Smoke Sprite

Smoke Sprite 💜

PAIRING: idol!Namjoon x So!YoON!

SUMMARY: The lyrics of Smoke Sprite

WORD COUNT: 809

GENRE: drabble based on the song, Mutual Pining

RATING: Mature

WARNINGS: implicit sexual content, they're sort of fighting, 1st POV

(You can also read it on AO3, originally posted in May 2023)

A.N. Disclaimer: I don’t believe Soyoon and Namjoon are in any way together just because they made this song together. But a girl can dream.

Masterlist | Scroll my stories on Tumblr | Schedule and WIPs

There you go past me to sit on the bed with the same sigh, with the same annoyance and wariness. When did it become like this? When did I become invisible? When did you become numb to my presence?

I stepped closer and stopped in front of you, but not even that shook you. Dejection filled me to the point of desperation — if I can’t create a spark in you anymore, then… What are we doing? What am I doing?

I kneeled in search of your eyes, letting my hands trail your thighs. And it was when I touched you that I knew it would be alright. Despite your impatience, and your pointed look as you moved your hands away from your face, you let me have my way. You let me stay near you, in the rare moment that fully enveloped me in a velvety feeling I knew all too well.

Your hand came to support my nape and dug your fingers in between my hair, not stopping me, but sharing your tension. Why? Why were you reluctant to believe I wanted you?

Had I not shown it before? That one time, back at my place. We were celebrating this new song we created together, we had dinner, and we had wine. We got tipsy, I fell on your lap and didn’t get up. You were hard.

You placed your hands on my waist, not giving away your discomfort. You probably didn’t want to make it weird. “Get up, come on.”

“No. Do it.” I closed my eyes and felt it better. It wasn’t weird, I was burning up. “It can be our secret.” My voice was low and lustful, you couldn’t see how much that transferred to my face. I was biting my lip at the thought. “You want it, I want it. Let it happen for just a minute. A minute of our lives. What's one minute?”

I threw it all out there and honestly thought you’d get up and leave. But you didn’t. Your fingers reached my naked hips and I helped you pull my skirt up. You slid my panties aside and slipped your fingers inside, making me arch my back with a sigh. You pushed your fingers and only wet, sloppy, and lewd sounds answered you back from my body.

“Give me the real thing.”

I was facing away from you but I could imagine what face you would make and it edged me fast.

Suddenly you got up and pushed me forward, bending me on the table in front of us. I dragged things out and off to make space and instantly groaned and clenched my teeth at you pushing inside me roughly. My face rested on the table cloth and I drooled, moaned, and clenched my teeth as you gave me the best minute of my life.

Now, you opened those sharp eyes with a veiled threat.

“What are you doing here?”

My hands just climbed up your chest to reach your neck, "Don't run away." You clenched your jaw, the muscles twitching near my fingers. "I'm sorry if I acted out before, but tonight… tell me. Tell me everything." You looked at me sideways and I leaned to touch our foreheads, "I can take it."

The tension you were causing on my neck was nothing compared to the feeling going lower and lower in me. You just breathed slowly, our breaths mixing together as I wished our desires would soon enough, and that fire just kept shooting through me. Irreverent, blazing, with my fingers sinking in your skin just as much as yours in mine.

You sighed impatiently and I opened my eyes to take you on. I could take you, I wanted to. There was no shame in wanting what we wanted. I knew you wanted it, just like I did.

Your hands finally moved to my wrists and I said, “No more lies… no more pretending.”

You closed your eyes; would you pretend it wasn’t happening? Just like we had that night and ever since? Or would you choose this salacious want that brought me to my knees in your bedroom? Would you tell me your secrets and dreams? Fill my soul with bits and pieces of yours without killing this desire?

You opened your eyes, gaze harsh, and decided. I knew that look, that eagerness to drown in me all the way. “Show me.”

She trembled awake and looked around, confused for a second.

“Soyoon?”

She rubbed her face as her assistant giggled.

“What, did you fall asleep?”

Soyoon nodded and got up from the makeup chair.

“Yeah… I was just dreaming.”

He groaned awake when the car came to a stop.

“We’re here! Oh, sorry, did I wake you?”

He smiled at his assistant and ran his hand through his hair.

“Yeah… I was just dreaming.”

This was my snippet for chapter 8 - you can read the full chapter here > ao3 <

tyty for the tag, @emelkae!

rules: post the last seven sentences you've written, then tag seven people.

this was actually never supposed to see the light of day (didn't even make it out of my notes to a doc lmao) so no title for this

How long until he himself is slain in the name of peace across the nation and finally laid to rest in waters marred by his own blood and for once not that of others? Surely the blood should be gone by now. But he can feel it, splashing up to his shoulders. Pouring down his lungs. He is wading in it. How much blood is on his hands? Too much.

open tag ofc!! buuuut for the challenge rules i'm tagging: @perpetualcynicism, @minhxiao, @frankenjoly, @legend-of-cupcake, @thirdleaflogic, @cocrante, @airbluest

🥰

The symbolism of flowers

Flowers have a long history of symbolism that you can incorporate into your writing to give subtext.

Symbolism varies between cultures and customs, and these particular examples come from Victorian Era Britain. You'll find examples of this symbolism in many well-known novels of the era!

