jeonghan learnt something about taehee.

she looks soft and polite, but she's quite stern and strict. the way she slightly scolded jaemin that day and also how she shut him up the day before shows all of that. he thought maybe hanging around with many guys at the base caused her to be this way. but it's all fine. it's part of her charm anyway. now, how did jeonghan know about that? taehee didn't dwell into it that much, but she just said that she lived with many guys, and that's about it.

throughout the time at the castle, the only time they were able to communicate was at night. and it was always at taehee's room. taehee asked him to, and jeonghan didn't fight back. another charm about taehee is that she's always focused on the things that needed to be done. but too focused to the point that she has yet to take a break from this problem since she saved the princess and the king.

"so, tell me more about the flower." taehee was fully ready to write down all the things that he knows about the flower, but jeonghan took away the pen and paper, putting it aside.

"wha-"

"you need a break, taehee. look at you, those dark circles' going to be more obvious now." taehee immediately covered the dark circles under her eyes with her hands.

"stop it. plus we have no time, we need to know more about this flower before it's too late."

"you are right, but to save the queen and the kingdom, you need to be healthy too." taehee clicked her tongue. "fine."

"alright, let's release our stress by talking to each other. you know so that we know each other better? and then work together comfortably?" she nodded.

"alright, ladies first?" jeonghan isn't really prepared, to tell the truth about himself, but he just wants taehee to destress for her sake temporarily. and also his sake, so that he knows her a bit more. jeonghan advised her not to go into details that could potentially harm the people in the base.

taehee talked about how she lived with her older brother and many younger brothers in her base, and how they might've influenced the way she spoke to people she's close to, being stern especially towards those younger than her. because she had to be the maid-of-honour for the princess in this castle to take care of her, she had to be more feminine and not be too rough to people. from there, she learnt that having these two lives is pretty cool for her. that way, she knows how to communicate with people following their background and influence. but there's one thing that she hoped she could do in the castle but not allowed to.

"dancing?"

"yeah, i just love how they move following the flow of the music. i couldn't physically follow the princess' dance classes, so i just admire their training from the back." jeonghan then stood up and held out a hand.

"i learnt a bit of waltz when i was younger. if you want, i could lend a hand and teach you." taehee thought for a while before reaching her hand to him.

"it'll be an honour."

____________________________________________

yuri didn't understand initially why people would've pluck flower petals to know what the other person might be thinking, but now she gets it. as much as she loves her flowers, she somehow can't help but pluck the pink rose petals out instead of asking jaemin directly, if he hates her for running away.

"he hates me, he hates me not, hates me, hates me not..." literally, this was the 10th flower she plucked, and all she got was, "he hates me. goodness." every pink rose she plucked next, she hopes to get the opposite, but it doesn't seem so. makes it harder for her even to approach jaemin. she realised how much of her precious flowers are lying dead on the ground, so she decided to stop and clean up the mess. she sighed as she slowly picked up the remains of the flowers, still thinking of how she should settle the awkward situation with jaemin. from there, it always gets back to the memory of the peck on the lips. and then, her face gets red all over again and that she tried to cover her face, hoping that no one sees her.

"h-hey, do you need a hand?"

jaemin. oh no, i'm not ready to see him.

again, her flight reaction seems to be automatic now.

"no! wait, yuri!"

no, no, no, i'm really not ready to face him yet. i'm too... embarrassed and... shy.

yuri kept running as jaemin followed right behind her, hoping that she would stop and both of them could talk.

"yuri, wait!"

"i-i can't face you right now, jaemin."

jaemin heard what she said and stopped chasing her.

"alright, i won't chase you. please slow down." yuri's pace slowed down to a stop. she's gasping for air from running away that hard.

"i-i'm sorry." yuri mumbled as jaemin slowly approached her from behind.

"why are you apologizing? besides, shouldn't i be the one who couldn't face you after all of that?" jaemin walked right beside her to make sure she's fine. yuri's head still looking down, avoiding eye contact with him. he knows that all of this is still causing them to be awkward so he tried to bring up a conversation away from the initial topic that they should talk about.

"let's go, i'll bring you to a place you never seen around this area before." jaemin said as he led the way towards the nearby forest. he tried to break the awkwardness by asking her how was her practise and whether if she needs help in any way to improve on her ability. he could tell yuri was trying her best to overcome the awkwardness by being her bubbly self. jaemin totally understands. he realised how selfish he was and not thinking of what yuri might've felt after the incident. but he's glad that both of them are working hard to get it together. at least be friends again and not avoiding each other.

