Author Note: Finally the first chapter is here, wooo~~  Thank you for subscribing and commenting even before the story officially started T__T I hope I won't dissapoint you :) Happy reading~

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The night sky had set and the castle was bustling as guests danced, talked, ate. It was a day of celebration today as the princess would get married in one week and a half. The said princess however didn’t look too happy as she sat outside on the stone bench in the wide green garden, her long red dress swaying with the wind and her eyes gazing at the full moon that shone brightly that day.

“You’ll catch a cold if you stay here,” a low voice called out and the princess turned around to see her fiancée walking up to her. The only response he got, was her turning her head again to the moon.

“Let’s go inside,” he said, sitting next to her and wrapping his warm arms around her.

“I don’t want to. It’s too crowded and I’m tired,” she finally answered and leaned against him.

“Being the whiny princess as always.”

“Says the rascal of a prince.”

“Ouch.”

As they settled in silence, he rubbed her bare arms to keep her warm.

“Are you still unhappy about our marriage?” he asked after a while.

“Of course I am. I want to marry for love, for happiness. I don’t want to just marry someone for something as shallow as property and wealth.”

“Well, you postponed your wedding long enough princess. You’re already eighteen and even your younger sister is already married. And I’m not just someone, I’m the great prince Mark for your information. You should be happy it wasn’t a random prince you don’t even know.”

“That’s because Hae-in is lucky to have found her true love already... and Changsun’s  status as general is a merit as well. But still... You’re my best friend Mark, don’t you think it’s weird to marry your best friend? I mean, we need to live together, sleep together, make babies together. I can’t even imagine kissing you on the lips!” she said, looking horrified at the thought. Mark laughed at her expression and came closer.

“We still need to kiss in front of the altar. You want to practice my princess?” he said with a smirk and leaned forward.

“No thank you,” the princess answered and put her hand on his lips. As he pulled away with a pout on his face, she retreated her hand again.

“I’m not that bad you know. Maybe something more will come out of it when we’re together.” Mark hoped.

“I know you’re not a bad person Mark, but still I don’t even want to think about it,” she said harshly with a tone that indicated that this was her final answer.

“... Do you wish he wasn’t a knight?” Mark asked quietly, holding the princess tighter and burying his face in her neck.

“I-” she began, but a voice interrupted her as the mentioned knight walked out.

“Princess, prince Mark, your presence is requested. Please come inside.” The knight said and bowed. It was Kim Minseok.

“Yes, of course.” Mark said, pulling away from the princess. Noticing that she wouldn’t finish her sentence anymore, he let her go and stood up to walk ahead.

“Princess? Please come inside.” Minseok said and bowed again until she stood on her feet and walked up to him, only to stop right in front of him.

“Look at me?” the princess asked and he straightened his posture. Her eyes twinkled from the moonlight and happiness as their eyes met.

“I haven’t seen you this whole evening! I’m happy I get to see you now for a brief moment. I’ve wanted to ask you... How do I look?” she asked as her big innocent eyes looked at him with expectation.

“Beautiful as always princess.” He said smiling and she giggled.

“Now, please go inside princess. The guests are waiting for you.” Minseok said and she pouted as he motioned his hand to the door.

“You don’t want to be alone with me this badly?” the princess asked, raising an eyebrow, not amused by him.

“Now, you know that’s not true princess.”

“But I want to be with you more.” She said whiny, almost stomping her foot, which made the knight chuckle.

“Don’t start this now princess and don’t frown with that pretty face.”

His hand moved up, as he felt the need to touch her face and let the frown disappear, but he resisted and pulled his hand back quickly before he could touch her. She noticed the gesture and pouted.

“Fine, I’ll go inside.” She said and huffed, turning around to walk inside. Minseok followed her inside, sighing as he had made her ‘mad’.

As the princess went inside, she immediately was surrounded by people who wanted to talk to her and ask her for a dance. Smiling, she talked animatedly with the guests and danced with some of them, forgetting her tiredness and irritation. Taking a rest, she walked to the table to get a drink and noticed her sister approaching her.

“Hae-in, are you enjoying the party?” Hee-Jin asked as she took a sip from her drink. The question only caused her younger sister to frown.

“Are you really asking me this? Yes, I really enjoy the overwhelming crowd and all the ladies who are fawning over my husband.” Hae-in said sarcastically and Hee-Jin looked around to spot a circle of women which she only could assume Changsun was in the middle of it as she couldn’t see through them.

“You’ll be fine, just push through them.” Hee-Jin replied as her eyes set on Hae-in again who could only scoff at the answer.

“I would love to see you try.”

Hee-Jin looked at the circle again and changed her mind.

“... No thank you.” She commented.

The orchestra changed the atmosphere as they started playing a soft, slow song and Hae-in smiled as she saw Changsun approaching them. He greeted Hee-Jin who bowed and turned his attention to the petite girl.

“Would you allow me to have this dance my love?” Changsun asked with his dazzling smile as he held his hand out for her to take.

“You already know the answer though.” Hae-in said happily and took his hand, Changsun leading the way.

“This is your favourite song.” Mark said as he appeared behind Hee-Jin. He smiled at her as he took the drink out of her hand and escorted her to the middle of the ballroom. As Mark twirled her once, Hee-Jin smiled from enjoyment.

“I always get amazed at how well you dance.” She said and they laughed happily as they continued dancing.

As the party drew to a close, guests went home or resided in their respective guest rooms for the night.

Hee-Jin sat in the large bathtub thinking about Mark’s question.

“Do you wish he wasn’t a knight?”

“Well it sure would make things easier if he was a prince...” Hee-Jin muttered and duck her head partly in the in the water, creating bubbles with .