Amaryllis: Pride

Black-eyed Susan: Justice

Bluebell: Humility

Calla Lily: Beauty

Pink Camellia: Longing

Carnations: Female love

Yellow Carnation: Rejection

Clematis: Mental beauty

Columbine: Foolishness

Cyclamen: Resignation

Daffodil: Unrivalled love

Daisy: Innocence, loyalty

Forget-me-not: True love

Gardenia: Secret love

Geranium: Folly, stupidity

Gladiolus: Integrity, strength

Hibiscus: Delicate beauty

Honeysuckle: Bonds of love

Blue Hyacinth: Constancy

Hydrangea: Frigid, heartless

Iris: Faith, trust, wisdom

White Jasmine: Amiability

Lavender: Distrust

Lilac: Joy of youth

White Lily: Purity

Orange Lily: Hatred

Tiger Lily: Wealth, pride

Lily-of-the-valley: Sweetness, humility

Lotus: Enlightenment, rebirth

Magnolia: Nobility

Marigold: Grief, jealousy

Morning Glory: Affection

Nasturtium: Patriotism, conquest

Pansy: Thoughtfulness

Peony: Bashfulness, shame

Poppy: Consolation

Red Rose: Love

Yellow Rose: Jealously, infidelity

Snapdragon: Deception, grace

Sunflower: Adoration

Sweet Willian: Gallantry

Red Tulip: Passion

Violet: Watchfulness, modesty

Yarrow: Everlasting love

Zinnia: Absent, affection

Far Cry 🚀 Chapter 50

Noah walked away to grab a fuel can and drenched the floor all around before throwing it at Jungkook, who tried to dodge it with an angry grimace.

Meanwhile, Leah was screaming down his ear, “Kook? Answer me! There’s smoke! Fuck!”

“I’ll get rid of you myself,” Noah voiced, drawing a zippo lighter from his pocket. “I’ll stuff my pockets with the rest of your friends once I find them, and burn everything down until Leah has no one to run to but me.”

I finished chapters 49 and 50 and there isn't a single line that isn't spoilers like 😭 (even this was altered to not spoil cough)

This initial draft became this:

Your legs laced around him and pressed him closer so you could guide the crown of his cock to your entrance, “So hard and thick.” 

Your lewd voice dragged as you clenched around his girth and it tried to catch in you. His hands came to rest on your legs, eyes fixed on the view while his lower lip became trapped between his teeth. He was hanging on, desperate for the moment it would happen.

“You’ll stretch me so good,” you moaned at the thought, and his sole reply was a jerk of his hips. You licked your lips at the initiative and pressed your shins to his ass to get him swaying. “Gonna make me all wet and crazy for this cock,” you rasped as you saw, same as him, his cock trying to push into your closed fist to reach your sex. “Gonna fill me up with that sweet cum of yours. Aren’t you?”

SX Seoul Series | Jimin Entry ⚡

You coo him, playing with his tip at your entrance, "So hard and thick. Wanna feel how good you’ll stretch me. Gonna make me all wet and crazy for this cock. Fill me up with that sweet cum of yours. Aren’t you?"

Listen, I don't know, okay? I had other stuff to write, other smut but... I had this thought and Jimin fit it like a glove. I guess this is how we're starting 2024 🤷‍♀️

Okay, this is the one I've decided to reblog 😋

In long fics, I have the habit of choosing a random chapter and checking if it sticks (so I can decide if I read it all or not) and this was the one that did it and won me over (and chapter x 👀).

You might have noticed my reading journey (on Wattpad, easier to read while traveling) so you know I have... questions and theories 👀

Still, for this particular chapter, I felt like it incorporated every piece of this story nicely: there's an outlook on the OC's environment and dynamics, a deeper look into her motivations, world-building, mystery, and a parallel look into Yoongi's motivations as well right before an exciting event starts (and carries over to chapter x).

If this chapter grips you as it did me, the rest of it will take you away too, so this is my recommendation 💜💎

the bedroom hymns ● chapter ix

⟶ Chapter summary | Little by little, you continue to unravel the many layers of secrets hidden within the Stargrave Castle. Secrets about your new home, the secrets that your father has been hiding even from his most loyal acolytes, and you continue your exploration, finding a new purpose to keep you occupied in your father’s absence, as you are getting closer to unraveling the secrets behind your family’s magic.   

⟶ Title | The Bedroom Hymns: a Bluebeard’s twist ⟶ Pairings | Min Yoongi x female reader  ⟶ Genre | Fairy Prince!Yoongi, Crown Princess!reader, Fantasy au, Fairy Tale retelling au ⟶ Word count | 7,817 words ⟶ Ratings | PG-13, +18 / M for Mature for future chapters; dark magic, mention of minor character death, a brief mention/hint of stalking 

⟶ Story Masterlist | ⤎ previous chapter | next chapter ⇢ ⟶ Main Masterlist | Mailbox | Taglist | Feedback | Music Playlist | Ko-fi

⟶ Author’s note | We are finally back on track. Forgive me for the long wait. I never expected that I would take a long break with this one, but here we are now. As you may have noticed, I made a few changes in the masterpost with the changes happening with the chapters. I had to split this update into three parts, hence moving the titles around to fit the main scenes. I hope you’re having a blast with this journey. Any form of feedback is welcomed.

chapter ix. secrets

“You seem to have been quite preoccupied lately, Your Highness,” Nanny Abigail calmly says this as she brings her cup of tea to her lips. 

Even in the smallest things, she moves with full of grace. Always in a manner that would be appropriate for a royal gathering or formal dinners instead of an intimate moment of afternoon tea held on the private balcony right outside of her royal apartment. 

