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specially when she knew the reason why she hadn't told them the truth the entire time. She knew that if she would tell her mother, Joohanna was almost positive that her mother would immediately run off to the mountain to save her husband. And Joohanna didn't like the thought of losing both of her parents at the same time. No matter how much she cared for them.

So she shook her head slowly and muttered: "No, the incident with my brother's wife was different."

The dark-haired woman sighed softly. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. Maybe I should've phrased my question differently. I shouldn't have assumed you knew the whole story."

"Don't apologize for asking about the event," Joohanna quickly responded. "It's quite common nowadays, I assure you. You should know that. Even though your husband's brother has been imprisoned for a long time now..."

She trailed off, not sure how to continue. She didn't want to admit to them that her brother was the one behind all of the recent incidents. Because even though she had no idea what was happening to Jaejoong, Joohanna knew that it was more complicated than she initially imagined. And that definitely made it harder for her to protect him and keep him protected when she wasn' t certain as to what he was dealing with. She knew that it was best not to reveal too much information to her parents and especially not her mother. If her parents found out about the demonic creatures that were roaming around in the woods that surrounded their home she knew she would have no control over what might happen next. And although she would never willingly put her father and mother through the pain that she could potentially be in, she knew for a fact that they weren't going to understand what was really going on. Neither were the king nor queen. Not until this crisis had passed.

"But why are you telling us this anyway?" the brown haired woman asked in frustration.

Joohanna looked at her with a sad expression on her face. "Because you deserve to know, of course."

As the words left her mouth, Joohanna regretted having ever said them. At this point she wasn't even sure if telling her mother or her father would have been the better choice. She didn't know what they would think about the demon attack on the forest; she had never even considered telling them about the attack because she wasn't entirely confident in her ability to keep the secret herself. However, there wasn't much that she could do besides trying. So, she took a deep breath and continued. "The reason why I'm telling you about this is because I am worried that something like this may happen again."

"Again? What do you mean by that, Your Highness?" the brown haired woman questioned her daughter curiously.

"The day before last, my brother and I went to visit my mother and she brought some strange men with her to my house. A few days later I received a message saying that they had attacked the palace," Joohanna explained.

"Did anything unusual happen to anyone during those visits?" the brunette woman asked. Joohanna frowned and shook her head.

"I haven't seen any members of the royal guard around either," she said slowly as she tried to recall her mother's exact words.

Her mother nodded thoughtfully for several seconds. Then she finally leaned forward slightly and placed her hands on top of her folded hands together. "I have been wondering why you haven't mentioned this incident to me. We could have gone to the palace and prevented the attacks. Instead, we decided to stay here and hide in the village until things quiet down and things get back to normal," the brown haired woman explained.

Joohanna sighed. "If only that had happened. I wish that I had stayed here, hidden safely in the village, waiting for things to calm down, but I didn'