I hope that you'll find me in another life.

Princess, I'll find you in this life.

With the bag full of ingredients on his back, San runs towards the edge of the sea, this time having his mind clear from the shock he had gotten yesterday. He has to have a clear mind and heart now that he has a firm direction on where to go as he hears Wooyoung, Yeosang, Mingi and Hongjoong behind him, all determined to locate Sara. Right after Wooyoung has figured out the cryptic message behind Sara's 'recipe for donuts', they immediately informed the Lucida rulers about their intention to travel to Ileara.

They set out to find the ingredients on the list first, with Hongjoong, Mingi and Yeosang finding the ingredients in less than three hours, having been accustomed to the central forest and Lucida's town. It may just be their luck that they managed to get everything on the list without fault, even bringing extra in case they mess up. Fatigue didn't even come to them as they knew they'd need to hurry, storming to Ileara just after they'd managed to bag the last ingredient.

Now that they're in Ileara, having been following Wooyoung's guide in which, luckily that they prepared better for the jump over the broken bridge, they didn't encounter the sea monster. After arriving at the palace, San takes over as he directs them to the sea, this time around his intention set in stone about saving the princess. He knows that it doesn't seem like it might make sense to find her in a vast sea, but nothing ever does make sense ever since he was associated with the curse.

Bringing someone up from the dead? Of course he will for someone who has saved his life.

He knows that there's a high chance that Sara had planned this carefully, so now it's their turn to follow everything she had done.

There must be a reason she didn't tell us her plan directly.

Whatever it is, we need to find her first.

The king of Nyla hears the others giving instructions on where they'd look for her, deciding to split up to cover more area of the seashore. He looks at the place near where Sara had fallen first, climbing up the rocks below the overhanging bridge, trying to figure out what went wrong the first time he tried looking for her alone. He searches high and low for her, but what he gets is that he almost slips on the slippery rocks, trying to fathom how Sara thought about this.

If she believed that they'd come looking for her, she must've done something to make sure that they would. His mind reels trying to think of what she had said to him in the last moments.

Call me like you used to, so I can come back to you.

"Like I used to..." San utters to himself as he stands on the rock, looking out into the horizon.

He takes a deep breath, his mind playing their last moments, when the little memories he had together with Sara when both of them were children. He forces himself to remember; if they had met each other before, played together, could that be a name he used to call her... a nickname when both of them were together? His eyebrows furrow, concentrating as the scenes of their times together play in front of him... years back... he closes his eyes, hearing the waves crashing as he hopes that she would somehow come back.

"Cyu. That's what I called her," he exclaims as he opens his eyes. He turns towards the sea before he cups his hands around his mouth, shouting using all of his energy. "Cyu, come back!" He's reminded of the time they played hide and seek together, and he remembers when he'd sulk because he couldn't find her during the game; she was simply too good at hiding. He turns to the sea again, feeling ridiculous but that's the only thing he can think of. "Cyu, you can stop hiding now!" He repeats the name over and over again.

In the distance, the rest of them stop in their tracks as they hear San shouting out into the sea, something that they can't comprehend. Yeosang narrows his eyes as he sees a shadow moving under the water while Mingi and Hongjoong strain their ears as they hear something rumbling underneath. The bargainer and blacksmith hold each other, slightly apprehensive of the creature that's seemingly moving towards the direction of San.

"It's the slimy huge octopus," Wooyoung utters as his eyes travel to San, who seems to be frozen in his spot. "I swear if that damn octopus touches San-" He starts running towards San's direction, already pulling out his bow and arrow, but he skids to a stop as he arrives in front of the rocks, the king of Nyla putting out a hand to stop him from moving.

San gulps as the water surface breaks and he stays frozen in his spot, eyes following the movement of the monster. It seems that he doesn't even dare to blink; if he has to run anyway his body is not cooperating with him. He watches as the monster approaches him, and he squints his eyes as he looks up, its tentacles shooting up before they uncurl.

Wooyoung widens his eyes as he sees what's inside the monster's curled tentacles, immediately climbing up the rocks as he's sure that the monster is not looking to harm them like it did that time he went with Akira. He stands next to San, watching as the monster slowly drops Sara's body, protected inside its curled tentacles.

