Bella dreamed of steel.
Not the clash of it, but the weight. The pull of it in her hand. The instinct that never slept.
So when footsteps shifted too close, her body reacted before her mind did.
Her eyes snapped open.
A blade flashed up from her boot, cold and fast, stopping a breath away from flesh.
The Crown Prince froze.
For a heartbeat, neither of them moved.
Then Bella blinked, focus sharpening, the world settling into place.
"…Oh shit," she said faintly.
She pulled the knife back just as quickly, letting out a weak huff of breath. "I almost killed you."
Ji-ho stared at her, eyes wide, then he laughed. Soft at first. Disbelieving.
She laughed too. A dry, breathless sound that hurt her ribs.
"Good reflexes," he said.
"Sorry," she muttered. "Instinct."
He lowered himself carefully beside her, favoring his injured leg. He was still limping, still slow, but steadier than before. Stronger.
They spoke at the same time.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Are you okay?" she said.
They stopped.
Looked at each other.
And laughed again, quieter this time.
"My ankle still hurts," Ji-ho admitted, rubbing it. "But… it's better. I can stand. I can walk. A little."
"That's good," Bella said. "That means it's healing."
He nodded, then frowned.
"Bella," he said slowly. "You look… pale."
"I'm fine."The lie came too fast.
She tried to shift, to sit up straighter, and hissed before she could stop herself.
Ji-ho stiffened. "That doesn't sound fine to me."
"It's nothing."
He reached out without thinking, fingers brushing her sleeve. "You're cold."
She inhaled sharply as his hand slid to her side.
"Bella?"
His touch pressed just slightly, and she winced, breath catching hard.
Ji-ho pulled back as if burned. His face drained of color.
"You're injured," he said. "You were hurt and you didn't tell me."
"It's not-"
"I'm sorry," he said suddenly. "I should have been faster. I should have noticed. I was weak-"
"Hey."
Bella caught his face in both hands.
"Look at me."
His breathing was quick, panicked, eyes bright with guilt.
She leaned closer, steady despite the pain, and forced calm into her voice.
"You were not weak," she said. "You fought. You survived. Your training worked. It paid off."
He swallowed.
"You're getting stronger," she continued. "And you will keep getting stronger. One day… maybe stronger than me."
That earned a faint smile.
"Unlikely," he murmured.
She smirked. "Don't get arrogant yet, Your Highness."
The tension eased. Just a little.
After a while, when his hands stopped shaking and her breathing steadied, Bella exhaled.
"We can't stay here," she said. "We need a way out."
Ji-ho nodded. "There might be another opening. The ground above… it collapsed strangely."
They searched slowly, carefully, following cracks in stone and faint currents of air.
Then Bella found it.
A narrow opening in the rock wall.
Too small to stand.
You had to crawl.
"I'll go first," she said.
Ji-ho frowned. "You're injured."
"And you can barely run," she replied. "If I don't answer, keep shouting. Someone might hear you."
"…Or I'll know something happened," he said quietly.
She met his eyes. "Exactly."
Every movement seared her side, but she clenched her teeth and forced her legs to follow. She couldn't let him see her falter
Bella took a breath, and crawled in.
The tunnel was tight. Stone scraped her shoulders. Her wound burned with every movement, but she pushed through, teeth clenched, refusing to stop.
Then,
Light.
The passage opened suddenly, spilling her forward into space.
She froze.
She was standing in a cavern far larger than the one they'd fallen into. Open and high, its walls curving upward like the inside of a sleeping volcano, but no fire. No smoke.
At its heart lay a pond, water green and luminous, perfectly still.
Beside it stood a cherry blossom tree.
White.
Its petals glowed softly, untouched by wind, branches heavy with quiet beauty.
Bella stared.
It felt… wrong.
And sacred.
Bella's chest tightened.
"I've… seen something like this before," she said slowly.
"Ji-ho," she called softly. "You need to see this."
Ji-ho crawled through the opening behind her, pushing himself upright with care. He froze the moment he looked up.
"What… is this place?" he whispered.
Bella took a few careful steps forward, boots echoing faintly against stone. She gestured around them, eyes wide with wonder and disbelief.
She swallowed.
Then, without thinking, the words slipped out; wrong language, wrong time.
"It looks like a scene out of The Legend of Nadia," she said softly. "Like walking through a wardrobe."
Ji-ho turned to her, brow furrowing."…What?"
Bella blinked.
"Oh, sorry." She huffed a quiet laugh, rubbing the back of her neck. "That was… English."
She searched for the right words, translating in her head, then tried again, slower, gentler.
"It means…" she gestured once more to the cavern, the pond, the tree. "Like stepping into a hidden place. A secret world no one is supposed to find."
"A holy place," Ji-ho murmured.
"Yes," Bella agreed. "Exactly that."
She lowered her voice without realizing it, as though the stone itself might be listening.
"A place meant to be protected."
Her gaze drifted upward again, following the curve of the walls, the impossible stillness of it all.
Barely louder than breath, she whispered to herself, "Am I in a fantasy novel?"
She let out a soft, incredulous laugh.
"What the hell is happening?"
The cavern did not answer.
But the light shimmered faintly, as if it had heard her anyway.
They stood together, awed, unsettled.
They rested there.
Too long.
Bella's wound bled again, slow but steady, soaking the cloth. This time, Ji-ho helped her bind it, hands careful, voice calm.
They talked quietly.
About the fall.
About Poong Yeon's fury when he realized they were gone.
Ji-ho laughed softly. "He's probably tearing the village apart stone by stone."
"He deserves the headache," Bella said.
Near the pond grew a smaller tree, heavy with wild berries.
Ji-ho reached for one.
"Don't," Bella warned. "You don't eat what you can't name."
"These aren't dangerous," he said. "They grow near my mother's lotus pond."
He ate one.
Nothing happened.
He grinned, and offered one to her.
She hesitated. Then ate.
Sweet.
Cool.
They drank from the pond.
The water tasted clean. Ancient.
Impossible.
"How can something like this exist here?" Ji-ho whispered.
Bella didn't answer.
Because somewhere deep in her bones, she felt it.
This place was not meant to be found.
Above ground, Poong Yeon searched. He questioned villagers. Gathered men. Promised silver. Threatened steel.
Nothing.
At the palace, the King waited.
No news.
No word.
Elsewhere, hidden corridors whispered with treachery.
The Queen and the Prime Minister argued in hushed tones. The assassins were dead. All of them, again for the third time.
"This means Ha-neul survived," the Prime Minister hissed. "And if she lives, so does the prince."
"Then send another, this time hire from the Ming," the Queen said coldly. "Finish it."
Unseen, a court official heard.
And ran.
Toward the Left State Counselor.