A/N: VEERRRYYYY LONG CHAPTER, GUYS. DO YOU HAVE YOUR HAMMERS AND TISSUES READY? LET'S START! GO!

Chapter 33: Inflictions & Objections

Dongil and Jungseol were still holding a quiet conversation until they noticed some guards rushing down the halls and gathering together with their security weapons. Dongil furrowed his brows in confusion, while Jungseol could just watch with curious eyes.

“Do the guards have some kind of meeting?” Jungseol asked.

Dongil didn’t turn to look at her as he kept watching the royal guards speed away. “No,” he answered. “There’s no meeting today…”

Jungseol tilted her head. “Then… why are they in such a hurry? Is something wrong?”

The bodyguard couldn’t tell if something was wrong, but he felt like things weren’t going to end well. He had a terrible, gut-wrenching feeling in his stomach, and he didn’t like it one bit. Before he knew it, he was already rushing ahead like the others, catching up to them while also wondering what was going on. Although Jungseol was calling out to him, all he could do was run and see what the commotion was about.

 Hwayang didn’t dare to let Yeonhwa’s fingers slip from his grasp as well as her hand. Yeonhwa tried her best to stay close to him too, afraid that if she was any further, she would be taken away instantly. They both went to where the backdoor of the palace was located as they attempted to make their escape. Hwayang stepped forward and tried to push the door open, but it wouldn’t budge.

“What?” he said with confusion. Using the side of his arm, he tried to open it again, but it remained still. “Why isn’t it opening?”

Yeonhwa looked at him, then at the door. She stepped up and also tried to push it open, but it wouldn’t. She looked around and tried to find the source that was keeping the door shut. Her eyes trailed along until it fell on a chain and a lock. She grabbed it and tried to pull it, but it was no use. The metal chain was too strong.

“It’s locked,” she said as she turned to him.

Hwayang huffed a breath in frustration, then grabbed her hand again. “It’s okay,” he said. “Let’s just find another way. Come on.” He turned in the other direction, but the roya girl gently tugged on his hand making him look back at her. He noticed her sudden, worried eyes.

“They know…” Yeonhwa whispered in fear. “They know someone is here in the palace. They know you’re here…”

Hwayang swallowed back the nervous gulp and came closer to her, grabbing her other hand and tightening his grasp on them both. “It’s alright,” he replied softly leaning in as their foreheads touched. “It’ll be okay. Don’t worry, hm? Just trust me.”

Yeonhwa looked into his eyes and did her very best to believe him. She had always trusted him, so she had to push her fears away and do it again. A small, hopeful smile appeared on her face as she nodded, giving into his assurance.

Hwayang grinned back at her and kissed her forehead ever so gently before he pulled back. “Let’s go.” Yeonhwa nodded again as he pulled her with him, and they both started sneaking away again, in hopes no one would catch them.

After a few minutes, the two got to the main halls and luckily saw that no one was present to catch them. Hwayang sighed in relief before he tugged on her hand, leading her with him. Yeonhwa not only held onto his hand, but also his arm as she kept looking around to make sure they wouldn’t be caught. As they kept walking down the halls, they finally got to the lobby.

For a second, Hwayang flashed back to that day when he came on the event of the Prince’s wedding. He was all dressed up just to meet Yeonhwa, and the two happened to cross each other at her private library. It was the night they shared their confessions along with their first kiss - the night everything changed for them.

“Where is everyone?” Yeonhwa suddenly asked tightening her grasp on the farmboy’s hand. She quickly became aware of their surroundings as soon as they arrived in the lobby. There was no one present, and it was certainly too quiet. She slowly started to get suspicious.

Her questions and thoughts were answered the minute several guards came out from the corners of the halls and charged towards them. They carried their weapons and rushed to circle around the the couple as they attempted to trap them.

Yeonhwa quietly gasped at the sudden break, shocked of what they were doing. Hwayang quickly secured his arms protectively around her and held her closely by his side. They both knew right then and there they were caught, but they strongly didn’t show any fear. It was just the feeling of worry that ran through their veins. They remained close in each other’s embrace, one wanting to protect the other.