Behind her, the golden hue of the afternoon sun shimmers beautifully above the clear sea water. The sight is so captivating that you find it hard to look away. It gives you a sense of peace and calmness, and you have always taken so much pleasure basking in its beauty each time you are invited in these small moments with your royal guardian. 

“Me?” you ask her almost teasingly, while turning your attention to the sweet delicacies you have in front of you. You hide your smile when you can almost see Nanny Abigail shooting a glare at you as she takes a drink.

You wait until she lowers her cup of tea to see her pressing her lips to a grin as she softly scoffs at your feign ignorance. “Who else would I be talking about”—she squints her eyes at you—“Your Highness?” 

You give her a smile in return. It isn’t often that you can joke around with your guardian this easily, so it pleases you when it happens. “Oh, you’re right. How silly of me,” you say this with a chuckle. An expression that she would often comment as un-ladylike, though she rarely does ever scold you for it when you do it while you are spending time with her in her private quarters like this.

As you carefully take a sip of your tea, you wonder to yourself just how you are going to respond to her question. 

Nanny Abigail has always been perceptive. Even when she is not looking, she would still be able to see what is happening around her. So it shouldn’t come to your surprise if she has already noticed about your afternoon exploits. About your recent pastime activities and your newfound interest with the rows and rows of doors that you get to find in the long hallways within the home castle. 

It isn’t like you had done a good job hiding it, after all. With how often you have managed to slip away right after tutoring hours had ended and nearly always rushed to make your leave in the late afternoon once you were done with your royal duties, anyone would have started questioning what you have been up to.

Sometimes, you would find yourself wondering if she may have known anything about these magic doors, or that perhaps she would know about the magic behind those portals. 

But she appears quite nonchalant about your secret adventures as she brings it up. There is not a sight of the familiar pointed look nor the accusing tone in her assumptions. All you can sense coming from her is a deep curiosity that makes you wonder if she truly was just wondering about your past afternoon activities instead of prying to know where you have been disappearing to. 

Your father’s words ring back to you right at that moment, reminding you about your duty to keep the magic behind those doors as a part of your family’s secret. After experiencing and witnessing the magic for yourself, you are beginning to feel a sense of obligation to protect it of behalf of your father and the royal family. 

While Nanny Abigail has seemed unfazed with all the peculiarity that exists here in the Stargrave Castle, you still have no clue just how much about your father’s magic that she may have any knowledge of. So you quickly make a decision to keep silent about it, keeping your questions to yourself and refraining yourself from mentioning about the magic doors to her. 

Not until you know for sure that she is to be trusted with your family’s secret. 

“I do try my best to keep busy. This is a new place, and it makes me feel a bit anxious to be here without His Majesty being around. I feel—” you stop to make a grand gesture of glancing around. Your eyes fall on the stone walls surrounding the palace’s ground which is visible from this little balcony, and a wistful feeling overcomes you. “I still feel a bit out of place, to be honest.”

You turn back to exchange looks with your guardian who has been listening to you closely and give her a reassuring smile. “I figured that I would try to learn more about the castle by getting around and explore the territory as much as I can while I have the chance to.” 

And explore the castle you did. 

Every single day, from that late afternoon until right before nightfall, you would spend your time travelling across the home castle. Not only have you been venturing through the hallways where the magic doors are located, or the special rooms that your father had given you access to, but you have also gone through the other parts of the castle that you would have never paid attention to. Sometimes, you would have Lord Gordan joining you to act as a guide, guarding and showing you around the areas within the palace’s grounds while making sure that you wouldn’t get lost. 

But most of the times, you would find the time to explore the castle on your own. It gives you the chance to discover the hidden places that Lord Gordan may not have wished for you to see. 

Such as the hidden passageway you found at the back of the library which took you through the servants’ quarters on the lower ground of the castle. 

It felt as if you had just stumbled upon a secret fortune when you reached the end of that passageway to find a small servant door leading towards where the stables is located, right behind the palace. A completely hidden and secured exit point which, for some reason, you knew deep down that it would be useful for you in the future. 

You have also found a hidden stairwell which was accessible through one of the royal treasure rooms. The stairwell peaked your interest almost immediately. The fact that it seemed to be leading below the lower ground of the castle made you think that perhaps you would finally be able to find your father’s secret dungeon somewhere underground. But you were still pleasantly surprised when you found yourself arriving in a hidden wine cellar instead, surrounded by your father’s secret collection which he could have been saving up for special occasions. 

Through your exploration, you have found more and more magic doors in various places within the castle. As it have been one of your main agendas in your exploration to be able to discover and try out more magic doors before your father would return to the castle and inquire you to return his special keys. 

And the more you got to try the magic doors that you have found along the way, you slowly began to learn and understand more about them. Including how to recognise the specific details from each door which may hold the clue of the secret lying underneath.

Just like how the different shapes of the doors and archways may show you whether your destination would still be a part of the royal family’s property or if you are going to end up at an unfamiliar place that would no longer be within the empire’s territory, or how the intricate silver embellishments that are shown on each door would tell you what kind of places waiting for you on the other side and what to prepare. 

You have also learned quite recently that the positions in which the doors are placed may indicate just how far the magic portal would take you. Some would even give you a hint where your mystery destination might be located. 

Through the doors that are situated within the hallways adjacent to the King’s royal study room, you were able to travel back and forth between this palace and to various places located in Smotia. It then took a few more tries to learn that the further the magic door is located from the King’s royal study room, the further away from Smotia you would travel. 

