A year later, Lucida

Seonghwa's eyes go wider by the second as he looks at Youngjae then to Yeona, scrutinizing them as he waits for them to say anything. It's like his mouth is moving with every move of their mouths, trying to prompt them to produce an audible word. Both of the babies are sitting in their baby walkers as their father has entertained them for at least half an hour, from feeding them to making funny faces so that they'd laugh. After he's done with everything, he waits as he watches their mouths move.

"Akira!" Seonghwa calls his wife, who's almost deep into a book about parenting and startling her, before beckoning her over. When it seems that she's not moving from her spot fast enough, he picks her up before putting her down to crouch in front of their babies. "Wait."

"For what?" Akira blinks.

"I heard both of them trying to say something," he utters. "I bet it's," he whispers, "dad."

She scoffs, crossing her arms. "Really? Dad? How are you so confident?"

"Just wait, and either one of them will have dad as their first word. Yeona, Youngjae," he starts addressing his babies, "if any of you call me first, then I will win over your mother. So any one of you, you can say it now." He smiles as he extends his arms.

Akira only looks on, intrigued by Seonghwa's prompt, but hides a smile as it seems that Seonghwa is the baby and not the father.

Seonghwa beams as he turns to Yeona, whose mouth is moving before he nods enthusiastically, his hands in a slight sweeping motion as he encourages her to speak. But his shoulders drop as she only gurgles, not an audible word heard.

She chuckles before lightly punching her husband's shoulder. "I think you heard wrong," she utters, "they're not ready for their first words yet."

He shrugs before standing up, holding out his hand to help her stand up too. He puts an arm around her waist as he sighs, "Maybe I did hear wrong." He hums as they turn around, but they immediately stop in their tracks and crouch again in front of their babies as they hear Youngjae making a sound. "Say it, Youngjae," he looks at his baby expectantly.

Youngjae flaps his arms before giving a toothless grin, managing a "Ma-mma!"

Seonghwa blinks before his lips are pushed into a pout, looking like he's almost going to cry. He turns to Akira, who is obviously trying hard not to smile and rub it in her husband's face. He sighs, already admitting defeat but he straightens up again as they hear Yeona saying her first word next.

"Da-dda!" Yeona says without fault.

Seonghwa's eyes go wide as he hugs Akira, overjoyed over the milestone he has achieved over the one year they became parents to the twins. He seems to be really excited as he slightly shakes Akira, poking her shoulder as he repeats, "Did you hear that? Yeona called me."

"Youngjae called me first," Akira rebuts.

He narrows his eyes, but breaks into a smile as he hugs her again, almost looking like he's going to break into a happy dance as he gives a thumbs up to his twins. "My beautiful babies," he manages, "your father is proud of you. Youngjae, you're going to grow up as handsome and smart as your father. Yeona, you're going to grow up as beautiful and strong as your mother-"

"So you're saying I'm not smart?" Akira interrupts him.

He looks at her from the corner of his eyes before playfully grinning. "I didn't say anything."

"You better-" She pulls his ear and he shouts out in pain as he pouts, and seeing this, even though not understanding anything, the twins laugh.

Seonghwa whines before grabbing her hands so that she won't be pulling his ear anymore, then hugs her so tight that she feels like he'll manage to deflate her even before she can stand up. When she gives up only then he grins before letting her go. They turn around as they hear another baby crying, knowing that it's Yunho's baby - his and Jihyun's daughter they named Sua.

Akira smiles as she sees Yunho looking troubled as he holds a crying Sua in his arms, unsuccessfully trying to make her stop while his hand slowly pats her. She can't help but think how things have changed for them; for both her and Yunho to have their own little family in the very Lucida palace, where they had grown up together. Her smile grows wider as she looks at how hard Yunho is trying to become a good father, even though he admitted that he was scared of the future when Jihyun went through labour. It's endearing to see how Yunho is so huge compared to the little baby in his arms, but even then he's holding on to her so gently.

Apparently during Jihyun's labour, she said that it was the first time he has ever seen Yunho so scared, and even though he didn't faint, he did look like he could pass out anytime soon. She said that gone was the scary general, but came a scared father-to-be as he couldn't stop pacing back and forth before rushing over to her side whenever she gave any indication of pain.

