“Are we reaching yet?” Joohyun asked, impatience rising in her tone.

Joohyun had been blindfolded and was in the midst of being led out of the palace city via the wretched secret underpass that Seungwan and her brothers had commissioned to be constructed. Seungwan was adamant on not letting Joohyun know where this place was and had kept her in the dark from the moment they left her quarters. Their horse carriages made numerous false turns and Joohyun had gotten so giddy and frustrated that she stopped trying to figure out where this place was. Now, much to her annoyance, she had both hands on Seungwan’s shoulders as they got on foot, fumbling and stumbling along the way.

“Nope, not even close.” Seungwan replied mischievously, clearly aware of her displeasure.

Seungwan halt suddenly, again and Joohyun bumped into the wildling princess with a yelp.

“Stop it! I know you are tricking me again. Hurry, my patience is waning.” Joohyun exclaimed exasperatedly.  

Seungwan chuckled. “We are here.”  

“W-What?”

Joohyun was not surprised that Seungwan had put on her disguise as a male but she was truly appalled when she was greeted by no less than two hundred men.

“You said it would just be the two of us,” Joohyun whispered frustratedly to Seungwan.

“Well, just the two of us from the palace, I let Seulgi go with my brother so the rest of them are from my organisation. You told me to learn how to use my men, I am using them now.”

Joohyun felt like she was about to faint from arguing with Seungwan. She made her displeasure known by striding ahead of Seungwan but felt Seungwan’s hand around her wrist in a moment.

“Seungwan, how can we be ourselves when they are following us,” Joohyun hissed at Seungwan.

“Oh, who said they will be following us? They will just be located conveniently in various places, I know where they are and if a need arises,” Seungwan pulled out something which looked like a smoke signal, “I will set smoke signal off and they will come to us. I am just introducing you to them so they would not hurt Princess Joohyun by accident. This is just for prudence sake lest we really meet with any mishap and besides they are paid from my own pocket so fret not, Princess Joohyun, we are very much by ourselves.”

Still skeptical, Joohyun peered over Seungwan’s shoulders to look at the men. There were all armed and looked even more intimidating than the royal guards from the palace.

“Trust me, it is really for our protection. You want us to be safe right?” Seungwan said with a convincing smile and Joohyun sighed, nodding her head along.

Seungwan had Joohyun’s hand in hers nearly the whole time, when they are not, it would be placed protectively on Joohyun’s waist as they edged through the crowd. It was only late noon but the streets were already filling up with people. They frustration Joohyun had earlier had completely vanished and curiosity now filled her. Joohyun had never been entirely on foot outside the palace walls before. Booths spilling with merchandises, selling various snacks, and displaying assortments of lanterns lined the streets and Joohyun was so curious about each and every one of them. Coupled with Seungwan’s tenderness towards her the entire time, Joohyun could not felt happier.

“Do you want to look at them?” Seungwan asked.

Joohyun bobbed her head readily, like a child and Seungwan laughed as she led her to each of the booths, her money pouch at the ready. Seungwan removed the hairpin from Joohyun’s hair and replaced it with another one which was wooden and carved with butterflies from the booth. It reminded Joohyun so much of the first time Seungwan had gifted her the scarlet dandelion hairpin which Joohyun hid in a most precious box and only wore on very special occasions for fear of tarnishing the gift.

It was then that Joohyun realised that through the years, they had given numerous gifts to one another and each of these gifts were symbolic, holding great meaning to it, beginning from the very first silken handkerchief and the hat of feathers. The memories of it made Joohyun smile all the more wider.

“Beautiful. Even the simplest hairpin looks beautiful on Joohyun,” Seungwan complimented.

Joohyun blushed and held on tightly onto Seungwan’s arm.

“Mister, you have good tastes. My butterfly hairpin is honoured to be worn on your madam’s head.”

Joohyun blushed even harder at the booth owner’s words.

“You have a honeyed tongue,” Seungwan replied and dropped a string of copper coins into the man’s hand, more than what was necessary for the simple hairpin. “Keep the rest as payment for making my madam smile.”

“Thank you mister, you are too generous.”

“Am I your madam?” Joohyun asked in an embarrassed voice once they were out of earshot.

