When the sole heir to the kingdom refused to become King, political conflict within the palace began.
Accusations of slander, treason, bloodshed--all were done to get rid of the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince's plan for survival did not include fa...
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The sound of crickets humming among the grass filled the silence of the night. Night finally took over but the atmosphere didn't immediately die down. Those who had gone through a long day had returned to their rooms to wash up and rest. The others who just began their activity at night--such as the guards who are in charge for night duty--takes turn to walk around, greeting one another if they bumped into other palace workers.
In your room, you're standing right in front of your open window, looking up admiring the moon that shines brighter than usual that night, kind of hoping you could stay a little bit longer. Unfortunately seeing the moon isn't as important as meeting the Crown Price. So you hurriedly closed the window and took your personal belongings wrapped in cloth to drape over your body.
Soft snoring was heard as you tiptoed past Seungcheol's room where Soon-young also shared a room with him. Their room's door left a slight gap, you're sure it was Seungcheol who didn't close the door tightly enough, that has been his habit ever since he was a kid. Before you close it for them, you took the opportunity to peek inside--They both slept with their backs facing each other, Soon-young's face almost meeting the wall.
Very carefully you tiptoed your way out, hating the squeaking sound every time you stepped on a certain spot on the floor. You slid the door open slowly, stepped out, then turned around to close the door again.
"Holy-- You scared me.." You almost tripped when you saw Seungcheol's head pop out of the door, his eyes are still half closed.
"I heard noises...so I thought someone came in..." He sleepily said followed by a big yawn.
"Such a sharp ears you have over there, sir." You said, quite impressed actually.
"Why are you still awake ?" Seungcheol asked while rubbing his eyes, then he blinked one more time after he feel more awake, "Where are you going?"
"I, uh.. Going for another bath, it's so humid tonight..."
Fortunately Seungcheol seemed to believe your lame excuse. The fatigue he had from his hard training made him no longer want to think. He let you go after reminding you to make sure you close the door tightly--said someone who often leaves a gap when closing the door.
As usual, lanterns were hung beautifully around the palace. You walked past the palace kitchen to go to the back gate Jisoo told you about just before sunset. Obviously the gate was locked. Looking around, you find the trees lined up near the gate walls to be very helpful. You look at the trees one by one, ultimately choosing the one with the bigger, sturdier branches to hold onto. Once you've taken a few steps back, you charge forward and jump on your final step, quickly grabbing a tree branch to pull yourself up and lifting your body upwards.
The tree is taller than you think. You keep climbing to higher branches as long as they are big and strong enough to support you. The palace looks more beautiful from up there. Climbing a tree in the palace isn't something you would do often, so you took a few minutes to enjoy the view for a bit.
