You see, being the second prince is not what Sehun wished for but he appreciated Heaven's effor to make his life better. Sehun never wanted to be invloved in blood-shed but he was gifted with amazing swordsmanship so he put it for good use to protect his family and country from invaders. Sehun had always wanted to have a peaceful and carefree life but being born as a royalty prevented him doing what he wanted. Sehun is always considered as a threat by his half-brother who is the crown prince but he never intended to rule the kingdom from the first place. 

None of his simple wishes would come true but at least he appreciated everything that happened to him and consider his achievements and life more than enough especially when he's born with silver spoon in his mouth. Actually, he considers himself lucky to be able to live a life full of riches and wealth unlike the unfortunate people who needs to beg for food. Hence, he would not wish for anything else.

-

It's been 39 days, Luhan counted.

She has been in this foreign country, foreign land, and foreign kingdom for the last 936 hours. Sure there was not much difference in language hence she could understand most of the conversation since she lived at the border but everything here is just... different. The food, the formality, the people, the clothes.

Luhan never knew anything of social hierarchy but she begins to understand the term when she entered the palace. The royal blood, especially the king, is at the top while ministers and military leaders come in second. Soldiers, eunuches, and gungnyeo are placed on third. Luhan now wonders what her position is. She isn't considered as maids of the palace, she isn't even someone important but she could  get near the princess without any difficulty. In fact, the princess herself requested Luhan's accompanionship from her father, the king. 

Maybe it was luck or was it fate? Luhan was originally the granddaughter of the inn owner who lived near the border of Joseon and Great Ming Kingdom of Southern China who only knew how to work and stay alive. Because her grandparent's small inn was at the busiest intersection, she needs to work extra hard to please customers. From catering food and drinks during the day, to cleaning their horses and palanquins in the dead of night. In order for her not to be kicked out and abandoned by the only family she had, work hard was the only way.

But one crowded night, a tall man with commanding aura entered with a few of his men asking for a room to stay. The rooms are already full but considering that all of them are so dead tired, Luhan offered them her tiny cottage just behind the inn building. Little did she know that the person wearing black cloak standing behind the tall man was the current king of Joseon and the tall man happened to be a prince. 

And of course, she did not expect her little town would be raided by bandits a few days after the king had left for the capital of China. In just one night, the only place she knew turned into nothing but a city of ashes, house burnt without any remnants and she lost her family. Fortunately the king had saved her from being sold to the Mongols. What a fortunate coincidence.

Luhan breathed out with a sigh while looking up to the blue sky. She'll just get used to this and adapt for now. Besides, she owes the royal family for their kindness so she needs to at least repay them.

"Luhaannnn!!!"

Hearing her name, Luhan quickly snapped out from her trance and faced the incoming person. She placed to hands in front of her abdomen and bowed lowly.

"Have you finished your tutoring lesson, Princess?"

"It was horrible!" the young woman cried out in agony. "And please don't act and call me like that, you know how much i hate it."

The older between the two chuckled and dropped her formalities. "It's also uncomfortable for me to be this... stiff. I've never been this formal my entire life. I hope you'll be okay with that. I'm still trying to adjust."

"You don't need to adjust and just be you. That's the reason why I requested you as my friend anyway because I despise formalities and you're the only person who's not afraid to talk to me." The princess pouted but then remembered her original intention. "But anyway, I really need to find orabeoni in the training grounds."

Luhan snickered, "you just want to see the Lieutenant instead of the second prince."

The princess blushed a crimson red but tried to deny the statement. "I just wanted to see Sehun for a while and got nothing to do with the Lieutenant!"

"As you wish, Baekhyun."

--

a/n: no one can stop me from making new stories every single time. i'm just desperate to make a historical au because well, its my guilty pleasure and this idea has been in my mind since last year ever since a fanart came out. i'm still unsure about the possible pairings 

i'm sorry for not updating on other stories but i really really need to get this out of my head or i'll go crazy thinking about the plot. 

Gungnyeo (literally "palace women") is a Korean term referring to women waiting on the king and other royalty in traditional Korean society. It is short for "gungjung yeogwan", which translates as "a lady officer of the royal court".

Orabeoni is like the term for 'oppa' or elder brother in a more formal usage.

All of this has nothing to do with real life events and the era used here is just made up because back then there are a lot of dynasties in China so i picked the ming because it has the same year of rule with Joseon. And note that during historical era, the king may have more than 1 wife :)

I hope you wouldn't mind reading this piece of weird story :))