Jaera spent the rest of the day reading up techniques on bending. Of course, the majority of the books there were on waterbending, but there were enough about firebending to help her practise.

The techniques on producing basic heat took an hour for her to succeed and she was pleasantly surprised when she managed to produce a tiny flame, similar to a small match after many more hours.

It was fascinating to see her body being able to produce this sort of magic, that she had only dreamed of. She felt like she was a freak (in a good way) for being able to produce actual fire from her fingertips. It was exciting to learn so many new things, and she could not stop reading.

However, the small waves of heat and the tiny flames were all she could conjure for the rest of that night. Feeling exhausted, she headed to the kitchens to get herself a glass of water and maybe a snack.

She was surprised to see Madam Jung there, mixing something together in a small bowl. “Madam Jung? What are you doing?”

“What are you doing here, Jaera? It is a few hours before the sunrise.”

“I was doing research in the royal library. I was not aware that so much time had passed,” she said, yawning. Her brain was a little fuzzy after all that reading and firebending practice.

“Her Majesty informed me about pulling you out of the team for a bit to do something for them. She said it was confidential. I was hoping you could tell me what this is all about?”

There was a slight moment of hesitation. “It is still concerning the prince. I apologise, Madam Jung. I do not think that I can tell you exactly what all of this is about. Honestly, I am still confused and this was a special request by the king and queen.”

“So we are supposed to heal Prince Junmyeon separately?” Madam Jung stopped mixing in her bowl. “Our herbs might clash.”

Jaera fetched a mug from the cabinet to fill some water in, peering at Madam Jung’s mixture at the same time. She recognized the concoction of herbs by the colour and smell. “Is that wolfberry and calendula oil?”

The head healer smiled faintly. “Yes, it is wolfberry and calendula oil. I thought of putting something together for the prince to calm him since the weather has been wild lately. Of course you would know, you were at the top of your class. No wonder the king and queen noticed you.”

Jaera took a sip of her water but found it to be colder than she liked. Could this be a good time to practise her firebending?

She snuck a peek at her head healer, who seemed quite preoccupied with her herbal concoction. Her hands trembled as she thought of the idea of putting her firebending to use. Doing just as she practised, she willed for heat to emit from her palms to warm her drink.

“What was that?” Madam Jung’s shrill voice cut through the moment. “Did you just produce heat from your hands?”

She fumbled for an excuse, stuttering over herself, but she could find none. Madam Jung took her hands and examined them closely.

“You were firebending.” It came out as a grave statement.

“Yes.” Jaera could only nod. “I only discovered this recently. Please don’t tell anyone.”

“Oh, my dear child, how could this be? Bending has died out for centuries now. Is this what you and the queen were so secretive about?”

She paused. “Yes.”

Madam Jung sighed. “Then I suppose that the prince’s frozen heart is real and has to do with bending as well. If this is true, then it is most likely that firebending will be able to put out the ice.”

She was not the head of the healers for nothing. It took Madam Jung two minutes to figure out how to cure the prince when Jaera had taken weeks.

“I am working on it. There is still the fact that the prince’s heart could freeze over again, or that he would never consent to me firebending his heart. But I will find a way.”

“I believe you will, Jaera. I am always here if you need any help.”

“Thank you, Madam Jung.”

“Now go get some rest. Pulling all-nighters are detrimental to your health. That is one of the first things we learnt to become healers. You can sleep in.”

Her eyelids were actually quite heavy and she was yawning quite a lot. “Okay, I will go first. Goodnight, Madam Jung.”

The older healer waved goodbye, pushing her out of the kitchen good-naturedly. However, instead of heading back to the dorms, Jaera’s feet took her up the stairs, into Prince Junmyeon’s room. She did not have any herbal drinks or medical kits with her, but the guard outside his room still let her in.

His room was dark and terribly cold. Unfortunately, she didn’t have extra layers with her.

The prince lay asleep in his bed, this time peacefully. She brushed a strand of hair out of his face, admiring how handsome he looked when he wasn’t being an emotionless grouch. It reminded her of the old maid’s story from earlier. All she wanted was reassurance that she was doing the right thing; that he wouldn’t hate her for melting the ice around his heart.

Slowly, Prince Junmyeon’s eyes opened. She quickly retracted her hand from his face. She wondered if he would recognise her as Juhyun again.

“What’re you doing here? What time is it?”

His words were slurred, as if he was drunk. His cheeks were pink too. Jaera frowned. “Your Highness? Are you drunk?”

“There you go again,” he lamented, shaking his head slowly. He really looked out of it. “Calling me by my title. I thought we were over that. And no, I do not like alcohol. It makes me talk a lot.”

She noticed a cup on his bedside, finished to the last drop. She pointed to it. “What did you drink?”

He raised an eyebrow.

Rolling her eyes, she tried again. “What did you drink, Junmyeon?”

“Someone from your team gave me something to drink earlier, if I’m not mistaken. I fell asleep straight after that.”

Realisation sunk. She forgot to tell anyone that she used the tranquiliser on the prince. Whatever herbs they gave him must have had an adverse side effect. She sighed. Now she had to take care of a drunk man when all she wanted was to check up on him and go to sleep.

“Now can you answer me?” Junmyeon asked, which came out as a small whine. Jaera froze. “What’re you doing here and what time is it?”

“I came to check on you. It’s a few hours before sunrise.”

He took her hand in his, allowing her to feel the icy cold skin. It felt so cold that she wondered if he had f