Word count: 4,572 words

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"Ouch!"

"Please stay still, Princess."

You tried not to frown at the matron's irritated chiding as she tugged your hair roughly into an elegant half-up, half-down style. It was not your fault that your head moved when she pulled your hair; to keep yourself still against her harsh force was impossible. You longed for Ji Eun's gentle touch, even if she didn't know how to dress your hair into anything more complicated than the simplest of hairstyles, which had been determined as insufficient for such a special occasion. However, you bit back the complaint forming on your tongue and caught Ji Eun's attention out of the corner of your eye to make an exasperated face, which caused her to choke on her laughter.

After threading some pearls into your hair to match your earrings, the matron declared that she was finished, and you breathed a sigh of relief that would be considered completely inappropriate for a princess should you be with proper company. The elderly woman either did not hear the loud exhale or chose to ignore it and quickly excused herself, obviously having other things to do on this busy day. Catching Ji Eun's admiring face in the reflection of the mirror in front of you, you turned to face her, smiling and saying, "Stop looking like that, it's still just me."

At your words, she burst into laughter, but you could see the tears welling up in her eyes. "I can't help it, you look so beautiful! I feel like I'm giving my daughter away."

The little snort that you made in response would have had your tutor nagging at you, but you never had to watch yourself around your lady-in-waiting. "Please! You're only a few months older than I am."

As she led you out of the room into the hall overlooking the huge ballroom, you thought about how much you were looking forward to this day just a little over six months ago. The coming of age ceremony meant that you would be taking your place as the Princess Royal, the only daughter of the monarch, and would mark the start of your duties as one. It meant that you would finally be allowed to step foot outside the castle grounds and present yourself as the princess while you take over the responsibilities that were used to be borne by your late mother. So many things had changed after that first time you sneaked out of the castle. Although you were still looking forward to doing your part for your country as your brothers did, a part of you were disappointed and afraid that it would become harder for you to sneak out unnoticed to see Jin.

The ceremony wouldn't begin for a few hours yet, but you couldn't stay inside your quarters a minute longer. Besides, you had been told that you would meet the new royal guard assigned to protect you from that day onwards, and Jimin, who had supposedly met him when they were choosing suitable candidates for the position, would not stop dropping by your room to tease you about how good looking he was. It did nothing but annoy you and honestly, you didn't care about how handsome your royal guard was. No one would even come close to Jin based on looks.

The hallway you were walking through was long and quiet, one side of the wall decorated with beautiful paintings and the other filled with wide archways leading to a balcony above the ballroom. It was still early, but the floor below was filled with servants and guards, the former busy setting up for the ceremony while the latter were checking everything to make sure that the place was safe, since many important figures were expected to attend. You peered out behind a curtain adorning one of the archways, watching them bustle about their activities.

It was interesting to see just how much work went into making the ballroom as beautiful and magical as you had seen during the coming of age ceremonies held for your brothers before, and you spent some time watching everything; the tables of carefully prepared food and beverages, flutes of champagne on trays ready to be brought about by waiters for the guests, beautiful, fresh flowers in expensive vases by the walls next to intricate sculptures slowly being put together, but after a while you decided that you'd had enough. Just as you were about to turn away from the scene, you saw a familiar figure. A tall figure with brown hair and broad shoulders, dressed in the midnight blue of the royal guard's uniform. You couldn't see his face as he was facing away from you, talking to another guard, but you could recognise his back anywhere and you could feel your stomach drop to your feet in horror.

Jerking yourself back into the hallway, you barely addressed the look of surprise on Ji Eun's face when the younger prince sauntered around the corner. "Jimin!" You hissed, even though there was no way anyone below could have heard you. He stopped in his tracks and bounded over to you, his eyebrows raised into the fringe of his black hair in question to your summons.

"What?" He asked rudely and grinned at Ji Eun's giggle. Like you, Jimin did not bother to keep up manners and pretenses around the people close to him in private. You would have rolled your eyes at him if you weren't so panicked at that very moment.

