After her night of restless tossing and turning, Morana was glad to leave the elven town as soon as possible. Yeosang asked her in the morning whether she wanted to look around and sit with the people to ask them about themselves, but the girl shook her head. She was drained. Couldn't solve the labyrinths of their sorrow. Though they were her kin, she felt foreign to them.

While they packed their bags, Morana sat with Thistle on some rocks while Hongjoong muttered with Yeosang nearby. Trying to figure out whether wandering the Crystal Sphere any more was helpful to her case. With her head lowered, Morana listened in on their conversation.

"I had hoped she would be keener about the elves. Morana is intelligent, but she still hides away from them. Were they too overwhelming? I spoke to some elders who could educate her." Yeosang sounded ever so worried.

Hongjoong yanked Mulberry's saddle bag into its spot. Drawing the leather taut.

"She doesn't need elves. She needs parents. Especially Seonghwa."

Morana scowled to herself.

No, she didn't.

It was true Seungyoun gave her only a fragment of that assurance. Her brother was better for her, but neither he nor the elves here could soothe the void in her chest.

But she didn't need some weak elf. Didn't need to be reminded of the humiliation of being the daughter of the one who threw the empire into chaos.

Morana studied her history. For many hundred years, no one mongered war. Within only a few years of rule, Seonghwa ruined the entire empire.

When the girl huffed, Thistle nervously wound her fingers around each other. No one had recognised her as a danger and she didn't make any trouble either.

"Are you all right?"

Morana sighed. Taking care of Thistle was so much easier than her crisis of self and her responsibility towards this empire, but even this conversation wore on her. Morana missed the comfortable cave of her home. Her boring books and the soft bed.

"Of course..." She muttered, not up for confessing her frustration about people who genuinely suffered. They didn't ask for any of this.

"You looked pretty rough yesterday. Being a princess must be scary," Thistle extended her empathy. Morana risked a peek at her. After all, goblins weren't as brute as orcs. Understanding swam in Thistle's eyes as she tried to comprehend Morana's upset.

Flattered by her effort and proud that she resisted the wicked half of her, Morana uncurled from clutching her legs. They looked out over the town while Morana's uncles swung their coats over their shoulders and thanked the elves for the provisions they offered.

"I never felt like one. Just like you, I also grew up without my parents. This is our voyage to find them." Wistful, Morana watched an elven child hopping at her mother's hand, excited about the grand warriors before them.

"Your emmya was... the one the orcs attacked," Thistle whispered, having gathered that much. Morana grinned a bitter smile.

"The one who ruled these lands, yes. The reason they are in ashes now. He was the one they wanted."

Uncomfortable with the revelation, Thistle looked at the tentative green grass between their feet. She wasn't at fault for any of this. She was a product of this war, but she couldn't fathom the depravity of the orcs, either. Or the betrayal of the demons.

"You and your brother must have gone through a lot of pain," she muttered. Understanding how their status granted them no extravagant differences.

Morana had enough of the topic. She tried for a brittle smile.

"Perhaps that is why I saw myself in you."

Shy, Thistle just played with her scarred fingers. Aodhán talked to some townsfolk, confident and charming as ever. Promising them a better future to the best of his abilities. Meanwhile, the heir to the throne hid in the shadows of her hair.

"I want to fix things and be better than him, but... How can I dare hope to hear the suffering of so many people?"

Another voice answered her. Wooyoung had been loitering nearby, making sure no one would disturb Morana since the shadows of the night still haunted her eyes. Their conversation attracted his curious ears.

"You wouldn't be alone, Morana."

Curling back into herself at his treason, Morana just huffed. But the gryphon-born crouched next to her, balanced by his wings, to insist.

"You have all of us here. Lillwen. The giants. Aodhán. The people of our countries. Everyone roots for you. We also miss Seonghwa, but we will be there for you instead of him."

Exhausted, Morana lowered her forehead onto her knees. The topic of the empire was so devastating to her now. She threw herself into the business of so many people foolishly, unaware of what weight a crown carried. And now that people expected peace and restoration through her, she wanted to shrink away from their encouraging eyes.

"I don't want to think about that right now," she mumbled, and she was saved when the others came back over. Morana was grabbed to get lifted onto Mulberry's back, closely joined by her brother. Thistle got to ride Buddy and Yeosang made sure all of them were seated properly before he muttered at Morana to get some rest.

They would leave the Crystal Sphere. Go further north, where her other father was rumoured to be. As expected, the gloom of her home was too depressing for Morana and the harem, who lost everything here. The rumours might bring them back, but for now, they wanted to pursue their most realistic target.

"Thank you for your hospitality, despite our sudden appearance. I'm sorry we couldn't do more for you," Hongjoong addressed the assembled elves. They still peered at Morana with those hopeful eyes, but she dodged away.

"Seeing our prince and princess at health was the greatest gift we could ask for. May your Majesties also be well and we wish you fortune on your travels. Please return to us soon with even better news."

Hongjoong nodded while Yunho and San bowed to them politely. When Morana shook her trance off to bid her silent goodbye, the elves waved at her, treating her like one of their own. Because she was their princess? Because she was an elf? Morana didn't understand.

