“You have to get up.” Wendy shakes Lei shoulders again. “Your brother and the Prince of Yosul will be ready in a few minutes for breakfast, and you have to be present.” Lei ignores the shaking and pretends to sleep. “I will ask Kai to have you show Baekhyun around the castle if you don’t get up.”

At the sound of that, Lei throws the covers off and heaves a sigh. “Fine! I’m getting up.”

“Remember to be on your best behavior,” Wendy reminds Lei as the latter gets dressed. “That means no snarky remarks.” Lei rolls her eyes, slipping into a red dress. “No obscene jokes with underlying ual meanings. No picking at your food. Today’s breakfast consists of eggs, ricotta, and—” Wendy cuts herself when Lei starts to burn away a loose thread. “I told you not to do that.”

“I can do what I want, Wendy.” Lei flips her hair over her shoulder and runs down the stairs with Wendy sighing loudly behind her.

She runs past several statue-like guards guarding the paintings and antiquities, down the staircase, into the dining room. There, the windows start at the ground and wind up at the ceiling, giving view to an infinite amount of blue. A black tint covers the windows, however, because the sun’s beams shine too brightly in the morning. But the dimmed lighting doesn’t take away from the brightness of the food lying across the table—nor does it hinder the bright pigment in Baekhyun’s hair.

Lei watches him carefully, holding her breath to mimic how motionless he seems. He stares at the food in front of him, unblinking. Yesterday, his neck was bare, but now he wears a thick white choker with a red crescent. The points of the moon point downwards for a reason, but it’s eye-catching anyways, and Lei wonders why she didn’t think of that. She looks down at her red dress curls her lip upwards.

“Good morning, Princess Lei,” says Baekhyun, interrupting her from her self-loathing. When she looks up and sees his smile, a multitude of emotions overrun her. “Did you have a good rest?”

“Yes, thank you.” Lei wasn’t going to say that, but the look Kai sent her from across the table smoldered. So, she adds in a smile too. “And please,” she grits her teeth, “call me Lei.” She sits herself across from him. “How was yours? I hope we’ve accommodated you enough.”

She glances at Kai from the corner of her eye. His smolder has fallen away to a smile.

“It was great, thank you.” Baekhyun adjusts his choker, a smile still on his face. “I like the color of your dress.”

“Thank you.” Lei kicks the ground underneath the table. She wants to leave. She doesn’t want any of this. “Should we get started?” She looks over at Kai and hopes Baekhyun doesn’t see the curl on her lips. “Prince Kai? Brother?”

“Go ahead.” Kai arches a brow. Lei narrows her eyes at that, wondering what he’s thinking. She knows he doesn’t trust Baekhyun either, but his commitment to acting like he did endlessly fascinates her. “You don’t have to wait for me.”

Lei makes a face, but she digs into the grapes before her, picking at only the greenest. This batch seems to have been affected by last week’s storm because the skin is patchy in some areas.

“Let me help you with that.” Baekhyun’s voice causes her to snap her eyes upward. It’s too late, however, because he’s already reaching forward to the grapes. Once his slender fingers touch the thickest stem of the bundle, a second passes before the entirety of the grapes’ flaws fade away into a pale green color.

“Thank you,” Lei says, surprised and confused at once. “You have interesting abilities.”

“It’s not a problem.” Baekhyun grins, popping a perfect grape into his mouth. “I have the power to manipulate plant life, and it’s not too appreciated where I’m from, but it is useful.”

Manipulating plant life? Lei bites the inside of her bottom lip. Of course. Like Kai, Baekhyun has powers that are actually useful. Unlike hers, he can do something with it that won’t cause people to yell at him for burning objects by accident. Kai can help the farmers by causing rain to come or go, her mother can bring out the sun from behind clouds, and now here’s Baekhyun with the ability to nourish grapes and other plant life. It’s only her—of course, it is—with powers that can summon fire and cause toddlers to cry. Of course, it is.

“That must be nice,” Lei remarks, grabbing the nearest slice of meat. She wrinkles her nose, disgusted by the sliminess of it, but at least it isn’t plant life.

“So,” Kai speaks up, “Baekhyun, I hope you weren’t rattled by anything in Yosul’s newest war.”

Lei hides the smile she gets from hearing her brother’s words. Yosul’s preceding war happened only two years ago, and just a few months ago, there were still articles regarding the restoration of infrastructure in certain areas. It must be a touchy subject; it has to be. But Baekhyun doesn’t bat an eyelid.

“Most of my life, I’ve been sheltered.” Baekhyun shrugs, spreading butter across a dinner roll. “And there really isn’t anything to do outside the palace walls. There’s nothing but ashes and gray buildings, so there’s really no reason to go out. Someone painted the sky with charcoal.” After he’s swallowed a bite, he looks up at Lei. “You two,” he looks over at Kai, “are very lucky to be living in Helios.”

