The Palace

"His royal highness, Prince Yugyeom!" The soldiers standing at the entrance of the palace called, and the small party marched in grandly, Yugyeom waving to his crowds of admirers. Jungkook peeped out of the curtain. and found that Taehyung was riding directly beside them, and he placed a single finger on his lips, signaling them to keep quiet. Jungkook frowned. Apparently people a few hundred years ago already uswed this gesture.

"Lady, keep down!" Shinhwa hissed, tugging at Jungkook's sleeve. "Stay down, and do not let people see you. It will work against your favor."

Jungkook slumped in his place, sighing as he tried to push his dark tresses away. "I don't suppose that you can escape from here if you want?"

"I am afraid the only way to do that is by execution, my lady," Shinhwa forced a smile on her face. "But trust in the princes, and trust that they will protect you. They know far more of the palace's inner workings than we do, and with prince Taehyung's intelligence, I am sure he can keep you out of prince Yugyeom's clutches for long enough." Shinhwa smiled again, but Jungkook could see the strain in her voice when she stumbled over Yugyeom's name, like she wanted to avoid him at all costs.

"Let me ask you, Shinhwa," Jungkook scooted closer. "What's with you and that prince Yugyeom? You seem to know him beyond the ordinary things."

"It is nothing, lady, a matter of insignificance." Shinhwa looked away, shutting her eyes tightly. "Please do not ask further, I do not want to relieve that experience again." Shinhwa's voice cracked as she trailed off. Jungkook was hooked. He loved a story, and it seemed Shinhwa had one to tell."Shinhwa, please, it's not healthy to keep everythng to yourself."

Shinhwa clenched her jaw. "Do not make me repeat this story again, my lady, if you wish to hear it. This is one time, and only once."

Jungkook nodded eagerly, ready to listen.

It all started when Shinhwa was accepted into the maidservants of the palace.

Shinhwa was young then, and she didn't really realize what she had signed up for, and what would happen if she wasn't treading carefully. She was young, reckless, and had too much of sass in her to survive at all in that pit of vipers.

And then Mingyu came into the picture.

Shinhwa was just a personal servant, it wasn't anything at all, but then the prince, even though young then, was handsome and charming, and he broke his way through Shinhwa defenses, and locked himself in her heart, throwing away the key. Shinhwa dreamed about him regularly, and even though he, as a prince, would never take notice of her, a lowly maidservant, she thought it was harmless to dream.

Until one day Mingyu pinned her against the dresser, and kissed her soundly, a silent confession and a promise all in one.

"What are you doing?!" Shinhwa panicked. "Your highness, let go of me!"

Mingyu simply smiled and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "I should think you are a fool to refuse a prince's advances." Shinhwa shook her head, denying everything. "Do no lie to me. I have seen how you look at me, and your freedom, your beauty, and how it speaks out to the world. You are no mere woman, and I desire you for who you are."

"Your highness, this is not right." Shinhwa struggled against the prince's hands. "I am but a servant, and you are a prince. This will never go the right way."

"Who said I want to go the right way?" Mingyu growled in her face. "I am not Yugyeom. I want a stable relationship where I can talk to my lover and confess my darkest sins. I want someone I can trust. I want a good person."

"But you do not know if I am or not," Shinhwa whispered, biting her bottom lip so hard she tasted blood. "You do not even know me, how can you say that?"

"You think that I do not know about you?" Mingyu pushed himself closer, leaning their foreheads together. "You think I have my noticed you, you think I do not take note when I speak to you, is that it?" Shinhwa nodded, sighing deeply. 

Mingyu shook his head. "If you truly know me, then you would know that I am not so shallow as to like someone for their face only." Shinhwa met his eyes reluctantly, still fighting the prince's grip. "You would know that I only choose someone after some time of knowing each other, and," Mingyu leaned in to whisper in Shinhwa's ear. "You would know that this my first time courting another."

"First times are not usually this smooth, your highness," Shinhwa murmured, her body already starting to give in. Mingyu shrugged. "I have four older brothers and I watched them court ladies. Yugyeom hyung is a perfect example of how to attract women."

"Then why me?" Shinhwa breathed, her voice so low you could barely hear it. "Why a maidservant, and not a sanggung or a higher ranked woman?"

"Because none of then are you," Mingyu smiled, and wrapped a hand around the back of her neck. "You are a rose in the midst of a bunch of daisies."

"Daisies are beautiful as well," Shinhwa smiled, completely relaxing now. "But thank you for the compliment."

"Then we are 'us'?" Shinhwa pondered the question, and then nodded her head slightly. Mingyu smiled, and leaned in to kiss her. Shinhwa sighed, and nodded.

"Yes."

And since that day, everything changed.

Mingyu only requested Shinhwa be by his side at all times, and only she alone would be able to serve him. Mingyu insisted on her company when he strolled in the palace gardens at night, or when he was practicing his martial arts, making a display of his fighting knives just for Shinhwa to watch and giggle over. Mingyu would take her out on rides, and Shinhwa believed, that this could be a reality, and that they could really have an ending together.

She didn't know if Mingyu truly loved her, she didn't know if it was just an obsession, but she loved the thrill of it, the utter exhilaration of it all, and just the sensation of being loved. Maybe Mingyu was playing her, maybe it was just a beautiful illusion, but Shinhwa loved it. loved the danger, and loved him, most of all.

And then Yugyeom came into the picture.

There was a time, when Yugyeom and Mingyu used to be really close, closer than Mingyu and Taehyung now, and they were the best of friends, trusting each other more than anyone else in the world. Yugyeom was the only one whom Mingyu trusted with his secret of Shinhwa, and Shinhwa thought the prince was a kind person, caring and sweet to his younger brother. Shinhwa thought that Mingyu had to be really lucky, to grow up with a sibling like that.

Yugyeom would help them whenever they were together, steering away courtiers and their father's moles, hiding them in plain sight and defending them to anyone who suspected of something more. Shinhwa was grateful, and she grew close to Yugyeom, believing the prince to be a true friend and a confidante.

And it happened.

Yugyeom cornered Shinhwa alone one day, when Mingyu was out on a social meeting, and Shinhwa accepted his offer to dine together, thinking she could actually get to know her lover's brother better. But then, inside the secluded room, with doors locked and windows shaded, Yugyeom pinned Shinhwa down and marked he