Chapter 8

 

Third POV

 

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here, why if it isn't one of that wolf kings snivelling dogs that we've caught in our trap?" An Arcadian spat out with a sneer as he eyed the armour Taeyeon was wearing in the net, not realising that she was a girl.

 

"What should we do with him? Should we go back and ask the commander about what we should do?" Another Arcadian asked reluctantly, unsure of what actions he should take in a situation such as this.

 

"Nah, let's just do whatever we want to this idiotic scumbag who found his way into our trap." The third member of their group said as he went towards the tree with a rope wrapped around it ready to cut Taeyeon loose before a voice boomed at them commanding them to stand still.

 

The three Arcadians immediately did as they were told as a tall man dressed in fine armour and clothes approached the area the trap Taeyeon was currently hanging from was. Having been informed by a messenger who had originally been with the three Arcadians who were present at the time and ran back to tell their commander of what they found.

 

"Just what were you about to do just then men?" Their commander questioned them intensely with sweat dropping from each of the men's faces as they stayed silent, too scared to say anything.

 

"Well men? Are you going to tell me what you were going to do or do I have guess?" The commander spat at them impatiently causing them to quiver in fear.

 

Unable to keep watching Taeyeon cut herself free from the ropes and descended gracefully from the trap landing a couple of metres away from the Arcadians that had surrounded her before. It was then that the Arcadians realised that the knight they had captured was a girl and not just any girl but a beautiful one at that.

 

However, the commander had a much different reaction to Taeyeons appearance as he gasped and kneeled before her saying formally, "Princess Taeyeon, I apologise for my men's rudeness and the inhospitable manner with which you have been treated." He then looked up at Taeyeon with eyes full of longing as he then dismissed his men to leave him alone with her as he then rushed up to hug her but with Taeyeons reflexes she dodged his approach and distanced herself from him.

 

"Okay, I don't know who you are or how you know my name but just stay away from me, I'm no princess." Taeyeon said with a look of scepticism showing plainly on her face.

 

"But Taeyeon, it's me, Jaejoong. Don't you remember me? I was your bodyguard since we were little until the incident where you disappeared a...and I....we thought we lost you. But here you are right in front of me." Jaejoong said emotionally as he once again went in for a hug which Taeyeon once again dodged in confusion at his words.

 

"I'm definitely not the girl your looking for, so stop confusing me with your memories." Taeyeon said in defiance, not wanting to be a replacement for this other Taeyeon, knowing that it will never end well if she were mistaken for this princess.

 

"But you look exactly like her. See, that's you, me and your mother the queen." Jaejoong countered as he showed her a picture, and sure enough, there she was in the picture but what really caught her eye was the fact that the mother in the picture looked exactly like her mom who went missing on her birthday.

 

"No, this can't be real. That's not me and that's not my mother." Taeyeon said as she shook her head and backed off from Jaejoong not knowing what to believe anymore. Turning her back on him, about to run away.

 

"Wait, please wait! I don't know what has happened to you or why you have been caught in our trap or why your wearing the armour of our enemy. But I do know without a doubt that you are Taeyeon." Jaejoong said desperately.

 

Taeyeon turned around and said "Just because you know my name doesn't mean I'm this princess you are looking for. I have my own memories, my own life and my own home which I am trying to get to, after being dropped here. So unless you are willing to help me leave this place, just leave me alone."

 

"S..so your name is Taeyeon?" Jaejoong asked with hope filled eyes.

 

"Yes, but once again I am not the Taeyeon you are looking for!" Taeyeon shouted, getting impatient with Jaejoong.

 

"Now that I think about it, there was a time that the queen suddenly disappeared for a while and then she reappeared once more, but in the enemy kingdom like you. Luckily, no one in the enemy kingdom recognised her and so one of our spies were able to spot her and take her back to our kingdom. However, she put up quite a struggle, saying she was no queen and that she had no connections with our kingdom. But once she saw your picture she knew that you were her daughter and immediately came with us to see you." Jaejoong remembered as he thought of the similarities in their circumstances.

