Her royal brothers had been quick to tease Seungwan right before she set off. Like all other years, they had commented about how Seungwan had stopped growing taller and that infuriated the Mongolian princess. Seungwan knew herself that she seemed to have reached terminal growth and was countless of times frustrated by that fact because she had once pride herself to be one of the tallest amongst the Mongolian children. Now, she was even shorter than Joohyun.

Nevertheless, Prince Jongin and Sehun still showered her with brotherly affection by accompanying her the entire time before she set out with Joohyun. Prince Jongin had even carried his sister up Scarlet even though Seungwan was fully capable of mounting her steed on her own. 

“We will tell the Great Khan that his most precious child has been doing good deeds,” Prince Sehun teased as Seungwan rode off with scowl on her face.

It took the relief troop one day and a half to reach the affected area. Under Prince Baekhyun and Princess Joohyun commands, the troops had set up the tents swiftly. Seungwan had gotten off Scarlet and did the ground work with their men. Time passed quickly and she enjoyed every single moment of it. She enjoyed it when a family came up to her and thanked her. She enjoyed it when she saw tears of joy when a young mother whose house was entirely made uninhabitable by the floods had climbed into the shelter with her children. She enjoyed it when Joohyun came over to her and wiped the sweat off her brows with a handkerchief.

When night came, the troop began distributing food, which was really just buns and sweet potatoes. The troop and the royalties ate the same thing as the civilians. Joohyun had almost wanted to skip hers and save it for the civilians but Seungwan had forced her to take her dinner.

Both Seungwan and Joohyun were utterly spent from the day’s work. Joohyun had fallen soundly asleep whilst Seungwan made sure her body remained alert even as they slept.

The next day, they were joined by the military men. Things were slightly harder to organise initially but once they learned the ropes of commanding the men, it progressed much more quickly during the next few days. More tents were set up, more and better food had arrived for the people.  Before long, they had moved on to the next phase of the proposal which was to start rebuilding the damaged homes.

Everything has been peaceful but that fateful day eventually came. The rebel groups had finally came for another assassination attempt on the princes and princess. The two princesses were sleeping when chaos broke outside of their tents, Seungwan’s eyes shot open and she woke Joohyun up as well. Arming herself, Seungwan was ready to burst out of her tent when she felt restrained by her waist.

It was Joohyun who had refused to let her join the fighting. “No, Seungwan, don’t get yourself involve in the fight. Please, I do not want you to get hurt in any way.”

Seungwan wanted to listen to Joohyun but the neighing of the horses and clanging of the metals awaited her. She needed to make herself useful.

Unclasping Joohyun’s arms around her waist, she said, “Joohyun, trust me, I will be fine. Stay in the tent, I will be fighting near the tent. Don’t come out until all of this is over.” 

“No, Seungwan!” Joohyun tried grasping for Seungwan’s arm but it was too late, Seungwan had already emerged from her tent.

Blood splattered on her face when a rebel had plunged his sabre deep into a guard’s chest. The sight of it enraged Seungwan and she had her hand on the hilt of her sword immediately. The rebel was merciless as he came for Seungwan without hesitation and was surprised when Seungwan had sidestepped and slashed him as she unsheathed her sword. The fierce Mongolian princess had not given the rebel a chance to recover himself as she waved her sword and sliced the man’s throat in a clean motion. Blood sprayed from the rebel’s neck like a fountain and his body thumped to the ground. Seungwan could hear the rush of her blood in her ears. This was the first time she had taken a man’s life but it felt as though she had been prepared for it all these times.

Her heart was drumming wildly as she scanned the environment. There were nearly a hundred rebels fighting against almost an equal number of guards. They had planned this well. It would take some time for the military men who had set up their camp farther away to come to their aid, Seungwan must join in this fight. Sheathing her sword, Seungwan picked up an idle bow and a barrel of arrows. Then she began loosing the arrows, rapidly. One, two, three, four, five. They all found her targets easily. Seungwan realised that humans were much easier to aim for than animals.

Their royal guards had put up an impressive fight as well, along with Prince Baekhyun, Prince Jongdae, and Prince Kyungsoo who was amidst them. Seungwan grinned fiercely, the princes had not disappointed her. As she was just loosing what seemed to be her tenth arrow, Seungwan heard a sharp cry from inside Joohyun’s tent and her blood froze.

Some of the rebels must have cut into the Princess’s tent. Seungwan ran back into the tent and was greeted by the sight of Joohyun throwing a wooden basin at a rebel. The Mongolian princess wanted to laugh but she knew that she could save her laughter for later.

Shoving Joohyun behind her, Seungwan unsheathed her already-bloodied sword just in time to fend off the rebel’s first blow. It was a hard blow from a really big man and Seungwan almost let go of the pommel in surprise. This was a real swordfight unlike the one before. Seungwan pushed Joohyun aside and held the pommel with both hands as she tried to withstand the rebel’s assault. It was maddening how she was about to lose due to lack of sheer muscle power.

No, Seungwan knew she could never beat this man by relying on her brawns. She had to use her wits and her strengths. Seungwan had let up a little and rolled to a side before getting up swiftly and stabbing at the rebel then putting some distance between herself and the rebel. Seungwan’s first stab caught him in his thighs and the rebel howled in pain but it did not deter him for long as he began to lunge as well. Seungwan dodged again and jabbed. This time round, she managed to sink the sword slightly deeper into his abdomen before the rebel backstepped away.

Hindered by his two injuries, the rebel’s movements was becoming sluggish and he had lost a great deal of strength. That was when Seungwan became bolder and closed the gap between them and aimed for his abdomen again. It was a wrong move as Seungwan had over committed and barely dodged a slash that was meant for her chest. It sliced across her arm instead. A cry escaped from her lips as she became aware of the stinging pain.

“Seungwan!” Joohyun screamed as well and nearly lunged forward.

“No!” Seungwan warned Joohyun to back away, well away from their fight.  

Just a slash… S