Branches with young green leaves burst past rapidly. A red squirrel digging through fallen leaves on the ground startled at the sound and scrambled up a tree. Yunseo rested his head against Hwi's nape and took in the passing scenery.

From a certain point onward, the air touching his cheek became noticeably cooler. The trees gradually shed their attire, and here and there patches of unmelted snow were visible. A distant wonder spread as though entering the world of winter again.

Hwi's footsteps slowed. They had finally arrived at the summit. The snow at the summit had not melted and was glittering, holding the colors of the sunset. Hwi set Yunseo down, and Yunseo looked around in wonder. The peak, where time seemed to have stopped at winter, held a serene and cozy atmosphere and was beautiful.

Beyond stretched the full panorama of Dongju. Everything looked small, and unlike this place, down below it was spring — which made it all the more wondrous.

"It is truly beautiful."

It seemed he could make up here for all the winter he had spent bedridden and unable to enjoy. Yunseo reached out and gripped a snow-covered branch — but at the sensation of something sharp catching him, his fingers fell away.

When he let out a small sound, Hwi quickly came over. Whether he had caught himself on a thorn, blood was welling from his fingertip. Hwi brought Yunseo's hand to his lips, sucked the blood clean, then tore a small strip from his sleeve and wrapped it around the finger.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. It doesn't hurt much."

The memory of the time he had cut his finger on a wooden hairpin surfaced suddenly and a laugh slipped out. The hairpin Hwi had bought him after that was currently pinned in his hair.

Hwi carefully toyed with Yunseo's finger. Thinking that he must be worried, Yunseo wiggled the tip to show he was fine — and Hwi pressed his lips to it.

"I have something to give you."

"What is it?"

Hwi took something from inside his robe. It was a ring — and strangely, it sparkled with five colors. It was a light like a brilliant rainbow dissolved in water. It also seemed to hold the starlight of a dawn sky brightening into clarity. Marveling at something he had never seen before, Hwi slipped the ring onto Yunseo's finger before he could finish his exclamation.

"It is a ring made from Araksa's specialty gemstone. There is a custom there…"

Hwi's gaze moved for a moment to the scenery surrounding them. Yunseo followed his look and took in this quiet, brilliant world.

"On a spring day, in a place where the first snow has not yet melted, one gives a ring to one's beloved. To pledge eternity."

"Ah…"

"Since the ring's shape is round and connects without beginning or end, it is said to mean eternity."

He looked down at the ring with unfocused eyes. The reason for choosing Araksa's stone among all gemstones was probably because there had been a time when he himself had longed to go there. Hwi had not forgotten, and would have kept it as a debt of the heart somewhere in one corner of his mind.

Yunseo toyed endlessly with the ring. The heart Hwi conveyed so completely — the affection — brought him an overwhelming emotion. He savored that emotion for a long while before opening his mouth.

"You have gifted me eternity, so you must keep it."

"Could there be any question?"

"In truth, I also have something to give you."

A wondering light rose in Hwi's eyes. Yunseo had secretly slipped in a commission together with Noble Consort Hyeon's bow and Seongbin's dagger, so Hwi did not know.

Yunseo took a small box from inside his robe. Opening the box, inside was a bracelet. It was similar to the one on Yunseo's wrist but different. If Yunseo's had a dragon embossed on it, this bracelet had an Eternal Spring Flower embossed on it.

Whether it was an unexpected object, Hwi's eyes opened somewhat wide. Yunseo smiled and slipped the bracelet onto Hwi's wrist.

"Since this shape is also round, I too am gifting you eternity."

Hwi gazed at the bracelet without a word for quite a long time. At last a faint smile spread at the corners of his lips.

"Then you must keep it as well."

"Could there be any question?"

The moment their eyes met, laughter burst out simultaneously. Hwi pulled Yunseo's waist in and immediately pressed their lips together. Between the touching lips, a single ray of light spread by the setting sun brushed past. It was the light of a moment that could never be forgotten.

Coming down the mountain, the sky had already grown dark. Just as they were about to board the carriage to hurry back and warm themselves — a Yongrin approached quickly and paid his respects to both of them.