The monster places Sara in San's outstretched arms before it screeches, deafening the ears of the humans there. They wince, but the monster then turns around to dive back into the sea, leaving all the humans alone.

San looks at Sara in his hands, and a rush of emotions come to him as he knows that he cannot feel her pulse anymore. He looks to Wooyoung and nods; the latter immediately instructs the other three to turn back to the palace, before he takes the bag on San's back and runs towards the direction of the Ileara palace. They've made sure that Yeosang and Wooyoung would be the one to be doing the honour of combining everything following Sara's instructions on the paper.

San turns towards the direction of the palace, gripping Sara in his arms to make sure that she's held on tight. He sees that her hair and fingernails are no longer pink, but they're not white or black either. It seems that by the time she falls into the ocean the curse has left her body, which could only mean one thing; the curse is definitely gone.

"We'll bring you back," San says as he walks up the stairs of the palace, watching as Sara's pets stay obediently by the side, their eyes following their owner. He only bows his head to them as he's not scared anymore and it seems that they're doing the same to him.

He enters the palace, placing her down onto one of the sofas she has in the palace. With the limited knowledge he has of the inside of the palace, he tries to locate one where he can find a clean cloth to at least wipe the slime off her body. When he passes by the kitchen, it seems like a war is happening as Mingi and Hongjoong are directing Wooyoung and Yeosang in what order they'd have to combine the ingredients, with them muttering the words Sara had asked them to while making the concoction. They look somewhat too absorbed in their amateur witchcraft that San thinks that it's better for him to stay away, not wanting to stir up anything.

San does feel somewhat worried that it wouldn't work and that they're only getting ahead of themselves; where they were only picking up clues which were supposed to mean nothing at all. But considering that they've managed to find her in the ocean, he'd like to think that they're going in the right direction, just like what Sara had wanted them to.

He goes over to her, carefully picking out the strands of hair from her face, wiping the slime off her skin as the memories they had together; both from when they were children and the short time they spent when he thought that he was the one who should've been dead. He sighs as he finishes, only waiting by her side as the others frantically put everything together.

Time goes by and it must've been at least two hours as he sits beside her, waiting with his head in his hands before he hears a cheer in the kitchen, sounding as if the boys have won a match. He lifts up his head, hearing Mingi calling out for him and asking him to bring Sara together. He can only chuckle as he hears how eager they sound before he picks Sara up again, bringing her to the kitchen.

He's greeted with Hongjoong directing him to a bathroom, where they're using the bathtub to pour the concoction in, before... San looks at Wooyoung and the latter shrugs.

"Yup, apparently the instructions are to submerge her in the concoction," he utters but when San gives him a look, he becomes defensive, "don't ask me why, it's in the recipe. Ask her when she wakes up."

Yeosang pours the concoction into the tub as Mingi and Hongjoong stand beside it, watching as their mouths mutter the words Sara had told them to. San looks at Wooyoung, who only nods, before the former carefully goes over to the bathtub and lowers her down. He submerges her into the liquid before he steps away.

"What she told us was to make sure that we believe it'll happen," Yeosang says as he hisses. "Maybe I should consider practicing magic now that I've experience."

"I wonder how long we should wait, but," Wooyoung puts up a finger, "remember to not doubt it at all. We tried our best and now we wait."

The five men slowly back away, not knowing how long they should expect to wait, feeling slightly awkward now that they're already run out of the adrenaline rush they had just now. Just from the moment Wooyoung figured out what Sara was trying to communicate through, everything was set into motion where it seemed that they didn't even stop; they just wanted to make it back to Ileara as fast as they could to search for her.

Now that they did and they've done everything she asked them to, they feel slightly nervous but they hold on to the feeling that it will work. They have to believe it will.

"Maybe we should just-" Hongjoong points a thumb to the door, "-wait outside."

"Of course," Mingi says, already backing up.

Wooyoung, San and Yeosang take one last look at her submerged in the tub before they slowly turn around. They file out of the bathroom one by one, but as San is about to close the door, he hears the water sloshing around and someone coughing. He immediately pushes the door open again, banging it against the wall as it bounces before he rushes over to the tub.