“We are,” Kai agrees before Lei can say anything. “But aren’t you concerned with your people? They’re in war, and you don’t bother to go out.”

“It’s not a doubt that I’m concerned.” Baekhyun purses his lips and drops his dinner roll on his plate. He sighs and shakes his head. “I love my people, but they’re not perfect, and I’m not either. So, let’s just say it’s not exactly safe for me to go out very much.”

“Of course.” Lei nods, disagreeing with his statement. “War must always be hard. A lot of people unfortunately have to perish. I’m glad Helios hasn’t had a single one in the 200 years it’s existed.”

Surprisingly, Baekhyun agrees. “Me too. Without a country like Helios, I’m not sure where I can find refuge. After all, I am Yosulian, and there’s a stigma about anyone from where I’m from.”

“You don’t seem like you’re from Yosul, though.” Kai plays with his fork, spinning it across his fingers. His commitment to his act baffles Lei. She wants a composition like that. “I’ve done research on your country. Everyone wears black. Everyone has black hair. Everyone likes dark makeup.” Kai grins and waves a hand towards Baekhyun’s attire. “You wear color when color is illegal in your country.”

Baekhyun smiles and looks down at his lap.

Lei’s eyes grace over Baekhyun’s clothing, loving the green color, hating the man beneath it. She can’t comprehend him, she really can’t. She didn’t listen to whatever Wendy was saying yesterday, but now she knows she should have. It would have helped her with understanding whatever Yosulian culture and customs are.

“You seem like you know a lot about Yosul.” Baekhyun purses his lips. “And I can understand why. It’s a mysterious country, isn’t it?” He leans back in his chair, and Lei wonders if this is the first time if he’s ever encountered a situation like this. “We declare war on neighboring countries frequently. It’s how we expanded an island off the coast of what was once Australia. We took New Zealand. And for a while, I read that Helios was afraid if we would come too. All this, and it’s still one of the most secretive countries. The fantastical Yosul. Well,” he shrugs again, “I can assure you that nothing you’ve read about Yosul is complete.”

Lei glances over at her brother, wondering how he’ll react to how smooth Baekhyun’s response is. He didn’t deny Yosul of its atrocities, but he didn’t admit of them either.

“Then what am I missing?” Kai challenges.

“Yosul has a strict set of rules—imposed and defended by the monarchy.” Baekhyun opens and then closes his mouth. “You might mistake this monarchy for communism.” At this, Lei has to pinch her thigh to stop herself from laughing. “And you wouldn’t be terribly wrong. I agree that our rules are harsh, but there’s meaning behind them. Colors are outlawed because they attract the monsters surrounding our island. And everyone wears black to ensure that when the sun does come out, we feel it.”

Lei looks over at her brother. The revelation is new to her, and it must be to her brother too, but he shows no sign of surprise. His face is so motionless, she thinks he’s become a sculpture.

“That doesn’t mean anything substantial, does it?” Kai keeps his voice even. “Color is illegal, so where did you find those clothes? Why would a country produce anything with color if it’s so illegal? Your mother and father both have black hair. The rest of your people do too. Not a single one of them has a dash of brown or blond in their hair.” Kai narrows his eyes and stabs his fork into the slice of bread in front of him. “What does this say about Yosul? It sounds like oppression in which only the monarchy benfits.”

Lei wants to clap. In just a matter of seconds, her despicable brother formulated a response that killed. However, Baekhyun kills her pride next.

“Don’t base your opinion on what you don’t know.” Baekhyun actually smiles—like it doesn’t matter to him that Kai said what he said. “I’ve lived in Yosul my entire life. Yes, I am the prince of it, and I may want to defend my livelihood and future kingdom, but I can assure you, you really don’t know—you’re ignorant when it comes to our life there.”

“Why don’t you entertain us then?” Kai nudges his head. “I would be glad to educate myself.”

“I stopped at Prio before I arrived at Ouesce.” Baekhyun adjusts his choker for the second time. He rubs the side of his neck, pursing his lips, staring at the ground. “I was excited to meet the royalty. From what I heard, Helians are some of the most wonderful people on Earth. And I wanted them to like me too.” Baekhyun glances at Lei. “So, I adapted their clothing out of pure respect. I haven’t worn color in my life nor have I seen so much. Because I was happy about it,” he runs a finger through his bangs, “I took the black dye out of my hair.”

The room is silent for two seconds, and Lei’s hands begin to heat up.

