“Yuan, what are you doing here?”

Yuan turned around and found his mother walking toward him.

In his hands lay a small yellow bird.

Its tiny chest rose and fell weakly.

On its wing, a white gauze was tied loosely around it and blood was seeping through.

“Oh no… how sad. Were you trying to save this bird?”

He nodded and stared at the bird. His face showed no emotion, but Elara smiled. 

It was the first time her son had ever shown care for another.

She helped him tighten the gauze around its wing.

Day and night, the two of them cared for the bird, and perhaps their prayers reached the heavens, because the little creature eventually recovered.

The bird returned to full health and was seen flying through the sky again.

Elara often looked out the window, watching her son in the gardens with his new friend.

The little bird never seemed frightened of him.

No matter where Yuan went, it followed.

She would often hear him tell the bird,

“You can never leave my side, okay?”

And the bird never left Yuan’s side.

Everything was good—

Until one day Yuan disappeared.

Elara and the palace servants searched for hours.

When she finally found him, he was on his knees in the forest behind the palace.

As she ran towards him, she could hear him mutter the words—

“I killed it.”

The lifeless and bloodied bird lay on the ground in front of him.

Elara hugged him from behind.

“Why are you here?! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!”

He could feel his shoulder dampening from her tears.

She was trembling.

“…Mother… I did it…”

“It’s going to be okay, Yuan. I’m here.”

Yuan remembered his mother’s warmth from that night, and the terrible certainty that it was all his fault.

“Ugh…”

Yuan opened his eyes on the floor of the hideout. One child's leg was lying on top of his body, and another was snoring loudly next to his ear.

He put both hands over his forehead.

‘Why does my head hurt so much?’

His body was no longer hurting from the fatigue, but his migraine got worse.

The image of the dead bird flashed across his mind.

‘I remember now… the small bird I saved. That night, it followed me into the woods. It never left my side just like I told it to, even when… the tree was falling. I thought it would fly away… but it looked at me instead. It kept trying to reach me.’

Yuan slowly sat up. It felt like the world was spinning.

He remembered how he felt then too.

He didn’t think there was anything strange about it.

It was almost obvious to him that the bird should stay by his side no matter what, even if it died.

But he didn’t know why.

Yuan couldn’t understand. The more he remembered, the less he understood about himself. 

Why is he so different from him?

Why doesn’t he show any emotions?

Then he remembered the feeling of his mother’s tears soaking his shoulder.

‘Would she be crying like that right now…?’

He crossed his legs and closed his eyes.

He remembered when he first felt the red energy and how it helped clear his mind and put him at ease.

Ever since his class with Cedric, he didn’t pass a day without practicing. 

Now, he could feel it almost immediately.

‘There it is…’

The red energy flowed around his body. It was denser and clearer than the first time.

Yuan could feel his migraine fading.

He let out a deep breath.

‘Let’s not get caught up in problems that I don’t have the answers to right now. I have to focus on escaping.’

He opened his eyes and in front of him stood three-year-old Maple, her eyes half open with a finger in her mouth.

“Mud… I need to go potty.”

“…So?”

“Rowan said you help.”

Yuan let out a long sigh. He couldn’t refuse, because of the help he was getting from Rowan.

For the first time in all his lives, he helped a child use the bathroom.

It wasn’t an experience he enjoyed, but when Maple held his hand and said “Thank you”, he thought it wasn’t so bad.

“Guys we’re back!”

“Nico!”

Maple ran towards Nico who was walking towards them, and behind him was Cherry and the other boys.

Nico picked Maple up in his arms and turned towards Yuan.

“Thanks for helping Maple.”

Cherry walked up next to Nico and smiled mischievously at Yuan.

“You didn’t wake up no matter how much I shook you, so we just let you sleep. You’re like a little kid, Mud!”

“He was probably just tired. Look at his dark circles. It’s as bad as Rowan’s!”

Mud scratched the back of his head, then remembered something.

“When you were out, did you hear anything… strange?”

“Strange? Like what?”

“Anything at all that might’ve been talked about.”

“Hm… that’s kind of vague…”

Nico burrowed his brows.

“Oh, I heard something!”

Cherry stepped forward and motioned for Yuan to lower his head.

In his ear she whispered softly.

“They say Ms. Maria… was recently caught having an affair!”

“…Who’s that?”

“You don’t know? She’s the wife of… you know, the angry man who was chasing us yesterday!”

“Oh… Um, anything other than that?”

“Nope! That was the talk of the town.”

Cherry went off about the details, something about Ms. Maria being with a younger handsome man, but Yuan was too deep in his own thoughts to hear.

‘No one is… looking for me? Why? Someone should’ve noticed I disappeared by now.’

Yuan thought about Elara, and the few moments he spent with her.

How she cooked for him when the chef quit, her hand holding his tightly before the king and nobles, and her promise to protect him.

‘Was that all a lie?’

It felt like something was stuck in Yuan’s throat. 

No matter how many times he swallowed, it wouldn’t go away.

Idiot.

‘After all those times, getting betrayed over and over again, and you still… expected something?’

Yuan dug his nails into his palms.

It didn’t matter anymore.

In fact, it would be easier for him to escape this way. 

“Yuan, are you okay?”

Cherry looked up at him from below. 

“…Yeah. Don’t worry about me.”

The words came out colder than he intended.

“Hey wait. I heard something interesting.”

It was the tall kid behind Nico who was always seen with him.

His name was Toby.

“People were talking about a prophecy. Apparently the sixth— or was it the seventh?—prince was found out to be some monster that’s going to kill everyone in this kingdom?”

“What? Hahaha don’t tell me you actually believe that? I don’t know about the seventh prince, but the sixth prince is only seven-years-old.”

“I’m not dumb! They said in the future. When he’s older!”

“So who is it, the sixth or the seventh prince?”

“I don’t remember…”

Nico shook his head.

“If the prophecy is real, it’s probably the seventh.”

Cherry faced Nico.

“Why?”

“It’s obvious. The sixth prince is the son of the queen. He’s real royalty. For what reason would he want to destroy his own kingdom? While the seventh prince… may choose to destroy everything.”

Toby held his head with both his hands and groaned.

“I don’t get it… it’s too confusing.”

“It’s okay Toby, none of this stuff matters to us. We just have to worry about our family.”

Nico patted him on the shoulder.

The news about the prophecy was already spreading through the city.

It wasn’t safe anymore for Yuan to wander into the city.