Sara is coughing as she desperately tries to take in air, her hands gripping the edge of the bathtub tightly until her knuckles turn white. She blinks as she sees five pairs of eyes looking at her, slightly shocked, before she turns to the one nearest to her. She puts a fist over her chest, hitting it as she takes a look at him.

San only frowns as Sara seems to only be staring at him, void of words, as if she can't remember who he is. He wants to say something but he doesn't even know where to start as he tries to search for any clue to tell him that they have gotten her back, the same as it is before.

But it is as if she can't remember anything at all.

"Sara-"

San gets cut off as Sara throws herself to him, hugging him tight. He blinks before he finally cries, tightening the grip he has around her.

"You came," she breathes. "You actually came back to find me. And you remembered."

He chuckles painfully, feeling the warmness slowly returning to her as he grabs her tight, his breath hitching. "I'm sorry I was late. I'm sorry it took years for me to remember you."

She pulls back as she wipes the tears from her eyes using her palms, shaking from both the cold and trepidation, but San is quick to wrap her in a towel that Yeosang took for her. She feels the others' eyes on her, before Wooyoung breaks the silence.

"You know, we're here too," Wooyoung utters. "I know that San's good-looking, but you can stop staring at him and get out of the tub. You're hurting our feelings a little bit now since we came here together with San to save you."

The other three merely stare at her before they slowly nod, closing their eyes.

"Ah, sorry." Sara chuckles before she stands up, but when she looks like she's about to slip, San quickly catches her, immediately picking her up before taking her out of the tub.

Wooyoung claps his hands once before extending it dramatically. "Of course, we all ran because your life literally depended on us, but San gets all the credit because he's the guy you had your eyes on... hmm?"

Sara blushes slightly in San's hold, because the latter looks like he doesn't want to let go of her, expression unfaltering even when Wooyoung is making fun of them. "You can," she tugs at San's collar slightly, looking away, "put me down."

"I don't want you to fall again," San says before he sidesteps the other men, who only look at the two in amusement.

The other four trail them out from the bathroom, the kitchen, before he finally puts down a sheepish Sara onto the sofa. San lets out a sigh as he tightens the towel around her soaked body, picking out strands of her hair that's stuck to her face. Then he joins the others who are only looking at them from a distance, as if waiting for something to go wrong.

"Did we make it?" Mingi whispers to the others. "Did we actually bring someone back from the dead? Did we actually do witchcraft?"

"The most important question is, is that really her?" Hongjoong whispers back. "You know, not the curse overtaking her body instead while the real Sara is actually gone?"

They keep their eyes peeled on her, watching her every move; she's shivering as she pulls the towel tighter around her, before she rubs her hands and sways her body from side to side. Their hearts get gripped with fear when she immediately looks up, staring sharply at them.

"Am I really too pretty that all of you can't stop staring at me?" she finally says.

Wooyoung clicks his tongue. "I'm 100% sure that's her. That confidence, you don't even need the curse to do that for her."

They slowly move towards her, where Mingi and Hongjoong are clutching each other, looking hesitant but curious at how they managed to bring someone they thought they'd lost back again.

"You have to explain what on earth just happened," Yeosang utters, "and how we ended up practicing witchcraft involuntarily. When before you gave us a heart attack because San went back to us saying that you were just... gone. Without saying anything to us."

She scratches her neck, looking awkward. "Well," she moves her eyes to San, slightly grinning, "can we have some tea while we talk over this? It's cold and having warm tea sounds nice." She blinks nonchalantly. "You promised me that you'll let me taste the tea that you brewed before yesterday happened." She wrings her hands as she chuckles slowly, "You didn't keep that promise."

San doesn't get to say anything as Wooyoung snaps his fingers, pointing to the direction of the kitchen. "San, you've heard the princess, she wants tea. Now let's move, because I am dying to know what on earth happened." He pushes the king of Nyla towards the kitchen, before smiling at Sara and bowing. "Tea is coming right up, Your Highness."

