Masters of the Sea

007

His eyes were grey.

As he got closer and closer, something else struck her as particularly odd. As a seer, she could typically sense a person's aura, no matter how vague and hazy. Even for Sunghyun, who couldn't say a word, she had been able to pick up a slight aura of nobility and the stench of blood that hinted at a violent past. That, and the hint of jasmine that seemingly belonged to a woman. For the man with the grey eyes she was looking at right now, she could sense nothing.

It was as though there was no human soul inside of him.

A man with no past, present, or future. How odd...

She blinked, and suddenly the grey of his eyes disappeared, replaced by a more normal shade of black. She was standing right in his path, yet he showed no signs of slowing down. Instead, she could have sworn that he winked his right eye at her as he ran. Before he could come crashing straight into her, a pair of strong arms yanked her to one side, moving her safely out his path.

Hye Ra found herself standing in Sunghyun's arms, a worried look on his face.

"Are you ok?", his expression seemed to say. Hye Ra nodded slowly, blushing a little at how close they were standing.

"I'm fine. Thank you." By the time she distanced herself from Sunghyun and straightened herself up, the man had long disappeared into the crowd. The lady who had been chasing him had now stopped, huffing and puffing at the amount of exertion he had put her through.

"Don't you ever let me find you, you ruddy thief!" she yelled angrily, still waving her gleaming cleaver in the air.

"Excuse me, what did that man do?" Hye Ra walked up to the lady and tapped on her shoulder, asking curiously.

The lady turned around in surprise and replied, "Him? Just another one of them beggars. Obviously has strong arms and legs, judging from the way he runs. I don't understand why he doesn't just get a job and earn a decent living instead of stealing my roasted meats! This is the fourth time this month! I've told my workers to keep an eye out for him but I have no idea how he sneaks past us every single time." She shook her head and sighed, before heading back up the street towards her shop.

A beggar? But those grey eyes... Maybe I was just seeing things? Hye Ra shook the thoughts of the strange man out of her head, continuing down the path with Sunghyun.

#

Lee Sol was bored out of her mind.

The Goguryeo palace was unlike the Baekje palace where she could do as she pleased and no one would dare say a word. Over here, there were so many palace rules and etiquettes weighing her down like a ton of bricks. After that one time where she escaped from her palace maids and managed to get a few arrows shot, the chief court lady in charge of her chambers had increased the number of guards watching over her, just to make sure she didn't get into any more trouble.

If only L or Dojin were here. They always let me do whatever I wanted to, she grumbled to herself as she sat alone in her quarters. 

After being here for a month, she still hadn't seen her supposed husband—the great crown prince Go Yeon. Not that she wanted to, because she was almost certain he was a jerk, considering how he abandoned her on their wedding night.

"Summon Lady Jang please," she called out to the palace maids who were waiting outside. Within a minute, her chief court lady had entered the room, bowing respectfully to the crown princess.

"You called for me, Your Highness?"

"I've run out of gold thread, please get me some more," Sol pointed at her embroidery basket and said.