Just like the door that you found while you were strolling down the small hallway further away from the King’s royal study. You weren’t exactly planning to try any of the magic door that day. Especially not that odd one which caught your eyes while you were coming out of the hall heading towards the library. The door didn’t standout too much on first sight compared to the others, yet the magic coursing through it beckoned you to come closer, and you simply couldn’t resist the pull.

You entered the door that day without any expectation, so you were pleasantly surprised to find yourself emerging on the other side of Smotia’s borders and right across the Coyne River. It was a place called Maplekeep, a transit town located right at the outer district of Nythelean empire’s territory.

There wasn’t really much to see in the town, except for the various inns and taverns and stage stations where travelling merchants and wanderers would stop by to have an overnight breaks and rest their horses in the middle of their journey. Perhaps that had been the reason why you were able to blend in fairly well, as you were surrounded by fellow travellers minding their own business, not enough to care about a wandering damsel asking around for information from the innkeepers. 

But despite not learning much about the town, it was through the impromptu trip that you managed to gain more clues as to what you can expect to find should you continue to venture through the magic doors you could find within the surrounding section of the palace. 

“I’m glad to hear that you are making use of your time here to do something good and find ways to entertain yourself,” Nanny Abigail says to you with genuine relief in her voice. “I was worried that you would remain locked up in your room with how unhappy you were for quite sometime after being brought up here all of a sudden.”

You ignore her comment about the displeasure that you felt at your father’s decision to move you into this castle in such short notice. It hadn’t occurred to you that perhaps you haven’t been able to hide it, as Nanny Abigail can easily see right through you. 

But you can also see right through her. And before she can have the chance to bring up your mental state about being in a new place and dive into it a bit deeper—which is something that she often does as she always has concerns over your wellbeing as your personal nanny—you swiftly turn the conversation back to your afternoon activities. 

Because that feeling of displeasure has long gone now, ever since your curiosity had taken over, and the last thing you need is to go and revisit that discomfort again. It would be quite impossible for you to still feel disdain over the sudden relocation when you have found a myriad of intriguing matters to help distract yourself from it. There are so many secrets hidden within this home castle that you wish to unravel, giving you something to look forward to when a new day begins.

“My father advised me to learn as much as I could about this place in his absence, after all, and it has been quite a fascinating learning experience so far. You never really know what you could find in the most inconspicuous places behind these walls,” you calmly convince your guardian to stop her from worrying about your mental hiccups, while inadvertently testing the waters by referring to everything that you have found through your secret adventures to see if you can get any reaction from her.

Yet, as you steal a glance at her from over your cup of tea, Nanny Abigail remains stoic. She doesn’t seem to catch on to what you are trying to allude in your comments, quite surprisingly, making you wonder if you have been mistaken in assuming that she would have more knowledge about this home castle and the magic surrounding it than what she had let on. 

You brush your assumptions away as you sip your tea. You decide that it wouldn’t do much help for you to know how much about magic that Nanny Abigail must have learned, or if she knows about your father’s secrets at all. She might have been your most trusted guardian, but you quickly remind yourself that her loyalty has always come to your father and your mother, the late Queen, first before yourself. 

“Lord Gordan has also been so kind to join me when I needed some guidance,” you generously add, if only to show that there is nothing about your exploration that she would need to be suspicious of, as there would be someone to vouch for you should Nanny Abigail starts asking around.  

“I suppose it’s a good thing that you’ve found yourself something to do with the idle hours that you have in your afternoons. It means that you are slowly finding it comfortable to have your own activities within the castle and enjoy your time here,” she claims while nodding her head. 

Though you are quite sure that you can hear a hint of sarcasm as she says this. As if she is giving one last dig—the same way you have been doing it to her—to see if you might still be hiding something from her. 

While it is true that you have something to hide, you have doubts that you are both thinking about the same thing. 

The twitch of her lips that comes as a sign that she is holding back a grin seems to confirm this, before she continues teasing you with, “Maybe you will soon begin to welcome this place as your new home.”

You cannot help but smile in response to her jab. “And it sure beats slipping out of the castle at night to travel into town out of boredom, doesn’t it?” you tease her in return, knowing full well that the revelation of your past evening activities and witnessing you unruly actions of slipping through the window late at night still haunts her to this day.

She may not have said a thing about it. Nor had she ever brought it up. 

But you can see it from time to time just how much it still bothers her. You can tell that this is also the real reason why she has grown curious to know about what you have been up to on the hours that you are not under her watch, and why she has been prodding you with her jabs and curious questions. As if she is subtly making sure that you have yet to make an effort to slip away from the home castle and disappear into the night when she isn’t looking. 

“I sure hope it does,” she says with a bit more sarcasm, which reaffirms your suspicions. Yet you can also see the pride and relief in her eyes when she says this. Once it seems clear that your answers have perfectly alleviated her concerns, Nanny Abigail soon appears much calmer. You notice it when she finally changes the topic and asks, “How is the tutoring going so far?” 

Thinking about the tutoring that you have been receiving simply makes you smile. Unlike the lessons and the long tutoring hours that you had to take back at The Citadel, the tutoring hours that you experience here have been a lot more pleasurable, and at the same time, intriguing. 

Because not only are you being taught about etiquettes and the laws of the monarchy which applies both in this realm and the human realm part under Nythelean Empire’s ruling, followed by lessons that are teaching you about everything that you need to know about your royal heritage, you have also been learning more about the fairy tale land and the magic that exists in this realm. 

