Ryang Empire, 1854
Jun-ki POV…
“Hanuel and Sung-jun are waiting for you, Nyota, and Mi-sook at the entrance of the secret tunnel,” Appa says after he enters my room.
“Appa, do you really think that it is a good idea for Nyota to be out of the palace right now? For her to be away from the best protection that only the palace guards could give her?”
“Yes! You and she will be much safer in a place where no one knows who you are.” Appa says as he, Umma and I walked toward Nyota's living quarters.
“Mi-sook, why do we have to leave the palace so late at night?” I heard Nyota ask in an alarmed voice when I walked into her chambers. She was prancing back and forth with an all-black cloak covering her from head to toe.
“Because It's for your safety,” Umma tells her after removing the hood from over her head.
“Queen Mother, aren't we safer inside the palace with you, Your Majesty, and all the palace guards?”
“If we thought for a second that you and Jun-ki could be protected inside the palace, we wouldn't be sending you and him away to a place you know nothing about,” Umma replied while caressing Nyota's cheeks gently.
“If I allow you two to stay here, you'll be surrounded by people who are constantly looking for a way to gain control over the Ryang Empire and Adrecan Dynasty. These people are willing to do anything to be in power, and that means getting rid of the people who will be standing in their way. Jun-ki, I'm depending on you to take good care of Nyota in my stead.”
“I will, Appa.”
“Alright, you three, it's time to get a move on,” Appa says while walking towards the door. After pulling the hoodie back over Nyota's head, I grabbed her left hand, then began to follow behind Appa.
Nyota squeezed my hand tight when we approached the end of the tunnel. “Everything is going to be alright. I won't let anything happen to you.” I leaned over and whispered in her ear.
“I'll send for you two when I know that it's safe for you to return to the palace,” Appa tells us as we mount our horses. The pitch black dark sky, the bristling of the wind through the trees, and the crackling of the leaves underneath the horse's feet were a wee bit thrilling to me. The long, silent ride through the woods made me feel like we were going on an adventure to an unknown world, and it also made me feel like we were leaving a home we may never return to.
Time Skip…
“Are you cold?” I asked Nyota when she wrapped her trembling arms around my waist tighter.
“Just a little.” She mumbled next to my ear, then laid her face against my back.
“How much further do we have to go, Sung-jun?” I asked after catching up with him.
“We're almost there, Your Highness.”
“Do you think that you can hold out a little while longer, Nyota?” I asked, falling back behind Haneul and Sung-jun.
“Yeah, it's just my hands that are a little cold.”
“I'm going to go check out the place first, Your Highness,” Sung-jun called out before disappearing into the darkness.
“Hanuel, you've been quiet this whole journey, too quiet if you ask me.”
“Something doesn't feel right, Your Highness.”
“What do you mean?”
“The whole trip here has been peaceful. It's been too uneventful, don't you think?”
“I don't know Hanuel we did sneak away from the palace in the middle of the night.”
“But still, don't you think that whoever is after Nyota would've had someone watching the palace for anyone existing or entering it at all times?”
“Nobody knows about us leaving the palace because we left through a secret passageway that only we know about,” Mi-sook utters in a voice that was barely above a whisper.
“I don't know Jun-ki, something just doesn't feel right about us leaving the palace,” Hanuel says at the time Sung-jun reappeared out of the shadows of the thick trees.
“Sung-jun, is there another reason why we had to leave Ryang in the middle of the night?” I asked him just as he began to speak.
“I'm not sure if now is the right time to be having this conversation, Your Highness, especially when we're in a rush to get you and Nyota to safety.”
“If you don't tell me right now, I'm going to turn around and go back to the palace and ask Appa, Sung-jun.”
“You're leaving because of your Uncle, Your Highness.”
“Uncle… What uncle? My parents don't have any siblings.”
“His Majesty has a younger brother named 'Prince Nikil' who was exiled to the far-off territory of Fyung Dong Providence before you were born,” Mi-sook says again in a voice that is barely over a Whisper. It almost felt like she thought that the woods were listening in on our conversation.
