Akira bends down to pick the strewn papers up, but someone stops her from behind, giving her a back hug before her hands are locked in place so that she won't be able to move. She tries to wiggle her way out of the hold, but it's clear that the person doesn't want her to do anything.

"Akira," Seonghwa whines. "It's 4 in the morning and you barely had any sleep after trying to deal with everyone." He grabs her waist, turning her around as he pouts. "Aren't you tired? Let's get some sleep."

She looks at him as she chuckles slowly, but something has been tugging at her ever since just now that she doesn't think she can catch some sleep. From dealing with their enemies, managing the fallen bodies, the emergency Jihyun had to go through and finally, the short vision she experienced that made her believe the curse is gone.

Although she hopes the last one isn't true, there's a strong feeling deep inside that tells her just as the curse is gone, someone is.

"I can't sleep," she admits. "I can't explain what I saw or felt, and although I hope it's not true..." She runs her fingers through her hair as she's reminded of how she didn't have enough time to send Sara nor the other young masters away, just because their plan shifted and everything almost fell into chaos.

Right after the battle was declared over, both of them had made sure that all of those involved in the pact who are still alive would be sent to prison immediately, all pleadings and hearings to be postponed to another date as they sort out the mess in the palace. They had sent off people to invite the young masters back to the palace, and it would be anytime soon they would appear at the palace.

"Still, you shouldn't strain yourself too much," Seonghwa utters, grabbing her hands before squeezing her shoulders as he pushes her out slowly from the royal study, closing the door behind him. "You've already used up your energy to fight for the palace, and won't you let this one time go?"

She sighs before she leans against him, finally letting go of all the stress she has been through as he puts his arms around her, embracing her as she cries against his chest. "I'm sorry," she utters. "I just- I feel like I'd have to take responsibility for everything. Even Jihyun-"

"It's not your fault," he adds, caressing her hair. "You've done an amazing job, and you fought the best you can."

"What can I do to bring back all of our people that we've lost? And I think-" she looks up at him with teary eyes, "I'm afraid something has happened to San or Sara. I won't be able to be at ease until I know what's happening with them."

"Shh," he comforts her. "You need to rest. Akira," he holds her arms, "rest." He doesn't say anything more as he lifts her up, and it almost looks like she'll fall unconscious in his hold. He brings her over to their room, lays her down on the bed and pulls the blanket over her. He sits beside her, placing a hand on her stomach before leaning forward, kissing her cheek. "Rest. I'll deal with the others, and we'll wait for the boys to come back. Everything will be fine."

She only nods and he smiles, brushing the hair out of her face. She doesn't have the energy left to at least change into fresh clothes, or even step into the bathroom to wash her face. What she does feel is Seonghwa carefully wiping her face, neck and hands with a damp cloth, singing a lullaby for her. She can barely feel him helping to tuck her into bed.

She closes her eyes, battling between the flashes of unclear visions she had and the fatigue she's experiencing, now that her body has been exerted to its maximum. Tears stream down her cheeks and onto the pillow as she finally drifts off to sleep, but it's not only emptiness; everything around her is making her senses full, from the sound of waves crashing against the shore and the shouts of people mixing together. She feels like she can sense the remnants of the curse in the air, swirling as it tries to find a new victim.

Even with her eyes tight shut, whether she's sleeping or not she can't tell, because everything looks so vivid to her. Like someone is blaming her for being the cause the curse is still alive, and that in order for it to be gone, she'll have to be the sacrifice, together with her unborn children.

"No!" She wakes up in cold sweat, startling Seonghwa who has drifted off to sleep beside her, his head immediately lifted up from the mattress as he hugs her, calming her down.

"Akira," he says, hugging her as she holds back the scream that is stuck in her throat, pushing off the desire to break down in his arms. "It's alright, everything's fine."

With tears in her eyes, she rests her chin on his shoulder as she grabs a hold of his shirt. She silences her scream against him; this episode of nightmare is almost similar to the ones she had always experienced during the time she was a general, where she'd dream of the faces and screams of her victims. As she feels her heartbeat returning to normal, she slowly lets herself go from Seonghwa's embrace, although he's looking at her with a concerned look, his hand holding her face gently.

"I'm- fine-" she manages. "It was just a nightmare. I think that- that my body is just too tired my mind is starting to make up stuff."

He nods slowly, brushing his thumb over her cheek before helping to dry her tears, trying to think of something positive for them. "It's been around three hours since we drifted off to sleep; the boys must be here by now. Akira," he holds her arms, "we won. We managed to protect the palace. That's one thing you shouldn't be worried about anymore."

