svadilfari - w.kh

4.

impossible...

i stared at jaemin who had nothing but a serious look on his face.

"you're lying. you said you walked the whole kingdom and no one was there, liar." i spat. i turned around to walk away only to be stopped again.

"we're not lying." sungchan said with a stern voice.

"how do you know that i wasn't the only survivor? what proof do you have?"

"our hideout is in Eleftheria, you know that. while there, we saw someone come in empty handed and leave with a photo frame." jungwoo explained while looking at me.

to me, it seemed impossible. how could someone be alive if we had already checked?

"listen to us li, we're not tricking you this time." sungchan's firm voice rang in my ears.

"it's impossible for anyone else to be alive. you took me around the whole kingdom and there was no one." i said again.

before i could turn my back again, donghyuck grasped onto my wrist and turned me around. i turned to face his emotionless eyes.

he looked down at our hands and placed a somewhat familiar necklace in the palm of my hands.

i looked down at the dark red beads that were threaded onto the red string. at the end of the necklace was a small gold dragon with a jade stone embedded in it's open mouth.

the necklace was shining as if it was brand new. there were delicate details for the dragon's patterns.

"you recognise this necklace, right?" donghyuck asks me.

"this is the necklace the queen of Eleftheria wore around her neck..." i whispered in reply.

how did they get this necklace..?

that one question lingered my mind.

this necklace is what everyone calls the domino necklace. it was a necklace that was passed down to every bride of the royal family from Eleftheria. with the beauty and worth of the necklace, many people tried to steal it off the bride's neck; but of course, they failed.

any and every person that came close to stealing the necklace was killed. their lives fell without stopping; like a domino.

"how did you get this necklace?" i asked while diverting my eyes from the necklace to donghyuck.

"we found it yesterday. it's partly the reason why we came here, to give you it."

"g-give it to me? why would you give it to me?" i was beyond curious of this. i mean sure, i am the 'only' survivor but they could've kept it and sold it to the market.

donghyuck turned around and looked at jungwoo with a face asking for permission. with one slight nod of jungwoo's head, donghyuck turned back to me.

"this necklace can get you back into the palace Cressida." my eyes widened in shock at his statement.

are they..helping me..?

"the queen of Eleftheria and the queen of Cressida were cousins. despite having so many other cousins and family, those two were by far the closest. the night after the attack, the queen of Cressida left to inspect Eleftheria. she noticed that this necklace was gone and off the queen's neck. she made an announcement later that week that anyone who finds the necklace will be granted with one wish."

"you really think that just because of one necklace, the queen will accept a traitor back into the kingdom? you're kidding yourself right now." i replied back, emphasising the word traitor to make them remember what they forced me to do.

"no li! you don't get it! queen biyu was meant to be the queen of Eleftheria. hearing the news made her excited because then she could finally inherit the necklace but then, four days before the coronation, queen changying became the heir. hearing the sudden news enraged biyu; now she was left with nothing to inherit and became the heir of Cressida. that necklace means a lot to queen biyu. as long as she has that necklace in her hands, she won't care who it is that gave it to her." jaemin explained.

(just in case you're confused, biyu is the queen of cressida, aka hendery's mum and changying is the dead queen of eleftheria)

"ok but still, it's just an heirloom." at my words, jungwoo sighed and stormed over to where i stood. he gripped onto either sides of my shoulders and looked into my eyes.

"people would die for that necklace because that piece of cursed jewellery is a key to something hidden. i don't know where or what it is but it's something people would die to get. that necklace was also handmade by the royal family's ancestors, having it last this long and still look brand new makes it worth even more."

i brushed jungwoo's hands off my shoulders and looked him straight into the eye.

"if you don't know what it's the key to, then how is it so important? i could care less for a piece of junk you know."

"don't be so fucking stubborn and accept our help!" sungchan abruptly yelled. he walked over to me and looked down at me.

his aura itself already intimidated me and his height wasn't helping.

"we're trying to help you back into the army. sure, we still want queen biyu's crown but we genuinely wanna help you. no matter what you do, no matter you say, she won't let you in unless you have this necklace. you either take our hand of help or you can continue walking around the forest to make a new place to stay."

looking in his eyes, i could see how genuine he felt.

"fine, give me the necklace and i'll give you that crown."

hEy !