I should probably let you guys know something that's not even important. I had to do some research before starting this book and apparently there are a lot of characters that exist that we Elsword players don't even know exist! They're practically nonexistent!
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       Add didn't notice that Ara had been crying. In fact, he was too worried about his own problems. How was he supposed to win against an adult with so much authority. No one would believe anything he said except perhaps Helputt. Astrin had been out to ruin Add's life every time he was anywhere near the man. Without his mother's slight authority to protect him, he couldn't simply get away with things that he really never did in the first place and now he was given the task to poison the king?!

         If Add even tried to get close to the king, he didn't doubt that he would be killed without hesitation. The poison that he was supposed to use was far more potent than any other that he had seen or heard of which made him wonder how Astrin made it. All Add had to do was pour the contents of the vile onto some exposed area of the king's skin and it would seep through it, contaminating all of the man's veins and killing him instantly. Add was surprised that the vile was even able to hold such a dangerous liquid and he had immediately removed it from his pocket and hid it under his pillow as soon as he had gotten to his bed.

        A knock was heard at the door and another servant made their way into the room. "I am here for Add. I am to escort you to be treated," he said. Add, pulled himself out of his bed and followed after the servant. He looked in Ara's direction before leaving but she seemed to be asleep so he didn't say anything to her before leaving. As he predicted, the servant took him to a bathing area and left him there with only his thoughts. Add was then escorted to an area where a variety of clothing options were displayed before him but he refused to part with anything that bore his family's symbol so he kept his clothing.

        Since he insisted on doing so, the servant had them washed and returned to him. Add was immediately returned to his room afterwards where he found Ara waiting for him and it was then that he actually noticed that she was crying. When she saw him, she wiped away her tears in a hurry and turned away from the door where he stood. "You're obviously not okay so don't even try saying that. You either tell me what's wrong with you or I make you tell me," Add said as he walked over to Ara who didn't want to look him in the eyes.

        "I'll be fine. You shouldn't worry about me," Ara said as she turned away from him again causing Add to sigh. "Ara, you can't keep doing this to me. Every time this happens, you turn me away and then expect me to just let you handle it yourself. Then when you eventually fix whatever your problem is, you expect me to continue on as if nothing happened. I'm not doing that anymore especially now that we aren't back in the village. It's just us now," Add said. Add was alarmed when Ara just started to cry again.

        "That's just it though! We aren't home and I'm not strong enough to protect myself or anyone else on my own! I relied too much on Eun and I failed again! My family is still dead and I might not even make it back home anyway. If we get caught, we'll be killed! If we aren't killed, we'll be imprisoned for the rest of our lives and Astrin will get away with it all!" Ara said as she cried even more. Stress and worry. That's what it was that was causing Ara's troubles.

         "Ara, I promise on my life that nothing will happen to you while you're here in Hamel. Since you claim not to be strong enough to protect yourself or others, I'll do my best to protect you. Ryu gave me that responsibly anyway, and I intend to take it seriously. Besides, you're all I have left until we go home and save my mother. Friends look out for each other and you've been doing that so it's my turn now," Add said as he got up and sat next to Ara who had almost completely stopped crying.

         "Thanks Add. You somehow always manage to make me feel better don't you," Ara said as sje wiped away her remaining tears. "You must think I'm such a crybaby still. I'm crying so much, I know. It's pathetic," Ara said as she looked down. "No, it's not pathetic. No normal person would be able to handle everything that you're dealing with without shedding a few tears," Add muttered. Ara gave a slight laugh before wiping at her face again. Add was a bit caught off guard when Ara suddenly hugged him but he let her and he hugged her back.

        An odd feeling of warmth and content washed over him and Add found himself closing his eyes and leaning his head against Ara's. He didn't quite know what the feeling was that compelled such overly affectionate behavior from him but he liked it. He searched his mind for an answer but no matter how many times he did, he always came up with the same answer and of course he denied it. Love was for those who wanted to experience heartbreak or loss. Add didn't hate love since he had to love to a certain extent when it came down to it but it was his current feeling that he wanted so badly to deny.

        Could he simply be going through a temporary stage of like? He'd heard of that before and it only lasted for a short time...but sometimes it actually did progress into something more. What if it did and what if he actually ended up loving Ara? How could he stop the heartbreak and loss that he knew would come? "Add, are you okay? You're starting to shake a little, is something wrong?" Ara asked, her voice snapping him from his drawn out thoughts.

         "I'm fine, I'm just...uneasy I guess," Add said as he ignored the blaring warning in his mind that told him to escape the trap called love. He didn't want to think that Ara could ever cause him any harm when she'd always done the opposite that he imagined love would do to him. He let the feelings come and hoped that he didn't regret his decision in the future. He hoped not to ever end up like his mother, unfixably broken by what she thought would last her forever.

