"So, what was a member of the royal family doing alone in Guardian Territory?" Nathaniel asked, staring at the sunset.

"It's a long story," Minho responded, sitting beside the Leader of the Guardians and watching the stream ahead of them. 

Nathaniel gazed at him, "we have time."

Realising he wasn't going to end the conversation there, Minho sighed, "my father has been a bit paranoid lately. He keeps on getting these recurring dreams of dying and now he's convinced he's going to die soon. He's been set on this goal to rule over the whole country and now that he thinks he's going to die, he wants me to have the same dream. He got his servants to take me down to scout various Eastern towns: Daegu, Pohang, Yeongdeok and Gyeongju. On our way to Busan, we stopped for water at a stream in the woods. While there, we got mobbed by bandits. I managed to escape but I got lost. I was wandering aimlessly around the woods for a while before Erin found me."

Nathaniel tittered, "not that long of a story now is it?"

"It seemed longer in my head," Minho smiled slightly.

"You said you went to Pohang, right?"

"Yes."

"What did you think of it?"

"It was a beautiful town. Small, I admit, but everyone seemed to enjoy it nonetheless. They all looked so happy. It's funny, in the Palace, you grow to learn that the more you have, the easier life is but then you go to places like that and realise that maybe that's not the case." He released a small laugh as he added, "I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone in the Royal Territory that blissful."

"If you could, would you exchange all your power to live like that?" Nathan asked. "To live a peaceful life?"

"Perhaps... I'm not sure anymore." He sighed, glimpsing at Nathaniel. "My whole life has been a series of being told what to do and what not to do, how to act and how not to act. Sometimes it makes me feel somewhat robotic, you know? Like, I'm not even sure how to think for myself anymore. I've always been told things just as the Royals saw it as but then here I am experiencing it for myself and realising that what I've been told is not the case. Now I'm not sure what to believe, what's real and what's not. And now I don't know what to do."

Nathan kept his gaze on the sunset as he pulled his legs to his chest and exhaled loudly, "I didn't become the man I am overnight. I was eighteen the day I was chosen as the Leader of the Guardians ten years ago. Throughout my whole childhood, I lived according to what my father said. He always told me what to do and what not to do. So when I first started leading, I had no idea what to do. My father was gone, Jackson was gone. I wasn't sure if what I was doing was right or not. Within the first year of being the Leader of the Guardians, the number of Guardians dropped from over a hundred to fifties. By the time I turned twenty, I was only left with four others. And those four Guardians are still with me to this day. I guess what I'm trying to say is, when you become King, you need to realise that respect doesn't stem from fear. And this is where every other King has gone wrong. You want the respect of the whole country, you have to respect them first and realise you are only as good as the people you are leading. "

Minho sighed, leaning backwards until his back hit the grass and he found himself lying on his back, staring up at the star-filled sky.

"You make it sound easy. Is it? Is it really?"

"No," he shook his head. "If it were easy, everyone would do it." He sighed. "If it were easy, no one would have to live in fear."

"Do you live in fear?"

"It's only natural to live in fear with the Royal Army out here burning towns and all."

Minho's eyes widened as he examined Nathaniel's tensed jaw. 

"Burning towns?" the prince repeated, earning Nathan's attention.

"Have you not heard?"

Finally, Minho sat up fully and searched the latter's face for an answer.

"Heard of what?"

"The Royal Army burnt down Pohang. Every last bit of it. Not even one person's life was spared."

The prince felt his heart drop at the statement. Something inside him told him it was a trap and not to believe the man sitting beside him but the tear that slipped out of Nathan's eye did not go unnoticed to him. Though Nathaniel immediately turned away, the sound of his quiet sobs still filled the air, sounding louder than they probably were in Minho's ears.

"That's where you were, wasn't it? You went to Pohang." The prince noted. "You saw what was left of it."

Nathaniel croaked, "I've been to Pohang many times. It was always a town I loved to visit... And now, I don't even want to remember anything about it."

"How do you know it was them? How do you know it was the Royal Army?"

"We found a sword belonging to them. Besides, it wasn't that hard to connect the dots... This was not the first Eastern town to fall at the hands of the Royal Army."

"Masan?" Minho questioned before watching Nathan squeeze his eyes shut and inhale a sharp breath. Tears were streaming down his face now as he tried to forget the memories flashing through his head. The display of sheer hatred that took over that town was an image Nathan was scarred with. But after all, he knew he didn't have it the worst of all the Guardians. At least he didn't experience the hatred firsthand.

"It was my hometown," he explained, sniffling. "I went out one day with the Guardians only to return to the shattered fragments of a life I used to know."

The prince gulped, feeling a few tears threatening to slip out his eyes too. He waited for Nathan to cheer up a bit more before he asked the question poking at his brain.

"Was if my father's fault? Pohang and Masan, did they fall because of my father?"

Nathan nodded slowly, "I'm sorry. I wish I could say it wasn't but the truth always sucks."

"But why?" Minho asked. "Why would he destroy whole villages for no reason then go ahead and tell me that you are in the wrong? Why would he lie to me? Here I was sounding like a douchebag to Erin. No wonder she hates me."

The Leader of the Guardians eyed him before outstretching an arm to pat his should softly.

"She doesn't hate you."

"Yes, she does. She wants to kill me. She has said it numerous times and I can see the hatred behind her eyes. She loathes me."

Nathaniel huffed, laying his back against the grass.

"To her, you are just another Royal... she hasn't had much luck with Royals. Give her time. She'll come through."