the start

The day was bright and the fluffy white clouds danced across the clear sky. Joseon’s biggest and busiest shopping area was louder and more crowded than usual. Today was the Princess’s thirteenth birthday. Everyone wanted to become noticed by the Princess and the King. The reason to this was due to what the King had said when the Princess was born.

Not giving birth to a child even at a rather old age, the King and Queen were both tired of hearing the constant talks of how they cannot have a child and how the King should marry another woman. But when they finally had a child, they found out it was a girl. The King was happy but the Queen worried for what the people would say. The King didn’t want the Queen to worry so he made a public announcement that he would not try to gain another child and that when the Princess turns thirteen, the King himself will look for her husband who will also become the next king.

Due to what the King had said, all the higher status noble men and women were counting down the days to the Princess’s thirteenth birthday and were trying their best to get the King’s attention for their children. Therefore, all the people in the shopping area were all there trying to pay higher for the item that they want to gift to the Princess.

In the shopping area was also a young lady with fairly white skin, long light brown hair, and a beautiful smile. She hopped from one store to the other looking at all the objects that she had never seen before.

“Princess, we must get back or the King will be very angry.” The fairly old lady said to the girl.

“Didn’t I tell you not to call me that or mention father? I told you there are a lot of ears to hear and eyes to see, so not to mention anything about the palace! How come you never listen to me?” The young Lady questioned angrily but keeping her tone low.

“But Prin-“ She began but stopped at the glare that the princess gave her. “My Lady, your father will be angry.”

“Not to worry, I’m sure Father would be fine. He probably already knew I was out here even before I got here.” She replied and walked over to a new store.

They continued to look around in different stores until they got to a cloth store and something had caught her eyes.

“What a sight...” She whispered.

“Yes, my Lady. These clothes are in fact the finest in the market.” The owner said.

“No, I mean that. Don’t you think that’s some sight?” The Princess asked her Sang Goong, pointing to the tall man up ahead. (a/n: Sang Goong is Court Ladies who served high leveled women in the palace, just wanted to throw that in there heh)

Up ahead was a fairly young good looking boy with a crowd of dirty and scary looking men. It looked as though the boy was caught in something that involved the small girl that held onto the boy with all her might. The Princess went closer going against her royal servant’s pleads for her to leave instead.

“What is happening?” The Princess asked the woman next to her.

“The wretched girl stole something.” She replied with a face of disgust.

“Do you know what she stole?”

“It doesn’t matter, she stole something. Her parents are probably some lowly servants who can’t discipline their own children.”

“What do you know about her that makes you say that?” The Princess snapped.

“You don’t need to know her to know that she’s a lowly servant’s child. And aren’t you rude to speak to your elder in such a tone.” The woman stated.

“You would regret saying such things to me…” The Princess glared and walked into the crowd. The boy was in the middle of fighting one of the men who was trying to get to the girl. She stood in the middle looking both ways, at the boy and the girl to one of the men who was about to lunge towards the boy.

“Get out of the way. We were in the middle of something.” The man growled out. The Princess ignored the man and kneeled to the floor so she can get to the little girl’s eye level. The little girl held tighter onto the boy’s clothing and the crowd hushed into silence.

“Can you show me what you took? I just want to see it.” She softly said to the girl but the girl just hid behind the boy. “You don’t believe me? I promise I’ll help you, you don’t have to worry so much.”

The girl peaked out to see the Princess’s face and her eyes showed much of worry and sadness. But when the girl saw the bright smile of the Princess, she felt reassured and slowly came out to show her a bowl of old rice.

“It was just on the floor. I thought they were going to throw it away. I didn’t know it was being used.” The girl mumbled an explanation.

“Why would you take it? Were you planning to eat it?” The Princess asked as she brushed a piece of hair behind the girl.

“I don’t know what you are doing right now but you better hurry, they are getting angry.” The boy spoke for the first time. His voice was a bit on the high side but thanks to the whispering, his voice was a bit deeper than usual.

With that, the boy finally got to take a look at the Princess’s face properly. The sun was shining right into her face which made her face look fairer and her lips and cheeks redder than it actually was. The light wind blew her hair naturally out of her face. This put the boy in awe and quickly look away.

“Can you tell me?” The Princess asked again. The little girl played with the hems of her clothing as she gave it some thought.

“My older brother is very sick. He needs to eat something or he might die.” The girl replied, her eyes glistening with tears.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make everything better.” The Princess caressed the girl’s cheek before standing back up.

“Now how are you going to do that? I don’t think you can fight like I can.” The boy mumbled so the little girl can’t hear it.

“Why would I do that? I’m sure there are many different ways to do fix this without having to fight...” the princess answered as she turned around to the now very irritated men.

“Who do you think you are? The princess of Joseon?!” A man exclaimed.

“I don’t need to explain myself to some incompetent money desperate dogs.”

“You better watch that mouth of yours. We don’t want to hurt you.”

“Oh but you won’t. Do you know why? It’s because I’m going to give you this. It’s probably ten times the money that you received from the owner.” The Princess said as she threw them her hair pin. The group of men grumbled of unsatisfactory but they also knew too well that the pin in the man’s hand was worth more so they all went away. The crowd also slowly dispersed and the area was loud with those who are finishing up their shopping.

“Now will you take me to your brother?” The Princess asked with a smile. Returning the smile, the little girl grabbed onto the boy’s and the Princess’s hand to run towards the direction of her house.