San can't help but think of Sara even as he's opening the cabinets in the kitchen, looking to see if he can find any tea leaves for him to brew. He throws a pot with water on the stove, the knob clicking as he twists it. He measures the amount of tea leaves before dumping it into a filter, and he leans against the counter as he stretches his neck to see if he can catch a view of them, but all he sees is a wall. He sighs, then gets startled when Sara's cat - Twinkle - appears in his vision before promptly jumping on top of his head.

He chuckles, as he knows that he can't be conversing with the cat to make the time pass by. He only lifts the cat up before looking into its red eyes and Twinkle stares back at him before meowing. He pats its head before putting it on the kitchen counter. He hears the water boiling before he carefully pours the water onto the leaves, taking in the scent before he brings the teapot out. He sees the others cautiously watching him as he puts down all the tea, pours it into their respective cups before putting his hands on his stomach, bowing.

Sara sits cross-legged on the sofa as she grins, immediately reaching out to drink it but San quickly stops her.

"It's still hot, princess." He turns to look at her, "Wait for it to cool down."

Wooyoung makes a face as he shakes his head. "When did this happen and you're actually a princess? Not the immortal witch you've led us to believe?"

Sara looks guilty before she plays around with her fingers, not knowing where to start. "Actually..." She looks at Wooyoung before the others, resting longer on San. "I'm not a witch per se, I only practiced magic because you do know that the royal bloodline of Ileara practiced magic, including black magic." As they nod, she continues. "I'm not an immortal because I was born 23 years ago," she glances at San, "same age as you. My parents were Ileara's current king and queen before our kingdom was destroyed because of the curse. My parents, and San's parents were acquaintances, and they came here sometimes because they were trying to figure out a way to get rid of the curse."

"Ah," Hongjoong says. "So you're saying that you've met San before?"

She nods sheepishly. "I don't think San ever remembered because he purposely buried that memory away, plus it was a really long time ago. We were only kids before everything went obsolete. I was saved from the complete destruction because somehow, my parents transferred some of the curse to me. I was left alone because the curse was left inside of me, even though it was only a small portion."

San stays quiet; so this is the reason Sara mentioned about parents wanting to do something to protect their children, yet in the end, the children suffer the same.

"So you're protected because of the curse?" Yeosang asks, already looking like he's about to start jotting down notes, the topic of witchcraft intriguing him so.

"If you've heard of the curse being a double-edged sword, because you can either be given so much power, yet in the long run it's possible that the curse will start to eat you from the inside. That's what it did to me; the curse was already inside of me, only a small portion, but it was there as I grew up alone. The curse affected me bit by bit, my hair and nails started changing colours, so that's one of the ways I tried hiding it; by dyeing them."

Their jaws drop but they let her continue without interruptions.

"The curse, I was able to deflect the effects it would have on me all this time, but when I cured His Majesty, I took up more of the curse into my body. The curse got stronger, and I don't know if you're aware of it, but besides unearthing your desires, the curse sometimes also makes you remember the memories you unknowingly buried. Maybe memories that hurt you so much, or just memories that you simply don't want to experience again."

"I unknowingly buried our memories when we were children," San speaks up, "because I associated it with the fact that I lost my parents."

Sara nods. "That's probably the reason that you forgot about it."

"So you remembered San when you met him for the first time in the palace?" Mingi asks as his mouth purses. "You know, when he was on a rampage and wanted to attack Akira."

She shakes her head. "No." She chuckles, "Apparently we don't even remember each other, but even I got back those memories after I cured His Majesty. When the curse got stronger and I became weaker, that was when it came back to me. When San requested for me to kill him-"

All eyes turn to San, who only scratches his head, acting innocent.

"-my desire got stronger, but I still had a little bit of my sane mind to think about a way out."

Mingi breaks his silence as he leans forward, putting his fingers to his chin. "Was your desire to kill him? To take revenge?"

She shakes her head before glaring at him. "I had one strong desire, but that's not it."

"Ah!" Wooyoung beams, looking proud as if he's solved a difficult puzzle on his own. "I know your desire," he dramatically pauses as he puts a fist to his chest, closing his eyes, "it's San. He was your burning desire, longing for passionate love-" He stops as he receives a hard slap on the back of his head, and he opens his eyes to see San glaring at him, but it's obvious that the king of Nyla is blushing.