"Where's Jihyun?" Akira asks, looking over his shoulder to find her.

Yunho's mouth purses as he says, worry evident in his tone, "Jihyun's feeling a little bit under the weather so she's resting. Sua won't stop crying, like she knows her mother is sick."

Seonghwa extends his arms, asking for permission to hold Sua. When the general hands her over, he holds her for a second before she stops crying, her eyes blinking slowly as she looks at the king in wonder. Not long after, the baby breaks into a smile as the king hums a lullaby to her.

"Huh," Yunho utters as he looks at his daughter, then to Seonghwa. "I've been trying to make her stop crying for at least an hour, and you just did it like that. She always stops crying when you hold her."

Akira sidles up to Yunho before whispering, "It's the face. Seonghwa hadsthis face that makes babies stop crying when they see him."

The general only sticks out his lower lip, wondering whether it's his face that's too scary for his daughter before their attention is turned to one of the palace staff approaching them, bowing before relaying the news about them having visitors from Nyla. They send the palace staff away before moving to the common area, where all of them are already gathered.

Sara's eyes light up first as she sees them, even brighter as she exclaims and extends her arms. "Babies!" She makes a point to greet Youngjae, Yeona then Sua, clapping her hands as she sees that every one of them is happy with her presence.

"Is Wooyoung not here?" Seonghwa asks Yeosang, who looks different - he has dyed his hair pink, even up to the point where his nails are also painted pink.

The palace doctor brushes the hair strands out of his hair before replying, "Ah, Wooyoung visited Estar first before he said he'll be coming over. Her Highness Suria is most likely coming too, since she said it's been a long time since she last visited here."

"I baked some donuts again," Sara says, before gesturing to San so that he'll take the containers out. "This time around, I've started to learn how to make different kinds," she beams as her fingers shoot out one by one, listing down what she has done, "filling them with custard, jam, and I'm trying to learn how to make icing." She gives a thumbs up, "I just know they're good."

Akira chuckles as she receives the wrapped containers, nodding as she relays, "I'm sure they are always good."

"You can taste them now," Sara beams as she helps to untie the wrapper as she lowers down her voice, "before Mr. Annoying Butt comes and comments all kinds of things about them." She makes a face as she sniffs, "There's always something he's not satisfied with but he always finishes at least 5 of them in one go."

Mingi and Hongjoong walk over to them, eyes sparkling as they see the stacked containers taken out one by one, obviously hungry as they lick their lips.

Akira looks at them warily as she slowly drags the containers towards herself. "Why are both of you looking like you haven't eaten in years?" She glances at San who is making an effort to entertain all three babies, looking like a comical trio with Yunho and Seonghwa. "Did the king of Nyla give you anything to eat?"

Mingi pouts before Hongjoong gestures towards Sara. "Princess right here wouldn't let us eat the donuts until we all arrived at Lucida. So now-" Both of them slowly push their opened palms forward, eyes blinking pitifully. "Your Majesty, if we may have some."

"Of course," Akira unstacks the containers before presenting them to the blacksmith and bargainer. "Pick whichever you want."

Sara looks proud as she sees how the two of them are gobbling up the donuts she made, not even commenting anything as they continue shoving the donuts down their throats. She looks on, already starting to grumble as all of them can hear the voice of someone familiar coming from miles away, announcing their presence.

"Mr. Annoying Butt is here," Sara rolls her eyes. "I meet him everyday in the palace and the only time he's gone is when he goes out with Mingi or when he goes to meet Princess Suria." She cringes, "Luckily, that's most of the time."

"Your favourite friend, brother and uncle is here!" Wooyoung announces as he sweeps his arms dramatically, wiggling his eyebrows as he sees that all attention has turned to him and Suria.

Suria is following closely behind, tugging at her robe and hood as soon as she sees that they have all garnered attention. Naturally, her eyes move to the three babies as she becomes self-conscious of her face again. They are already a year old and no matter how many times she has seen them, she always stays away from them, scared that her face will scare them. Instead, she only watches from afar as the babies get passed around, before Yeona is in the arms of Wooyoung.

Wooyoung holds the baby carefully before turning around to Suria, beckoning her over. He knows how much Suria is afraid of even looking directly at the baby, so he walks over to her before holding up Yeona in front of her.

