The piercing rays of the sun had interrupted her sleep and Min squeezed her eyes shut in mild annoyance. Her body felt weak and sore all over that she did not feel like getting off the bed yet. She made an attempt to turn to her side in order to avoid the sunlight, but stiffened when a shock of pain attacked her shoulder.

Her other hand held the sore shoulder as a hoarse groan escaped her lips. Slowly, the princess cracked her somnolent eyes open.

To her horror, she realized that she was not in her own room. Her eyes widened and her head whipped from side to side in panic. All traces of sleepiness had miraculously disappeared.

Compared to her pink-adorned palace room, the room that she was in was less-opulent-looking with unpainted, grey stone walls and wooden furniture. The room had no actual ceiling, unlike the palace, but only several lengths of bamboo were arranged above the rafters. She looked at the curtains. The curtains in her room was a pink fabric with purple motives, not a plain white fabric like the one she saw at that moment.

White?

She looked at the bed. Her light pink satin bed spread and her fluffy hot pink quilt was not what she found. Instead, the bed spread was a white fabric and the quilt was just a plain white blanket like the curtain. Even her pink wool pillow was replaced with a large loaf of sponge draped in another plain white cloth. Why is almost everything in white? Even the tablecloth, the paper lantern on the wooden shelf…

She tried to sit up, but when she bent her legs, another wave of agony washed over her. She let out another groan, a louder one this time and pulled off the pure white covers that covered her legs. Bewildered, she discovered that her right leg was bandaged.

“Hey, you’re finally awake.”

Her head swiveled around sharply in alarm as an unfamiliar girl of her age entered the room. To Min’s amusement, the stranger was wearing a crisp white blouse with a brown silk skirt.

The girl chuckled at Min’s reaction. Walking over to the bed, she sat beside the princess and gave her a friendly smile.

“Sorry I freaked you out. How are you feeling?”

Instead of giving a proper reply, the princess stared at the girl in white with wide, bewildered eyes.

For a few seconds, there was silence, until the girl in white creased an eyebrow and returned an inquiring look to her. The smile remained on her face. “Uh, no. Don’t tell me you’re mute.”

“Uhh…” Min could only let out a croak. Her mind was completely blank, utterly confused and clueless. She had no idea who the girl was, whose house she was in, how she got there and how she got the wounds on her shin. She tried to remember what happened but what came to her mind was a messy piece memory.

Swords clashing and people screaming.

Captain Kangin yelling at her; Run away, Princess!

Her pink battle gown. (She realized that she was wearing it then when she lifted an uninjured arm.)

Prince Kyuhyun.

Oh? Prince Kyuhyun?

For the love of Prince Kyuhyun, princess, please, run!

She must have grazed her shin against something and did not realize it when the poison overpowered her.

“Oh come on, you need to talk to me so that I can be assured that your condition isn’t worse than it seems.”

“W-Where am I?” the question rolled out. “What happened?”

“Oh. Thank goodness.” The girl released a sigh of relief. “Well, you’re in my cottage, dear. And the explanation for this is that you were found unconscious down the hill, badly injured. Do you remember what happened before you out, anyway? The wound on your shoulder indicated that you had been slit by a sword – a poisoned sword.”

“A poisoned sword?” the princess repeated.

“Yes,” the girl replied with a meaningful grin creeping onto her face.

A poisoned sword? If she was struck by one, she was supposed to be either paralyzed or dead by that moment. Poisoned swords were fatal, highly venomous, but how did she still…

“You are safe now, my dear,” the girl replied, as if she was reading the princess’s mind. “You should thank my friend from the river over there.” Her finger pointed towards a certain direction to Min’s right and the princess’s face contorted in puzzlement. Surely there were many things that she needed to ask…

“Don’t worry, you will soon find out what you want to know.” Once again, the girl in white seemed to accurately read her mind like a psychic. “For now, you just need to take a rest and let those wounds heal. My name is Kibum, what’s yours?”

