The dark of the night wraps its ominous tendrils around her figure, enveloping her before it permeates into her skin, sinking in deeper as she caves in. The tears that she feels undeserving to fall from her eyes soak the upper part of her dress, feeling that even her own being is a disgrace, a person she does not and refuses to accept as herself. A princess who is brought high up due to her status yet looks down upon those who do not have the privilege to hold their heads up high.

She's been abusing her powers, yet here she is living in oblivion about her past, with the very people she made to suffer close to her.

Thinking about it after separating with Yunho, she can't look at Serim the same now that she knows she was the reason her mother died. Then it gets heavier when she thinks about Seonghwa and Serim, how things must be prickly between them, and it's all because of her. The obvious tension between the two of them too, did it stem from any topic that was related to her?

Her refusal to at least accept that it is who she is brings her to a state of restlessness, forcing her eyes to stay wide open when the world around her had turned quiet and paused for the night. Her eyelids flutter as her eyes look straight to the ceiling, and the nightgown she has on makes it feel as if she's been laid out on an open fire; even though the temperature around should have made her sleep soundly, safe under the covers.

After tossing and turning on her bed for what seems like a useless method to let herself drift off to sleep, she springs up with a silent scream before putting on her slippers. She throws open her wardrobe, sifts through her wide range of choices of clothes before she snatches one that's not on the hangers - one reason must be how it stands out from the rest, the dark colour of the material making it hard to be spotted if one were to look through in a hurry.

She unfolds the material, unsure of what kind of clothes would be presented to her. She doesn't turn up disappointed; the familiar image of a robe and matching shirt and pants tell her that this is what the past Princess Narae would wear when she wants to sneak out of the palace in the middle of the night, where she would want to be left alone instead of being trailed around by people tasked to protect her.

Unsure of whether her going out at night alone breaks any sort of rules in the palace - she can barely catch up with the protocols she learnt during her classes - she immediately takes herself out of the nightgown and puts on the garment, hiding her hair carefully underneath the hood of the robe.

Back when she had powers she would have probably just teleported herself to anywhere she wants to go without worrying about her route of escape, but now as she takes a peak through her door left slightly open, she thinks back to her choices of whether she would have to make a dash through the slithering hallways of the palace, or rather take the unconventional way and escape through the balcony of her room instead.

But as she takes a look over the railing, she shakes her head violently and retreats a few steps back. Fear of heights must still be embedded in her system, because apparently she was told that this was what she and her brother have in common too - both are scared of heights. She closes the door to the balcony, locks it carefully before putting her forehead against her double bedroom doors, thumping it softly using her head as if the slight rattling could organize her thoughts.

She needs to get out, get some fresh air, maybe think about how she should act from now. Repent, reflect? What if she gets her memories back someday and everything clashes again? The more she thinks about it in her room, the more she feels restless so without a second thought, she twists the doorknob to open the door before tumbling out into the hallway. Being caught - although still, the question whether she is actually going against the rules remains the same - by another person becomes a secondary thought as she runs as if her life depended on her feet finding solid ground outside.

She reaches the foyer to throw open the doors but before she can finally step outside into the world, a hand reaches out to yank her backwards, dragging her back into the shadows.

"Where do you think you're going this late at night?"

She expected to hear the voice of her brother, but it's their cousin; Prince Wooyoung, staring at her with eyes as dark as the night. He lets go of her hand, a slight tilt of the head as a sign of apology for being too rough.

"W-Woo-" She doesn't allow herself to recite his full name before attempting to wind herself around the situation, "Fresh air. I was- trying to get some fresh- air." She manages to finish, but judging from the look on Wooyoung's face, it's obvious that it wasn't the least bit convincing.

"You're not allowed to roam outside at night, alone. Especially not after that terrible accident you had." He leans against the wall, crossing his arms. He looks smug, but the softness in his eyes downplays his expression, although it doesn't make the situation feels less like an intense interrogation.