Carefully, you tried to steal another look at the large hall below without moving the curtain and you felt an invisible hand squeeze your heart. Against all odds, you had hoped that your eyes were playing tricks on you, that perhaps your longing for him made you see him everywhere, but your sense of sight had not been affected by your pining. It really was him. The man that had caused your heart to go pitter-patter before this and now threatened to make you run for the hills had turned around and now he was facing in your direction. There was no mistaking it, Jin was clad in the royal guard uniform in the same building as you. Not just any building, but the castle, where you could not show yourself as anyone but your true identity; the princess.

"Who is that?" You whispered as Jimin stood beside you in the center of the opening, not bothered to keep himself hidden. He didn't have a reason to, after all, and he shot a puzzled look at you half-crouching behind the wall before he turned his eyes forward.

"Where?"

"There."

Jimin's eyes followed the direction your finger was pointing and landed on Jin. "Oh, so you saw him already, haven't you? That's the man assigned to be your royal guard. Look at you, already interested in him before you even knew who he is. Isn't he handsome?" He grinned and nudged your arm with his elbow. "Don't go falling for him now," he teased.

It's way too late for that, you thought to yourself, but you carefully stabilised your voice so neither Jimin nor Ji Eun could notice how disturbed you were. "Don't be an idiot," you countered, glad that your words came out strong and annoyed, the tone you usually used with your second brother while the gears in your head spun at top speed as you tried to think of a way to get yourself out of this mess. "Why him, though? He looks so... young."

Jimin's explosive laughter at your feeble excuse echoed off the walls and you glanced at the ballroom, afraid that people might have heard him. "Speak for yourself, y/n! You haven't even turned twenty yourself," his laughter slowly died down and he looked up from his bent position, hands on his knees, grinning at you shooting daggers at him. "I don't know if he looks young for his age, but he's older than Namjoon, you know. Many others serve in the military and take their posts as castle guards around his age."

A deep voice that rumbled through the hallway interrupted your thoughts from searching for another excuse. "Ah, there you are. Father wants to see you."

You nodded your head woodenly and straightened to follow Jimin, who was already walking away beside Namjoon. A quick glance sideways showed you the ballroom below, which was now devoid of Jin. Before you could walk away, however, you felt a warm hand squeeze yours reassuringly and you turned to see Ji Eun giving you a small smile. You returned it nervously and took quick steps to catch up with your brothers, leaving her behind.

The wheels in your mind started churning before you even fell in step behind your brothers. The princes looked back at your approach and immediately parted to make room for you to walk in the middle. You cleared your throat, trying to make yourself sound as unconcerned as possible.

"So... how come a more experienced soldier isn't elected as my guard?" You asked nonchalantly.

Namjoon dipped his chin down to look at you in confusion while Jimin rolled his eyes at your continuation of protest at your newly assigned royal guard. "He's one of the best. Better than many experienced guards and soldiers, both in military knowledge and skills. I watched him spar with the Master of Swords the other day. He didn't best the master, of course, but he held his own far longer than most people I've seen. And," he paused to wiggle his eyebrows at his brother. "He beat Jimin at both sword fight and shooting."

"He's more experienced than I am!" Jimin protested.

"You've been training ever since you could lift a sword," Namjoon reminded.

Between the two of them bickering, you couldn't concentrate on coming up with another excuse as to why your royal guard should be changed. You even contemplated getting on your knees, telling them the truth and begging them never to let Jin find out your true identity, but it would be futile. Even if the princes agreed to help you - which you highly doubted - you still had to explain your reasoning to the king, who would not be pleased with your recklessness and disobedience.

The walk to the king's study passed by in a flash. Before you knew it, your arrival had been announced and you were ushered in. Your father sat behind his large mahogany desk, casting an imposing figure facing his three children and a sturdy, broad-shouldered man you would be ecstatic to see on any other day but today. Jin's back was towards you but at the king's acknowledgement of your entry, he started to make a ninety-degree turn in his spot to look at the three of you. Immediately you decreased the len