Although her heart feels heavy, feeling like something is still unsettled, she pushes herself off the bed as Seonghwa helps her. She knows that she needs to find the other young masters, then San and Sara. With Seonghwa holding on to her, they step out of the bedroom, and everything outside has calmed down, looking normal as if absolutely nothing has happened there. They have cleaned everything up, brought away everyone and restored as much as they could to their original states.

Both Seonghwa and Akira quickly descend the stairs as they were told that the young masters from town have finally arrived at the palace, the sun only about to rise. Both see the doors pushed open, but four of them - Mingi, Yeosang, Wooyoung and Hongjoong - are clearly looking distressed and Akira can tell why. San and Sara are nowhere in sight, and this even made it harder for her to at least be assured.

"Seonghwa," Hongjoong addresses the king first, then turns to Akira, "Akira."

"Is everything alright?" Mingi asks, even though she knows that she should be the one asking them based on their expressions alone.

"Everything's fine," Seonghwa helps to answer, rubbing a hand on Akira's back. "We won over the pact and they've surrendered. We're picking ourselves back up."

"San and Sara... where are they?" Akira asks, grabbing Mingi's hand, pleading for an answer; she needs to know. "Are they coming later?"

Yeosang and Hongjoong only look down as Wooyoung sighs, letting Mingi tell her.

"We couldn't find San and Sara in their rooms," Mingi starts. "We think that they went out somewhere when we were all fast asleep. Akira, we're really sorry; we should've- we should've not let him out of our sight. Now we don't know where he went, or whether anything happened to him or Sara. We're sorry-"

"Your Majesties!" one of the guards at the arched entrance comes running past the Nyla young masters, promptly bowing in front of Seonghwa and Akira. All attention turns to him as he pants, slightly out of breath as his shaky hand points towards the entrance. "He's- he's coming back- We can see him-"

"Who?" Seonghwa asks, but his feet are already moving towards the entrance, with Akira following on his side. Ignoring the cold, he can already see from afar, a lone person on the horse, figure looking like he'll collapse any second.

There's no mistaking it; Choi San has returned.

Akira feels her heart clenching, hoping that Sara's absence did not mean anything bad, but even from San's demeanour alone she can't hold on to that hope anymore. Both her and Seonghwa immediately approach San who's maneuvering the horse, but the way he's holding the reins looks like he was forced to. The latter lets go of the reins before letting out a long, heavy breath as he leans forward, propping himself up against the horse as he finally completes his long journey back from Ileara.

It's one thing to see him looking like he was just forced to run a 100 kilometres- but it's another to see that there's something different about him.

His appearance has returned to normal as his skin is finally free from the black tendrils, his whole mop of hair has returned to its original black colour and there is no more black seen on his nails on his trembling fingers.

It's the San that they know, but at what cost did it happen?

San lowers himself down from the horse, immediately collapsing against Seonghwa's hold as he grabs the latter's shirt in his fists. The king of Nyla finally lets out all the emotions he's been suppressing throughout the journey alone, breaking down as he has finally found a shoulder to cry on.

"No..." Akira puts a hand over her chest, crumpling up her shirt as she staggers forward, standing next to Seonghwa. "Sara-"

"She's-" San cries out, "She's gone."

Not long after his body finally gives in, his eyes rolling to the back of his skull as he could only see black surrounding him.

---

Jihyun lifts up her heavy eyelids, feeling like her body is immobilized, dull pain throbbing in her torso even as she tries as little as lying on her side. Everything feels like hard work that even as she tries to move her fingers, it's like the pain originates from all parts of her body. So she gives up in trying to move, but her dry throat makes her want to have something to drink.

She looks around, trying to spot if there's anyone in the room, but sighs heavily as she realizes that she's alone. She grumbles, her throat so dry that even as she coughs the gritty sound resonates throughout the room. To make it worse, as she coughs, the pain in her torso intensifies. She groans, fully giving up in doing anything except for staring at the ceiling. She closes her eyes, wishing that someone would actually enter the room to help her.

Someone does, but it's someone that causes her to shut her eyes tighter, slightly embarrassed to be facing them. She stays still, not wanting to make conversation with the person and hopes that they would go away before she gives away the fact that she's already awake.

Yunho opens the door to where Jihyun is sleeping, bringing in a basin full of water and a piece of clean cloth. He closes the door quietly, seeing that she's still deep in her slumber. He sighs as he puts the basin on the bedside table, taking a chair to sit next to the bed. For a long moment, he merely buries his head in his hands, unable to get over the fact that he was the reason she's injured, having a sword driven through her back by her own father.

