"My lord, we should return to the palace."
Bongu's voice cut through the sound of rushing hooves as they rode deeper into the forest.
"She needs treatment."
Yi Hyun did not even look back.
"Not the palace."
The answer came immediately.
Flat.
Final.
Bongu frowned harder, glancing toward Navi, barely conscious in the prince's arms.
"My lord—"
"Follow."
Nothing more.
No explanation.
No hesitation.
Just command.
Jinhwan lowered his head immediately. "Yes, my lord."
But Bongu's confusion only deepened as the forest swallowed them farther from the palace with every passing moment.
Navi shifted weakly against Yi Hyun's chest, a strained sound escaping her throat before her body trembled again.
Something was wrong.
Even Bongu could hear it now in the way her breathing sounded.
Uneven.
Fragile.
And somehow getting worse.
⸻
The ride no longer felt real.
Pain burned strangely through Navi's body, spreading in waves she couldn't understand. One moment she felt freezing cold.
The next—
like her veins were on fire.
Voices blurred around her.
Unfamiliar words.
Wind.
Movement.
Then suddenly—
"You ruin everything you touch."
Her father's voice.
The darkness around her shifted instantly.
Now she was back in the apartment kitchen.
The smell of alcohol hit first—sharp and familiar in a way her body still remembered before her mind could catch up.
A plate shattered somewhere behind her.
Her stepmother's voice followed immediately.
"Look at her pretending again."
Navi flinched.
Even inside the dream, her body reacted before she could think.
Her father stepped into view.
Heavy presence.
Anger already there before words.
His hand grabbed her arm hard enough to hurt.
"You are just like your mother."
Another shove.
"You make this house miserable."
Navi tried to pull away.
Couldn't.
Her throat tightened.
Her breath caught—
⸻
Then she was outside again.
Thirteen.
Sitting on cold pavement outside her school while rain soaked through her uniform, the world blurred in grey water and silence.
Her knees were pulled to her chest.
She looked smaller than she remembered being.
Like she was trying to disappear into herself.
Then—
Minji.
No hesitation.
No questions.
Just warmth breaking through cold.
Minji sat beside her and pressed warm food into her hands, holding it there gently like it mattered that she eat something.
"You can stay at my house today," she said softly.
And for a moment—
Navi believed safety could exist without conditions.
⸻
Then it broke.
⸻
The jungle returned.
The same one.
The first one.
The one that had swallowed her the moment she arrived in this world.
But this time it was wrong in a different way.
Too close.
Too personal.
Navi stood there barefoot again, but she wasn't confused anymore.
She knew what this was.
Her body remembered fear before her mind did.
And then—
a hand closed around her throat.
But it wasn't just her father.
It was everything he left inside her.
The shape of him.
The echo of him.
The part of her that never fully stopped expecting pain.
His grip tightened violently.
Air vanished.
Navi clawed at his hand, panic rising fast, sharp, familiar—
but the face above her flickered.
Not fully him.
Not fully anything.
Just the idea of him.
The memory of every moment she thought she had escaped.
Her vision blurred.
Her knees weakened.
And for a split second—
she almost believed she had never left that life at all.
A broken sound escaped her throat.
Her fingers twitched violently against Yi Hyun's chest.
Like she was trying to come back.
Like she was trying to survive her own past all over again.
⸻
By the time they arrived, dawn had not yet reached the mountains.
The sanctuary appeared slowly through layers of mist and towering trees hidden deep within the forest, so isolated it barely looked connected to the outside world at all.
Lantern light glowed softly along stone paths surrounded by flowing water and flowering gardens untouched by winter's harshness. White blossoms climbed along dark wooden walls while distant wind chimes echoed quietly through the mountainside.
Beautiful.
Silent.
Hidden.
Attendants hurried down the steps the moment they saw Yi Hyun approaching.
The atmosphere shifted instantly at the sight of Navi unconscious in his arms.
One attendant disappeared inside immediately.
Moments later, an older man emerged from the sanctuary doors.
The moment his eyes landed on Navi—
his expression hardened.
"…What happened?"
⸻
The room became chaos almost immediately.
Steam filled the air.
Bowls of crushed herbs.
Boiling water.
Low, urgent voices.
Navi barely reacted as attendants replaced the cloth on her forehead again.
The older healer sat beside her, fingers pressed firmly against her wrist while his expression darkened further with every passing moment.
"How long ago did she consume it?"
"Less than three hours," Yi Hyun answered.
The healer frowned immediately.
"Then she should be stable by now."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Unless she consumed an impossible amount."
Yi Hyun said nothing.