"here we are. beautiful, right?" jaemin could see the glow in her eyes, looking around the area; a field of sunflowers and a distance away, mountains could be seen standing tall like the background of a painting.

"oh my god, jaemin. this is amazing!" yuri wanted to feel the breeze by spreading her arms and closing her eyes. her white-silvery hair flows following the wind direction. it's a stunning sight for jaemin.
jaemin let yuri run around a bit, looking at her appreciating the beautiful things around her.

"can we go there?" yuri said as pointed somewhere near the edge of a cliff.

"sure, let's go." yuri, like a little kid, ran ahead and makes sure she's careful since, again, it's the edge of the cliff and she wouldn't want to worry jaemin again. from there, the sight of the mountains are clearer. not only that, they could see the different kingdoms scattered around the bottom of the mountains far away. yuri sat down to appreciate the sight even more. jaemin too follow along but kept a distance from yuri. he's afraid that he might trigger her again.

"i didn't realise how far we are from the kingdoms." yuri spoke. jaemin just nodded while fiddling with his thumbs out of nervousness. 

"this place used to be the place where i would let go of all of the thoughts that bothered me. this is also where i would go if i miss my parents and speak to them. but after you came into our lives, my life, this place seems unnecessary but more special with you here." yuri felt her heart starting to beat faster and her thoughts starting to scrabble again. but this time around, she told herself not to run and stay. she wouldn't want to disappoint jaemin but not letting him ask the question like her father said he would.

"j-jaemin. sorry that i kept running away from you. it's just that, i'm not sure how i'm supposed to reply. but now that i have recollected my thoughts, i guess it's time for me to speak." yuri took a deep breath and turned to her right to face jaemin. just as she thought, jaemin kept looking at her this whole time, so of course, yuri couldn't even lift her head up to look straight into his eyes.

"s-stop looking at me like that."

"sorry, i can't help it." she took another deep breath, but still can't look up.

"after all the time spent with you, i realise how much you have been always by my side, supporting me, dealing with all of my clumsiness. i really do appreciate it, a lot. when i got separated from you, the only person that i would immediately think of is you. the thought of you always motivates me to work harder and be stronger. you are my strength, jaemin. i don't know what i would do without you." jaemin's eyes widen and he could feel his cheeks warming up. he didn't expect her to be this direct to him. but with this, he mustered all of his courage to finally ask her the question. he moved to a proper position, one knee on the ground, kneeling and his right hand out, facing yuri. yuri too, mustered all of her courage to look into jaemin's eyes, filled with sincerity.

"yuri, you taught me to be a better person, a more positive thinking person, to not be discouraged when things didn't turn out the way it's supposed to. you too are my strength. in return, i promise, i will protect you with all my abilities. i promise to always be by your side and be there whenever you need me. so, will you take this hand, yuri?" yuri could feel her eyes water with happiness. she doesn't understand this feeling that well yet, but she knows that it feels good and she's relieved. yuri's hand reached out to jaemin's.

"yes, jaemin." jaemin couldn't help but pulled yuri into a tight embrace. 

"thank you." yuri, once again, felt the wetness on her shoulder. she giggled a little and ruffled jaemin's hair. 

"aww, you crybaby."

"i'm not." they maintained the same position for quite long, each felt thankful for one another and relieved that they are able to express and accept each other's feelings. jaemin eventually broke the hug first to look into yuri's eyes again. he's longing for her. his left hand cupped yuri's cheek naturally.

"m-may i?" yuri's a bit stunned that he asked first. she nodded.

once again, their lips touched, lost in their own world.

____________________________________________

"wow, the things in the letter is more than i thought it would be." mark just returned from getting the letter from taehee and jeonghan that jaemin had mentioned in his trip to the castle.

"let's gather around and take a good look at it." the king announced. the princes and the guards sat closer to each other in the room.  yuri joined the gathering too after her practice with jaemin.

"read it for us, mark." said renjun.

"sure, so the letter says that,

black flower's weaknesses:

1. the flower's powers, after becoming a solution and consumed, can only last 5 hours. 

2. when consumed, the only way for the consumer to be stronger isn't to drink more but is required to be near the flowers.

