After the annual festival everyone returned to their normal daily lives. The princess resumed her daily adventures outside the castle. She always believed that if you truly want to understand the lives of the people you must see it firsthand. Thus she took it upon herself to visit the town everyday. Frankly she enjoyed being able to wander the streets of Eterna. It was relaxing compared to the stifling atmosphere in the palace.

“Rin long time to see!” greeted the local seamstress. “How has life been treating you?”

Hyorin smiled brightly and replied, “Good! Oh by the way I absolutely adored the yellow dress I bought from you. It was a shame I soiled it.” A sadden pout graced her features.

“Oh darling it is fine. Actually by any chance did you wear it to the festival?”Hyorin nodded sadly recalling her unfortunate encounter with...wait, who did she bump into again? “Rin, stop pouting. Because of you I am getting so much business! Everyone keeps asking me, ‘Were you the one that made the yellow dress?’ And I was like, ‘Which yellow dress?’ and everyone was like ‘Duh? Rin’s yellow dress!’ Business has never been better! ” exclaimed the seamstress gleefully.

Upon hearing the story Hyorin couldn’t help but beam happily. “Really?”

“Really!” After a lengthly discussion with the seamstress about rising cotton prices and how yellow has become the new ‘in color’ Hyorin decided to drop by the candy store in hopes to chat with the workers there too. Before she even walked through the door she was greeted by a girl who is slightly older than her. He was the owner’s daughter.

“Rin! I was wondering when you were going to show up.” Greeted the girl kindly.

Hyorin waved to the girl and took a seat near the window as usual. “Sorry I was busy.” She smiled sheepishly.

“Girl, you are always busy.”

“Please don’t remind me.”

The employee laughed carelessly and asked. “Are you going to have the usual?” Hyorin nodded eagerly excited to see what she was going to get this time. Funny thing is her usual was always the daily special. The daughter of the owner suggested it because Hyorin was adamant about having a usual at the store, but she could never make up her mind.

The girl quickly prepared her plate of gourmet candy. “Here you go. White Chocolate Truffles.”

“I LOVE WHITE CHOCOLATE!” With that Hyorin and the girl began talking about how the sugar imports have been arriving later than usual for the past few weeks. Hyorin made a mental note to see what was going on at the boarders. Last she remembered sugar was mainly produced at the border alongside several medical herbs. At a village called Ev...Evi…

“Rin. Did you hear what I said?”

“What? Oh uh…can you repeat that?” asked the princess confusedly. ‘Damn I lost my word!’ Thought the princess unhappily, ‘It will come back to me eventually.’ she assured herself.

“You’re late. Usually you have something to do at this time of day no?” inquired the girl thoughtfully.

“Oh crap! I am late!” Hyorin placed a several bills on the table and ran out the door without a second thought. With that she ran to the armory to discuss weapons exports. After all she had a busy schedule. Every week she broke down where in Eterna she had to visit. So usually by the end of this week she should have managed to talk to every small business owner in the town. Next week she had to visit schools and possibly churches.

The duties as crown princess never fail to keep her busy.

-

Meanwhile in the palace courtyard a certain lady knight and her student were going over the ground rules. Today would be their first day of the mentorship. Aejung and Byungho have been waiting for this moment for the past five years. Unfortunately it wasn’t going the way they expected.

Aejung and Byungho have very different ideas about pretty much everything, be it training regulations, daily objectives, or even gender roles they never fail to disagree. The moment practice began Byungho was adamant on doing something more productive. He didn’t work all his life to be stuck doing basic sword swinging. He had just proven himself to all of Eterna.

“I don’t want to do basic sword anymore. I mean come on, this is basic stuff even a little kid can do this.” Protested Byungho.

“No. Everyone starts from the basics, and then they work their way up. There is no getting out of it.” Replied Aejung sternly. She was already getting annoyed of his constant whining. This kid needed to seriously man up. “If I don’t see you straighten your back for the next drill set you are repeating everything over again.”

Byungho gasped. “THAT’S EVIL! You wouldn’t.”

Aejung smirked. “Oh I would.”

Byungho pouted unhappily. He began his next drill set diligently, afraid of the repercussions. After the final swing Aejung let him get a drink of water and take a ten minute break before she would explain the basic ground rules of the palace. As Byungho was empting his fifth water bottle that morning he started to stare off into space in a bored manner.

This whole basic training ordeal was not what he had in mind. He wanted to do heroic knightly things, not basic swordplay. He couldn’t help but feel that Aejung was treating him like a baby. He was only one year younger for god’s sakes.