"What is it?"

"Your Majesty. The dragon-descendant has been born."

Yunseo and Hwi simultaneously met each other's eyes. The news of the egg's hatching changed their destination in an instant. They hurried toward the capital.

On the way, Yunseo's heart stirred with a variety of emotions. The knowledge that he would be able to meet that precious earthworm who had worked so persistently to save him filled him with excitement and anticipation — and yet he was also a little afraid. He was becoming a father now. The weight of that felt real and yet somehow not quite real.

At the very least, he would not give the child the wounds he himself had been made to bear. And with Hwi beside him, there was no great reason to be afraid. When he looked at Hwi, he took his hand as though he understood Yunseo's state of mind. The steadfast warmth firmed up Yunseo's chest.

Several days passed and they arrived at the imperial palace. The two went directly to the East Palace without delay. The moment they opened the door and were about to step inside, something lunged at Yunseo — but it was caught by Hwi's arm.

Yunseo squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them, and stared blankly at the baby hanging from Hwi's arm. A tiny child with hair standing up in all directions was floating in the air. Before he could even get a proper look at the baby's face, he asked.

"Did you do that?"

"…No."

If it wasn't Hwi using his sacred energy, it meant this was the baby's own power. Yunseo calmed his startled heart and carefully reached out to take the baby into his arms.

The baby laughed with a gurgling sound and settled quietly into Yunseo's embrace. Now he could get a proper look at the baby — and upon confirming the baby's face, Yunseo was surprised all over again in a small way.

The large and round eyes resembled him exactly. Unable to tear his gaze away, he kept wondering whether he had looked like this when he was very young. But what was even more remarkable was that, the more he looked, a sense arose that the baby strangely resembled Hwi too. Aside from the eyes, every feature was too small to say who it resembled — yet the overall impression brought Hwi to mind.

As it gradually became real that this was their child, a corner of his chest felt as though it would turn soft and dissolve like a ripe fruit. Wondering what Hwi must be feeling, he glanced over — and Hwi too could not take his eyes off the baby.

"It resembles you."

"It resembles you too."

"Me?"

Hwi tilted his head. At that, the baby, who had been looking curiously back and forth between Yunseo and Hwi, also tilted its head in imitation and opened and closed its small fist.

"The hands are so small."

He felt as though he was seeing hands this small for the first time. Marveling, just as he tried to touch them carefully, the baby grabbed his finger. At the terribly warm and fragile touch, he swallowed a cry — and then a cool sensation spread from the tips of his fingers.

"…Hm?"

Feeling something strange, Yunseo checked his finger. The scratch mark thin as a hairline that had remained from the thorn had disappeared as cleanly as if washed away.

"Look at this. The wound—"

While Hwi's gaze rested on the tip of Yunseo's finger, the baby squirmed as though trying to get out of his embrace. When Hwi took the baby instead, this time the baby's hand touched the back of Hwi's hand.

The corners of his eyes twitched. Yunseo sensed something and looked at Hwi's palm. The line Hwi had claimed was a palm line before had disappeared.

"It was a scar—!"

"It seems this is the child's sacred energy."

Flying up alone showed the baby was a Yongrin. But having come into contact with Yunseo's protective star within the egg, the power seemed to have manifested in a direction that healed others. It was wondrous, yet also somewhat worrying. How would this ability develop?

"Yeongin."

Yunseo put into his mouth for the first time the baby's name he and Hwi had chosen together. Whether understanding it or not, the baby moved its lips. Just as when the baby had been the earthworm, what it was thinking or feeling could not be fully understood. But he had a certainty that this child would surely feel his heart.

"We love you and will protect you. Always."

Yunseo made a promise that no one — not even himself — could violate. He had now become an adult who must protect a child, and a father who must cherish a child.

Hardening his resolve, he turned to look at Hwi — and he met his eyes and nodded. Hwi took both Yunseo's hand and the baby's hand together. The baby gurgled again with delight. The warmth that bloomed from the touching hands bound all three of them into one.