She didn't experience major blood loss as the sword was kept lodged inside her flesh, while she was immediately attended to as soon as they could locate the royal doctor. Even though the wound did not endanger her life, it still hurt him how she was the one who had to go through it instead of him.

He doesn't think that he'll stop blaming himself for what happened to her, even more as she's been confined in this room for hours after her treatment. He was told that he could do nothing but wait, and even after a few hours passing by, the day already approaching noon, she's still unconscious. He doesn't know whether he'd be strong enough to wait for her to wake up just like how long he waited for Akira to that time.

Taking in a deep breath, he turns his body to the side so that he can pick up the cloth, wetting it before wringing out excess water, bringing it to Jihyun's arms. Although slightly awkward and hesitant, he picks up one of her arms, scrubbing the damp cloth on her skin. But he stops as he reaches her face, slumping back onto the chair before he throws the towel onto the bedside table.

"Why did you-" Yunho starts, thinking that no one else would hear considering how she's still unconscious, "-protect me? You're really an impulsive person aren't you? Throwing yourself into danger without even realizing the consequences. But still," he continues, "I'm somewhat glad that you were attended to quickly." He lets out a deep breath, "I won't ever forgive myself if you died because of me."

"Can you-" Jihyun finally speaks up, opening one eye before the other follows suit, and she stares at him, who has his jaw open, ashamed that he was caught talking to her. "-be more romantic?" She grumbles, "You know how in romantic books the man would wait all night beside the woman, not even leaving her side so when she wakes up she'd see the man's face first thing? Then he'd say sweet stuff to the woman while she's unconscious, hoping that she'd hear him."

He doesn't say anything as she babbles more, only leaning back against the chair as he crosses his arms.

"You know, you should be thanking me that I got stabbed instead of you, but what? You really questioned my motive for protecting you, saying I'm impulsive?" She huffs, rolling her eyes. "Why did I even bother to throw myself in front of you? Now my body's hurt while the guy I'm protecting isn't even grateful. Tch, your words are as stiff as you. I wanted a sweet, teary speech welcoming me back after sacrificing myself for you, but all I got was an empty room while I couldn't even move to drink water."

"Are you done?" he says monotonously.

She looks at him in disbelief as she scoffs. If only she wasn't injured, she'd be grabbing the basin on her bedside table before drenching him in water and proceeding to slap him with the basin itself. "What? Am I done? I'm done with you, that's it, you jerk."

"I think," he deadpans, "you read too many romantic story books that you're starting to have delusional thoughts. You're wishing you're a main character in a romantic plot." He sighs as he uncrosses his arms, "I'm sorry to say but you really need to remember reality once in a while."

She snickers, looking away as much as she can, even though it only feels useless as she could only turn her head to the side. "I'm guessing the reality is that Jeong Yunho still wouldn't confess to me even while I was dying," she waves her hand, even though she can feel dull pain throbbing as she moves, "right, I was expecting a heroic scene, but you were mean even until the very end."

"It's not the end," he utters, "you're alive."

"Praise the skies cause I'm alive," she grumbles. "Oh why do I even bother? Of course General Jeong did not hug me while I was dying and kissed me after I got stabbed," she emphasizes.

"I was holding on to you or else the wound would get worse," he rebuts, "and you must have been confused. That wasn't a kiss."

"I know what a kiss is and that was it," she retaliates.

"Obviously you don't," he sighs as he shakes his head. "I thought it was only your body which got hurt, but you must have started remembering false things. Did you hurt your head?"

"Yah!" she says, finally looking at him as she resists the urge to just grab her pillow and beat him to death. "You really like to tease me don't you?"

"Uhm," he chuckles as his face breaks into a smile, and she blinks, perturbed by his sudden change. "It's cute seeing your reactions."

She turns her head to the side, still not believing her ears. "What did you say?"

"I said it's cute seeing your reactions; you get flustered easily." He leans forward, but she pulls back as she gulps, hating the fact that even as her heart starts to beat faster that she can feel as if her ribcage is shaking, she sees how subtle his smile is. The kind of smile that makes her feel all warm inside, even after she has looked away. "I don't know what you were expecting, but I stayed here ever since you were moved into this room." He chuckles, "But you woke up during the time I went out to take the basin and cloth. If you don't believe me," he shrugs, "you can ask the guards outside."

She clears her throat, feeling useless as all she can do is turn her head from one side to the other. She mutters, "Why would you do that though?"

He purses his lips. "Because I felt bad that you were hurt because of me. I was trying to make it up to you, but now that you're awake, I think it's fine for me to leave."

