"Jungwon over here, this plant needs more water!" I shout at the boy who comes rushing over quickly with the watering can in his hands.

I point out the bush of green to him and he nods affirmatively before carefully tipping the watering tin to pour a generous amount of water onto the plant.

"Alright, where to next, flower girl?" Jungwon asks with a proud smile, showing off his cute dimples.

I roll my eyes with a playful smile adorning my lips as I simply grab the tin out of his grasp, clutching it in my arm's easily. "First we're going to need to refill the tin with water," I point out and he hums in response.

"That won't be a problem, just follow me," he responds and I do as he says. We walk together back up to the castle, walking up the few stairs before we stop in front of a lone guard who looks at us curiously.

"Will you please fill this watering can with water?" Jungwon asks the man who nods diligently at him, then gestures for me to hand the tin to him. I do so and watch as he retreats down the walkway off to which I assume is where water is.

"We couldn't just get the water ourselves?" I ask Jungwon while crossing my arms who looks at me with a smirk, making me squint my eyes at him.

"But then we wouldn't have the time to do this," he begins to say before grabbing hold of my hand and quickly rushing back down the steps into the garden with me trailing behind him.

"Jungwon, what are we doing? We're not done watering the garden yet!" I yell out to him as he glances back at me with a smile.

"We are just taking a small break I promise, there's something that I want you to see!" he calls back making me furrow my eyebrows.

We rush through and past the garden following the gravel path, crossing over the large field until we reach a tall hedge maze. Jungwon swiftly pulls me into the maze without a second thought, leaving no sight of us to be found from the outside.

"Jungwon, what are we doing?" I ask him again and he just glances at me before turning back to look in front of himself as he guides us through the maze.

"I told you, I want to show you something," he replies and I hum.

"We're not going to get lost in here, right? I've never been good with mazes, I always get lost in the corn mazes during autumn," I mumble worriedly, causing Jungwon to tighten his grip around my hand with a chuckle.

"Of course not, I know my way around this maze like the back of my hand," he replies, making me sigh.

"Of course you do," I reply lightly with a small smile.

I stay silent as I follow behind Jungwon, letting him guide me deep into the maze as I slightly bite down onto my thumb nail. We turn the corners of a few more hedge walls until we enter a small clearing, where Jungwon then turns to glance at me.

"This is it," he says while beckoning me forward by my hand. I step up beside him to see an array of blankets and books scattered around a single white flower which blooms out of the ground.

I slowly slip my hand out of Jungwon's own, and walk up to crouch on one of the blankets beside the flower. From far away it looks like a normal lily flower, but close up I can notice the small specs of gold glowing from the core of the flower.

Intrigued, I stick my pointer finger out to touch a petal, but Jungwon quickly stops me from moving any closer to it. Confused, I look up to him with a frown.

"Don't touch it, it's harmful," he says sternly, making me nod and move back a few inches as I take a seat on one of the blankets.

"What is it?" I ask and watch as he takes a seat beside me.

"Eunjoo's gift," he replies, making me knit my eyebrows together as I look back at the flower.

"Gift?" I question and he hums in response.

"Eunjoo is the name of mother," he reveals, making me let out a quiet "oh," as my eyes widen.

"She gifted you this flower, that's sweet," I reply with a smile, causing him to hum shortly.

"Well, i'm not completely sure that she is the one who gifted the flower to me, but based on the circumstances I like to think she did," he explains, making me furrow my eyebrows together as he reaches his hand out to touch a petal, "perhaps in hope to comfort me," he adds as the gold speckles begin to glow brighter.

All of a sudden, speckles of pinks, reds and yellows begin to appear in bunches in the hedge walls, in the form of flowers. The colors make the area seem more bright and alive, leaving me in awe. As I turn my attention back to the ground, a plate full of assorted fruits appears before my eyes as if it had appeared out of thin air.

I watch as Jungwon simply lifts the plate of fruit and pops a strawberry into his mouth. "Are you a fan of fruit by any chance?" he asks as he offers the plate to me. I nod with wide eyes, making him chuckle.

He sets the plate in between the both of us and watches me with a smile. "What.. was that?" I trail off and point to the plate full of fruit that had just appeared out of nowhere.

"That, that is called fruit," he responds cockily with a smirk on his face. I scoff and lightly nudge his side with my elbow as he just chuckles at me.

"You know what I mean, how did it just appear like that?" I clarify with my eyebrows knitted together. "And how can you touch the flower, I thought you said it's harmful?" I add as a frown emerges on my face.

"Shall I start from the beginning?" Jungwon suggests as he sets the grape vine he was snacking off of down and rubs his hands together.

"Please," I respond as I quirk one brow upwards.

"Okay but, don't make fun of me or call me weak or anything like that, okay?" he suddenly says, surprising me.

