"What? Marriage? Stop kidding me! I just entered the palace not long ago and they say what? I'm going to get married? Seriously..." I rolled my eyes and complained as I stood on the bridge in the garden.
I had not had a wink of sleep last night because I kept thinking about those ridiculous words. I mean, there's still a lot to explore in the palace. And how am I supposed to get married when all I knew was hunting?
"A-Yeon ah!" I turned to see Prince Baek Ah waving towards me.
What's that guy doing here?
"Hey what are you looking at?" He grinned as he looked towards the pond. There were a few water lilies and lotus blooming beautifully in the pond.
"Nothing." I said and started to walk away from the bridge.
"Hey, are you still going to treat me like a stranger? What's with that cold treatment?" Prince Baek Ah followed after me and continued to question me like a buzzing bee.
"Could you just, give me a moment of silence in the morning? I already had enough of nagging." I stopped in my tracks and folded my arms at him.
"What? Who nagged at you so much until you became grumpy?" Prince Baek Ah asked.
Finally at my limit, I stomped my feet as I complained to him about the King wanting to send me off to Gaeju to become someone else's bride.
"And also Prince Wang Eun...he...!"
Damn it, I nearly spilt our secret out!
"Hyung...why?" He gave me a puzzled look.
"Nevermind me. Are you going to follow me all day?" I changed the topic instantly, not wanting myself to recklessly say unnecessary things again.
"Well actually, I wanted to ask if you would like to visit the town with me? It's been a while since you're out of the palace right?" He offered and I looked at him.
It's true I've not been out of town since entering the palace...maybe I could use this chance to escape?!
"But I doubt I'm allowed to go out of the palace though. There's so many guards around here." I voiced out my concern.
"Don't worry. I'll just tell them the King allowed me to bring you out for some drawings." He casually said and leaned closer to my face. "That is, if you allowed me to draw your portrait."
I lifted my eyebrows in suspicion. "Will that actually work?"
"Trust me. If anything happens, just push the blame to me alright?" He gave me a smile and dragged me towards a place to change in to commoner clothes.
True enough, the guards accepted Prince Baek Ah's explanation and easily let me out to town. Once outside, I realised that the town was still the same as before. The trade store was still at the same corner. I stopped in front of it as I reminisced the good old days before I was entitled to the Princess status.
I miss trading dead animals there for gold coins. Shall I visit the store owner and say hi?
"Ah! This is the first place we met! I remembered you were quite rough then. With those...bloody animals..." Prince Baek Ah made a gesture with his hands as he looked disgusted.
"And you drew a picture of me secretly without my consent. What a stalker!" I stuck my tongue out at him and looked away. I heard him chuckling to himself and I turned to look at him with a grin. Both of us bursted out laughing when we saw each other.
That was definitely some good memories...
"Let's go over there." Prince Baek Ah suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me along with him towards a candy store. I was judging him as I wondered why he would visit a candy store? It's not like he's Prince Wang Eun, who's a child prince. But then again, he's younger than Prince Wang Eun so I can't doubt that either...
Prince Baek Ah picked up a blue packet and went over to the counter to pay for it. Soon, he walked out of the store and I questioned him. "Do you like sweets?"
He gave a soft laugh and replied, "It's not for me." And continued to walk ahead, expecting me to follow after him automatically. Which I did.
"Who are they for then?" I asked curiously.
He turned around and leaned down again, giving me that silly face as he said, "Not telling you."
"Yah." I nearly kicked him in his shin but he was quick to avoid.
"Aha! I already know your pattern and will not fall in to one your tricks." Prince Baek Ah stuck out his tongue and ran off as I chased after him.
As we ran, we were further away from the town. In fact, there were lots of beggars begging for money and food. I felt uncomfortable as most of them were giving us hunger stares and expecting to give them something.
What business does Prince Baek Ah have here?
"Where is this place?" I whispered to him. It's not like I was afraid of the beggars, but seeing these people along the streets just made me feel sad for them.
"Kids!" Prince Baek Ah called towards a group of little beggars and they quickly gathered around us. I was astonished by the scene because usually if an outsider interacts with them, they get defensive. It was surprising to see Prince Baek Ah interacting with the children naturally despite his royal status.
Perhaps there's a good side to him as well which I've never seen before.
A smile immediately formed on my face as the children sat down in a circle close to Prince Baek Ah.
"Come on." He gestured for me to sit beside him by a tree. Hesitantly, I walked over and sat down in front of the children.
Prince Baek Ah took out an musical instrument, something like a flute and started to blew a tune. Suddenly the world seemed as if it was really peaceful, and that we're all equals.