The faint sound of footsteps lured their attention away from the guards surrounding them. They turned their heads to see a familiar royal woman walking through the geared men with some maids and servants following behind her. She wore a gentle, smiling expression on her face, but the Princess and the farmboy knew she was feeling something else boiling inside.

Queen Shim sighed dramatically with sadness and shook her head while clicking her tongue. “I certainly thought the Princess was said to depart for her wedding tomorrow morning,” she said. “I wasn’t informed that she was leaving early today.”

Yeonhwa reached down and grasped onto the farmboy’s hand, slowly stepping up but still remaining near him. “Mother,” she quietly breathed out.

Then, the royal mother’s gaze instantly turned sharp as she turned to Hwayang. “I thought I told you to stay away,” she spat with venom. “That Yeonhwa’s hand is already taken.”

Hwayang inhaled a deep breath before slowly pushing Yeonhwa behind him. She tried to refute and not let him forward, afraid her mother will do something, but the farmboy refused to back down. While standing in front of her, his hand never released hers from behind.

“Your Highness,” Hwayang said, “I promise that I come here with no harm.”

The Queen didn’t lower her glare.

“I came for one thing only, and that was-”

“To take the Crown Princess away?” Queen Shim smirked and shook her head. “You do realize you’re on royal ground, right?”

Yeonhwa looked up at Hwayang as she felt his grip on her hand tightened but loose enough to not hurt her. “Your Highness, Yeonhwa deserves happiness,” the farmboy said. “She might be the Princess, but she shouldn’t be forced into an arrangement she never consented to.”

“This is none of your business, Yoon Hwayang. Besides,” the Queen raised her chin, “it’s already been done. The wedding is taking place tomorrow, and there is nothing a poor peasant like you can do anything about it.”

This time, Yeonhwa stepped out of Hwayang’s shadows and looked at her mother. “Mother, please,” she said with a soft tone. “I never wanted this in the first place. I never wanted to get married like this… Please… If you love me as your daughter, please think about my feelings.”

The Queen scoffed with a laugh. “Feelings? Your feelings for what? This filthy commoner?” She pointed to Hwayang, to which he didn’t show any offense to.

Behind some of the guards, Dongil finally managed to come and see what was going on. He didn’t realize how many guards were ordered to gather until he saw them circling around two people with the Queen standing across from them. Standing behind the wall, he only stood to watch around the corner to see who the royal woman was conversing with. It was only then he realized who he was staring at.

“Is that Hwayang?”

Noticing it wasn’t himself who said it, he turned next to him to find Jungseol watching just like he was.

“What is he doing here?” Jungseol asked with worry before seeing the royal girl she served. “And Princess Yeonhwa? What is going on?”

Dongil turned to watch the scene between the forbidden couple and the royal queen again. Bad scenarios and thoughts were flying in his head right now. As much as he didn’t want to think about it, he knew what was going to happen if the farmboy didn’t give in.

“Consider me still being nice while I am,” the Queen said again looking at her daughter. “Yeonhwa, you are the Crown Princess, and don’t you forget that. You were born with royal blood, and you will be wedded with the same kind. Your future will having nothing to do with that pest. Do you understand me?”

Yeonhwa shook her head as her eyes heated up. “No,” she said. “I don’t understand you, and I don’t want to understand. Mother, I have everything you’ve ever wanted me to do ever since I was born. For once, why can’t you just be a good mother and let me do as I wish?”

The Queen was astonished to hear such words from her daughter, but her anger didn’t go away. “So now I’m a bad mother, you say?”

Yeonhwa kept quiet as she continued to stare at her.

Seeing the high tension between the two family members, Hwayang sighed heavily and walked past Yeonhwa until he slowly got down. Yeonhwa came to him and wondered what he was doing. Then, she realized he was on his knees. “Hwayang,” she said reaching down, trying to pull him up. “What are you doing? Get up.”

