The princes were summoned for meetings and had left the princesses to themselves. Joohyun wasted no time and spoke to the wildling princess about the hunting trip.

“Don’t go for the hunting trip.”

Joohyun saw the wildling princess screw to a side before Seungwan turned and took a good long look at her.

“I will be fine. I want to go, I miss hunting,” the wildling princess replied.

Joohyun understood why the wildling princess had missed hunting, it might even have been the main reason why she had not returned for nine months after all. Suddenly, Joohyun began to have thoughts that she had been using her sickness to lure the princess back and depriving the wildling princess of her interests during the last two weeks. Joohyun soon felt like crying. Trying to resist the urge to do so, she had turned away and wanted to pace around the room but Seungwan’s calloused hand had closed around her wrist.

“Okay, fine, I won’t go then. I will just go for the next one,” the wildling princess said with a sigh of defeat.

Joohyun was unable to resist her tears then. She really was hindering Seungwan in pursuing her interests.

“W-Why are you crying? I said I won’t be going already,” the wildling princess quickly said and stood up in tandem.

Joohyun saw the wildling princess close the distance between them and put her arms on both her shoulders as she positioned herself to look at Joohyun’s face.

“I’m not going, to make sure you take your medicine,” the wildling princess said with as kind of a smile as she could offer.

in a deep breath, Joohyun shook her head. “No, go for the hunting trip.”

Cocking her head forward in confusion, the wildling princess asked, “what?”

“I want you to go for the hunting trip. You have been cooped up in this palace for the past two weeks and that is already enough as it is. The first and only thing you have been doing when you’ve returned to this palace was to accompany the sickly me. I want you to go for the hunting trip.”

“But I did it willingly and besides… it is my political duty to do so…”

Political duty or not, Joohyun knew that the wildling princess had truly cared for her with her heart. The wildling princess had even changed her mind so quickly for her sake. Joohyun knew how hard-headed this wildling princess could be and if Joohyun wanted to affect her decision, then she would have to come up with something equally powerful.

“I will be going for the hunting trip too,” Joohyun announced and saw the wildling princess freeze.

“W-What?”

“What? Didn’t you hear? Several princes and princesses will be going as well. I will request to go,” Joohyun said decisively and felt the grip on her shoulders tighten.

The wildling princess had clenched her jaws and her nose flared. Joohyun realised the wildling princess was frustrated and it showed in her voice. “Don’t do things you don’t want to do, Princess Joohyun.”

“I want to do it. I want to go on a hunting trip. I want you to go on that hunting trip,” Joohyun said determinedly and saw the wildling princess’s face soften a little.

“You’re doing it for me, aren’t you?” the wildling princess asked.

Joohyun did not want to deny that. “Yes. I want to do something in return for you… I know what you have sacrificed in coming back even though I don’t know the extent of it.”

Huffing out a breath, the wildling princess shook her head. “You don’t have to do anything for me, everything is by my choice.”

“Don’t think of me as doing it solely for you then. You said before that I need to go outdoors more often, this is my chance to do so.” Joohyun said with resoluteness in her eyes and she made sure the wildling princess was convinced.

Princess Seungwan nodded. “As long as your body is up to it. Anyway, I doubt you will be able to join the hunt, your Father Emperor would never allow it. You will most likely be staying in the tents. It is going to be boring.”

“Even more boring than being confined in my own quarters?” Joohyun asked scornfully.

The wildling princess chuckled. “Of course not. Right then, make sure you are healthy enough, I don’t want to have to feed you medicine in the tents everyday.”

“That is your duty,” Joohyun reminded her.

With a raised brow, the wildling princess brought a hand up to Joohyun’s face. Princess Seungwan paused and Joohyun saw the column of bobbed in nervousness before Joohyun took her hand and brought it to her own face. There, the wildling princess pinched her cool cheek lightly.

“My duty? It is your body, take care of it. Love yourself, only than can you have the energy to love others and your countrymen,” the wildling princess said.

Even if those were simple words from the Mongolian princess, Joohyun still felt touched.

Joohyun was then reminded about the earlier conversation they had with her royal brothers, about attending meetings and the governance of the country. Multiple times, she had caught the wildling princess staring at her. She knew what was on the wildling princess’s mind. How could she not when their last and biggest argument was on that topic. A princess is not just a princess, she had the ability to change things in her country as long as she had willed to do it. This was a thought that Joohyun had came to embrace over the past nine months after mulling over the argument the wildling princess and her had.

Joohyun nodded to the wildling princess’s words. “I will… take care of myself… but can you promise me something?”

The wildling princess tilted her head as she awaited for Joohyun to continue.

“Promise me that you won’t leave me even after I have recovered.”

Princess Seungwan burst out into a laughter as she fastened her hold on Joohyun’s shoulder. “Let me think about that. I might have to consult my sister, my royal brothers and the Great Khan about this,” the wildling princess managed to make a joke out of a serious conversation and that made Joohyun smile.

“Think through it,” Joohyun said encouragingly.

That was the end of the discussion for the day as the wildling princess had urged Joohyun to return to her quarters to heal her body sufficiently to be able to join the hunting trip.  

**

Seungwan did not know that an outdoor trip could be such a huge motivation for Princess Joohyun to recover so quickly. Within that one month, the imperial physician had passed her to be fit enough for the trip albeit with constant medical attention for the princess.

Princess Joohyun showed herself to be more elated than Seungwan had expected. In that past month, Princess Joohyun had not only visited Scarlet frequently at the stables with her but had also requested to attend some of the meetings that the princes were attending. Seungwan had almost forgotten that Princess Joohyun had also passed the age of fourteen and was deemed mature enough to listen in to worldly affairs.

A fact stood out and it was that Princess Joohyun was often subtly reminded by others in the court as well as the other jealous royal siblings that she was truly just a princess and princesses rarely involved themselves in politics. Seungwan found that unpalatable and in turn, constantly reminded Princess Joohyun that female politicians were rare but not unheard of and it always made Princess Joohyun smile.

Seungwan had even told the courtly princess about one of the greatest scholar in their country, Scholar Miyoung and Princess Joohyun always listened with great attention. It was a night before the hunting trip when the topic was being brought up again and they were in Princess Joohyun’s quarters.

“This Scholar Miyoung, you seem very familiar about her,” Princess Joohyun had commented.

“Of course, we grew up together… well, actually more like my elder sister Taeyeon and Miyoung grew up together,” Seungwan said with pride.

“Like us?” Princess Joohyun clarified.

Seungwan pressed her lips together as she wondered then nodded after some time. “Somewhat like us I guess. Except that Miyoung and Taeyeon really knew each other since they were babies and their thoughts were always in tandem. Like the meeting of minds and souls.”