Something tell me that I should do go ahead and finish Elrios High Too before my awesome readers start asking questions but then I got an idea for this story...I need to get on track.
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       They walked behind Helputt in silence, neither of them wanting to say a word nor make eye contact with each other. To say that Ara was furious was an understatement but she still could understand why he did what he did. It was her own fault anyway, being that she easily fell into Astrin's trap. She should have kept her guard up especially after Add had warned her to be careful. She suddenly felt the urge to cry but she did her best to keep herself composed. Ara suddenly flinched when she felt Add take hold of her hand.

         She looked up at him since she had been staring at the floor but he just kept looking down as if he wasn't doing anything, a light shade of pink adorning his face or at least what Ara could see of it. His hair covered some of it and kept his eyes hidden. Ara frowned and pulled her hand away. Even if Add was feeling a bit guilty, at least it seemed that way, Ara wasn't about to let him try making up for it just yet. She would let him feel bad for getting them in a bad situation and when he'd had enough of her treatment, she'd accept the apology that he would likely try to give her.

         It wasn't the first time Add had done something similar to what he'd done so Ara wanted to make sure that he didn't do it again. She saw him look over at her with a hurt expression but she only looked away. "I'll ask you two again before I return you two to your room. Are you sure that General Astrin didn't say anything to you other than what you told me?" Helputt asked, likely noticing Add and Ara's interaction. Neither of them said a word not wanting to lie to the man again.

        "You can tell me anything. I'll keep it to myself, I promise. You seem a little more protective of your friend, young one. And you seem more reserved than I remember," Helputt said, addressing them both. "He was only escorting us back. He only said that he still didn't trust us but was willing to forgive our actions and violation of the rule you set for us," Ara spoke up. She could tell that Add would rather not say anything else to Helputt.

         Add had explained everything to her when she'd woken up and it was made clear to her that they had no way out of this predicament. She was indeed angry at him for trading Eun for her but she was also grateful that he had gotten her away from that intensely creepy general. Astrin was a truly evil person. "You both know that I know you're lying to me right?" Helputt spoke up. Ara's blood chilled and she feared that Helputt already knew of Astrin's plans.

          "It's okay though. I know Astrin probably did something to keep you two silent but I want to convince you into telling me what you know. How about we go visit someone. I'm sure it'll be convincing enough to get you two to talk. I would hate for you two to betray the trust I put in you," Helputt continued as he led them. He was guilt tripping them and not only that but he also knew that Astrin was planning something. "You doubt your own general?" Add asked.

        "I've never trusted him a day in my life. Besides, I can tell how much you hated his very existence earlier yet just then, you seemed like you could overly tolerate the man. If I were a fool, I'd have paid no attention to that," Helputt answered. Ara was truly amazed by Helputt's perceptiveness but that only made her worry. "Who are we visiting?" Ara asked, hoping that he wouldn't take them directly to visit the king. If Astrin found out that they'd visited him, he might think they told of his plan and he would likely retaliate by destroying Eun and attempting to steal her away and make her a mindless puppet.

        "You'll see. He'll be at dinner later on when you meet the king but I want you three to get acquainted first. It isn't often that he gets visitors around his age. I'm assuming you two are around his age," Helputt spoke. Ara almost sighed with relief but she didn't want to give herself away. Eventually, Helputt led them to some less populated area of the palace and he knocked on a particular door. "Who's there?" a voice from the other side of the door called. "You have visitors. Hope you're dressed," Helputt answered.

         "Wha-Father! You can't just bring random people to my room!!" the voice practically yelled but Helputt had already opened the door and didn't hesitate to walk right in. Add and Ara just stood there at the door and gave each other confused looks, actually making eye contact without looking away from each other. Add suddenly realized this at the same time that Ara did but before he could do or say anything Helputt spoke to them.

         "Well what are you two waiting for? Get in here and meet my boy, Chung," Helputt said as he proudly took hold of his son's shoulders and shoved him forward. The boy looked rather uncomfortable and was indeed around Add and Ara's age but a bit younger. He was clothed in casual clothing but they were a bit more above average compared to what Ara had seen others in Hamel wearing. The thing about Chung that stood out the most was how sick he looked. He looked as if he hadn't had much sleep which was obvious since he had bags under his eyes and his complexion seemed pale but Ara was only comparing him to his father, Helputt.

