The downpour gradually subsided after midnight, but Eunbi had started a reform before that.

Chaewon confirmed that Sakura was safe by her side soon after she "landed" at the disaster site, and she instructed Eunbi on setting up a make-shift rescue center. Eunbi immediately summoned Dongwook and a few administrative/military officers while Jaeyeon left with Hongki's rescue team.

They build the rescue center in the dining room of the Princess Compound. Dongwook called the chief of the Royal Observatory for updated information through Jaeyeon's telecommunication machine. The man is pretty laid back. So Eunbi just immediately fired him and sent an officer to replace him.

Amid her frustration, Eunbi continues to receive reports from Chaewon. What Chaewon mentioned – mages who worked nearby were called upon and saved some lives together, sounds very inspirational to Eunbi. Wasting no time, she telepathized Great Yoonjung and asked the archmage about contacting all the mages who worked as local administrators. With the instructions of Yoonjung, all the mages in the room turned themselves into "human telecommunication machines." Hundreds of telepathy report from the rainstorm-affected areas soon flux one after the other. Most areas were safe under the effective use of magic, but some areas were seriously affected even with casualties. The military officer immediately mobilized the district barracks to form urgent rescue teams.

The dinner hour had passed after all the rescue teams were deployed. Eunbi also felt relieved to hear that Hongki's team had finally arrived in the landslide village and taken over the mage team's job. Eunbi discharged all the officers except Nako and felt exhausted.

She suddenly falls into confusion. One side of her starts to feel angry – why the hell did Kkura put herself in danger? Reading those reports (some even attached with moving images) scared her. Scenarios of Kkura getting drowned or hit by a rock or a fallen tree, or even buried alive involuntarily cross her mind. She quickly brushes them aside. Instead, she imagines screaming at the girl, grabbing her by the collar, and interrogating her when she sees her again. However, another side of her feels deeply grateful – if not for Kkura doing such an idiot thing, many people would have died without being discovered for many days.

And deep in her heart, she knows that she must be part of the reasons.

The servants quickly serve dinner, but Eunbi has no appetite at all – how can she feast when she knows so many people out there have lost their homes and even their lives? Then she hears some sound that touches her nerve. Yujin is crying loudly in protest – he is supposed to be fed by the milk mother at this hour, but he is acting up. Eunbi leads out a long sigh. The easiest and fastest way to silence him is to feed him herself.

Eunbi's anger disappears when Yujin on her like a puppy. Instead, she feels guilty for having neglected the infant's needs.

"Slowly...slowly, Yudaeng-ya. (1) I promise you will never be hungry again; mama's milk is all yours, alright?" Eunbi then turns to Anna, who is requested to stand by, "don't let me fall asleep," and closes her eyes for a rest. The world suddenly becomes very calm and peaceful. There is no storm, no choking, no wolf...

After feeding Yujin, Eunbi goes back to the dining room and briefly eats something – she feels guilty that Nako has to starve with her.

"Unnie, next time, please don't wait for me and eat when you need to, alright?" Eunbi says.

Nevertheless, they continue to monitor the situation by communicating with the Royal Observatory "new chief" and mages from different administrative districts.

When the clock strikes midnight, Eunbi massages her head and complains of a headache, "I never knew telepathy could be this tired. Thank you, Nako, for accompanying me. It has passed midnight, and the rain seems to subside; maybe you should go home and see Hi-chan."

Nako returns with her usual smile, "this is my job. Truly, I feel honored to have participated in this operation with you. You've become so mature and capable now, and I think you have even started a reform tonight."

"You mean using telepathy in the rescue procedure?" Eunbi twists her neck and shoulder to make herself feel better.

"More than that," Nako walks to the back of Eunbi and helps massage her neck, "recently, the rescue actions have been ineffective and inefficient mainly because of the lack of information and communication. We don't encounter this problem in the Palace because we have the MCT system."

Eunbi thinks for a second and responds thoughtfully, "Right. Why don't we install MCT for the commoners? Then we can warn everyone when we forecast a storm or any other disaster, and they can report back or ask for help. Let me ask Yena to study the feasibility." (2)

Eunbi forced Nako to go home when the rain grew smaller. Alone in the living room, she worked until she fell asleep on the dining table.