Hwayang didn’t make any movement nor did he look up at her, but he only looked at the Queen. Her venomous, sharp expression didn’t scare him as though looks could shoot daggers. He only kept his eyes almost as determined as hers.

Using his hands, he placed them on the ground before he leaned forward and touched his forehead with them. He remained like that for a while, gathering his thoughts and final words before anything else could happen.

Yeonhwa wanted to pull him up and tell him that he need not to pull such a gesture. She didn’t want him to look weak in front of her mother, but she knew it was the strong part of him that told him to do it. She could only watch as she stood close behind him.

Slowly, Hwayang rose from his position, but he remained knelt down on the ground. “Your Highness,” he said, “I know you are hesitant to let your daughter make her own choices. But you must know that she is growing up, and she has done many things, not just for herself, but for others as well. She’s kind, smart, and loyal towards everyone and anything she comes across. For that, you owe it to her that much to give her what she wants. Her freedom and her happiness…”

Yeonhwa didn’t even know she was crying until she felt a teardrop fall from her eyes. Listening to his warm explanation, she felt so touched. She didn’t even know if she deserved this devoted young lad before her.

“In that case,” Hwayang continued, “I want to be the one to give her that happiness. I want to be her happiness. I want to be the reason why… And I know you are against it, and you may never grant it… but please… give me Princess Yeonhwa’s hand in marriage as I will cherish her every moment of every day of every second. I ask of you… Please…”

Everyone was stunned that a farmboy from such a low class could have such fine, good things to say about someone from a royal family. It wasn’t everyday that it happened.

Yeonhwa was speechless. Hwayang never mentioned anything about wanting to marry her when he arrived at her window. He never said anything it. All he told her was that he wanted to take her away and give her a life that’s isn’t so controlled - imprisoned. When her mother told her about Prince Dosung, all Yeonhwa ever thought about was rather wedding with Hwayang than him. Never did the thought run across her mind that Hwayang would want to marry her

But unlike her and the other maids who were starstrucked by the farmboy’s words, Queen Shim’s expression didn’t change. However, it did look hesitant as though she was considering his thoughts. “Well, that was a wonderful speech, Mr. Yoon Hwayang,” she said. “And I must say that you are right about one thing, that I find to not agree with more.”

With hopeful eyes, both Hwayang and Yeonhwa looked up at the royal woman standing in front of them. But the next thing they saw left them in deep concerns.

A smirk quickly hung on Queen Shim’s lips. “I am against it, and I will never grant it.” She glared at them again before she looked up and nodded her heads towards two guards.

Before Yeonhwa could go ahead and get to Hwayang, each of her arms were taken by two security men, and she was pulled back. “What? Wait!” she exclaimed. “Hwayang!”

“Yeonhwa!” Hwayang shouted with desperation as he got up from the ground and rushed back towards her. He wasn’t even a step close until he felt hands on each of his, harshly pulling him away. “No!” He struggled to get to the Princess. “Yeonhwa!”

“Hwayang!” Yeonhwa cried in worry mixed with fear as she tried to yank away from the guards. “Let go of me! I command you to let go! I said let go!”

The couple each didn’t back down as they attempted to be released from restraints and run into each other’s embrace. But it was no use. Their feelings were slowly weakening them from the physical resistance.

After moving furiously back and forth, Hwayang finally pulled his arm away from a guard’s grasp and elbowed him in the face. Seeing him fall on the ground, Hwayang turned back and punched the other man before kneeing him in the stomach and tossing him away. When he looked up at the Princess again, he wasted no time to get to her. Before he could get close, he felt something hard hit his face making his head thrown back as he stumbled with his balance.

“Hwayang!” Yeonhwa shouted seeing a different guard kick him in the face. “No! Stop it! Get away from him!”

Hwayang coughed and managed to pick his head up again. Feeling something run down his nose, he brought his hand up and wiped some blood away. He looked up and saw Yeonhwa’s pleading expression before charging ahead once more. This time, he got close to her, but one of the guards restraining her raised his foot a