Because the driver didn't know when the princess will return, he didn't pick her up. And Eunkyung understands that.
The idea of walking home alone sounds great but Seungmin was there to accompany her. She knew if she protested he won't listen to her until she allows him. As much as the girl disliked it, she had to give up.
"Are you going to class this evening?"
The princess shook her head. "Father lets me, but I don't want to meet anyone yet."
Seungmin lightly nodded. "And seems like you have a guest."
Eunkyung raised her head to see someone was standing at the front gate with a familiar figure. She tilted her head while trying to make out who was the unknown guy.
"You don't know him?"
"I've never seen him." she replied. Upon arriving at the gate, Eunkyung blinked her eyes in confusion. "Eunhee eonnie,"
"Oh, you are back! Mr Lee was worried when you didn't appear, my little sister. Luckily Felix informed it to him."
"I apologise for that, Seungmin got us into trouble."
"With all respect, excuse me?"
Eunhee softly laughed. The third princess of the royal family was known as the most polite one. Her gestures are graceful, the way she speaks could literally melt any heart who heard the voice.
"What did you do?" she asked with a smile.
Eunkyung glanced sideways to Seungmin and the guy looked away, suddenly finding the sky interesting. She rolled her eyes, "We skipped the first two classes unintentionally."
The unknown male stifled a laugh, "High school kids won't ever skip classes unintentionally."
Eunkyung raised a brow as she looked at him. If she was to be honest, the first time she saw him she thought he was a prince. The defined and sculptured face and jaws, with his milky skin and the eye-catching feline like eyes, anyone could fell in love at the first sight. But a prince wouldn't come to the castle alone without a horse. "And you are...?"
"Lee Minho, Your Highness. I'm your sister's friend." he politely bowed.
"Ah, the one she always talk about during— nevermind hehe." the intention to tease Eunhee failed when the sister's eyes turned into a glare before quickly went back to an eye smile. Even Seungmin could feel shivers ran down his spine. "Anyway, you got the look. She chose the right one, haha."
But if Eunhee's mad, she'd be the most scary one. She is the peacemaker between Eunkyung and Eunji, so when Eunhee threw a warning look, even her older sister, Eunji, would lock her mouth.
"Hm?" Minho lightly tilted his head to the side with an oblivious smile, as if he didn't understand what the youngest meant. "Is that a compliment? I'm honoured."
"Your Highness, I think I should go now," Seungmin tugged on Eunkyung's sleeves before whispering, "Your sister is getting scarier. I'll see you tomorrow."
Eunkyung awkwardly laughed when she turned to meet her sister's threatening look. "You know what? I'm going to the archery class today so I'll take my leave first. Have fun, uh, Minho!" she pushed Seungmin in the face and carefully walked past by her sister.
Then she ran.
༆
Wind breeze greeted her cheeks, swaying her hair to the side. Some of it hit her face but that made her smile at the feeling. Trees peacefully moved from left to right as if they were bidding her a good evening. Birds flew in flock, chirping as a nature music to the ears. The square, brown houses looked so small from up there with a few grey haze being released, probably the villagers just finished burning trash. There were small lines of fence around the village that protected them from the forest where wild animals roam at night.
To say she loved this was an understatement. The hill would always be her favourite place to go as a stress reliever. The view from above was just mesmerising and she couldn't get enough. Everything was green, it feels fresh just by looking at it.
Even so, her mind was still a mess, a complete contrast of the surrounding and her appearance. Her inner self was crying at the new information she just received hours ago. The pulling string game was strong. Hesitation and denial were stronger than believing Seungmin. Should she believe her ten years best friend or this guy who she just started talking a few months ago?
"Eunkyung?"
She turned around, her ponytail followed as she did so. Behind her was a tall guy with fair skin. He had bangs covering his forehead and there was a light brown packaging in his hand. The princess showcased a clueless look towards the guy.
"Do I know you?"
The male let out a soft chuckle. He walked to her and sat a few steps away. "It's Soobin. Do you remember me?"
There was a few seconds of silence before she gasped, "Oh my,"
"My little brother saw you with your horse the other day while he was looking after the sheep." he said with a smile.
Eunkyung eagerly nodded as she remembered that day, "That was your brother?" she asked in disbelief as she scooted closer to him and her hands hesitantly raised to his cheeks. "A-are you really S-soobin? The Soobin I knew-"
"The Soobin who first ignored you," he nervously laughed while taking her hand in his. Eunkyung's hand slightly trembled at the touch. Of course, the Soobin who first approached her before Jisung came into her life. He's also the Soobin who first stopped talking to her after she introduced Jisung to her friends who lived near the hill. Starting from that, she lost them one by one.
The princess was a bit overwhelmed. It had been years since she saw him and the grudge was long gone as she grew up. There was no anger. Instead, she felt happy. "You recognised me?"
This confused him, "You are... not mad?"
She shook her head instantly, convincing him. "How did you know I'm here?"
He sighed in relief, "My brother got all excited when he said he saw the princess. I knew your sisters rarely get out here so I just thought it was you," he smiled, "Since that I waited but you never come again."
"Yeah, my father don't let me go here alone anymore. I just sneaked out today." she giggled.
"You're still rebellious," he remarked before she put her hands off his cheeks. Eunkyung eagerly nodded that made him chuckle, "You're proud of it, Your Highness?"
"This will be the last time. I've got full ears for not following the rules," she raised both hands next to her head with a grin on. "How you've been doing? I-"
"Eunkyung," he cut her off and she blinked her eyes with her lips pursed into a thin line. "The reason why I'm here is to apologise."