The healer reached for another herbal mixture.
At first, his movements remained calm.
Experienced.
Certain.
Then suddenly—
he froze.
His fingers pressed harder against her pulse.
Again.
And again.
Confusion appeared first.
Then concern.
"…No."
Yi Hyun's gaze sharpened slightly.
"What is it?"
The older man looked up slowly.
"Her pulse is weakening too quickly."
Bongu stiffened immediately.
"What?"
The healer stood abruptly.
"This should not be happening."
One of the attendants hurried closer. "Will she survive?"
No answer came immediately.
And somehow, that silence frightened Bongu more than words would have.
The healer looked toward the others sharply.
"Everyone outside."
The attendants immediately obeyed.
Then his eyes shifted toward Yi Hyun.
"You stay."
Bongu glanced once toward Navi before reluctantly stepping outside with Jinhwan as the doors slid shut behind them.
⸻
The sounds inside became muffled now—hurried footsteps, quiet voices, medicine bowls against wood.
Bongu ran a hand roughly through his hair before exhaling sharply.
For a moment, neither guard spoke.
Then quietly—
"I do not understand what happened tonight."
Jinhwan leaned against the wooden pillar beside him.
"You are trying too hard to understand things beyond your place."
Bongu laughed once beneath his breath.
Tired.
Uneasy.
"My place?"
His eyes shifted toward the closed doors.
"I thought I understood His Highness."
Jinhwan's expression tightened immediately.
"Bongu."
But the younger guard continued anyway.
"I always thought he was cold because he had to be."
A pause.
"Disciplined. Ruthless when necessary."
His voice lowered.
"But still a good man."
The words lingered heavily between them.
"…A man with a good heart."
Jinhwan remained silent.
Because until tonight, he would have agreed.
Bongu swallowed harshly before continuing.
"But he watched her eat those berries."
The memory visibly unsettled him even now.
"He knew what they were."
Another pause.
"And he still let her continue."
Jinhwan immediately glanced toward the room before lowering his voice.
"You cannot speak about the prince this way."
Bongu looked at him tiredly.
"Why not?"
"Because it is treason."
The word landed sharply.
Immediate.
Instinctive.
Jinhwan stepped closer.
"If anyone hears you—"
Bongu laughed quietly again.
Not amused.
Just exhausted.
"Treason?"
He shook his head slowly.
"We abandoned the palace in the middle of the night to hide a foreign woman who appeared out of nowhere."
A pause.
"And not just any woman."
His eyes lifted toward Jinhwan.
"A woman summoned personally by the Emperor himself."
The reality settled heavily between them.
Bongu lowered his voice further.
"I think we crossed treason hours ago."
This time, Jinhwan didn't answer immediately.
Because neither of them truly knew anymore where the night had stopped making sense.
The silence stretched between them before Jinhwan finally exhaled quietly.
"…Maybe."
Bongu looked at him.
Jinhwan's gaze shifted toward the closed room.
"But His Highness still brought her here."
His tone remained careful.
Measured.
"We do not understand his intentions."
A pause.
"And perhaps we are not meant to."
Bongu frowned slightly but stayed quiet.
Jinhwan continued more softly now.
"If he truly wished her dead, he could have left her in that forest."
The words settled differently.
"Instead," Jinhwan said quietly, "he brought her to the safest place he knows."
Bongu's expression shifted slightly at that.
Not convinced.
But no longer certain either.
Inside the room, movement suddenly stirred again.
Both guards looked up immediately.
⸻
The healer sat beside Navi silently, fingers pressed carefully against her weakening pulse while attendants moved quickly around the room preparing stronger medicine.
Her breathing remained unstable.
Too light.
Too strained.
Every few moments, her body trembled faintly beneath the blankets like she was fighting something invisible even in unconsciousness.
The healer's expression darkened further.
"This makes no sense…"
One of the attendants looked up nervously.
"Master?"
He barely heard him.
His attention remained fixed on Navi's wrist.
Specifically—
the bracelet.
His fingers stilled completely.
For the first time since she arrived, genuine shock crossed his face.
Slowly, he reached toward the bracelet as though unsure whether he was truly seeing it correctly.
"No…"
The whisper barely left his lips.
Yi Hyun's gaze sharpened immediately.
The healer stared at the bracelet longer now, confusion and disbelief visibly colliding across his expression.
"…How is this possible?"
The room quieted slightly.
Even the attendants noticed the shift.
The healer looked toward Navi again.
Then back toward the bracelet.
Recognition settled slowly into his face—
followed immediately by unease.
His voice lowered almost unconsciously.
"Where did she get this?"