Suria knocks on the door to the bedroom, but even as she continuously knocks, there's no answer. She's starting to get slightly worried that Wooyoung is not responding, fearing that something might have happened to him. Slowly, she opens the door to the room, looking around but not finding him anywhere. Just as she's about to reach out her hands to put down the stuff she had brought, the bathroom door swings open and she drops everything in her hands as she sees Wooyoung.

Wooyoung steps out of the bathroom, half-naked as he's already taken off his shirt and discarded it, finding it more comfortable to walk around with only his lower body covered. He doesn't notice that Suria is currently standing frozen at the door, the scene too shocking for her - something that she's not used to seeing.

A croak comes out of her mouth before her hand flies to cover her eye, and only then he notices her standing there.

He runs a hand through his wet hair, already getting rid of the dried slime. Staying nonchalant to how Suria is flustered at seeing his body, he utters, "I'm sorry I didn't hear you knocking just now. My body and hair felt too disgusting so I had to get rid of the grime first. Are those the clothes that you brought for me?"

He walks over to her, and it takes a moment to realize why she's still looking at him - she did bring a hand to cover her eye, but her stupid and flustered self covers her eye that is already covered with her eye patch. Still, her hand doesn't move to cover her exposed eye as she only watches Wooyoung in all of his glory, slightly gulping as she thinks, can a body look that good?

He bends down to pick up the items one by one, gathering it up in his arms before he stands up in front of her. He waves a hand over her eye, and she snaps out of it.

"Y- yes," she utters, finally looking away. "You can change into those clothes."

"Thanks." He smiles before putting the items on the bed, exposing himself once more until she can't stop staring at him. He stops when he sees that Suria is still not moving from her spot, staring at him as she presses her lips together. "Is there... anything else that you want to say to me?"

"Ah, no. I just-" She takes a deep breath, slowly backing up and fumbling to find the door handle. "Come down to the dining hall after you're done showering."

He nods as he gives a small smile. "Sure, and thank you again. We're forever indebted to you."

"This is nothing," she counters, taking one last look at his body before slamming the door shut in a hurry.

He blinks as he hears the door being slammed shut before chuckling. "Cute," he says under his breath.

He steps into the shower, stripping himself off his clothes completely before letting the water flow to bring together his fatigue and worries away. He looks at his reflection on the mirror before he completely breaks down, tired of hiding his own feelings towards what's happening now, which just feels like it has no solution to. He doesn't like crying in front of other people because he hates the fact that he knows that he'll garner pity from them; a feeling that he refuses to have people directing to him.

"I need to be strong for everyone," he mutters to himself. "If Akira can be strong, I can too. I can."

He keeps muttering to himself until he feels like he has spent at least half an hour in the shower; until all of his fingers have shrunk and all the grime and dirt have been washed away. He rips the towel from the rack before wrapping his lower body with it, stepping out of the shower to change into the clothes Suria has provided him. The clothes are slightly too big for him as the sleeves go past his hands and he has to fold the end of the pants, but they're comfortable nonetheless.

He notes that the time is already past dinner, but wants to honour Suria's invitation so he gets out of the room, asking for directions to go to the dining hall. All throughout he keeps bowing as he sees any of the staff, realizing that he needs to act properly now that he's in someone else's palace. He does a satisfied huff as he locates the dining hall, pushing it open.

He immediately bows when he sees two people there; Suria and one of her sisters, Bulan, if he remembers correctly. He sees that while eating, Suria had lowered down his hood but as soon as Wooyoung opened the door, she hastily put her hood up.

"I'm sorry," he quickly utters, "I didn't mean to barge in."

As Suria still looks shaken up by the fact that Wooyoung might have seen her face fully, Bulan helps to answer. "It's alright, we've invited you anyway, so it's not your fault. Take a seat." She doesn't sound that friendly, but not that hostile either.