When Eunbi hears some noise and opens her eyes, she immediately gets up and walks down the hallway. Jaeyeon is taking off his boots and cloak by himself. He looks high-spirited despite being wet and covered with mud and dirt.

"Jaeyeon? Where is Saku-chan? Did you bring him back?" Without a second thought, Eunbi asks what she is concerned about most.

"I have put him back in his room. He is sleeping." Jaeyeon replies, not looking at Eunbi.

"And where is Chaewon unnie? Is she back?"

"No. She is still with the victims. Hongki will bring her back later."

Although Jaeyeon's voice is calm, Eunbi feels something and quickly adds, "thank you, Jaeyeon."

Only by this time, Jaeyeon turns his head toward Eunbi with a smile. "Does your hero deserve a kiss?"

Eunbi chuckles, "you'd better have a bath first."

Eunbi can't fall asleep despite being very tired. She waits until daybreak and asks Anna to bring her to Saku's room.

Anna looks very nervous and barely raises her head.

Sakura is sleeping soundly. Eunbi asks everyone to stay outside after Anna moves a chair beside the bed.

Eunbi sits down just to watch the girl sleep. But the energy in the room feels warm and comforting, making her doze off soon.

When Eunbi wakes up again, she realizes she curls up in a foreign bed with a familiar smell. She jerks out of bed while Sakura opens the bathroom door, apparently having just taken a bath. The lad looks energized and refreshing, with the occasional ray of morning sunlight shining on her pure white undershirt and angelic face.

"Oh, sunshine..." Eunbi mutters, trying to cover up her embarrassment.

"Good morning, unnie," Sakura smiles. She doesn't mean to smile, but her lips just curl up involuntarily when she sees the Princess.

"Good morning, Kkura," Eunbi smiles too. All the scenarios that she rehearsed in her head last night disappeared in a breath. She just smiles, nothing more.

"I am sorry. I saw you dozing off and worried that you would hurt your neck..."

Eunbi shakes her head, "it is fine, Kkura. I am glad that you can come back unscathed, but I must hear why you have to run away when there is a storm. You know how worried I am, do you?"

"I am sorry, unnie." Sakura lowers her head and murmurs while her eyes wander to the door.

It doesn't take long for Eunbi to get what is on Sakura's mind. "Anna and my knights are outside."

Sakura nods silently.

At this time, a small reminder rings in Eunbi's head. She immediately stands up and says, "listen. It is time for me to feed Yujin. Let's talk in the Lab."

***

Two days passed after Eunbi finally got a good rest and squeezed an evening out of her schedule to meet Sakura. She chooses not to summon the lad through other servants but MCT her directly instead.

Upon getting Eunbi's message, Sakura gets both excited and nervous. During the two days of sick leave she was granted, she locked herself up in her room and wrote the "confession script." Knowing Eunbi well, she understands she can only choose honesty – to a degree. But she still wants to tell her story in a better way.

She even chooses to wear a pair of baggy pants and a new crew-neck tee-shirt that she thinks Eunbi will like. The tee-shirt is embroidered with a cute wolf cartoon on the left chest and a line of small words "Superhero Wolfgang" underneath. The shirt was bought when Yena used to bring her out every weekend, teaching her to spend money and "experience city life" before she traveled South. It's her favorite piece of clothing, but she has always wanted to save it for the right occasion.

That evening, soon after the dinner, Eunbi MCT Sakura again.

I am in the Lab now. There will be no entrance. Use teleport.

To Sakura, this is quite a bit of a surprise. Eunbi told her long ago that the Lab is not a fixed entity but an existence somewhere in space. The concept is hard for Sakura to understand because Eunbi has always opened a proper door for her! It is not a big challenge for Sakura as she had learned teleport when she was in the South, but there are still some hassles to entering it through magic the first time.

On the other side, Eunbi enters the Lab directly from her bedroom. She has changed into her most comfortable working outfit, but she still feels very nervous. She paces up and down in the Lab and repeatedly telepathizes Sakura to ensure the lad won't teleport to another planet.

