yuri fall backwards as she wasn't prepared for him to faint. she almost shrieked, but she's more worried about this young man getting found out by the royal guards. she used all her strength to slowly push him away enough for her to stand up, making sure that he doesn't topple back to the ground and then bring him to the corner of her bed. she removed the wet cloak that he was wearing before letting him rest on her bed. she didn't realise his nose was bleeding, so she quickly finds a handkerchief in her room and cleaned it up.

she didn't think much of herself. she needs to take care of this person somehow, and not get caught. luckily, his clothes weren't that wet, but it's cold when you are out in the heavy rain. this blanket of hers, might not be enough.

so, she slowly left her room, making sure less sound was created and ran quietly to the place where the maids keep the newly cleaned bed sheets and blankets. the door creaked pretty loudly but not loud enough for the others to hear. she took a few...

"yuri, what are you doing here?"

yuri almost got a heart attack, but she calmed herself and turned around to see taeri. yuri just gave the most realistic smile that she can even offer to look less suspicious.

"i'm just grabbing some more blankets since it's quite cold today."

"well, you could've asked me to take it for you."

"i thought you were asleep."

"no, i'm not. and so, i will bring this for you to your room" she said as she grabbed the blankets yuri was holding.

"wait, no, it's okay. let me be.... independent for once. please." yuri gave her puppy eyes. taeri slowly loosen her grip on the blankets.

"let me know if you need anything else." yuri nodded and quickly ran back to her room, shutting the door. she made sure that there wasn't anyone going towards her room; listening to any footsteps at the hallway.

"what are you listening to?" yuri turned around to the source of the voice and fell backwards, dropping the blankets when she realises the young man was right behind her.

the young man caught her by her waist and pulled her closer. she didn't expect herself to be looking into his eyes, and awkwardly staring deep into it. it's just so... beautiful. but she realised what she's done and pulled away from him.

"err, sorry." he let go of her waist.

"it's fine." she said as she bit her lip from nervousness. she didn't know why she felt that.

"sorry, i wasn't able to explain what's happening, you are probably lost."

"kind of. umm, do you want to take a seat?" she gestured towards the two chairs and the table by the window. he nodded with agreement and walked towards the chairs. yuri was going to pick up the blankets, but he reached out to it first.

"it's okay, let me do it." she retreated, and her eyes unconsciously followed the young man as he carried the blankets to her bed. she walked right behind him towards the chairs.

yuri sat awkwardly as she waited for the pink-haired man to speak. yuri barely talked to any man in her life, especially people of her age, assuming that he is her age. and lucky for her, the first man that she talked to is pretty good looking. once in a while, yuri would take a glimpse of his beauty and look back to the floor.

"sorry about fainting. i'm only able to use my abilities within a short amount of time."

abilities?

right.

she almost forgot about the unusually fast-growing plants that lifted him up and also those incredible lights that lit up out of nowhere.

she only knew about the existence of abilities through the books she read from the royal library. she never had an opportunity to see it face to face. they mentioned about how these abilities only exist if you have direct blood from the royal family, for example, the emerald family and also, a male. hence, in her family, only the king has the ability. the problem is, she doesn't even know what it is. that's how much yuri isn't close to her parents. sometimes, she felt lucky that taeri exist. without her, yuri would not be able to survive the daily hell in the castle.

"i'm jaemin, na jaemin."

na? but i thought...

"yes, you heard it right. na."

yuri took a while to process this as from what she learnt and understood, the na family or the diamond family was the cause of the old, historical wars and had been defeated by her emerald family way before she was born. na was suppose to be their enemy.

"i'll skip the whole backstory, but most importantly, your brother is waiting for you right now."

"brother? since whe-"

jaemin suddenly cupped yuri's face and looked into her eyes. yuri could feel the sincerity and the warmth in them even though they just met. there are too many questions left unanswered, and yuri desperately needs answers. the fact that yuri was unable to leave the castle her whole life makes her rethink whether what she learnt during classes was even real.

this is her only chance to leave this hell and experience a new thrill, a new adventure that she was waiting for deep in her heart.

"yuri, please trust me. we need to go before anyone catches us." yuri's hands slowly moved towards jaemin's hands, assuring him that she trusts him. he gave a smile of relief.

jaemin stood up from his seat and walked to pick up his wet cloak from earlier. as he did so, jaemin felt a tug from his back.

"wait, are you sure you are well enough to move? you looked pretty pale, and you were bleeding from your nose just now."

"that's rare. i never bleed from my nose before." jaemin giggled lightly and turned around to face the extremely, worried princess (who he finds her actions adorable since the incident by the bedroom door).

he chose to .

"maybe, i had a nosebleed when i laid my eyes on you."

clueless, the princess naively assumed he meant that she might unknowingly cause him to bleed by accidentally punching his nose as she admired the abilities he had during the first encounter, although she doesn't remember hitting anything with her hands. she apologised.

jaemin chuckled.

"nevermind, you'll get it one day."

the princess didn't get it.

"you don't mind if i write a note for my maid-of-honour? don't worry i won't tell her what's happening. she might think that i wanted my own alone time at the nearby royal forest." jaemin nodded. it's a way to avoid any suspicion about her temporary disappearance.

once she's done, without warning, jaemin carried the princess bridal style. the princess naturally wrapped her hands around his neck for support.

"are you ready?"

"uhuh." jaemin could tell the nervousness from her shaky voice and also her, closing her eyes and tightening her grip. he can feel her warm breath by his neck. he realised how small she is compared to him.

makes him want to be more careful than he ever was.

he makes sure that his cloak covers the princess enough from the rain. he breathed in and focused on rapidly growing the plants nearby the balcony, getting ready to control the plants, and bringing them down to the ground floor carefully. the princess' room was on the top level, so it took away more of his energy.

he prayed that he is strong enough to at least bring her to her brother.