“I’m sorry to have misconstrued you then.” Kai takes the fork out of his bread. He laughs and shakes his head. “It’s hard to know what’s right and what’s not when it comes to Yosul and its people. After, no one’s defected in the past 22 years. Past your parents’ reign. Isn’t that strange?”

Lei coughs, barely concealing her laugh. Just when she thought her brother had dismissed Baekhyun, he really didn’t finish with the quickfire, under-the-nose insulting. She watches Baekhyun now, watching how he bites his lip and adjusts his choker uncomfortably.

“Please excuse me,” Baekhyun whispers. Without another word, he rises up from his seat and strides off somewhere. The guards by the doorway stare forward—as if they hadn’t witnessed a murder.

“You made him upset,” Lei says once she’s sure Baekhyun’s out of earshot. “Not that I mind, but I thought that this wasn’t what we were supposed to do.”

“I told you to be respectful.” Kai smirks, leaning back in his chair. “That means no crude remarks, no rolling of the eyes.” He rolls his eyes as an example. “I didn’t say we couldn’t have peaceful, fact-based debates.”

“That was peaceful?” Lei laughs. “Really? You made him run off. What if he’s in the bathroom crying? Kai.” She giggles, imagining the horror her mother will bring at her return. “What if he says something to mother? We’re in trouble.”

“And how would mother know—or care—if she’s off in Monaco sleeping with the royalty there?”

Lei bursts out in laughter. “Kai!” For a moment, they exchange laughter and only laughter. It’s in this moment where she doesn’t see her brother as not entirely terrible.

“Come on.” He grins. “Finish your food. I think you have a big day ahead of you. Wendy said she needed you to provide relief for flood victims in Ettenyl.”

“Hm.” Lei wrinkles her nose. “Why is that? I thought that flood happened a few days ago.”

“And floods don’t take mere days to recover from,” Kai reprimands her with a frown. “That’s why I need to you go. I’m going to be busy with the press who want to know why Baekhyun is here. In fact, some of our own people are fearing for their lives.” He shakes his head. “I can’t have you doing nothing. You’ll make it look like we’re having a crisis.”

“Fine, I’ll go.” Lei rolls her eyes. She wants to argue, but she doesn’t want to hear her brother’s rebuttal essay. “How long do I have to be there?”

“Until you dry out the valley section.”

“What?” She exclaims. “A valley? That’ll take forever! I don’t want to do that.”

“You’re 17,” Kai hushes her through gritted teeth. “Lei, please. I can’t have you acting like this. You do want a party when you turn 18, right? And it’s not like you’re doing anything else either. Or,” he pauses, “do you have plans that you failed to tell me about?”

“Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t.” Lei crosses her arms and stands up. She pushes her chair in so hard that the table shakes. “It’s not really up to you to dictate my life.”

“Dictate your life?” Kai draws his head back. “Is that what you think this is? Do you think that these are my orders? Do you think I want to control you?” He scoffs. “Lei, you need to see the bigger picture. You’re part of Helian royalty. You have a duty that is a part of your life.”

She’s almost to the doorway when Baekhyun reemerges. She throws him one glance before shoving past the doors.

“Lei,” Baekhyun’s voice follows her out. “Are you okay?”

“I’m dandy.”

“Your brother’s a piece of work, isn’t he?”

At the sound of a question like that, Lei whips around and meets his eyes with hers though she has to look upwards. His eyes are greener up close. So green that it’s not hard to imagine them as meadows. They’re beautiful, and she loves the golden ring around his pupils, but she hates the man who possesses them.

“You may see my brother as an enemy because of what he’s said to you,” Lei says, “you may see that he’s caused me to become upset too, and you may possibly see a friend in me, but I can tell you that’s not the case.”

Baekhyun opens his mouth, and Lei doesn’t stick around long enough to see if anything comes out of it.

- - - - -

Ettenyl is named after a past queen of Helios—or vice versa. Lei doesn’t really know about the history of something so unimportant, but she asks Wendy to inform her anyways because the car ride is too long and her thoughts too disturbing. She doesn’t meet a loss, however, because she learns that Ettenyl houses only a few hundred people, and none of them have any special abilities. They also haven’t received a visit from Helios royalty in five years.

Well, they’re going to get one now, and Lei wants them to remember her.

“Wendy, how flooded is the valley section?” Lei asks once the car drops them off “a few miles away” from where Ettenyl really is.

“It’s at sea level and a little lower, so the flood waters can reach up to 15 feet.” Before Lei can say anything, Wendy reassures her on impulse. “Don’t worry. The valley section is the smallest section of Ettenyl. Only about a hundred people live there, and the density is the highest there.”

“It might take a few hours then at most, right?”

“It shouldn’t matter to you.”

Lei whips around and cuts her e