Seulgi pulls on the final piece of her all-black outfit. Tonight. Tonight, she’s going to get Joohyun out of the place that she had put her in. Tonight, Seulgi’s going to right her wrongs. Seulgi had tried. She had begged the King desperately, and for days on end. But the King hadn’t budged - had only repeated that what Joohyun had done was treason, and that she had to be punished for it - stay in that hell hole for as long as he saw fit. Seulgi can’t take that. She can’t take in more guilt in the short amount of time that she’s lived in this world. She can’t add on to the wounds in her heart that’s been there before Joohyun. She can’t - not when Joohyun had been the one person who made the unbearable pain inside of her disappear. Not when she had finally realized what she felt for Joohyun - that she had come to love the sweet, innocent, yet broken girl - not when she had come realize that she wanted to be the one to fix her.

    Seulgi can’t let that happen. She won’t. So she’s going to break Joohyun out of the cage that she’s wrongly in, and run away with her. She’s going to take Joohyun, and run away from the life of lies that she’s lived for so long and leave everything behind - leave Irene and Seulong behind, and never look back.

    Seulgi finally finishes putting on her outfit, then walks over to the closet that she had discovered quite a few weeks ago. The most important things that she has in the world were in that little wooden closet.

Painkillers. The herbs that stop her from feeling that excruciating pain in her leg - numbs it enough so she can’t feel the throbbing for a while. If she’s going to break Joohyun out, she’s going to have to use the herb. There’s no doubt about that.

The only other item in the closet is the one item that she owes her life to. Her sword. She definitely isn’t a stranger to the elegant, iron weapon propped up inside of the closet. That sword had been the companion that kept her safe. That sword had been the one to make up for her handicap in her leg - and she’s going to have to pick it up again. Seulgi isn’t an amateur in killing. She had had to kill to survive in the cruel world that she had unceremoniously been thrown into all those years ago. Never out of spite, never out of bloodlust - only to defend herself. But Seulgi knows that she’s much more skilled at the art of the sword than almost any person out there. And she knows that the sword is going to have a taste of blood tonight.

~~

    Irene pulls her knees up against her chest - shivering from the icy cold that seeps out from the solid blocks of stone and unyielding bars of iron. She’s been here for a t least a week. If there’s one thing she’s good at, it’s keeping track of time. She can feel the grime from the filthy stone floors sticking to her skin like honey - her hair tangled and dirty.

    “No! No, Uncle, you can’t!”

    Seulgi. Irene doesn’t blame Seulgi. She knows that what Seulgi had done was so an innocent man wouldn’t be killed for her lies. She knows that what Seulgi had done was the right thing. She doesn’t feel angry or bitter about being trapped in the dungeon - only feeling the weight of a heavy heart in her chest when she knows that she won’t be able to see the girl again. And she can’t be angry - not when it’s for Seulgi - not because of her, but for her. She’d rather it be her than Seulgi any day.

    Suddenly, the sound of a strangled grunt and the thump of a body hitting the ground reaches Irene’s ears. Then another and another, before it goes silent again. She then hears the soft sound of footsteps - footsteps that are strangely familiar - and her brows furrow. But when she sees who it is - sees the familiar lithe figure clad in unfamiliar black clothes, and the glint of metal in the moonlight, she finds herself lurching forward - hands wrapping around frigid iron bars, and eyes wide in disbelief.

    “S-Seulgi?” Irene’s voice is hoarse from the lack of use, and it cracks mid-name.

“Joohyun, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Irene watches as Seulgi quickly comes towards the iron door and unlocks it, the scraping of metal on metal echoing through the dungeons before Seulgi’s throwing open the door, and pulling Irene into her embrace. Irene automatically grasps onto the back of Seulgi’s shirt, burying her face into the taller girl’s shoulder. The feeling of Seulgi’s body enveloping her, and the smell of her sweet scent makes her feel safe. She’s always felt safe around Seulgi now that she thinks about it. After a few moments Seulgi slightly pulls away, and Irene finds herself looking into the dark, midnight eyes that she’s become familiar with over the past few months.

“I’m getting you out of here. We’re running away. Are you okay with that?”

That’s possibly the oddest thing Irene’s ever heard, but the way Seulgi says it - with hope in her voice, and possible freedom - Irene doesn’t give it a second thought.

“Yes.”

~~

    Seulgi quietly stalks forward, her left hand clasped around Joohyun’s, and her right clasped around her sword. Her hands are clammy, cold sweat springing up on her forehead and the back of her neck. It was obvious that the news of her “jailbreak” hadn’t been broadcasted yet, as the palace is quiet.

The palace is surrounded by a large forest, and Seulgi knows that if they manage to make it into the woods, there’s little to no chance that the King’s men could catch them. Seulgi’s rather familiar with forests as she’s spent quite a bit of her time in them when she had still been trying to survive - trying to get stronger by hiking so that her leg wouldn’t keep failing on her.

They’re at the entrance of the palace now, but there’s guards standing in front of the gates as she’d expected. Seulgi knows what she has to do, but that doesn’t mean she wants the girl beside her to see it. They’re hiding behind one of the buildings fairly close to the gates, and Seulgi turns around to face Joohyun.

“Joohyun, close your eyes and . . . don’t open them until I say so, okay?”

Joohyun’s looking at her with confused, innocent eyes, but S