Chung and I headed to the dining hall which was filled with hustling people. Maids, butlers, princes and princesses around our age were there. The parents were seated at the long dining table which was already filled with food. Aren was already seated with my parents and he waved for me to come over. I scurried over to where my family was and a butler pulled out a chair for me to sit down and I took a seat. Delicious platters of mashed potatoes, steak, soup, bread (again?!), pasta, and any foods people could even think of were on the table. We all ate our meals and then ate cake.

After that long feast, all the kids were gathered together to play games. I quickly befriended a few kind princesses who were a bit older than me. They toyed with my hair and talked a lot about dresses which I didn't find too fascinating since I wanted to go run off and play.

Later that night, a butler showed my family to our separate bedrooms with our luggage already in there. I discovered we were the only family staying overnight, which was quite strange. I took a nice bubble bath and finally hit the hay.

I woke up the next morning to a knock at my door. I stood up and opened the door to see Mother standing there. "Ara, get prepared. We're going to go home. By the way, your little friend Chung is waiting for you outside," she giggled.

"Aww! We're leaving already? I had so much fun here!" I wailed.

"How about we invite Chung on your birthday then?" she asked.

"Okay!" I squealed.

"Now go get dressed, Ara," she told me.

I shut the door and found my suitcase. I changed out of my orange pajamas and put on the pretty sky blue dress the maid packed for me. I slipped my feet into a pair of blue flats and combed my hair. I looked in the mirror and put my hair into a side ponytail with my fox hairpin slid in there to secure it. After dressing up, I opened the door to see Chung waiting for me. He wore a white dress shirt with a navy blue vest and black pants. "Good morning, Chung!"

"Good morning, Ara," he replied. "Um, you're leaving soon so I wanted to give you a little gift so you can remember me…um I mean Hamel."

I gasped. "Really?"

"Yes, now close your eyes," he instructed me. I did as he said and felt something cold dangle around my neck. "Now open your eyes."

I looked down to see a beautiful, shining aquamarine teardrop pendant on a thin silver chain. "It's so pretty! Thank you so much Chung! I promise I will always wear it!" I gave him a tight bear hug in return for the fabulous gift.

Chung hugged me back. "You're welcome, Ara."

Aren yelled for me. "Ara, it's time to go!"

"Okay! I'm on my way!" I shouted. "Bye, Chung! See you another time!"

"Bye, Ara," he replied.

"One more thing, Chung," I added quickly.

"What is it?" he perked.

I gently held his palm out and placed an orange gemstone ring from Sander on it. "A gift of our friendship." I grinned. He smiled and then I left.

We went on the carriage once again and headed back home.

Changing to Third Person POV- Author's Note: As I already stated, there will be a plot twist so I will fill you in on a bit of the information you need.

Chung will be two years older than Ara. If you read carefully, Ara was five years old so Chung is 7.

Ara found Eun's fox pin in the same altar as her background story but she does not know about Eun's existence yet.

That's all for now!

Chung and Ara visited each other often and became the closest of friends. Best friends. They were inseparable. But one day, they both experienced a tragedy that separated the duo. Chung's father suddenly went missing. Ara's entire village was massacred by her elder brother, Aren, who now claims himself as Ran, the demon army's general. Chung left his home in Hamel in a search for his father. He finally found his father but discovered that he was taken over by some demonic power. Ara's hairpin finally activated to save her from her own brother. She found out she was now part fox demon and the fox sealed in the hairpin was named Eun. Together, they made a contract that Eun will provide Ara with power to find Aren and Ara will help Eun search for the El shards.

The duo was upset to be separated from each other and longed to see each other again. However, they both knew by fate they would meet again someday. Someday…