The girl's shoulders visibly slumped down. Of course, she's no longer mad but just thinking about it made her feel sad. "It's alright."
"It was stupid for ignoring you just because you found a new friend. I got jealous easily." he faced the scene in front of them while stretching out his legs forward. "You stopped visiting after we completely ignored you. That must hurt you so much."
She hummed lowly while resting her chin on top of her knees. "It hurts. But I thought you guys had reasons or I made a mistake that anyone couldn't forgive so I let it be."
"I'm so sorry," he muttered. "It's just... what you said hurt us."
Eunkyung whipped her head to him with a questioning look. "What did I say?" she asked. As long as she remembered, she'd never said anything that possibly could hurt them since she was determined to keep her new friends safe from anyone. She didn't want the same thing happen towards them just like what happened to Mina.
She treasured them so much.
"The one that our houses were so poor, and you'd rather play with us in the castle's park. I know it's just a small remark but we were kids at that moment, so we got hurt easily."
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I've never said that. Did I say that?"
"Not directly, but through Jisung," Soobin shrugged. "But it's alright, that was in the past."
"Wait a second," she untied her arms from hugging her legs. "I've never said that to Jisung either. When was this?"
Soobin raised an eyebrow, "Jisung said you did not want to meet us because of that. You were not there for two weeks so we thought you really wanted to stop playing with us. But then you returned and brought some–"
Eunkyung grabbed his arm and pulled him closer, startling the guy. He immediately stopped talking and his eyes nervously stared back into hers. She was like a predator eyeing her prey. That gave him shivers. "Was it the one when I brought the wooden carved animals as gifts?"
He nodded, "You said it was from Adelaine Kingdom."
"They were from Adelaine. I went there for two weeks with my family because I had never been to another kingdom," she said, her voice was one octave lower. "And I've never said such things about your house. I lived at the village for years, Soobin. The houses there are smaller than yours then why would I say that?"
The male was tongue tied as he realised he was tricked.
"You knew I preferred playing here because the castle is restricted only for the royal family. You knew how I fought with father just because I want to meet you then why–!" her voice raised at the end of the sentence while pulling Soobin's collar. Her breathing suddenly got heavy, furious at the other new information. "Did Han tell you that?"
"Yes, he did."
Her heart shattered.
Why didn't she realise this earlier?
Her eyes darted away from him as the grip loosen. Disbelief written all over her face. "Am I... am I–"
"Your Highness!"
A loud yell interrupted her along with the sound of a horse galloping. Both of them stood up only to see Seungmin, breathless while he jumped off from Jasper with his archery equipment hung on his back.
"Seungmin–"
"Another murder case was reported."
Hearing that, Eunkyung went to see the village from above. Soobin followed behind her, clueless.
"The body was found in the forest near the entrance path. And the king wishes you to return now."
At this point she didn't know what exactly she had to feel. Bad news were after her every day. From above, she could see people gathering at one place, probably where the body was brought to.
The princess stood still. If the heart could produce a sound, all they would be hearing at the moment was breaking sound. "Who was it?"
"A man. He went hunting alone." Seungmin replied while eyeing the unknown guy. "Excuse me, who are you?"
Soobin turned to him and bowed. "I'm Soobin. Choi Soobin. Eunkyung's old friend."
An old friend?
He was about to ask when Eunkyung turned around, "I'm going down there."
Seungmin blocked her way, "None can do. It's too dangerous now."
"He's right. Just stay at the castle in the meantime," Soobin spoke up. "I'm going there to meet a friend, anyway. If anything else happen I will let you know." he showed the small packaging he brought earlier.
With that, Soobin left.
Eunkyung just watched with her eyelid almost closing her eyes. Just by looking at her expression, Seungmin could guess she discovered something new again. After all, she met her old friend after years. The friend she knew before Jisung. That Soobin guy probably knows something.
"Let's go back."
Instead of getting on Winter, Eunkyung pulled the lead line and walked, which made Seungmin's mind flooded with questions. Soobin definitely told her a sad truth and it worsen when the murder case reached her. Seungmin decided to follow her steps. He tugged on Jasper's lead line and trailed behind her.
It was the first time he'd seen her this quiet and that concerned him.
However, he chose not to talk.
༆
Four days had passed. Eunkyung still couldn't visit the village because it became a restricted area. A member of a royal family was not allowed for their safety.
And for the four days, she became less talkative. Even her sisters had no idea why.
Seungmin unpacked his painting stuffs while eyeing the princess who sat directly in front of him. Jisung was next to her, giving explanation of the painting they were going to do but it seems like Eunkyung was lost in thoughts.
He became worried.
He decided to focus on the painting first when Minju started talking. Listening tentatively, Eunkyung finally was off his mind for awhile.
As for the princess, she just started at the blank paper with subtle sketches on it. Jisung's voice was drown. She couldn't hear anything except for Soobin's voice the other day.
"Eunkyung?"
She slowly averted her gaze to the caller. Jisung tilted his head lightly to the side, "Were you listening?"
A low sigh escaped her lips. She took a brush and began to mix the color until it turned into three shades of green. Then she took another one to make different shades of red on the palette and handed it to him. "Do it first."
Clueless, the guy obeyed. He flipped the paper next to him to see the model of an apple they painted beforehand. Seconds after, the tip of the brush touched the paper and Jisung gently moved his hand to color in the apple. Brush by brush, slowly it began to form into shape just with one color. Soon, it'd be full of shades and adding strokes to make it look real and more alive.
Eunkyung's eyes didn't detach from the newly created fruit on the piece of paper.
A fruit that resembled a foe in the story must be created by a foe too.
Or else, how could it be the one who betrays?
༆