There was it again. The same dream on repeat for the nth time since… forever? It felt like forever as it often made her woke up every morning in cold sweat. To be exact, the dream had been hunting her for the past few weeks, ironically before her eighteenth birthday. Panting to catch some air into her lungs, the Haesang’s Princess pulled the blanket off her body before placing her legs on the side of the bed. Her eyes remained on the floor and if she was to stare longer, it could create a massive hole through the floor below.

Jiyeon had once told her parents and her brother about the same old dream she had been getting. The sensation of being chased, seeing things glowing and a flying blue figure did not let her had any good night sleeps lately. Her head ached and spun like a top on the first few days upon waking up to the dream. Her family’s statements like ‘it was a mere dream’ and ‘it’s just your mind playing tricks on you, Jiyeon. Nothing major.’

Nothing major, he said? It was not important for you Crown Prince but who was she kidding with, they would not understand the feeling. Her heartbeat began to return its original pace as she stood up, readying herself to start the day yet again. She should be happier anyway seeing that the tree right outside her window already green with leaves and she sure loved the morning spring breezes.

Counting down her actual birthday, the Princess walked out her room after washing up before heading over to the apparently busy dining room. She had to dodge a few servants who were running around, trying to finish their early day chores all over the palace. One of them almost tripped from walking too fast but thankfully no harm was done which was happy to see.

Seating across her brother, the kitchen workers began to serve them their breakfast. After a quick prayer, Jiyeon spoke of her dream as soon as her parents about to feed themselves. There was only silence from her parents as for her brother; he simply looked away, trying not to show any interest in the current topic. The Princess was upset seeing that the people she trusted the most were completely ignoring her which she sighed deeply in defeat. What was the point of continuing when clearly no one was even listening? Her appetite had vanished and same went with her figure as she left the table. It was rude to leave but she could not stay there any longer.

Walking passed numerous closed doors and servants with curious expressions, Jiyeon instantly found her way to the Lake Garden where she knew she could calm herself down. Plotting her knees in front of the flower beds, she let out another long sigh. Her head hung low whilst clearing off her head. As if the beautiful flowers she had been taking care off could sense her sadness, a Rose patted her head oh-so-softly which made her head turned upwards and looked forward.

It was a perfect day to be there besides the fact there were noises coming for the insides of the palace, preparing for an upcoming event. As early the spring was that particular year, celebrating two birthdays in one ceremony had never been a thing to the royals. It brought bad luck as what they said if one was to celebrate one’s birthday early. Funny how people with somewhat modern thinking intellectual and architectural wise still stuck in some ancient believes.

“Why is it so hard for them to understand?” Jiyeon spoke to no one in particular. It was supposedly be a rhetorical question and she did not expect any answer from anyone. It explained why she jerked on her position when a voice suddenly broke the garden’s silence. Turning her head to the source, a small smile appeared on her face, imitating the answerer’s expression. Nonetheless, she could never outshine his.

“You know, the flowers can understand her friend’s feelings. Looking at how droopy it appearing, I sense help is coming your way.” The royal gardener good-naturedly said as he went on his knees, matching the Princess’ level. He was a tad taller than her from the position however she still could secretly admire how the colour of dark sunset radiated on his head. It was one of the brightest hair colours of any Haesang could get. Well, that was what she concluded any way since the ones within the palace mostly had the same colour palate.

“You should try talking slowly to her highness. She is indeed your mother. Surely she would understand, whatever is bothering your mind, Lady Jiyeon. I don’t like seeing anybody with a frown on their faces especially in my favourite part of the palace.” He continued kindly before gesturing at the bucket of water to fly over the beds, doing what supposedly the Princess’ much-loved pastime. Nodding her head, she thanked him and heard another voice joining them.

“Yes, thank you, Hoseok. I’ll talk to her then while she is still sane.” The Crown Prince jokingly said with a light chuckle at the end of his sentence. Hoseok bowed once he was up on his two feet once again. “Of course your highness; I shall take my leave then. These flowers will not water on its will.” He politely bowed once again before leaving the royal siblings.

Grasping his sister’s shoulder gently, Myungsoo finally joined in her solemn atmosphere. His mother, the Queen did not send him there if one was to clear things out. He came over to check on her. It was not often to see her running out of the dining room in the middle of any eating session. In fact, she never did and he knew it was wrong to ignore her back then but she just had to choose the unsuitable timing to talk about her problems.

“You do know leaving the room without a word is impolite, right?” Myungsoo began, only to hear Jiyeon mumbling incoherently before voicing out, “It’s not my fault that my well-being is no longer the family’s concern.” She sat on the ground and hugged her legs, providing slight heat to keep against the breezy spring morning.

