cassiopeia ꒱ markhyuck

two

It took about another month or so of testing and preparation before the sorcerers were finally ready to try and open the portal.

Mark put on his royal robes and descended down into the below ground levels of the palace, where the sorcerers worked and lived. The five most prominent members of the royal guard followed him, staying close by his side the whole way down.

"Are you sure about this, Your Majesty?" whispered John Suh, the esteemed captain of the royal guard. John was the single best soldier in Mark's arsenal, and he had led their army through various difficulties and had protected Mark since he was just ten years old. There was no one else in the palace that Mark trusted more.

"I am sure. I don't have many options left," Mark responded coolly, walking past all the sorcerers who had moved to either side of the hallway to make way for the king, holding their heads low in reverence as he passed. Mark barely gave them more than a glance.

"This could be dangerous," John hissed insistently, eyeing the large wooden door leading to Na Jaemin's lair with a suspicious and weary gaze. Mark stepped aside to let the next two best soldiers—Park Jisung and Lee Jeno—pull open the heavy door on either side, allowing Mark to enter the lair.

Na Jaemin was stirring a bubbling pot of something that was oddly luminescent in the low lighting, and he perked up as soon as he caught a glimpse of Mark.

"Your Majesty!" He chirped, rushing forward and bowing in front of Mark, "we are so glad to have you here. We hope we will not disappoint you today."

"I hope so too," Mark scoffed, eyeing the odd liquid Jaemin had been stirring out of the corner of his eye. It seemed that John was doing the same thing, as he, Jisung, and Jeno walked around the room to examine the environment. They were looking for any threats, anything that might cause harm to the king, and for the very first time since it came to fruition, Mark felt a little uneasy about the whole plan.

"We're almost done preparing to open the portal. Have you decided yet who you will be sending through to retrieve the omega?"

"Jeno will be going," John answered firmly, clapping a hand against Lee Jeno's armored shoulder. "He's the best at stealth out of all of us. We thought he would be the ideal candidate to not draw any unnecessary attention, and would be able to grab an omega quickly and come right back with little issue."

"That's good, good choice," Jaemin hummed thoughtfully. He gestured for his assistant, a young and intelligent apprentice named Zhong Chenle, to carry the potion he had been making over to where they were planning on setting up the portal. "We have no idea what might be on the other side of that portal. It's best for you to spend as little time in that world as possible, we recommend that you just grab the first viable omega you see and bring them right back."

"How will I know that I have chosen a worthy omega?" Jeno scoffed, folding his arms across his chest, "the king cannot just mate any regular omega, we need someone who is fit to be queen."

"We don't have the luxury of worrying about such things," Jaemin hissed back, eyeing Chenle out of the corner of his eye as the rest of the sorcerers started to set up the ritual to open the portal, "we are in a desperate situation. There will be no time for you to search and evaluate different omegas, we fear that you might get trapped in the other world if you stay too long. We don't know how long we can keep the portal open."

"My mother taught me a little about omega's scents," Mark cut in softly. The two men immediately paused their bickering and turned to listen to their king, bowing their heads a bit in embarrassment for arguing in front of him. "My mother said that my father picked her as a worthy mate based off of her scent. The sweeter and more pleasing an omega's scent is, the more they will be valued. If you are so worried about it, Jeno, then try to find an omega with a scent that is pleasing to you."