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It was the first time Biseol saw snow, yet he immediately recognised it for what it was.
He was told stories about it by weaker demons who had managed to not only slip into the human world but return alive to tell the tale.
"Are you feeling cold, Biseol?" Jeokyeon asked. "Maybe you should wear some more-"
Biseol dropped down on his back and started waving his hands up and down, enjoying the soft cover of the otherwise hard and unwelcoming mountain.
"What are you doing?!?... Let me join you!"
And that's what Nahora walked out on - the mystic Fourth Prince and her half-demon attendant, enjoying the eternal mountain snow without a care in Yeol...well, until they noticed they were being watched.
"Oh. Master Nahora, we were just-"
"Making snow angels, I see?"
Nahora wasn't one to show emotion, but Biseol could have sworn that he saw him smile ever-so-slightly.
"What's an angel?" Jeokyeon asked, confused.
"Oh, have I not told you about angels yet? Well, let's go inside so I can fix that..."
"You see, young ones - several eras ago, people here in the outskirts used to believe divine guardians have wings they used to descend from the realm of the gods and protect Yeol."
"I wish I had wings like an angel so I could always protect you", Biseol told Jeokyeon.
"Hm... perhaps I could do something about that", said Nahora, cryptically.
A few days later, Nahora presented Biseol with a set of paper wings.
"Now, you won't exactly be able to fly with those, but you'll at least look like a guardian angel."
"Shut up, Hae-eon. No way that's true."
"It's true, Choran. I still have the book in my palace. People used to believe gods sent winged angels down from their realm to defeat demons.
"Can someone really fly like that?"
"Well, a mortal can't - even if they had wings, they wouldn't be strong enough to lift themselves off the ground... but we're not mere mortals, are we, Choran?"
"..."
"See you later, Choran. I have to try something."
"...Hae-eon, NO-"
"Hae-eon YES"
"Have you heard that, Doha?"
"Don't worry about it, Baekrang. The fifth prince has been irrational for centuries by now, and he's survived this far."
"No, not that part. The part about angels defeating demons."
"Huh..."
"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were one of those angels, Doha. The way you cut through anything and everything on Demonbeast Mountain... anyone would think you're some sort of avenging angel."
"..."
"Demons fear you, princes fear you,... and to be honest, I'm glad to be your attendant and not your rival. That way I won't have to fear you in the final trial."
(But the First Prince had only one person in mind at the moment. "Did he have a guardian angel growing up? Surely he - no, what if it's she? Then... I hope she had a guardian angel growing up... because she would have badly needed one.")
"Biseol..."
"Yes, Master?"
"I couldn't help but notice Hae-eon shouting something about becoming a flying angel."
"..."
"Heh... it reminds me of when we were young, and Nahora made you paper wings.
Good thing you didn't try flying off the mountain."
"Master..."
"Yes, Biseol?"
"I wish I was truly an angel - and I don't mean that in the flying sense. I wish I was your guardian angel so I could truly protect you from whatever may come. Alas, I am a half-demon"
"But Biseol... you have already protected me before. And you have gone as far as almost die for me."
"..."
"Besides, if a woman can become Emperor... there is no reason why a half-demon can't become an angel."
"Hae-eon, I SWEAR TO GODS, IF YOU GET YOURSELF KILLED WITH THIS MADNESS, I WILL PERSONALLY TRACK YOU DOWN IN YOUR NEXT LIFE AND KILL YOU AGAIN!"
