[The Conference Room]
After arriving at the room, Henry gently helped his wife sit down. He then ordered the guards to leave the room.
"Wait outside," said Henry.
"Yes, your Majesty," said the guards.
After bowing their heads, the guards left the room. As soon as they left, Ann began to talk.
"Did something happened while I was away? Why are there so many guards here?" Ann asked.
"A lot of things happened," said Henry. "But the recent attempt on my family's life is what caused me to triple the defenses," he added.
"Fortunately, the last attempt was a failure," said Seo-Yeon.
"I see... I'm glad to hear that you're all okay," said Ann.
"Thanks," Henry smiled. "And I hope for all future attempts to fail like this one."
"Hear, hear," said Clover.
"!"
Just then, Seo-Yeon noticed a small bite mark on Ann's hand.
"What happened to your hand?" she asked.
"Oh, this? A hungry child thought my hand was food and took a bite," Ann said jokingly. "No need to worry, however. I drank a potion so it'll fully heal soon."
Clover smirked as she realized who Ann was talking about.
"Well, you shouldn't have grabbed them," said Clover.
"True... I'll keep that in mind for next time..." said Ann. "But..."
She then paused for a moment.
"Why were they outside without any guards to begin with?" Ann asked. "No, wait. Here's a better question... How were they even able to leave the castle at all? I was so confused when I first saw them outside being harassed by a couple of thugs."
Seo-Yeon's eyes opened wide when she heard that the children were being harassed while Clover began to talk.
"According to one of Dunha's guards, Lily and Dunha found a hole in a wall in the gardens," Clover explained. "I'm not exactly sure why they left the castle but I think it's because they wanted to see the festival in the plaza."
"And that's when some thugs approached them and gave Dunha that bruise?" Seo-Yeon asked.
Unexpectedly, the doors to the conference room slowly opened as everyone in the room heard Dunha's voice.
"I can explain!" Dunha shouted.
🔸🔸🔸
[Minutes Earlier...]
As Dunha was being carried to her room, her eyes opened wide in realization.
"Shit! I forgot to tell my parents about what happened with Lily!" she thought. "How can you forget that, you idiot?!"
After cursing herself, she tapped the maid who was carrying her on the shoulder.
"?"
"Can you take me back to my parents?" Dunha asked. "There's something important that I have to tell them..."
"Um..." the maid hesitated.
The maid glanced at one of the guards who were following with a troubled expression.
"It should be alright if I follow you," said one of the guards. "The rest of you lots should take Lady Lily to her mother's room instead."
The other maid and the guards simply nodded their heads and walked away, leaving behind the guard and maid who was holding Dunha. The maid and the guard began to walk back to where they last saw the king and queen while Dunha was deep in thought.
"Lily said that the last thing she remembered was her sleeping in bed and when she opened her eyes, she was outside," she thought. "But I saw her run out of the castle... Was it sleepwalking? No, no, that's impossible..."
She continued to think as the maid and guard searched for Dunha's parents.
"Maybe it's magic-related... Mind control perhaps?" she wondered. "If that was true then what was the purpose?"
After a few minutes of walking, Dunha found herself in front of conference room doors.
"Put me down," said Dunha.
The maid nodded and gently placed her on the ground. Just then, she barely managed to hear Clover's voice on the other side of the door.
"I'm not exactly sure why they left the castle but I think it's because they wanted to see the festival in the plaza," said Clover.
"No, no, that's not it!" Dunha thought.
The guard proceeded to slowly open the door as Dunha entered the room. The guard then bowed his head to Henry before closing the door once Dunha went in.
🔸🔸🔸
"I can explain!" Dunha shouted.
Everyone except Clover was surprised when they saw Dunha entering the room.
"Dunha?" said Henry.
Seo-Yeon slowly stood up and began to walk towards Dunha.
"Sweetie, what are you doing here and not in your room?" Seo-Yeon asked. "I told you that your papa and I will come to you once we're done talking!"