Learning about everything that you have never studied before has given you a newfound enthusiasm that you feel even on the longest days of lectures. 

The more you learn about magic itself, the more curious you get about your father’s secret doors and its magic portals. And with more knowledge as your guidance, the more it urges you to unfold the mystery behind them, to be able to find your escape by finding new places that you could reach and see the new world around you simply by walking through the magic portals instead of walking directly out through the palace’s gates—just like what Nanny Abigail has been concerned about.

If only you have enough time on your hands to make it worthwhile, and the courage to just step into the doors without any reservations and with a clear head to be able to observe even the smallest thing you could find. Because you have to admit that the magic that is attached to those doors is still intimidating to you, especially with how little the knowledge that you have about your father and his magic. 

“It has been doing quite well. The new tutor is quite patient with me and she explains her lessons really well. Lady Laurel is also kind when she is answering my silly questions or helping me find answers whenever I feel lost, especially since I came in knowing nothing about magic and this mysterious land,” you confide to your guardian as you recall giving your tutor a long list of questions that you needed answers to about the home castle and the world surrounding it, and when she patiently guided you through the books about magic to help you learn more about them under her guidance. 

Nanny Abigail seems pleased to hear this. “That is splendid,” she says while clasping her hands together in glee. “I never doubted for a second that Lady Laurel would be a wonderful tutor to fill in all the things that I couldn’t taught you. And it’s hard to have doubts when His Majesty himself claimed to have chosen the best when it comes to your education and royal lessons.” 

“I suppose you can never really doubt the King’s personal choice,” you say this with a smile. “Father did choose the best guardian to take care of me, after all.”

Nanny Abigail responds to your compliment with a scoff. “I’m flattered,” she says with a mocking tone in her voice, though you don’t miss the unmistakable twitch that appears on the corner of her lips when she once again tries to conceal her smile, no doubt feeling pleased with the acknowledgement that you are giving her for her role as your guardian. 

You have to admit that she deserves it. Especially for everything that she has had to put up with when dealing with you growing up. “Since you are now free from your royal duties and your tutoring for the day, have you made plans to enjoy the rest of your day off?” 

At her question, you look away briefly to hide your anxious smile. Because you have made plans for the day. Though it doesn’t really involve venturing into any magic door, but to simply study them closely from outside and do some more calculating before you are back into using the portals again. 

One of the things that has drawn your curiosity the most is the fact that—after trying out different doors and coming out in different places—you finally have a specific place that you wish to visit through the portals. The place that your heart has yearned to return to, despite having your memory of it getting distorted over the years that you have been away from it. 

The place where you spent the short, yet the most fruitful and peaceful period of time of your childhood with your mother without having any of the royal responsibilities weighing you down. The place that you have always associated your life of freedom with before growing up in The Citadel. 

The Seacrest Manor, the summer palace where you had once lived peacefully with your mother before your father came to take it all away when he brought you home to the capital. 

You didn’t realise it at first, that each time a magic door took you back to Smotia, you were secretly holding hope that you would somehow be reunited with the summer palace. But each time, you have only been disappointed when none of the doors that you have tried so far could bring you back to your childhood home. 

Your yearning had not been the only reason why you have been searching for ways to return. There were a lot of things that your father, King Aneas, had said to you about your childhood memories with your mother and the home castle that kept tickling the edge of your thoughts ever since the day you talked to him about your connection to this place. 

You have no idea what about it that keeps troubling you, but it does make you want to see it for yourself. To see the old home of yours which your mother had built for you to know that your childhood memories had been real, instead of a distorted image which was created to fill the void that your mother had left behind in her passing.

But time and time again, just as that wishful hope kept growing, you kept getting even more disappointed. For some reason, you kept failing to find the right portal to take you back to that place. Leaving you to wonder if that place ever truly existed, or if your father had somehow made it so you would never be able to return to the summer palace ever again. 

Before you can let this slip out of your lips, you bite your tongue and hide it with a smile. “I’m planning to do a bit more exploring, then maybe end the day early. Lady Laurel informed me yesterday that I would have to start revisiting my dancing lessons again starting tomorrow, just in case I would have to join my father in future royal events since we’re back home.” 

Nanny Abigail regards you with a proud smile, completely oblivious to your secret mission. “I’m glad that you are focusing on your studies. But please make sure you are not overdoing yourself, Your Highness. I would hate it if I must inform His Majesty about the princess falling ill in his absence.” 

You return her smile as you finish your tea. Still lost in your own musing, you don’t realise it until far too late that your guardian had just made a slip up. That while your father has been absent without any news sent to you, Nanny Abigail may have been in constant contact with His Majesty even while he is far from home.

It took you a total of two weeks of venturing through your father’s magic doors before you finally gain courage to travel further away. Down to more hallways, and with a bit more distance from your private quarters and the King’s royal chambers. 

Aside from gaining more information about the doors and the magic portals, and learning how to calculate your next destination, you have also learned that the more you use the portals, the more you seem to be more aware of the enchanting voices coming from the magic.

The humming sounds that they make as they exude magic no longer scare you. Sometimes, you could even hear words faintly murmured between the indistinct humming. Though after making efforts to decipher them and failing, you finally realise that the language might be a part of ancient tongue which you have never heard or learned before. 

You are quite sure that you might be able to find the right books in the palace’s library about the ancient languages of the Far Far Away land, yet it hasn’t been easy to look for these information on your own without raising questions. So you bide your time, hoping to one day find the chance and the right way to bring this up to Lady Laurel during your lessons.

