“Here’s something that might help,” Jongin came over to Taemin carrying papers. Taemin stared at one of them. They were bound at the edge with string looped through holes. “The family registry," he dropped it down in dejection. "This is going to take forever to look through.”

“But it’s a quick way to find out someone’s family.”

“I don’t even know her family name,” Taemin sighed and pushed it back at Kai who was puzzled. “I’m sorry but that won’t work.”

Back to the drawing board Kai resumed his search while the crown prince joined his little brother again. “Father’s old logs have been archived here. If she’s from a well brought up family then we will find something about it here I’m sure. Father has a lot of allies.”

“And what if she isn’t?”

Minho paused to think. “Well then you will have to find out something about… Umm what were the names of her companions again?”

Taemin counted on his hand as he said their names. “Myungsoo, Chorong, Kim—“

“—Chorong,” Minho cut him off. His face was as if he’d seen a ghost. “It can’t… No it must be wrong.” He shook his head. “I’m reacting over a mere coincidence unless…” Finally he had made up his mind. “Taemin, be honest with me. Did it look like my Chorong?”

It was then the other prince discovered one of his mistakes. Not telling them the whole situation. “S-she didn’t look like anyone brother.”

Minho stared at his brother like he was crazy. “What does that mean?”

“Well… S-she had been transformed into an animal. The three of them were. Naeun was sometimes but only during the day and the others were—“

“Are you serious?” Minho was shocked. “I thought you were kidding!”

Taemin shook his head. He saw that Minho was lost. It took a while for the prince to start to understand a little more than none. He asked his little brother a question. “What animal was she? The Chorong you met that is?”

Taemin paused hoping he wouldn’t be hit for being honest. “She was this bird, a lovebird I think. Why does it matter—“

Something came across Minho’s face making it waver. He swallowed several times and sighed with closed eyes. It was a breath of elation for a smile soon followed.
“After all this time I thought...” His voice got caught and he tugged at his collar, eyes starting to get slightly misty. “That she was dead. But it has to be her. We talked about what we would like to be if we were reborn again. That was when she told me about the love birds. They mate for life; she even described them to me from what she had learned.”

The conversation about Chorong continued, Minho being the one to lead it. He shared about how they had written to each other to stay in touch. How their arranged marriage did not feel that way because of the love the two shared with time growing past. Their first kiss which had happened when he took her home after dinner one evening; his older brother was a romantic man.

“Love is not about saying three words.” Minho said as he grew close to concluding. “It’s about the moments you share with them and the memories made which can never be forgotten.”

Taemin nodded. In his mind he saw that for him and Naeun there were memories. Playing in the lake, sitting by the fire and their first hug was just a handful of these. If there had been a first kiss that would have gone on the list. The thought brought a large smirk.

“Why are you like that?” His brother tried to get him to confess but Kai returned shortly after. “Alright then,” taking out the worn book Minho began to flick through the pages. “Let’s start with the oldest records which were from twenty years ago.”

“’It brings me great pleasure to work with Mr Kim for he has suffered much since his divorce’.” Minho paused. The log had a number on the front and if one counted down then it would have been twenty years ago. “’For a man to learn that his wife has fallen pregnant with another man’s child would break any husband’s heart’.”

“Do you mean to say his wife was unfaithful?”

Minho began to lift a finger to try and hush Kai. “’He told me her lover is a very handsome man from the Son household who had assisted with the building of the palace. My wife shared with me that they are quite wealthy. When he heard this ugly truth he forced to leave, she found refuge with her lover's family and gave birth to a girl. She was named Naeun’.”

Taemin and Kai both stared at each other. “Naeun… She’s from an affair?”

To this Minho made a solemn nod. “’Apparently the child is very beautiful like her father. Talk of his ex-wife still breaks his heart since she left him with their son’. And that’s what’s left about that.”

“What about his son’s name? Do we have a name for him?”

Taemin tried to make his friend silent but Minho agreed and flicked through the pages. Eventually he stopped, mouth dropping in a slight ‘o’. He seemed to re-read the section again before speaking.
“His name is Myungsoo. Kim Myungsoo.”