"Well," she sighs, "my desire was that I didn't want to be lonely anymore."

There's a pronounced silence as the answer somehow makes them feel touched.

"Awh," Mingi says. "We can always be your friends."

Sara laughs, but some tears appear at the corner of her eyes before she sighs. "That's how I figured out that maybe... I've found a loophole to the curse." She sits up straighter as she explains her plan. "This curse is a part of your body, it seems to have a mind of its own and it's... smart so to say. It can control what you're doing even though you may be aware all the time. That's why-"

"You had to send the message to us cryptically," Wooyoung speaks up as a lightbulb appears on top of his head before he puts a hand over his opened mouth. "That's genius."

"I had to find a way to trick the curse into thinking that's definitely it; that I'm dying together with it. So I made up the plan as if I was planning to die with it; I couldn't directly tell anyone about it, because if the entity inside my body would pick up what I'm trying to do..." She shakes her head, "that even if I died the curse would still persist. Then that would defeat the whole purpose of my plan."

"So the curse is still alive because of you?" Hongjoong concludes.

"Uhm," she hums in agreement. "The curse still persisted because a gold-blooded royal member of Ileara is still alive."

"But I went to Akira instead," San comments. "You know... when I was overtaken by the curse."

"That's because your own consciousness believed that Her Majesty was the reason the curse is still alive. The curse inside your body knew otherwise, but if you think about it, the curse is like a living thing. Why would it want to lead you to kill someone who would make the curse disappear?"

Yeosang shivers. "That's so creepy but you're right."

She sighs. "At first, I wanted to hide my identity from all of you, because I was scared," she admits. "I didn't want you to hunt me down after knowing that I'm the actual reason the curse is still alive." She stares at every one of them. "Simply to say, I don't want to be killed."

They shift uncomfortably in their seats, knowing that they won't be able to foresee how they'd act in case they were desperate and that they knew it involved sacrificing someone.

"So I lied, and my sole reason coming to Lucida was only to cure His Majesty. I know that I barely had any regards for other humans, but one thing I wouldn't wish upon someone is for them to grow up without their parents. And..." she glances at San before she quickly runs her eyes somewhere else, "Her Majesty just proved how much she's willing to sacrifice for her husband. When I got there, all I felt was sincerity from each and every one of you. You're not even mad at Her Majesty when I said that I could only cure one. After the curse was transferred to me, it started eating me up, and that's when I finally found out what my desire was. I didn't want to be lonely, and I started getting jealous seeing the people around me in Lucida just seemingly happy with someone by their side." She chuckles, "Though that's when I started getting the idea on how I could beat the curse."

San only looks down, somehow feeling guilty; he was so confident of the fact that it'd be him to lose his life, when Sara was already preparing for hers.

"You made the curse meet a dead end," Mingi gasps.

She smiles. "Essentially. My desire was that I didn't want to be lonely, and," she sheepishly says as she plays with her fingers, "San made me feel less lonely."

"Awh," Wooyoung gushes. "That's so cute."

San only glares at Wooyoung, before turning to look at the floor, a bit shy to look at her.

"But San was suffering due to the curse because of me," she emphasizes, "but in order for me to achieve that desire... I'll have to die so that the curse will die together with me."

"It's a paradox," Hongjoong offers.

Her eyes twinkle as she smiles. "Exactly. In the end the curse brought itself to an end, because it had to make me fulfil that desire. The rule is, the curse would be gone once a gold-blooded royal member of Ileara is finally gone, not one of them left. But that's the catch; it never said about someone being resurrected from the dead." She extends her arms as she grins. "So now I'm here, thanks to you."

"But," Wooyoung frowns as there are still some questions, "why didn't you... you know, make it easier for us to find you? I mean, I'm glad that San actually remembered what he called you as. What if he didn't?"

She clears her throat. "I told you that I have to see the plan through to make sure that the curse would indeed die with me. I have to be as subtle as possible and..." she trails off, "if five of you didn't come looking for me, I would just have taken it for the fact that no one would want to find me." She looks down, "I understand if I'm not important in anyone's lives."

