FORMAT AS FOLLOW: Italics - Past | Straight (but really gay) - Present

 

“Why is dad so tall for?”  An adolescent Yeojin complained, swinging her arms in every direction while making way down the hallway from the main doors.

Haseul thankfully caught the vase Yeojin’s arm hit before it was knocked over, but it fell off her fingertips when she celebrated her catch too early. Vivi, walking down the corridor, caught the vase a second time, smirking at Haseul while she placed it back as she passed by on her way to help Heejin with supper.

Yeojin and Haseul had just bid their parents farewell and safe travels. They would be the first castle residents that weren’t knights to leave the establishment since the recession and the Great Attack. (All attacks were great in terms of their casualty counts so this could be the Great Attack XXVII for all they knew.) 

“I don’t know, Yeojin,” Haseul using more effort than necessary to not watch Vivi walk away.

“Well, why aren’t we tall?” 

“You’re still young. You have time to grow.”

“Are you done growing?”

The age difference between Yeojin and Haseul was ludicrous. A whopping twenty-two years between them but it wasn’t inconceivable. Sometimes Haseul was mistaken as her mother when they were out together which wasn’t often now that the wolves had scared everyone.

She did resemble Minzy quite a bit, especially cheek wise.

But their father Yongguk towered over them.

They didn’t get his height genetics at all.

Or maybe they did but it was recessive or something. Maybe they both needed to pay better attention to Vivi’s biology lessons. Moreso Yeojin since she was a student.

“I believe so.”

“Bummer for you.”

Haseul playfully slapped Yeojin’s shoulder who gave out a loud yell. Someone yelped in surprise from an alcove and they looked over to see who it was.

They apologized for startling Yerim who was trying to busy herself after finding out she wasn’t going to be a knight. Yeojin got her rejection letter earlier that morning but it’s not like she hadn’t stopped trying since she was ten.

They had their issues, worrying if this concert tour was a good idea for their parents. With everyone scrambling to have some sense of normalcy, the council suggesting sending their best musicians out to lift up the spirits of the citizens. Yongguk and Minzy were the first selections with their impeccable rhythm, lyrics and contrasting yet wonderfully harmonizing voices.

Haseul and Yeojin were asked to stay.

(Haseul had her own reasons. They believed Yeojin wasn’t of age yet.)

Given their size difference, it was laughable when Yeojin took Yerim into their arms. But Yeojin looking up to her sister, pouting - needing guidance consoling Yerim who rarely cried - made Haseul melt.

---

They hadn’t stopped being romantic since Jinsol’s vendetta began but it had never felt this complete in a while. Jungeun was on cloud nine, ten, and beyond as they lay in bed together.

“We should start preparing for the Has moving back in.”

Jinsol groaned. One way to ruin the romantic mood is talking about your best friend and her wife and child. Jungeun snuggled up to her side, laying kisses up her jaw to make up for the distraction.

“What’ll they be on paper?” Jinsol closed her eyes, trying not to give into her wife’s mischief.

“Well, Jiwoo we can reinstate as a handmaiden even if she won’t do anything,” Jungeun smiled at Jinsol’s chivalry. “Maybe Sooyoung as well.”

They let the silence fill in for what they wanted to offer the Has instead. Yerim didn’t have a lot of chores compared to most handmaidens. With Jiwoo around, maybe that’ll let the young girl pursue other interests. They felt guilty for not letting her take after her sister but Yerim and Hyunjin were different people. Yerim couldn’t even hurt a cockroach, how could they make her put her own life on the line at the battlefield?

With Sooyoung, it would’ve been respectful to offer her a knight position.

How receptive would the council be in re-dubbing a once-deceased knight though?

Hyejoo’s new position guaranteed a residency for her parents if the queens approved. (They did.) Sooyoung didn’t need to be a knight anymore.

With Jungeun tracing nondescript patterns around Jinsol’s chest and Jinsol holding her close and steady, the queens wondered if knighthood was still a dream for Sooyoung and if so, how they’d let her attain it.

(Jungeun was stalling her own confession - the panic attacks, the nightmares, the hyperventilating - but since Jinsol was here to stay for a while, she could tell her all about it tomorrow.

Definitely tomorrow.)

---

“Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!” Haseul screamed. 

Sooyoung was barely exerting any effort holding back the court musician but she gritted her teeth for effect.

“You’re lucky she’s holding me back!”

Vivi saw through the act, hiding her blushing face behind the grocery baskets, with Jiwoo at her side in her lips. They had gone for a quick trip to the market which resulted in a would-be tussle in the town square.

While getting vegetables, Vivi’s native tongue had her stumbling over some of the names and the merchant was not very open-minded with her botched pronunciation.

