After his meal, Seonghwa had accompanied Wooyoung back up the stairs and to the room he had chosen to stay in. He could gladly take it and get cosy, the feu follet assured. It had been a long time since the castle had last seen a permanent visitor and Seonghwa was all over the place, trying to prepare a comfortable stay for Wooyoung. As he whirled around and cleaned the room to the best of his ability, Wooyoung slowly came to terms that this would be his new home now, for however long.

"What does the prince plan to do with me? Why did he have Yeosang bring me here in exchange?" If he simply wanted someone to taunt, Yeosang might have been a just as suitable victim, no?

Seonghwa huffed and puffed as he fluttered through the veiled curtains around the canopy bed. The dust got into his non-existent lungs and made him choke.

Helpless with the excited spirit, Wooyoung took down the curtains for a wash.

"Tales about your beauty and grace preceded the Villebête's borders and reached even us. Prince San got curious about who you were and why people adored you so. When your friend mentioned you, he seized the opportunity."

A frown made its way to Wooyoung's features, foreign to his merry face.

So San had been greedy for some kindness and grace in his loneliness? A sentiment Wooyoung could understand well, but that he impossibly approved. Such a vile way of getting his will and pleasing his avarice by blackmail didn't suit the image of a charming prince.

"So I am here to be his court jester? To make him laugh and regain the joy of life?"

Seonghwa drifted unsurely. His fretting to pretend the castle wasn't dirty in front of Wooyoung's eyes stilled.

"I can't answer that. He got more brooding with the years and barely talks to us anymore. For now, I suggest you get comfortable and meet the others. Mingi was overcome by joy when he heard someone would visit us."

Did they tell each other how involuntary Wooyoung's presence was? Or would they pretend they hadn't trapped him in a terrifying and cold place? Just because he wasn't locked up in the dungeons, didn't mean he relished his stay.

At least, he soothed himself, he had a proper room and food. He didn't mind manual labour and he would gladly help the clumsy feux follet in cleaning the places they couldn't reach. If his stay could be limited in time or task, he would look forward to his future freedom, and gather strength from there.

Wooyoung got back to helping Seonghwa clean up his room while the floating orb hummed a merry tune. With a human's hands to help, the room cleaned out fast and soon, its original splendour resurfaced under the layers of grime.

Wooyoung now possessed a vanity table with a round mirror and many little drawers for jewellery and trinkets. The heavy wood was decorated with ornate patterns that raked like leaves across its rims. Next to it, his bed was worthy of a king with its fresh sheets and curtains that draped like a dream over the wood. The headboard and roof were decorated with just as much craftsmanship and Wooyoung ran his fingers over the pillars in awe, dipping between raking roses.

He had both a chest and a regular drawer for clothes, though he had brought none. Seonghwa assured him lots were left from the palace's past inhabitants. The feu follet would take care of bringing them to him the next time he visited.

Since this was a noble chamber, Wooyoung even got his own bathroom. The tub shone when polished and Seonghwa lugged a bar of soap over for him while Wooyoung stood back from his scrubbing sweaty but satisfied. He had rolled up his sleeves and his dirt-smeared forearm left a smudge on his forehead when he wiped his sweat. Seonghwa giggled at him, a bell-like sound.

"It's good to see someone so energetic around. Come! Let me show you other places of the castle so you won't get lost while wandering." The flame floated out of the door, illuminating the dark corners with a pink hue in the progress. Awed by the enchanting sight, Wooyoung followed him.

Seonghwa presented him with the way to the entrance area and the kitchens. They met Jongho there as he prepared food and he grunted at Wooyoung in greeting while he very labouriously chopped some cheese. After Wooyoung had helped him out with kind hands, they were on their way again.

The gardens were not accessible to Wooyoung, for he was locked inside, but Seonghwa assured him that once the residents warmed up to him, he could visit them. They traversed ghostly empty stables that were cold as the depths of winter and a wilted indoor garden. Afterwards, Seonghwa glided back up the stairs, matching his pace with Wooyoung's steps.

"The western wing holds the king's and queen's chambers, but we rarely visit there. The memories are most painful. The eastern wing is where San lives." They took a right on the stairs and found somewhat cleaner corridors. Paintings hung from the wall and their golden frames were polished. They showed the royal family as they had been human and happy, though Wooyoung couldn't tell which of them was San since he had been a boy among three back then. Some others showed the landscapes around Villebête, or the far ocean.

Wooyoung rubbed his arms when the chill of this area penetrated his bones even worse than in the stables. His breath showed in the air and he observed the shadows with wary shivers.

"Most of these rooms are blockaded by ice, so there is no use in trying to get inside. Ah, apart from the one. The room you must never enter."

Seonghwa halted in the air before Wooyoung got to wonder about the peculiar presence of the ice. Had San's cold heart frozen everything he touched over?

When the feu follet spoke, his voice was serious, and all playful demeanour had disappeared from it.

"The room at the left of the corridor. You will never enter it under any circumstances. If you do, the punishment will be grave."

Startled, Wooyoung nodded.

"I promise not to go there."

What reason would he have to stray around? He simply wanted to go home, not to know this place and his secrets. It was cold in this part of the castle, and the beast lurked somewhere in the shadows. He wasn't keen on sticking around.

Satisfied by his vow, Seonghwa took him into a different room. This one's door was closed, but Wooyoung opened it for him as they stepped inside.

He found himself in awe when they entered a library. Towering shelves were filled with rows upon rows of books. Their bindings reached from expensive leather decorated with golden engravings to bundled pieces of parchment that were rolled up and tied neatly. It was a paradise on earth, and Wooyoung couldn't even grasp the number of stories and wisdom in this room.