“If we are not concern, I will not be here. So, want to talk about it, sibling to sibling?” He asked as he copied her position seeing that it was more comfortable than being on his knees. Trying to look into her eyes, he carefully tucked the strand of her hair behind her ears. “I’ve been talking about it way too much, don’t you think? I should know it by heart now.” She confessed as she finally turned to look at him in the eyes.

“About those dream, so far we have no idea what it means. Even those healers had not a single idea about it. Do you think nature is tricking me? Trying to confuse me perhaps?” Jiyeon added on before standing up from the ground. Brushing off the dirt that managed to get caught on her clothes, Myungsoo copied and decided to pull her over to an empty spot by the lake.

Almost in synchronise, the two royal siblings gazed at their reflection on the calm water. There would occasionally be ripples made by the wind as the soft gushes accompanied their conversation. “You’re not blaming nature for giving weird dream, are you?” He questioned with his eyes on his sister’s reflection. “Of course not; it’s just that, I just can’t get a decent sleep because of it. Not to mention my eighteenth birthday is coming and mother and father just had to throw a grand one. Why can’t they use the leftover decoration during your birthday a week ago?”

“Well, firstly, it might because it is your eighteenth birthday. Secondly, mother and father just wanted the best for you.”

“More like for the best for them that is.”

“Come on now. Don’t think of it that way. How about you fill your mind with something more fun like helping the servants decorating like you always do? That might put the strange dream away.” Myungsoo suggested, hopefully she would take it into consideration. However, the Princess’ eyes remained on the lake; silence became a friend of theirs once again. “Wait…” he suddenly said shortly.

That one word though able turn Jiyeon’s attention after so long. Changing her view off the lake to her brother’s face, she asked, “Wait what?”

“Maybe healers are not the people you should even meet from the first place.” He stated a moment later and her eyes widened out of amusement. A smile could be seen on her face and nodded, signalling for him to continue. “Are you up for a trip to the marketplace?”

“Are you mad? I never had been outside the palace ground before. Not that it is necessary.” Jiyeon was taken aback by the random suggestion. “I know it sounds crazy but I know there is one fortune teller there. Perhaps she can answer all your questions.” He replied without any doubt. There was hesitance in her eyes and he could spot it almost instantly. She looked at the water and her brother’s face, making sure he was not tricking her.

“It’s still morning, Jiyeon. Try going to the marketplace. Fly there since that will be the quickest way going there.” Once explained, he took her by her arm, pulling her up. “You talked as if you been there so many times.”

“Sometimes a Crown Prince needs his time alone out of the marketplace. I never been to the fortune teller’s place before but I do think it’s there. Try asking the people there. They can be very friendly.” Smiling wide, he patted her on the shoulder before walking towards the exit, that was when he decided to turn and added one last point. “And wear a robe with a hoodie. That always helps to hide your identity. It works on me though. Good luck.”

She was still on the spot by the lake as she looked at her brother’s figure disappeared through the door. Head tilted sideways, she carefully considering the sudden idea. Surely enough, it sounded very tempting. But how can she fly out of the palace without the guards knowing her actually going out? Her brain began doing its work, making plans since the time would be wasted if she was to take no action which was why when a sparkle of dark orange returning back to its human form, it easily went unnoticed.

“You know, your brother is right.” Hoseok suddenly popped out of mid-air which made her jolted. With her hand on her chest to ease the shock, she got a good look at the young gardener. “Are you giving me hope that this idea will work?” She curiously questioned him. For some reason, she had noticed the fellow grew friendlier as the years working at the Lake Garden went by. He would be there to water her flowers if she forgotten or busy. Maybe he overheard their conversation once before too.

“The servants in the palace didn’t call me hope for nothing.” He said with a shrug and just by the one sentence, Jiyeon decided to seek help from him to escape the palace, for the first time in her life. Well, it was just a play of word when she mentioned ‘hope’ but looking at the fellow’s genuine expression; she felt she could trust him. Judging by her brother’s duty as the Crown Prince piling up (that was what he said before); it would indeed be a solo mission for her.

“I need all the help I can get.”

Author's note:

Hello there my dear readers!  Another chapter up but I wanted to share you something. So... I did a thing where I edited BTS' I Need U choreo with BTOB's I'll Be Your Man and here is the link: https://youtu.be/XNPAclMLh04

Feel free to check it out! because I did that kind of thing instead of posting a new chapter of this story these days. LOL