Neither was Haseul who felt the need to defend the new resident of the Jung castle.

Vivi had been nothing but kind to everyone in her midst since her arrival. She was selfless and loving and thoughtful and had such a cute laugh and was so so so...undeserving of prejudice. One highly charged slur and Haseul was flying over the wooden tables in Vivi’s honor.

“Yeah, you better run!” Haseul called out.

“I think they’re going to fetch the market’s watch guard,” Jiwoo explained, taking the time to fill her basket with the unattended produce.

They were living lavish now but a freebie was a freebie. She was a farmer girl at heart. Releasing the girl, Sooyoung joined her fiance, ready to flash her crest when the guard arrived. She had more authority, being a seneschal, one rank lower than the highest honor. 

“You didn’t need to do that,” Vivi said, touching Haseul’s arm gently.

The girl was heaving and Vivi thought the exhausted and exasperated look was quite becoming on the girl.

Woah, Vivi, hang on. She’s your coworker.

Even if she did look ravishing when she was angry.

“You don’t need to be my knight in shining armor,” Vivi explained, hoping it wouldn’t be translated wrong like she was misheard moments ago.

The pout on Haseul’s face wasn’t the response she was going for but it got a giggle out of the physician.

“Yeah, I’m right here,” Sooyoung butted in, grinning at Jiwoo’s cheery laugh as they stole half the merchant’s unattended produce.

---

“This is the border?”

“This is the border.”

Hyejoo and Hyunjin’s conversations were as stale as the air around them.

Hyunjin didn’t want to look like she used favoritism to get Hyejoo on her cohort so tried to appear as impassive as possible. But Hyejoo asked if she needed a laxative a few kilometers back; she needed to lighten up.

Hyejoo wasn’t sure what Hyunjin’s intentions were. As her excitement being a knight faded, she felt guilty that Hyunjin might have pitied her mothers and her. But Hyunjin asked Hyejoo if she didn’t mind taking guard while she slept which meant Hyunjin must’ve seen something noble in her.

No experienced knight would shut their eyes around one who has only been a trainee for one day.

One day.

That was all it took to change her fate and as she was riding closer and closer to the land of those who changed her destiny, she wondered if today would change it as well.

The air was musty and sharp, proof that they were getting farther and farther from civilization. Hyejoo was used to it. It was the same odor she exuded if she was negligent with her cleanliness. The sweat of a werewolf was quite distinguishable.

(Her first year as one meant trying to mask the scent with different fruits. She tried pineapples - reminiscent of a certain someone - for quite a while after raiding a produce carriage but her mothers said she wasn’t allowed to do that anymore.)

She wondered how Hyunjin was stomaching it. She must’ve been around wolves a lot to brush off the smell.

A solo howl echoed through the air and the two knights readied their swords.

Hyejoo was careful not to touch the silver edges.

---

“I’m going to be a knight just like my mom and dad!” Hyunjin puffed out her chest, only to groan in pain from pounding on it with a proud fist.

Sooyoung and a very pregnant Jiwoo laughed at the child’s announcement. She had been running around the castle declaring her new dream in life.

It was her only dream really.

Whereas Heejin flopped between different careers, even making some up as she went.

(‘I’m going to jump off buildings and fly.’

‘Yeah that’s nice dear. Please honey, come check what’s wrong with your daughter?’ A healthy Key would ask, brushing the horses.

‘Oh so she’s suddenly my daughter when she says something weird,’ A healthy IU would reply.)

But they entertained the child. She was young and maybe she’d pursue something else.

Sooyoung was quite tickled with the fact that even if she wasn’t hers biologically, maybe baby Yerim would be an exterminator like Sooyoung’s father with the way she always seemed to attract animals around her crib. (At least she didn’t eat them like her dad.)

Jiwoo jumped slightly, shushing her belly.

Sooyoung smiled and put her hand over her protruding stomach. It took a lot of work to get Jiwoo pregnant. Neither of them coming from a royal bloodline to get permission to carry children among same gender pairings  - but the witches heeded their call.

(Sooyoung brushed off the ominous warning that their future child will be one of a kind. Of course they would be, it’ll be their child, Sooyoung reasoned.)

“Stop kicking your mother. That’s not very nice. Don’t make me come in there.”

Jiwoo giggled and fell into her wife’s embrace, Sooyoung’s long arms easily reached around both of them. Sooyoung always had a soft side underneath all that armor. It took a while to get to it. But now that she’s witnessed it, Jiwoo hoped she would never change.

Knighthood could do quite a number on people.

At least her best friend and her wife never had to worry about that. They rarely had to put each other in the face of danger with their inherited careers.