It takes a while until Sakura finally walks out from one of the walls.

"Hello, Wolfie," a broad smile blossoms on Eunbi's face upon seeing Sakura's new clothes. "This is new, isn't it?"

"Yes..."Sakura's cheeks redden instantly, but she is glad that Eunbi responds positively.

"It's nice." Eunbi sits down on the chaise longue and pats the space beside her. "Wolfgang is a character from a comic book. A clumsy but kind-hearted swordsman who always becomes an incidental hero – you are a bit like him – did you ever read that?"

"No," Sakura hesitates, "unnie, can I stay standing?"

"Sure," Eunbi decided to be straightforward. "Kkura, do you have anything to confess before I start to ask you questions?"

"Yes," Sakura in a quick breath and nods.

Eunbi looks a bit surprised, "alright, you start first."

Sakura inhales deeply and begins, "that day, I needed some fresh air and went out for a ride. I didn't know there was a storm. I was unhappy because I realized I had made a big mistake by...by eh...stealing Yujinnie's milk. I promise I will never do this again. I don't know why I did that. I must have been bewitched. But I did that anyway, and I am sorry."

"Fine, I accept your apology," Eunbi smiles gently, "so is this why you need to have a ride when it was raining heavily outside?"

"No." Sakura lowers her head. She is getting crimson red from her ears to her neck now. She pauses a while, her lips nervously, and speaks in a barely audible voice, "the incident has made me realize that I...I've done something terribly wrong. I...I've...I've fallen for Your Highness."

Eunbi startles, "can you repeat that?"

"I've fallen for Your Highness." Sakura raises her voice a little, "I have sinned. I have betrayed hyeong. It will become a scandal if people know about that, and I may be executed. I have thought about it thoroughly. The only way to save my life and protect Your Highness and your family, or even the kingdom," tears start to well up in Sakura's eyes, and her voice breaks, "is for me to leave the Palace as soon as possible. I know I am still a minor and must be under guardianship so that I will leave after my rite of passage..."

Eunbi suddenly feels all strength disappear from her body, and she trembles with a strong emotion she has never felt, "what are you talking about, Kkura?"

"I'm sorry, unnie..." Sakura shakes her head. She is now sobbing so hard that she has to bend over and cover her face. This is not what she expected.

Eunbi uses all the strength left and asks, her voice becomes hoarse, "who told you about all this nonsense?"

"Nobody told me."

"Anna?"

"No! I thought about it myself..." Sakura cannot control her sobs anymore and drops down to her knees, "please...don't punish Anna!"

Eunbi exhales forcefully while raising her head towards the ceiling. "Why?"

Sakura answers, "I don't want to be the third wheel."

Eunbi turns fiercely at Sakura. "Not this! Why?"

"Your reputation..." Sakura stutters, "I need...to protect..."

"WHY ARE YOU LEAVING ME?" Eunbi stands up abruptly and screams with all her might.

It's Sakura's turn to startle.

"Why do you have to leave me?" Eunbi balls her fists so hard that her knuckles turn white. She swings her arms, stomps her feet, and shouts, "Why? Why do you need to protect my reputation? Why does it need protection? Why does everybody decide on what I need? Why do they make me agree to whatever but never ask me what I want?"

Sakura looks at Eunbi helplessly. She is in fear. Eunbi reminds her of her papa's outburst.

She near flinches when Eunbi suddenly kneels before her. But she also feels a pain in her heart from the hurtful and desperate look in the Princess's eyes.

"I am sorry, Kkura," Eunbi's voice turns weak, and tears start rolling down, "but why? You are my only source of happiness, don't you know? You can do anything you want. I promise I will never punish you or let anyone hurt you. But why do you have to leave?"

"Unnie..." Sakura murmurs but decides to pluck up her courage. Slowly, she reaches out her arms and pulls Eunbi into her embrace. "I don't...but...can you forget what I just said? I only realized I couldn't leave you as I spoke it out. It hurts so much; the pain is unbearable."

Eunbi sobs on Sakura's shoulder until she can hardly breathe.

"I'm sorry, unnie." Sakura uses her sleeves to wipe away Eunbi's tears.

