Over the next month, Sooyeon could think of little else but Taeyeon, no matter how much she tried to get him out of her mind. She had wanted to tell Hyoyeon about her feelings for Taeyeon, as that the elf knew the dragon lord better than anyone else in the town, but she could not think of how to start such a conversation. Still, she knew that her employer could tell that there was something up, though, for after she caught her drawing something for Taeyeon several times she asked her if there was anything she wanted to discuss. Sooyeon only shook her head and turned to a clean page to start designing something else... which just turned out to be yet another thing for Taeyeon.

Though it had been hard, Sooyeon had decided not to go up the mountain again, even to draw flowers. She did not want to see Taeyeon, fearing that she might trouble her dragon. He did, though, still come to her every night, but it was just his presence that surrounded her – she had been unable to see him since that day. She wondered how she would feel after she married Yul if Taeyeon had to keep coming to her to protect her from the dreams of the blue dragons.

And, even though her dragon being there with her at night kept her nightmares away, she had other dreams plaguing her that he could not get rid of. She would often wake from these new dreams and cry, unable to get the images out of her mind... images she often wished would happen in reality.

Yul still came to see her about once a week, but being with him only made her heart ache. She had finally taken that initiative and kissed him finally on their next encounter after her meeting with Taeyeon. He had started giving her kisses after that, but they were only gentle kisses on the lips. She could not bring herself to deepen them with him. She felt like he was not comfortable kissing her as it was. She could only assume he was shy about doing so. Whenever that thought occurred to her, her mind would always wander to the two kisses she had shared with Taeyeon. He had not seemed shy about kissing her.

But she knew that she was still acting strange around the nobleman, no matter how much she tried to act normal. He would watch her with a strange look a lot of the time they were together. She could only think to smile at him at these times, trying her best to reassure him silently. She knew, though, that he would eventually question her and she feared that moment.

It was their fifth meeting after the day she had encountered Taeyeon at the waterfall when Yul finally asked as they walked to their usual secluded spot near her home. "Sooyeon, what is wrong? You haven't been yourself lately."

The young woman fidgeted, shifting the picnic basket in her hands. "It's nothing. I've just not been sleeping well. I've been having some bad dream." Then she added to herself mentally: 'Dreams about you finding me and Taeyeon bathing together or kissing or... together.'

The nobleman stopped, looking at her curiously. "Dreams about us?"

Sooyeon nodded, stopping as well.

The man beside her sighed. "From the way you have been acting, I take it they are not good dreams, though."

The artist could not bring herself to say anything, even to lie and say they were good dreams.

Yul studied her for a moment. When he spoke, he sounded rather worried. "You aren't afraid that I might harm you, are you? Or force y