With his head slightly bowed, he walks over to the table, fully aware that his position is a commoner alongside the two royals. No matter how much he could mingle with the royals from Nyla and Lucida, it doesn't mean he can be too comfortable with these Estar royals. Not to mention that Bulan is looking at him apprehensively, as if he has just committed a big sin while just being there.

"Is it true?" Bulan speaks up.

"What is..." he trails off before adding after a thought, "Your Highness?"

"The woman currently being nursed is Park Seonghwa's wife."

Unaware of the context, he only nods as food is served to him. His stomach mercilessly grumbles as he looks at the spread; dinner or supper he doesn't care as long as he can fill his stomach.

"Yes. Her Majesty is Park Seonghwa's wife."

"Huh," she enunciates, leaning against the chair as a dissatisfied expression comes to her. Beside her, Suria merely stays quiet as she feeds herself under her hood. "It was a chain of events, wasn't it? For the general of Lucida to come to Nyla as an ambassador only to become a queen in Lucida, bringing along Seonghwa with her."

Wooyoung scoops up the mashed potatoes, chomping down on it as soon as he gets his permission. As he swallows, he chuckles as he has picked up on why Akira's name brings a bitter taste to the eldest princess of Estar.

"Your Highness..." he smiles, "do you perhaps feel jealous towards Akira?"

She looks taken aback now that she has been caught red-handed so she only clears her throat as her eyes dart somewhere else. "How insolent of you to ask me that." She huffs, "You have no business in asking what I'm currently feeling."

"I'm just stating the obvious, Your Highness. You're," he shrugs, "easy to read."

This receives a snort from Suria, and Bulan glares at both of them.

"Enjoying his company, aren't you?" Bulan says a bit sarcastically towards Suria before rolling her eyes. "What does Seonghwa see in that woman anyway?"

"Sincerity, Your Highness," Wooyoung is quick to defend. "They're a happily married couple, so I suggest that you forget your feelings towards him."

"Really?" She lifts up her eyebrows, "Then what is she doing, going on a trip with another man, alone? Does her husband know of her activities behind his back-"

"Bulan," Suria utters as she puts down her utensils calmly. "You're going too far for acting just a little on your jealousy, aren't you?"

Bulan scoffs before leaning back, fixing her glasses and standing up. "I can't believe you're siding with this player from Nyla and not your own sister. That woman who's married to the man I'm supposed to have is right here, and you're expecting me to just keep quiet about it? This is annoying." She storms out of the dining hall, slamming the door behind her.

"Apologies for her behaviour," Suria only bares her teeth in an awkward smile, embarrassed of her sister's attitude. "She can be pretty immature since-" she stops as Wooyoung chuckles.

"Where did the idea that Seonghwa was supposed to be hers came? Is she living in her own bubble too?" There's a slight sarcastic tone underneath, but his eyes are soft as they rest upon her.

"Our parents have been trying to set her up with the princes from Fyrae, but of course my sister isn't interested. She's only interested in books and reading them in the dark, but I guess one man's picture did manage to change her mind."

"Ah, that idiot won't stop attracting girls without him even realizing, will he?" he says to no one in particular. "I'm guessing she's feeling challenged now that he's married to the love of his life?" There's a twinkle in his eyes as he asks, "Should I be worried that she's currently under the same roof as Her Majesty?"

"Bulan can be pretty sulky when she's jealous," she utters but she shakes her head, "but that's as far as she can go. She's not brave enough to do anything to the queen."

He sighs as he takes one last bite of his meal. "That's something assuring me, at least." His eyes travel to her, as if asking for more confirmation.

"She's heavily guarded as well, so you can rest assured that nothing will happen to Her Majesty while she's resting."

He nods. "Very well, at least I feel like I can trust you. Bulan seems a bit... hostile."

They continue eating in silence, but Suria occasionally steals glances towards the man, wondering what he's thinking about as he seems to be fully concentrating on his meal. When he does finish his meal, he looks up only to catch the princess staring at him with her good eye.