Instinctively, she looks away, protecting the eyes of the baby from her face, but pauses when she hears the baby gurgling, her robe tugged as Yeona holds on to it with her chubby fingers. Suria blinks as the baby holds out her arms, wanting to be carried by the princess. Slowly, even though hesitant, she looks at Wooyoung who is waiting for her to take the baby. She stretches out her hands, posture stiff as Yeona is finally in her arms. She looks at the baby with her uncovered eye, before she feels like her heart would be reduced to a mush as the baby does something akin to a smile and her innocent eyes gaze at her.

"Yeona likes you," Wooyoung utters excitedly, giving her shoulder a shake.

Suria looks at the baby in wonder, as if it's her first time laying her eyes upon a baby. Her mouth forms a smile as she looks at Yeona, then she turns to Akira who's holding Youngjae in her arms and approaching her.

"I'm happy to see you're here," Akira says, and Youngjae gurgles in her arms, as if agreeing. "It's been a long time since I last saw you."

"I've been a bit busy, so apologies for not relaying my condition to you," Suria utters, already at ease as she holds on to Yeona. "Plus," she chuckles slowly, "Wooyoung has always made a point to come and visit Estar." She whispers, "He can be a bit clingy, you see."

This makes Akira chuckle as she shakes her head. "It's alright. I'm just happy that you're doing well," she smiles, "and that both of you are happy together."

"We are," Wooyoung interposes himself between the two, before winking at Suria. "I'm a changed man, you see. I work now and I don't laze around like I used to. One day," he glances at Suria, "I'll come back with a ring."

Akira makes a face but she slowly gives a thumbs up, happy to see how Wooyoung and Suria have been together for at least a year now. There's no amount of gratitude that could tell the princess how grateful she is for taking them in when she came back from Ileara sick, without even knowing that she was actually pregnant. Without the princess's help, it could've been something worse. Unknowingly, the queen holds on to Youngjae tighter, glad that her one-year-old is safe in her arms.

"Akira."

She turns around to see Yunho coming over to her, head slightly tilted down as she looks on, knowing that now when he calls her by her name instead of her title, there's something personal that he'd like to talk about. She gestures for Yunho to wait before handing over Youngjae to Wooyoung and going to the side where the general looks worried, guilty even.

"I was thinking that if you've forgotten about what day it is today," Yunho utters quietly. "Since... I think it must've been at least... four years now? Or is it three?" He chuckles painfully.

"Four years," the queen offers. "Four years since Emira left us."

He looks relieved to see that Akira still remembers, before his eyes glisten as he looks at her. "I thought that since those from Nyla are already here, you wouldn't want to leave them to pay a visit to Emira's grave."

She shakes her head, smiling. "How could I forget? Actually, it's even better now that those from Nyla are here, right?" She nudges him, "Seonghwa wouldn't be so clingy now that he's occupied with his friends. We can go and pay a visit to her grave."

He nods, although his face shows that he's still feeling slightly guilty for reminding her of today; the date when Emira fell to her death and she lost her life right in front of their eyes.

"Shall we?" Akira asks, gesturing behind her.

"Ah, right now?" Yunho utters. "I thought that maybe you'd like to spend more time with them first."

She glances at the clock, noting that it's only a little past 11. "We can go visit Emira's grave before noon comes and it's too hot. Don't worry," she punches his shoulder lightly. "I'm sure they'll understand." As soon as she says this, she notices that Seonghwa is already looking at her, nodding slightly as if he could hear their conversation. She shrugs, "I told Seonghwa that I wanted to visit my sister's grave with you." She takes a deep breath. "Even though both of us have our own family now, it won't ever change the fact that the three of us were a family way before everything became different."

"Ah," he slowly chuckles, gesturing so that they'll be able to walk out of the area. He goes over to the group, saying that he'll need help for them to take care of Sua for the time being, and Seonghwa assures him that he'll help.

When Seonghwa sees Akira, he reaches out a hand and she takes it. "I'll be here with our children. Don't rush and take your time."

Akira only nods, smiling. She brushes her lips against his forehead before turning to the rest, saying that she'll be stopping by Emira's grave with Yunho as today is the anniversary of her death.

