After the near-death experience I had barely escaped, my mind refused to rest.
Not even the silence of the palace could quiet it.
Who was that stranger?
The one who had stepped into death itself without hesitation… and changed everything in a single breath.
It felt like something torn from old myths, from stories whispered only when the fire was low and fear was high.
Yet it had happened to me.
"I must know who he is," I murmured under my breath, fingers curling tightly until my knuckles ached.
That face refused to leave me.
Those eyes.
Those unnatural, unshaken eyes.
"Your Highness."
Poong Yeon's voice pulled me back. "You sent for me?"
"Yes," I said, forcing calm into my tone. "I cannot stop thinking about the incident that took place i-teul jeon."
The words felt heavier than usual.
I pushed the bowl of untouched soup aside. The scent alone reminded me too much of blood and smoke.
"The man who saved me… I need to find him," I continued. "I owe him my life. And something more than gratitude."
Poong Yeon hesitated. "The road where you were attacked leads to Sungjoo Village. If he came from anywhere nearby… that is where we begin."
"Sungjoo…" I repeated slowly.
The name lingered on my tongue like something unfamiliar… yet important.
"Then go," I ordered immediately. "Search every path. Every village. Every rumor. I want to know who he is."
A pause.
Then, quieter:
"And bring him to me."
Poong Yeon bowed. "I will not fail you, Your Highness."
I nodded, but my gaze drifted away before he could rise.
Because I had already seen him again in my mind.
The way he moved.
The way the world seemed to hesitate around him.
The way he looked at me, not like a prince… but like someone who didn't matter.
That thought should have angered me.
Instead, it stayed.
Hours passed like slow-burning incense.
No news. No report. No return.
The hours turned into days.
The palace felt tighter than usual, like the walls had moved closer when I wasn't looking.
I could not sit still.
"Eunuch Yang," I called sharply. "Prepare my royal robes."
"My Prince," he hesitated, bowing deeply, "by the King's order, you are not permitted outside the palace due to recent security concerns-"
"I don't care."
My voice cut through him cleanly.
He froze.
"…At once, Your Highness."
But even as he turned to obey, another voice interrupted the hall.
"Your Highness! General Poong Yeon has returned!"
My heart reacted before my mind did.
I was already moving.
My footsteps echoed through the corridors faster than decorum allowed, faster than thought itself.
The courtyard doors opened.
And there he was.
Poong Yeon stood beside him.
And beside Poong Yeon, time stopped.
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
She stood there as if she did not belong to this world and she was no man as I thought she had been in that moment.
The same presence she carried.
The same silence that followed her like a shadow.
Her clothing was unfamiliar, simple, yet she carried herself with a strength that made the air around her feel unstable.
"Your Highness, Crown Prince Lee Ji-ho," the eunuch announced.
I stepped forward.
Each step heavier than the last.
Because now I could see her clearly.
Up close.
Real.
But the closer I got, the more wrong everything felt.
Not dangerous.
Not threatening.
Just… different.
"…It's you," I said quietly.
My voice lowered without permission.
She tilted her head slightly, as if trying to understand me.
Poong Yeon spoke beside her, but I barely heard it.
My focus stayed locked on her.
Those eyes.
Green.
Impossible.
Alive in a way that made everything else feel dull.
"You're the one who saved me," I said.
A pause.
Then softer,
"…Who are you?"
She didn't answer.
Of course she didn't.
But she didn't look away either.
That alone unsettled me more than any blade ever could.
I stepped closer.
And without meaning to, the words slipped out before I could stop them:
"You're no man."
Silence.
A strange, heavy silence filled the courtyard.
Her expression didn't change.
But something about her presence pressed into me harder now.
Like a truth I hadn't learned how to read yet.
"How did you come to save me?" I asked again, slower this time.
Still no answer.
Only those eyes.
Watching.
Unblinking.
Like she was the one studying me instead.
And for the first time in my life…
I felt like I was the one standing inside a story I did not understand.
My gaze dropped slightly.
Her skin, her posture, her quiet defiance, it didn't match anything I knew.
And yet…
I couldn't look away.
"She's…" someone behind me whispered.
But I already knew what they were thinking.
It echoed in my own mind before I could stop it.
A goddess.
Or something far greater.
Something far more human.