After a while Hee-Jin decided she was done with her bath and rang the little bell that lay beside the bathtub. Maids entered the bathroom and dried the princess’s body and dressed her before resuming their tasks on the princess in the bedroom. Sitting in front of the dressing table, the princess looked in the mirror as Sohee, a maid,  dried her hair while the others cleaned the bathroom.

“Do I look tired? Give me an honest answer.” the princess asked her maid.

“You do look quite tense princess. It’s not surprising though as you are busy with the preparations for your wedding.”

“That is true... Just one and a half week and this boisterous time will be over, only to be replaced with other responsibilities...” Hee-Jin whined.

“The king and queen don’t plan on retiring yet, so you will have some leisure, right princess?”

“That’s right, I almost forgot. Thank you for always cheering me up.” Hee-Jin said and relaxed.

“We’ll gladly make your days feel less stressful, princess.” Sohee said and the others nodded as they walked out of the bathroom with towels and such in hand that needed to be washed.

As Sohee  was done drying the princess’ hair, she handed the used towel to another maid and reached her hand out to pick up the hairbrush. The princess however stopped her before she could.

“Please bring Minseok here for me.” The princess demanded.

“Right away, princess.” and the maids scurried off to the door. As they opened the door, they could see Jaebum and Minseok standing on each side of the door, guarding the princess’ room.

“Minseok, the princess is requesting you.” One of the maids said.

“Can you handle being here alone?” Minseok asked as he turned his attention to Jaebum. The knight only grinned at this.

“Of course I can. Now go inside before you keep the princess waiting.” He said and Minseok smiled, walking inside the room and closing the door behind him. Hee-Jin smiled as she saw him entering.

“You wished to see me, princess.” He said as he bowed and walked towards her.

“Yes! Comb my hair.” She said as she turned her eyes to the mirror in front of her again.

 “You do know I’m a knight and not a butler.” He stated while raising an eyebrow in amusement. He didn’t complain though as he took the brush in his hand and carefully combed her hair.

“I’m aware of that fact, but I like it when you’re close to me.” She reasoned and he smiled as they glanced at each other through the mirror.

“You know, you’re always so uptight. You should loosen up more, Minseok.” Hee-Jin said as she noticed his stiff shoulders in his reflection.

“It’s difficult for me if you give me unusual tasks for a knight.” He said amused and the girl pouted at his response.

“Fine, then stop.” She said and he obliged as he put the comb down.

“I will give you another ‘unusual’ task.” Hee-Jin said teasingly and rustled through the boxes on the dressing table. She made an ‘ah’ sound to express she found the item she was looking for.

As she opened the box, a sweet tune started to play and a ballet figure started rotating with the melody. It was a music box. She stood up and turned around to smile at him.

“Take off your helmet and gloves.” The princess demanded and Minseok raised an eyebrow, but still did what he was asked to do.

“Not to be rude princess, but why do I need to take these off.” He said and laid the helmet and gloves on the table.

“So I can see your face better and so I can feel your touch.”

She took his hand and made her way backwards to the middle of the room, all the while smiling at him.

“Princess? What are we going to do?” Minseok asked confused, reluctantly following her.

“Dancing of course! I wanted to dance with you this evening, but we couldn’t... so we’re going to dance now. Although I don’t have anything fancy wearing at the moment...” she muttered and looked at the nightgown she was wearing.

“Princess, I shouldn’t...” Minseok said unsure.

“You shouldn’t, I shouldn’t, we’re even. Now let’s have some fun!” she said excitedly and the look and smile she gave him was all it took to let his doubt fly away.

Minseok smiled and held her waist and hand. As the sweet melody echoed through the room, they swayed around the room laughing. He let her twirl with one hand and as she came closer again, he held her at the waist lifting her up. Hee-Jin let out a squeal and laughed as he spun her in the air, her hands holding onto his shoulders. When he slowly let her down again, he kept her in his arms as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her toes barely touching the ground. She giggled as their noses brushed against each other. They stood there for a while, looking and smiling at each other before the knight lead the princess to the bed. Laying her down, Minseok sat beside the bed. He covered Hee-Jin with the blanket and held one of her hands while caressing her cheek lovingly.

“... Minseok?”

“Yes princess?”

“What do you think of the marriage?” Hee-Jin asked.

His hand stopped caressing her cheek, letting his hand fall on his side. She grabbed his other hand tighter in hers as to say not to let go.

He gave her a smile and said, “I’m happy you are able to marry with a good person, princess.”, but the only response he got was a frown.

“Now give me an honest and unscripted reply.” She demanded and Minseok could only chuckle.

“To be honest... Although it sounds selfish, I don’t wish for you to marry prince Mark or anyone for that matter... But even if you weren’t married, it wouldn’t change a thing between us. We still couldn’t be together as something more...” he said quietly and the princess’ hand with his thumb.

“But  I’d still be your knight and you’d still be my princess. I’d still protect you and be by your side... I’d still love you.”

“I don’t want to either, but I can’t do anything about it anymore...” the princess muttered sadly.

“I know, it’s not something you can do about princess. It’s not your fault.” He whispered and came closer, giving butterfly kisses on her forehead. She closed her eyes in relaxation.

“You will still be by my side so I suppose it’s not that bad... and there will be fewer people nagging at me too when I’m finally married.” She said and they chuckled.

“I love you Minseok.” The princess whispered and slowly closed her eyes as fatigue took over.

“I love you too, princess.”

“Say my name,” she muttered and he slowly let her go, tugging her hands under the blanket.

“I love you Hee-Jin,” he whispered and kissed her forehead and he saw a faint smile appear.

Making sure she was asleep he walked towards the table, putting on his helmet and gloves. Walking to the door, he stopped in his tracks to look behind his back. He smiled as he looked at the now sleeping figure and turned off the lights before he walked out, closing the door behind him.