“Sungmin,” the princess muttered, contemplating if she should mention she status. Kibum, however, beat her to it.

“So you are Min, princess of Everlasting Sapphire.”

It was not that Min detested it, but she was intrigued by the way Kibum, who was a complete stranger to her, spoke to her informally and so casually despite knowing that she was from royalty. Nevertheless, she chose to ignore it anyway and for the first time, flashed a grateful smile to her Good Samaritan.

“Yes. Nice to meet you, Kibum. And thank you very much... for saving me.”

Kibum gave her a light pat on her uninjured shoulder. “Nice to meet you too.” She got up from the bed and made her way towards the door. “I’m going to get something for you to eat. We can talk about what made you venture into the Enchanted Forest while you’re at that.”

With Min’s nod, Kibum disappeared into the kitchen. The princess then realized that the aroma of brewing chicken porridge had been wafting in the air all the while.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?”

Heenim flinched the instant Siwon’s fingers grazed her cheek. But alas for the Queen, she was seated in a stiff straight posture on the side of the bed, and Siwon’s hand could not unlatch his touch from her skin.

“You, Heenim, of milky-white skin and clear crystal eyes, is flawlessly the fairest of them all.”

Heenim grimaced as Siwon finished off with one last swipe on her jawline.

“Ew.”

“Stop being so rude to me, Heechul.”

“Me? Rude? What about you, you stepped into my bedroom, and you address me with disregard of my position. Who is being rude in the first place?”

Siwon chuckled. “Why, this is our bedroom now. You are going to be my wife.”

“Are out of your mind?! I could pass as your mother and I am not going to marry you! I am only for Han Geng and Han Geng is always for me!”

He rolled his eyes. “Have you ever heard of the saying ‘age is only a number’?”

“I don’t care. I don’t love you, Your Majesty. Not in this way.”

“But I won’t let you be a lonely widow when my men execute His Majesty.”

Heechul shot Siwon a look. Fear and anger were so evident in her eyes and Siwon liked it.

“Don’t you dare do anything to my husband! I would rather be die than to have you in his place!”

“Die, and let your kingdom lost its queen?” Siwon challenged, and the queen was silenced.

“That’s one hell of a quest,” Kibum commented as she shoved a wooden spoon of hot porridge into .

“Tell me about it,” Sungmin acquiesced, watching the steam from her own bowl of porridge rising into the air as she stirred it.

The girl sitting in front of her shook her head. “It’s been years since I started living in this decrepit of a cottage, I can't remember how it used to be living in that royal house.”

Princess Min gave Kibum a questioning look as the latter gave her a meaningful look before shifting her attention back to her porridge.

“But I like it here, anyway. It's not like that palace could have me the liberty I am living in now.”

Then there was a pause, Kibum’s expression turned visibly sombre. The princess was about to ask what was wrong, but her new friend started to speak up again.

“I shouldn't have let those step-clowns get their hands on my father's throne. But who am I to stop them? I could have died trying and it'll still be the same.”

“Kibum, what are you talking about?” Princess Min frowned. If the latter had intended to pique her curiosity, it worked, albeit rendering her slightly irritated by the little cryptical monologue.

“If you haven't realized it yet,” Kibum began, averting her gaze from the porridge towards the princess and Sungmin had to wonder why did it seem so hard for her new friend to get straight to the point.

“It Shining Sapphire I'm referring to.” Kibum sighed, taking another spoon of porridge.

A bell rang somewhere in Sungmin's mind and she blinked. Shining Sapphire was once a member of the Federal Kingdoms of Sapphire, therefore, an allied kingdom of Sapphire Blue and Everlasting Sapphire. Unfortunately, the empire began crumbling down when a series of internal crisis arose, rendering the governance too vulnerable to defend itself.

Sungmin's was fourteen when she heard about how a war had erupted in Shining Sapphire, that was when the kingdom was slowly wiped out from the map as the takeover by Sapphire Blue buried it's legacy.

