“Please, stop! I beg of you, don’t do this!”

  A young man wailed on the dirt floor, his fingers clawing at the earth as soldiers roughly dragged his family from a small, dilapidated hut tucked into the far corner of the village. Nearby, an old man, likely the patriarch, had been rolled into a coarse straw mat and was being subjected to a brutal beating, the muffled thuds of the soldiers' boots punctuating the air. In the shadow of the hut, the man's sisters sat huddled in a corner, their clothing torn and their eyes wide with a primal terror as a ring of armed men circled them like wolves.

  The rest of the village stood at a distance, a haunting gallery of the sick. Many were racked by violent, wet coughs; others scratched at angry red skin rashes or clutched their throats in pain. Despite their own suffering, they hissed curses and hurled insults at the family being evicted, their whispers a venomous tide of "unclean" and "cursed."

  “What is the meaning of this?”

  Crown Prince Yi-Joon’s voice cut through the chaos like a blade. He spurred his horse to the very perimeter of the hut, his face a mask of stern, regal authority. The soldiers froze for a heartbeat before several of them rushed forward, not to greet him, but to form a physical shield.

  “Your Highness, turn back! You must leave this place at once!” a soldier shouted in a panic.

  “This is for your own safety, your highness!” In a desperate frenzy, the guards began trying to catch the reins of Prince Yi-Joon’s horse, attempting to force him away from the hut.

  “Explain yourselves!” Prince Yi-Joon demanded, his frustration boiling over. “How can I stand by and watch a family dragged from their abode in such a manner? There is no royal messenger present to announce their crimes, and no magistrate to declare this just!”

  “Please, Your Highness, heed the warning! This is a matter of life and death!”

  A familiar, strained voice emerged from the shadows of the hut. The man in charge of the operation rushed toward the Prince, his official robes disheveled and his face pale with exertion. Prince Yi-Joon recoiled in surprise as he recognized the man.

  “Inspector General?” He glanced back at the suffering family and then at the official. “What do you mean, 'life and death'?”

  “Inspector General?!”

  Several other familiar voices rang out in unison from behind the Prince. The Inspector General’s face went from pale to ghostly white in a fraction of a second. Disregarding all protocol, he scrambled past Prince Yi-Joon, his arms waving frantically to stop the arriving horses in their tracks.

  It was the twins and their entire entourage. Lady Shin had doubled back to alert them of the cries as Prince Yi-Joon came here to check it, and now the whole party was descending upon the scene.

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  “Please! Heed my words and turn back, Your Highnesses!” the Inspector General screamed, his voice cracking with a terrifying blend of desperation and dread. He stood in the middle of the path, a lone figure trying to halt the royal siblings. “This is certainly no place for children! Stay back!”

  He wasn't merely being his usual stern self; he looked utterly haunted, as if the very air around the hut was poisoned.

  Prince Yi-Joon pulled his horse around, his eyes narrowing as he faced the official again. “You keep repeating the same warnings. Explain yourself, Inspector General! What is so horrific that you would discard the law and your own dignity?”

  “This village has succumbed to the Red Death plague, Your Highness! Please, make haste and move away from here!” the Inspector General screamed, his voice cracking in a manner completely uncharacteristic of his usual composed self. “We received reports that the Butcher’s family has remained totally unaffected by the contagion, so we arrived to investigate the source of this anomaly.” He rushed his explanation, his eyes darting toward the twins and the Crown Prince, praying his words would act as a barrier against the diseased crowd.

  Red Death? Smallpox?! Mi-Reu thought, a cold dread settling in her chest as her modern knowledge flickered to life.

  “Investigate?” Mi-Reu asked, her voice sharp with an accusing edge.

  Gi-Reu added, gesturing to the family on the ground, “It looks more like you have already deemed them criminals before the investigation has even begun!”

  “Please, try to understand!” one of the soldiers shouted from beside the Inspector General, caught in the same panic. “The villagers say the plague’s curse was spread by those lowly butchers! They believe it was revenge for the years of discrimination they suffered at the hands of this village!”

  “We will get to the bottom of this and find a way to lift the curse, but for now, please leave!” the Inspector General urged, using every ounce of his authority to push them back.

  “How can you be so certain this ‘curse’ was started by them just like that?” Mi-Reu began, her voice rising in argument, but a piercing scream from the hut cut her off.

  “The young man has set himself on fire! Run! He is spreading a great blaze!”

  Panic erupted. Shouts of "Fire!" echoed as orange flames began to lick the thatched roof of the small hut. Crown Prince Yi-Joon didn't hesitate; he spurred his horse toward the burning structure to restore order. The Inspector General followed closely behind, but not before turning back and barking a final, desperate command to Escort Choi.

  “I beg of you, Escort Choi! Please, bring the young Royal Twins to safety at any cost!”

  As the twins tried to surge forward to follow their brother, Escort Choi and the royal guards blocked their path, their horses forming a wall of muscle and steel.

  “What are you doing? We must help them!” the twins yelled in a frantic unison. Escort Choi offered no words in return, only a look of iron-clad resolve that brooked no defiance.

  “Escort Choi!” they yelled again, only to be drowned out by another voice.

  “Your Highnesses!!”

  It was Lady Shin. She looked at them with a gaze of such stern, maternal authority that it momentarily stunned them into silence. “We must turn back right now,” she commanded. “Have faith in His Highness Yi-Joon. He will restore order and deliver justice. For now, you must prioritize your own safety above all else.”

  Though Lady Shin’s heart hammered against her ribs in fear for Prince Yi-Joon, she was the only one present with the status required to oppose the twins’ stubbornness. She refused to let them come to harm; she would not allow Prince Yi-Joon’s focus to be fractured by the terrifying burden of fearing for his younger siblings' lives in the middle of a plague-ridden fire.

  This is not like the rabbits, Lady Shin thought fiercely, her jaw set as she blocked their path. I shall not let them come to harm.

  Reluctantly, under the weight of her gaze and the guards' firm presence, the twins were forced to retreat, looking back one last time at the rising black smoke of the Butcher’s hut.