“Yah, Woo Byungho were you listening to me?”

Byungho snapped out of his prior thoughts and turned to his mentor sheepishly. “Sorry Aejung Sunbae.”

Aejung sighed, exasperated at his short attention span. “You obviously didn’t hear the first rule.”

“What was it again?” Asked Byungho.

“You are not to call me Aejung sunbae. I prefer to be called Aejung noona.” Aejung smiled. “You can call Woobin “Woobin Sunbae”, and you can call Dongmin whatever you like. I don’t particularly care, though I do prefer it to be an insult.”

Byungho nodded despite being a bit perplexed as to why Aejung hated on Dongmin, but he decided that was a question for another day. He was pretty sure he was on the last few good nerves she had left. So instead he decided to ask another question instead. “When am I getting my own horse?”

“When you mastered the basics of a knight then Woobin will test you to see if you are worthy of being a cavalier.”

“…What is a cavalier?”

Aejung rubbed her temples. This is going to be a long day. As she was reprimanding Byungho for not doing his required readings, and Byungho uselessly trying to defend himself via an assortment of outrageous excuses, two senior knights were speculating of in the distance.

Woobin, who overhead Aejung and Byungho bickering for the past 2 hours decided not interfere. Dongmin on the other hand felt that he needed to go over there and beat some sense into both of them. “Hyung! Come on! Just let me go over there. They have been at it for hours!”

Woobin shook his head. “They need to work things out themselves. After all Aejung is an official mentor now, she needs to learn how to discipline and teach with her mentee on her own.  The bond between a mentor and a mentee is irreplaceable, and I won’t have you ruining that for them.”

“I know.” Resigned Dongmin dejectedly. “I shouldn’t meddle no matter how much I want to.” He pouted. “You are starting to sound like Sanghoon hyung.”

“Well someone has to be the level headed one.” Reasoned Woobin lightly. “Do you think he would have been proud?”

Dongmin patted his brother’s shoulder. “He was always proud of you hyung. Never forget that.”

Woobin ruffled Dongmin’s head playfully. “Since when were you ever this serious?”

“Hyung not the hair!” wailed Dongmin. He glared childishly at Woobin. As they continued to watch Aejung and Byungho bicker, Dongmin realized something very important.  “I think they look cute together.”

Woobin quirked an eyebrow questionably.

“Come on hyung. Don’t tell me you don’t see it! They would be a cute couple.”

Woobin pondered the thought for a second before completely shooting it down. “I don’t think so. He is not her type.”

“And how would you know her type?”

“I don’t. I just know it is most definitely not you, and Byungho is the splitting image of you about eight years ago.” Noted Woobin confidently.

“Hey I wasn’t that whiny.” Argued Dongmin. Woobin just gave him a skeptical look and began to walk away.

“HYUNG!”

-

Over at the local clinic, upon Dr. Han’s recent return he specifically made sure that he would take a few days off to properly bond with his only daughter. It was pretty tough raising a daughter single handedly. His line of work also took up a lot of his time. Honestly he loved his job; it was his dream to train people in the art of medicine and travel. He even met his late wife on one of his trips to the high mountains. The only downside to his nomadic job occupation was that it is tough raising a child. Despite all the hardships he was proud to say that Saehyun turned out just fine.

He was extremely proud of his diligent daughter. She was everything he could ever hope for in a daughter. She never caused trouble, and she even took a liking to his profession. Once he discovered her passion for medicine he immediately started teaching her everything he knew. When she was of proper age she insisted that he continued with his trips outside the city. She was awfully understanding about it.

Truth be told he was worried. Saehyun never really told him about her daily life other than things pertaining to work. He couldn’t really blame her since he was never there to witness her everyday life, but he was still her father and it hurt him not knowing much about his daughter. He felt that as a father he wasn’t doing enough for her.

That is why every time he comes home he makes sure to try and bond with her as much as possible. Which is why he dried twenty pounds of assorted shrubbery and herbs, classifying everything was a classic Han family pastime.

“Daddy!” chirped Saehyun happily at the dinner table. “Do you like the stew? The potatoes in the marketplace looked really good so I had to buy them.”

Dr. Han smiled. “It is really good. Thank god you didn’t get your cooking skills from me.”

“Your pasta last time wasn’t too bad dad.” Defended Saehyun.

“…Honey. It was crunchy.” Deadpanned the physician.