"I know but..." Dunha fidgeted. "I wanted to tell mama what happened myself..." she then looked at her mother with big puppy eyes.
"!" (Seo-Yeon)
Suddenly, something in Seo-Yeon snapped which caused her to suddenly pick up Dunha and give her a big hug as she rubbed her face against Dunha's.
"Kya! My cute little cinnamon bun is so adorable!" Seo-Yeon squealed. "Is my daughter a fairy? What a cute fairy you are! Won't you give your mama a kiss on the cheek?"
Seo-Yeon's behaviour caught Dunha off guard and surprised her.
"Mama?!" said Dunha. "What's wrong with her?" she wondered.
She was not the only one who was surprised. Ann was staring at Seo-Yeon with a surprised expression as well while Henry and Clover were the only ones who were unfazed.
"Henry, what's wrong with her?" Ann whispered.
"This is one of her mood swings," Henry whispered back. "This happens from time to time during her pregnancy. She was also like this when she was pregnant with Dunha. Don't you remember?"
"I remember, alright..." Ann murmured. "But back then, her mood swings were violent and terrifying! This one is completely different!"
"Time changes people, for better or worse," said Clover. "In this case, it seems to be the former."
At the same time, Dunha began to shout for Henry.
"Papa! Help!" Dunha shouted.
Dunha was barely able to wiggle herself out from her mother's grasp and immediately ran to her father. Seo-Yeon began to chase after her daughter with a scary smile on her face.
"Sweetie, where are you going~?" Seo-Yeon asked. "You didn't give your mama a kiss yet~"
Once Dunha reached her father, she quickly hid behind his legs.
"What is happening right now?!" she wondered. "I only wanted to talk about Lily's situation!"
"!"
Before Seo-Yeon reached Dunha, her smile instantly vanished and was replaced with a shocked expression as she snapped back to normal.
"Oh my goodness! Did I just lose my mind again?" Seo-Yeon asked as she began to blush in embarrassment.
"Yes, you did," Ann chuckled. "And you also scared Dunha."
Seo-Yeon noticed Dunha hiding behind her father's legs.
"Oh my... sweetie... I'm sorry about that," she said. "I was just... having one of those moments..."
"It seems like mother finally calmed down... What was all that about?" Dunha thought. "Huh?"
Just then, Henry turned around and picked her up.
"Dunha, why did you come here?" he asked.
"I wanted to talk about what happened outside..." said Dunha. "We didn't leave because we wanted to see the festival..."
"I see..." said Henry. "Do tell."
She began to explain how Lily ran out of the castle first which caused her to run after her. She then told them what Lily said to her.
"It seems like magic was used here..." Clover murmured. "Do you have any ideas?"
"It seems like mind-control magic was involved..." said Ann. "The only problem is... What was the motive?"
Henry and Seo-Yeon gave each other a concerned look while Ann continued to talk.
"It sounds like this was somewhat planned," said Ann. "Think about it, Lily somehow escaped the castle which caused Dunha to chase after her without guards. Then they encountered those thugs and almost got kidnapped if the Blue Plates didn't intervene. This does not sound like a coincidence."
"Well the Blue Plates managed to capture one of them and it'll only be a matter of time before they capture the rest," said Clover. "Once they're brought here, we could torture them until they talk. I have few ideas--"
Seo-Yeon cut her off as she shook her head in anger.
"Not in front of Dunha," Seo-Yeon whispered.
"She saw a man's face get bashed in with a mace a couple of months ago and she seems to be mentally fine," Clover chuckled. "Besides, it's not like we're going to skin them in front of her--"
"Thank you, Clover, but that'll be all," said Seo-Yeon.
She began to walk towards Henry.
"Give her to me, dear," said Seo-Yeon. "I'm going to take her back to her room with me first."
She then whispered in Henry's ear.
"Also, let's talk about this later..." she whispered.
"Okay," said Henry. "I'll come to you two once I'm done here."
Seo-Yeon nodded as Henry gently gave Dunha to her.
