Wooyoung pulls the blanket towards him, grumbling with his eyes closed about how the weather is too cold nowadays. He smiles as he wraps the blanket around him, but shouts out in pain as he feels a smack on his head from Yeosang beside him, as the latter says he needs to stop hogging the blanket all to himself. He wakes up, tugging the blanket closer to him before the doctor does the same, and they struggle to pull it to themselves as they slap each other's hands.

"Can both of you stay quiet and not fight for a day?" Mingi drawls as he pulls the blanket he's sharing with Hongjoong, but the latter doesn't realize that it's completely off his body because he's too deep in his sleep. "It's not even 7 in the morning yet."

"Yeosang won't stop annoying me," Wooyoung complains.

"I just want my fair share of the blanket," Yeosang deadpans as he rips the blanket off Wooyoung's hand. He rolls himself into a burrito and holds on the ends tight, not wanting to let it go to the latter.

"Kang Yeosang, it's cold!"

"That's why you need to learn how to share!" Yeosang shouts back, but even as he wants to smack Wooyoung, he can't do so as his hands are stuck under the blanket. Instead he just brings his head forward and uses it to headbutt Wooyoung.

As soon as he does it, the chaos starts as both of them fight, pillows and blanket flying everywhere, the sheets crumpling up as Mingi sighs heavily, Hongjoong beside him unaware of what's happening. Wooyoung smacks Yeosang's face with a pillow and he rolls on the bed, body stuck as a burrito before the former smacks him again with the pillow multiple times. Yeosang wiggles his hands out from under the blanket before stopping the pillow, reversing his attack on Wooyoung. Even though they're fighting for the blanket, the piece ends up falling on the floor as they end in a laughing fit, entangled with each other before they fall quiet.

Wooyoung sighs as he puts his arms around Yeosang, who firstly tries to wiggle free out of his grip, but the former stops him and asks him to stay put. "I wish we can find a cure for San soon."

Yeosang rests his head on Wooyoung's arm. "It seems bleak, but at least it's a step forward when Seonghwa is cured. We just need a little bit more time to find it." After a thought he adds, "Whatever it is."

"Weren't you guys cold a few moments ago?" Mingi asks as he leans against the headboard, bundling himself up in the blanket.

"It's not cold if you cuddle," Wooyoung offers, before he beckons the taller to join them. "Come and cuddle with us so we can share the warmth and think about how we're going to cure San."

Mingi chuckles, looking like he's refusing to join in but does anyway as he slowly drags himself to the other bed. He throws the blanket over Hongjoong, who barely moves, before he plops down next to Yeosang. He joins in the cuddling session as he circles his arms around both Yeosang and Wooyoung.

"So," Mingi starts. "Do we really need to think about this?"

"It hurts my brain to even think about it," Wooyoung mulls. "How did we even get here?"

"Do you think..." Yeosang starts, "that the witch is hiding something from us? Why cure only one and not the other?"

Mingi thinks for a bit before shrugging. "She did say that's as far as her capability is; maybe the curse is too strong for her when it comes to San."

"But isn't she like," Yeosang offers, "an immortal? Why would an immortal be afraid of some curse?"

Wooyoung gasps. "You're right." His eyes go wide as he stares at Yeosang, then Mingi. "Do you think that she's lying to us? That there's a bigger reason why she doesn't want to help San?" He puts a finger to his chin before he lowers down his voice, "What if..." As the other two lean in to hear, he continues, "what if they were acquainted before and she's now looking to get revenge on San? So she pretends to not know anything before she just," he drags a finger across his neck, "kills him off under the pretext of getting rid of the curse?"

Yeosang and Mingi turn to look at each other, before the former lifts up a hand, promptly slapping the back of Wooyoung's head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"San had barely interacted with anyone outside the palace," Mingi reasons it out.

"You never know," Wooyoung refutes. "San always likes to go out alone, remember? Like he'd just randomly disappear from the palace to go on an adventure."

