C H A P T E R     T W O

“It’s chicken, chicken, chicken!!!!!!!”

Yoonhae, being the cool assistant she was, had to give in her 100 percent not to do a face palm right there and then. She bit her lower lip as she stared at the prince she was supposed to serve, looking 10 years younger than his original age at the sight of the carnival food stalls down the centre of the town. They were selling various types of chicken dishes – barbecued chicken, chicken balls, chicken sandwich, popcorn chicken, fried chicken, and… Many more. Part of her wanted to burn down all the chicken stalls. But a larger part of her felt like smiling widely at the sight of a very excited Prince Onew.

“Prin– I mean Jinki oppa, please calm down. We wouldn’t want to attract attention.” Yoonhae uttered. Of course, she couldn’t address him as ‘Prince Onew’ or ‘Your Majesty’ now that they are trying to act like commoners.

“Oh, right, erm, sorry.” Jinki blushed. “It feels nice hearing you calling me that! You should just address me as oppa when no one’s around.”

“You know I can’t do that, Your Maj– I mean, oppa.” Yoonhae cleared . Old habits are sure hard to change.

“Let’s look around!” Jinki tugged Yoonhae’s arm, and the assistant just let him drag her towards the centre of the carnival.

The people there seemed to be too excited to play and enjoy the carnival to notice their prince was walking around there, and Jinki was glad that no one seemed to recognize him so far. He played a shooting game (which he lost badly, in the end Yoonhae had to play in his place and win the small teddy bear for him to stop him from pouting) and strolled down the stands selling accessories and second-hand goods.

A particular silver bracelet caught Yoonhae’s attention. She stopped in front of the stall, examining it before asking for the price. Jinki was busy browsing through the other accessories on the display – feeling amazed that those pretty looking things are affordable in such cheap price.

Of course Jinki had seen countless jewelries and accessories – the castle after all provided the princes with thousands of those. But those things were usually made out of pure gold or gems, and they certainly cost a fortune compared to the ones being sold here – but that didn’t mean that these affordable jewelries were any less attractive. Jinki had never liked wearing any accessories on him so he had never paid special attention to their values.

His train of thoughts was halted as he heard a soft “thank you” from Yoonhae as she passed a few gold coins to the stall owner. She was holding a decent looking chain that looked a bit too loose for her wrist.

“What did you buy?” Jinki asked, curious.”

“A gift for a friend.” Yoonhae casually replied.

“And no gift for your prince?” Jinki pouted, showing some irresistible aegyo.

“Is there anything you want, Milord?” Yoonhae raised her eyebrows; surprised that Jinki was requesting a gift from her.

“Um.” Jinki considered. “Well it won’t be special if I chose the gift myself, right?”

“I guess.”

They walked around some more, Jinki holding Yoonhae’s hand securely, leading the way. Always the gentleman, Yoonhae smiled slightly.

She might appear like she was really enjoying herself – well she was, definitely – but the whole time she could feel someone watching the both of them. She continued acting like nothing was wrong so Jinki wouldn’t panic, but she secretly scanned the whole place, searching for any signs of suspicious people.

It definitely wasn’t easy to spot something in the midst of a festive crowd, so when the Jinki led her towards the same path for the fifth time (they kept walking around, Jinki wanting to buy more and more chickens), she finally told him it was time to go back to the castle as the sun was going to set soon.

“But…” Jinki seemed really disappointed. The wise, prince-like Prince Onew had somewhat disappeared replaced by a childish, innocent Jinki (who apparently spent his 21 years inside the castle, not really having the chance to experience what it was like to live in the world outside the tall walls). Yoonhae felt bad for ruining Jinki’s fun but his safety has to come first.

“I promise I’ll bring you out again one day, Your Highness.” Yoonhae assured, suddenly picking up her pace. Their roles were switched now – Yoonhae was the one leading the way. “Let’s go home.”

Jinki was about to protest again when all of a sudden Yoonhae yanked him to take cover behind a large barrel. A gunshot was heard and screams erupted; the stall next to them (which happened to be a fruit stall) gave way as the bullets pierced through the woods supporting the fruits carriages.

“My apples! My pears!” the middle-aged woman cried as her stocks scattered and smashed the ground – but she let out a yelp and ducked behind her stall as another gunshot was heard.

The festive mood immediately switched into streams of horror screams and cries, the people who were happily walking around, buying or selling stuffs were now frantically trying to gather what they could hold in hands before desperately fleeing to somewhere safe.  Sounds of children bawling was heard from every corner of the heart of the town and Jinki, who was as scared and shocked at everyone else, was clenching his fist tightly.

“I’ll make sure to make the necessary arrangements to fix everything that’s broken and pay for everything that needs to be paid.” Yoonhae said sternly, placing her hand on Jinki’s balled fist. “Calm down, Your Highness. We need to get out of here.”

Amongst the chaos, Yoonhae caught a glimpse of a man walking towards the direction where she and Jinki were hiding. He was carrying a polished hunting rifle, his boots kicking dusts, as he got closer and closer.

“I know you’re there.” The man spoke, his voice full of hate. “Come out, Prince Onew.” He then seized a young lady who was hiding near him and placed the rifle pointing at her. “Or you’ll see this beautiful woman die in my hand.”

Jinki stiffened. So all of these were done because of him?

The lady in the villain’s hand shivered visibly, started to tear. Jinki gritted his teeth. There was no way he could stay still when his country people were harmed.

He was about to stand and do something to stop the commotion when Yoonhae beat him to it.

“Please let her go.” Yoonhae spoke calmly. Her left hand was gesturing Jinki to stay behind the barrel as she took two steps forward.

“And who is this lady?” The man scoffed. “You are pretty but I have no business with you.”

“Anyone who has something to discuss with the prince has to go through me.” Yoonhae replied coolly.

Another gunshot was heard. Jinki’s eyes widened but nothing seemed to happen to the crying lady hostage. He looked over to Yoonhae who was standing a few steps in front of him, but she seemed fine too. Except a small cu