royal blood

05 | a long ride to nowhere.

princess yeri had no idea she would have to travel to peleria by train. she was given a ticket, and she couldn't even go to the first class. yeri had never gone by train before, but because of the currently situation in fetin, carriages couldn't go through.

yeri stepped into the train holding a briefcase. she looked around, seeing that the train was filled with women with children, who seemed to be running away from someone, or something. she made her way to her seat, realising it was next to a window.

yeri smiled at the thought she would be able to see the beauty of hlorrendin throughout her train ride. she remembered how doyoung mentioned loving to go by train whenever he went to ouverport or fetin. yeri imagined how doyoung would sit down next to the window, pick up a book and read peacefully.

she admired her older brother's love for peace. as the crown prince, he was put in situations where he had to think about going on the battlefield. a war was always threatned to start anytime soon, and doyoung wished that it was never going to take place.

doyoung died knowing his country was not at peace. while it might've not been in doyoung's thoughts during his final moments, it was surely something he was not happy about. yeri wondered if doyoung ever thought sitting on a couch in a nice villa would turn into his last moments, but she was never sure it was the case.

yeri wished that her brother would've been alive, she wished to see his small smiles whenever someone would talk to him and whenever he was asked to help the maids around. doyoung was a bright person who was pushed into the dark by everyone around him. he was a sunshine in a world full of dark clouds.

yeri looked out the window. she had never been in peleria, and she never thought about going there. she knew that the county of peleria was known for its bad state, for being a place where criminals hid and where people would start armed conflicts for anything.

she slowly closed her eyes. she didn't expect to sleep this early into her train ride, but yeri had been tired for the past week. she couldn't close one eye since doyoung passed away. every single night, she would picture doyoung's dead body and think about the ways he could've been killed.

yeri got lost in her thoughts and eventually fell asleep. it felt nice to finally be able to rest without imagining doyoung, but she somehow had a sense of fear inside of the train. maybe the person who commited such a cold-blooded murder was also on the train, waiting for yeri to be alone.

was she going to be targeted by this killer ? doyoung never felt paranoid in public, but what if he has also experienced such weird feelings during the times he was alone ? was he also paranoid and aware of everyone around him ?

—

yeri quickly opened her eyes, seeing the dark clouds and thick fog that covered the windows of the previously sunny window. she widened her eyes, now knowing that she was in fetin. yeri took her briefcase, heading out of the train, before seeing that jungwoo was waiting for her at the station.

once he noticed yeri, he waved towards her. just like doyoung, jungwoo was also a bright and cheerful man. yeri remembered going to the same choir as him when they were younger, and he always happend to be the one to come up with new ideas and encouraging everyone to try new things.

yeri wasn't familiar with taeil or sicheng, but she knew she could trust jungwoo. he felt like a warm person, that could give good advice and help anyone he would meet. he was going to be a great baron, if he ever was to become one. taeil was most likely to become the next official baron, who would make the most important decisions for peleria.

" i am sorry if i had to make you wait. i fell asleep during the ride, i didn't even move once. " yeri let out a laugh, as jungwoo smiled back to her. " it is my first time in peleria. i am quite interested to see how different it is in fetin compared to ceham. " yeri said, as she looked around the area.

everything seemed sad. people were wearing dark-coloured clothes, they were hiding behind buildings, as a lot of people were also yelling in the middle of the street. jungwoo tried to show yeri where their carriage was, before a gunshot was heard.

" do not worry about it. " jungwoo told yeri, who flinched. " this usually happens around the city. people fight, and they like to fight using weapons. " he said, as a carriage driver opened the door for them. yeri got in, as she held her briefcase tightly. " i am sorry if i scared you with the words i told you. "

" it is very weird, jungwoo. " yeri looked at him, before letting out a small sigh. " things like these don't happen in ceham, and weapons, especially guns, scare me more because of doyoung and how he died. " she continued to tightly hold her briefcase, as jungwoo nodded.

" i am sorry, once again. i honestly thought that wendy was going to come, not you. " jungwoo looked down, as yeri nodded. " i have lived in fetin my whole life. i have never had a happy experience around the city, because i always tend to hide from a possible murderer who might have a gun with him. "

" i feel for you. " yeri put her hand on jungwoo's shoulder. " i hope to have a better time in fetin, and i hope that you will make sure to show me all of the nice landmarks and statues. i love to go to those. " she smiled, as jungwoo nodded.

the two continued their ride in silence. yeri saw the baron's villa infront of her for the first time in her life. jungwoo helped her get down from the carriage, as the two enterd the villa. yeri looked around, seeing all of the portraits that were displayed around the hallways.

yeri wandered around the giant hallways. she forgot where jungwoo was, or if he started looking for her, but yeri had gotten into a hallway where all of the weapons that were used in the pelerian war were displayed. yeri was not too familiar with the war, but doyoung had told her about it for many times.

suddently, she felt a tap on her shoulder. yeri turned around, not expecting to see sicheng standing infront of her. he seemed confused to see yeri in the place where weapons were displayed, but yeri was even more weirded out to see him.

" i didn't expect to see you of all people looking at swords. " sicheng said with a small laugh, as yeri looked towards him. " i have heard about your royal tour, and i wanted to come and greet you in a proper way. " he explained to yeri, who decided it would be best to ignore him. " by your reaction, i should've stayed in my room. "

" please, go back to your stupid room. " yeri scoffed, " i am going to stay for three more days and then i will go back to ceham. " she rolled her eyes, as she was about to walk away. suddently, she could hear sicheng's steps getting closer.

" yeri, i wanted to tell you something. " sicheng suddently said, as yeri turned around for one last time. " i've thought about this ever since i came to ceham, but i don't think that doyoung took his own life. i believe that he was murdered, and that his death needs to be investigated. "

" why do you think he was murdered ? " yeri asked, as she approached sicheng. " i also think he was murdered, but why would you think of that ? you haven't been close to doyoung, not even when you two were classmates. " she felt curious about sicheng's theories, before he let out a laugh.

" because, he was dear to me. he was a great person who wasn't cared for by his own parents. that is exactly why he did struggle, but at some point, he admitted to me that he felt stalked sometimes. " sicheng told yeri, who widened her eyes.

could she trust sicheng ?

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