Nicole's POV

"GOODBYE, MY BELOVED HAN KINGDOM~  ADIEU~  ADIEU~~" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

The ice prince rolled his eyes.  "Why are you shouting goodbye?  It's not like you're leaving permanently."  I glared daggers in his direction as my older sister sighed and massaged my shoulders briefly.  The three of us had just left the vicinity of the Han kingdom; we were currently standing outside the kingdom gates.  From here on out, all that could be seen was forest.  Forest... Forest...  Forest.

Ignoring the comment stated by her beau, Seungyeon coughed.  "So, um...  Who knows what direction we need to head in now?" she stated nervously as she adjusted the straps on her backpack.  Her backpack was twice the size of mine...  What on earth could she possibly have packed?

Prince Nam gawked at my sister.  "Oh hell no...  Don't tell me..." The ice prince sighed as he walked closer to Seungyeon.  "Don't tell me you lost the map and compass that your 'rents gave you!"

Now it was my turn to gawk at her.  I laughed nervously.  "Ha, Seungyeon-unnie, ha...  You didn't lose anything right?"  Now is not the time for her klutz skills to kick into high gear!

Her eyes shifted from the ice prince to me and then back to the ice prince again.  "Uh...?"

---

Woohyun's POV

THIS.

GODFORSAKEN.

WOMAN.

Of course, she'd just happen to lose the map.  Of course, she'd also just happen to lose the compass as well.  Figures as much...  She's not known as the infamous "klutz of the Han kingdom" for nothing.

"Let me just check your backpack for a second there, unnie." stated that woman's sister.  She cleared out that woman's backpack and began digging through the newfound mess on the ground.  After several minutes, she sighed, and packed everything back up.  While handing the backpack to her sister, she sighed again.  "Unnie...  It really isn't in there.  How did you manage to lose it?"

At least that woman had the decency to look guilty.  "Sorry guys...  I really have no idea.  I remember putting inside the smallest pocket of my rucksack before setting out of the palace...  And then, I checked the pocket just now...  And the two items had just disappeared!"

---

???'s POV

I chuckled as I put down my binoculars.  By now, the trio should have noticed that their precious map and compass had gone missing!

[[f l a s h b a c k]]

"Here, this should help you get to the Matsu kingdom with little trouble." With that said, the two girls' father handed them a compass.  "This too," With that said, he also handed them a map.

"I'll take care of them with my life," joked Princess Seungyeon as she stowed them away in her rucksack.

"I don't know, unnie...  You have a tendency to lose things..." Princess Nicole looked doubtful as she began patting her sister's backpack.  "I guess there aren't any holes..."

Seungyeon scoffed.  "Of course there aren't; I double-checked ahead of time!  I went through all my bags and this one was the only one without a hole in any of its pockets!  It should be fine then, right?"

Nicole and the king looked at Seungyeon with skepticism before he sighed.  "Alright then...  Nicole and Prince Nam's lives are in your hands right now." He gave his daughters a quick hug.  "Travel safely,"

"We will," chorused the princesses in unison.  Then, they left the main hall and walked out the door to meet up with the Prince from the Nam kingdom.

However...  Right before they walked out the palace doors, I quickly whispered a spell:

"Oogly boogly~

Left and right~

Let the contents of that pocket~

Disappear from sight~"

... And touched my finger to the smallest pocket on Seungyeon's rucksack.

... Without her noticing, of course!

[[/ f l a s h b a c k]]

I laughed maniacally at the memory.  That Seungyeon princess really was quite thick; I'm surprised she didn't notice me needlessly touching her bag.

Hm...  I wonder how the trio are going to deal with this turn of events...

Intrigued by the idea of them in misery, I put my binoculars to my face once again.

Eh?!?  They're continuing to walk?!?

---

Nicole's POV

The ice prince was positively fuming.  But then all of a sudden, he sighed and calmed down.  It's weird how quickly his mood shifts around my sister...  Maybe he has the male version of PMS or something.

Anyways...

"Whatever.  I figured something like this would happen and so did the king; he gave me a spare map and compass in case you lost it, woman." At the "woman" part, Woohyun roughly poked, no, jabbed his finger into my sister's shoulder.  She frowned in return and simply rubbed her arm.  Running a hand through his hair, Woohyun used his other hand to take out a map and a compass from his left pocket.

"Well...  At least we can continue traveling, right?" Seungyeon smiled weakly as she held her hands out to take the map and compass.  Woohyun slapped her hands away.

"True, but I'll keep control of this map and compass.  We wouldn't want them to be lost too, right?" he sneered.

Ugh.  Really.  Prince Nam Woohyun is the worst of the worst.  I'm going to laugh when there comes a day that he actually, legitly, falls in love with my sister.

---

Seungyeon's POV

"Geez, he didn't need to be so mean about it!" I mumbled to myself as I followed behind Woohyun and my sister.  The three of us had just begun walking through the forest.

But really...  I'm fairly certain that I had the map and compass in my rucksack's smallest pocket!  And there's no hole in the pocket!  There's no way the two items could have simply gotten lost thanks to me...  Bewildered, I began doing a step-by-step replay of my morning before leaving the palace and meeting up with the two people in front of me.

Wait a minute...  Didn't that maid...  What's her name...  Whatever, but didn't that one maid touch my backpack before I left?

Didn't she mutter something under her breath?

I inwardly laughed.  I must be going crazy...  Now I'm thinking that random maids are somehow able to use magic!  I shook my head before Nicole's screams filled the air.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZIP!

Suddenly, I looked up to find my little sister hoisted up into the air...  Hanging off a tree branch...  Stuck in what seemed to be a giant, rope net.  I exchanged a glance with Woohyun as he raised an eyebrow.  I (stupidly) blushed at his quick glance before we both focused our attention back on the situation at hand.

"GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" Nicole shrieked as she shook herself in the net.

"Well...  That's the oddest looking rabbit I've ever seen,"

Woohyun and I turned around to meet eyes with a smiling young man dressed in light armor.  Woohyun took a step back and put his hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword.  "Who are you?" he growled, like an attack dog (or some other angry, vicious animal).

---

Woohyun's POV

I dislike tall people.  I really, really dislike tall people.

I also dislike people with eye-smiles.  I really, really dislike people with eye-smiles.

I glanced over at that woman and glanced back at the person standing in front of me.

Damn, eye-smiles...

Author's Note: Constructive criticism and comments alike are equally encouraged~ Go go go~ :D