"That's just because he'd usually sit at some random hill, alone, so he could clear his thoughts," Yeosang rebutts. "He always does that."

"Right, but we were never actually there with him," Wooyoung tries again. "What if they were secret lovers, but San broke her heart and now she's-" he dramatically mimics a spear through the heart, "-looking for revenge."

Mingi rolls his eyes. "You really love narratives that involve a romantic relationship, don't you? San is as single as he can get."

Wooyoung's mouth twists before he nods. "You're right though."

All three of them fall into silence before they collectively sigh.

"So, no theory?" A voice comes up, and three of them almost scream as they didn't hear the person coming in.

"Jongho," Wooyoung starts, "is it really your mission to make us have heart attacks everytime you come here in the morning? And no, we won't trust you saying that Seonghwa and Akira have already woken up. That time you lied to us and made us panic."

"Nope," Jongho utters before he slides onto the bed with them. "It's a lazy day today, because tomorrow is the day of the attack. Their Majesties asked us to get as much rest as possible before we go into a possible war. I don't think they've gotten out of their room anyway."

This time, the four of them sigh as they cuddle on the bed, with Jongho lying down next to Wooyoung.

"Do you have any theory on why Sara is refusing to help San?" Mingi speaks up, addressing Jongho on the other side of the bed. "Why would an immortal be afraid of what a curse would do to her? She'll still live."

"It's her choice," Jongho drawls, eyes already almost closed as he feels sleepy. "Who knows what her reasons are? It's not like we can question it since we don't know any better. Unless," he lifts up his hand and wiggles his fingers in front of Wooyoung's eyes, doing some creepy sound effects, "you want to try witchcraft and make that potion from scratch."

Wooyoung seems to think, a lightbulb above his head but after that his shoulders just sink as he shakes his head. "We can't; we still need her blood anyway. If she doesn't consent to it, we could probably be cursed till our death so no thank you."

"Being an immortal, she must've witnessed a lot of things, don't you think?" Jongho utters. "How the world changes, how different it is now and then. Maybe that's the reason she doesn't want to help San; she knows the effects wouldn't be pretty because she witnessed it. The destruction of Ileara, remember?"

"Ah..." Wooyoung trails off, a somewhat guilty feeling arising in him. "But you know-" He stops as something comes to his mind. "What if the reason she doesn't want to help San is because she's seeking revenge-"

"We went through that," Mingi deadpans, rolling his eyes. "Stop with your romantic notion."

"No, no, no." Wooyoung shakes his head. "What if she doesn't want to cure San because she blames him for the destruction of her kingdom?" His eyes go wide again, "Which means that she's only using the curse as a reason to kill him."

The four of them stay quiet, digesting the information, before one makes a move, and the others follow as they scramble to get up. All of them still in their pajamas, save for Hongjoong who is still happily in dreamland, burst out of the room, their destination apparent. With Jongho acting as a guide inside the palace, they walk in a line and garner amused attention from the rest as they march forward in their pajamas.

They are almost out of breath from the constant walking, as they come face to face with the guards outside the underground cell, who look surprised to see the young masters of Nyla gathered in front of them.

"If we may," Jongho starts, "take a look at San."

"San?" The guard looks confused for a while before he utters, "Ah. The cursed."

Wooyoung frowns as he hears the description; he's feeling as if they're not talking about a person, merely an object. He utters, "He's a person of his own, no matter if he's cursed or not."

The guard looks slightly guilty as he quickly reiterates, "My apologies. It's just that we haven't been allowed to be near him, except for the witch who came by. We didn't interact with him in any way."

"We need to see him," Yeosang says, eyes already darting towards the entrance as if they're going to crash in if the guard says they won't be given entry.

"Well," the guard starts. "I would have given you entry, but he's not there."

Mingi pauses. "What do you mean he's not there?"

"He went out," the guard supplements.