It's been a while since I've experienced peacefulness. Prince Baek Ah sure lives up to a royal status...unlike me.
Just then, Prince Baek Ah stopped and we all looked up to see a woman with two long knives.
What the heck?
All of us stood up as Prince Baek Ah shouted, "Get behind me!"
S-sword practice?
After the woman explained herself, she hid the swords behind her back. Prince Baek Ah turned over to the frightened children and took out the blue packet of sweets that he bought earlier on.
Ah...so the sweets are for these children...
I smiled once again at the kind gesture of Prince Baek Ah. The children scattered off after taking the sweets; leaving only me, Prince Baek Ah and the woman. Prince Baek Ah turned slowly to the woman after the children had left.
"I saw you before, right?" He said.
Wait a minute...why does this sentence sounded so familiar?
However, the woman simply rolled her eyes and walked away, leaving us speechless and shocked by her unexpected action. The prince was anxious and insisted in following the woman as he exclaimed, "You should pay for the drawings you ripped!"
This certainly happened between Prince Baek Ah and me before. So he's been using this method to get the girls he want?
I rolled my eyes and sighed as I watched the interaction between the both of them.
"You could show me your sword dance then." He suggested as he stared at the poor woman. However, she did not back down and instead, tackled him with one of her own.
"You work hard to please those nobles with your drawings and musical instruments. How diligent."
Aish...why am I even here to witness some flirty conversation of two strangers?
"I'm the 13th...!" Prince Baek Ah's sudden declaration got me away from my thoughts and I shouted at him.
"Yah! What are you doing?"
Both of them stared at me in shock as I stood there awkwardly. "No...I mean..."
"Well then, I guess I should leave now before I ruined a little date of you and your girlfriend." The woman said in sarcasm as she left.
"W-wait...!" Prince Baek Ah attempted to stop her but failed. He looked at me and sighed, "Ah...it's all because of you that my plan was ruined! Now I'm never going to get back my drawing."
"What?! How is it even my fault that a girl ripped your drawings? Come to think of it, didn't you used the same method on me as well before? How funny." I folded my arms as I attacked him.
"What? When? I certainly don't recall...ah I have something I want to draw before heading back to the palace." Prince Baek Ah became flustered as he quickly packed his things and walked towards the town.
I quickly followed him as I suggested, "If that's the case, can I visit my father then? I promise I'll be back before evening." I gave him a hopeful look as I tugged at his sleeves. Prince Baek Ah looked down at my hands before agreeing to me.
"Thank you! Then, I'll meet you at the trade store." Happily, I ran to my father's house. The route still clearly in my mind as I naturally ran along the pathway.
The house was the same as before as well...I took a deep breath and swung opened the gates. The sound sounding like comforting music to me and I stepped in to the soil I was so used to walking on.
"Father, I'm home." I greeted at the front yard.
"A-Yeon?" My father stepped out of his room in a rush, his hair all messy as if he didn't wash for a few days. At the sight of my father, my heart broke as he became so skinny.
"Yes father, I'm home." I smiled as tears rolled down my face.
"A-Yeon ah! I'm so glad to see you!" My father ran towards me and hugged me as he caressed my hair. "You certainly became a prettier lady now that you're a princess." He complimented as he touches my face.
"A-Yeon ah...do you blame me for not telling you the truth?"
"No father...I will never blame you for all you have done for me. Thank you..." I said as I looked in to his eyes. How I wished to see him again.
As we were about to enter the room for some tea, an arrow shot over and stuck on to the wall. We turned to see quite a few number assassins surrounding us, all ready to attack.
"Who are you people?" I demanded as I spread my arms to protect my father.
"He must die today." The assassin declared.
"Die?" I questioned aloud.
"What's the meaning of this?" Father shouted back at them from behind.
"It's all your fault for saving Princess Hwa Yeon. We must kill you to prevent you from spilling the truth." The assassin mumbled under his breath, but it was still clear enough for us to hear.
"A-Yeon ah, get inside!" Father pulled me in to the room as he stood outside to protect me.
"No!" I screamed as another arrow shot towards my father. He dodged it by swooping under however, the assassin started to draw closer to us. "Father!"
I started to look around the room to search for a weapon or something and grabbed the carving knife that was on the tool set which I bought for my father on his birthday. I ran out of the room and stabbed the knife on the first assassin's hand.
"Ah!" He yelped in pain and I took the chance to kick him in the stomach.
It was an ongoing tackle as the assassins attacked one by one.
Author's Note:
I read your comments! I shall take it slow then xD And no, Suzy is not playing the role of A-Yeon. I just used the picture because it was the scene I wanted to portray. But of course it's up to your imagination. :)