Chapter 11: Trips & Searches

After bidding her parents farewell, Jungseol returned back to the Flower Palace the next morning. She felt happy and relief, knowing that they were doing fine without her around. That although they worked really hard, they were still healthy and okay. She left home when she was just twelve years old to serve the Crown Princess, so she didn't have much time going home. In results, she was grateful Yeonhwa gave her permission to go home.

On her way to the Flower Palace, she noticed how the family of dark clouds were reuniting in the sky. It looked a bit cloudy, but she wondered if it would soon be rainy. Hopefully not.

When she arrived at the Flower Palace, she went to her Quarter to change into her maiden clothes. After she finished, she rushed over to Yeonhwa’s room. Because she was moving a bit quick, she accidently bumped into someone. She winced a bit at the hardness, then looked up to find Dongil in front of her.

“I’m sorry, Dongil-ssi,” Jungseol apologized, lowering her head. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. I was just in rush to the Princess’s room. I’m really sorry.”

Dongil released a small laugh. “It’s alright,” he said. “It’s okay.”

Still, Jungseol had her head down.

The bodyguard sighed. “You went home yesterday, right? How was it? How’s your parents?”

“They are fine,” she looked up at him a bit. “If you don’t mind, I have to go serve Princess Yeonhwa.”

As soon as she was about to walk away, Dongil’s voice stopped her. “Actually… Can I ask you something? About Princess Yeonhwa?”

Jungseol turned to him again. He cautiously observed around them and luckily found no other maids, servants, or guards present. If they were, he wouldn’t be able to talk to her about what he was curious about.

“Has Princess Yeonhwa been seeing someone?” Dongil brought himself to ask.

In response, Jungseol blinked curiously at him.

After the birthday celebration, Dongil couldn’t resist thinking about what Yeonhwa told him last night

“I guess I have been thinking about someone.”

As much as he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, curiosity was eating him. He didn’t want to get his hopes high, but he wanted to know. However, if he knew, what was he going to do? He was just a bodyguard. The Crown Princess’s bodyguard.

“No,” Jungseol replied. “Princess Yeonhwa hasn’t been seeing anybody.”

“Are you sure?” Dongil asked again.

The maid nodded. “Why are you asking, though? Did something happen?” She began to wonder if others inside the palace might have overheard her and Yeonhwa talking about Hwayang. If they knew, then it would not turn so good.

“No. At least I don’t think so, but…”

“But what?”

Dongil sighed sadly. “Last night, during Yeonhwa’s birthday celebration, she kind of said something strange. She mentioned how she’d been feeling nervous and this kind of emptiness these past few days, and… I don’t know. I just feel like maybe…”

“What do you feel like?”

He looked at Jungseol with defeated eyes. ‘I feel as though Yeonhwa may like someone…,’ he mentally answered. But he couldn’t tell her that. If he did, then she would only assume that he was worried about her feelings or maybe that he possibly liked the Crown Princess. Which he did. So he couldn’t say anything.

Dongil shook his head. “Nothing,” he said. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

Jungseol still wondered what he was thinking about, but not wanting to make things awkward and uncomfortable, she only nodded at him. She took his last sentence as her cue to leave and spun around, taking a step ahead.

“Oh, I forgot.”

Jungseol turned back to Dongil.

“The King and Queen took a trip with Prince Chanwol to the Royal Yung family to visit his soon-to-be wife. Since it was Princess Yeonhwa’s birthday yesterday, they didn’t want to bother her. Also, they might not be back until late evening. Make sure you notify her of their whereabouts, okay?”

“I will,” Jungseol said.

In the middle of writing her stories, Yeonhwa heard the doors of her room opened. She stopped moving her brush and looked up before seeing her maid.

“Jungseol,” Yeonhwa said with a smile. “You’re back.”

“Good morning, Princess Yeonhwa,” Jungseol greeted as she bowed.

“You returned pretty early. I actually didn’t expect to see you until noon.”

Jungseol sighed and knelt down to sit. “It’s okay. My parents didn’t mind. I am your maid, after all. I need to be there for you when you need me.”

Yeonhwa sighed. “You’re such a good daughter,” she praised.

Jungseol smiled. “Thank you,” she replied.

“So about yesterday.”

The maid’s eyes sparkled with excitement knowing that the Princess was going to bring up the farmboy.

“Were you able to deliver the letter Hwayang?” Yeonhwa quietly asked.

Jungseol nodded. “Yes, I was, Your Majesty.”

The Princess looked at her with a mix of relief and surprise. “Really? You were?”

“Yes, Princess Yeonhwa.”

A faint blush was painted on Yeonhwa’s face, and she tried to lower her head and hide it, but her curiosity of how the letter delivery went yesterday kept her busy.

“How did you find him?” Yeonhwa asked.

Jungseol sighed. “My family and I were heading to the farming field to work, and I just happened to see him there,” she answered.

“Was he suspicious of anything?”

The smile on Jungseol’s face froze a bit and slowly faded as she recalled how Hwayang confessed to knowing about their royalty. She really wanted to let the Princess know, but she also gave the farmboy her word that she wouldn’t say anything. Plus, she somehow agreeingly thought maybe she shouldn’t. This wasn’t her love quarrel anyways.

Jungseol shook her head and gave her best smile again.

“No,” she regretfully lied. “He doesn’t know a thing.” ‘Forgive me, Princess Yeonhwa. Hwayang has asked - no, told me - not to tell you that he knows about who you are. Please don’t be mad at me.’ She mentally screamed a bit in nervousness just thinking about it.

Yeonhwa nodded in relief. “That’s good to hear then,” she said, making Jungseol squirm a bit nervously. “Did he… Did he ask about me?” She had been thinking about Hwayang nonstop ever since their meeting. Other than maybe, possibly liking him, she wondered how he thought of her.

“Not necessarily,” Jungseol replied. If she recalled, he didn’t really ask about her. He just accepted the letter, then she left.

Yeonhwa unknowingly pouted. “Oh, okay.”

“But I’m sure he was happy to hear from you.”

The Princess looked at her. “Are you sure?”

“I know, Your Majesty.”

A small smile tugged on Yeonhwa as her mind came across Hwayang again.

“Dongil-ssi told me to tell you that the King, Queen, and Prince Chanwol aren’t home.”

Yeonhwa blinked curiously at her maid. “Where did they go?”

“Dongil-ssi said they went to the Royal Yung family to see Prince Chanwol’s future Queen. They won’t be home until late evening.”

“Why didn’