Jade's hand stopped midair.
"Please… stop now."
Slowly, Jade turned around.
Genie was walking toward him, barefoot on one side.
"Your Highness…"
"Just… stop."
"But Your Highness, these are the men who kidnapped you."
"I know. I know, but…"
Genie turned her head to look at the bloodied men on the ground.
"They said they did this to feed their families."
"Even so, Your Highness…"
Seeing Genie's desperate eyes, Jade finally lifted himself off the ground.
"We've committed a mortal sin! Please forgive us!"
With his face swollen and bruised, the taller man fell to his knees and begged.
"It was our fault. We were starving and did something we should never have done."
The shorter man also knelt beside him, bowing his head low.
Standing side by side with Jade, Genie spoke to them firmly.
"Do you even understand what you've done? Selling a person? How could you ever think that's acceptable?"
The shorter man, weeping, pressed his forehead to the ground.
"We're truly sorry… We didn't know you were the Princess…"
Genie frowned.
"It's not because I'm a Princess. No one, regardless of who they are, should ever be sold."
The shorter man muttered weakly, "We deserve to die… Please, just kill us…"
Jade looked to Genie.
"What do you wish to do with them, Your Highness?"
"They must face justice for trying to traffic a person. They should be taken straight to the authorities and locked up… But…"
Genie looked at the two kneeling men.
"Don't they deserve at least one chance?"
At her words, both men lifted their heads and looked up at her in disbelief.
The taller man's eyes widened.
"Is… is that really what you're saying?"
The shorter man, too, looked flustered, speechless.
"You said you have families relying on you. And yes, thinking of what you did, you deserve to be locked up right now…But I'll give you one chance."
The taller man lowered his head again, tears streaming down.
"Just sparing our lives is already more than we deserve…"
The shorter man also pressed his forehead back to the ground.
Genie turned to Jade.
"When we return to Hana Kingdom, we'll send a year's worth of food for their families."
"…"
"I want to give them a real chance to live. At the very least, I want to make sure their families don't starve."
'Your Highness…'
Jade had no words as he was moved by Genie's compassion.
The two men on their knees stared at her with wide, astonished eyes.
Genie turned to them again and said, "We'll send a year's worth of food for your families once we return to Hana."
Both men bowed their heads again.
"We don't know how we could ever repay this kindness, Your Highness…" said the shorter man.
The tall man cried and said, "Thank you… We'll never forget this grace…"
The shorter man's eyes were filled with tears too.
Then Genie continued. "But there's something you must do."
Jade and the two men looked at her.
"I remember what you said earlier—tomorrow morning, the men who kidnap women are planning to sell them at the harbor, right?"
The two men nodded, still dazed.
Jade looked at Genie in surprise.
'The Princess… is she planning…?'
Genie said, "Tell us exactly where those men will be. We need to report it to the authorities immediately and rescue those women."
"Yes… yes, of course, Your Highness," the taller man answered in a trembling voice
The tall man also bowed his head again.
Genie turned to Jade.
"Jade, we cannot let those kidnapped women be sold tomorrow. Can you stop it?"
She smiled softly at him.
At that moment, Jade saw a glowing crown above Genie's head.
He gazed at her quietly.
'The Princess… will become a great ruler someday.'
His heart began to tremble again.
Even knowing he wasn't in the position to do that, he wanted—truly wanted—to help her.
Then it happened.
With a thud, Genie collapsed to the ground.
Wrapped in a white blanket, Genie lay unconscious.
Sallan and Jade sat beside her.
Sallan gently treated the wound on her wrist.
Jade, sitting silently by her side, couldn't take his eyes off her.
Seeing the small cut on her delicate wrist filled his heart with pain.
Sallan tucked Genie's arm back under the blanket.
Then she placed a cool, damp cloth on Genie's forehead.
"She must've collapsed after regaining consciousness too quickly—she hadn't been breathing properly for so long while tied up. I gave her some medicine, she'll wake up soon."
"…Thank you, Sallan."
Sallan quietly stood up.
"Jade, aren't you coming?"
"Huh?"
Snapping out of his daze, Jade nodded.
"Yeah… right."
Reluctantly, he got up and followed her.
"If you want to keep watching her, just say so," Sallan teased.
