Chanyeol stood in front of the king’s quarters of the palace. “Announce my arrival.” He commanded the eunuch at the entrance. The eunuch bowed to him and turned to the door, and called out aloud. “Your majesty, Lord Park is here!”

“Let him in.”

Chanyeol walked in, and saw king Junmyeon buried in a several stacks of book, while waiting for him. He looked up from the book he was reading, and a smile of relief crept onto his face. “Sorry for calling you in this early, but I needed to see you.” he said in an urgent tone.

Chanyeol bowed and looked up at the king. “It doesn’t matter at all your majesty. What has happened? You look disturbed.” He said, examining the king’s face.

“Some of the most valuable books from the royal library have been misplaced. We don’t know yet whether they’ve been stolen or were destroyed naturally, anyhow, the problem is a famous Chinese historian is arriving to the palace this evening.” The king went on. “He’s doing some research and the Chinese emperor personally asked me to help him as a favour.”

Chanyeol bit his lip. “But some essential books are missing?” he asked.

The king nodded. “And I don’t want to ruin the good impression the Chinese emperor has on us by showing lack of information for that historian.” He finished.

“So your majesty, you want me to find the misplaced books?” Chanyeol asked the king.

And the king shook his head. “Yu can do it later, but first go and check the library at your house. Your father built it and gathered many valuable books there, I’ve heard from my father, the late king.” He looked up at Chanyeol and beamed. “Search for the books I give you names of Chanyeol, and please bring them to the palace. They will surely be returned after the historian leaves Joseon.” He said.

Chanyeol smiled. “Of course your majesty. Give me the list of books you need, and I will definitely bring those if I have.”

* * * * * * *

Sehun lazily turned over on his silk mattress, and hugged the blanket closer. “Sehun-ah...” his mother’s voice came from outside the door, and Sehun grumbled without even opening his eyes. “It’s my day off omma... Let me sleep.”

But his mom called him again. “Sehun-ah...it’s about the girl you brought yesterday.”

Sehun sprang up and sat on the mattress. “I think you need to see her.” her voice came from outside the door.

“Alright omma, I’ll be there.” he said back, and rubbed his sleepy eyes. “What now...” muttering to himself, he pulled away the blanket and got up.

“She won’t talk with any of us. I guess she’s too much frightened and shocked.” Sehun’s mom told him, as he went to the room where he took the girl in last night.

“I’ll try to talk to her.” Sehun said, and entered the room. And there she was, curled up against the wall in a corner of the room. She looked up with frightened eyes, and her gaze eased a bit seeing it was Sehun. He slowly made his way to her and crouched in front of her.

“Are you alright now?” he asked. She stayed silent, staring at him with caution, as if she feared him coming any closer. “Your attire looks Chinese. Are you from china?” he asked gently. “Do you understand our language?”

She nodded slowly. “Can you speak Korean?” he asked back.

“A little.” She said in a low voice. Sehun nodded. “Then you can understand me.” He looked at her carefully. “Are you severely injured anywhere?” he asked, because his mom had mentioned an assault last night. She shook her head. “Are you sure? But at least ointment must be applied here-” he raised his hand towards her face to examine the burst lip, but she got petrified and turned away from him, and Sehun quickly too his hand back.

“Sorry...I’m sorry. I just wanted to help you.” he tried to calm her down. She still looked frightened, but remained silent and still.

“Look here...” Sehun began, looking into her eyes with an earnest look on his eyes. “We won’t harm you. I’m the one who rescued you from them...so you can trust me. Nothing will happen to you here, so you can stay here without any fear. We will protect you. So you can trust us...trust me at least...you know me now.” He said, as gently as possible.

She stared at him with widened eyes, and stayed still.

“What is your name?” Sehun asked her. “Name? Here, I’m Sehun. Oh Sehun.” He said, placing his hand on his own chest.

“Ying.” She mumbled. “Ying?” he repeated what she said. “So you are Ying? Very well Ying,” he gave her a warm smile. “I’ll send you some new clothes, wash yourself and wear them alright?”

She nodded in silence.

He stood up to leave the room.

“Can I-”

He turned back with surprise. “Yeah, tell me, do you need anything?” he quickly knelt again before her and asked.

“Can I...” she hesitated again for a moment. “Can I have some water?” she asked. Sehun saw her dry and chapped lips, and his heart ached at the sight. “Of course I will send you water and breakfast.” He gave a smile and left the room.

“Don’t let them lay even a finger on you.” she remembered Shao Xuan’s words which he said before she left his quarters. “I’m sending you there because you insisted on helping me, and because you know how to take care of yourself.”

She gave him a smile of reassurance. “Don’t worry uncle, I’ll make excuses for everything and make them a part of my act.”

She sighed and stood up from her corner wash herself and get changed.

* * * * * * * *

“Yuha? Is Lord Park pack from the palace?” Seora asked Yuha, coming out of her room because she heard his deep voice in the house all of a sudden.

“Yes my lady, Lord Park went to the library room. Must be something duty related.” The maid replied.

Seora quickly ran into the library room, which she hadn’t even thought of entering before. Books were not her thing, so she never was interested in it.

She stepped into the room, and a gasp escaped her lips as soon as she saw Chanyeol’s so called library.

It was indeed a huge library. She had seen Minseok’s library at home, and she had seen the capital’s biggest book stores when she had visited them with her sister to buy books for Nuri, but this was way beyond all of them. The room was at least five times the size of Chanyeol’s bed room, and it was filled with huge book shelves, standing tall from floor to the roof. All of the shelves were packed with books, and there were even stacks of books on the floor. There was a study table nearby the door, but Chanyeol was not there. She walked into the sea of books, and looked behind the nearest bookshelf.

“Looking for someone?”