Today, you are back with another adventure. 

You remind yourself to stay focus, hopeful that by doing so, you would be able to memorise the faint spell. But, much to your disappointment, as you walk across the portal, the humming sound that usually engulfs you only lasts for a brief moment. While the distinct sounds of the spell sounds louder this time, it dissipates far too quickly before you manage to catch what it is trying to say. 

Within moments, you emerge in a foreign room that no longer feels like a part of the home castle. As always, you take a moment to breathe, as you are still surrounded by the ripples of magic which seems to cling onto you upon stepping out of the portal, and you wait until everything settles down. Until there is nothing left but the deep silence that always follows. 

Taking a long and deep inhale of breath, you can immediately sense that this place is nowhere close to home. Not to the Stargrave Castle in the magic realm, and neither it seems to be a part of any of the districts which surround Smotia. 

The air around you feels warm, and a bit stale, which is quite surprising as you find yourself standing at the center of a cottage which is surrounded by fresh plants and green vegetation rapidly growing at every corner. There are massive trees growing right on the other side of the clear windows, giving you a pleasant view which shields you from the bright sunlight shining from the sky. 

The cottage itself feels cozy, with big, comfortable loveseats filling the main room, a small fireplace at one corner and an adequate bedroom which appears on the other side. There are large windows overlooking the garden surrounding the cottage, and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves spread across the walls, all filled with books and journals which draws your curiosity.

As you started today’s exploration a bit early, you still have a long period of time left before you would have to return home in the nightfall. So you take the chance to look around to get to know more about this place before venturing further.

The books in the shelves and the pictures you find around the fireplace are not giving you much information about where you are. Then you walk into the bedroom, finding it looking just as normal as any regular household would. With a cozy bed taking its center, accompanied by a pair of bedsides tables with unlit table lamps, and a smaller bookshelf on the side of the room.

Aside from looking as if the bed has never once been used, there is nothing that you see here which may give you any hint or clue about this place. 

But then you turn around, and an old wooden closet that is strategically placed in the corner of the room comes to view. You take a peek inside to find a row of common people’s clothing neatly hanged on one side.

There are a couple of shirts, vests, and a few pairs of pants, only enough to fill the closet to make it seem like someone actually lives in this space and has been wearing them regularly. But it only takes one touch to know that none of these items have been used. Much like the stiff wooden bed that overtakes the bedroom. 

As you shift around the hanged clothes, you find some items that do seem to have been properly worn being slipped in between. 

You see a couple of long cloaks and coats made of high-quality fabric. Similar to what you have seen worn by travelling merchants and landlords. They feel silky and heavy at the same time the moment you brush against them. Yet as you touch them properly to get a closer look, a hint of your father’s perfume immediately wafts through the air, engulfing you with its familiar presence. 

Feeling a bit dubious, but not entirely surprised to find your father’s trace within such a modest-looking cottage, you step away from the wooden closet and have your attention drawn to a dresser placed nearby. Puzzled, as the furniture was completely out of view from the bedroom, you approach it with cautions, only to have your eyes growing wide at what you find.

Right on top of the dresser, placed neatly in front of a square-shaped mirror, are a full set of disguises that you have never seen before. 

A set of bright-coloured fake long hair and nicely trimmed fake beard made in similar tone colour are set up on what seems to be the head of a mannequin doll. Seeing them and thinking about how your father may have come here through the portal from time to time, and that he would be wearing the merchant’s clothes along with these items as his disguise, you cannot help but let out an incredulous laugh. 

“Oh, Father. Just what have you been up to?” 

The center of the market town of Narlès is thriving with its daily business. 

There is not a single shop or stall in sight that remains idle under the afternoon sun. 

Merchants actively move from one shop to another to trade their goods and handle their business with the keepers. Shopkeepers are either frantically tending to their buyers who keep flocking into their outlets or promoting their merchandise loudly to attract possible customers from the streets. Errand boys and girls are seen weaving through the crowd of people in the streets and between stalls to deliver goods. 

Every single thing within the marketplace seems to be constantly moving. 

The rush of overflowing consumers entering and leaving the main marketplace appears like a stream of blood pumping through the veins, making it seem like the entire marketplace has become its own living entity. 

Viewed from high above, all the motions happening down below becomes quite an amusing sight to see, as the Prince of Faes, Min Yoongi, observes everything with keen eyes without any of those people noticing his presence. 

Perched on a line hanging from one rooftop to another, Yoongi balances himself without ever looking away from the bustling marketplace, unwilling to miss anything that is happening right this moment. Except that he isn’t here simply to enjoy the sights, nor is he here to trade goods with the merchants and shopkeepers. 

Cloaked under his disguise and hidden from view, Yoongi is here on a completely different mission. 

More than an hour ago, an intense wave of magic rippled through the fissure of time and space, signifying the presence of a magic portal opening. Using his magic, Yoongi traced its presence, and it led him to arrive here in Narlès, one of the busiest market towns within the human realm. 

For the past two weeks, this is something that he has been doing to spend his time. As the flow of magic kept emerging in various places and always at different periods of time, it ripples back to him, calling for him to follow its trace. 

So he kept following wherever the ripples of magic called for him, leading him to keep traveling to various, completely unexpected places each time the magic portal would materialise. 

That would possibly be the reason why he wasn’t too surprised when he was brought back into the human realm this afternoon, after repeatedly experiencing the same thing as of late. But it does make him wonder why the magic would bring him here, of all places, after the magic portals kept bringing him back to Smotia and its surrounding territories.

