The prince married the princess, amid much merriment and celebration, and they lived happily ever after.

Seungwan shut the book with a sigh. She’d gotten in bed hours ago, but after much tossing and turning, she’d only turned the light back on and picked up the volume from her bedside table, starting again from the first page.

She’d already read it three times over since she’d found it at a corner of the library, missing the usual markings to identify it as a library book. Her original intention had been to return it at the front desk and go home, but when she reached her room and emptied her backpack, the book sat right at the bottom, looking curiously appealing.

There was no writing on the back, only a perfectly even burgundy cover to match the burgundy front, where the words “The Enchanted Kingdom” were spelled out in golden font. Seungwan wasn’t sure what to expect, but something compelled her to open the book to the first chapter and begin reading.

And suddenly a few hours had passed and she was done. She’d read the entire thing from cover to cover without even realizing it and all she could think was that she wanted to read it again. She didn’t even know why she wanted to return to that fantasy world so desperately. The writing was pleasant, but not mind-blowing. The plot was interesting, but not unexpected. Yet somehow all the elements came together in such a way that her mind was immediately filled with nothing but that story.

On the second read-through, she realized it was the characters that really made the story shine. It was a standard fairy-tale, which usually entailed relatively one-note characters with not much depth. In this case, even if it was in the tiniest things, all the characters seemed so fleshed out and human, like real people. She couldn’t help but wish she could befriend the brave captain of the guards, the mysterious mage at the service of the king, the resourceful lady in waiting with a few tricks up her sleeve.

And then there was the princess. Arguably the main character in all this, even if she did spend half the story being the victim of attempted kidnappings, curses or attacks. She was kind but wilful, ready to submit for the good of the kingdom but equally ready to sneak off when she felt suffocated by all her aides and guards. Some might call her reckless, but to Seungwan she just seemed naïve. Too innocent to realize the danger of her actions.

The third time she finished the book, tangled in her bedsheets, she felt deflated by disappointment. Like she kept going through the same story in the hopes that eventually she’d find something new. Something more. She just wanted to learn more about the princess, even if it was only a series of boring, everyday events. It felt cruel that there was no more of her. That outside of this small volume that she’d leafed through again and again, she simply didn’t exist. None of it did.

She wished she could burrow inside this fairy-tale world and stay there. Inside it, any problem that arose could be fixed with magic or sword-fighting or a well-timed confession of love. In real life, things weren’t so simple. School was hard, applying for universities was complicated and she couldn’t even grow up enough to stop reading fairy tales.

She let her head land on the book with a thud, trying to sigh away all her troubles but only managing to run out of breath from the deep exhale. For one brief moment, she wished with all her heart that she could escape her own life, even if it was just for a day. To explore a magical kingdom, to be a noblewoman, to meet a real princess. One that was kind but wilful and, according to the book, the fairest in all the land.

Nothing happened, of course, so she simply put the book back on her bedside table, turned off the light and tried to fall asleep. Maybe she’d wake up in a room in the palace, in a big fluffy canopy bed. She’d always wanted one of those.

(…)

She didn’t wake up in a palace. She didn’t wake up in her own room either. In fact, she didn’t wake up at all. She simply found herself, all of a sudden and without any warning, walking down a dusty dirt road in a wide dress filled with frilly layers.

The situation was so unexpected that she couldn’t even find it in herself to be surprised. It seemed as natural as anything to go to sleep in her bed and, an undetermined amount of time later, be walking down an unfamiliar path in unfamiliar clothes with no recollection of the events in between.

She swung her head from side to side, trying to identify her surroundings. All she could see were a few trees and shrubs covering the grassy lands that stretched in every direction. In the distance, she spotted some crudely-built houses, but nothing more. No cities, no roads, no helpful signposts. She continued along the dirt path which curved up to a small hill, not sure what she should do or how scared she should be.

The sound of hooves hitting the ground at regular intervals caught her attention a few seconds before a horse appeared over the hill, galloping in her direction. On it was probably a woman, judging by the equally frilly dress that cascaded over the sides of the animal, but Seungwan was a bit too preoccupied with the fact that a creature taller than her was speeding towards her on its powerful legs to study the rider more carefully.