After the outburst, Eunbi seems calmer, and she shakes her head, "Kkura, you still don't understand? If you sinned, I have sinned with you; because I love you, I love you too."

Sakura's eyes widen. Her jaw drops, and she cannot utter a single word anymore. But it doesn't take long for her to find Eunbi's arms around her neck and her lips pressing against hers.

Time stops. Space disappears.

The two teenagers kiss as if alone in the universe, surrounded by shining stars with a few meteors passing by. They are just two beings that exist somewhere in time; there is no differentiation of royal or slave, grown-up or child; there is no worldly rule or judgment; no logic, no reason; no right, no wrong; no duty, no responsibility; no past, no future...

They kiss until they have to break apart from each other and gasp for air.

Yet, their eyes were still glued to each other, their hands caressing each other's cheek with a perpetual smile.

It seems like centuries have passed before Eunbi finally speaks, with a tone so melancholy that it is heartbreaking, "Kkura-ya, why didn't we meet early enough before I agreed to marry someone else? Why did my life start so early, and we met so late? Why don't we meet later so that we will be grown-ups who can control our lives? Why is it a sin for us just to love each other? Love is not a sin. If it is a sin, I rather burn in hell than lose you again."

Sakura falls silent. Gently, she puts her arms around Eunbi and plants a chaste kiss on the Princess's cheeks, which leads to another round of passionate kisses.

When they break from their kiss again, Sakura shakes her head and smiles sadly, "unnie, no, we can't. This is our destiny. We should not be in love; we cannot be lovers. You are the future Queen; you cannot do things as you like. And for whatever reason, I can't cheat on Jaeyeon; he is my brother. I don't mind burning in hell with you, but you should not be burned. If there will be such a day, I will replace you."

It takes Eunbi a long time to respond. She releases a long sigh and says, "Kkura, can we be lovers just for tonight? If we do not have tomorrow, let's keep tomorrow a step away from us."

***

Eunbi watches Sakura sleeping on the chaise longue. According to her inner clock, the day is breaking. The lad will wake up very soon, and all of her worries will disappear.

She thinks she will hate mornings from now on.

Eunbi tries to do a bit of meditation, but she simply cannot focus. What happened in the last few hours continue to loop in her head, and tears keep on exuding from her eyes.

"Unnie, are you sure it will work?" Sakura leaned towards the workbench side by side with Eunbi, who was working on mixing and modifying a potion.

After hours of discussion, they finally came up with a better solution.

Sakura's memory of falling for Eunbi would be suppressed. She would forget anything that is related to that emotion. Thus, leaving the Palace would become an option.

"It worked, dearie." Eunbi turned her head and planted a kiss on Sakura's cheek. "When I was little, I did something I cannot even remember now. Chaewon unnie – I used to call her no-no unnie – decided to punish me by drinking a potion to make me remember some lesson. I secretly reversed it and then complained that the potion had a bad taste. Unnie didn't know my trick and tasted the potion, ending up she forgot about my punishment."

Sakura tried to laugh, but her jaw felt very tight. "What if I end up forgetting about you?"

Eunbi stops her hands, "Kkura, we can stop. You don't have to risk."

"But if I don't take this risk, the original risk will be bigger. What if I lost control and did something terrible in front of everybody's eye?"

"Yes, you have told me about Anna. She is really smart and observant, but I also trust your self-control ability." Eunbi speaks gently. However, the memory of Sakura on her suddenly jumped out, so she quickly added, "but I agree with you that it is quite impossible to avoid speculations if we are still living under one roof, suppressing selected memories should be a better choice."

"But..." Sakura still looked worried, "what if the potion doesn't work as expected? Will its effect fades away one day? Will I fall for you again?"

"Theoretically speaking, it is possible. I will keep watching and give you a booster if needed. Although this is not the first time I am making it, I cannot be 100% sure about how it works, will there be a relapse, side-effect, sequelae, etc.? We just hope for the best."

"It will be so painful not to be able to love unnie again."

"You won't," Eunbi's eyes became moist, "you will not remember. Without the memory, you will not feel the pain. You will only remember me as the Princess who saved you and raised you to adulthood. If you choose to leave one day, you may still miss me, but not to the extent that it feels painful."