"Dunha, listen to your mama and wait for me in your room, ok?" said Henry.
"Okay..." Dunha murmured. "I hope that explanation will be enough..." she thought.
"Don't worry, Dunha. I'm not going to act like before again," said Seo-Yeon. "Let's go~" she smiled.
Once Seo-Yeon happily exited the room, Clover stood up from her seat.
"Now that I think about it, I forgot to tell Blue that the children are safe," said Clover. "I'm sure you two have a lot of things to talk about so I'll take my leave."
Clover respectfully nods her head to Henry once before leaving the room. With Clover gone, the king and his sister were the only remaining people left in the room.
"Blue's in the city?" Ann asked. "Is he here for the festival?"
"No, he was just visiting," said Henry. "But after the incident in the library, he decided to stay here and teach Dunha how to protect herself. Don't worry, one of his lieutenants is managing his lands for him at the moment."
Ann looked at her brother with a surprised expression.
"I'm surprised you're letting Dunha pick up a sword. I thought you didn't want to see your daughter become a soldier?" Ann chuckled.
"Ha... You're not wrong but when I saw her during her training with Blue, I knew that she had potential," Henry sighed. "As much as I don't want to see her in danger, if she intends to become a soldier, I won't stop her."
"Is that so?" said Ann. "Maybe I should ask her if she wants to join me in my next advent--"
"No," Henry said without hesitation. "The last thing I want is to see my baby girl becoming an adventurer."
"Being an adventurer is not that bad," Ann smiled.
"Getting eaten by goblins and giant spiders doesn't sound pleasant at all," Henry said sarcastically. "The west continent is such a strange place for me. It's even more shocking to hear about the existence of another continent beyond the Reddy Kingdom."
Ann let out a chuckle.
"If the stories are true, then there should be at least 22 more continents across the known world," said Ann. "I doubt that even someone as adventurous as me will be able to explore even a third of those continents in a single lifetime... Such a shame."
"Well, that's interesting. The kids will be thrilled to hear this story," said Henry. "I'm assuming you're going to be here when we hold a great feast in the next few days?"
"Actually... I was planning on staying here for a while... A few years at least," said Ann.
Henry gave Ann a stern look.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Remember I just talked about the incident with the messengers and how that guild refused to give me a refund?" said Ann.
"..."
"Let's just say that I felt a little bitter about that and..." Ann paused and licked her lips. "I had a bit of a confrontation with their leader."
"Did you kill him?" Henry asked.
Ann looked surprised.
"What?! No! Do I look like some sort of wild dog?" she shouted. "I simply gave him and his thugs an educational beating before emptying his vault as compensation. Haha..."
Henry then glared at his sister.
"Ann!" he shouted angrily.
"In my defense, that old prick started it by insulting our mother and tried to have his men attack me when I gave him a good bashing with a nearby tray," Ann explained. "Once I got my money back with interest, I quickly fled the Reddy Kingdom and returned here. I was already feeling homesick and was planning on returning anyways."
Henry let out a stressed sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Before you fled, did you cover your tracks?" he asked. "If the Reddians were to find out that their troublemaker is the sister of the current King of the Star Kingdom... Ha... It'll be a headache."
"Don't worry, dear brother. They think I'm currently fleeing to the Bia Kingdom which is the complete opposite from here."
"The Bia Kingdom?" Henry asked. "Why there?"
"It's a long story involving a local fisherman's wife and some silver and cheese," Ann winked.
"What?" Henry asked confused.
"I'll tell you that story some other time," said Ann. "Right now, I really want a bath. Not taking a proper bath for over a week is just terrible. You should go check on your wife before she have another mood swing."
"I guess you're right. Let's talk more during dinner," said Henry. "After checking on Dunha and Seo-Yeon, I got to take care of some things that involve a psychotic cult."
"Good luck with that," Ann laughed.
Once the king and his sister left, only an empty room remained.
(To Be Continued)
2021/09/01