A slight blush comes to her cheeks and she quickly stands up, stuttering, "I- I- will go to- to clean the dishes-"

"A princess cleaning the dishes?" He stands up, reaching over to take her plate before stacking it with his own. "I can't believe they're letting a princess like you clean them up. Let me do it."

Suria only watches as Wooyoung picks the plates up, humming as he walks over to the kitchen, with the princess sheepishly following to see if he knows where he's going. He looks comfortable as he puts the dishes into the sink, pushing up his sleeves as he lets the water run. He scrubs and rinses the plates clean, all the while with the princess watching by his side, as if entranced.

He flicks his hands a few times to let them dry before he turns to the side, pressing his hands against the edge of the counter. "Where are all the helpers who are supposed to do this for you? Are they seriously leaving a princess like you to wash all the dishes on your own?"

"Hierarchy doesn't really matter to me," she refutes. "It's already late in the night and I didn't want to trouble them in washing only a few dishes. I sent them away plus," her mouth twists, "they don't really follow my orders well."

He looks curious at this, tilting his head as he leans against the counter. "Don't tell me that-"

"They're scared of me," she cuts him off before going to the fridge, pretending to look for something cold to drink when in fact she's just embarrassed about why she'd bare her insecurities to him when they had just met. "I don't blame them; my face isn't exactly the nicest."

"Then that's their problem. Their hearts must be really nasty to only judge a person by how they look."

She only blinks as she sees Wooyoung's arm stretching over her shoulder to pick a cold canned drink, and she hates the fact that she can't even hear what he says next as only her heartbeat is ringing in her ears. She turns around and finds his face merely inches from hers, but looking to the inside of the fridge as he tries to grab the canned drink.

Right, I'm only feeling this way because he's the first ever guy who has called me pretty.

Barely one day and you're already acting like a fool; Bulan is surely laughing at me right at this moment.

"Are you... doing this on purpose?" Suria blurts out, sidestepping Wooyoung so that he can take the drink without her being in the way. "Is this what you usually do to the girls before you bring them to your room?"

"Huh?" Wooyoung looks shocked and slightly hurt by her accusations that he's rendered speechless. "I don't- uh..."

"You haven't even seen my face completely and you're already calling me pretty," she says as she backs up. "If you think that you can brag or boast about succeeding to sweep off the ugliest princess out of the four and then make me a laughing stock to your friends or whatever, forget about it. I may have people looking down on me but I still have my dignity left."

"That's not what I'm-" he starts, shrinking back as it's the first time he has ever felt hurt someone has said that to him. Everyone would make sarcastic remarks about his choices in life, but this is the only time he has ever felt truly hurt as someone points it out. "I haven't even-"

"I'm sorry," she says, realizing how stupid she must have sounded. How more self-absorbed can I be? He's probably only being nice yet she's so ahead of herself that she could even think that Jung Wooyoung would be interested in her. "I'm- I'm sorry," she fumbles. "I just- I didn't mean it that way. When you- when you complimented me and-" She backs up, "I had never received anything like that in my life so- I must've misunderstood. I'm sor-"

She steps on her robe as she desperately tries to distance herself from him, almost tumbling backwards and her hood slides off her head, revealing her face bare.

He reaches out a hand to stop her from falling, but doesn't manage to do so in time as she falls to the floor, groaning in pain as she lands on her back.

"Are you alright?" he asks, crouching next to her but she only pushes him away, muttering that she's alright before she pulls back her hood up onto her head.

She stands up as quickly as she falls, avoiding Wooyoung's gaze and she scurries out of the kitchen, almost stepping on her robe again.

He stands in the middle of the kitchen awkwardly, realizing that he must have made her uncomfortable. Sometimes he just does or says things naturally without noticing that they're not something he should have done casually, nor realizing that they might have different effects on the people he interacts with.

Sighing, he closes the fridge door, already forgetting the drink that he was planning to take and steps out of the kitchen to an empty hall. He mulls on his next decision on whether he would find Suria to apologize, which would probably make her more uncomfortable, or he could see Akira's condition first... He sways from side to side as he thinks about his options.