The young couple looked over at the queens who were cooing at Chaewon who had just awoken from her nap. Jinsol making funny faces that got Jungeun laughing more than the child who raised what would’ve been an eyebrow - if she had more hair - at her silly mother.

“Stop that, I’ll drop her,” Jungeun managed to say through her giggles.

“Then stop laughing.”

“You know I can’t do that around you,” Jungeun laughed louder as Jinsol blew a raspberry on the side of Jungeun’s neck to get Chaewon to at least smile.

It worked.

And Jinsol and Jungeun fell more in love with their daughter.

Around them, Hyunjin was telling everyone her career plan, even going up to her parents who were rocking her newborn sister in her bassinet. She tilted Yerim her way, making her father freak out at Yerim almost falling out.

“Yerim, I’m going to be a knight to protect you and make the whole world safe!”

“Are you sure, Hyunjin? You have a choice, you know,” Jinsol baited, her warm breath tickling Jungeun’s neck.

Sooyoung and Jiwoo watched the exchange fondly. Whoever their little one was going to be, they wanted to make sure they had a choice as well.

“I’m so sure!”

---

“You seem jittery,” Yerim pointed out, fluffing Chaewon’s pillows for the night.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Yerim noticed how Chaewon hid a small smile with every small task she was doing. She even smiled while grinding ginger.

(It bewildered Heejin who had been on edge since Hyunjin’s departure.)

If she didn’t know any better - and if she wasn’t reminded of her proper place - Yerim would think that the princess was developing a crush. Yerim had seen that dreamy look before on Hyunjin’s face towards someone not-so-secret and even if that expression was buried underneath that knight exterior, someone not-so-secret still showed that look whenever her sister wasn’t looking.

The definition of unrequited love if one saw it.

Yerim hoped whoever Chaewon was thinking of would return the gaze equally.

“It wouldn’t happen to be caused by a certain someone?”

Chaewon sputtered her lips, spit spraying across her dresser. 

“I apologize for suggesting such a thing,” Yerim shook her head in amusement.

Chaewon reached over for a face towel so Yerim didn’t have to clean up the mirror. She was already doing too much by turning down her bed. But the princess knew she was busying herself with the absence of her sister.

(Much like Heejin who cooked three types of chicken for dinner tonight.)

“As you should,” Chaewon fake scolded, knowing her handmaiden wouldn’t take it to heart. “Besides, I’m a princess. I’m to be married.”

Yerim stopped mid-fluff, looking at Chaewon’s face through her dresser mirror. If she only heard the phrase, she would’ve been convinced but the smile disappearing said otherwise. Why didn’t the queens submit that petition abolishing arranged marriages they found years ago? Would it be out of place to suggest it? But that would mean admitting they had been snooping around Jinsol’s office.

If she could ask Hyunjin, she would. But the council had granted Hyunjin many favors already. This recent one being, taking a first year knight on an excursion to wolf territory.

Yerim saw through it. Hyunjin was being noble in saving Jinsol and Jungeun’s marriage. But she was also running away.

She trusted Hyunjin would use her talents to keep herself safe.

Their family was gifted in that regard.

And upon hearing Chaewon’s heartbeat grow shallow at the thought of an arranged marriage - another acquired talent in their family - Yerim hoped she would keep Hyejoo safe as well.

For Chaewon’s sake.

---

Yerim brought dishonor on herself.

If they had a cow, she would have brought dishonor on it as well.

A chapped but dainty hand lifted her tear soaked chin up and she looked into her sister’s forgiving eyes.

She had applied for knight candidacy and they were to hear the results tonight. Yeojin and her were the only two left in the castle without an “official” job and wanted to occupy their time.

Yeojin was adamant that being a knight would make Chaewon like her back - hoping the Jungs would hasten the abolishment of arranged marriages soon so she’d have a chance.

Yerim wanted to follow in her family’s footsteps. It was all she knew.

In a twisted way, she was sort of glad her parents weren’t alive to witness this disappointment. Her sister had passed all examinations, setting new records and breaking the barriers for young women in the cavalry. Sooyoung - may she rest in peace - had paved the way but Hyunjin made her own path as well.

But Yerim’s path had come to a stop.

Like a rotund sleeping furry monster was in her way and could only be awoken with a flute to unblock it.

She had failed the application process and hearing Yeojin say goodbye to her parents a corridor away, she wondered if Yeojin got accepted as well. She wasn’t sure how she would face the queens tomorrow morning.

“I’m sorry Hyun,” Yerim sobbed, trying to be strong like her sister.

