After spending the entirety of our afternoon roaming around the village, Jungwon and I sit beside each other on a small wooden bench that is a little bit aways from the crowd of villagers.

"It's getting quite dark," I observe while looking up at the darkening sky, seeing a few twinkling stars peak through the clouds. "Shouldn't we get back to the castle soon?" I question as I glance down at Jungwon, while dipping a piece of bread into my bowl of warm soup.

"Soon we will," he hums in response, causing me to furrow my eyebrows together. "Evening in the village is the greatest time to be in the village. And besides, this is our last night together, we should spend it well." he excuses while giving me a small smile.

"Evening in the village is the greatest, how so?" I repeat, feeling the corners of my lips tug up in amusement.

Before I get a response from Jungwon, the dark village begins to light up around me, causing me to shoot my head up in surprise. Light after light a warm tinge of glow invades the village as strings of fairy lights illuminate the cobblestone walls and paths, banishing the growing darkness.

"Woah.." I murmur as I look around at my surroundings, amazed by the view.

"Shall we go join the fun?" Jungwon questions while standing up to his feet, making me look up at him in surprise.

"Fun?" I repeat with my eyebrows knit together. Just then a group of girls all giggling and gossiping walks past us, down towards where the village square is located.

I feel Jungwon slip his hand into mine, before tugging me forward up onto my feet as well. As I stare at him in amusement for a moment, I feel a few taps on my thigh just above my knee. Confused by the sudden touch, I look down to meet eyes with a small boy, who looks up at me with his big eyes.

"Hello," I greet while crouching down to his level with a small smile on my face. Silently, I watch as he points towards his stomach, before nervously fiddling with his small hands while a pout rests on his lips. He looks skinny and fragile, he must be hungry. "Are you hungry?" I ask gently, causing the boy to simply nod before looking behind himself, where I can see a small group of children standing around all fidgety.

Without hesitating, I extend my barely eaten bowl of soup and bread towards the boy, who looks up at me with wide eyes but takes the offer nonetheless. "Share what you can with the others, all right?" I utter, to which he nods gratefully before setting off in a jog towards the children behind him.

I stand up to my feet with a sigh, before dusting off my skirt with my hands and turning around to face Jungwon, who has a small smile resting on his lips. I take a few steps forward to slip my hand into his own, before beginning to tug him along in the direction the group of girls had gone.

"That was really kind of you," Jungwon mentions, making me hum in response.

"It was really the least I could do, the children need the food more than I do," I shrug my shoulders before a frown forms on my face. "Do you think they have a home?"

"I'm sure they do," Jungwon replies while guiding me through a corner. "Sometimes it's just harder to acquire coins for food here." he excuses lowly, making me nod understandingly.

As we round the street corner, the village square comes into view and I'm met with the most crowded I've seen the village yet. The villagers are all crowded around the same area, dancing along freely to the music the jongleurs play.

Jungwon tugs me along with him into the crowd, making me stare at him with wide eyes before he twirls me around with a smile on his face. I stumble a bit on my feet from being taken aback by the sudden movement, causing me to quickly face him while I plant my hands onto his shoulders to keep myself steady, biting onto my bottom lip nervously.

"Jungwon.. I can't dance," I admit sheepishly while dropping my hands from his shoulders to fiddle with.

"Sure you can," he replies while taking a hold of my hands once again, holding them between his own. "It's a lot of fun, I promise."

"I don't know how.." I trail off with a frown, "and.. there's a lot of people here." I admit lowly while looking around myself consciously, suddenly feeling envious of all the pretty women in skirts that frolic around so freely and carelessly.

I feel Jungwon plant two fingers onto my cheek, forcing my head to turn back around to face him. "Don't mind them, just keep your eyes on me." he remarks before letting go of my hands to instead curtsy with his hand extended out. "May I have this dance?"

"You're such a dork," I remark while rolling my eyes as I accept his hand, causing a toothy grin to appear on his face.

At first he pulls me into his chest by my hand, but then he retreats before twirling me around in a small circle again. He places one hand on my waist while his other stays interlocked with my own, our bodies swaying to the music.

"See, you're a natural," Jungwon exclaims while staring down at me with a smile on his face, causing me to scoff at him.

"This is definitely not the correct type of music to be dancing like this," I remark, watching as a mischievous side smile appears on his face.

"Alright then, how about.." he trails off, before pulling away to instead link his arm with mine, "This." He begins to skip in a circle, causing me to have to join him while I keep my eyes trained to the ground, making sure that I don't accidentally step on his foot or even trip over my own feet. I have to grab onto my skirt which moves around wildly from the wind and movement, but there's something about it that makes me feel frolicsome.

"I look like an idiot," I remark to Jungwon, but a smile still rests on my face. Jungwon turns his head to look at me with his eyes squinted, before he changes the direction of his footing so we frolic the opposite way. Our dance is very lively and bouncy, just like the rhythm of the song that plays.

"But you're having fun," he observes as a knowing smile grows on his face, causing me to roll my eyes while I simply nod.

"Do you do this often?" I ask, no longer paying attention to my footing as my eyes are trained only on Jungwon.

"Dancing in the village?" he questions back, causing me to hum in response. "Not that often anymore. But my mother used to bring me here to dance sometimes," he admits, making me look at him with a soft smile.

"She taught you well," I remark, causing him to look at me with both his eyebrows arched.

"Is that so?" he asks in amusement, making me snicker at him in disbelief. Just then, I misplace my next step, causing me to trip over my own feet as I feel myself falling forward. Before I can fully grasp what's happening, I feel two arms wrap securely around my waist to keep me upright. "You're not so bad yourself," Jungwon amuses with a laugh, making me scoff at him as I hit his chest playfully, but a laugh bubbles it's way up out of me as well.

As Jungwon keeps his hands cupped around my waist, I clasp my hands together behind his neck. It goes silent for a moment as our laughs die down and we sway our bodies slowly, our eyes never leaving the others. I look up towards the sky for a moment, observing how dark it has gotten now that the twinkling stars are on full display.

"You were right you know," I observe while looking back down to Jungwon, who hasn't taken his eyes off me while he looks at me curiously. "The stars here are much more visible than on earth." I excuse, watching as realization flashes past his eyes.

"They reflect beautifully in your eyes too," he observes, making me widen my eyes in shock.

"Okay please for the love of god, you have got to stop saying that stuff!" I complain as I shove my face into the crook of his neck while I feel my face burn. I hear a chuckle escape from him, causing me to grimace even more.

"Daiyu!" I hear someone in the crowd shout, making me shoot my head up in curiosity. I watch as an older looking woman rushes in my direction, and for a moment I think she may be talking to me, that is until she stops just before a girl with two short braids who had been dancing with a group beside me.

"Mrs. Cheng, what is wrong?" the girl- whom i'm assuming her name is Daiyu, asks worriedly.

"I've gotten an urgent call from the castle, there has been an emergency and I need you to deliver our medical supplies and potions right away. I would have made the delivery myself but I have customers to attend to," Mrs. Cheng explains frantically, making me shoot my head towards Jungwon with wide eyes, who looks back at me the same way.

Daiyu sets off into a run away from the crowd, most likely to fulfill her orders. "We should go," Jungwon says hurriedly, making me immediately nod my head in agreement. We pull away from each other to instead interlock hands.

Just as I'm about to set off in a run myself, I feel a strong tug on my arm from behind myself. As I turn back in shock, I meet eyes with the same mysterious man I had seen in the market earlier. Quickly shaking him off myself with a deep frown, Jungwon and I rush out of the village together, not bothering to take the passageways back.