        "Hey Ara, if we make it out of this, I want to ask you something important," Add said. Ara did have time to answer though because the door to their room was suddenly opened. There was no knock and so Add panicked, thinking it was Astrin coming to take Ara just because he felt like it. It was just Helputt but Add had already pulled Ara a bit closer to him and brought his dynamos, that had been resting on his own bed, over to him in case he needed to attack.

         "Whoa, calm down. It's just me. No need to be so alarmed. I'm back to take you both to meet the king. Chung's outside too. He said something about not wanting to barge into people's rooms. We'll be outside waiting," Helputt said. Add let Ara go and gave a nod, not really wanting to say anything while he was still thinking about previous matters. Helputt headed out of their room to wait for them. "Do you have it?" Ara whispered. Add realized that he did not, in fact, carry the poison with him and he retrieved it from under his pillow.

         The dark murky contents made him uncomfortable but he slipped the vile into his pocket anyway. "You'll find a way out of this right?" Ara said with hope although Add could tell that she wasn't really feeling hopeful. "I'll try," Add answered as he headed to the door, his dynamos following closely behind him. Ara followed after him and sure enough, Helputt and Chung were waiting for them. Chung's mood didn't seem to have improved which Add expected and Helputt seemed just as oblivious to his son's hidden demeanor as he was earlier.

         Helputt led them all towards a part of the palace that Add was unfamiliar with but it wasn't like he knew his way around anyway. They began to see the number of guards practically double as they made their way to their destination. Helputt finally stopped at a large door that was very similar to the palace entrance itself. The guards closest to the door opened it when they saw Helputt coming and let them right into what must have been the king's dining area.

          There was of course a huge table that ran almost all the alway across the room and at the end was the king, already seated. He was old for sure but he didn't quite seem so. He had plenty of hair, all of which was white, and atop his head was a crown that was fit for a king. Despite this obvious feature, he seemed to look a bit young and he was fit for whatever his age was. He was the only one seated in the room even though there were many other chairs to be filled.

        "Welcome!" the king said enthusiastically as they neared him. "I see you've brought the visitors that you spoke of. They seem quite mannerable just like your boy, Chung. It's hard to believe that these children survived Hamel's coldest winter temperatures, took down one of my best generals, and supposedly stole the Sacred Sapphire so many years ago. It's okay though. I know they didn't do anything wrong so there's nothing to discuss. Let's sit down and get to know our guests over dinner shall we," the king said.

        Helputt led them to the end of the table where he was and had Add sit closest to the king with Ara sitting next to him. Helputt himself sat across from Add with Chung sitting next to him. The servants immediately began appearing with plates of covered food and they revealed each dish to be different from the others. Then the servants brought empty plates and set them before everyone along with the proper utensils needed. After the servants left, the king and Helputt didn't hesitate to begin fixing their plates so Add and Ara slowly joined in as well but Chung remained still and only watched everyone else.

         Add didn't pay it too much attention but he did notice it. He was more focused on how he was going to not poison the king but somehow get Ara's hairpin back and escape Hamel before morning. "So, Chung, how are your treatments going? Are you feeling any better? I'm sure your enjoying all of the attention too aren't you," the king said. "I'm okay. Still the same actually," Chung said, a little bit of an attitude present in his voice.

         "Well, keep hanging in there. I'm sure you'll be out and about without a care in the world in no time," the king said. This statement, for some reason, struck on of Chung's nerves and he stood up and headed out to leave. "Chung, where do you think you're going?" Helputt said. "Can't I take a walk around this hall without anyone having to ask me questions," Chung snapped as he kept walking. Helputt was about to go after him but the king stopped him with a shake of his head. "Let the boy go. He must have a lot on his mind," the king said.

         "He isn't supposed to go anywhere by himself. What if his sickness attacks him again?" Helputt said, still trying to stand. "Let him have some alone time. He doesn't really get much of it. It's not like the guards in the hallway are invisible, you know. They'll take care of him if anything happens," the king said. Helputt, although reluctant to, obeyed and sat back down. "How about I go check on him. He might want to talk to someone around his age," Add suggested, almost cringing at his choice of words. Ara glanced at him, likely worried about their own mission. "I don't see why not. He might just open up to you," the king said. Add didn't hesitate to stand and head after Chung. If he was away from the king, Astrin couldn't penalize him for not poisoning him right?
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And so I have to admit that I want to write another chapter "from Add's point of view" and that's what I'm going to do. Sorry Ara. Until next time you amazing readers!