A thin beam of light entered the dim room through a small open crack in the shutters of a window, as Aera shifted left then right.

"Die you cursed monsters."

A deep voice, which she found hard to believe belonged to her's, boomed in her head as she immediately jolt awake, her heart thumping in her chest while her hand kept on it to calm it down.

Her chest heaved as she gulped back the tears forming in her eyes. 

"You are awake?" Came a voice to which Aera immediately looked to her side and gasped, seeing the one and only Queen of kingdom Azmaar sitting right next to her with a worried expression on her face.

"Y-your highness..." She mumbled with a trembling voice as she looked at the woman sitting beside her.

The Queen smiled softly as her eyes creased to form a crescent shaped eye smile. 

A pang hit Aera's heart as she noticed this small detail. It was a strange moment for this memory to come, but it reminded her of her friend. It reminded her of Jimin.

"You have been unconscious for the past two days my dear. How are you feeling now? Do you want water?" The Queen asked as Aera gulped once again.

"I-I have been unconscious for two days...?" She asked with disbelief as the Queen's nodded. "Yes, you have."

"But why?" 

Silence seeped through the air, as the Queen slightly tilted her head, causing a strand of hair to come loose from the bun she wore. "You don't remember? After defeating those monsters you had lost a lot of energy which caused you to loose consciousness and fall down. Thankfully, the Prince had caught you in time so no worries, you have not gotten any injuries except for the gash at the side of your arm, which with the help of our experienced doctor has healed quickly using magic."

Memories flooded through Aera's mind on hearing the Queen's words as she recalled the strange feeling that had taken over her on seeing the Prince in danger. 

Looking at Aera, the Queen gave a sigh. "Aera, my dear, I am really sorry for what happened on our first meeting. Bizarre things have been going on here and its hard to trust any outsider. Seeing you, the King was suspicious thinking that you could belong from our enemies side and that is why he did not give you a proper chance to explain."

Aera looked up with wide eyes as she felt her heart warm hearing the sincerity in the Queen's voice. "Your highness! Please don't apologize. It was my fault after all to just enter into the castle without taking yours and the King's permission."

A smile formed on the Queen's lips as she gave a gentle nod. Aera looked at her with a smile as she noticed the gentleness and the graceful beauty of the Queen.

"My dear, thank you for saving the Prince that day. Though we hardly know each other, after seeing how you protected my son without any hesitation, I have a strong feeling in my heart telling me that you are a good person who does not have any evil thoughts." The Queen said as she brought her hand forward and gently took Aera's palm in her hers. 

"I have to go now, Aera. Your new set of clothes is kept inside the closet and also, after taking permission from the King, I can tell this to you that you can now officially stay in kingdom Azmaar without facing any problems. Also, for the time being, you will be staying here in the castle and this room in which we sit in will be yours." 

Aera looked at the Queen with shock and surprise as tears of gratitude brimmed in her eyes. "Thank you your highness!" She exclaimed with joy as the Queen laughed seeing the excitement in the girl's eyes.

Getting out of the bed, she once again smiled and then walked out of the room.

The door was closed as Aera immediately jumped out of the bed and rushed towards the closet to see the dress that she would wear. A smile formed on her face as she looked at the beautiful new dress she would be wearing. 

Holding it to her chest, she heaved a sigh of relief as she then headed towards the bathroom to freshen up and then change.

///

"Ah my dear friend, its so good to see you again!" Jungkook exclaimed with joy as he hugged the approaching girl. 

Prince Taehyung too had gotten up from his chair as he walked towards her and shook hands. "Good to see you again. How have you been?" He asked as the girl smiled.

"I have been good Prince. Just graduated from the Royal Academy Of Magic two months ago and ever since I have been busy researching and studying about different types of exotic magical creatures." 

The Prince smiled as he heard her reply, "That's great to hear! Have a seat and tell us more about what has been going on, because afterwards we wont get much time to relax as today is going to be a long day." 

And to these words Jungkook nodded in agreement as he showed her where to sit.

///

Walking down the hallways of the castle while examining a few things here and there, the past few hours had been really exciting for Aera as she discovered and came to know about many new things.

Admiring a marble statue of a soldier, she was about to take a turn when she heard a lively conversation and laughter coming from outside, near the veranda. 

Curiosity took the better of her as she immediately retraced her steps and turned to walk towards the place from where the laughter and joyous talk could be heard.