"That's too cruel!" Sakura immediately burst into tears.

Eunbi quickly put down everything in her hand and hugged the lad. "Don't cry, Kkura. This is life. As you said, we are not destinated to be together. We have no control over this. All we can do is live happily the best we can. I feel very sorry that you have to be the one. Please forgive me for wanting to keep my memories, even though it hurt so much. Kkura, I will be forever grateful for your sacrifice in protecting me, and I will protect this memory of us until the day I die."

"It's too cruel to unnie!" Sakura shook her head and cried even harder.

"Life is cruel, but I am used to that." Eunbi the back of Sakura's head gently. "Listen, Kkura. The fact is, I've never felt so fulfilled. I love a person who loves me. Even though it is so short, that's all I need. One day when I face great adversity, I will not feel lonely. The memory of us will give me the courage to carry on."

"You promise me you will be happy?" Sakura pulls herself away from Eunbi and raises her pinky finger.

"Yes, Kkura, I will. I will try," Eunbi locked it without hesitation while feeling a knife piercing her heart. "I promise..."

Before Sakura wakes up, Eunbi kisses the lad on the lips for the last time. She quickly dries her tears and squeezes a smile when Sakura opens her eyes, which are bright and innocent.

"Oh, unnie, I fell asleep?" Sakura jumps up and is surprised to find herself sleeping on the Princess's chaise longue.

"Yes, you came to the Lab last night, and we celebrated your heroic act in saving the villagers with the wolf gang. You know what? You incidentally bought the Superhero Wolfgang tee-shirt suggesting you are Superhero Wolfgang in real life!"

"Ah, yes..." Sakura doesn't remember wearing her new clothes but feels happy about Eunbi's compliment. "I forgot what happened last night."

"Because you were drunk." Eunbi tries to stay calm, "you were excited, and we drank some wine, but you are terrible at it. Just after one glass, you fell asleep."

"Ah, yes...what else did we talk about?"

"We also talked about your rite of passage next year and what you would do after that."​​​​

"Ah, yes. So what did we think?"

"I will go back to the Prairie, start a business to breed Heavenly Horses for the Tokkizan army. I will watch the sunrise and sunset alone, but I will not feel lonely while remembering the good old days with mama and unnie. Maybe I will come back every autumn selling yearlings in the Festive Marketplace and hide among the cheering crowds during the Princess Cup Race – or by that time, the Queen's Cup..."

"Well, it hasn't been decided yet, but you said you might want to breed Heavenly Horses for the army after your rite of passage." Eunbi raises her voice a bit to sound more natural. "I can create a job role for you. Of course, you are free to go anywhere you like when you reach the legal age, but I will still consider you as part of the royal household."

"Ah, yes. Thank you, unnie, thank you so much for not driving me out."

Eunbi stands up and turns her back against Sakura before tears gushed out, "now teleport back to your room. I need to feed Yujin."

Sakura immediately bows deeply to the Princess and disappears through the wall without hassle.

No one knows why, perhaps no one even notices, innocent smiles disappeared from Eunbi's face after that day.

Note:

(1) I have amended and expanded the scene when Eunbi is pregnant with Yujin to explain why Yujin is called Yudaeng, and why he is a puppy to his mother's eyes. Please refer to the chapter "New Heir to the Throne." I have highlighted the newly added text in purple, and it will stay in that color only for a while.

(2) The whole plot was inspired by the video artwork "The Same River, Twice" produced by Yayasan Peta Bencana (Disaster Map Foundation) (2021). PetaBencana.id means 'disaster map' in Indonesian. It is a free web platform that produces real-time visualizations of areas affected by flooding. It uses posts, tweets, instant messages, and conversations with residents through chatbots to create a framework for actionable information. Since its inception, the platform has become more widely adopted as a tool for community-led disaster response across Indonesia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. (adapted by the artwork description of M+)

Author's Notes:

I am thinking about ending this story earlier than I had originally planned. I will write a longer note later to explain it and spoil some plot if needed. Meanwhile, I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and shed your last tear for Kkubi.