Yeosang scoffs. "San was crying all the way through, even when we were looking for the ingredients. Everyone back in Lucida too; when they were sending us off they kept begging us so that we would bring you back. Everyone is waiting for you." He shrugs, "Of course you're important to us, you still haven't baked the donuts you promised us."

"Yah," San says, but Sara only laughs a sincere one.

"I promise you I'll bake you them." She puts out a pinky finger, before forcing each of them to seal the deal with her. "See? I made a pinky promise."

"How," Wooyoung speaks up again, as he's not done with his questions, "did you plan everything here when you were in Lucida?"

Sara gives him a look as if it's an easy question to be answered. "Do you think that I was in Lucida all the time?" She shrugs as she sticks out her tongue. "I can teleport, remember? I went back and forth without any of you realizing anyway. Plus... the curse inside my body really thought I was preparing for myself to just-" She drags a finger across her neck before sticking out her tongue at the corner of her mouth.

"Oh," Wooyoung simply says, void of words.

"So now that we have basically brought you back from the dead," Yeosang narrows his eyes, "can we practice magic?"

She shrugs. "Of course, I can teach you."

"Oh," Yeosang makes an 'O' shape with his mouth before nodding eagerly. "I'm in."

"Me too!" Mingi holds up his hand.

She chuckles before nodding. "Sure."

San unknowingly smiles as he looks at Sara, knowing that she's finally back without the curse affecting her anymore; now all of them are free from the curse, the curse that has run so deep in the Nyla royal bloodline. Wooyoung notices this and he nudges the rest, quietly flapping his hand to the others so that the four of them would leave the two alone. Understanding this, they quietly move away from the area, vaguely saying that they're planning to look around the palace considering that Sara would need a rest; even leaving the tea untouched.

When San wants to join them, Wooyoung subtly asks him to take the hint before pushing him to sit down, asking him to accompany her.

As the two of them are left alone, San only fists his hands on his lap awkwardly as Sara keeps looking away as she pretends to be interested in something else.

"So-" both of them start talking at the same time, but they chuckle before San says, "You go first."

"Thank you," she purses her lips. "For remembering." She scratches her neck, "If you really didn't remember what you called me when both of us were kids, I'd just be buried under the sea, long forgotten."

He breathes. "And I'm sorry because I didn't remember you at first. Only when the curse was taken out do I remember."

She purses her lips as she shyly plays around with her fingers. "It's alright, at least you remember now."

"So it's a lie," he utters before she blinks, looking up at him quizzically, "that you've fallen in love before. You never did, then."

She clears her throat before she mumbles, "Well why do you think that I was so clueless when it comes to falling in love? All I've ever learnt about was from books."

He looks at her, slightly nudging her feet with his. "Now that we're free from the curse... do you-" he clamps his lips, not knowing where to start.

"What?" She blinks innocently before she utters full of confidence, "Ah! Do I want to fall in love with you? Yes I do."

He laughs out loud before shaking his head. "That's not how you start."

She whines. "Then how do you start?" She leans back against the sofa, her legs kicking the air. "Ah, forget about it. I don't want to fall in love."

"Do you really..." he asks, stealing a glance at her.

"I literally died for you, is that not true love?" she pouts. "How long do I have to wait so that I can finally say that I've fallen in love with someone?" She looks up when she sees San approaching her, and she only crosses her arms.

He approaches her without a word, taking a seat next to her as she looks at him suspiciously. "I told you that it takes time."

"Ah, this is so annoying," she grumbles. "I don't need more time. I like you, and that's that."

"I know. I wanted to say that we've had enough time-"

"So it's finally mutual?" she asks excitedly. "Does that mean I can-" she grins as she cups his face, leaning in before pressing their lips together.

San only manages to chuckle after she lets him go. "You know... there's a lot of things you don't know about socializing with other people." He lowers his voice, "Kissing is not the only thing you can do to show that you like someone."

"Ah," she utters. "I thought that's the only way." She sniffs. "The books I read only seem to say that every time after someone professes their love to someone else, they'd kiss."