"W- wait." She reaches out her hand, but she can't manage to grab his, though he does stop and turn around while looking at her quizzically. "I'm thirsty. I need-" She gestures towards the jug of water on the bedside table. "I need you to help me pour the drink."

He breathes, "Didn't you get hurt on your back? I thought your hands are fine."

"Just get me a glass of water, you jerk," she grumbles. "Everything hurts when I move."

He smiles, hand immediately reaching out for the jug before pouring a glass. When it's almost full, he picks the glass up before handing it over to her, even though she only looks at it as she lies down on her back.

She feels the extra soft padding they put on her back where the wound is, but even as she moves around, she feels like she's going to open the wound back up. She looks at him for help, before he puts down the glass on the table, reaching out to help her prop herself up against the headboard, making sure that her wound is well-cared for.

But when he hands the glass to her again, she only looks at it before sheepishly smiling.

"Can you uh-" she bares her teeth, "-help me? I'm not lying," she shakes her head and to make a point, she grimaces, "it really hurts if I try to move my limbs."

He sits back down, slowly pulling the chair towards her as he holds the glass near her lips, and she clamps her lips on the edge of the glass. She looks expectantly at him as he carefully tilts it, but it's fine only in the first few seconds before water starts dribbling on her chin and she presses her lips shut. She sighs and closes her eyes.

"Forget about it. I'll just die of dehydration," she utters dramatically. "Even when you were helping to clean my arms you were scrubbing them as if you're going to scrape my skin off so that I'm only muscles and bones. I really thought you're a perfect guy but it seems that you're lacking in a lot of areas."

He sighs as he pushes the glass slowly to her again, prompting her to drink more. Albeit hesitant, she leans forward again as this time around he does it without spilling anything.

She smiles as she finally feels the water sliding down her throat properly, and she nods.

He doesn't say anything as he puts the glass back on the table, that even as he stands up, she wonders why he looks so tense.

"Why are you so-" she starts, but stops when he suddenly turns around, lower lip pushed outwards as tears seem to pool in his eyes. "General Jeong-" she says, "-are you crying?"

"I was worried," he finally says, the words that he found so hard to say to her. "I was worried that I wouldn't have the chance to say that-" his breath hitches as his shoulders sag, "-I like you."

She blinks, caught off guard as she can't believe that she's hearing a confession from him after going back and forth. Even though that's what she had been playfully saying about what she wanted to hear from him, to hear him say it directly makes her slightly bashful, even more as he's saying it with tears running down his cheeks.

"I thought it was too good to be true," he says, his fists clenching. "How a white blood would say that they like someone with yellow."

She releases a heavy breath, slightly cringing as she feels her wound sending pain signals again. "I mean-" she clamps her lips, avoiding his stare. "I didn't lie to you about the fact that I like you." She glances at him. "Too. You don't-" she fumbles with her words, "-you don't have to look so tense and scary while confessing to someone." She straightens up her back, even though she winces in pain. "You're going to make them cry because you look angry." She sighs, "You've never confessed to someone, have you?"

Yunho's expression changes, his body relaxing as he realizes that he's indeed tense even when he said he likes her. "I didn't want to admit it," he manages, "because the last time I was in a similar situation nothing worked out."

Jihyun stares at him, her face slightly cringing. "So even while I looked like crazy saying that I like you-"

"-I do too."

"Are you just going to stand there all day?" she asks. "Aren't you tired?"

Wordlessly, the general walks over to her, slowly sitting down on the chair as he looks at her. He doesn't do anything as he merely looks at her, as if he's waiting for her to make the move.

She lets out a heavy breath as she utters, "Is fighting the only thing you're good at?"

He only looks at her with confusion, blinking his eyes slowly.

She grits her teeth in frustration. "How are you so attractive yet so dense? Did that attractiveness somehow make you spend your sharpness?" She leans back, shaking her head. "Never mind then. I'm guessing you don't read romantic stories."

"They're boring," he says simply.

She chuckles awkwardly as her face contorts in pain. "That explains everything. Do I have to do every single thing?" She puts out a hand, "If you don't consent to this, say no and push me away. Okay? Consent is important."

"I'm-" he doesn't get to finish as she grabs his shirt and pulls him towards her.

She places her hands on his neck before leaning in, tilting her head as she latches her lips onto his; at first it only seems like Yunho doesn't know what to do as he only sits still, his lips unmoving. But she bites back a gasp as he leans in further, catching her face in his hands as he parts his mouth slightly before sliding his right arm around her waist. He's careful not to touch her wound as he tightens his grip around her, hearing her small gasps as he bites her lower lip lightly.