“Brother!!!!!!” The little girl chirped as ran inside the old cottage. The Princess cautiously followed in with the boy right behind.

Inside was a boy that looked around the age of thirteen. He seemed extremely weak and it looked like he hasn’t gotten any type of treatment. The little girl sat next to her brother, telling him what had happened just before. The boy weakly smiled as his sister went on exaggerating ever so often throughout the story. The royal servant made her way into the cottage and the Princess whispered something into her ears and she quickly left. The two watched the siblings have their talk until the royal servant came back with an elderly.

“My Lady, I hear he is the best doctor in this area.” She introduced the elder.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong with him?” The Princess asked and with a nod the elder went over and checked out the boy.

“It seems to me that he has a severe sickness called the flu. He will need to be treated quickly to let his body temperature go down or it might put his life in danger.” He explained.

“Then do so. Tell this woman everything that you will need to get better and she will provide all the cost.” The elderly nodded in understanding and the royal servant quickly complied with what the elder asked for.

The little girl danced in happiness and the older brother smiled as wide as he can. The Princess nor the boy asked why their parents weren’t home or why he was left alone to be sick. They both knew well that if they did, the sibling will be scarred more than they would be. The Princess promised the two that she will help them grow up to be good adults and pay for all their expenses before heading out of the cottage.

“You must be very rich for you to do everything like this.” He boy said when they just got out of the house.

“Why do I feel like there is a bit of bitterness in your tone?” The Princess questioned with a frown and a small pout.

“Maybe it was implied.”

“It’s true, it isn’t my money. But I’m sure my father would be glad to find out that I had used his money to good use.”

They both stood there like that. They didn’t say a word as they watched the elder doctor and the servant run around trying to get everything in order. Then the Princess noticed something.

“I want to watch the sunset. Can you take me to a place you can see the sunset right in front of me?” The Princess asked the boy.

“Aren’t you rich?” The boy questioned back as he gave a weird look.

“What does that have to do with the sunset? If you take me to see the sunset right before my eyes, then I’ll grant you a wish.”

“But I don’t have a wish.”

“Everyone has a wish.”

The Princess smiled and the boy shook his head in disbelief. He grabbed the Princess’s hands and ran towards the back of the cottage. He helped her climb over the small wooden fence. There they were met with three men. The boy let out a sigh and got a hold of the Princess’s hands once more. He then led the Princess in the direction where the men weren’t at after he had dodged their attempts to hit him. The Princess was genuinely impressed at his movements, she haven’t seen anyone move like that even in the private palace guards. After continuing this numerous times and running through the forest, they ended up in the plains. With a bright smile, the Princess walked ahead.

In front of her was a field of grass that seemed to go forever until it met with the sky. The clouds danced slowly along the sky and on the side was a trail of the river flowing silently. The wind blew softly and her now loose hair moved with the breeze.

“How do you know of such a place?” The Princess asked turning her attention back to the boy who was watching every move of the girl.

“I didn’t. I just ran far as I can and ended up here.” He truthfully answered.

“Well I’m glad you found a place. You should bring me here often.”

“I think you should ask your father.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” The Princess snapped a bit cautiously hoping he hadn’t figured anything out.

“It’s obvious you are in such a high status and your father seems to be awfully caring towards you. I’m sure he will bring you here all the time if you asked.” The boy answered as he plopped onto the floor.

“I would like to disagree. My father might be high in status, but that doesn’t mean he has the time to do everything for me.”

Silence overtook them once again. The boy wanted to argue about how he felt like she was being spoiled and was asking for more when she has a lot. But when he looked at her, the Princess’s eyes were closed and the light red orange tint from the sunset made her smile shine brighter than it was to begin with.

“So what is your wish?” She cheerfully asked bringing the boy back into reality.

“Like I said, I don’t have a wish.” The buy responded as he took a seat on a large rock.

“I thought I told you that everyone has a wish.”

“I’m the very few exception then.”

“That’s a lie.”

“It’s the truth.”

“There must be something. It can be money or food…”

“Do you think that even if it was money I wanted, I would take it from you?” The boy snapped with an annoyed look.

“Why not?” The Princess asked with genuine curiosity.

“Because there’s something as a goal in my life and I would like to achieve that by myself.”

“And that goal is your wish.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“A goal in life is a want to succeed in getting through your problems. So tell me what your goal is.”

“My goal is to bring down the King.” The boy retorted.

“Why…. Why do you want to bring the King down?” The Princess was shocked to even speak but she tried her best not to seem so flustered about it.

“The King is a useless being. Did you those children? I bet you he has no idea.”

“That’s not true! He tries his best to do everything well and for everyone!” The Princess yelled for the first time since they had met, which had surprised the boy a bit.

“He does not. He’s a greedy and clueless King who only cares about his only daughter.”

“The King is respected by everyone and he tries his best to bring happiness to not only his family but to all his people. He’s a good leader.” She continued to argue as her eyes slowly filled with tears.

“Then why aren’t I happy? Those children shouldn’t be sick or stealing food. There should be no such thing as the poor and the sick.”

The Princess had nothing to say. She wasn’t going to admit that the King, her father, was useless to his people. But the boy looked as though he wasn’t going to back off either.

“That shouldn’t be a goal…”

“That shouldn’t be something to tell me not to do.”

“I think you should take me back.” The Princess whispered as she walked away, leaving the half set sun behind.