Hyunjin merely shook her head. Jinsol and Jungeun had been a part of the selection process and they had turned down three applications from their own castle hold.

(One of them left a sour taste in Hyunjin’s mouth. It wasn’t her sister’s or Yeojin’s.)

The queens were working on giving out other positions to the rejected girls so as not to squander their hopes yet but were stuck not wanting to belittle their talents and expertise. Hyunjin’s talented ears could hear them sharing ideas in another corridor.

The knight brought her sister in for a hug, not minding the tears staining her dress shirt, hiding her relief that her sister didn’t pass.

---

“So our daughter’s a knight.”

“Uh-huh.”

Sooyoung and Jiwoo lay in the still of the night, not fearing the top bunk would fall on them soon. Per the Jungs’ request which involved Yeojin yelling at the top of her longs, reading a scroll longer than her height, they were to move into the Jung castle permanently.

Jinsol sure did move fast.

(Funnily enough, it was Jinsol that needed to return to the Jung castle more than Sooyoung.)

Jiwoo could feel Sooyoung tense under her and tried to look at her wife as best she could in the dark. Under the moonlight, she could see Sooyoung frowning.

“You’re not envious are you?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Sooyoungie, you know what I mean. That it’s Hyejoo that got us back into the Jung castle. Not you.”

If there was a medal for crass, it would go to Jiwoo. Her boldness contradicted her soft features but that was why Sooyoung admired her so much. Without her boldness, they probably wouldn’t even be married.

Sooyoung claimed proposal privileges but Jiwoo claimed wanting to marry her before Sooyoung even knew they were official.

“Is it bad that I am?” Sooyoung sighed.

She wanted to give her daughter the glory but she also didn’t want anyone in her family to put their life on the line. How Jiwoo must’ve felt all those nights when she’d ride off. She saw the chalk smudged on Jiwoo’s wall, counting down the days she’d return. A knight must sacrifice oneself for the kingdom. How Jiwoo remained optimistic was beyond her.

“I’m a terrible mother.” Sooyoung turned her body to look at Jiwoo as best the could.

“No, you’re far from it,” Jiwoo brushed some of Sooyoung’s hair back, thinking back to the days when she wondered if she would be able to touch her girlfriend.

Or if she’d come back in a coffin.

“Hyejoo will be fine.”

“I know she will.”

Hyejoo was not Sooyoung. As much as they didn’t want to admit it, Hyejoo being a knight was a safe risk than Sooyoung being one.

They hoped Hyunjin wouldn’t figure out why that was the case.

---

Yerim’s cries let up as Hyunjin fetched her something to eat from the kitchen.

(She tried hiding her smile as Hyunjin going to the kitchen alone might hopefully lead to her talking to Heejin. The two former best friends needed to talk.)

But once she was out of hearing range - which was much further than a human’s - Yerim’s cries started again.

Vivi passed by briefly to give her a yellow handkerchief, finally finding good use for the random goodies the council brought, and continued on her way.

She liked that about Vivi.

She never prodded. Never asked. But always knew what everyone needed.

Much unlike the girl who took her into her tiny arms. Or tried to. Yerim had gone through her growth spurt but Yeojin was a little behind.

“Hey don’t cry. You’re so cute...ahah,” Yeojin tried to salvage, rocking the rejected candidate back and forth like she was on a bumpy carriage with one wheel.

“Did...did you get in?” Yerim hiccuped, finding the motion sort of comforting. If she had the chance to travel, she would like to visit an amusement fair.

But that was out of the question as she would be stuck in the castle for years to come.

Hyunjin had talked about how there were more options than knighthood out there. She only picked it because it ran in their blood. Before Yerim could refute that they come from the same line, Hyunjin had bravely said she would brave enough for the both of them. She would make the world safe for her.

(Yerim didn’t miss that Hyunjin wanted to add another name.)

“Nope,” Yeojin declared. “But I won’t give up. Not now. Not ever.”

“For Chaewon right?”

Yeojin shook her head, her hair falling in front of her face.

“I have a feeling she doesn’t like me like that anyway.”

Good job Yeojin. Took you a few years but you got there.

“I’m going to be a knight for myself!” Yeojin stood up proudly, almost knocking Yerim off the bench, pounding her chest like it wore a knight crest.

Haseul had stepped back when the two girls were deep in conversation, watching Yeojin’s attempts to cheer up her friend behind one of the archways. Yeojin could be abrasive but she had a good heart. That’s why it surprised Haseul that she got over everything quickly. Unlike others in the castle, she never held onto a grudge or past digressions. She made a paper airplane out of her rejection letter and high-fived her parents on the way out like they were guaranteed to return.

