Jongdae stands in the door frame, blocking the hall. He wears bright clothes and it makes Seungwan think that he looks out of place, like he doesn’t belong there. No one could tell that they were friends just by looking at them. He’s so tall he barely fits in the doorframe and his perfect, curly hair falls above his eyes and stays in its place without getting in the way. Even with Joohyun’s state, Seungwan looks worse than the two of them.

“Thank god you’re here,” Seungwan says, hugging him. One day passed, not even twenty-four hours and she already missed him. “I need a favor.”

He looks at the princess whose back is against the wall, casually eating scrambled eggs with half her face covered in blood and with a lost gaze.

“I can tell,” he says. “Why is she still here? And why do you guys smell so bad?”

Aeri stands up, taking both her and her brother’s plates and dragging him to their room.

“I hope you aren’t here to claim some bounty over her,” Seungwan says, and her voice reverberates in the space like she’s in an empty auditorium.

“I’m not. I wasn’t, at least. I came to check on your siblings,” he explains. “I knew better than trusting your dad. But, I carry bad news.”

"What is it?" Seungwan asks.

"I don't know exactly how, but they are sweeping The Ruins. Someone saw you at Forvalley but they weren’t sure who you were, so they notified anyway in case it was the princess." He rushes over his words, looking frantic at the halls. "What are you going to do? You can't escape anymore."

Joohyun stands.

"I'll leave. I need to find my mother." Then, she looks at Seungwan. "Thank you for everything you've done. I'll forever be grateful for it."

"You know your mother is probably dead, right?" He doesn't want to sound mean, but the phrase comes out like that.

"Yes, but I would like to think that people would still look for me even if I'm presumably dead," Joohyun mutters, raising her head to look at him.

"Before you go, I have another thing to say." He clears his voice. It's the first time that Seungwan looks at a nervous version of him. "Something is wrong. They don't tell me anything, but I don't think they are in charge.”

“What do you mean?” Seungwan asks.

“Something went wrong at the palace. Your intercom has been ringing for hours, they are calling everyone in." He hands her the silver object. “The Commander showed himself at my place after you left, and if you don’t have a good excuse to miss it, they will know something’s up.”

Seungwan’s gaze switches between Jongdae and the princess and then falls upon her sibling’s room.

“Do you think you can take care of them?” She asks Jongdae.

“I can do that.” Joohyun interrupts, but Seungwan cuts her.

“I’m not letting you out of my sight.” The cadence of her words is so final that Joohyun has to stop herself from rebutting like she’s a child and not a princess. “But I don’t know what to do with you, either.”

Joohyun looks at her, and Seungwan diverts her gaze after a few seconds.

“Let me go,” The princess insists. “I’m a nuisance to you. I can take care of myself.”

“No,” Seungwan says, and her voice has a trumpet sound that rings in Joohyun’s ears. This time, she directs the question to Jongdae. “So, can you? I mean, If I have to run.”

Jongdae doubts for a millisecond but just nods with a tight-lipped smile. Before leaving, he looks at Joohyun again, but now the princess doesn’t see resentment, she sees pity. It’s a weird contrast with Seungwan’s expression that started as pity and became something else in a few hours, something more akin to discomfort even if her actions were the opposite. Joohyun noticed a tenderness in the way Seungwan carried her or how she would make sure Joohyun was breathing.

“What do you expect me to do while you go to the meeting, then?” Joohyun asks. “My mother could be dead by now. I can’t stay with you.”

Seungwan kneels beside her tiny fridge and takes an ice pack.

“First, put this on.” Seungwan throws the ice pack at her. “Second, did I say I wouldn’t help you? We need information about your mother’s whereabouts, and that information can only be obtained at The Monolith’s meeting.”

Joohyun puts the ice pack on the injury, wincing in pain at the coldness against her swollen temple. She feels like Seungwan scolded her again.

“And then, what?” The princess asks.

“What?”

“What’s going to happen after we save her?” Joohyun clarifies, pulling at her shirt with her free hand.

“You are the one supposed to know that.” Seungwan looks at her with incredulous eyes. “Sproutland as we know it is over, It’ll probably be best for you to leave as soon as possible. Soon, there will be nothing left.”

Joohyun thinks about the throne she never wanted, and it almost sounds delightful to get rid of a crown if it wasn't because now, her father is dead and her mother will soon accompany him. She hasn't stopped one second to think about him, and that's due to their strained relationship. She's sad, of course, but at the same time she's relieved, and that's what makes her feel like a horrible person.

"I don't think I have something that would fit you, but I'll do my best. And try to look normal. Stop baiting your eyelashes like that, and stop talking so perfectly."

Joohyun laughs, but her joyful mood falls a little when she coughs, sending blood all over her hands and letting the ice pack fall to the floor.

Seungwan reaches for her, grounding her with her arms. She takes Joohyun's face in her hands, searching for something Joohyun doesn't know.

"I'm fine," Joohyun says. "I swear I'm not a porcelain doll."

Seungwan lets her hands fall off Joohyun's face, her cheeks tinted with a deep red.

"As I was saying,” she puts the ice pack back on Joohyun’s forehead. “I'll go to the meeting, but I need to keep an eye on you and we need to go before The Monolith gets to this level."

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