"We will wait patiently until you grow up. Our support is yours, Your Highness."

"May the news only get better from here on. Take care. My soldiers are with you," San said as they took off and the elves saw them off until they left their little spot. The gloom of the Crystal Sphere was almost welcoming and though Yeosang glanced back wistfully, missing the people he had grown up with and whom he cherished most, Wooyoung also shook out his wings with relief as soon as no more eyes followed them.

What a heavy burden they carried.

Aodhán's head of golden locks leaned into Morana's shoulder. She closed her eyes, sharing his warmth until their heartbeats evened out to become one. Their souls were still tormented, but some of the weight had eased.

"Where are we going now?" Morana asked towards the assortment of men guarding Mulberry in their midst. North, that was the only thing she knew.

Wooyoung peered at Hongjoong, in for the adventure but with just as little idea of their strategy as Morana. She could imagine he would need a bigger feast soon. He always got grumpy if he didn't get to have fun and drink for too long.

"I last felt Mingi's presence in the mountains to the north, an area called the Ruby Glacier. It is part of the eastern Dwarven kingdom, which would be The Burrow."

"How can it be a ruby glacier? A glacier is ice, no?" Aodhán perked up, intrigued by the names Morana remembered dimly from staring at drawn maps in utter boredom, wishing to play in the wind with the gryphon-borns.

Proud of him, Yunho searched his pockets for some candy to hand him. Morana also got one and rolled the sugary treat between her teeth.

"You will see," Hongjoong replied mysteriously. Then he returned to the gravity of the question. "Which means we will have to cross their borders to get there. I doubt he is with people, but we should be careful on our way. Dwarves aren't known for their hospitality towards strangers."

"They once fought against us," Yeosang recalled. "Without their weapons, the war..." He trailed off when Hongjoong turned his head away to look into a far distance.

Morana huddled into Aodhán, feeling the sudden chill of a sensitive topic among them.

"Ever since, they have reverted to neutral, but we wouldn't know if they might join hands with the orcs and the demons again. Yongguk surely put bounties on all our heads. Since we don't want to tempt the dwarves with the shimmer of gold, we should lie low."

Wasn't Hongjoong here for this very purpose? His magic shrouded them on their path and they passed several groups of enemies from a distance without being spotted. Why not do the same there?

Eerily, he responded to that exact question.

"Once we cross the border, the dwarven artefacts will diminish my power and render me useless." Morana saw his fingers clench into fists by his sides. "So we must rely on our other instincts. Onyx can help us scour out the area."

"The dwarves are in the mountains, no? I can also help," Wooyoung offered himself with a proud chest, but Hongjoong sent him a cruel smile.

"Want to get hit by some more bolts?"

Pouting, Wooyoung quieted down. Not enough alcohol and not enough flying. His life was miserable right now.

A quiet voice spoke up between them and Morana peered down to see Thistle seated on Buddy. She had brushed back her hood and, though some liked her less than others in the group, they turned their heads to listen to her.

"Uhm... If you go up into the mountains... Will you still take me along?"

Morana glanced north. In the far distance, the mountains towered at nauseating heights. Their tops were dusted with a white blanket. Would they wander back into winter?

No, Mingi should be inside the mountain. Where it wasn't as cold.

"You are our guest now, not our prisoner. You may leave if you want," Yeosang told the goblin child, but Thistle peered up at Morana, loyal to her call.

Somehow, Morana was flattered. This young girl looked up to her as if she were her leader.

Feeling responsible for this soul at least, Morana nodded.

"You can go if you want to go or you can come along. It might get cold there."

Nervously, Thistle ran her fingers through Buddy's fur. The dog didn't mind her, was even friendly whenever she climbed on. Yunho was convinced she was a good person.

"I don't know if I am made for the cold," Thistle whispered to herself, head hanging. "And I don't want to be in the way of your quest."

The group slowed down so she could gather herself. When she lifted her head at Morana the next time, her gaze was more steady.

"I will wait for you to return. Right here. I will grow big and strong and then we can meet again. Perhaps when you become empress... Perhaps even just as friends. I would like to help you and repay you for saving my life."

Though sad to see her friend go, Morana understood. Thistle also wanted to be among her own.

"Then I hope you are safe. And don't trust odd people," she grinned, while Thistle slipped from Buddy. She studied Morana from head to toe, memorising her appearance. Then she dared a careful smile, showing off the small tusks of her lower jaw.

"I learned a lot from you. Good luck with finding your happiness. Count on me once you return." With that, she ducked away into the dead vegetation, disappearing almost immediately.

Buddy licked his paws. Yeosang chuckled over the peculiar friendship they found in the wasteland.

"I don't trust goblins," Hongjoong grumbled, but San marched ahead, leading them on as if nothing further happened.

Morana looked forward to seeing Thistle again. Big and strong and no longer afraid of her kinder elven side. Meeting them proved to her that peace was possible and worth fighting for.

As they left the burnt forest to begin their hike into the mountains, Morana breathed the crisp, wintry air and calmed the hammering of her heart as she also came closer to the answer to her questions, step by step.