Forest Guardians || Straykids ff

n i n e t e e n

yeona

4 decades ago?! I was not even alive at that period. I think they had mistaken me as someone.

King Einar finished his speech and everyone applauded him. He went down his throne and pulled me outside the throne room.

"How was my speech?" He asked me as soon as we left the room with his people still in it. He was smiling at me, waiting for my answer. "I-it was phenomenal." I told him, which made his smile wider.

"Uhm, King Eina—" I called him, but he cut me before I even continued. "Ohh please, drop the honorifics when we're alone. Just Einar will do." He smiled at me, then motioned his hand for me to continue. "Ahh yes, Einar, I wonder if the library back there at the cave is yours?" He looked at me for a second and nodded.

"Actually that library was built and owned by my ancestors. I was only the caretaker of that library. It was built a few hundred years ago, I think." He said as he opened a door to a large room full of balls.

"A ballroom?" I asked him, and he laughed. "Yes, a ballroom. Kids love to hang around here, especially my daughters." My eyes widened in shock. "YOU HAVE DAUGHTERS?" And he laughed more as he nod at me. As we walked further inside the room, we heard someone yelled 'Dad' and some giggles.

Moments later, 2 little elf girls ran to hug Einar, while he greeted them with his arms wide open. The girls jumped into his arms, making them fall down the floor as they laughed at each other. Einar then kissed the head of the girls and fixed themselves to face me.

"Ms. Yeona, meet my daughters, Freya and Greta. Girls, meet our kingdom's savior, Ms. Yeona." I quickly bowed then awkwardly waved my hands at the girls with Einar's mention of me being the savior.

Instead of both girls waving back at me, they politely bowed in front of me. "Thank you, Ms. Yeona for saving our kingdom. We owe you our lives for protecting our people." The eldest girl, Freya, spoke formally while her head still bowed. I quickly bowed back at her to show respect due to her position as the Princess of the Elven Kingdom.

The moment I raised my head, the youngest, Greta, was nowhere beside Freya, until I heard soft giggles behind me. I turned around and saw her hugging the little ones one by one. And when it comes to Minho, she hugged him very tight. "Bunny!!" Greta adorably squealed as she danced with Minho in her arms.

Greta then put him down and looked at me. "Please, can we play with them?" She pleaded with her cute little eyes. I chuckled at her and pat her head. "Of course but please, be careful with them, okay? They're all important to me."

She smiled at me as she nodded. "Of course. Thank you, Ms. Yeona." Both Freya and Greta carried the little ones to their playing space and continued playing. Einar and I went out of the ballroom and went to the garden.

"Einar? I think we have some misunderstanding here." I shyly said, breaking the news to him.

"Hmm? What is it?" He asked, not even taking a glance at me. "I think you're mistaken about the savior part. I'm not the same witch that saved your kingdom 40 years ago. I was not even born at that time." He stopped walking, which made me stop as well. I watched his reaction as he slowly looked at me. His face was expressionless.

We just stared at each other for a couple minutes. A cold sweat was dripping at my forehead. I could feel the tension in the air. Then he suddenly burst out laughing. "I know." I got confused. This man was hard to read.

He started walking but I stopped him. "What do you mean you know? You told everyone in your kingdom that I was your savior even though you knew that I'm not? Are you insane?" The king, for the second time, laughed at me. "Okay okay, I'll tell you why." He said as he pulled me to the entrance of the garden.

The moment I stepped inside, I was stunned. It was magical. The plants and flowers were exotic, and one couldn't find them in the human world. Several insects freely roamed around the garden, some were glowing, while some weren't but still stood out.

"Are you done?" I heard a voice that woke me up from daydreaming. It was Einar, seated on a bench inside the garden. I quickly sat down beside him and smiled. "Yes, I'm done."

"Okay. So, I know that you're not the same witch that saved us a long time ago." I nodded at him. "It was your grandmother." My eyes widened.

"My grandmother??" He nodded his head as he saw the excitement in my eyes. "Yes, yes. Your grandmother was also a friend of mine." I smiled at him. Maybe that's the reason why he was so friendly to me even though it was our first time meeting.

"And the reason why I told everyone that you were the same witch that saved us, is because your grandma told us that she will be the last witch in her bloodline." I nodded at him. "She also told me that she wants to be the last witch in our bloodline." I told him then he nodded.

"But when I met you back at the library, I felt the same aura that your grandmother had when we first met." I looked at his eyes with amusement.

"Okay okay, then what happened back then? How did she save your kingdom?" I asked him, but he gave me a sad expression. "I was just getting to that, but anyway here's what happened." I focused my full attention on him as he readied himself.

"A war happened back then. My dad was the king when she came to our kingdom." I gave him a confused look. "A war? Between you and whom?" His expression became dark as he looked at me.

"An evil witch attacked our kingdom, along with her troops."