• 𝐒 𝐄 𝐔 𝐋 𝐆 𝐈 ' 𝐒  𝐏. 𝐎. 𝐕 •

"Wow! how did she do that unnie?"

"Unnie what's this?"

"You really weren't kidding when you said this place would be magical."

"How is he floating?"

God, help me.

Right now, I'm with Joohyun unnie and Yeonjun in the central domain because we offered to tour the girls around in the mean time.

Nayeon and I wasn't really that close in the other world but boy is she loud. I understand that the three of them were just plainly curious but their questions can be overwhelming, especially when they talk at the same time.

I looked at my bestfriends for help but they just laughed at me.

Some friends they are.

"Unnie, why are they looking at us for a while now?" Tzuyu suddenly said which grabbed my attention, I looked around to get what she was implying and saw that many people were staring at us. Must be because of these two reasons: because of us and because of the new faces we are with.

"Oh that, you'll get used to that." I simply shrugged.

"She's right, especially when you're with us, not to brag but we are kinda known here." Yeonjun warned the newcomers, even though he was only half serious, and half cocky. Typical.

"You are?" Nayeon asked and Yeonjun has never looked that offended before.

"You expect this face to be ignored?" The young lad pointed a proud finger towards his face and looked at Nayeon like the girl lost her mind.

"Jin is rubbing off on this kid." I whispered to Joohyun unnie who only laughed in response.

As we continued our way, we made sure to introduce them to the foreign surrounding they were put in recently. We figured that we could use this time to explain every basic thing they need to be aware of while walking.

From the kingdoms and its rulers, the people, places and objects, things they can do or cannot do, things they should avoid, basically everything that they need to know about to help themselves avoid getting killed.

"So it means that you guys should never wander off alone, everytime you want to go out you should seek our permission first." Joohyun unnie explained. "You guys only possess a minimal amount of knowledge about this place, so since we are your self-proclaimed guardians, we will be responsible for whatever happens to you here."

An angel indeed.

While they were talking, I noticed that we already reached the gates.

"Guys," I spoke grabbing all of their attention, I faced them before saying, "I present to you,"

"The palace of the northern kingdom."

The natives from the other world slowly turned their heads towards the palace and gawked at the majestic architecture in all its glory.

This was already an everyday sight for us, but for the newcomers it was not so I understand why their mouths were hanging ajar. We had the same reaction when we entered the palace years ago when we were still young.

"Come on," I grinned. "Based on your reactions I think you'll be more amazed when we enter inside."

The girls nodded their heads while still in trance so I just chuckled before leading them once again. As we neared the entrance I noticed that there weren't two people who usually guards the doors, but now there were three.

I squinted my eyes in confusion but I soon realized that it was actually Kyungsoo and Chanyeol, talking with my brother.

"Niel? What are doing here?" I asked, and from my peripheral vision, I can tell that the girls were curious who these were.

"Oh, guys this is Kyungsoo and Chanyeol, one of our best guards." I pointed at the two. "And this is Daniel, my brat brother."

"You really had to add 'brat' huh?" Daniel rolled his eyes.

I turned to look at the girls and saw that shock was the only evident emotion in their faces right now. Couldn't blame them.

"Yeah, I have a brother," I scratched my nape and smiled sheepishly.

"And boys, these are Nayeon, Jeongyeon, and Tzuyu." I introduced the girls. "They're with me."

I chuckled when Kyungsoo and Chanyeol looked at me with a seriously look. I mean I have been bringing new faces to the palace lately.

"We want to have a talk with the kings and queens." I said and stepped forward but they blocked my way. I raised my brows but they just reciprocated my action.

"With all due respect Kang, but you can't just bring strangers inside the palace, not to mention this is not the first time." Kyungsoo said with no emotions.

I sighed and rubbed my temples before facing him again with a stern face.

"Another role for the kings and queens is to listen to the complaints of the citizens right?" Their expressions softened with what I said. "Well, I am a citizen and I want to talk to them about a certain matter, now is there any problem with that?"

"Right, sorry." Kyungsoo bowed his head along with Chanyeol. I'm not mad, I understand that they just want to do their job well, I am aware that these two were also blaming themselves when Sungjae escaped, they've been extra careful after that incident.

"No worries, I understand your side." I slightly smiled and nodded towards my brother before letting my friends enter first and going inside afterwards.

But something bugged me with how the faces of my two friends looked, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo looked more stressed than usual, but before I can think about it more the voice of Nayeon greeted our ears.

"Daebak!"

Yeonjun, Joohyun unnie and me laughed because of their faces, they sure are amazed.

"Follow us." I instructed.

We went through the palace's main hall and made a turn in the eastern part of the palace. After passing through countless doors, we stopped at a certain one that was noticebly different from the others.

"Ready?" I asked earning nods of confirmation from the girls.

I took a deep breath before knocking on the door twice, after a few seconds the gigantic door opened revealing a long table filled with things that seemed like maps, sketches and more.

What are these for?

But before I can even ask, the royals all looked at us.

"Seulgi, Joohyun, Yeonjun, it's good that you are here." Queen Athena asked in a strained voice. It was obvious that they were stressed judging from the creases on their foreheads.

"What seems to be the matter your majesties?" I furrowed my eyebrows in concern, I almost forgot I needed to introduce the girls to them.

It was not until this moment when they noticed three unfamiliar girls with us. "Who are they?"

"Your majesty-"

But before I can even finish, King Peter cut me off which lead me to worrying more about what could have been the problem for them to be stressed out like this.

"I apologize dear but I'm afraid we need your friends to wait outside first, this is very important." The king of the north said in an authoritative but concerned voice. I looked at Joohyun unnie and Yeonjun as if asking if they knew what was going on but they only replied with the same confused face as me.

I nodded to the king before telling the girls to spare us a minute. "Can you guys give us a sec?" I smiled with gratitude when they immediately complied before turning back my attention to the royalties.

"What's the matter sire?" I inquired.

"Junmyeon," I furrowed my brows along with Joohyun unnie and Yeonjun when the name of a friend who also happened to be one of the palace's guards was mentioned by King Oscar.

"Yesterday, he came back here from his patrol with a message," The king paused. "Wounded."

What?!

My brows twitched in worry and so did my friends because of what the king just said. Why and who dared to hurt Junmyeon? He was a friend so I can't help but feel angry.

The majesties noticed our distressed response before continuing. "He lost his consciousness the moment he stepped inside the palace of the eastern kingdom, when he woke up he said he was obliged to send us a message."

"Apparently he was captured and beaten up before being sent back here."

As soon as his majesty said those words I couldn't help but feel enraged now.

"Who sent the message." I spat, I know I should be respectful but I couldn't help it especially with the fact that one of my friends were hurt, it wasn't a secret that we were friends with the palace guards.

"It was from the Dark Realm."

What I'm thinking right now can't be happening.

° ° °

I'm tired both physically and mentally, so much stress so I apologize for updating this book slowly. It's been what, two months? But I just want to thank you guys for 65k reads! I really appreciate it

Anyways, I hope you guys can bear with me and my slow updates :(

I hope you guys still find this book interesting but don't worry, we're getting to the climax soon hehe

This is also unedited by the way so expect errors

Luv y'all

Author-nim outtt