"I didn't know," she confesses. "I didn't know whether it was a rule I would break. Those classes aren't really sticking to my brain. Actually, nothing feels like they are sticking to my brain; everything feels like a river flowing through the crypts."

He snorts, but she glares at him to make him return to his previous expression. "That's why I'm here." He gestures to her clothes before saying, "Seeing how you are wearing these clothes to sneak out must show that there's a muscle memory somewhere. You always sneak out at night, princess, because no one could stop you. And most of the time, I'm your partner-in-crime. Although-" A fleeting expression of sadness, "-I should have been there during your accident."

"Stop," she puts up a hand. "Stop mentioning about the accident if you have no details to offer."

He sighs, "Of course, I have no details to offer, no more than by the others." He changes the subject fast. "So, where are you planning to go tonight, princess of Inis? I'll take you right where you want to be."

"Just somewhere far from here. I need a break from this... shadow of me being the princess of Inis. I'm tired of feeling as if I'm being chased around all the time."

"Ah," he exclaims, "perhaps a quick journey to another realm to escape? Let's see... who would still be awake at this hour..." A mischievous smile makes its way before he holds out a palm so that Narae will be able to hold on to him. "Let's go to the realm that's always on fire, where things are always hot."

Subconsciously, she wraps her fingers around his palm and he nods as assurance, telling her that the journey might be a little bit dizzying for her, considering that her body might still not get used to it.

"What were you thinking, escaping through the main doors? I expected you to be smarter, princess. You will be caught before you even get to step outside the palace because they know you're not able to use your powers yet," he says playfully as they are gone in a wink.

She expects her nausea to act up more but the journey was easy on her, taking her off balance only to have Wooyoung helping her to steady herself by holding on to her hand. Only slightly lightheaded from the fast change of scenery, she takes in their new surrounding where her eyes immediately catches the sign that is literally on fire, indicating that they're heading to an open park.

"Should I be concerned that the sign is on fire?" she asks casually as they walk past the sign.

Wooyoung eyes the sign; in which it is strung with red and orange, the flames dancing in rhythm as if to welcome them. He puts out a hand before she can stop him, tracing his fingers on the sign, letting his skin getting wrapped by the frolicking flames and showing no signs of being hurt.

He breathes, "Not at all. In fact, we're most likely going the right way. Follow the fire and he'll be right there." He pauses to look at Narae, "The prince of fire."

"The prince, and not one of the princesses? Not his sisters?"

"He may not talk a lot but he likes to make statements like this; an interesting person he is." Wooyoung drags his palm across the top of the sign to extinguish the fire then mumbles, "As if he's trying to tell the whole world where he is. Well, not that anyone other than the royals will have the courage to go up close to him. Ahh, I miss poking fun at him," he finishes in a singsong voice.

Following Wooyoung's guide through the terrain, going along the seemingly only path heading to what according to the sign is an open park, they are drawn closer by the smoke puffing in the air. Narae is unsure whether her cousin is feeling the same amount of heat she is, now that Prince Yeosang is in full view. The unabashed campfire springs up in front of him, giving the face of the already-handsome prince an unnatural glow. It looks like he's more comfortable without the mask for now, as he swipes away a strand of his hair that fell in front of his eyes.

Maybe it's the fire that's accentuating his eyes, making it looks as if the fire is behind them instead of in front, dragging her deeper into his stare. She finds herself shamelessly looking at him longer than necessary. She fails to realize how Yeosang has already stood up when he noticed their presence, his cloak billowing behind him as his measured and elegant steps bring him to stand in front of the two relatives. As she takes his first blink, the prince is already reaching out his hand, as if to grasp hers.

She lets her imagination runs wild as to what the prince intends to do, realizing that the heat in her cheeks are not due to the open fire but due to the presence of the Prince of Kryon alone. She tries to hide her disappointment when the prince's hand did not even touch her skin, but her instinct to flinch arises when heat licks the back of her palm. She takes a step back, realizing that a burst of flames had arose from Yeosang's palm and it had touched her hand.

