It was almost a month after the princess of Hubaekje had arrived that she found out that Seokjin was constantly bullied. To be precise, she witnessed when he got beaten by one of his brothers – to be precise, the 4th prince who was called Sangchul. Oh, how he wished she hadn’t been there!

Seokjin was pressed against the wall in one of the corridors while the 4th prince was punching him in the face. Once, twice, three times… After that, he didn’t even keep count of it. Even though Sangchul claimed that he had stolen his fan that he had got from the Queen for his 16th birthday, he wasn’t the one who stole it. Nonetheless, he willingly received the punishment and didn’t even budge when he hit him again.

The 13-year-old boy saw from the corner of his eyes that a figure showed up at the end of the corridor. He couldn’t see properly who it was but he assumed that it was only one of his brothers or his parents who didn’t care about their son, not even a single bit.

Unfortunately, the sudden visitor turned out to be Myungeun who didn’t have the heart to back off and leave him there. She boldly came up to them, taking Sangchul by surprise who suddenly froze when he caught sight of her. The young girl looked ridiculously small beside the 17-year-old prince and Seokjin wanted nothing else than to warn her and shout until she got scared and ran away. Yet, the words stuck in his throat and his mouth went dry. Blood was streaming down his face and his lips were chapped. Overall, he was a beautiful mess.

“May I ask what I am witnessing, Your Highness?” the princess turned to Sangchul whose eyes widened in amazement. Even though the 8th princess of Hubaekje was younger than them and looked absolutely harmless, there was something in her tone that make everyone dread her words.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” the elder prince shook his head. “Seokjin-ssi is merely receiving his punishment for stealing my property,” he added nonchalantly, glancing at the younger boy who was trying to stop his nosebleed in vain. He didn’t even dare to look up until Myungeun turned to face him and directed a question at him.

“Is that true?” she inquired without any hint of accusation. The boy felt the tension in the air and it didn’t help either that his heart was beating so fast, it ran like a wild horse who had just escaped its cage. He hesitated whether or not to tell her the truth. He didn’t want to look up, he didn’t want her to see his face and see how weak he was. He didn’t want her to get involved.

Yet, he couldn’t resist the urge to look into her hickory-brown eyes. Those beautiful blossoming rose buds that glowed more than ever. Those remarkable books that kept secrets and legends under their cover. Those nights that carried the cry of an innocent child and the giggle of a growing woman. Those little diamonds could tell anything but so could Seokjin’s worry-filled orbs.

Without saying a single word out loud, he shook his head in disagreement and knew that the girl got the message. To prove that he was right, she averted her eyes back to Sangchul who was flabbergasted at this absurd scene.

“It’s true, Your Highness,” he lied without a blink of an eye. “Don’t believe him! He’s a notorious liar,” he st