Si-ri sat lost in her thoughts when a sudden sound brought her back to the present. She quickly realised that the sound was coming from the bushes near the cave. Si-ri quickly hid for her safety, peeping from her hiding spot. The slim figure was moving towards the cave, Si-ri couldn't see the face clearly but noticing the attire she was sure that the intruder was a man. Clutching an iron rod in her hands she stood prepared to attack the coming intruder.

The man was heading towards the cave, whistling.

"This intruder must be a pervert," Si-ri held the rod tight and was ready to pounce on him.

The moment he entered the cave, he encountered Si-ri as she was about to attack him but they both froze in shock looking at each other. The rod was dangling in the air being in Si-ri's hand because the intruder was none other than Min-ho.

Si-ri's rendezvous with Min-ho was radically contingent and unpredictable.

Si-ri bits her lip in furry. She was still trembling in fear.

Min-ho moved closer to her with those intense eyes that look so deeply into her, "Hey, it's me." Her breathing became softer, the pensive look melting into a smile as soft as the morning light. Her body squirmed just a little as her muscles relax.

There was something about Min-ho's gaze that always helped her feel relax.

Si-ri came closer and hugged him, digging her face to his chest. Min-ho froze in awkwardness and his heart was pounding fast. He was about to move away from her embrace as he was feeling shy but heard something soft. "I thought we'll never meet again," said Si-ri in a weak voice.

Min-ho sensed the concern hidden in Si-ri's voice and made her look at him. "How could I lose something so precious?"

They both stood there staring at each other, no one made a sound, they didn't have to, their eyes spoke more than words ever could.

Breaking the eye contact Min-ho uttered, "Well you should learn to welcome your guest better." He entered the cave further, leaving Si-ri in daze.

Si-ri felt anger rush through her at his words. She clenched her fists, stomped over to him and burst out, "There is nothing wrong with my mannerism but there is definitely something wrong with the way and timing of your arrivals."

Looking at her cute face fuming in anger, a small smile crept onto Min-ho's face as he shrugged in response.

Min-ho got busy exploring the beauty of the cave. His eyes roamed freely in every corner of the cave. The most astonishing thing he found inside was the thin waterfall. It added to the beauty and made it look lively. While he was admiring the beauty of the place, a voice shook him out of his trance.

"How did you come to know that I was here?" asked Si-ri with a confused expression.

Min-ho turned away from Si-ri, his gaze landing on the flowing water as he walked over to it, "The day when your father was revealing the truth, I was there in the mansion. Don't get me wrong, my intentions weren't to eavesdrop on your conversation. I was there to thank you for the books as I was happy that I could read and write but I saw your father coming so I hid and eventually overheard the truth."

Si-ri couldn't understand how to react to this but above all she is happy to see Min-ho again.

"Are you alright? "Asked Min-ho, looking at her.

"Ahh! Yes, it's okay. Don't worry," said Si-ri, assuring Min-ho with a smile.

"But why have you come here?" asked Si-ri

"I came here to wish you. Happy Birthday Princess." Min-ho kneeled down and presented her with a gift.

Si-ri quickly snatched it like a child and hurriedly opened it, to reveal a beautiful jade studded hairpin.

"I couldn't afford to give you something more precious. All I could afford was this hairpin," said Min-ho in melancholy.

"Are you a fool? Look at this, it's so beautiful. I love it. Thank you so much for this," said Si-ri with her radiating smile.

She slid the hairpin on and ran towards the mirror to see how it looked. As expected it was suiting, Si-ri. Min-ho was busy enjoying the pleasant sight before him. He loved how Si-ri was beaming and twittering like a bird while she looked at the mirror.

From the corner of her eyes, Si-ri noticed that Min-ho was staring at her and turned around to face him, "Why are you staring at me like this?"

"I am looking at the most lovely creature on this earth. I can see it in your eyes," said Min-ho glancing at her.

Si-ri shyly asked, "What is it?"

"Obviously, me. They say I am handsome," said Min-ho, splurging on his handsomeness.