“Why haven't I heard about him before now?”
“Because Your grandmother forbade anyone in the palace to speak his name inside the palace walls on the day he was sent into exile,” Sung-jun replied, coming to a stop in front of me.
“Why was he banished to Fyung Dong Providence, and What does he have to do with why we had to leave Ryang in the middle of the night all of a sudden?”
“I'll tell you everything you want to know once we're all safe and secure inside the walls of 'Ning Village' your mom's old hometown.”
“Alright,” I replied, riding close behind Sung-jun in the dark, eerily quiet, and thick wooded path. The only sounds that could be heard were the rustling of the wind and the dry leaves crackling underneath the horse's feet.
The inside of the semi-huge living quarters looked as though someone had been living in it or had been hired to keep the place up. It had a warm motherly touch. It almost looked like that of Nyota and mine living quarters back at the palace. Once we all were situated and Nyota had changed into warmer clothes, sung-jun, Hanuel, Nyota and I sat in the main gathering room While Mi-sook put away Nyota and my things in our separate rooms.
“Tell me everything I need to know about this uncle I never knew existed, Sung-jun!"
“Where do you want me to start, Your Highness?”
“From the beginning. I want to know his mom's name and what happened to her. Not only that, but I also would like to know how old he was at the time of his exile and why he was banished to the barely habitable Fyung Dong Providence.
“He's the son of the late Princess Sian Who was punished for plotting to poison your father. Princess Sian was jealous of your grandmother because of how much love your grandfather showered her with, and because she gave him an heir to the throne before she could. Her envy of your grandmother grew even more when your grandfather paid more attention to your father than her son, Prince Nikil. On your father's seventh birthday, she got one of the Gungnyeo (lady-in-waiting) to poison his food. After the king found out about her plot to kill your father, he sentenced her to death with the same poison she used on him. Instead of having Prince Nikil suffer the same fate as his mother, he sent him to stay in another part of the palace. After your grandfather died, your grandmother stripped Prince Nikil of his title and exiled him to the Fyung Dong Providence on his tenth birthday.”
“Why?”
“Because she feared that Prince Nikil was becoming too popular with the palace guards, the workers, and the people. She thought that one day he would try to steal the Kingdom from you. And look, she was right.” Mi-sook says defending Halmeoni's honor, which I would expect her to do since she's her favorite Gungnyeo out of all the ladies in waiting. When Nyota came into the palace, she assigned Mi-sook to look after her because she's the only Gungnyeo she trusts not to harm her.
“Why come back now?” I asked, looking over at Nyota who was staring intently at the front door as if she were expecting someone to walk through it.
“Because he knows about Nyota and her family Kingdom?”
“Sung-jun, what do Nyota and the Adrecan Dynasty have to do with this?”
“Prince Nikil knows that Nyota is your intended bride and that she's the rightful heir to the throne of Adrecan, Your Highness.” Nyota snapped her head in my direction when she heard Sung-jun mention her as my bride.
“Yes, it's true, I'm your future husband,” I told her as soon as she called my name. I couldn't tell if the look she was giving was one of surprise or anger after finding out that her future husband had already been picked for her. “Are you okay with that?” I leaned over and whispered in her ear.
“Yes.” She beamed while grabbing a hold of my hands and squeezing them tight.
“So, you're really okay with me being your husband?” I asked, tweaking her nose with my pointer and thumb fingers.
“Yes, Juni.” She replied, calling me by the nickname she gave me after she became comfortable hanging out with Hanuel and me.
“We'll continue this conversation with Sung-jun sometime tomorrow. You should go on in and rest because tomorrow we'll have a full day of training.” Hanuel says to Nyota and me.
“Come on, let's get you to bed,” Mi-sook says to Nyota, then turns and bid me goodnight.
“Goodnight Juni, Hanuel, and Sung-jun,” Nyota says, then proceeds to follow behind Mi-sook. Hanuel, Sung-jun, and I went over the plans for tomorrow until I grew tired.
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