3. from what we knew, these flowers can kill royalty if consumed in a solution, at any amount. however, it can also potentially kill a normal person if they consume more than one flower for one solution. the imposter almost died the first time he greedily consumed 2 flowers in one solution.

4. these flowers, when plucked out, can only last for 5 minutes, so when making the solution, it needs to be done fast.

5. they are pretty tedious to take care of; required to be watered and fertilized every hour.

more information about the imposter:

1. he always makes sure to have at least a potted black flower hidden in every room in the castle that he often visits. for bigger rooms, like the throne room, there will be more flowers hidden.

2. his main weakness and strength is, unfortunately, the queen herself. 

3. if let's say anyone of you were illusioned by the imposter, just close your eyes and trust your hearing and touch, because he can only change the illusion of sight.

4. unfortunately, there's no solution to overcome his hypnotism directly, other than yuri herself.

"that's pretty useful information." jaemin said. everyone nodded in unison.

"so to conclude all of that, firstly, the flower is very strong but it can easily die. secondly, yuri is the strongest one now, not jaemin." jeno asked. jaemin didn't deny jeno's claims at all because it's all true. besides, it's his partner and lover, makes him more proud of her.

"yes, so this makes everything slightly simple for us. but of course, we cannot overlook the possibility that the imposter might have back up flowers or something." mark thought.

"alright, with that, let's start with our planning, and then we can go back to practising."

"yes, your highness!"

____________________________________________

"phew, the planning sure took pretty long." jaemin said as he offered bread for yuri to eat. after the planning, both of them walked over to the garden's shelter area, bringing along the bread that renjun made personally. yuri nodded as she took a bite out of the bread and chew on it. she squealed at how delicious the bread is. she unconsciously took a quick but big bite of the bread. 

"hey, slow down right there. the bread won't run away."

"but it's so good!" jaemin giggled at how adorable his girl is. wow, my girl. he can't believe that he could even think of that.

"while you eat, maybe we can practice that ability of yours."

"healing? but you are not hurt?"

"i'm talking about your clairaudience ability."

"oh! but i'm not sure how to use it though. i only used it once with the "king". besides, shouldn't i be focusing on controlling my deflection ability?"

"i mean, it could be useful one day, right?" yuri, still chewing on her bread, decides to give in to jaemin since his puppy eyes' trump card is out.

"alright then."

"try reading mine!" jaemin shift his position to sit directly in front and facing yuri who already put down her bread and focused. her eyes squint as she tried to absorb the thoughts that jaemin had in his mind. jaemin tried to diffuse his thoughts into hers, hoping that would've help her ability. after 3 minutes, she let out a big air and sighed.

"i can't do it, i don't know what would make me do that." yuri pouted, feeling rather disappointed in herself.

"hmm, why not we try doing this?" jaemin got closer to her and placed his forehead against hers. yuri was taken aback but thought maybe this would work.

"now, let's close our eyes, take a deep breath and relax your mind." yuri followed what jaemin instructed her to do. and sure enough, she did relax her mind a bit.

come on, yuri. you can do it. yuri told herself. she started to focus and desperately finding jaemin's voice clearly in his mind.

yuri.... 

yes! i could hear it slightly, maybe i should go deeper.

yuri. if you...

yuri was sure that she hears jaemin's voice clearly. she just needs to focus and listen properly so that the whispers can become more apparent.

yuri. if you can hear me, what flower did i pluck out and made you angry that day?

"white carnation!"

"that's right! you did it! i'm so proud of you!" jaemin pat her head and the princess grinned from ear to ear. as they laughed and recalled back what happened that day, someone ran towards them, and they could hear the person getting out of breath from the running.

"goodness, what happened, wonwoo hyung?" after jaemin continuously insisting to call both wonwoo and mingyu his hyungs and letting them call him by his name, wonwoo and mingyu finally gave in and took it as a royal request. 

"jaemin and princess yuri, sorry to disturb both of you. it seems like jisung had a premonition and he wants everyone to gather back."

"what? alright, let's go." all three of them ran back to the main area and saw jisung sitting, looking in grief with everyone else surrounding him. chenle was right by his side and trying to comfort him.

"we're here. what's happening?"

"hyung..."

"yes, jisung, what's wrong?"

"taehee noona..."

"why? what's wrong with my sister?" seungcheol asked.

"i think she's in danger."