Narrator's pov:

"I think we'll get nowhere if you stop every ten seconds." Jinki grumbled as he stopped his track and turned his head back to Riah who was fascinated by the flowers they walked by.

"But these flowers are beautiful. I never saw them before. So pretty." Riah beamed, touching it slightly as Jinki raised an eyebrow.

He looked at the way Riah smiled as she saw new things she never saw before or only heard about.

It was interesting to see someone pay so much attention to small things, things he was so used to and never really questioned or stood still by.

"It's nice you're thinking that, but we really need to move forward or we'll have to camp outside and it's very cold in the forest during nights." Jinki said with a small smile as Riah nodded, quickly skipping to where the prince was.

He, after all, knew how cold it would be since he did spend nights in the forest before. He slept outside before during the hunting period with his brothers and also when he would travel somewhere with palace guards.

"Since we barely know about each other, how about we ask questions?" Riah asked as she looked at Jinki who tilted his head a bit to the side.

"Hmm? Euh, sure?"

Riah brigtenend and moved her lips into a small pout, thinking of a question.

"How old are you actually?" 

Jinki dodged a low hanging branch, warning Riah for it who bend down and walked under it.

"I'm 24 this year. You?"

"Ah, really? I'm 23." Riah smiled.

Though she said this, she never knew if it was true or not since her mother was always so secretive about her birth.

She asked her before, about her father and other family members, but Gohee never told her, she always told Riah that she was all she would ever have.

It was also normal for Riah to think that Riah may not even be her real mother... No Riah was sure that the mother she has called all her life wasnt' her real mother, not ht eone who gave her birth.

It couldn't be.

There was nothing alike between the two.

"How come you were inside that tower for so long?" Jinki asked, as he was really curious.

"I... I was told by mother that the outside world is very dangerous and that it would be dangerous for me to get outside.."

Jinki almost scoffed at this answer, but he kept it in by biting his lips.

It was such a lame excuse to lock her inside the tower.

He couldn't help but think that maybe Riah's mother was a bit crazy for locking her inside a tower with no door or that maybe she even kidnapped Riah. Why else would anyone sane lock someone in a high tower with no real way out?

But he wasn't the real one to say this though.

He after all, was locked away too, behind the palace walls. The palace was big, very big, it was enormous and it woudln't even make people think they were actually inside a palace with the gardens, open places and beautiful buildings inside it.

But Jinki had always longed to go beyond the palace walls.

"You know I have a mother, what about your family then?" Riah asked, surprised by the indifferent look Jinki showed.

"I have a lot of siblings. My parents are busy and well, yeah..."

Jinki sighed mentally.

Of course his parents were busy people. They had to lead the country and he wasn't particulary in good terms with every sibling. 

"Oh, you have a big family then? That must be great." Riah smiled, not knowing there were a lot, but Jinki still felt lonely sometimes.

"It depends... We don't get along all very well." Jinki confessed, making Riah blink confused.

She didn't know.

She was always alone with Gohee visting her from time to time, but aside from that, she had no other people keeping her company, talking with her and neither socialize.

"Really? I was always alone aside from my mother, so I always wished to h