Jungeun was doing her usual evening workout on her balcony when she saw a shadow walking pass the ward.

Jungeun lived alone in her castle on the outskirts of the town, with only 15 servants left in the castle. She didn’t know why she kept them there, she didn’t need so many people working for her anyway. There were way more servants back when her parents were still alive, but eventually, they left or died due to old age. It was not common to have visitors on days other than her birthday, even thieves didn’t bother going to her castle for its far-off location.

I shall tell the servants to rebuild the moat very soon.

Jungeun left her room on the third floor on the East Wing, slowly and quietly making her way to the first floor where the front door is situated. She waited at the front door hoping to catch a glimpse of the owner of the shadow.

But of course, no trespasser would enter a house from the front door. However, the only way to go from the East Wing to the West Wing of the castle is through the hall on the first floor, meaning that the thief will most probably pass through the front door.

The Duchess immediately hid under the grand piano in the middle of the hall when she heard soft footsteps coming from the West Wing. The first thing she saw was the lean and long legs of the trespasser, who slowly got closer towards her position then walked past the piano and stopped in front of a painting hung on the wall. Jungeun never knew why did her parents loved paintings so much or they just bought them as decorations without caring what they really are or how much they cost.

Jungeun peeked her head underneath the piano, only to see the strands of blonde hair of the intruder reflecting the moonlight shone on her through the windows, and her delicate fingers touching the oil paint on the canvas. She never had the interest or time to admire whatever were hung on the walls, she never understood art anyway, no matter how many classes she took in the past, nothing really clicked.

Then the lady turned her head, Jungeun once again hid under the piano, hoping that she wouldn’t be found. But before she diverted her attention away from the lady, she thought she had just seen the most beautiful person in the world. With her blonde hair (that was a bit too eye-catching for a thief) resting on the shoulder, combining with the light shone upon her well-defined features, her black outfit wrapping her body and highlighting her curves.

Jungeun wanted to talk to her, but at the same time, she was afraid that that would scare her away. Should I talk to her? Or should I just let her go… and hope that she’d return someday?

Before Jungeun could make up her mind, the trespasser had already left with the painting. Jungeun had no idea from where did she break in, and where did she leave, all that she knew was the thief took away something that was more than the painting.

-

After that night, Jungeun never stopped thinking about the lady under the moonlight. Who is she? And of all the places, why my castle? 

Often she would find herself standing by the piano, staring at the wall with an area that was obviously lighter than the other parts of the wall for having a painting covering it for years and remembering the young lady standing in front of it on that night.

Is this what they called love at first sight? Jungeun scoffed at the idea, a duchess falling for a thief? What kind of joke is that? As much as she tried to deny it, she couldn’t quite get the blonde lady out of her head.

“Your Royal Highness, would you like to report a theft regarding the painting?” A servant finally dared to ask Jungeun about the stolen painting after observing her weird behavior for a whole week. 

“No, it’s fine. I wasn’t anything important to me anyway.” Jungeun turned around to face her servant with a soft smile, “say, have you ever been in love?” The young man opposite to the duchess blinked for a few times, trying to register what his master had just asked him, “no, ma’am, I have been serving you and the late Duke and Duchess starting from a young age.”

“Right.” Jungeun looked at the boy similar to her age, then back at the faded area on the wall. “You can go back to work, or just rest if there’s nothing to do.” The servant bowed his head at the Duchess and left the hall, heading back towards the servants’ bedroom behind the main building of the castle.

I hope she comes again soon.

-

Jungeun found the thief coming to her palace on the same day of each week, at the same time, each time taking a different piece of artwork away. Fortunately Jungeun didn’t care much about the artworks, unfortunately, Jungeun had yet to gather the courage to confront the thief.

Jungeun only dared to stand from afar, admiring the trespasser whose features were like that of a well-made sculpture, none of the art pieces in her castle could compare to her. 

She liked the way her eyes shone when she found her next target, the way her finger would trace each and every of the paint carefully, the way she would let out a soft, almost inaudible squeal when she successfully took the painting off the wall. Jungeun was even enjoying watching the intruder taking away her properties from her castle.

And she’d blame herself for not grasping the chance to talk to her every time she managed to disappear right in front of her eyes.

 Next time, I shall talk to her the next time she visits.

-

Jungeun had just finished her workout when she saw the familiar shadow passing through her yard. She must have lost her mind for being so excited that a thief was visiting her castle. She hurried down the stairs. There she is. She saw the strands of blonde hair passes right in front of her eyes as she walked down the stairs. 