Haseul knew both the girls since birth and witnessed them grow up into beautiful ladies. She would’ve loved to take them with her when she went on her own music tour. She should channel her own inner Yeojin one day.

(Being cursed had its drawbacks…)

Yerim couldn’t help but giggle. If there was anyone that possessed the pride needed to be a knight, it was Yeojin.

---

Yeojin sighed.

Yeojin sighed again but louder.

Before she could take in any more air, Haseul spoke up.

“What’s bothering you, Yeojin?”

Much better.

Unlike Hyunjin and Yerim who had some type of a psychic sister intuition, it took a while for Haseul and Yeojin to even know the other was feeling down. Haseul blamed Yeojin never taking anything seriously. Yeojin blamed their generational difference.

“What does Hyejoo have that I don’t have?”

Haseul dropped the towels she was folding and pulled up a chair towards her sister moping on their shared bed. Yeojin couldn’t look at her in the eyes. A sympathetic sister was one way to get the waterworks going. She avoided feelings like the plague.

What brought about this side of Yeojin, Haseul wasn’t sure.

Was it the premature knighting?

Was it that she secured a place in the castle for her parents?

Was it that Chaewon wanted to spend every waking moment by her side?

“You’re still not over Chaewon,” Haseul kicked herself in the head for her wording. Vivi gave a whole lesson about how each word in a sentence had meaning and she wasn’t practicing what she preached.

“I don’t know,” Yeojin shrugged.

She was bitter that Hyejoo was riding off on a horse that could’ve been hers with a crest that could’ve been on her attracting a princess she had a crush on. Had? She still liked her right?

“I mean, we’ve been here for so long. Who else am I supposed to date? It’s either her which won’t happen because tradition. Or Yerim and that’s just weird..”

Haseul smiled. Sometimes she didn’t need to try when Yeojin easily brought the mood up herself.

(She tried not to think of the princess’ inevitable marriage. It would stir up drama in the castle for sure but that day was in the distant future. Right now, they had to prepare the spare bedrooms for the Has.)

“Why is that weird?”

“I don’t know. It just is. She’s like a sister to me.”

Haseul clutched at her chest. “And I’m not?”

“You’re more like my mother.”

Before Haseul could gasp, Yeojin let our a hearty but empty laugh.

The younger sister shouldn’t be jealous of Hyejoo. Everyone had their own paths in life. It took over twenty years for Aunt Jinsol to do something about her complacency but look how that turned out. (Maybe a good thing as Jungeun and her still haven’t left their sleeping chambers.)

Vivi was born into a healer family. Heejin struggled but found her place besides a few bumps in the road. (Heejin applying to be a knight that one year was still strange to everyone in the castle.)

Hyunjin wanted to be a knight since birth.

Yerim was figuring it out. 

Yeojin figured like the other pair of sisters, Haseul would take after their parents and she’d be like Yerim figuring it out.

But Haseul had yet to leave the castle - their parents were missing in action - and Yeojin was grasping at a dream that was as good as dead.

---

“Step up right and see the amazing Yeo-Genie!”

“Jo Yeojin, you step down this instant.”

“No, I like feeling tall!”

Haseul dragged Yeojin off of her apple box before a crowd started forming around her. She turns her back for five seconds and her sister was gone and so was the giant suitcase she insisted on taking with her to the market.

It wouldn’t be so stressful if it was Vivi she took to the market but Vivi was tending to Jinsol’s welts from her last quest - something Jungeun didn’t and shouldn’t know. They had snuck her into their room late at night and they waited for the swelling to go down before properly welcoming her home.

That meant that Jinsol slept in Haseul and Yeojin’s room while they squeezed into Vivi and Heejin’s room.

Heejin didn’t mind the extra bodies.

Haseul was still flushed from waking up pressed against Vivi’s chest.

Maybe she could buy something down here to help with heart palpitations as she was still too shy to ask Vivi to fix that problem for her.

(If she was more observant, she’d know it started the moment the Kim kingdom staff moved in.)

Yeojin gnawed at the hand covering to keep her silent as Haseul took her to an empty alleyway, wiping her hand on her shirt.

“I told you not to do that!”

They should’ve never told Yeojin about jesters, magicians, and gladiators. You see, before werewolves were banished, the non-human species made excellent entertainment. Healers would perform magic tricks. Sirens would provide lovely music by the waterfront. Werewolves got the short end of it. 

Royals would take advantage of the full moon and send their weakest cattle to a colosseum where wolves would duke it out while royals and dignitaries took bets on which wolf would survive.

No wonder they hated humans now.

“Well, I’m not going to be bored around the castle and wait around for another bid. I got to make money somehow.”