Which is what this market town not a part of. 

Located in the juncture between multiple neighbouring kingdoms, Narlès has become a sovereign city, established under its own autonomy instead of being ruled under any reigning kingdom. Governed by its own people, Narlès has become one of the most important trading market centers for its surrounding cities and towns, and would often act as the middle point for business trades between kingdoms.

As their immediate neighbour, Nythelean Empire and the people of Smotia have become one of their biggest consumers over the years, allowing Yoongi to grow familiar with this territory through the work that he has done under the guise of being the leader of the mercenary army. 

It would have been easy for him to blend with the people in the market. But he chooses to step back, allowing him to gain the perfect peripheral vision of the entire marketplace to find what he is searching for. 

Or, in this case, who. 

While he continues his keen observation, a black crow cuts through the air and hovers around Yoongi briefly, before it lands on one of his shoulders. Despite his wish to completely disregard the mysterious crow’s presence, its appearance has effectively stolen Yoongi’s attention away from the bustling market, albeit briefly. 

But he says nothing, and is instead turning his eyes back to the market to watch a couple of young boys running between the stalls to pursue a passing carriage with fresh delivered goods to sell. 

The crow flaps his wings as it seems to follow Yoongi’s gaze into the market, then a deep voice calmly speaks, 

“I don’t suppose that you came to this place today to buy some merchandise to bring home.” 

The corners of Yoongi’s lips lift to a grin under the thin fabric covering half of his face which serves as a disguising mask. “Yijeong, it’s always a pleasure to have your presence,” he says in return. This time, he gives the black crow the attention that was asked of him as he looks at it through the corner of his eyes and inquires him, “But do tell me, just how did you manage to follow me all the way here?” 

The black crow, who turns out to be his loyal companion merely scoffs at him. He shakes his wings in a dramatical fashion before finally answering Yoongi’s question. “It wasn’t too hard, really. As the last person who conjured the magic portal has left it widely opened in his bedchamber, glaring back at anyone who would dare to step into his room in his absence.” 

Yoongi closes his eyes and curses under his breath. It isn’t like him to be so careless. Not with this kind of thing, and certainly not when it involves the magic portals. “It certainly will never happen again.” 

The black crow makes a sound that seems similar to a scoff before Yijeong’s sarcastic voice speaks again, “I sure hope so.” 

Yoongi snaps a quick glance at his best friend who is no longer paying attention to him. If only Yijeong had come in his human form, there is no doubt that Yoongi would have been able to see the scepticism written on his friend’s face after hearing his response. But the crow on his shoulder remains calm—aside from the slow rise of his wings which happened right after his sarcastic remark—with his eyes browsing through the crowd of people roaming through the marketplace. 

Instead of noticing Yoongi’s attention, he remains silent and starts searching with his sharp eyes.

As if he knows exactly what Yoongi has been trying to find down there. 

“Don’t worry,” Yijeong continues without looking at his Prince, “I’ve covered your portal for the time being before jumping into it. I also made sure that no one would be able to enter your chamber until you would return home.” 

“Thank you,” Yoongi says with a sigh of relief. “I really appreciate it. I meant it when I said it won’t happen again.” 

The black crow chuckles. “I’m not sure why you are making promises to me. I’m not the one you should be answering to if anyone ever discovers your secret.” 

Yoongi says nothing in return. Because Yijeong is right, after all.

Guilt pulls at him when he imagines what his carelessness would have caused, and how much trouble he would have found himself in if Yijeong had not been at the right place and time to find and fix his mishaps. 

Not only would it have spoiled Yoongi’s secret mission—one that must be kept from anyone other than his own people—but it would have also unveiled some of the best-kept secrets behind the family magic that has been passed down from one generation to the next, including Emperor Aymon’s past choices which may have changed the course of Fate of every living being in the Land Far Far Away who are somewhat connected to the Emburn Empire. 

The magic behind the creation of the portals connecting various realms, and the spell that could be used to bend and manipulate time and space was a huge part of the ancient magic passed down within his family from Yoongi’s blood ancestors who once ruled the land of Emburn. 

The magic behind it was so sacred that only the chosen ones among the bloodline would be able to conjure the spell, and those chosen ones have always become the ones deserving of the throne, chosen not only to preserve the ancient spells but also to use it to rule and maintain the prosperity of the empire, the sacred land of Emburn, and its people. 

Just like how Emperor Aymon has been harnessing this powerful magic to rule his empire, and how Yoongi would one day harness it once he ascends to the throne in place of his father. 

At least, this is how it was supposed to be.

Except that there will be no need for Yoongi to wait until the day his father steps down from the throne to be able to harness the magic behind the portals connecting the realms. As Emperor Aymon has long since passed down the magic into Yoongi’s hands, allowing him to conjure the spell and summon the portals and use them to go through with his mission. 

Emperor Aymon made the decision to pass it down early once he realised that his ailing body would not be able to take on all of the flowing mana needed to rule and maintain his empire. On the day that Emperor Aymon sent Yoongi on his mission, he already knew that it would have been consequential for Yoongi to be able to master the spells to travel easily between realms to fulfil his final wish. 

That was when he bent the rules that his ancestors had made for reigning emperors and transferred his mana, passing down the ancient magic coursing through his veins to his son, to best prepare him for his journey. 

“Harness the magic and wield it the best you possibly can and to however you need it throughout your journey ahead. This magic will help you on your travel, and help protect you from any evil will that you may come across in your way.” 

