The Royalty ||Park Sunghoon FF||

Chapter 3

"This pen was on the floor last night. Do you know to whom it belongs? I noticed that Prince Heeseung possessed a similar one," Nari said, handing the pen to Taeoh.

"I can not say for certain whose it is, but these pens are used by the family. It seems someone from the Imperial family was near your door," Taeoh replied, glancing around. Nari nodded at his statement. As they conversed, sitting on the castle stairs, Nari heard it again.

"Puppet... puppet..." Nari looked around, bewildered.

"Do you hear that?" she asked Taeoh, hoping he had heard the whispers too.

"Hear what?" Taeoh asked, utterly confused. The whisper was only audible to Nari.

"Do you not hear the whispers?"

"No. Do you hear something? What does it say?"

"I have heard it multiple times since my arrival at the castle. It repeatedly utters the word 'puppet'," Nari explained.

"Huh?Puppet? That is all?"

"Yes, that is it. I do not understand its meaning," Nari said, her eyes suddenly landing on someone. They made eye contact.

"What is he looking at?" Nari questioned aloud, prompting Taeoh to follow her gaze. He immediately stood up upon realizing who Nari was referring to.

"Mother requests your presence," Prince Sunghoon said as he approached Nari. After delivering his message, he began to walk away.

"Requested to come where?" Nari asked. How was she supposed to know where the Empress wished to see her? He could at least provide some direction.

"Pfft, find it yourself," Sunghoon retorted, making Nari scoff. He walked away without waiting for her response, leaving her extremely frustrated.

"Are they always like this?" Nari angrily questioned Taeoh, who simply shrugged his shoulders and laughed.

"Why are you laughing? What is so amusing?" Nari asked, her frustration growing as Taeoh's laughter only annoyed her further.

"You are as red as a tomato," he said, laughing even more. Nari hit Taeoh on the shoulder and began walking away.

"Where are you going? Are you angry?"

"Yes, I am angry. You heard what Prince Sunghoon said, did you not?" Nari said, heading inside the castle to find where the Empress was. Nari wandered around the main hall, trying to locate the Empress, when she saw sudden shadows by a room. Curiosity overwhelmed her, and she decided to look inside. She instantly regretted it. It was the medical room. Several soldiers with massive wounds lay on the beds, surrounded by pools of blood.

"Nari, patience, Nari..." she muttered to herself, closing her eyes tightly shut. The thirst was unbearable. Nari's eyes started glowing bright red, craving the delicious pool of blood in front of her. Her fangs emerged instantly. Nari became a different person the moment she saw human blood. She was slowly approaching the room when someone suddenly pulled her away by the wrist. She growled at the person who pulled her, but Taeoh did not let go and pulled her into an empty room.

"Princess Nari, regain your senses," he said, lightly tapping her cheeks. She slowly came back to her senses, as they were far enough from the room for the smell of blood not to be strong enough to make her thirsty.

"Are you well?" Taeoh asked, and Nari nodded slowly as she regained her composure.

"When was the last time you had blood?" Taeoh asked, noting how thirsty Nari had looked. Usually, if they had enough blood recently, they wouldn't react much to the smell of blood, but if they hadn't had blood for a while, they would be unable to control themselves.

"About four days ago. It is hard to find blood here since the kitchen is unfamiliar, and I do not know any available sources to get blood like back at my palace."

"You should have told me. I had some blood yesterday."

"I should leave. I think I need to sleep a bit," Nari said, ready to leave the room, but Taeoh stopped her.

"Here, drink some," Taeoh said, suddenly extending his wrist towards her after biting it, making it bleed. The moment Nari saw the blood on his wrist, her eyes glowed bright red again. She hungrily sucked the blood. After some time, Taeoh removed her fangs, limiting the amount Nari could drink. If he did not do this, Nari could drain all the blood from his body, as drinking blood from a person only temporarily reduced the thirst while increasing it in the long term.

"That is enough for now, or you will kill me. I will get you some more blood. Until then, go to your room and rest," Taeoh said, pushing Nari outside the room and towards the stairs.

"I am sorry. I did not mean to drink so much. You should go and have some blood yourself, or you will feel sick," Nari said apologetically to her friend.

"I am fine, do not worry. Go ahead now to your room," Taeoh said, smiling.

"Thank you, but please go and inform the Empress that I can not come to see her. Tell her I am a bit unwell," Nari said, climbing the stairs massaging her temples.

Please vote the story and follow my account so that I can be encouraged to post more frequently. ♡♡♡♡♡