"Well... it's one of the ways." He hums, "But you can show your love through other gestures. Like when you said Akira would go through such lengths to save Seonghwa, or when you," he peeks at her, "literally died for me."

"I just want to know if the-" she looks down, "-feeling is mutual."

"I thought you already came to that conclusion. It is."

She squeals before clearing her throat, pretending as if she did not react the way that she did.

He chuckles. "Are you that excited?"

"Of course," she sticks up her nose. "It's my first. Which means I get to hug and kiss you all I want, right?"

He blinks, a bit taken aback by her conclusion as he blushes, rocking his body slightly. "I mean, if you- want."

Her reply is a proper hug, where she's careful not to hug him so tight like she did the first time. When she's done, she excitedly tugs at his shirt. "Am I doing it right?"

He nods quietly before he pulls her onto his lap, brushing her hair over her shoulders before cupping her face. "Princess," he utters, and this makes her heart start to beat even faster. "I found you again."

She closes her eyes as he leans forward, and feels like her breath is stuck in her throat as his lips latch onto hers, moving slowly. She feels his lips on hers, leaving a sweet aftertaste before he slides his arm around her waist. By the time he's done, she's clutching his shirt like she's about to fall. She slowly opens her eyes to see San smiling at her softly, his eyes never leaving hers.

"I'm scared," she utters.

He looks visibly panicked. "W- why?"

"My heart keeps beating loudly and I feel like it's going to break my ribcage." She turns to him, "What if it actually does?"

"It won't," he chuckles.

"And," she looks at him as she lowers her voice. "What if I get um... you know..."

"Get what?"

"Never mind." She changes her mind as she utters, "You know when I kiss you, it's just-" she demonstrates by pressing a palm on her lips, "-pressing our lips together. But..." she looks embarrassed, "just now it was something different. It felt different."

He frowns as she seems to look troubled. "Are you alright? Are you feeling sick-"

"What if I get pregnant?" she finally bursts out, burying her face in her hands.

"Huh?" he says loudly before he blinks, speechless. Then he closes his eyes before he laughs, pressing his forehead against her shoulder.

"W- why are you laughing?" She looks visibly distressed. "I don't want to get pregnant yet, I'm not ready."

He laughs again, unable to come with a proper reply for a few minutes before he sighs. "That's not how you get, you know- pregnant. You do something else. Something that you do when you're ready and um," he presses his lips together, "with someone you trust."

She straightens up, finally relaxed as she lets out a deep breath. "Ah, I was so worried."

"I told you," he says, "it takes time." He puts his arms around her waist, resting his forehead against her shoulder again. "Are you planning to stay here?"

She hums before she shrugs. "I don't know but... you'll have to return to Nyla, won't you?"

He nods as he chuckles. "I know that it may not seem like it, but I still have a kingdom to rule."

"Ah," she breathes, "I forgot that you're already king."

"If you want to-" he glances at her, "live in the palace with me..." He looks away, "you're always welcomed to. Though we don't have winter festivals, we have cotton candy."

She smiles. "The rest of them would be there too, right? Wooyoung, Yeosang, Mingi, Hongjoong-" she grins, "-my new friends."

"Of course."

She nods slowly but she puts up her forefinger. "We need to visit Ileara once a week, at least."

"We?"

She narrows her eyes before huffing. "Fine. I need to visit Ileara at least once a week."

He chuckles. "I'll come along."

"Ah, there are so many things I want to do now that the curse is gone, but at least one wish is done!"

"Watching the first snow with a human companion?" he narrows his eyes.

"No," she shakes his head as she grins. "Falling in love."

---

[A/N: Just to give a perspective, this story is coming to an end at 62 chapters... so up until now thank you for all the reads, comments and likes, I really appreciate them a lot! Even to those who gave me reactions personally through messages/dms I really, really appreciate them. Also this is unrelated to this chapter, but to visualize Yunho as the general, I imagined him somewhat like Riftan Calypse from the webtoon Under the Oak Tree (you can search it up :3). Sorry for all the tears or heartbreaks (if there's any), but it's a happy ending for all ^^ so please don't hunt me down ^^ I am closing my doors and windows tight ^^]