 

Taeyeon was now tearing up at the hope that maybe her mother in this picture was her actual mother who had disappeared that day as she said tearfully "Don't joke about this stuff Jaejoong or whatever your name is. You can't lie about this kind of stuff."

 

"Oh Taeyeon, there is no way that I would ever lie to you ever. Please believe me. I know you don't remember now but I'm sure you will learn to adapt the same way your mother did." Jaejoong said as he successfully made his way towards her and wiped her tears before finally embracing her. Taeyeon didn't dodge this time as she really needed a hug right now to feel a semblance of reality to the news that she had just heard. Her mother just may be alive and she now had the chance to see her.

 

"O...okay, then can you let me see her?" Taeyeon asked with hope filled eyes as she believed that maybe, just maybe, this woman could be her actual mother. Maybe she encountered the same kind of fog she went through and ended up in this land like she did? Maybe her mother had to adapt into the role of queen to survive in this realm? 

 

Who knows but whatever the answer is, Taeyeon was going to find out. Anyways, Taeyeon had a gift for detecting liars and she could feel that Jaejoong was telling the truth, and that's also why she believed Kyungsoo was a good person but maybe her instincts no longer worked as a lie detector anymore. 

 

"At once, your highness. I will take you to her right away, you have no idea how worried we all were, especially your fiancé. Goodness, he just turns into a deadly dragon whenever you're not around and when you went missing it just got worse and..." Jaejoong agreed as he then started babbling away about the affairs of the kingdom while holding Taeyeons hand and guiding her until Taeyeon interrupted him.

 

"Wait, fiancé? So I'm engaged here?!" Taeyeon shouted, not liking the idea one bit as she let go of his hands and stopping in her tracks.

 

"Of course, you are betrothed to the neighbouring country's prince, Wu Yi Fan, otherwise known as Kris." Jaejoong explained as he reached out his hand for her to hold once again so he could continue to take her to his camp before departing by horse and carriage to the castle.

 

But, Taeyeon was hesitating on whether she would follow him or not due to the mention of a fiancé and from what she had heard a scary one at that. "Do....do I have to meet this prince? From the sounds of it he seems to be really scary." Taeyeon asked with her feelings clearly displaying on her face much to the amusement of Jaejoong who chuckled at the sight.

 

"You don't have to worry Princess, out of everyone in the whole world, you are the only one he treasures and loves, and I have yet to see him get angry at you, a bit over protective yes, but never angry or mad no matter what you do. " Jaejoong explained as he tried to alleviate her fears but it seems that his words did the opposite.

 

Hearing that her so called fiancé was overprotective was enough to send her running for the hills. She doesn't like feeling confined or having her freedom restricted like how it was back home with her overprotective family and hearing how this Kris person is with Princess Taeyeon, Taeyeon felt that she was walking straight into a life that could restrict her like the old one. 

 

And what would happen if Kris found out that she was not the Princess Taeyeon that he treasures so much? Would he lock me up? Or use me as a replacement for his missing princess? 

 

There were so many questions in Taeyeons head that she didn't even realise the state of her body that was weak from riding that horse for hours and the weakness was finally overcoming her as she found herself blacking out with Jaejoong rushing to her assistance. 

 

"Heechul Oppa." Was the last words Taeyeon uttered before she was consumed by darkness, losing consciousness, after having seen the illusion of Jaejoong being her older brother.

 

As she had called for him a signal was found by Heechul on his monitor on Taeyeons tracking device and it seems that the place she had found herself was now I'm the forest near their old ancestral home in England that happened to be a castle their family had purchased and was in the process of refurbishing. At the signal, Heechul immediately headed out, leaving a message for his brother and dad before getting on his private jet to travel to England. "Don't worry Taeyeon, Oppas coming for you." Heechul said to himself as he prepared for his search for Taeyeon in England.