Away ⥃ Nishimura Riki

.Thirty-Four.

SOON, the sun settled in the dark sky, creating strokes of faint colors on the blank canvas. The clouds were barely visible, and the hatchlings began squawking. The nocturnal dragons went back to their nests while the diurnal dragons flew in the sky as a morning jog. Seulhyun awed at the sight. It felt like a scene from a fairytale. She redirected her attention as the bonfire in front of Jungwon's tent crackled. 

She had made a plan: Greet Jungwon, tell him the new information, and let him do the rest. Of course, for some it might sound unprepared, but it was surely better than keeping quiet. She had to do something. Taking in a deep breath, she approached the tent and announced her arrival. 

"Good morning, Your Highness. It is Seulhyun, may I have your time for just a moment?" The politeness in her voice sent shivers down her spine. She sounded so stiff! She heard some rustling inside the tent which was followed by his response. 
"I'll be with you in a moment."

The king emerged from the tent not long after and slightly nodded his head to greet her. "What brings you here at such an early hour?" He inquired with his infamous stone-cold expression of his. 

Seulhyun almost tumbled upon her words but luckily, she didn't. "Your Highness, I know this may be sudden for you, but may I do a few harmless experiments on King Aspian?" Her words flowed out smoothly, and King Jungwon frowned to her question. What kind of question is that? Seulhyun guessed that was probably what the king was thinking right now. 

Jungwon responded, "You do know the consequences that will fall upon you if you accidentally harm him, right?" He questioned back, earning a nod from the brunette, surprising him. Is she trying to get herself killed?

"You will be imprisoned- or worse, killed." He further pressed, "Do you really want to take the risk?" If not for the given proof she had gotten, she would have chickened away then. His eyes were too menacing.. 
She nodded again, "Yes, Your Highness." 
The latter was stunned by her answer. 

He tried to coax her more, but the vampire didn't budge. The glare in her eyes told him how determined she is to get his approval. How stubborn. Jungwon sighed, "Explain your reason why and I'll decide whether it is valid or not." He told. 

Seulhyun smiled and began explaining, "While I was facing King Aspian, I had noticed the color of his eyes—it was different from what I had remembered. So, I double checked with Mrs. Kang on his eye color and suspects that he was spelled by someone." 

"And who might that 'someone' be?" Jungwon quirked his brow.
"A royalty from The Southern Kingdom bloodline." 
As if his eyes weren't already scary for her, it got even scarier as his eyes seemed to darken at her assumption. "Careful, you shouldn't lightly speak of any royalties." He reprimanded. 

Seulhyun lowered her head and muttered an apology. Gosh, how she wished to get out of the situation right now. Telling him was not a good idea. She should have told Haeyul first. "However.." Jungwon spoke. 

"Since you have more experience with witchery more than me, I will...trust you on this in one condition," He proposed and Seulhyun swallowed harshly, "if your intuition is wrong and you have harmed King Aspian, you will turn yourself in to your own kingdom regardless the consequences they'll give you." 

Suddenly, the air turned cold or was it her body? All she knows was the loud hammering in her heart. So, she was alone in this. If anything happens, nobody would be there to vouch for her. Receiving no response from the girl, Jungwon thought his plan had worked. It would be better for her to not do anything to the king as it could engrave her in deep danger. One which Jungwon cannot protect her from. 

Although he wasn't close with her, he knew the impact she had on his siblings and his wife. And the results he envisioned is not at all good. 

"Understood?" He asked, expecting silence again however Seulhyun was never on to back out from a challenge. And unfortunately, Jungwon didn't know that yet. 

"Understood." Seulhyun straightened her back. 
For a split second, Seulhyun swore she saw a flicker of surprise in Jungwon's eyes but didn't think much of it. She had made her decision and a plan, so she will follow through it. 

The moment King Jungwon uttered his next sentence, his tent opened, revealing a half-asleep Haeyul. Her hair was messy, and her eyes were squinting at the brightness of the sky since the sun had begun rising already. Seeing his lover, Jungwon must have had a change of priorities since he quickly dismissed Seulhyun. 

The foreigner smiled with glee and bowed to both the king and queen before returning to her own tent. Now, all she has to worry about is what kind of spell did that royalty must have used. There are plenty of hypnotizing spells, but only two creates a yellow hue effect in the iris. She has to figure out which one it is before the troop further venture to the Southern Kingdom. 

As her head was clouded with her thoughts, she passed by the tent where Niki and the other princes were staying. It was grand although it wasn't as grand as Jungwon's and Haeyul's. Mrs. Kang must have made a few enchantments to their tents to make it bigger and cozier. 

In that moment, Seulhyun found herself missing her chamber in The Main Kingdom. She always gets a good night sleep whenever she sleeps there. 

Meanwhile, in the tent, Niki had long noticed the silhouette behind the tent when he was failing to fall asleep. The silhouette didn't move an inch and from the length of the hair and the dress the person wore, he knew it was a lady. Why was a lady right outside their tent? A tent filled with princes.

Moments passed in silence as he continued to watch the silhouette however the mysterious vampire still hadn't move at all. In the end, he couldn't take it anymore and tiptoed to the exit, not wanting to awaken his sleeping brothers. Once he left, he strutted to the lady, gathering his frustration as he planned to scold her.

"Excuse me, why are you looking at our tent, ma'am-"
His words slipped of his tongue before he could even register the face he was looking at. 

It was Seulhyun. Her eyes lingered on his sleeping clothes and travelled from his body from head to toe, causing a rush of blood to his face. How embarrassing! It had to be the night when he decided to wear his hot pink nightwear.

"I didn't know you wear such an elegant nightwear." 

Niki slaying his barbie era 😍

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