A few days ago, Yeojin lost another chance at knight training - again - so naturally, one would change their career. Haseul did it and was now a teacher on top of all her household chores. But Haseul didn’t think Yeojin would try to become a show-woman. Did she even know how to perform magic?

(Vivi would show Yeojin a few slight at hand tricks to get her to leave her luggage alone - that Yeojin was convinced was filled with potions and magic wands - but Haseul didn’t need to know that.)

Haseul knew Yeojin was only looking out for herself. She would be eighteen in a few years. Usually one should’ve figured out their lifelong career by then. Sometimes taking out exorbitant amounts of money to achieve that dream, only having to work long hours to pay back those high interest loans. But Haseul couldn’t feel the sting of Yeojin’s frustrations of being stuck in the castle was partially her own fault.

Yeojin caught the downcast look on Haseul’s face and needed to salvage it. Haseul still needed time. Her curse and the one who gave it to her made her lose her confidence. Yeojin wasn’t in the bar that night - Hyunjin would never tell her what happened - but she could hear Haseul crying in her sleep, arguing back with someone. 

“You want to see a magic trick I learned, Haseul?”

Yeojin couldn’t fight as well as Hyunjin did to ensure Yerim’s security and wealth but she knew how to charm her way around. If there was one thing she inherited from her family, besides their weird love for water, it was the love for show biz.

One day, she’d be able to ensure Haseul’s security and wealth.

With or without a knight’s crest.

---

“And that one?”

“Sirius B,” she whispered into her lover’s ear, making her giggle. It wasn’t even a seductive word, she just liked getting a rise out of her.

With the Moon kingdom having the prime location for stargazing, Jinsol had learned - from a woman the council sent up to her room - the different constellations in the night sky.

The first time someone was sent to her room, Jinsol was shocked. She didn’t want to offend the council for fear they'd have her head but she also didn’t want to commit adultery. Instead, she took care of the escorts in other ways. Making them something to eat, teaching them piano, or asking them tidbits of trivia she could bring home with her.

She never kept that a secret from Jungeun. It wasn’t a new tradition. Royals were promiscuous since the beginning of their rise to power.

But not them.

Jinsol could never imagine holding someone else the same way she held Jungeun as they lay across a lounge chair on their one and only balcony in the castle.

“Was she pretty?” Jungeun asked, not an ounce of jealousy dripping from her voice.

Jinsol had proven a lot over the past few days. Even telling her about her bedroom “romps” was something some other wife would be insecure over. But not her.

Not when Jinsol’s already done so much.

“I guess,” Jinsol shrugged. Honestly speaking, the one who taught her about the sky drawings was a beauty. “But she-”

“Could never compare?” Jungeun completed, a hint of a smile stretching across her lips.

“Never,” Jinsol breathed, nuzzling deeper into Jungeun’s neck as they winded down for the night.

They didn’t do much, if anything at all, throughout the day but the feeling of being wrapped up around each other without a care in the world was overwhelming. Jinsol had never felt freer even if she was inside brick walls and Jungeun had never felt more adored even if she was one of the most coveted queens of their generation.

(Albeit a small group consensus that she deserved asylum.)

Rustlings brought them out of their dreamscape as they saw someone making their way back down the castle steps. The footsteps coming from their daughter’s room startled them as she shouldn’t have any late night visitors.

“Yerim?”

“Oh? Aunt Jinsol and Aunt Jungeun,” Yerim greeted, standing at the doorway to the balcony to not impose on their private moment. It was nice to be addressing them together. When she called them down for supper, she practically squealed in her apron. 

The queens smiled. Yerim being a similar age as Chaewon made them see her as another daughter. Except quieter and more behaved.

“And what were Chaewon and you up to these past hours?”

“Nothing. Just chatting. She doesn’t let me do anything.”

“As she should,” Jinsol corrected.

They were reminded of when they first offered Jiwoo the handmaiden position just to keep her nearby and refusing to let her lift a finger more than necessary. It would be the case when she returned to the castle with Sooyoung, and later Hyejoo. They could and can take care of themselves.

So can Chaewon.

“I even offered to wash all of her Kirbys.”

A shiver rushed through Jungeun’s body but Jinsol was there to hold her steady through it.

Her own knight in shining armor.

Hopefully now without the dangerous quests behind her.

(Jungeun should really tell Jinsol the true diagnosis of her condition - post traumatic stress disorder - but she couldn’t let such a wonderful day end with bad news.)

“It’s quite alright Yerim. I will wash them in my free time,” Jungeun said.

“And I will help!” Jinsol volunteered, raising her hand like a child.

How this woman killed wolves by the dozen still astounded them.