"Alone?!" Yeosang and Wooyoung say simultaneously.

The guard shakes his head. "No. He went out with the witch... Sara is her name, isn't it?"

They look at each other, already starting to feel like something is wrong.

"Did they tell you where they're going?" Wooyoung asks.

The guard shakes his head again, this time shifting his weight to his other foot. "No, but the man did seem... fine. I mean, he didn't seem like he's under the influence of the curse." He adds, "Ah, apparently they said they've gotten permission from Their Majesties to go out."

---

Seonghwa runs the water to fill the bathtub, checking the temperature to feel whether it'd be too hot. When he feels that the temperature is just right, he shuts off the water supply and stands up from the stool before peeking his head out of the bathroom door, chuckling as he sees Akira sprawled on the bed, conquering the whole king bed as she spreads her arms and legs. He goes over to her, wiggling his way beside her as he kisses her forehead, waking her up.

"Wake up," he utters softly, brushing the hair out of her face.

"You shower first," she mumbles as she rolls to the side, but he catches her in his arms before cupping her face.

"I did," he says as he drums his fingers against her cheeks. "I showered and got ready, now it's your turn."

"I'm sleepy," she mumbles again, before attempting to bring him down together with her so that he won't continue pestering her to shower. She wraps her arm around his neck before pulling him down, and he tumbles onto the bed beside her. "Stay still." She smiles with her eyes closed as she breathes in his scent, like a fresh morning scent she had missed so much waking up to. She thought that she had managed to make him give in, but feels his arms snaking under her legs and her torso, before she gets picked up.

"I prepared the water for you," he utters as he pushes the bathroom door open with his shoulder. He puts her down in front of the sink, snatching her toothbrush before squeezing out the toothpaste, handing it over to her.

With her eyes half-closed, she grabs the toothbrush but she doesn't put it in her mouth as she leans against him, using him as support. They stay quiet for a few moments before soft snores come from her, and he chuckles in amusement.

"Did she really fall asleep standing up?" He looks to his shoulder, seeing her eyes closed and head rested against his shoulder, hand loosely holding the toothbrush that's precariously about to fall out of her grip. Hiding a smile he takes the toothbrush out of her hand, before moving behind her and holding her face in one hand.

But as he's about to help her brush her teeth she wakes up before she utters, "I can do it myself." She grabs the toothbrush, brushing her teeth with eyes half-closed as he looks on, slightly amused how she seems to still be unaware of her surroundings, doing things subconsciously. When she's done brushing her teeth, her head falls onto his shoulder again.

He puts his arms under her, picking her up again before putting her down on the edge of the bathtub. He puts his hand in the water again, but she lightly pushes him away.

"I'll do it on my own. Just wait for me outside," she says.

He notices how her eyes have opened up wider, and that she looks embarrassed as he smirks. He shrugs as he stands up, but not before he lowers down his face near her ear as he whispers, "Why are you so embarrassed? We've literally seen each other with all there is."

"Shut up," she grumbles, pushing his face away as he laughs, liking the fact that he has managed to make her flustered.

He winks before making his way out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He walks to the window, intending to find the pair of lovebirds he had made friends with that day. He opens the window, immediately greeted by the cold air as he hears the sound of water sloshing inside the bathroom, indicating that Akira has settled in the bathtub. He looks outside, slightly shivering as the temperature has dropped down to below zero.

He smiles as he sees the same lovebird, before it immediately flies towards him as he beckons for it to come over. Just as he's about to ask where its pair is, the other comes and he smiles, glad to see that both of them are still in pairs. He knits his eyebrows as he listens to the story told by one of the lovebirds; about how their partner was injured, and that it had visited Akira that day to tell her that it was injured, even though she said she didn't understand.

"Akira thought that you were gone?" Seonghwa asks the injured bird, which nods as it agrees to what he's asking. He chuckles, imagining how cute it probably was to see Akira trying to talk to the bird. "She must've been worried a lot."