"Hey, stop it. You're going to scare her," Wooyoung steps in while putting out a hand, giving a signal that he, if he wants to, can outdo Yeosang in terms of his powers.

"Just confirming the rumours I had heard," Yeosang replies before putting out the fire with a single flick of his wrist. "The princess did lose her memories, huh? What a bummer. Nice to see you again, princess. Though it's too bad that you probably don't even remember who I am."

"Prince Yeosang, prince of fire, third child of the Kryon Realm," Wooyoung jumps in. "The three of us," he points to the prince, himself and the princess, "always hang out together when we get a little bit of break from the palace, since Yeosang right here barely sleeps at night. He likes to be awake at times like this, so the perfect companion when you can't sleep and in need of some... adventure."

"You're no fun, then," Yeosang offers. "You look so passive, starkly different from the Princess Narae I know. If I were to even touch you with as much as a small flame, you would put me on fire. Literally, with no hesitation. Definitely no flinching," he adds, his voice sounding somewhat laced with disappointment. He interlaces his fingers behind his back before marching back towards the open fire, allowing himself to sit back down. "Well?" he looks at them with mild annoyance, "invite yourself to sit down or do I have to make you?"

"He's a bit prickly," Wooyoung whispers. "But don't worry, he's actually pretty nice once you get to know him. Just a bit hard to get past that wall of fire initially." He guides her to sit down, making sure that she's comfortable before he takes a seat next to the princess.

Yeosang hugs his knees to his chest, eyes empty staring into the open fire. "So? Why are you here?"

"Fresh air," Narae cuts off Wooyoung before he can open his mouth to answer. "I was in need of some fresh air."

Yeosang laughs but his eyes still bore deep into the heart of the fire. "Fresh air? What a lousy choice of place to be at. This thick smoke is not my idea of fresh air."

"Well, actually-" She gets flustered, realizing that she has no real purpose of being here, only following Wooyoung.

"Look into the past and tell us what you see," Wooyoung offers, making both Yeosang and Narae turn to look at him with different expressions. "I know you can."

"I can but I refuse to. I have no interest in your affairs, princess," the prince of fire replies rather coldly, and it makes her think about what kind of relationship there is between them. Surely he doesn't sound like a close friend. "You think that this gift of conjuring up images of the past through the fire is to be used for a princess from another realm? Talk about wasting one's energy."

She's currently balancing between understanding and not understanding what the hell is going on, despite her being the main topic, but from what she gathers; Wooyoung wants Yeosang, who has the ability to look into the past, to tell them what happened during the night of Narae's accident. But the prince refuses flatly.

"So you're refusing because you think it's going to only be a waste of energy?" Wooyoung asks sceptically. "Oh come on, we're good friends."

Her ears perk up at this. Who does she believe? Serim said Wooyoung would protect her from any untoward incident that could involve in the other princes wanting to take away the relic from her. But right now, it looks like Wooyoung has claimed Yeosang as a friend.

"I refuse because I don't care, and using my energy just to conjure up an image for a few seconds sounds upsetting. So I'm letting that pass."

Yeosang stands up, clearly not wanting the conversation to continue for the night. He walks away from the fire, not bothering to extinguish it as he leaves the two.

Yes, it's a waste of energy but he already went ahead and did it anyway. He saw something that upset him so much that he collapsed while conjuring up the image, that he woke up with his sister next to his bed, relief flooding her face when she saw that he had opened his eyes.

The problem is, the image conjured wasn't clear and there wasn't any sound; he could only see the face of the princess. He's not the only one who knew what happened during the fall, because the princess definitely wasn't alone.

At least two people were there, witnessing as she fell from the tower.

But, the prince of fire has absolutely no idea on who they could be.