         "Well, introduce yourself," Helputt urged his son who shot his father a look of irritation. He sighed before speaking. "Hello, my name is Prince Seiker and no, I'm no prince. I'd prefer that you call me Chung and I'm sorry that my father dragged you to here just to meet me when you'd probably want to be doing other less boring things," Chung said with a cross of his arms. Before Helputt could even try to tell Add and Ara to do the same, Add spoke.

         "I'm Add, that's Ara, and your father didn't drag us here. We had no choice but to follow him," he said. Chung tilted his head at Add's last comment but said nothing. "Now come on in you two. I want the three of you to become better acquainted with one another," Helputt said as he guided Chung over to a seating area in his room. Add and Ara followed, closing the door behind them and sitting in the couch acroos from the one that Helputt and Chung sat in. "I'll let you two start. Tell him about yourselves," Helputt began. Ara looked at Add clearly signifying that he go first but he gave her a look of refusal.

        "Okay, then I'll just take over from here on out. Those two are potential felons that I happened to take in and I want them to meet the king and tell him their story so he can decide if they should be sent back off into the harsh cold where they supposedly came from. Either that or they'll be turned over to the Red Knights and possibly end up in an environment worse than Hamel's section of less fortunate people," Helputt said. Chung stared at Add and Ara with wide eyes and even took a few glances at his father, probably not believing what he'd heard.

         "And about Chung...I'm sure you two could tell that he's sick. We don't know what it is that he has but it's pretty bad. His treatments used to be so damn expensive that I couldn't afford them even with me being one of Hamel's greatest warriors. Crazy isn't it? But you know, the king is a great person. He pays for all of Chung's treatments and he forbid me to pay him back! He even invites Chung to dinner every night. Chung's a picky eater you know. He might disappoint you with his eating habits but he's a good kid, I assure you," Helputt said with a laugh.

         Chung had already facepalmed, clearly embarrassed. "You didn't have to tell them that...it's not like they care anyway," Chung muttered, his entire mood suddenly changing. He kept his gaze to the patterned carpet, his expression now holding sadness. "Oh don't be like that. I'm sure they'll be great friends, isn't that right you two?" Helputt said as he got up. Surely he wasn't about to leave two potential felons with his sickly son?!

        "It's time we take our leave then. We'll see you later on at dinner okay," Helputt said as he gestured for Add and Ara to come with him. They didn't hesitate to follow, both of them sensing that Chung did not want them there. Helputt led them back to their room in silence afterwards until Add said something before Helputt could leave them back at their room. "If you keep treating him like that, he'll never get any better," Add said without looking at Helputt as he addressed him.

         "Excuse me," Helputt said with a little bit of warning in his voice. "He's already sick and you aren't helping by bringing people to see him especially when he doesn't know them. He doesn't seem to take it too well. I get that your worried and all but if you really want Chung's condition to improve, you've got to let him live a little. I can bet he only leaves that room a certain number of times per day and probably hasn't seen the rest of Hamel in a while. He wants to be treated normally despite his sickness. I can tell," Add continued, unphased by the warning tone in Helputt's voice.

         "You speak with much wisdom for your age...as if you somehow understand what it's like. Tell me, if anything were to happen to Chung, how would I be able to live with myself knowing that it's because I wasn't there to protect him enough," Helputt said. "Protecting him too much can cause just as much harm," Add said, completely dodging the question. Helputt smirked at Add's answer and seemed as though he wanted to laugh as well but refrained from doing so.

        "You are wise indeed, young one. I'm sure the king will take a liking to you. I'll be back in a couple of hours," Helputt said as he turned to leave, but he stopped. "Oh, and Ara, don't worry about that hairpin of yours. I'll find a way to get it back from him for you," he said before walking away leaving both Add and Ara stunned and slightly suspicious of how much he knew about Astrin's plans. They both just went to their respective beds and flopped onto them.

         Two more hours until their first dinner with the king of the Senace kingdom on their very first day in Hamel. Two more hours and Add would have to attempt to murder the king by using the poison given to him by Astrin. Just two more hours for their lives to potentially fall apart for good and the sad thing about it all was that Ara didn't care anymore. She had almost gotten enough courage and hope to keep going despite losing her whole family but in that very moment of simple thinking, it all fell apart and Ara began to cry.
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Yes, in this alternate line of time, Chung never got over his state of sickness. Sad right, but you guys don't care because you're probably just here for the ship...or are you?! Until next time you awesome readers!