He's only a guest here in the palace, a commoner who was granted entry since he's known as one of the young masters of the Nyla palace. He can't be waltzing here and there in the palace, so he only politely asks one of the people he comes across on where Akira would be, before he follows the direction to the room which, like Suria has promised, is guarded carefully.

As soon as he asks for permission to enter the room, he sees Akira sitting upright, leaning against the headboard as she feeds herself some hot soup. She looks so much better than when he had last seen her; she smiles widely as soon as she sees him. She waves her spoon around to acknowledge his presence before diving into the soup again, looking like she has been starved for a month. Her palm where she had cut herself with the dagger has been bandaged properly, and her temperature has gone down. She looks content, but he knows deep down she's still trying to stop herself from thinking too much about Seonghwa.

"Have you eaten?" Akira asks, inviting him to take a chair and sit if he wants to spend some time there.

"I did, with Suria," Wooyoung answers shortly, mind flying to Suria, thinking about how he would dissolve the tension between them.

"Suria's really nice," the queen beams. "She made sure that I was comfortable all the time, and she even cooked me this soup."

"She cooked the soup for you?"

Akira puffs up her cheeks, mouth full of soup as she nods. She swallows. "She attended to me after all the maids went away. She said she cooked it for me but she wanted to make sure that it's to my liking. She's nice, and a good cook too. The soup's really delicious." She lowers down her voice, "Don't tell anyone but this is my third serving."

Wooyoung smiles weakly. "That's nice." Hearing Akira complimenting Suria just makes him feel more guilty that he's left to stare at the wall while the only sound echoing in the room is Akira slurping the soup.

She puts down the bowl, tilting her head to the side. "We'll leave early in the morning tomorrow."

His eyes go wide as he refutes, "But you're still sick."

She shakes her head. "We can't stay too long here."

"But-"

She chuckles as she puts away the bowl on the bedside table, hugging her knees to her chest as she looks at him. "You say your brother is like an open book where you can see all of his emotions easily, yet you don't realize you're the same."

He blinks, completely oblivious. "What do you mean?"

"It's Suria, isn't it? The girl you have your eyes on."

He clears his throat. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Maybe you're similar to Seonghwa in more ways than you can think of," she utters. She pulls her legs from under the blanket, dangling them on the edge of the bed as she looks at Wooyoung, slightly amused. "Falling for a girl and it's not even a day?"

He coughs. "Who said I fell for her?"

She shrugs. "Well, not falling for her I guess; wrong choice of words. You're intrigued by her."

He looks down at his hands, clasping and unclasping his fingers. "Maybe I just-" When he sees her smirking at him, he gives up. "I kind of feel sorry for her. Everyone seems to be treating her like an outcast-" He backtracks, "how bad must it be; we're here not even for a day and I can already pick that up. She's nothing different than her sisters so why treat her differently?"

There's a small smile playing on Akira's face as she hears this. "Have Jung Wooyoung finally found the one for him?"

"That doesn't help too," he whines. "I know I have a reputation for- you know," he refuses to say it, "but I've stopped doing that for a year. I haven't dated anyone for at least a year now, I tried to steer clear of all those people. I thought," he pouts, "when I saw you and Seonghwa's relationship, I wanted something like that too."

She chuckles. "I remember you shamelessly flirting with me when I first arrived in Nyla, and even I was flustered by your treatment. So you view relationships now differently, don't you? After so long... you've finally found the person that made your heart feel alive again after a year?"

"I don't know," he says through a pout. "But I felt bad just now. I didn't realize what I did could make her uncomfortable."

"Hmm..."

He frowns as he notices how the queen seemed to be wanting to hide her smile ever since he entered the room.

"Is it so funny finally seeing Jung Wooyoung having a crisis over relationships?" He throws up his hands. "Right, when it comes to me, it's funny."

"No," she replies. "It's not funny, but it's kind of..." she looks up, "cute?"