Si-ri's eyes narrowed as the man in front of her continued blabbering.

"You must be a Casanova among the maidens of Noam," Si-ri had a sneer in her voice that extended to her eyes.

"I may be an orphan but never in my life till now have I flirted with a girl. You are the first girl I have ever talked to. For me flirting with any girl is disdainful. I really respect them and I respect you too... Si-ri," said Min-ho with a grave expression.

Lost in her eyes, the words left his mouth before he could process them, "But you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen."

Si-ri blushed listening to his words. Without breaking their eye contact she thought, "My parents warned me about the strangers and the freaks but never about the ones with mesmerizing hazel eyes. As I looked into his eyes I could feel him searching deep into my soul while the soft glimmer of his lucid eyes were enough to betray the poet and the dreamer."

Sensing the awkwardness in the air Min-ho kept himself aloof from their eye contact.

"Si-ri, I really want to help you in collecting blessings. Do you have any plans? How will you do it?" asked Min-ho.

"Well, I don't have any plans for now but I have to start it soon as I don't have much time left," answered Si-ri

"I've a plan. Have you ever heard about the well on the south side of the forest?" Min-ho asked.

"No. Tell me about it."

"There is an old well on the south side of the forest. It is said that during the reign of King Yuan, a gruesome famine hit Noam. The familiar spectre of drought and famine had reared its ugly head resulting in massive outcry of the townsfolk."

"One day a poor young girl who had lost her family due to extreme hunger and thirst was cremating her family members. Pain of losing her family and fear of being alone for the rest of her life was suffocating her to the core. In the end, she decided to commit suicide by jumping into the old well. The moment she was about to jump, a sharp voice stopped her. She was shocked and petrified at what she heard and looked around to find the direction of the voice. Then she learned that the voice was coming from the well. "Why are you doing this?" asked the voice.

"The girl told it about all her pain and asked the voice about his identity. The voice revealed that he was Lucian."

"Lucian is one of the most loved and favoured gods in mythology. Desires, wishes, rain and wind are the principal elements of this divine being associated with. People also depict him as a handsome, kind and powerful deity."

"Lucian continued telling the girl about his identity and that he was a supreme being. For breaking the rules of heaven, he was punished by the Emperor of Heaven to be caged in the old desolated well. His only mistake was that he inadvertently granted a wish to one of his devotees, which resulted in a misdeed by him. He needed a human being who would become his mate for eternity only then would he gain his freedom from confinement."

"Without a second thought the girl agreed to be his mate but she had her conditions before doing so. She asked God Lucian to bless her motherland with heavy rain, as she didn't want others to lose their family like her due to drought and hunger. Secondly, she asked him to make that well a wishing well for people in distress."

"Lucian accepted her conditions and the girl wrote on the well 'Your wish will come true have faith in Lucian', before she jumped into the well as humans aren't capable of being a mate to God and hence needed to end her life to do so. She then gave her soul to Lucian and they both proceeded towards heaven," narrated Min-ho.

"So, that wellspring really grants wishes?" asked Si-ri with hopeful eyes.

"People believed that the wellspring had given folk in distress a good time by granting their wishes. The glory of Lucian's Well was spreading day by day. This caused jealousy between the shamans as they were losing their prestige among people. They conspired to breach the piousness of Lucian's well and so, slaughtered an animal and threw it into the well, ruining its chastity and sacredness along with the faith of folks on the well," said Min-ho.

"So, the well is of no use anymore," said Si-ri with a dejected expression.

"No, we can still work with it. If a rumour prevails over the town that this well still has its purity intact even after all these years then people will definitely come to make their wishes," said Min-ho.

"It's a great idea. In a very short period of time we would be able to know their wishes and collect their blessings," said Si-ri.

"But are you sure you will be able to make their wishes come true? I mean it's something arduous," asked Min-ho.

"Don't worry; I have Devil's book and other ancient books too, scribed by eminent hermits. They will definitely help me out in my journey." Si-ri assured Min-ho.