Long before a collision could occur, however, the horse’s trajectory changed abruptly, guided by a pull on its reins to veer off the road and away towards a cluster of vegetation where pretty flowers were growing. Seungwan followed it with her eyes, exhaling in relief, before remembering her own situation and running off after it. This was the only person she’d seen so far and she couldn’t risk letting her run off without even trying to make contact.

The horse slowed to a trot, then to a walk, before eventually coming to a halt. Its rider jumped off easily, which was even more impressive given her attire. Seungwan herself was having a bit of trouble running while an endless array of frills swept every which way and nearly got tangled up in her legs, but she miraculously managed to keep from tripping on her way to her unknown saviour.

The flowers stood prettily, awaiting their admirer, and Seungwan was surprised at how completely they had captured the rider’s attention. Even now, with a strange woman running towards her at full speed, she only had eyes for the delicate vegetation, stepping towards the colourful array so carefully that one would think she was afraid of scaring them off.

Seungwan stopped a few yards away to catch her breath before calling out to the woman, bracing herself on her knees as she took in large painful lungfuls. When she looked up, somewhat composed, the unknown woman was stooping to gather a small bouquet, picking each flower lovingly. She seemed short, probably around Seungwan’s height, and she had silky black hair, tied into an elaborate braid that fell nearly down to her waist.

The rider got back up and inspected her collection happily, a small smile on her lips. She stood facing Seungwan and would surely notice her as soon as her eyes moved up from the flowers, but Seungwan suddenly felt incapable of uttering a single word. The woman was beautiful, her skin so immaculate that it looked like porcelain, her lips pretty and pink like rose petals. Her eyes, still studying every shade and hue of the bouquet in her doll-like hands, sparkled in a silent appreciation of beauty, but Seungwan was sure that, had she been able to tear her eyes away from this woman’s face and towards the flowers, she would only see a fraction of the perfection that the stranger embodied.

She continued staring in a daze, vaguely aware that the longer she remained silent, the weirder it would be once she spoke up, when a bearded head appeared behind the distracted woman, popping out of a bush. The head was attached to a torso and all the usual body parts and they all began to move forward stealthily, one arm at about the height of the woman’s mouth, the other ready to wrap around her waist.

“Hey!”, Seungwan called out by reflex, her powerful shriek stunning the creepy man for an instant. Luckily, that was all it took for his victim to start violently, noticing him at a glance and immediately running off back to her horse. His face contorted in displeasure as he weighed his options, but already two others appeared from nearby hiding places to chase the woman, completely ignoring Seungwan in their rush.

This was bad. She might have joined forces with the other woman and fought one man off, but now they were outnumbered and she didn’t even have a horse so, even if the driver safely returned to hers, there was still a chance that she’d just leave Seungwan alone with these dangerous men. Once their main target was gone, they’d definitely have a bone to pick with her.

Unable to do anything else, or maybe just unwilling to run away if there was anything she could do to help, Seungwan simply observed the scene as it unravelled, her heart beating with fear and worry. The woman in a very elaborate dress ran as fast as she could, doing much better than Seungwan had earlier, possibly more used to such activities. The men, in mismatched outfits of ripped leather and coarse fabric, shortened the distance between them and their target with every step, their legs hitting the ground at full speed. As they ran, the swords hung on their belts slapped against their thighs.

The… swords? Seungwan felt like the world’s biggest idiot as she finally pieced it together. Frilly dresses, horses, men with swords. No cities, no roads, no signposts.

In her defence, Seungwan argued as she continued absently following the chase, this wasn’t exactly the first thing that popped to mind in any situation. She doubted that anyone else would have found themselves in a similar scenario and immediately slapped themselves on the forehead with a cry of “Oh fudge, I’m in the fairy tale!”

