“Seungwan! I told you not to get into trouble!” Taeyeon screamed as if forgetting that Princess Joohyun was there.

Seungwan winced and jerked her head in Princess Joohyun’s direction, an embarrassed look on her face. Her elder sister had simmered a little as she asked Princess Joohyun to excuse Seungwan and herself. Surprised to see the elder Mongolian princess’s wrath for the first time, Princess Joohyun had given a leaden nod and watched as Taeyeon nearly dragged Seungwan to her own tent.

Once there were in her elder sister’s tent, the scolding was unleashed in its full intensity. “Where did you go?!”

“To the princes’ tent,” Seungwan tried to keep up the lie but knew the chances of it passing Taeyeon was slim. She was right.

“Don’t lie Seungwan! I went to the princes’ tent when the guards told me that too. You were not there and I had to pretend as if nothing was going on because I know about your troublemaking tendencies all too well. It would have caused such a commotion if they knew that the Emperor’s favourite princess was missing with the Mongolian princess. Do you know how much trouble you would have gotten in?” Taeyeon scolded mercilessly.  

“Fine. I am sorry, sister. I went out to gaze at the stars with Princess Joohyun.”  

“Gaze at the stars?” Taeyeon looked befuddled for a moment before she regained her thoughts and asked belatedly. “Where?”

Seungwan pouted and kicked at the ground, angry that she was treated like a little child. “Somewhere beyond our camping grounds.”

“You got past the guards?” Taeyeon asked incredulously.

“Yea… I did.” Seungwan said and immediately regretted her honest words.

Taeyeon really flew into a rage right then. “Why Seungwan?! You could have asked the guards to bring you out! Do you know how dangerous this foreign place can be at night? Have you forgotten that you were mauled and almost killed by a wolf?”

Seungwan’s head dipped lower. She understood her sister’s concerns but those considerations were never in her mind because she merely wanted to bring Princess Joohyun out to look at the stars. Seungwan then remembered the expression on Princess Joohyun’s face and decided that perhaps this scolding from her sister was worth it.

“I know of the dangers… but I… just did not want any one else to disturb us and also… they might not have let Princess Joohyun stay out because of her health…”

Blowing out a breath to control her temper, Taeyeon spoke again, this time with an unnatural calm. “You knew Princess Joohyun might not be able to withstand the night chill and you still brought her out.”

“I merely wanted to let her see the stars… like a child should be able to enjoy,” Seungwan replied with a mellower voice.

Her elder sister’s body had gone so still that she looked almost carved from marble. Shutting her eyes, Taeyeon finally relented. “Don’t do this anymore. I really don’t want you to get into any mishaps. Seungwan, do you understand?”

Gritting her teeth, Seungwan nodded.

When Seungwan had returned to her tent, she was so exhausted and was in no mood to retell anything to Princess Joohyun. So, Seungwan just buried her face in the pillow, shutting out everything else. Nevertheless, she still felt Princess Joohyun her hair and she whispered.

“Goodnight and thank you for bringing me to see the stars.”

Seungwan pouted and replied a goodnight in a muffled voice before closing her eyes.

**

The competition resumed on the second day of the hunting trip.

“I swear I saw it going that way!” Prince Jongdae shouted.

They were on a trail of a large leopard and were in close pursuit of it, their progress hindered by the large party of hunting guards with them. Things were further slowed because the guards were exceptionally cautious when it came to their trio for they knew their heads will roll should any mishap befall upon any one of them.

“No, brother, it went that way!” Prince Kyungsoo said calmly.

Not wanting to add to the brothers’ argument, Seungwan jumped off her horse suddenly and looked closely at the tracks. It was hard to find but with some perseverance and a whole lot of concentration, Seungwan spotted half of a paw print with its front toes pointing in the direction Prince Kyungsoo had claimed it went.

“It went that way!” Seungwan supported Kyungsoo’s claim as she showed her evidence to the hunting party.

They all gave nods of approval and helped the little princess back up Scarlet.

“Let’s go,” she urged the party.

With great enthusiasm, the scouts of their hunting party headed forth. Seungwan sighed, she was the one who spotted the tracks, she should be the one at the front. The Mongolian princess had to remember her sister’s constant reminder about not getting into trouble and shrugged the matter off.

After another hour, the party finally encountered the fierce beast. As per the Emperor’s rules, the animal must be shot and killed by the princes or princesses for it to count. Seungwan did not need to be reminded of the rules, her body had reacted upon instinct as she drew her bow and loosed it without blinking. The animal leapt out of the arrow’s way but that did not bother the princess, she was already drawing another. This time, as the princess let go of the bowstring, she thought she saw a cub amongst the bushes, behind their targeted leopard and realisation dawned upon her. As the arrow sailed through the air, Seungwan thought she could see everything with unnatural clarity. It was too late for regrets, her arrow had found its mark and was lodged in the leopard’s chest as she leapt once more. It was joined by two other arrows from the princes which caught it by its front limb and abdomen respectively. Together, the injuries were fatal but the leopard was still struggling for its life.

Seungwan clenched her jaw as she repressed her feelings and drew one last arrow of mercy; the last shot to the leopard mother’s head.

A final cry from the beast reverberated through the forest simultaneous with the cheers of her hunting party. However, Seungwan felt no joy as her arms fell to its side. Her memories ravaged by those dark recollections of the past. Steering her steed away, Seungwan could not bear to look at the beast for even a second longer. Prince Kyungsoo seemed to have caught her expression of guilt and rode up towards her.

“Are you alright, Princess?” Prince Kyungsoo asked gently.

“Oh! There is a cub!” Prince Jongdae suddenly shouted as he went to examine the kill.

It was unmistakable what the mother leopard had been trying to do as she leapt, thinking that the arrow was meant for her cub, a final act of motherly protection. Seungwan felt tears stinging her own eyes then as the imprinted memories played itself in her mind, of her mother standing protectively before the six-year old her and receiving the final deadly slash to her chest. 

“Wow! We caught two beasts then!”

Seungwan felt tears stinging her eyes and hopped down from Scarlet so hastily she had almost twisted her ankle. The helpless cub was yelping in Prince Jongdae’s hold and Seungwan snatched the leopard cub away from the Prince swiftly.

“Let it go,” Seungwan snapped and caught Prince Jongdae by surprise with he