Taekwoon kisses her beneath the willow trees, a touch of lips to her cheek when he smoothly calls her name and she turns to him. Blood roars in her ears and a cool undertone lurks within his eyes as he goes back to the stick he had been whittling, as if nothing had happened.

She blinks owlishly, stunned. She hears him chuckle softly. 

"What do you think it's like to be an animal?" Taekwoon asks her one afternoon completely out of the blue and she has to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"That's a rather odd question," she laughs. She turns to him with a cocked brow, just as the stag trots into view and begins to graze.

"I'm being completely serious," he replies in a deadpan voice before his facade cracks with a smile, "I don't know, it's something I've always wondered about. They aren't intellectual like us, they're beasts. How do they communicate? What determines their mate? How do they know where to find food? What's it like living in a fight or flight world?"

That reflective side to Taekwoon that Jaehwan had mentioned surfaces again. He notices her gaze and studies the stag from afar, resting his head in his palm. She purses her lips and a brief pause falls between them.

She, of course, had never thought about such a thing and the day she found a wild dog in a bear trap suddenly flashes in her mind's eye. She wonders what Jaehwan's fate could have been had she not saved him.

Shot by a hunter? Skinned? Perhaps both?

She shivers.

"I suppose it's all instinct. Raw, more enhanced, unlike humans,"

"Imagine living in constant fear. A predator just waiting to pounce, never knowing what day will be your last," he lets out a puff of breath and shakes his head, "too much adrenaline for my taste.

She hums in response.

The days get shorter and the nights grow longer as summer draws to a close. Green leaves burst with the colors of fire, raining down to the forest floor like falling embers. The bone chilling breeze carrying the smell of autumn's decay sharply reminds her of the lurking Queen's dangerous obsession. With their preparations for the coming winter's hibernation, Jaehwan's companions are able to keep an eye on her more than ever in the midst of their scuttling about for food.

He comes back to the tower later and later each night, hair wind mused and fatigue in his bones, yet he never fails to give her that charming smile and crawl into bed. She spends more time alone now that the holidays of summer are through and Taekwoon has to return to the kingdom soon, to which he still hasn't realized she knows his true occupation.

Alone in a starless sky without her sun or moon. She is afraid.

She hasn't told Jaehwan about the kiss, and part of her is worried that perhaps one of his doves had been flying overhead. Perhaps he already knew. The turmoil of heat swirling within her chest has her absolutely confused.

The brush of Taekwoon's lips, or the intimate enchantments of Jaehwan, her heart and mind feel torn between them.

It's the eve of Taekwoon's leave and they stroll through the garden, the effects of autumn still yet to touch her plants and they're surrounded in the frozen last moments of summer. He gives her his coat to shield her from the cold spray of the waterfall, a true nobleman, she thinks. They walk side by side, nearly touching, enveloped with the light perfume of flowers.

"Come away with me,"

His words are merely a breath. His eyes search her face and she tries her best to mask her surprise.

"Come away?"

He nods, hands clasped behind his back and he looks at her like he wants to engrave her face into his memory. His eyes flicker to her lips.

"I don't want this to end. I don't want to forget my time with you,"

They pause in the middle of the pathway and his fingers touch her chin, tilting up her gaze to meet his. She feels her pulse start to batter in at his close proximity.

"I want you by my side for years to come," a gentle smile tugs at his lips, "do you understand what I mean?"

She does, she understands his hints perfectly.

Marriage.

"And your answer?" Taekwoon presses gently and he's leaning towards her. Her head spins and it's all too much.

The pure feathers of swans and the disappointed image of Viscount Jongsuk comes to her mind, that day in the meadow. Suddenly, she feels the magic of her summer with Taekwoon start to melt away and she hates that the Viscount had managed to taint such precious memories. She reluctantly takes a step back.

"I...I'd like some time to think it over," her voice quivers ever so slightly, looking to the ground.

A prince proposing.

"Will you wait for me?" she asks him. Taekwoon hums, a bold touch of lips on lips and his eyes fill with hope.

"Forever, if I have to,"