The birds nod again, before they start telling about how sad Akira looked every time she's in the bedroom, wandering around like she's lost during the time Seonghwa wasn't there. His heartstrings are tugged again as they tell him that the queen was seen crying most of the time, immediately breaking down whenever she came into the room. The more the birds tell him of what Akira went through, the more he realizes that he doesn't know how much she had to go through after he was down with the curse. The birds then stop their storytelling before they hop off, intending to find some food before bidding goodbye to him.

He smiles sadly just as he closes the window, suddenly feeling sorry for Akira as she had barely shown how much she was suffering; all that while she was pregnant. He hears quiet in the bathroom, before the door swings open, with her freshly showered and looking much more awake. He goes to her without a word before enveloping her in a hug, burying his face at the crook of her neck as she awkwardly stands there, confused on why he's suddenly embracing her when she's practically naked.

"Seong...hwa...?" she utters carefully. "Are you alright? Why are you-" she stops as she hears him sniffing. "Idiot, are you crying?"

"I'm sorry," he utters as he holds on to her tighter. "It must have been scary for you."

She blinks, unsure of where he's going with his crying as he's not being clear enough for her. "Why are you apologizing?"

"The birds told me everything; what they saw when I wasn't there for you," he utters slowly. "I left you to go through all of that alone."

Her face changes, embarrassed after she realizes that the birds must have seen how terrible she was; she barely took care of her own appearance as she cried herself to sleep almost everyday. She had to steel herself whenever she was outside and everyone else saw her; she couldn't show to the others how vulnerable of a queen she was. But whenever she came into the bedroom all by herself, she was torn down, finally letting herself go as she thought she was alone. She forgot that of course anything could see her through the window, including the lovebirds that Seonghwa can talk to.

"I think it lost its partner," Akira mumbles, feeling like she would burst into tears. "It went to me, alone but I didn't understand what it was saying."

"It didn't lose its partner," Seonghwa says, pulling himself back but makes a point to hold onto her arms. He smiles still with tears pooling in his eyes. "Its partner was injured, and it said that it wanted to tell you to not give up." His eyes twinkle, "Because even its partner was healing."

"Ah." She chuckles slowly, heart blooming with ease to know that the bird hadn't lost its partner. "I'm happy to hear that; I was so worried."

He beams as he presses a soft kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry." He holds her hands. "I want to say that I'll be right by your side every time from now on; I know you're scared. But I want to prove it to you."

"Don't just say it," she says simply, smiling. "But I know that you'll prove it." When he loosens his grip around her arms, she intends to walk to the closet but she feels his eyes on her from behind before she turns back, eyebrows raised. "Are you looking for something Mr. Park?"

He clears his throat as he lifts up his eyes, slightly blushing now that his wife had caught him staring. He looks away. "Nothing." He chuckles awkwardly. "Go on, get dressed." He goes over to her, grabbing her shoulders from behind before lightly pushing her towards the direction of the closet. Still, he doesn't move out of the space as she's choosing her clothes until he doesn't realize that she's only leaning against the wall, crossing her arms as she looks at him, a small smile on her face.

"Did you miss me that much?" Akira asks. "Or were you just annoyed that I came everyday to your room, talking alone as if I was crazy?"

He widens his eyes as he gasps. "What do you mean? Of course I'm not annoyed- it's just that I feel bad for not being able to reply to you or even do anything." He pouts. "I pushed you away because I wanted to protect you, but I didn't think about how it would have hurt you."

She chuckles as she pushes herself off the wall. She walks over to him before looping her arms over his head and around his neck as naturally, he slides his hands on her waist. "I hope you won't push me away again this time," she utters.

She leans forward and kisses him, but almost forgets the fact that she's undressed before she feels something becoming loose. Gritting her teeth, she presses her body against him in an effort to stop her towel from falling.

"Why are you hugging me so tight?"

"Don't move," she utters. "And don't look."