"Can't guess it yet?" Kibum spoke up when the princess remained silent.

Wait.

"You are..."

The only princess from Shining Sapphire that Min had ever met was Princess Rose Red, and no one else. So Kibum might be a... Wait.

Rose Red had a sister. A step sister to be exact.

Then she gasped upon the realization. "Princess Snow White?!"

"Ding dong, ding dong!”

"So you're the fairest in the land they have always talked about!"

"Now we're talking."

"Oh goodness. So the rumour is true. You're not dead! Oh I'm so happy to meet you girl. This is such an honour. I know I've never met you before, but I'm your biggest fan. Such an honour to meet a badass like you, gosh,"

"Excuse me?” The snow princess chuckled, amused by the other’s reaction.

“Nahhh, sometimes I do think that I'm a badass. But then again, I fled from my kingdom out of fear,” she humbled herself, albeit admitting her truthful thought, to which Princess Min grimaced sympathetically.

“But you survived against all odds. Not all princess would be able to survive in a forest,” she attempted to justify.

Kibum snickered. “Let's just finish up our meals now alright? It's getting cold. Tomorrow, I will show you how is it possible for the most fragile of a princess to live happily ever after in any type of forest.”

“You better,” Sungmin replied as she began shifting her full attention to her meal. Kibum smiled, and the two princesses finished their dinner in silence.

All throughout those years, Princess Min had heard recounts from hunters, travellers and soldiers alike about what was it like in the depths of the Enchanted Forest. They have painted the lush piece of land as a magical woodland abundant with blossoming flora and fauna, where the biodiversity was prevalent and conserved. However, as one travelled further from the epicentre of the forest, known as the Seventh Fall, the wonders of nature seemed to fade out as large canopy trees stood closer to each other, covering the paths from the rays of sunlight.

But at that moment, for the first time in twenty years, the princess had just gotten the chance to see for herself the authenticity of the stories she heard. The sun was on its way to the top when Princess Min found herself marvelling at the crystal clear water of the river and the clean, colourful gravels covering the riverbed. On the other side of the channel, the water that flowed all the way from the top of the hill cascaded steadily down the piles of boulders, creating a sparkling waterfall that glimmered under the sun.

The princess took a sit on one of the flat-surfaced rocks that were situated strategically under a willow tree. Meanwhile, behind her, Kibum was sprinkling breadcrumbs to a family of birds that came flying as soon as they heard her whistling.

Kibum’s life in the Enchanted Forest was nothing like anything she had expected. Isolated from human civilization, she assumed that it must have been lonely to live in such a small, tumbledown cottage with nothing much to do aside from scavenging for food and worrying about wild animals or any otherworldly beings at night. However, the reality took her by a pleasant surprise.

Kibum had proved to her that living in the jungle might be a better choice. The tranquility of the nature, absence of the usual hectic societal lifestyle and the companion of a few jungle friends seemed to give the former snow princess everything that she needed. Sungmin was not sure that she would survive if it she was in Kibum's place. Being one with nature seemed to be an interesting idea, but the thought of being isolated from society discouraged her from thinking about it. Sungmin was never used to loneliness, and she could not connect with the forest animals like Kibum apparently could.

After bidding the birds good-bye, Kibum joined the princess, sitting on another rock next to her.

“They seem to understand what you were saying, don't they?”

Kibum smiled, settling down her woven basket next to her rock. “Yeah, we speak each other's language, and no, it’s not that I have some kind of supernatural powers anyway. This magic stone here does things to my brain which helps me… you know, understand animal language.”

She held out the pendant of her necklace and showed it to Sungmin, to which the princess curiously took a look.

“Is that lapis lazuli?”

Kibum chuckled. “Wow, what is that?”

“Uhhh. The name of that stone pendant you're wearing? No?”

“I’m not really sure. Maybe it is?”

“It's a mixture of lapis lazuli, blue chalcedony and chalcanthite. Enhances clairvoyance, aids telepathy and improves communication.”

