Into The World of Royalties | Stray Kids

S2: 8: King's curse

"What is going on? Why is father suddenly fall ill? He was fine earlier" Hyunjin asked Jiwoo as they both exchange glances towards the king who was unconscious on the bed.

Jiwoo hesitated to say. She sighed deeply. Their attention turned back to the king who suddenly coughed. Hyunjin quickly went beside him.

"Father?" He asked softly

The king didn't reply.

"He's in a deep sleep. He can't hear anything" Jiwoo said

"Please, Jiwoo tell me what happened...why is he like this" Hyunjin's voice cracked

Areum watched them as she was on the verge of tears. The king was kind and nice towards her, seeing him ill in bed breaks her heart. Hearing Hyunjin voice cracked made her tear slip.

"The king...he had a curse upon him. It had been a long time... there's still no cure now" she started explaining.

"He had been inhibiting the curse by consuming a purple flower called Verbena...the one I was picking earlier" she continues

"Then, why aren't you giving him any of that now?" Hyunjin asked

Jiwoo looked down. She inhaled deeply before sighing.

"A manifestation occurred causing 80% of the plant I planted to be dead... The 20% wasn't enough for him and to wait for the new ones would take some time" she said, her eyes lingered on the ground.

"By that time, I'm afraid...the king would be..." She trailed off, not wanting to say it.

Hyunjin fell to his knees as his head hung low. As if it was on cue, the rain started to pour down heavily on the land of Targahyun, bringing despair along with it.

_______________________

"That's the story" Areum explained to her peers.

The three of them waited anxiously outside of the glasshouse. A secret meeting is held. It is attended by all of the members of each kingdom. They were probably discussing finding a remedy or a cure for the king.

"I feel helpless seeing the king laying sick on the bed...if I only I could help with something..." Areum sighed as her friends tries to comfort her.

All of them sighed heavily. When they heard the news they quickly went to the glasshouse. They wanted to visit the king but Jiwoo told them it would be better to limit visitors.

All they could do was saying they're sorry to Hyunjn who already looked lifeless. Yeona tries to eavesdrop on the meeting but it was useless she could her nothing.

"Hmmm... I don't know if this would work but it's an option" Seohyun said as she stares at the garden while scrunching her forehead.

"If it does...the king can be cured forever" she continued as she turned to look at Areum worried face.

Yeona and Areum both looked at each other, questioning their friend's idea.

"Wanna try?"

_______________________

"Are you sure the flower exist?" Areum asked again

Areum pushed a large leaf out of the way while huffing.

"Yes~! Here it says in the book" Seohyun said while turning around to Areum.

She opened the book Hangyeol gave to her and point to a page about a flower on the thick book.

"And it also says it is very rare...1 in a million" Yeona chipped in while reading a line from the book.

Both of them gave a judgy look. Seohyun laughed nervously. She closed the book and put it in her bag.

"Well, we're quite lucky aren't we?" She tried to persuade.

She gave them the best smile she could muster. They gave another dissatisfied look. Seohyun sighed. She pulled out the book again.

"Look the author wrote some hidden coordinates on this page. Hangyeol and I already found it on the map-"

"And it's here? In the dark forest?" Yeona questioned

"Yes. I know the exact place. If we just follow the map, we'll found the Healing flower within no time" Seohyun continued while closing the book again.

Yeona and Areum exchange glances again. In the end, they agreed to follow. They were already halfway inside the dark forest anyway. Might as well follow her.

Seohyun read the compass and the map in her hands. She was focusing on which path should they pursue.

"Since when do you know how to use those?" Areum asked

"Hmmm? Oh, Chan taught me" she replied, still focusing on the map.

She points straight forward. They moved forward together. Each one them was equipped with a sword which Seohyun borrowed from the knights.

Walking shakily through the forest, they could feel eyes watching them in the shadows. Weird noises and strange movements made them flinched.

Yeona took a deep breath as she saw buterblood passing through. She quickly runs to the other side of the group. The butterblood can only detect their prey through touch. Once they found their victim, the butterblood would scream, only for its herd to be heard to eat the poor victim alive.

Seohyun already explained the animals and plants that might be their greatest threat. Thanks to the book Hangyeol lent to her, she felt more confident to enter the dark forest compared to before.

Suddenly, an unknown hissed came out from somewhere behind them. The three of them turned around in unison. They stared into the shadow which they believe where they heard the hissed.

The ground started to shake a little as multiple footsteps were heard. They looked to the ground and in front of them.

"Run," Areum said while pulling the other two to follow.

The three of them was about to run, when a shadow illuminates them, passing through and landed in front of them. The ground shakes as it landed. Dust flying around making it harder for them to see what they are up against. They coughed from the dust.

"S....s" Yeona stuttered before passing out.

"Yeona!!" Areum and Seohyun shouted together at their unconscious friend.

Once the dust clears, Seohyun turned to look at an eight eyed beast, the size as big as 4 trucks. Her eyes widen.

"A big spider"