"Don't look at what-" He lowers his face down but when she rebuts with a "I told you don't look!" he quickly lifts his head up again, moving his gaze to the row of clothes they have. His hands are awkwardly at his side while Akira squeezes him like he's her lifeline and there's no tomorrow. When it seems like she's not moving for at least a few minutes, he whispers, "How long do we have to stay like this?"

"I wanted to stop my towel from falling," she starts. "But this feels nice. You feel warm."

"So?" He chuckles, "Until when are you planning to stay like this?" When she only stays quiet, he risks a glance below, but even then she pinches his waist so that he'll stay looking at everything else but at her. "I can just- turn away and run out of the closet. I promise I won't look."

"Knowing how you are, you probably will."

He smirks. "What's wrong with that?"

She chuckles, not finding the mind to refute. As soon as she's sure that she's most likely going to catch the knot, she lets him go, slightly pushing him away before she skillfully grabs the end of the towel. She hears him laughing as she quickly sifts through the clothes she had planned to wear, taking them out before kicking him out of the closet. Once she's done though, with a cold weather like this, she finds it hard not to crawl back in bed especially after seeing him sprawled on top of it while waiting for her.

She climbs back onto the bed, with him immediately wrapping her up in his arms as they stay under the blanket, sighs coming out intermittently from their mouths. For both of them, they didn't have any plans and they made sure that their schedule is free for today, since by midnight, they'll have to be prepared for the attack that's coming to them tomorrow.

It's surreal; to prepare for something that they for sure know is coming, yet they're treating their days as much as any other normal day when in fact there could be a possibility of a bloodbath tomorrow. It's like the calm before the storm; for them to ease their minds before losing it tomorrow.

"Tomorrow," she starts as she places her hand on his chest. "You better stay alive."

He chuckles, although he knows that there's a slight tremble behind it. "I will." He smiles as he pokes her arm. "I'm ready to be a father, you know."

"Well that's at least 9 more months until you become one," she offers. "And I'm..." she trails off, feeling awkward as she's going to say it. "...becoming a mother in 9 months."

"After tomorrow, I'll bring you to my parents' grave." He makes small circles on her arm with his finger, "I'm going to tell them that they're getting grandchildren. Two at once."

"Jihyun said she'll bring me the letters and journals my father had, so that I could at least paint a picture of my mother. I really wonder what kind of person she was before she passed away." She sighs, before she changes her position as she rolls onto him, squishing him underneath as she clings onto him. She buries her face on his chest, silent, as if meditating.

Even while watching her staying still, he feels calm, although his mind can't stop thinking about tomorrow. On top of that, something keeps tugging him about the fact that he might be related to Ileara, but to what extent? He never really thought about it; when he started gaining all the abilities, but it was most likely when he was little. Was it when his parents were still alive or not?

Is it even something he should be worried about?

He unknowingly sighs loudly, bringing Akira's attention to him as she looks up, resting her chin on his chest. "Is something wrong?"

He looks at her, mind reeling about different kinds of stuff, but one that's apparent to him, he verbalizes it anyway. "I'm honestly worried for tomorrow. A lot of things could go wrong." He pats her head, running his fingers through her hair. "And I know I'm worried about you the most."

"As much as I want to fight for tomorrow, I know that I can't be careless as I used to be. You said you're lending me your bow." A small smile plays on her lips, "At least there's something I'm assured about."

"Of course." He pretends to frown, "You better use it well, like I taught you."

"Yes sir." She does a mock salute before burying her face in his chest again, the day feeling too slow and fatigued for them.

As much as they'd like to deny it, they know that tomorrow, there will most probably be lives lost. What they can hope is that before it's gone, they'll manage to save everything before it's too late. They can't let the Lucida palace lose; if not, everything will go down and it might not end so well for them.

Little do they know that someone else is preparing for a much bigger plan and even then, it'll be too late for them to intervene as they're too distracted with their own fight.