The two princesses turned their heads to meet the owner of the voice, a human-fish hybrid who had just emerged from the water, propping herself with her elbow in the riverbank.

“Well, those are among the main functions,” she continued. Her long jet-black hair flowed down her shoulders and back, plastering onto her pale, fair skin. She could have been very pretty, if not for the layering flaps - which Princess Min assumed were her gills - protruding from her left and right jawlines down to her collarbones.

“Stegosaurus in a cottage,” the princess muttered, eyeing their new companion with utter confoundment.

“Donghae!” Kibum beamed, jumping to her feet before hastening towards the riverbank. The mermaid reached out her hands towards Kibum, who took them in hers and aided her out of the water. She seated Donghae onto the ground close to the spot where Sungmin was. The mermaid sat herself up, folding her silver tail where her legs were supposed to be.

Kibum unloaded her basket spreaded a thatched mat onto the ground in front of them and arranged on it the loafs of bread, a palm-sized ceramic container of  crushed berries, three wooden spoons and three wooden cups. A wooden jug was also taken out from the basket, to which she brought over to the river and filled it with the clear, fresh river water.

Meanwhile, Donghae had started a conversation with the princess, who was still bewildered over the absurd first impression. “So you must be the one Kibum talked about. How are you feeling today?”

The princess blinked, chuckling to herself. “W-well. It still hurts a lot when I think about it. So, uhm, you are the one who helped Kibum to treat me? Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Donghae replied. “Getting sliced by a poison sword is not a pleasant in any way. But the medicine I gave Kibum should help. By the way, you haven’t told me your name.”

The princess chuckled again. “Oh, yes. Excuse me. I am Sungmin.”

It was the mermaid’s turn to be bewildered. “Wait, what?”

“Sungmin. Yes, the princess of Everlasting Sapphire. Princess Min,” Kibum interjected, settling down the jug onto the mat. Now let us not leave our tummies rumbling and dig in.”

“So I guess Siwon had reached Everlasting Sapphire, am I right?” Donghae guessed, fetching the bread that Kibum had just sliced for him.

“How do you know?” Sungmin asked back.

Donghae’s face contorted in disgust. “I am from Sapphire Blue, and I know everything that happened concerning Sapphire Blue, Prince Kyuhyun and your kingdom… and all the kingdom involved in this… madness.”

Sungmin took a bite of the bread that she had just spread the berries on, anticipating more from the mermaid.

“That Siwon is no king, but a sick, manipulative, psychotic screwball with a very low self- esteem whose irrational mindset is unbeatable by any narcissist ever. He was the one who made me like this,” she gestured towards the lower part of her body,

“I know what he did to Prince Kyuhyun. My guy does, too. So like every psychopath would, he did this to keep our mouths shut. We know where the prince is now.”

“Far-far Away Kingdom,” Sungmin spoke.

Donghae glanced at her, before giving her bread a bite. “When did Everlasting Sapphire received Far-far Away’s message anyway?”

“Uhhh…”

“Oh. You didn’t wake up for two days since I found you,” Kibum informed.

“Really?! What day is it today?”

“Tuesday,” Kibum and Donghae replied in unison.

“We received the letter last Saturday. Darn it! That was five days ago and I haven’t do anything yet.”

“Easy, easy,” Kibum assured. “Your wounds haven’t cover up completely yet, and your legs are still rather unsteady.”

“You’re running out of time, but Kibum is right. There is great danger awaiting you out there, princess, and you won’t survive if you take it on in this condition. I don’t know what exactly drives Siwon into making all this mess, but for certain, his men will do whatever it takes to stop you.”

Sungmin nodded, looking intently into the mermaid’s dark brown orbs. “Do you know anything about the Enigma of the Poison Apple?”

Donghae paused, staring blankly into a spot as she tried to recall a memory. “I am not sure what is it about exactly, Far-far Away Kingdom keeps their affairs covert. But I know for sure, that it is going to be bloody.”