'Ha Won? Isn't that a girl's name?' Hyun-Min asked, at the same time as the head went up and a cheerful face peered up at him. As a smile broke onto Ha Won's face, eyes disappeared into tiny slits, 'Prince Hyun Min, I am happy to serve you.'

A girl.

The new knight was a girl.

And what was this erratic thudding in his heart?

+++

‘Yoon-Sung-ssi, are you joking?’

Hyun-Min blinked a number of times before turning to the leader, ‘What could this pipsqueak actually do?’ he laid a friendly hand on Ha-won’s shoulder, ‘Girls should be cherish and adored, is it because you’re poor that you have to do this?’ he asked her sincerely, ‘Should I buy you a house so that you can live your days worry- fr—AAAH AH AH AH AHA AH...’

The next thing everyone knew, Ha-won had grabbed Hyun-min’s hand and quickly performed a manoeuvre to bring it to his back, causing him to collapse down on his knees in response.

The rest of the knights let out a mixture of shocked and amused yelps.

‘Yaaah, what are you doing?!’ Hyun-min whined.

‘Eun Ha-won,’ was all Yoon-sung said, in a half-hearted way.

‘It’s okay your highness,’ Ha-won said cheerfully, her face popping up quite close to him from over his shoulder, ‘thank you for your concern but I can take care of myself – and please have confidence I can protect you too.’

And with that she relinquished her hold and stuck a hand out to help Hyun-min stand up.

Although completely embarrassed, he shot her a charming smile and took her hand, using the momentum to spin her into his