All turn gradually quiet as they let the two go, their eyes trailing them.

Akira and Yunho walk side by side, but no words are exchanged between them as they call over for a carriage to bring them to Emira's grave. Together with the past kings and queens, she was buried in a special plot of land, reserved only for those from the Lucida royal bloodline. It's only a short ride from the main palace building, but it feels slow now that they're on their way to visit Emira.

When they do arrive at the cemetery, naturally Akira's eyes travel to where her father is buried, but today, she only tilts her head before looking for Emira's grave. She stands beside Yunho, who is already clasping his hands in front as he stands, head down to look at Emira's tombstone. It pains them to see the inscription of the years she was alive on the stone, knowing that it was four years ago that she left them, but the emptiness they feel still remains the same.

"Emira," Akira starts to say, before she crouches next to her grave, Yunho following suit. "We're here." She promises to herself that she won't cry, and she doesn't- but she hears Yunho already bursting into tears right next to her, dropping the facade he always has on as the general. She chuckles slowly as she pretends to complain like she always did to Emira when they were children. "Emira, do you see this? Yunho is always crying and he's such a pain in the ass." She smiles, "Even though our last moments weren't great, I'm glad that you were part of my childhood." She presses her lips together. "Even though we didn't know that we were sisters, you were the best sister I could ever ask for."

"We have-" Yunho sobs, "-our own family now. Our- our-" he can't even finish his sentence as he keeps on crying.

She sighs before attempting to continue Yunho's sentence. "Our babies are a year old now, and they're growing healthily. I really wish that you were here because if you remember my wish was to have a family of my own." She takes a deep breath. "I have one now," she looks down, "together with the person who loves me. Everything that seemed impossible to me, it seems that I've gotten it now." She smiles, "You're an aunt to three cute babies, you know."

He wipes his tears as he listens to what Akira is saying to Emira, silently knowing that he'll probably burst into tears if he ever tries to speak again. So he only wallows in silence as he hears Akira excitedly telling stories to her sister as if she was there, listening, bringing him back to their childhood. It's a bittersweet feeling to him as he's reminded of how tightly knit their relationship was, and even though he ended up developing feelings for Emira, he was able to let it go peacefully after knowing that Emira of course never looked at him in any other way except as a younger sibling, and that she liked someone else.

Everything is in the past, but now he has his own family, with Jihyun and Sua whom he loves with his whole heart.

When Akira's done, she nudges Yunho who seems to only be quiet, looking forlornly at the plot of land in front of them. She tilts her head, the corner of her mouth lifting up as she looks at the general. "Don't you have anything to say to Emira?"

"Not really," he utters as he sniffs. "I'm a man of few words."

She scoffs before brushing her hair over her shoulders. "Sure. I'll leave you alone if you want to say anything a bit, you know, private that you don't want me to hear." She clicks her tongue. "I'll wait for you in the carriage."

Although he wants to stop her from leaving, he knows that he can't refute as she sees Akira giving him a slight smile, her hand gesturing towards Emira's grave before she turns around. She hides a smile as she walks towards the carriage, stepping into the vehicle before looking at Yunho from afar, sighing heavily.

Yunho turns back to Emira's grave as he takes one final glance over his shoulder to see that Akira is indeed respecting his space as she waits in the carriage. He sits cross-legged next to her grave, feeling like there are a lot of things he wants to say yet his mouth and heart feel heavy, not even knowing where he could start. Drying his eyes, he sighs heavily first before he attempts to say something, as if it's his last goodbye to her as they finally, after not being able to visit her grave, had learnt to accept that she's indeed no longer with them.

"Your little sister has become queen now, and she reminds me so much of you." He breathes in as he smiles. "Even though our friendship fell apart, I hope you know that I appreciate every single moment we had, no matter if we were on the floor together, or you were on the throne while both Akira and I were bowing to you. I hope that you're at peace now, and that," he takes a deep breath, "you're happy with all the people you love around you."

He wants to say more, but knows that it'll only make him harder to move on from her death, even though they had lost her years ago. He gets up, dusting his back before he lightly bows, turning around as he leaves the cemetery behind. He steps into the vehicle as he sees Akira looking out the window in the opposite direction. As soon as he takes his seat, Akira turns to look at him with an unreadable expression.