She spent no time in following the blonde’s footsteps, though she had to make sure she didn’t make any noise that would attract the latter’s attention from what she was doing.

She found the intruder standing in front of another painting in a far off corner of the castle that no residents of this building would visit regularly except for the maid in charge of cleaning. There were no windows at this area, the only light source was the light bulbs hung on the walls - for the aesthetic, according to Jungeun’s father, but more like he didn’t bother making this place look a bit more decent instead of looking like an abandoned corner of the castle.

The weak, flickering light reflected on the trespasser’s face. Jungeun didn’t know if the art was the painting hanging on the wall, or the person standing in front of her, totally unaware of the other girl staring at her back.

Jungeun didn’t know how long had she been staring until the thief finally moved, seemingly ready to take the painting away — that was when Jungeun realized she had not thought of a way out, or anywhere to hide. There were no curtains but only an empty hallway with nowhere to hide. Running away would definitely be seen by the girl but stay at the same spot would not help either.

“Who are you?” , Jungeun cursed under her breath when she heard a feminine voice, should have just run away. The duchess cleared before speaking up, she was the rightful owner of the painting and the owner of this castle anyway, she had nothing to be scared about. “That’s not the right way to speak to a duchess now, is it?” Jungeun raised her head to look at the girl who now had the painting in her hand. “Your Royal Highness,” seemingly aware that she had a painting that belonged to the young duchess in front of her, she tried to hide it behind her body. “I’m so sorry, I only stumbled across this place and I had no idea where I should go and I just ended up being here I’m so sorry” Seeing how the blonde was simply rambling at this point and that made Jungeun chuckled. “What’s your name?” “It’s Jinsol Jung, Your Royal Highness.”

“Well Miss Jung, have you eaten?” Jinsol crooked an eyebrow hearing the words of the brunette opposite to her, “pardon me?” Jinsol questioned. “I said, have you eaten?” Jungeun asked her question once again. She had no idea why did she ask that she just said whatever came to her mind first.

“No, your Royal Highness.” Jungeun beamed in her position slightly, “well then I shall prepare a meal for you, Miss Jung.” Before Jinsol could disappear like she did the last time she visited, Jungeun wrapped her arm around the intruder’s and lead her to the dining hall, the painting long forgotten behind Jinsol.

Jungeun made her servants prepare a simple meal for her new guest, no one knew who was this guest nor how did she get in, but if their master let her in, then they shall follow her commands.

Jungeun and her guest sat on the two opposites of her dining table now filled with various dishes. The Duchess couldn’t get her eyes off the lady on the other side of the table, eating so happily as if she hadn’t eaten in ages. Even with gravy stuck on the corner of her lips, she still looked cute.

“So, what made you come to my castle?” Jungeun rested her chin on her palm, eyes staring straight at the blonde across her. “It’s my first time coming, your Royal Highness, I kinda got lost in the woods.” Jinsol quickly came up with a lie, not realizing that there weren’t any forests around the castle to be exact.

“Jungeun, you can just call me Jungeun.” Jungeun put on her poker face she used every time she talked to the other snobbish royals. “Also, I don’t think this is your first time visiting either.”

Jinsol’s eyes shook when she heard Jungeun’s words, immediately rushing to the Duchess’ side and knelt down, “I’m so sorry, your Ro- Jungeun. I thought this was an abandoned castle so I thought perhaps I could take a few paintings away and earn a few pennies for food or clothes, I didn’t know they belonged to you.” 

The young master could only laugh hearing her confession, “it’s fine, Miss Jung, they don’t mean anything to me,” Jungeun paused, her eyes locked with the watery ones of the intruder. “Oh God, please don’t cry.” Jungeun got on her knees and dabbed away the tears threatening to fall from Jinsol’s eyes with a piece of napkin. “It’s really really fine for me, you can take anything you want from the castle, alright?” 

“Really?” Jinsol asked, her eyes still teary from the fear that almost swallowed her whole when she heard Jungeun exposing the fact that she had visited the castle for more than once, meaning that she must have seen her. “But why would you let me do that?”

“This might sound weird to you, yet perhaps, you have stolen something more than the paintings in my castle.” Jinsol tried recalling what else had she taken away from the castle, there were only paintings in her memory, what was she talking about? “But, I’ve only taken away the paintings?”

“You may have also stolen my heart.”

-

AN: Came up with this prompt after seeing Loona's outfit in MCD, they look like actual Royals I'm absolutely blown away by their beauty.
Come talk to me on Twitter or CuriousCat!
Twt: @EG0ISTHYE
CC: https://curiouscat.me/etoilelkie