But that is not the only secret that Emperor Aymon had kept for many years. One that he never once revealed to anyone until the day he shared it with Yoongi before sending him on his way. 

That on the day the ancient magic was passed down to Emperor Aymon from the previous ruler, there was another who was granted the same blessing. It was someone who, after being taught properly how to harness the ancient spells to their own benefit, had managed to find a way to alter the original form of the magic to make it their own.

And that person is the one that Yoongi has been spending years trying to find. 

Years of following nothing but their shadows, until the most recent rise of magic allowing him to know that they have finally returned to the Land of Far Far Away. 

It wasn’t hard to recognise the space-bending spell. As much as they have altered the magic behind it, there is still the familiar flow of mana behind it—an identifying signature of the ancient magic of Emburn that Yoongi could easily recognise once manifested. 

Yet as he began following the traces left behind by the magic portals, Yoongi was caught by surprise to what he found. Because the person behind it, the one who has been harnessing the magic to open the magic portals, hasn’t been the one he was expecting to find. 

But the surprise has been a welcomed one nonetheless, when he kept seeing you emerging on the other side of the portals. It has been a miracle which he could only thank the universe for happening, yet Yoongi immediately knew at the very first revelation that he couldn't make any rash decisions. 

Not until he could finally make sense what exactly has been going on. He needs to know what you are up to and how have you managed to use the magic spells to summon the portals. And then, once—if ever—he finds the answer, he would have to find away to figure out where you have been coming from. 

This is the reason why he is up here, observing the situation, instead of hastily chasing your shadows the same way he has been doing for quite a while. 

As if Yijeong has been following Yoongi’s train of thoughts in their silence, he suddenly shifts on Yoongi’s shoulder as he questions the Prince, “Haven’t had enough of stalking her yet, have you?” 

Yoongi doesn’t bother to look at his friend as he scoffs to say, “I’m not stalking her.” 

“Really?” Yijeong’s voice is filled with scepticism, which isn’t showing much due to his current form. But Yoongi can still feel it when Yijeong questions him again, “Then what have you been doing, Your Highness?” 

Yoongi is hesitant to answer at first. He isn’t quite sure why he is still keeping his distance. 

After almost getting caught on the day he followed your trail to emerge—completely unexpectedly—at the royal orchard house, Yoongi has his own suspicions that you might have caught on to his presence. Even if you have yet to see him with your own eyes. 

But Yoongi has certainly noticed the changes in your behaviour as of late, when you have grown more cautious during your explorations ever since your trip to the royal orchard house. You have been making it hard for Yoongi to keep up with your movements, always disappearing from sight before Yoongi could get any closer, as if deliberately doing so to stop him from witnessing your return to the magic portals. 

“I’m just—making sure she’s safe,” he begins explaining himself. “If our intel on her had been correct about her never stepping foot in the fairy tale land before, then I don’t think she really has a good grasp on the magic that she has been using. That may explain why she’s been quite reckless. Understandably so, if you think about how new all of this must have been for someone like herself, if she—just as we both suspected—has truly only been raised in a world without magic. She must have only gained access to the Wicked King’s magic quite recently, so she is bound to be curious to see and experience everything while she has the chance to.” 

Yes, this must have been the case, Yoongi wonders to himself. This is what he has caught on to so far, after observing your activities as of late and how you seem to be handling the magic spell and the portals. 

As someone who has been able to open the portals this easily and walk through them to reach the places that you have been to, you don’t really seem like someone who is quite used to the portals and the aftereffects of the magic behind them. It is quite obvious that this is all new to you, and this knowledge is something that has piqued his own interest to know more about you—about your story and your secrets—before he would finally make his move to approach you. 

“Just like her mother did, you mean?” Yijeong suddenly asks him, surprising Yoongi how it rubs him the wrong way when the missing Queen is being mentioned.

Yoongi furrows his brows as he considers how to answer his friend. While there had been many speculations about the circumstances behind the Queen's disappearance, this is one among the many theories that both Yoongi and Yijeong heard being spread among the people of Smotia which somehow made sense. 

That the Queen may have access to the portal and was lost in it.

“We don’t really know if that was really the case with the Queen,” Yoongi carefully says. “Unless we can find out more about the portals and how she is capable of accessing them, which is something that may not happen until I can get closer to her. So we should refrain from making too many assumptions until then.” 

“I suppose you’re right,” Yijeong says, surprising Yoongi when his friend easily agrees with him instead of arguing. Although he notices soon enough that it is only because Yijeong has had his attention drawn somewhere else.

“Speaking of you being right and someone being reckless—” Yijeong starts, drawing Yoongi’s attention back to the busy market, allowing him to see exactly what his friend is seeing. 

Even when you are hidden under the guise of your worn-out cloak, he can still easily find you among the crowd. He sees you weaving your way through the marketplace, swiftly moving from one stall to another, obviously captivated by everything that you are seeing—the market, the people, the goods that they are selling. So much so that you fail to notice a few other movements happening close by, with every single one of them following every step you make. 

As flashes of swords, blades, and other metal objects keep peeking from under their cloaks, Yoongi can easily tell that they are not the kinds of people whose presence he should take lightly. Not with the hostility that he can sense from them even through the distance.

“Fates,” Yoongi swears in rage. 

And he immediately sets off, leaving his hiding place behind to jump straight into the heart of the marketplace to follow your footsteps, ensuring your safety even from a safe distance if he must, before unwanted danger finds its way to reach you. 

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