She pulls back as she clears her throat, clearly not expecting how he seems to know what he's doing. "I take that back," she mutters, "fighting is not the only thing you're good at."

He smirks, leaning back against the chair as a satisfied look comes over him. "You said every inch of your body hurts when you move, but look whose hands couldn't stop moving."

"You were going to kill me," she utters seriously.

He looks at her weirdly, not understanding what she's saying.

"I told you that I get out of breath easily. So in the future," she points at him, "remember that- when you-" she licks her lips subconsciously, "-kiss me."

He chuckles. "Bold of you to assume I'd do that again in the future."

"Tch." She grumbles, "Jokes on you, that's the second time you kissed me. You kissed me when I was dying-"

"I did not."

"You did," she shoots back. "I was dying but I can definitely feel you brushing your lips against my cheek."

"That's not a kiss." He leans forward, catching her by surprise as he crashes his lips onto hers again, placing a deep kiss even though it's only for a short moment. "That's a kiss."

She looks down, closing her eyes as she can feel her heart pounding violently so she merely slides down again, lying on her back. But even as she tries to look at the ceiling, she can see Yunho looking at her with a smirk on his face, looking like he's refusing to move from his spot. She sighs before turning her body to the side, letting him look at her back. She doesn't realize that her movements have caused her bandage to come undone, and she gets startled as he speaks up.

"I need to call the doctor," he utters, "your bandage came off and you're bleeding through your shirt."

"Ah-" she starts to say; no wonder something feels off. She sits up again, seeing that he has gone outside to call the doctor, but when he comes back, she only looks at him with apprehension as he brings over the bandage himself.

"The doctor's busy attending to San. Apparently he came back but fainted, so," he utters as he clasps his hands, "I'll call over a female maid to help you with the bandage."

"Just do it," she says as she runs her eyes somewhere else.

"Huh?" He blinks, almost losing his grip on the bandage.

"I said you do it," she says, still not looking at him. "You already have the bandage anyway. Unless," she glances at him, "the reason you're hesitating is because you're already thinking of doing something to me."

He scoffs before going over to her, pulling the chair slightly begrudgingly as his mouth runs to complain, "What do you take me for?"

She chuckles as she turns around, showing her back towards him before unbuttoning her shirt. She sees over her shoulder that he's looking away, blush coming to his cheeks as he gulps a few times. She slides her shirt down her shoulders, exposing her back to him until the part where the bandage has come loose.

Trying as hard as he might to not stare, he takes off the old bandage, unwinding it before throwing it away. He picks the fresh bandage up, helping to clean the wound as he tries to pick up if she's feeling any discomfort. Instead she's just quiet throughout, not even giving any reactions as she feels his gentle touch around her wound when he wraps the bandage around her body. When he's done dressing the wound, he immediately lifts her hands off of her.

Seeing that he's done, she pulls up her shirt before buttoning it again and lying down, this time around seeing that Yunho looks troubled. She lifts up her eyebrows, "Are you that traumatized after seeing a woman's body?"

"It's going to leave a scar," he says slowly.

She titters. "So? I should be grateful that the only thing I lost is my smooth skin." She shudders, "I can't imagine if I actually died."

"Thank you," he says finally. "For sacrificing that for me."

"Hah," she lets out a breath, "people usually get tattoos of their significant others to profess their love, and here I am with a scar because I wanted to be a hero for the guy that wouldn't even cry for me." She looks at him from the corner of her eyes. "Still, you were amazing though; the way you fought, you seemed like a different person on the battlefield." She does two small hearts with her fingers, grinning. "It was an honour seeing the general in action up close."

"You can choose," he utters as she looks at him in alarm when he lifts his shirt up, exposing his back which is full of scars to her. "So that we'll have matching scars."

She stares at his back, her eyes slightly darting to take a look in front, her mouth twisting as she sees his muscles. "You're really weird," she utters, "your love language is really one of a kind. Who on earth asks someone to pick a scar so they can match?"

"I've never confessed to someone before," he says over his shoulder.

"It was as obvious as the colour of your hair, General Jeong. I can tell." She shrugs, "But I guess, that's kind of cute." She chuckles as he sees a scar that looks like the shape of a puppy's head, before she lightly pushes her finger on it. "This one's cute, it looks like a puppy."

He lets his shirt slide down, nodding. "I got that when I fell from the second floor of the palace."

She looks at him with a slightly judgy look, but she can't help but scoff as he continues.

"So I guess it's now a sign that I fell for someone."

"That's so corny," she chuckles before she grins, "but that's exactly my type."

---

[A/N: Well... I've finished writing this story... so it's coming to an end sometime soon... :D]