“But-”

“Good night Yerim,” the queens sang out, in perfect harmony.

As they should always be.

Jungeun sunk back into Jinsol’s embrace, adjusting herself so Jinsol’s legs wouldn’t go numb. But Jinsol rearranged her anyway, wanting to feel every inch of her body pressed against her. Pulling her impossibly tighter and expressing how much she truly loved her presence surrounding her.

“Did I tell you how exceptionally beautiful you look tonight?”

“You’ve been non-stop with the flattery, Jung Jinsol.”

“Well, I have a lot of lost time to make up for,” Jinsol tried to disguise her guilt but Jungeun heard through it. Turning her head slightly, she nipped at Jinsol’s jaw lightly and again and again to get her out of her stupor.

But Jinsol’s eyebrows were creased, concentrating on something different.

“That’s three hundred and sixty five days a year with me being gone at most fifteen to twenty-five days a month,” Jinsol computed out loud. “Wait, let me get my abacus.”

Jungeun wouldn’t let her leave, planting herself further into her wife’s lap, knowing numbers were her wife’s best friend and how easy she got lost in them. One of the many things that stayed constant in their relationship. Unlike the constellations in the sky. Reading her mind - another constant in their relationship - Jinsol kissed her lightly below her ears.

“The stars stay in place but we see different constellations in different seasons but no matter what happens, I’ll be there. All three hundred and sixty five days.”

Jungeun choked up inside, wondering what she ever did to deserve such treatment, and disguised it as a yawn when Jinsol asked if was alright.

(She would tell her soon.) 

---

“Jeon Heejin of the Jung castle.”

Three voters at the table snapped their heads at the same time. Jinsol, Jungeun, and Hyunjin expected Yerim and Yeojin’s applications but Heejin’s was a surprise.

And not a pleasant one.

Jinsol and Jungeun didn’t have any place to judge. Heejin was born from a cook and a stable boy and promoted to head cook so early to prevent her from leaving the castle. It was normal for her to want to explore other options.

They didn’t think knighthood was it.

Neither did Hyunjin.

When the council called for any objections, Hyunjin raised her hand quickly, listing out how kicking her out would be good for her. According to Hyunjin, Heejin suited “other concepts” better.

Jinsol reached for Jungeun’s hand under the table, sensing a melancholic tinge in Hyunjin’s voice that the council wouldn’t - they were incapable of sympathy - pick up on.

Hyunjin had objected to Yerim’s, Yeojin’s, and countless other bids.

But Heejin’s didn’t need such a lengthy explanation.

The queens knew why. Hyunjin and Heejin barely stayed in the same room for longer than an hour so this tirade should’ve been unwarranted. But the queens could see Hyunjin trembling from where she was sitting. Knees knocking and fingers fiddling. There was a deeper reason than Heejin being unskilled and untrained. 

It was the same reason why Jinsol would object to Jungeun’s bid if she ever submitted one and why Jungeun would do that same for Jinsol.

(Jinsol did recently behind her back but Jungeun didn’t need to know yet.)

Hyunjin would have to bear the brunt of the rumors that would circulate.

Jinsol and Jungeun could feel the council start hypothesizing what brought about this hasty objection. It would impact her reputation but when was a knight’s record ever clean? Hyunjin already had a bar fight brawl - witnessed by Haseul of all people - on her record and lost her crest for a few months.

But Hyunjin was resilient.

The royal couple believed in Hyunjin enough to know she’d learn from it, however long it took.

---

“Can’t sleep?”

Vivi waited in the archway as Heejin straightened out the kitchen for the new deliveries that weren’t due for another week.

The young cook had a unique upbringing. While the rest of them were thrown into the jobs they had now due to the attack, Heejin’s parents died of sickness. By the time Vivi had noticed the warning signs, it was too late and they were too advanced for any Eastern of Western medicine to heal.

(Vivi still blamed herself partly for the reason of Heejin’s orphan status. Which is why on paper, to keep Heejin out of the for-profit institutions, Heejin was lawfully “one of her own.”)

They didn’t possess the sibling intuition the Dong sisters had or the vibe the Jo sisters were perfecting but Heejin and Vivi had a loving relationship of their own, nurtured from loss and survival.

And with Jiwoo and Sooyoung returning, the original Kim castle staff would be back on board.

But Vivi knew Heejin really wanted the permanent return of another side of the castle.

The Jung side perhaps. Perhaps a certain knight.

“Why does she have to be a hero?” 

“Do you want my advice?” 

Heejin nodded.

Vivi was magical that way. Vivi only offered advice if asked. Maybe she could make a career out of it listening to other people’s problems and helping them sort through them. Heejin wondered what kind of profession that would be.

