She wonders if Jaehwan had lied to her and that her heart had in fact stopped.

For the first time, she doesn't dream, suffocating darkness pressing behind her eyelids.

Instead, flashes of color and images of familiar faces and trees come to her mind.

She sees Luan and Yue, hears their voices asking her to come back home.

She wants to come home. Wants to see those girls again.

She wants a lot of things.

She floats in this limbo for what feels like ages, the push and pull in her mind reminding her of the ocean.

Back and forth. Back and forth.

She wonders how many years have passed since that poison apple touched her lips.

She wonders if she's been forgotten.

The familiar feeling of warm sunlight.

The gentle caress of a breeze, feather light.

Chirping birds. The rustle of leaves in the wind. A familiar voice and a soft touch against her lips. Her eyelids flutter open, blinking a few times.

Prince Taekwoon leans over her, beautiful as ever in the flushed autumn light. Seeing her awake, he smiles and kisses her once more, pulling back to smooth back her hair.

"Care to tell me why you fell asleep here of all places?" he laughs.

She sits up slowly, dazed at her surroundings.

The hidden lake.

She's lying in a bed of vibrant flowers, petals strewn carefully around her. Wild daisies, all of them. A blur of color catches the corner of her eye and she turns to see several different animals off in the distance, hidden by the edge of the water. The stag, accompanied by a fully grown brown bear and a wolf, and sensing her conscious state, the animals slowly rise and trot back off into the heart of the forest.

Jaehwan had been watching over her this whole time.

"I came back to see you, and I was surprised to find you here asleep," Taekwoon muses, head tilted to the side with his eyes never leaving hers, "you wouldn't wake when I called you, so I figured different means were necessary,"

His playfulness at kissing her awake had ultimately broken the spell without his knowing, waking her from her deep slumber. He frowns suddenly and reaches out to run a finger over her jaw.

"Is everything alright? Did you dream of something unpleasant?"

She touches her face, surprised to find her cheeks wet.

Tears. She had been crying in her sleep.

A tidal wave of emotions suddenly crashes down upon her. With Taekwoon here, she would now be safe, but at what cost?

The wedding ceremony is set for the following summer, the late autumn weather growing too cold for both their liking to hold it outdoors.

She notices the bust of the gold lion flapping on flags and the armor of knights and she feels a smile tug her lips. Taekwoon's symbol, or rather, the crest of the Jung Family. He really had been telling the truth about hailing from a different kingdom.

His own kingdom.

The castle intimidates her at first. A grand fortress built with gleaming white sandstone, spiraling towers and grand wooden doors welcoming her to her new home. It's enormous and daunting. She's escorted wherever she pleases, flanked by countless servants to provide her every need. Needless to say, she feels out of place when she had lived in a modest one room cottage all her life back in her village.

Taekwoon's elder sisters are godsends, and they help her feel at home by inviting her out into the kingdom on weekends, spending time with her in their quarters when Taekwoon has other affairs to attend to. All of them, herself included, seem as if they aren't truly ladies of the High Court with the way they comfortably poke fun at the simplest things. The family she never had. She doesn't feel lonely anymore.

Pretty soon, snow rolls over the entire country and she and Taekwoon spend the harsh winter tucked away in the castle. Buried beneath a mountain of quilts, entangled in each other. Hearts warmed by the hot drink they share between them and even warmer affection, fire crackling and popping in the enormous brass hearth in their bedroom.

Prince Taekwoon loves like the summer day she met him. Deliciously intimate, warm, gentle. Whenever she feels cold, she only need to so much as bat her eyelashes in his direction before they tumble back into the sheets, his long limbs encasing her against him with soft chuckles. Blood singing in her ears at every touch.

Spring coaxes them outside with glowing peach mornings and fragrant winds. They rise early and take their walks through the kingdom, eventually into the countryside when the servants tailing behind become too bothersome to enjoy each other's company. The spring rains drive them back inside on occasion, but they still manage to keep the allure despite being back indoors when they order rose tea and cakes up to their quarters.

Summer is in full bloom when Taekwoon invites his small circle of family and acquaintances out for their quiet ceremony in the hills. White marble ruins entwined with gardens and statuesque fountains, the hazy morning heat perfect. As tradition, she's dressed in all white, a pure flowing dress that catches the breeze. Hair set, lips and eyes artfully made up with the help of Taekwoon's sisters. Her heart swells.

She's waiting to enter the ceremony when she's suddenly pulled aside in the courtyard, flush against the marble.

Jaehwan kisses her desperately, pale and thin.

"I had to come see you, I wanted to say goodbye,"

Those achingly familiar velvety brown eyes burn bright and seem to shiver across her face. She finds herself gasping and pleading all at once.

"You left the woods for me? You're dying, Jaehwan, you need to..i-if someone sees you.."

"It's alright," he murmurs softly. He swallows and she's afraid her grip on him might in fact break his bones, so brittle, "I've managed to temporarily withhold the effects, but I'll be off soon. My magic has gotten weaker than I expected,"

He kisses her once more, using his height to his advantage to lean her hard into the wall, at her lips, all shared breath and low sighs.

"Has he made you happy?"

She can only nod, tears streaking her face and she laughs breathlessly, heart shattering within.

"Yes,"

He mirrors the action and swipes his fingers beneath her eyes.

"Then you shouldn't cry, especially today of all days," he teases in a whisper, "on your wedding,"

That only makes her tears fall in greater drops, resting her head against his chest.

"Goodbye, my dear Snow White,"

She opens her eyes to find him gone.
She stands in the courtyard alone.

Minutes later, the younger of Taekwoon's sisters emerges from the garden, hiking up her skirts to jog over to her.

"I had a feeling I'd have to come fix you up," she scolds gently at her streaked face, "come now, we still have enough time for Aerin to put the finishing touches,"

They run hand in hand to her waiting future sister-in-law who starts to fuss over her appearance.

Happy tears, she tells her.