She doesn't say anything as the carriage lurches forward, the vehicle rocking on the uneven road before they emerge from the private land, well on their way back to the palace. She folds her hands on her lap, making a point to make sure that she doesn't disturb him; she doesn't know what he had spoken alone, so she remains quiet.

"I still remember," Yunho utters, "that you asked me if there comes a time, who would I save. Emira, or you."

Akira gets flustered before she sighs. "That's... an old story. I'm not that-" she shifts in her seat, "-person anymore. It was a stupid question."

He shakes his head. "I would've died instead if it means I had to choose," he answers.

"I know it's Emira," she says. "But you had to bury your feelings because we were not in a position to be careless."

"She changed into someone we didn't know," he states matter-of-factly. "Naturally, that feeling just got lost in our desperation to hold on to our positions." He smiles as he looks down, the carriage approaching the palace. "I wouldn't want to jeopardize our friendship just because of some fleeting feeling. What I can only hope is that Emira will eventually find her happiness, even though it's not in this world."

She loses it as the tears drop, the pain coming back to her as she's reminded of how they had to act just because of their blood colours. Three children who knew nothing about the meaning of blood colours, brought together under the guise of friendship, yet as time went by the severity of their difference in positions brought them apart.

"It's all in the past," Akira says. "It's something that's painful, but everything up to now happened because of that. If things ever changed, there might even be a possibility that we wouldn't meet these people." She throws a look to the garden; she smiles as she sees everyone gathering there, not even minding the afternoon sun as they wait for lunch to be served.

Jongho notices them first as he waves for the queen and general to come and join them, his face bearing a big smile. He shields his eyes as he jogs over to the carriage, quickly greeting the queen and the general.

"Your Majesty," Jongho says, then bows to Yunho, "General Jeong. You should come to the garden; it's quite hot but the delentines are in full bloom again. They're beautiful. And General, Jihyun is there too; she's feeling much better now."

Akira and Yunho alight the carriage, walking side by side as they walk past the main doors of the palace and towards the garden, where the rest are waiting. For a flash of moment, they are back to when they were children, when there were three of them; one with white, black and yellow.

They were smiling at each other as they ran around the palace, hiding themselves from the adults who didn't want to see them together because of their differences in ranks. The three of them were the best of friends despite the people telling them that they shouldn't be too comfortable, considering that as they grew up, they would be bound to their destinies written in their blood colours.

But now, who would care?

Akira smiles as Seonghwa catches her in his arms, bringing her to the garden as he excitedly points towards the delentines he had successfully grown. The colours have returned to her fully now that her babies are born, and she's given the opportunity to appreciate the colours around her more. She gazes at her husband, who turns to look at her before kissing her forehead then hugging her tight. She turns to see Youngjae and Yeona in Wooyoung and Suria's arms, looking more than comfortable as they smile brightly.

Her stare collides with Yunho's, who has stood by Jihyun's side as one hand holds hers, while the other keeps a firm hold on Sua. Even though they're now adults, every time she sees Yunho she'll always see the older boy who would cry whenever she would scold him, but the older boy who wouldn't hesitate to protect her as his younger sibling.

As they grew up, they acquired scars; some that faded over time while some that stayed permanently. Some were physical scars that didn't hurt as much as the scars that they couldn't see; something that cut so deep yet they could see no blood.

They thought that the best way was to ignore the scars and bear through the pain, but they realized that to move on, they needed to look deeper into the meanings behind their scars, even if it meant opening them back up. Some scars don't heal, yet they've learnt to live with them, opening their eyes to things they may have overlooked before. They accepted that there will always be cracks, but it doesn't mean that they won't be able to fix it.

They find themselves appreciating something that's already broken more, allowing the scars to stay to tell their tales.

Everyone told her that her inability to see colours was her weakness, yet she believed it brought an advantage to her as she could never judge anyone by their blood colours.

She looks at the general as the latter smiles, all of them finally moving to enter the palace again as lunch is about to be served. Her heart feels full as she sees how everyone is smiling, not one left out as everything has returned to how it is.

Their scars, their flaws and their imperfections.

But they've learned to embrace them.

No matter how painful they are.

The end