“It had character!” argued Saehyun.

“Sure it did.” Dr. Han broke a piece of a dinner roll and dipped it in his bowl of soup. “Mmm. This bread it very good. Where did you get it?

Saehyun sheepishly laughed. “The bakery across the street. The one with the cinnamon rolls.”

“Oh yes. The one owned by the Kim’s, I remember treating Mr. Kim for chronic backaches before.” Dr. Han recalled fondly. “I think they have a son. He is a little bit older than you. What was his name again?”

“Joonmyun!” Blurted Saehyun. “I mean, I think his name was Kim Joonmyun. I see him at the market sometimes.”

“Oh I remember now. He is a good kid.”

After a comfortable dinner the two of them started to press and preserve the plants. This was the ultimate assembly line of hardcore herb preservation. Both Saehyun and her father spend the next several hours diligently sorting the herbs and placing them in their proper containers. Dr. Han decided that he will start documenting the report that he will send to the palace about his trip. He left Saehyun in charge of sorting out the last few herbs and cleaning up.

After she was done sorting, she decided to check in her father’s bag to see if they missed anything. As she stuck her head into his backpack she noticed something swirly and black at the very bottom. Once she identified that it wasn’t a critter of any sort she decided to pick it up for closer examination.

It didn’t look like any botanical herb she has ever seen before. Up on close examination it turned out to be a black coiled mushroom. “Oooh. It looks interesting. I think I will keep it. Dad doesn’t have many records on mushrooms… maybe I will start my own!”

-

Early next morning Sehun, Yixing, and Councilman Oh work up early in hopes of making a good impression before the presenting their proposal. Sehun and Yixing were extremely nervous because this was the first time Councilman Oh asked them to present with him. They couldn’t blow it now.

Once they entered the King’s Court Room Sehun and Yixing took their seats in against the wall of the room. The king was calling up every councilman so they can explain their proposals. Today he was going to cut five of the ten proposals. The entire room was nervous. Every single council member wanted to have their proposal passed, but sadly only about one or two will pass depending on how much the king likes them.

As the King was causally handed a file by his royal advisor he announced, “Councilman Oh, Please elaborate on your proposal on international relations.”

“It would be my honor sir.” Councilman Oh stood up from his seat and asked, “Your highness, I would like to request the help on my son, Oh Sehun and imperial scholar, Zhang Yixing.”

“Of course Councilman Oh.” Allowed the King. “I am curious as to what other benefits alliances have.”

Councilman Oh and his two most trusted assistances began elaborating on, economical welfare and other related topics. They touched almost every aspect of exports and imports along with trade taxes as a way of collecting government revenue. Yixing and Sehun racked their brains in order to remember all the facts they have been studying prior to entering the council room.  Once the presentation was over all the councilmen were asked to wait outside while the king writes up the list of proposals that passed.

Yixing was sitting slumped to the wall tired, and stressed out. Sehun was pacing back and forth along the corridor. Councilman Oh on the other hand sat completely still. He was calculating his chances of passing the first round of cuts. If he managed to beat out five other councilmen his proposal will pass. He was sure that he could beat about four of them, but he was extremely worried because his proposal isn’t something the king prefers.

Eterna’s royal family prides themselves of being self sufficient. They want to have their kingdom flourish independently, without the help of others. Councilman Oh knew that very well.

 If his proposal were to make it in the top five it would most likely be either fifth or fourth place. Getting either fifth or fourth place meant that the proposal passed the first round of cuts, but it would most likely be cut in the next round. He had to think of something…something to convince the king.

Just then the king’s royal advisor stepped out into the hallway with a scroll in hand. He swiftly pinned it to the wall and hastily ran before any of the Councilmen and their assistance could run him over. It read…

By Royal Decree…The following five proposals will be continued.

1. “Public Works” By Councilman Choi
2. “Domestic Agriculture” By Councilman Kang
3. “Mandatory Education” By Councilman Hwang
4. “Equality for Women” By Councilman Jung
5. “International Relations” By Councilman Oh

AND

By Royal Decree…These five proposals will not be continued at this time. (Try again next time!)

1. “Foreign Language Programs” By Councilman Kim
2. “Increase on Taxes” By Councilman Seo
3. “Dam Expansion” By Councilman Song
4. “Lowering Standards for Imperial Exams” By Councilman Lee
5. “Illegalization of Vegetables” By Councilman Im

“WHY WAS MINE REJECTED?!” Screeched Councilman Im “IT WAS THE BEST ONE!”

