Chapter 23

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"Paranoid bastards," Sumi cursed, poking her head out of the room.

A few moments have passed since Yona and the others left to find the Blue Dragon, with Aiko and Sumi staying behind. Since then, the duo could sense they were being watched.

Eventually, Sumi decided to check where these nosey people were and spotted multiple clusters of people lurking in the shadows, staring right back at her.

She ducked her head back into the room immediately, somewhat embarrassed, before immediately cussing out the villagers.

"They probably know the others are snooping around then," Aiko sighed, hugging her knees against her chest tightly - she was once again sitting on the ground which was beginning to feel very uncomfortable.

"I doubt they're surprised." Sumi sat next to the girl unceremoniously, "We're the most suspicious group of people to ever exist, there's no way they wouldn't expect us to cause trouble."

Aiko giggled, feeling a little less nervous with someone next to her, "Fair enough. It's a miracle they even let us stay here in the first place."

"Tell me about it. I don't know what I would've done if they turned us around instead." Sumi ran her hand through her hair, sighing loudly. It was then that Aiko noted the dark circles under the woman's eyes.

"You know, for someone who's only tagging along for a bit, you seem to care a lot," the girl pointed out, causing Sumi's eyes to widen in surprise.

"I-it's not that I care... I guess I just like being useful for once, you know?" The woman answered, attempting to hide her reddened face.

With a light laugh, Aiko nudged the woman teasingly and said, "Awww, it's cute how you're hiding how much you like us."

Rather than retort, Sumi grabbed Aiko into a headlock, ruffling her hair playfully. The girl whined childishly at the action but made no effort to escape the headlock.

Before they could continue to mess around, the duo heard a series of approaching footsteps. This made them shoot up to their feet in alarm.

"We're back!" a familiar voice announced, replacing the tense atmosphere with that of relief.

Yoon entered the room first, followed by the others and all except Yona donned matching scowls.

"Yeesh, who died out there?" Sumi asked, cringing at the sight. Their current state was a far cry from their cocky demeanours mere minutes ago.

"Don't joke about that," Yoon chastised, before explaining what happened.

Yona had supposedly separated from the group, having found a secret passageway, before suddenly reappearing with a mysterious man. He was, according to Kija, the Blue Dragon himself and yet he ran away before anyone could confront him.

"Hold on, you guys... Lost the princess?" Sumi asked incredulously, "A child can do a better job at guarding someone than you! Get your act together - who knows what might've happened to her!"

Kija, Hak and Yoon cowered under the woman's judgmental glare, each wondering how she became so scary when just a few days ago she looked like an abandoned puppy.

"Speaking of, what did happen to you?" Aiko asked Yona. This distracted Sumi, saving the boys from a thorough lecture.

The princess calmly explained, "I wandered around on my own for a bit before a villager found me. He said he was going to help me find my way back but then he tried to take me down this set of stairs. That's when the Blue Dragon stepped in and saved me."

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