To Yunho's greatest chagrin, Wooyoung adored reading. He devoured book after book, reading everything their local mayor, the church, or Yeosang's presents from his travels could offer. It wasn't a common thing to do, for most people in the village couldn't read, but Wooyoung could blame it on his heritage. He adored sinking into a cosy meadow or his bed and drowning in a world that wasn't his own. They were magical and romantic, those worlds, and told of mighty warriors fighting ghastly monsters and getting to kiss their princesses in the moonlight after.

Wooyoung had never been kissed before, but he had an entire dreamy imagination of what his first kiss would be like. It had to be outdoors, and with a person he dearly adored. They would laugh before their gazes would drop to each other's lips and linger there until they met in a kiss so sweet. The books inspired him to believe in true love and in eternal affections.

"If you ever get bored, you'll find everything you desire in here. Oh, unless you can't read? Perhaps Hongjoong could teach you. It gets depressing here without escape."

"I won't teach him anything," a bitter voice replied before Wooyoung got to reassure Seonghwa. When his startled eyes searched the room, Wooyoung spotted the golden feu follet he had met on his first night here. It sat on an open book, immersed in its reading until they had disrupted it. Its colour blended so well with the sun-bathed pages, Wooyoung had overlooked it.

Fretting, Seonghwa bumbled left and right.

"Pardon us for the intrusion, we didn't mean to bother you. I simply wanted to show our guest the library." His voice was squeaky again and Wooyoung found it almost adorable.

When the golden orb sat unmoving, Wooyoung couldn't tell if it continued reading or if it glared at them, ready to see them go.

Thankfully, Seonghwa knew better.

"Ah, Wooyoung, this is Hongjoong, the prince's tutor."

Wooyoung performed a little bow since he felt more formalities were in place compared to Seonghwa. Hongjoong's job ranked high in importance, and though he was only a floating flame right now, he seemed insistent on such ranks.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Wooyoung smiled, even when he remembered vividly how Hongjoong had terrorised him together with Jongho. No matter his warm glow, Wooyoung was glad Seonghwa was the one to introduce him to the castle.

"Whatever. Seonghwa, come help me get this vase fresh water." He rose from the book to float in their direction and Wooyoung politely stepped aside. When he heard Seonghwa's dejected mumble, he was quick to step in.

"I can do that! Anything that is so hard it needs two of you, let me use my hands for it."

"You're a guest," Seonghwa protested at the same moment that Hongjoong snapped a 'keep your grubby fingers out of our matters' at him. They fell into hushed hisses at each other as they took off together and a few metres away, Wooyoung already couldn't hear their little voices anymore. Left behind, he stood and looked after them.

Could he just pick a book and take it to his room? It would marginally improve his mood and the time spent here.

As he lingered, unsure to break another obscure rule, the soft noise of a book shutting above him had him whirl around.

He expected another feu follet, the one named Mingi perhaps, but instead, he was met with an unnatural shadow on the upper gallery. It seemed to suck in all the light around it as blackness wafted from it like smoke whenever it moved. The shape of a man was vaguely recognisable under the eerie outer layer.

Wooyoung knew his touch was cold as ice.

Black fingers put the book back into its spot. The arched horns on the white mask turned in Wooyoung's direction. He shivered when those flaming red eyes met him.

"Can you read?" The beast asked in that inhumane voice. It rumbled like the depths of a mountain and yet slithered like a snake on the ground. It was unpleasant and dissonant to Wooyoung's ears and he took a step back on instinct. The haunting presence walked the gallery and left wisps of smoke behind as he made for the stairs.

"I can," Wooyoung replied as steadfast as possible. His voice trembled but he tilted his chin high to face the monster. Not a prince, not the San the servants had known. Just a grisly shell, a curse of a being.

"How so?" He reached the ground and his feet made no sound when he crossed it. The pale white mask looked ghostly even in the warm light of the library.

The beast didn't come closer. It maintained a polite distance, though its chilling aura froze Wooyoung to the ground even from there.

"I... My uncle taught me," Wooyoung lied. His heritage was an item of the past, nothing to identify himself with. Even less so towards a monster.

A humourless chuckle sounded from the mass of black. His mouth moved in his blurring features when he talked, but the mass seemed void of an expression.

"Why am I here?" Wooyoung asked, seizing the occasion so he wouldn't have to talk to the monster again anytime soon.

The beast tilted his head at Wooyoung, seizing him up. Then he nodded, deciding what he saw was good enough.

"I wish for you to marry me. If you are as lovely as the tales tell, I should be able to break the curse if only we get close enough."

Repulsed, Wooyoung surged backwards. The proposal had been so void of emotion, so ignorant. Even Yunho's constant push for Wooyoung's hand in marriage had more passion, and Yunho was a buffoon.

Displeased, Wooyoung crossed his arms.

"I won't."

"Why not?"

Wooyoung could be glad that slithering and coiling voice displayed no anger. The beast had zero interest in him.

"I will marry the one I truly love and who dearly loves me back. Not some... beast that can't help its greed."

Not to mention the monster was hideous and so, so scary to look at, but Wooyoung was too kind to point that out.

The beast nodded and walked past Wooyoung. Under his feet, a tiny web of ice crystals patterned his step.

"As you wish. In that case, get comfortable and do whatever you want. I have no purpose for you."

He left before Wooyoung could yell at him for keeping him locked up just for fun. As Wooyoung remained alone in the lush library, coldness clung to his limbs the entire day.