Flustered, Jade followed her out.
Outside, night had fallen.
The two of them sat side by side on the porch.
"She's going to be fine. After some sleep, she'll feel better."
"Thank you, Sallan… I don't know how to repay you."
"By the way, Jade, is your leg okay? It looked pretty bad earlier."
Jade shook his head, brushing off the pain.
"I'm fine. It's nothing."
"Nothing? Let me see. Lift your pant leg. I need to check."
Jade chuckled and shook his head.
"I'm really okay."
Sallan gave him a sideways look.
"You saved that woman with that injured leg?"
Jade just smiled silently.
"…Who is she, anyway?"
"…"
"You're not going to tell me?"
He gave her an apologetic smile.
Sallan pouted.
"Come on, we've known each other since we were kids—training together in the royal guard dorms…"
Jade smiled again, feeling a bit guilty.
"I'll tell you someday. Just… not now."
"You always stick to your decisions. But let me ask you this…"
Jade glanced at her as she trailed off.
"What is it?"
"Do you… have feelings for her?"
Thump thump thump.
His heart began to pound.
"Do you like her?"
"…"
Meanwhile, Genie—who had just woken up and was stumbling toward the porch—froze.
'Does he like me…?'
She stood behind a column, waiting breathlessly for his answer.
"…"
The longer Jade stayed silent, the louder Genie's heart pounded.
'No way… could it be…?'
She waited, chest tight.
Finally, Jade broke the silence.
"…No. She's just someone I must protect."
At that moment, a sharp ache pierced Genie's chest.
She let out a bitter smile.
'What was I expecting…?'
Quietly, she turned around and walked back to her room.
Neither Jade nor Sallan noticed she had been there.
Sallan said, "'Just someone to protect,' huh… But the look in your eyes earlier was something I've never seen before. Not even when you were guarding the King of Ash."
Jade looked up at the night sky with a faint smile.
More than even when I protected the King…
He remembered the desperate chase to find Princess Genie earlier that day.
Even he himself felt that he'd never done anything like this before.
And even if he had to do it again, he would.
Because it was Genie.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Just… stuff," Jade replied with a faint smile.
"Jade, you know…"
Sallan turned to him.
"You know how much I liked you, right?"
"…What?"
Jade was flustered.
He had some vague idea from their days in Ash when he was a warrior there but he hadn't expected her to bring it up now.
"I watched you a lot because I liked you and…"
"..."
"The way you looked at me was so warm."
"…."
"But I realized that you look at other people with the same eyes as well. So that's how I knew—you didn't see me that way. I was just a friend to you."
"…."
He lowered his head a little, feeling sorry.
"But the way you looked at her today… That was completely different. I can't really explain but I never saw you with those eyes."
Jade felt his heart tremble.
His lips quivered slightly.
Sallan watched his flustered profile and let out a quiet laugh.
"Why so quiet? Making me feel awkward here."
Finally, Jade let out a small chuckle.
"Sorry."
"You know, you've changed a lot?"
She leaned back, looking at the stars like Jade.
"Something about you feels different. I'll say… brighter. You're still quiet like before but you just look happier."
'Happier…' Jade thought.
'Yeah… maybe I really am.'
He couldn't help but acknowledge it himself.
At some point, he found himself smiling more often.
It also felt like his emotions were swaying more frequently.
In the past, his emotions wouldn't easily be stirred by anything, but these days, his heart often fluttered.
It was since he met the Princess.
His heart, which he didn't know was dark, was gradually becoming brighter.
So much so that he couldn't even remember what it was like before meeting her.
In this way, the Genie's presence in Jade grew bigger and bigger.
Meanwhile, back in her room, Genie lay down weakly on the bed.
"…She's just someone I must protect."
His words echoed in her mind.
"Right, I'm the Princess, and he's my guard. That's how it should be. I'm just someone he must protect."
Genie let out a bitter laugh.
She felt foolish for thinking that she got close to him.
"Well… this is easier anyway. He treats me like a princess. I treat him like a guard. That's comfortable for both of us."
She shut her eyes tightly.
"Let's stop thinking about this."
But she couldn't sleep.
Jade's final words kept echoing in her heart.
His final words pierced a corner of her heart like a thorn, leaving behind a quiet, lingering pain.