Continued from Chapter 3:

Soel hurried forward as Ju took a turn and disappeared behind a row of trees. But by the time she took the turn, he was gone. Soel looked around frantically trying to figure out which way he could have gone. “You” - Soel jumped out of her skin in alarm when she heard the voice. She turned around to see Ju looking at her accusingly as he snarled, “Why are you following me?”

“Who is following you? I was just taking a walk.”, Soel blurted out without thinking. She bit her tongue in frustration the moment the words were out of . “You chased him halfway around the palace to talk to him and when you finally had the chance, you lied?” the rational part of her screamed inside her brain. Ju seemed to be equally taken aback by the response. He opened his mouth as though he was about to say something but he was lost for words. They stood there staring at each other for what seemed like ages before Soel gathered the courage to speak. “How’s your arm?” she asked in a low voice, pointing to his left arm where her dad, prince Jung had inadvertently given him a deep cut during their last bout. Blood had sprayed out and she had been terrified at the sight. Jung had rushed to apply pressure while calling for a doctor and the servants had immediately made arrangements to take Ju to the doctor, to be treated. The question caught Ju off-guard and he stuttered as he subconsciously moved his right hand to cover his left arm. “That was over 2 months ago. It’s all healed now.” he replied with more defiance than the question warranted.

In another moment however, he recovered and shot right back at her, “But how did you know? Were you spying on me? How long have you been stalking me?” Soel felt herself shrivel under his intense gaze. “Me? Spy? Why would I spy on you? You think too highly of yourself. Of course, I was not spying on you.” Soel protested vehemently before she could get a hold on herself. He cheeks turned red as she saw Ju struggling to control a smile, or was that a smirk? “Control yourself. Stop blabbering”, she chastised herself in an undertone, steadying herself with her head down, eyes closed, teeth set and fists balled. Her mind made up on how to respond, she lifted her head up to face Ju with such vehemence that Ju took a step back in surprise. “I was there to see my father. The world doesn’t revolve around you just because you are the crown prince.” She finished her speech and lifted her chin up another notch, pleased with herself for recovering so quickly and not ending up as a shivering puddle on the ground under his gaze. But she felt herself deflate the next instant when Ju responded with a quiet, “I see” and turned to walk away. She tried to think of something to say, anything at all to make him stay a little longer, but she came up empty. She gave a grunt and covered her face with her palm, disappointed and frustrated with herself.

“You, are you done?”, Soel uncovered her face to see Ju looking back at her. “Eh?” Soel asked in confusion. Was she done with what? “You said you were out for a walk. Are you done?” Ju asked by way of explanation. Soel’s mind went completely blank as she continued to stare with her eyes and mouth wide open. The person in front of her looked nothing like the snarling, smirking, over-confident crown prince from a moment ago. He had somehow magically transformed into the quiet, diffident, book-worm she saw in the astronomy tower years ago. “If you are not done…” Ju continued, not getting an answer from Soel, and looking more uncomfortable by the second, “maybe….. you should keep walking”. With that, he turned around and started walking away, blushing profusely, eyes closed in embarrassment. “You should keep walking? Really?” he grumbled to himself as he tried to put as much distance as possible between himself and the source of his embarrassment. Soel couldn’t believe her eyes or her ears. Her smile grew wider as the words started sinking in. By the time she gathered her skirt and ran to catch up with him, she was grinning from ear to ear.

“Are you going to the prayer towers?” Soel managed to ask between breaths, as she tried to keep pace with him without tripping on her skirt. “That pile of stones by the lake? You know about those too?” Ju asked in mock surprise. “Huh… another smirk…. Doesn’t he have any expressions other than glaring and smirking?” Soel grumbled to herself as she rushed forward and positioned herself in front of him blocking his path. “Look here crown prince, those are MY prayer towers. You have no business messing with them without my permission.” Ju folded his hands in front of him as he regarded her curiously, “Yours? How are they yours?”. Soel replicated the move and folded her own hands in front of her as she looked him squarely in the eye and responded, “They are mine because my mother made them.” Ju was dumb-founded for a minute as he took that information in. “Her mother made them? Was that why his father spent so much time in front of those towers? Were the rumors about the court lady who bewitched princes true or was it the way Uncle Baek Ah recounted it? Did his father love that woman deeply? Is that why he pushed Ju’s mother  away? Is that why he doesn’t spare a thought for his son but spends so much time with this girl every chance he gets?” Ju looked away as his thoughts threatened to overwhelm him. Soel noticed the change in his expression and realized that bringing up her mother was not a smart thing to do. If the rumors she heard in Damiwon were true, then Ju’s mother, Queen Yeon Hwa had plotted with Uncle Wook to force Soel’s mother out of the palace because of which her mother had died pining in distant Chungju. There was too much bad blood, betrayal and hatred in their past, from before they were even born. With all of that history, could they even BE friends? Soel was tempted to give up and walk away but when she looked up at the pained expression on the person before her, she decided she had to try. He looked like he could use a friend and she wanted to be that friend.

Soel cleared and continued, “You added 57 stones to my three towers since last winter.” The accusation brought Ju out of his reverie. “You COUNTED the stones? You are strange.” He tried to walk around her but she stretched her hand out to block his path. “You arranged them wrong. It took me hours to rearrange everything”, she said in an accusatory tone. Ju took a moment to look at the girl arguing with him as though they were friends and equals. He had always wished that someone would treat him that way. That someone would let him forget that he was the crown prince and that he carried the future of an entire nation on his shoulders. But what were her intentions? What did she want from him? Maybe, he should turn around and walk away. That would be the smart thing to do. But what if he were to just play along? Get to know her and find out what scheme she was plotting. Some part of him accused him of lying to himself to spend more time with the girl but he quickly quieted it down. Yes, he will find out what she was up to. He leaned down towards her forcing her to bend backwards to keep a respectable distance. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t add those stones”, he said with a smile and then walked away while she tried to steady herself. “Hey, stop right there. I saw you adding those stones”, Soel called after him as she grabbed her skirt getting ready to chase him down. “So you admit that you were spying on me”, Ju called back without turning around. Behind them, on the tree lined path, 14^th prince Jung looked on with concern as Soel sprinted up to Ju and they continued along the path, bickering incessantly.