“Are you not? You don’t look dressed like a mister,” Seungwan countered and wound her arm around Joohyun’s waist.

Joohyun loved the sensation of Seungwan’s arm around her but she was feeling too shy about their display of intimacy in public especially right after they had been mistaken as man and wife. Joohyun was in disbelief at how Seungwan could be so unaffected.

“You’re not comfortable?” Seungwan asked in concern.

Joohyun bit her bottom lip as she said, “it is not that… but… people are looking.”

Seungwan whipped her head about, feigning ignorance. “Who? People are too absorbed in their own business to care about us.”

Yet, there were in fact a few people with their attention trained on them because they had looked like the handsomest pair of couple. Joohyun tugged at Seungwan’s sleeves and nodded her head towards the direction of the watchers.

Seungwan’s fixed a crooked smile on her face and winked at the people. To Joohyun’s horror, blushes streaked across some of the ladies’ faces, taken by Seungwan’s charms. Joohyun furrowed her brows as she pinched Seungwan’s arms, angered at how the Mongolian princess dared behave so flirtatiously before her.

The crooked smile on Seungwan’s face grew even wider before she held Joohyun’s hands up for the others to see. The same bunch of ladies looked crestfallen and turned away and Joohyun was once again surprised at the sudden change.

“They were looking because you were too pretty and I am too handsome but now that they know that the pretty and the handsome are together. Now they would not look. Come on, madam, shall we move along?”

Joohyun’s cheeks heated at Seungwan’s way of addressing her but managed a nod. There was something about Seungwan that Joohyun had realised and that was that the Mongolian princess was rather street smart. Seungwan looked thoroughly at ease as she navigated through the bustling streets. Joohyun was certain it was because of all the time she had spent with the secret organisation and studying of the city’s maps. She knew this city as well as the back of her palms.

Along the way, they passed by a booth with lantern couplets and riddles. Whoever could guess the answers to the riddles would be rewarded. Joohyun had managed it so well and swept away so many prizes that the booth owner had to shoo them away. Giggling, they scuttled away, giving out the prizes they had won to the little children they passed.

Deciding to have an early meal, they both went to a modest looking teahouse which Joohyun was fairly certain was packed with Seungwan’s men. Joohyun sighed at the thought of that.

Seungwan must have done much research as she ordered much of the delicacies with ease. The table was filled with plates of steamed trout with green onions, braised pork with ginger slices, diced crabmeat wrapped in crystal skin, and more. Joohyun looked at the spread before them, they were almost as inviting as the dishes in the palace. However, unlike in the palace, there was an indescribable feeling of gladness swirling within her heart as she sat in this teahouse, eating with Seungwan. Joohyun felt almost like a normal citizen in her country and she relished in that feeling.

They dug in heartily and Joohyun even ate from Seungwan’s chopsticks a few times. They started speaking as they ate, not of courtly affairs but of the beauty of this town and the activities they would do later.

Joohyun’s assumptions that there were many of Seungwan’s men in the teahouse were affirmed when Seungwan paid for a lot more than what their own meal had costed. As they left, a few men at the tables bowed to Seungwan and she returned that gesture.

The sky had darkened when they left the teahouse.

“Come on, let’s go to the river,” Seungwan said hurriedly and connected their hands naturally as they made their way towards the said river.

In no time, they got themselves an oarsman and a boat. Joohyun glanced tentatively at the oarsman before she asked Seungwan.

“Not one of your men?”

Seungwan gave a slight smile and answered, “no. None of the men in the organisation should witness my loving antics towards my madam.”

Joohyun heart palpitated and it started beating even more wildly when Seungwan helped her into the boat, gently, supporting her by her waist.

Joohyun was sitting on the same side as Seungwan, opposite from the oarsman as they rowed. Joohyun finally understood why Seungwan had bought paper and ink earlier when the Mongolian princess tried writing the first line of a poetry, intending for Joohyun to write the next. It was impressive and Joohyun was more than a little surprised that the Mongolian princess had such a firm grasp of their language. It made Joohyun wonder just how much more Seungwan could have surprised her with her exceptional intelligence. Joohyun would not disappoint and easily constructed the next line to them poem, completing the couplet.

Seungwan stared at it, and then looked out towards the river, with its banks lit. Later,