He Walks Alone in the Moonlight

TAKEN TOGETHER

After handing Jihyun off to one of the princess' handmaids with a sad smile, Minjoo departed, Jaeon trailing behind him. Jihyun twisted his hands nervously around the handle of the basket, following the handmaid as she led him to the study. He'd expected something to be different about the princess, yet she greeted him as if nothing had transpired. It made Jihyun wonder if he shouldn't bring up her illness, if it was yet another thing he was not supposed to see about her. He decided to hold his curiosity, tucking the basket behind him as he sat down next to her.

"Good afternoon. I trust you've been keeping up with your studies in my absence?"

"Yes. I've memorized all the star-divined characters. As for reading, Minjoo helped me pick a few of the less complicated texts to start with." Eunbin's face tensed at the mention of the tailor, her brows furrowing as she studied the books Jihyun pulled from his bag.

"Good. Did you bring what I asked?"

"Yes," Jihyun replied as he pulled the red envelope from his bag, sliding it over to the princess.

"Technically, you already know what it says," the princess mused as she opened the envelope and unfolded the paper inside.

"I don't remember it well." The poem the prince had written was confusing, and Jihyun couldn't recall much of it. Only one line had planted itself firmly in his memory. A prince does not question his people as they drag him, gagged and bound, he has never known love before.

"You haven't read it since then?"

"I didn't understand it the first time, I don't think that will change just because I can read it myself," Jihyun said with a shrug. Eunbin tsked, shaking her head.

"Lots of things can change when you see them for yourself. That's why I want you to read it again." Jihyun sighed when Eunbin placed the poem back down in front of him. Rather than seeing the fragments of his name, he could make out the sentences, and could recognize how the prince's penmanship was indeed inferior to the princess, to that of other texts he had read. He found it strangely endearing. "Read it aloud," the princess instructed, placing her chin atop her interlaced fingers.

"A bird does not cry out that it is falling

As it hurtles toward the ground

Its wings have never failed before

A man does not mourn his lover

Simply because dinner is not found

They have never not been home before

An archer does not curse his arrow

Just because it struck his hound

It has never missed its mark before

A prince does not question his people

As they drag him, gagged and bound

He has never known love before"

    Jihyun paused on the verse, eyes widening as he took in the additional writing below. He looked at the princess incredulously. "There was more to it? Why didn't you read it?" he accused, then shut his mouth quickly when Eunbin narrowed her eyes at his tone.

    She offered no explanation, insisting, "Go on, finish it." He cleared his throat, glancing between the paper and the princess uncomfortably.

"A mother does not resent her son

For the damage he has done

She has never."

A heavy silence swept the room once Jihyun finished. The princess closed her eyes, exhaling through her nose. "He didn't finish it," Jihyun stated after a time, twisting his lips into a frown.