Emperor Min Yoongi ascends the throne with a vow to avenge the untimely death of his father. It is a promise that will take he and his consorts to battle through fire and water, and to bring back the dead on a quest for the truth of what happened on...
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The streets of Jeoggun were made of uneven cobblestone, with moss showing between the cracks that gave them an old world feel, evidence to their age despite the youth of the walls which surrounded them. I'd entered the city in what appeared to be a quiet neighbourhood - the noise of revelry could be heard in the distance, but nobody passed me as I followed the directions Hoshi had given me. We were working on a hunch - an educated guess as to where Hoseok might be, and where he would be keeping the rings. My netherite armour meant I stuck out like a sore thumb, due to the fact that Jeoggun did not possess any netherite tools, however we'd decided that for this mission it was better for me to be armed than to blend in. That being said, I would have much preferred to avoid attention from anyone other than Hoseok until it was absolutely necessary.
Finding Hoseok's residence wasn't particularly hard, but it was, as was to be expected, heavily guarded. The sprawling house, although big by Jeoggun standards was otherwise relatively small, and it seemed to have been built in a fever dream. I had a suspicion that even if I did not already know who it belonged to, I could have guessed it fairly easily. Haphazardly placed wood intermingled with differing stones, along with pillars made of basalt, but something seemed to work about it, and despite how pretentious it seemed, it was still aesthetically pleasing. Guards lined the walkway up to the entrance, and although they did not hold the stiff attention of the palace guards I was used to, there was no sneaking by them. My armour was much better than any of theirs, however there was a lot of them, and I didn't fancy facing so many with diamond weapons.
The guards caught sight of me the second I stepped towards the entrance, all of them starting with alarm upon seeing who it was. I was still a queen, even if they of Jeoggun no longer respected my position, and I watched with amusement as they were caught in two minds over how they should react to my presence. This was clearly not something they were trained for.
"Relax, I'm just here to talk," I rolled my eyes, twisting the handle of my trident in my left hand absently. "Where's Hoseok-hyung?"
"Taemin?"
I turned towards the door to see the tall brunet staring at me in surprise. I smiled at him, and shrugged.
"Hello, brother."
Hoseok grinned at my words, his shoulders instantly relaxing.
"I'm not even going to ask how you got past the walls, just... come in."
"Good," I nodded, stepping towards him. "I wasn't going to divulge that information anyway."
I followed him into the house, leaving the guards to whisper behind the door.
"Hyung, we need to talk about..."
"Shh," he interrupted me softly, holding a finger to his lips, and shaking his head. "Not here."
My eyes widened, and I nodded wordlessly. I followed him through the entryway of the house, idly examining the decor that screamed Hoseok as much as the exterior did, until he led me to a door to one side. Hoseok opened it, and I stepped inside, allowing him to close the door behind us. We had entered a relatively small kitchen, and I looked around curiously.
