Han was extremely grateful for Jiyong's presence. She couldn't explain it, but he had a calming effect on her somehow. Maybe it was the thought of knowing that she wasn't going through this alone that comforted her.

They had reached the entrance to the castle, but it was barred by grim guards who refused them entry. They reported that the household was in mourning and that their home was closed off to the citizens. Rather than deterring Han and Jiyong, their words only galvanized the pair into action.

Although his voice was often used to woo women, that didn't mean that men weren't susceptible to his power. "I am Prince Jiyong, the first in line to the throne of the VIP kingdom. I am also the brother to Prince Daesung, and I order you men to stand aside!"

Even the authoritative tone frightened Han to a certain extent. She had this childish habit of clinging onto the sleeve or edge of someone's clothing whenever the unknown had scared her. Han had managed to quash that urge as she grew up into adulthood, but there were times when her hand automatically found itself hanging off of a person's tunic. This moment was one of those relapses. 

Jiyong felt a slight tug on the back of his tunic and turned to see Han quickly withdraw her hand out of embarassment. He gently took her hand and folded it in his, the weight of his palm a soothing touch against hers. He offered her a small grin and nodded his head in assent. His spellbinding speech had worked its magic on the guards, and they were now letting him and Han through.

For a castle of a large magnitude, it was much too quiet as the two headed down the corridor attended by a lone . Han would have loved to pause and take a tour of the grounds if this were a normal visit, but she had a mission and everything was strangely doused in shadows. Paneled windows that were made to allow breathtaking scenes of the outdoors to peek through were prevented by heavy violet drapes. Torches were lit despite it being the middle of the day. Her sense of foreboding increased as the servant, also cloaked in white, took a detour, leading them away from the central hall. Han grew anxious, immediately squeezing Jiyong's hand tighter.

Jiyong was too preoccupied to return the gesture. He was pretty confident that they would find his brother welcoming and greeting them. Although he and Daesung did not hate each other, they didn't outright love each other either. Jiyong would describe it more of as a mutual relationship. He was there when Taeyang decided to leave on his own accord and also when Seungri was shipped off to another country. He never showed how much their absence really pained him, so he buried his sorrow in the artificial comfort of the women he brought to his bed at nights. Even if he rarely displayed affection for his family, they were all he had. Thus, the circumstances brought him and Daesung closer together. (Seunghyun refused to associate with them, claiming that their powers were absolutely barbaric and unnatural.)

Jiyong wasn't oblivious to the numerous escape attempts of his sibling and pitied him every time he was brought back against his will into the castle walls. He knew that Daesung's power was unorthodox by his parents' superstitious standards, but he was still a young child. Although he disagreed with how his parents dealed with his brother, there was only so much he could do to protect him. Jiyong recalled one instance in which he tried to help Daesung escape their home again. Both believed that it would be successful despite Daesung despising the fact that he had to disguise as one of Jiyong's women that seemed to endlessly stream from his room in the mornings. After several rounds of hard laughter and a swift charmspeak to one of the maid servants who would sneak him out, Jiyong told Daesung the one thing that he still remembered to this day:

"I'm helping you because I seriously think that you are deprived and that you need a real taste of women. Our maids and nannies don't count."

Daesung scoffed. "Considering that I'm dressed like one, I sure do appreciate you trying to initiate me into the opposite ." He wobbled in his heels, attempting to maintain balance on the foreign platforms.

Jiyong clamped him on the shoulder and grinned. "Well, one of us deserves to be happy outside of this hell hole." His hand lingered a moment too long. "Oh, why not?"

The elder hastily embraced the younger before letting him go, catching Daesung off guard. He was too busy holding up the layers of the skirts of his dress to even consider reciprocating the hug. Daesung turned and slipped the knotted knapsack containing provisions lying on the armoir around his shoulders. Before he exited the bedroom with the maid, he paused and Jiyong heard the faintest whisper of a thank you.

Jiyong smiled. "You need to work on that feminine voice of yours, Daesung."

However, he briefly remembered that Daesung was caught anyway before he was trapped in the tower by the sorceress. He wondered if his parents ever tired of keeping an eye on his younger brother or if Daesung had decided to accept his fate after failing to break into civilian life so many times.

Mayb