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Though her captors were her old colleagues, they had no intentions of giving her even the slightest opening for her to escape.

She could have tried to fight them, to burn them all to ashes. She'd contemplated it over and over, but it never felt right.

It didn't take long after reaching the palace for her to regret that choice, however.

As she was forcibly pushed to her knees in front of the king, her body too shocked to move on its own, she realized what exactly had happened in Mevani.

"Hello, Kel."

The man sitting on the throne grinned devilishly at her, an expression she'd never seen on his face before.

"H-how?" she blurted, forgoing formalities. "Why?"

"Tsk tsk," the man clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "I'm the king now, Kel. Why don't you greet me appropriately?"

"I.." Kel paused, taking a shaky breath before correcting herself. "I greet His Majesty, the king."

"Good girl," the king smiled darkly. "Now, why don't all of you get lost?"

He lazily flicked his finger toward the throne room doors, hinting to Marcus and the other soldiers that it was time to make their exit.

"Good luck, Kel," Marcus breathed as he bowed before turning to leave with the others.

As the heavy doors thudded shut, the king looked around the room with a scowl.

"I'm pretty sure I said 'all of you'," he snarled. "So why are you still here?"

Kel's eyes widened, thinking the man was referring to her, but she soon heard the skittish footsteps of several court officials leaving the room. Before long, the doors thudded shut once again, leaving only two people in the large room.

Kel and the man on the throne.

As soon as they were alone, the man chuckled brightly and ran to Kel, throwing his arms around her.

"I missed you so much, Kel!" he exclaimed. "I'm so glad you made it back alive!"

Pulling away, the man's face resumed its previous dark expression. With a scoff, ran a hand through his bright red hair.

"Unlike my uncle," he grimaced, "you made it back alive."

Leif.

Kel was certain it was the same awkward teenage body and shaggy orange hair, but the deep voice and fierce eyes were nothing like those of the loveable boy she'd last seen the night before she was taken hostage.

Kel gulped, unable to speak.

"Aw, you're surprised, huh?" the boy cooed, stroking her cheek. "You still want to know 'h-how' and why?"

"What happened.. No, when?" Kel whispered, her brain refusing to correctly connect with her mouth.

"Make up your mind!" Leif teased. "Which question do you want the answer to?"

Kel looked away from the boy.

He was.. scary.

Unpredictable.

Volatile.

Crazy.

The complete opposite of how she remembered him.

If anything, she felt like she was in front of Soren again--flinching under his excessive touch with no idea what he would do next.

Just as she had the thought, the gentle hand on her cheek disappeared, only to be replaced by a sharp blow that knocked her to the ground.

"Ha. I guess I can't help but be a little bitter," the red-haired boy smirked, "that you came back like this while my uncle came back to me in a tiny wooden box."

"Why did you want me to come back then?" Kel finally spoke up, clutching her stinging cheek.

Leif crouched down beside her.

"I want to make a deal with you, Kel," he replied, extending a hand toward her.

Kel reluctantly accepted his gesture, and Leif pulled her back up.

"Aren't you curious as to what my deal is?" the boy continued, softly dusting Kel's shoulders.

"What is your deal?" Kel broached, wary of another slap.

Leif's face lit up.

"It's simple," he answered. "I want you to stay by my side."

"Eh?" Kel accidentally blurted.

So far things were going differently than what Marcus had led her to believe. Though, all of her expectations had gone off track the moment she saw that the old king had been replaced by a goofy kid.

"Don't get the wrong idea!" Leif waved his hands, his cheeks turning red. "I don't want to marry you or anything!"

Lowering his voice, he added, "I have someone else in mind for that."

Kel hadn't even been considering such an absurd idea, but her curiosity was piqued by his second comment.

Sure, it was normal for kings to marry quickly to stabilize their position, but Leif was already thinking of marrying someone? The same boy who, not even a year ago, had been blushing while talking about his one-sided crush on Princess Adriell?

"Anyway," Leif cleared his throat. "I want you to be my bodyguard. My sword, if you will."

"I refuse," Kel responded instantly. "Why would you want me anyway?"

No matter how many days passed and how many times the seasons changed, Kel couldn't forget a single detail of the night she was abandoned.

And Leif--sweet, innocent, singing cheerfully around the campfire--was one of the people who betrayed her.

She hadn't forgotten.

"You shouldn't refuse so quickly," Leif scrunched his eyebrows, clenching his hands into fists at his sides.

It looked like he was gearing up for another hit.

"I don't know how this all happened, or why you have any interest in me," Kel declared bravely, "but I'd like to go back where I came from. This is no longer my home."

She expected the boy's rage to explode at her comment, but instead, he seemed to cool down.

"Back to Serin?" he said calmly. "Even though they threw you away too, right? Once they found out who you were?"

No.

The emperor never threw Kel away. She was the one who ran.

If it had been up to Calix, he probably wouldn't have sent her away.

"Aside from that, Kel," Leif went on, "we have one very important thing in common."

".. What is that?" Kel asked hesitantly.

"That old king, Adriell, and even Dash," Leif's eyes darkened again as he rested a hand on Kel's shoulder and leaned closer to her ear. "You hate them too, don't you? For sending you to die?"

"H-hate them?"

Kel was taken back.

Did she hate them? She couldn't answer that question.

"Don't worry, I've already punished them for you.. for us," Leif smiled.

"But I can punish them more if you want."