"What? Why would I do that?" I respond with my eyebrows knitted together in a frown as I notice he has his eyes cast down and his hands clasped together in his lap. "Jungwon?" I ask carefully as he's gone silent.

"Because I'm a prince.. y'know? I'm not supposed to be complicated with emotions, I am meant to be perfect," he dryly laughs as I stare at him dejectedly, feeling my heart slightly ache.

I reach my hand into my belt pouch before hesitantly taking a hold of Jungwon's hand, carefully placing the slightly crumpled hamamelis flower onto his palm before retreating my own hand.

"It's a hamamelis flower, it symbolizes safety," I begin to say as he looks up at me with wide eyes, "you're safe to talk about anything with me, I don't care how messy or complicated it is, I will never make fun of you for your own emotions," I say sternly as I close his hand around the flower with my own.

I swear I catch a glimpse of his glistening eyes, but he looks away before I can truly tell.

"And to be honest I don't think of you as a prince, to me you're just Jungwon. Earlier you mentioned that I must think lowly of you to do normal things like chores, well I say screw those people who made you think like that, because you are so much more than just the title of 'prince.'" I add feeling slightly agitated as a deep frown rests on my lips.

I hear a sniffle come from beside me, making me snap my head to see Jungwon hurriedly rubbing at his eyes with his palms. "Sorry," he mumbles softly.

"No no, don't feel sorry!" I exclaim while waving my hands around in front of my face frantically.

"Minji," he suddenly calls, making me hum at him with wide eyes as he turns to look at me.

"Thank you," he thanks, making my eyes soften at the sight of his smile.

"You don't need to thank me," I respond with a soft smile, which he mirrors back.

"Well.." he clears his throat and trails off while sliding the plate of fruit more towards me as I listen diligently, "the night my mother died, I was heartbroken.. everyone was overwhelming me so I ran out into this maze- this exact spot," he slowly explains while I begin to snack on the fruit in front of me. "I was crouched over in the corner when suddenly a light began to glow in front of me. Out of that light, this flower bloomed," he gestures to the flower in front of us.

"It felt as if my mother was telling me it's going to be alright, as if she were there beside me instead. Like the flower meant that it was a new beginning, but I'd still always have a piece of her with me," he explains and takes a glance at me. "I had Sunoo enchant the flower so that it could live longer."

"I'm sorry," I frown, causing Jungwon to chuckle while placing a hand on my knee.

"What are you sorry for? There's nothing to feel sorry about, what happened, happened- we can't change that," he replies with his lips pursed, on the verge of a frown.

"I know, it's just.." I trail off as I pick at the skin around my nail, "it must have been a really rough time for you, so i'm sorry," I clarify as he hums in response.

"Like I said, what happened, happened, and I have accepted that now," he reassures while gently patting my knee.

I pause for a moment as it goes silent, a frown rests on my face as I think to myself what Jungwon has revealed to me.

"Your mothers flower made the fruit and flowers appear, didn't it? When you touched it, it began to glow," I assume and I must be right, because Jungwon looks at me with bright eyes.

"You are correct," he confirms, making me hum. "It grants only my wishes, which is both a blessing and a curse."

"How so?" I frown at him.

Jungwon clears his throat and folds his hands in his lap once again, as I wait patiently for his answer.

"One night my father had hosted a ceremony in honor of my mother, but what it really turned out to be was a party merely for him to get drunk," he scoffs and I scrunch my nose in disgust.

"I hate that man," I comment, making him lightly snicker at me.

"Anyway, one of the guests had traveled into the maze and ran into my mothers gift. When he tried to take it for himself, it had killed him instantly. I found his body the next morning."

"Oh my god.." I trail off while stunned at the information.

"Yeah, not a very pleasant sight to see in the morning," he scoffs at his own words. "And turns out that guest was actually sent as a spy from the Sorian kingdom."

"Is that why they're after you, for revenge?" I question but Jungwon just shakes his head instead.

"They are after the flower itself," he clarifies, making me knit my eyebrows together. "Word got out that the flower grants wishes, but only mine.. so if you take me out of the picture, I assume the ownership of the flower and wishes would go to the person who.." he trails off, making me widen my eyes as realization hits me.

"They are after you to kill you?!" I ask as my voice rises up a pitch.

"That's the scary part.." Jungwon trails off with a deep frown.

"Can't you just wish the Sorian kingdom to go away?" I suggest but he just dryly chuckles at me.

"I wish I could, but it doesn't work that way. The wishes can't change one's mind or actions, so it is pointless to even try."

"Then I will just be your personal bodyguard," I declare, making Jungwon look up at me with a quirked eyebrow.

"Oh really?" he responds amused.

"I won't let any of those Sorian scumbags even think of harming you," I say out loud teasingly, but it's mostly a promise to myself.

"I will hold you on that, then." Jungwon replies while opening his hand that was curled in a fist, revealing the hamamelis flower in his palm.

Safety.