He does a disgusted look, but his face changes as he sees how weird the curtains look. Only then he realizes that there's someone standing behind the curtains, doing a bad job at hiding themselves. Slowly, he stands up before walking towards the curtains, pulling it apart. There, he comes face to face with a meek Suria, who is only standing there as she looks at the floor, her hands clasped in front and lips locked from saying anything.

"How did you..." Wooyoung trails off.

Akira stands up, despite being slightly wobbly at first and holds onto the bedside table for support.

She takes a sip of plain water before informing him, "Suria was already in the room when you suddenly burst in here, and I had no idea what happened between the both of you because she was basically scrambling to hide herself and begging for me to not tell you that she's in the room with us." She leans against the wall, can't help but smile as she looks at the two standing awkwardly in front of each other. "So she didn't want you to know that she's in the room with us, while you came in here and complained about your guilt towards her." She spreads her fingers, "I'm just a spectator," she winks, "but I do think that both of you would look cute together."

Wooyoung turns to look at Suria. "So you heard everything?"

Suria nods sheepishly.

Akira nods in satisfaction. "At least that's a misunderstanding resolved now, isn't it? Ah." She puts a finger to his chin, smiling. "I didn't expect a short visit to Estar would see a new relationship blooming." She hops onto the bed, lies down and pulls the blanket up to cover her whole body until her face. She says from under the blanket, "I didn't expect to become cupid when I felt like I could die, but both of you can figure it out." There's a silence before she grumbles, "Right, I forgot that I need to brush my teeth first before I go to sleep."

She throws the blanket aside before moving to the bathroom, both Wooyoung and Suria still awkwardly standing in front of each other. She steps into the bathroom, but before she closes the door, she grins before slapping a hand on Wooyoung's back.

"Relationships can be exciting but I'm sorry to say that we still have to return tomorrow." There's a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Make sure that you do whatever you need to do before we go back tomorrow." She jumps into the bathroom as she sees it is as if Wooyoung is about to drag her out.

Wooyoung clears his throat, feeling like it's dry as he looks at Suria who still has her head down. "Can I- can I talk to you outside?"

"Sure," Suria says as she walks ahead first, already too nervous thinking about what Wooyoung is about to say to her.

They choose to have a talk outside the palace, where there's no one else who could be listening on to their conversation. Wooyoung waits for Suria to come out before he turns around to face her, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He gulps a few times as he arranges his words carefully to avoid any more misunderstandings.

"I'm sorry," Suria says first. "I must've sound really self-absorbed with whatever I said in the kitchen. I'm not used to people giving so much attention to me, so when you-" she admits, "-did that, I was swayed. A little bit."

"You heard everything I said," he utters. "I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable."

She shakes her head as she smiles. "It's actually the opposite. You're actually one person that I feel comfortable with right from the start. Everyone else just stares and comments about my face."

A sudden gust of wind pushes back her hood, and her hands are quick to fly to lift it up again, but he stops her gently.

"You don't have to be hiding your face every time," he utters. "I understand that all your life you've been trying to hide it because of the people around you, but you don't have to do that when you're with me."

She looks at him, her hands slowly falling down to her side. She only looks away as she lets the very fact that made her insecure of her looks bare; the left side of her face is burnt due to an accident when she was a child, and her skin isn't healing prettily. Instead they're wrinkled, a huge contrast to the right side of her face.

She's always ready to hear people scoffing or laughing whenever they see her face, but as she risks a glance at him he's only looking at her with a smile, but it isn't a mocking one. For once, her heart feels happy that someone is smiling at her when she shows her face.

"I still stand by my thoughts. You're beautiful."

"Sure. You'll forget me once you go back to your kingdom and go on with your life. Don't bother; I admit I was swayed for a bit but I won't be of your concern anymore after tomorrow. Thank you anyway, for being the first person to call me pretty."

He frowns; it still seems that she doesn't believe him. "I won't forget you. Wait for me," he thinks back to San and Seonghwa, "after I've finished doing what I'm supposed to do, I'll come back for you."