Now the other two were in shock. “So it’s true,” Taemin breathed. “They are related. What about from a later year? Is there anymore mention of them?” Minho handed them both a log and they sat, scanning through the pages. Taemin grew impatient after a while. The one he read had very little mention about the Kim family.

“This one has mention about Chorong.” Kai said unexpectedly. “It is from the middle of the year. ‘I have some wonderful news to tell my wife. The Parks’ have agreed in allowing an arranged marriage to be made between Minho and her. Tomorrow I will be meeting with them to discuss the possibility of having her visit the palace so he will grow accustomed to her.’”

Taemin smiled at Minho. “And you sure did brother.” To this Minho beamed back, love making his face shine.

“And there’s also something in here about Naeun and Myungsoo too. ‘I met with the men this evening after dinner. Mr Kim revealed that he was suspicious about Myungsoo’s desire to see his half-sister. It could be because he just misses his mother but he went along in the car to meet them. Myungsoo was in awe of Naeun who is apparently only nine years old and they played together happily. Due to this he made the hard decision to let Myungsoo come and see her when he wished for the hope it would help his son seeing her and his mother. Apparently her daughter is also friends with Chorong, my future daughter in law as well as the future wife of the Captain of Defence’s son Kim Jonghyun.”

“Wow it’s almost tragic,” Minho commented with Taemin numbly nodding. It made sense why Naeun had not disclosed much with him about her upbringing. And it was true about Naeun and Jonghyun. They were meant to be married. She would have belonged to someone else. If there had been water nearby he would have consumed the whole glass.

 “I don’t think I can read another one of these. Is there something else we can search through?”

Minho had to think. He used the library just as much as they did. “Ah, there’s some old newspapers kept. Not all of them are here but something could be found with plenty of searching.”

The thought of having to do more reading almost bored Taemin to tears. But for Naeun’s sake he would keep ploughing through. Minho took them over to the shelves where everything was categorised by year as well.

“There was something that caught my eye.” He murmured while the other two younger fellows blindly searched. “Ah I think it had happened here if I remember right.”

“But that only happened three years ago,” Kai pointed out. Minho picked up the pile, quickly fanning through them, coughing when some dust went on his face. The others shielded theirs as well.

“Found it.” He took it back to where they had been sitting and read out the title.  “‘Captain of Police meddles with Magic?’”

The title itself was controversial. Minho shifted uneasily in his seat as he read the article to them. “The Kim residence has been shocked when their daughter Kim Songdam was arrested earlier this week. The reports are that she has been caught performing acts of witchcraft, cursing their neighbours and burning the grass in strange symbols. She will be interrogated by the Secretary of Defence and the case will be taken to high court.’”

“Ouch, poor Jonghyun,” Kai began to say before Taemin’s expression stopped him.

Minho wrestled with something, a thought or statement perhaps. He exhaled with burden. “I wasn’t going to tell this to anyone but—“

Taemin and Kai leaned closer in. “What is it brother?”

“A week after the report came out I was going to my quarters after having a drink of water.” His expression became grave. “Apparently… They’d found her body in the cell… Not moving with a strange mark on her forehead.”

There were shudders as chills ran down spines, an uneasy atmosphere settling on them. Nothing made one more anxious than talk about suicide, a rather taboo topic. Minho lowered the newspaper down, neither of them speaking for a while. What could they say? Neither of them knew how to not sound insensitive to the Kim family.

They were disturbed when a butler entered the library and joined them. “Forgive me for intruding your highness but Jung Yunho is here to see you.” Minho thanked the butler and then slowly rose to his feet.

“Your girl Taemin,” his voice was shaking. “Something is.. There’s no knowing what kind of powers Jonghyun has over her.”

“Taemin,” Kai watched his friend get up, knees almost knocking together. “What are you going to do?”

When he answered them his voice was void of emotion due to fear but clear like a bell. “I’m going to them. The animals and Naeun; they are in danger I know it.” Minho pulled him back by the collar. Taemin halted in mid run and turned around. "What are you doing?!" He snapped impatiently.

"We're going to help, you're my brother and royalty. You've been doing this alone for a while. However you cannot help her alone. So we're coming with you and that's an order."

None of Naeun due to trying to fit in a lot of information about their past and what happened. I hope you aren’t over whelmed by how much was shared here.