She did do that, just as the woman reached her horse and began sliding one foot into a stirrup to hoist herself up. When she pulled her hand away from her eyes, she found that the bandits had also reached the horse and were holding on to the woman’s leg, trying to keep her from escaping. A little comforted by the thought that nothing too bad could happen inside a fairy-tale story, she let out a sigh of mixed relief and exasperation.

It appeared that her participation in the story would amount to being kidnapped by bandits, possibly along with this unknown woman, depending on whether she could kick off the arms around her leg and run off. Hopefully they wouldn’t spend too long in the bandits’ dirty and squalid hiding place before the king’s guard saved them. She had to admit, it wasn’t exactly where she wanted to be while the story unfolded, but she might get a pity invite to the wedding at the end.

The sound of hooves that had been filling the silence unnoticed suddenly grew stronger until half a dozen horses appeared from the same direction the woman had come, all ridden by men and women in the exact same uniform. They wore burgundy tabards over chainmail shirts, all wielding a sword on their right hand as the left held the reins. Seungwan immediately recognized the king’s guard and her heart swelled with happiness. No kidnapping! She might even be able to hitch a ride to the city!

The battle that Seungwan anticipated never took place. As soon as the guards appeared over the hill, the bandits abandoned their mission and ran as fast as they could towards a nearby copse where they jumped on their own horses. Some of the guards followed them, but a few stayed behind to look after the intended victim. Seungwan couldn’t hear them, but she saw that they were talking until the woman turned to point right at her.

She waited nervously in place as one of the guards approached on her horse. She probably wasn’t in trouble, but it would be best to act as inconspicuous as possible, to avoid drawing too much attention.

“Are you well?”, the guard asked without dismounting, her horse fretting in place as if eager to be moving again. She gave a gentle tug on the reins to calm the animal’s nervous energy and turned her friendly face to Seungwan. Up close, she seemed surprisingly young, maybe even as young as Seungwan.

“Me? Oh, just fine”, Seungwan answered in a squeaky voice. The guard looked nice enough, but she was still facing an armoured woman with a sharp sword. Not to mention the horse, which seemed to glower at her.

“Ah, it is good that you are unharmed”, the guard replied. She smiled down at Seungwan, her joy at the news so disarmingly genuine that Seungwan couldn’t help but smile back. “I am Kang Seulgi, captain of the king’s guard, and I thank you sincerely. Were it not for your deed, we would not have arrived on time”

Kang Seulgi! The brave captain of the guards and the hero who foiled the first attempt to kidnap the princess! Seungwan nearly vibrated with the excitement of meeting her. “Oh, it was nothing, I just… yelled”, she excused herself shyly, waving off her involvement with an awkward scoff. It was enough to meet the valiant warrior, let alone being praised for doing practically nothing.

“Well, it was a very timely yell”, the captain said with another smile. Could she really be as young as she looked? Didn’t it take time for guards to rise through the ranks like that? Maybe she was just that good. She certainly looked like she knew what she was doing. And it was a fairy tale, after all, so Seungwan doubted any of the main characters would be boring and middle-aged like they might realistically be. They had to be young and beautiful and charming and captain Kang Seulgi certainly fitted that profile.

The captain turned her horse to the side and scooted back on the saddle. “Would you mind riding with me, your ladyship? I must take you to the king”, she asked gallantly, reaching down to offer Seungwan her hand.

Seungwan’s sense of security, which had grown during her star-struck daze, disappeared in a flash. She took a wary step back, which Seulgi barely seemed to notice. “The king? Why?” She tried to keep her voice even, hopefully not sounding like she had something to hide. She couldn’t shake the thought that, the sooner she got to the centre of the action, the easier it would be for her to mess things up. Or maybe she was just getting nervous about seeing the princess.

“Well, I believe he would like to thank you. After all, you have just saved his daughter”, the guard said simply. Seungwan whipped her head around in an instant, eyes fixed on the prettily-dressed woman she’d saved with her shriek, who was now studying her with a curious gaze. Was that her? Oh no. Oh, this was bad. “Princess Joohyun owes you her safety”

Oh, this was very bad.