Fortna's star festival is a wheat festival held early in the summer. The people offer thanks and prayers to the god of stars and hang lanterns from the doors of their homes, one per person, as each one makes a wish.
Princess Alicia was resting, apparently, from a headache. The court ladies decided to keep the door closed so that she couldn't leave on her own — but she snuck out anyway, wondering what was wrong with walking around a little. Was that the villainous golden-eyed prince's decision too?
A little boy who spotted her called her a thief, and then, seeing her eyes, realized she was his sister and knocked her over. This was when he introduced himself as the first prince of Fortna, Muilam Seth Fortna.
Nenah could hardly believe that this little boy ranked higher than his older brother. He was willing to escort her wherever she wanted to go, however. He was the next king, and he knew where everything was. Since that was the case, she wanted something she could use against Goldie.
Elsewhere, Azure was defeating one of his soldiers in an exhibition duel. Muilam surmised that his big brother must be strong so that he could be protected. Then they overheard the soldiers talking about how sickly Muilam was, and how he hated swordplay, and how he was nothing like Prince Azure. Muilam coped with this by declaring that a king had no need of such skills, especially since his brother could have them for him.
Nenah understood that there must be a great deal of pressure on this little boy, and told him they should keep looking for things to beat Azure with.
Escorting him forward, she suddenly stopped, sensing that someone was following them. It must have been her imagination, because she couldn't see anyone.
They snuck into Azure's room, which was filled with all sorts of items from other places. Muilam praised his big brother's accomplishments — at seventeen, Azure was already leading a regiment. Then they heard Azure approaching and went to hide.
Azure found Nenah under the sheets right away and pulled her out. Of course, he easily spotted Muilam hiding outside, and referred to him as Your Highness. Muilam told his big brother to be silent, invoking his I'm-the-next-king card, but it was for that very reason that Azure reminded him to think before he acted. He had heard that Muilam was skipping his swordplay lessons, too.
Muilam challenged this, telling Azure to become king himself if he thought himself the better fit, and then ran off.
Nenah told Azure that he should listen more to how his little brother felt, and then she started running after the young prince. Muilam climbed on top of an area where the wood beneath him broke, and Nenah jumped in after him.
As the time passed, she held the little boy close and told him they were supposed to do this when it got cold, just until help arrived, at least. The boy was not confident that help would come for them. Maybe his mother was tearing the place apart looking for him, but he felt that everyone else thought Azure should have been the first prince.
Nenah contemplated the idea. Perhaps being a prince was harder than she'd thought. There were probably people constantly telling Muilam what to do and putting a lot of ideas in his head. She thought things ought to be simpler. With a smile, she told Muilam that he loved his brother, and admired him for leading a regiment, and wanted to be like him.
Muilam struggled a little, trying to deny it, but ultimately he nodded.
So Nenah suggested that he go and ask Azure to teach him himself. That way Muilam could become a better king. And if Azure wouldn't listen, she suggested they simply blackmail him.
Then they had new problems. The water beneath them was rising, despite the fact that this place should have dried up long ago. They noticed a bubbling underneath and started to panic, screaming for help.
When nightfall came, Muilam apologized while climbing on top of his sister for being so plump. Hearing him scream for help in her ear, she wondered how all of this had happened.
Oh, that was right. Goldie. Wasn't she his important substitute? She wanted him to hurry up and rescue her.
That was when she screamed, "Azure, you idiot! Scumbag! I bet you—"
Azure, just arriving to their rescue, questioned what she meant by that.
After getting the young prince out, Nenah was too cold to move, so Azure pulled her out himself, telling her to put her arms around his neck, since she was throwing him off balance. He acknowledged that the water must have been very cold, and thanked Nenah for helping his little brother.
That small thank-you made Azure shine in Nenah's eyes. She felt his warmth. She knew he wasn't a bad guy. After all, the little prince adored him.
Outside, Muilam squeaked out a request that Azure teach him how to use a sword sometime. Azure was certainly surprised, but he accepted, although he proclaimed himself to be a tough teacher. This lit Muilam up.
With the first prince taking his leave, Azure expressed his lack of understanding. He had thought the first prince was avoiding him. But Nenah understood: people won't know how you feel unless you tell them.
Walking back, she asked whether Azure had any weaknesses, claiming that the knowledge would help boost Muilam's confidence. On the inside, though, she just wanted blackmail material.
His answer was: formless things.
Nenah had no idea what that meant. She used all of her brain power and surmised that it must be ghosts, but he dismissed the idea.
Watching them in secret, however, two men discussed the idea that Princess Alicia was dead. They just didn't have proof of it yet. And they questioned who this girl was who had the lapis lazuli eyes.
Later, Nenah stretched out in her room, remarking that it was the only place she could relax. But Azure told her there was no place for relaxation, since she must be Alicia naturally, no matter where she was. He wasn't going to let her out on her own anytime soon.
She countered by telling him he was afraid of ghosts. He easily fended her off, telling her she complained like a child.
The court ladies found it heartwarming that the two of them had grown so close. The two of them, however, suggested that the idea of them being close at all was ridiculous. But then Ditus chimed in and said that only she was allowed to speak to Azure with such casualness.