She could hear the voice of some girl talking which was then followed by the laughter of...the Prince and that bunny looking guy?

"Jungkook, silly!" Aera corrected herself with a small smile as she slowly peeped outside to see what was happening.

"And then Ronald, my brother mistook the face cream for tooth paste and after brushing his teeth with the cream he shouted with horror as he realized what he had done!" Aera heard the girl speak, as her eyes fell on her.

"Oh my, poor Ronald, he must have been really shocked. But I guess that is the fun of playing early mornings pranks on April Fool's day!" Jungkook replied as he and the Prince laughed.

Aera's eyes wandered from the girl to Jungkook and then to the Prince as she could feel her heart suddenly starting to beat much faster and a surreal feeling pass through her. Her cheeks heated as she saw the Prince laugh, his blue eyes shining while the rays of the sun falling on his face.

"Oh god, what is wrong with you Aera!?" She scolded herself as she turned around and was about to walk away from the joyous and happy group when she heard someone call out to her.

"Aera?" It said as Aera stopped at her tracks and awkwardly turned around to see three pairs of eyes on her. "You finally woke up!" She heard the same voice exclaim which she noticed belonged to Jungkook. 

Jungkook got up from his chair as he opened the half closed door of the veranda and holding Aera's hand brought her to the centre of where they sat.

"Right Jungkook, I am a showpiece at display, which you really did need to place at the centre of attention didn't you?" Aera thought with annoyance as she started feeling self conscious seeing how everyone was looking at her.

Her eyes slowly averted from the ground to the Prince who seemed to look at her with an unreadable expression. Their eyes met for a few seconds but then they looked away as Jungkook's friend, on noticing how Taehyung seemed to have strangely been captivated by the presence of this new girl, asked out, "Umm, Jungkook, who is she?" 

Aera looked at the green eyed girl with a similar question in her mind.

To this, the Prince got up from his seat and walked towards Aera. Looking at her with a smile which immediately caused her to feel at ease he then replied, "Aera, this is Evie and Evie, this is Aera." 

Both the girls looked at each other with silence as Evie could not help but feel a tinge of jealousy on seeing how the Prince, even in the most small and unnoticeable manner, was being caring and gentle towards this new girl.

After a few minutes, Evie finally got up from her seat as she then gave Aera a smile. "Hello Aera, nice to meet you."

She said as she then looked at the time in her watch and then looking at the Prince said, "Its time I guess. We should be going, the wolves don't stay awake any longer as soon after a few hours it would be their rest time and talking to them at that moment would be like dealing with a very cranky child."

"Yeah, I agree. Common Taehyung, let's go." Jungkook said as he then turned his attention to Aera. "You should come too Aera, you wouldn't want to miss the happenings that will soon take place."

Aera looked at Evie and then at Jungkook as with sigh she agreed to come along because after all, there was nothing much to keep her entertained and interested if she would stay alone.

///

The afternoon light of the sun entered the room through an open window as a man sat on a chair kept near it. His face shone with a certain wisdom but also had wrinkled due to old age. 

"How have the things been going on for the guardian?" He asked to which his acquaintance gave a small shrug. 

"I have not met her for quite some time now as for the past few days she had been caught up in a lot of mess. From being banished from the kingdom, to almost leaving the magical realm, guardian Aera truly has have her share of drama for this week."

"I know, and that is what worries me. Though Aera is a strong and brave young woman, she still is pretty new and does not know much about this realm."

"I agree, but if we see the good side then it seems as if the Prince has been taking care of her lately. Ever since they met in the woods, he has been in touch with her and has protected her so far. Especially from the attack of those stray wolves."

A smile formed on the old man's lips as a gentle breeze entered his room through the window, "Ah, though I may be a bit too early to say this but, it seems as if the two may soon become close seeing how they both right from the start have a caring nature towards each other. But also, it is not much of a surprise because after all, their destiny has been intertwined together."

"Yes and I am pretty sure you have heard the way guardian Aera unleashed her magic to protect the Prince and though she may not have known this but it is really dangerous to do magic without any practice or experience."

"I know, and that is why you are here. Now that everything has settled down for Aera, you may as well visit her today or tomorrow and give her this suggestion to start practicing her magic."

The little creature gave a nod, as she got up from her small chair which was specially made just for her size. "Ok, I will do that."