face from the setting sun. ''Is that the castle the Rose hides in?'', he thought aloud, and when he got several excited grunts from the inside of the carriage, he stopped his questioning immediately.

The carriage left apruptly like it's arrival and the anonymous man's leather sandals slappedagainst the now-cobble-stoned pathway leading to the castle, his cloak billowing freely behind him. The immortal roses grew in hedges around the castle, overing the poison ivy which once covered the stone barriers. No sane man would pluck them, for they had little leaves and many thorns; their inviting olour full of warning and pain to whoever touched them.

''Who goes there?'', a deep voice bellowed from one of the watch towers overlooking the castle. He looked up and held up a scroll with a crest; too far for the watch tower guard to see.

''I don't care whoever sent you or whatever is inside that scroll of yours. You are not gracing me with your presence here!'', the guard stubbornly declared form the crevice in the watch tower which carried his voice.

The man, below, chuckled and owed the scroll. He turned around 180 degrees to leave when he heard the drawbridge being lowered. Spinning around again, he was greeted by the sight of an adolescent boy walking out with a little girl in his arms. The two didn't realize that he was in the middle of their path so he dived in to the hedge of roses on his near right, biting his lips hard to muffle out the screams of his pain.

The little girl scrambled out of the boy's arms and began running her hand over the petals. Suddenly, the pain increased by tenfold and the man groaned in pain, making the girl stop in her tracks and rush toward the boy.

''Zelo...there's something in the bushes...'', she whimpered, tugging on the boy's cloak. ''It's just your imagination, Hayi. Sean checked the entire gardens twice today.'', the boy reasoned with her. She didn't feel convinced, though, for her grip tightened on his cloak.

''Can you go check?'', she pleaded to the boy. ''I'll make him patrol the gardens after we come back, alright?'', he decided on the spot. The thorns were pricking deeper in to his skin and he wished that he had jumped in to the moat below instead. In spite of this, he felt a metallic taste on his lips and cheek, he had started bleeding.

The little girl kept staring at the bushes, fear and suspicion clouding her innocent face, her jaw even hardened stubbornly. It wasn't until the boy had picked her up did she tear her gaze from them.

After their footsteps faded away, the man stepped out on to the other side of the hedge, falling down in to the moat. The pain intensified and he dragged his bloody body on to the river bank opposite to the castle. As he got to his feet, he could have sworn he heard chuckling form above.

The watch tower guard was trying to stifle his laughter.

''I see you were watching'', the man hissed to the guard. ''On the contrary, I just glimpsed you falling.'', the guard chuckled, his spear banging off the stone walls.

''May those wounds be a reminder to you for trying to enter this castle again.'', were the guard's last words.

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''Why do we have to go in to town at sundown, Hayi? We both know that you're going to fall asleep and I'm going to have to carry you back to the castle on my back.'', Zelo said knowingly, clutching Hayi's small hand in his. 

''We need to make you pretty, Zelo.'' was her simple answer as she dragged Zelo through the bustling crowd in the town.

The townspeople didn't mind her much; they just see her as any ordinary human would. A small 10-year-old girl wihc Zelo as her brother. He wasn't criticized, either, for living in such a grand castle and having a lot of wealth in his young age. They beleived that Zelo had inherited the place from Hyunsuk, who they believed was his father.

''Oh, Hayi!'', a young woman recognized her from her ribbon stand. Zelo watched as Hayi ran toward the woman and hugged her tight, her small frame almost disappearing in her robes.

''I see you've brought Zelo again.'', The woman said with a smile, her brown doe-like eyes twinkling. ''It's nice to see you too, Dara.'', Zelo chuckled, ruffling her brown tresses. ''You too.'', she chimed, clutching Hayi's little hand.

''Mind telling me why you've decided to grace the town with your presence?'', she asked, picking Hayi up and placing her on the stool she was previously sitting on. ''Hayi wanted some new books to read and I needed some new cloaks.'' he informed as Dara braided some pink ribborns in to Hayi's strawberry blonde hair.

''I have a few cloaks you could have. I made them a week ago.'', she offered as she took another ribbon. ''There wouldn't be a beige cloak among those, would there?'', Zelo asked, his eyebrowns rising skeptically.

''You know me so well, don't you?'', Dara chuckled, going to the back of the stall and bringing out a couple of velvet cloaks, Half of them were beige and the rest were as dark as the night sky.

''Doesn't Jiyong make you rest? These must have taken two weeks to make!'', Zelo exclaimed, his hand touching the soft fabric. ''I keep insisting that I need to finish. He lets me sleep on his lap when I'm tired, though.'', she replied, a small blush creeping on to her cheeks at the mention of her husband's name. Zelo, obviously noticing this, took the handful of cloaks and held out a pouch of golden coins.

''You aren't letting me take these for free this time, Dara. You have to keep it.'', Zelo declared as Hayi slipped on one of the beige cloak. ''No, Zelo. You can keep-''

''No. Keep them.'', Zelo sternly pressed. Dara, with an exasperated sigh, took the leather pouch and placed it on her workbench. ''These are so pretty~'', Hayi cooed as she touched the pink ribborns in her hair.

The sun had now set and the sky, which was previously displayed in reds and yellows, was now in a deep shade of violet. Some stars were peeking out and a few merchants had lit some lanterns to escpae the darkness which was creeping up to them.

''We better get going. See you soon, Dara.'', Zelo said as he ruffled her hair once more before picking Hayi up and walking away.

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''Well?'', Taeyang asked the man who had rose thorns pierced in to his body. The same man who hid in Hayi's rosebushes. The same man who had fallen in to the moat and was ridiculed by the watch tower guard.

''Oh, she lives there, alright. Those roses are deadly.'', the man croaked, his legs buckling from the pain he had experienced previously. ''Is that why you have thorns lodged in your body? She she command them to shoot their thorns at you?!'', Taeyang asked, excitement and adrenaline running through his veins at the thought of the Eternal Rose having powers.

''...No, Your Highness. I hid in the rosebushes when the Guardian arrived with her. I couldn't risk blowing my cover.'' the man explained. Taeyang's eyes glinted with fury as he heard the man's pathetic excuse.

''The Choi's are a damn right pathetic bunch of excuses for humans! I thought I knew why I was hiring you!'', he bellowed at the man, his eyes going darker than ever, his gold crown shooting out strands of dark liquid which encased the man in front of him.

''Do you fear death, Seunghyun?'', Taeyang seethed, the black strands encasing him tighter and tighter, making it difficult for him to breathe. The strands started getting thicker and hotter; it was almost the size of a human forearm.

''I...don....t.'', Seunghyun managed to choke after one of the strands wrapped around his neck. Taeyang smirked through his suffering, commanding his crown to let Seunghyun go.

Seunghyun dropped to the floor in a heap of singed silk and bleeding wounds. His hair was slightly singed and numerous red welts were on his skin which made bare contact with the black strands. His neck was in an alraming shade of red and he was gasping for air.

''Be glad I spared you. I have something else for you in mind.'', Taeyang hissed, descending from his throne. Seunghyun looked up at the demon lord with a look full of pure hatred which only made him smirk.

''You know, your pain and suffering only make me stronger.'', were his last words as he left in a rush of black robes.

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four. :D

suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupeo long chapter. C:

hint of daragon because i absolutely adore those two.

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