“Maybe because if yours passed we would lose sixty percent of our exports and fifty percent of our domestic food supply?” chirped Councilman Choi.

“Now you are rubbing it in that you got first place HUH?!” accused Councilman Im

“I never said anything along the lines of that, but now that you mention it…”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?!”

Upon reading the list Councilman Oh couldn’t help but smile. They made it. But he needed to start planning. How was he going to pass the next round? He turned around to see Sehun tearing and Yixing jumping up and down.

“Come on boys. Let’s go home. We are going to celebrate with a huge dinner, and I won’t accept a ‘no’. Understood Yixing?” invited Coucilman Oh.

Yixing smiled. “Of course sir, I would be honored.”

Sehun quickly bounded alongside Yixing and said. “Yixing hyung you are practically part of the family. No need to be so formal.”

“Agreed.” Chirped Councilman Oh. “You are practically my second son. Try to loosen up or else you might end up like me.”

…Both of the boys stood dumbfounded. Did Councilman Oh just joke?

“…Why are you looking at me like that? Come on, Sehun your mom needs to hear the good news.” And with that they were on their way to the Oh manor. Upon arriving at the Oh Manor they were greeted by a very happy Mrs. Oh. They had a splendid feast and soon after they decided that they should relax today.  Coucilman Oh gave Yixing the rest of the evening off.

Soon after properly sending off Yixing Coucilman Oh called Sehun up to his study, he said he needed to properly talk to his son about something very important. Upon Sehun’s arrival Coucilman Oh told him to take a seat and listen very carefully.

“Son, I don’t think our proposal will make it to the next round if we continue using the same methods of research.” Spoke Councilman Oh gravely.

“We can find another way father. Yixing and I…”But before he could finish his father interrupted him.

“Sehun, there is nothing wrong with the way you and Yixing have been working up until now. Actually it is because of you two we got this far, but I need you to do something for me.”

“Yes father. What is it?”

“I need you to…win over the princess.”

“What?”

“You heard me…um…woo her? Dazzle her? I am not quite sure how you kids say it now a days, but yeah. I need you to convince the princess that our proposal is worth passing. The king absolutely adores his daughter, and will definitely listen to her.”

Sehun couldn’t believe his ears. His father just told him to ‘woo’ the princess. Of all the times for his father to suggest something like this. Just when he finally found someone that interested him this happens. “B-but father, how about the proposal? Who is going to work on it?”

“Yixing and I are more than capable of handling it, but it doesn’t mean you can’t help. Listen Sehun I am not taking you off of this proposal. I am just giving you another job alongside it.” Confirmed Councilman Oh. “ I can’t really ask Yixing to charm her despite him practically living in the palace library. He is…um…rather awkward with…females? Is that how you say it?”

Sehun couldn’t really argue with that. It is Yixing hyung they were talking about. “But…What if I can’t win her over? What if she doesn’t have the authority you think she does?” Argued Sehun. ‘That and I already have someone else in mind’

“You will be fine Sehun. Every lady out there loves you. You are a chip off the old block! Back in my day I was pretty popular too you know.”

“…Um…that is great…but.” Once again as he was about to say something his father cut him off.

“You sir are the Bachelor of the Century. Your mom and I have been receiving a lot of matchmaking offers for you from a bunch of our friends. Well at the moment I have been saying you are too busy to meet them, which is true and I will continue to do so. Don’t you worry son. Your mom and I have it all covered.”

Unable to figure out a proper excuse other than ‘Dad I actually bumped into this lovely girl at the festival and I am on a mission to find her and win her heart so I can’t woo the princess for you sorry!’ Figuring he had no other choice he accepted.

“Okay. I will try to win over the princess.”

After Councilman Oh heard what he wanted to hear he dismissed Sehun telling him to get a good night’s rest since he deserved it. As he was walking to his room he stopped by one of the many windows in his manor and let out a sigh. “Rin…”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally the game begins!

Councilman Oh is pretty sneaky no? Will Sehun be able to win the princess’s heart? Would he be able to find the elusive ‘Rin’? Will Byungho shape up or will he be forever whiny? Why is the creepy mushroom interesting? Is Saehyun just weird? STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT!

(Sorry Maknae! You will be in the next chapter I promise!)

For the record…

Hyunjae and Byunho are 17

Aejung and Saehyun are 18

Hyorin is 19

Sehun and Jongin are 20

Yixing and Joonmyun are 21

And Woobin and Dongmin are 25