“I think it’s more than Hyunjin wanting to be a hero.”

“Who said I was talking about her? I could’ve been talking about Hyejoo.”

Vivi raised an eyebrow and pulled out a bar stool whereas Heejin sat atop one of the counters. Even in her early twenties, Heejin still felt like she was a kid. Especially when someone as wise and wizened as Vivi was around.

(Not that she was old. Just clearly the most mature. Heejin walked past Haseul whacking Yeojin with unfolded towels on her way to the kitchen and could hear Jinsol and Jungeun having a tickle war in the stairway.)

“What’s Hyejoo’s favorite color?”

“Pink?”

Vivi chuckled. The only time Hyejoo wore pink was when Chaewon draped a blanket around her in class when the colder season was coming in. She hated those pink stuffed Kirbys with a passion and it transferred to all things associated with that color.

“Well why did you want to be a cook?”

“To make my parents proud of course,” Heejin replied like a broken royal announcer.

What else was she supposed to do?

“Hyunjin is doing the same,” Vivi took Heejin’s hands in hers, soothing her jitters since Hyunjin left.

“But she’s already made her parents proud! Look at her records. Look at her portrait hanging in the hall.”

(Heejin may have stared at it more than she’d like to admit.)

“...She doesn’t need to do this anymore.”

Like Jinsol, Hyunjin already proved herself. There came a time when a knight needed to step down. And even if Hyunjin was young, she accomplished greater deeds than most knights did in a lifetime. Heejin didn’t want the reason she stepped down to be because of a serious injury or even death. One either died a hero or lived long enough to see oneself become a villain.

Heejin took that from one of her illustrated novels.

“You know, neither do you,” Vivi offered.

Vivi loved her job. She was born into it, groomed into it, and studied hard so she would be good at it. She’s seen death up close and fought for people’s right to healthcare with her every breath - begging to tears to keep Jungeun’s place in the castle - and wore her doctor badge humbly.

“You know I keep forgetting, you’re technically my mom,” Heejin blushed.

Vivi smiled.

She never forgot but she never wore it on her sleeve. Heejin could take care of herself and at the time of her adoption, she never stopped referring to her as Aunt Vivi or Teacher Vivi or Doctor.

(Once Haseul accidentally called her “mom” to on her new status but the reaction she got still embarrassed both of them to this day. after all, Haseul was her other adoptive mother but we’ll get to that at a later time.)

Heejin and Hyunjin chose careers because that’s what they thought they ought to do. Some people weren’t as lucky (i.e. Jinsol, Jungeun, Chaewon) and were born to lead without a choice.

But these girls were given one and it was time they learned their true potential.

For Heejin’s case, she hoped that in finding her passion, she could move on from more than a career.

---

Hyunjin winced as she almost dropped the pot of warm milk.

She forgot she wasn’t wearing mitts, too lost in her own thoughts about Yerim not getting a training spot, Yeojin submitting for the umpteenth time, and Heejin’s surprise bid.

Why did Heejin want to become a knight?

When did Heejin want to become a knight?

Hyunjin made a fool of herself turning Heejin down. She could hear the names they were calling her as the council filed out.

A female dog.

A mutt.

A snake.

(Her sass wanted to quip that she was actually a descendant of wolves but she had a sister to protect.)

Warming up some milk for her depressed sister, she poured what she didn’t spill into a mug. She opened the secret compartment of cookies Heejin usually kept. But the door wouldn’t budge.

“They’ve been moved above the wash bins,” a warm voice called from the kitchen archway.

Hyunjin nodded and fetched the treats from the rerouted location.

How long had she been gone for Heejin to change the kitchen layout? Did she not want her to find her stash of snacks anymore? Did she know Hyunjin would turn her application away? How long had she wanted to be a knight?

“Don’t beat yourself up for this Hyunjin,” Jungeun was now standing beside Hyunjin, snatching up two cookies behind her shoulder. The other one, likely for Jinsol who lost rock-paper-scissors to bid the decrepit council goodbye.

They were at a stalemate suggesting careers for two of the rejected girls for knight candidacy. They were getting to the age where unemployment would soon be a label for them and Jinsol and Jungeun were not going to let that be a reason why they had to leave the castle.

So far they had handmaiden for sweet Yerim.

Yeojin’s job pool remained blank.

“I’m not,” Hyunjin said unconvincingly. “I’m not.”

Jungeun kept mum.

She had a small grudge against Hyunjin who had secretly submitted a request for Jinsol to join her on her next quest. But her grudge should’ve been against her inconspicuous wife. She also knew they made their decisions on good intentions. 

Hyunjin rejected her three castlemates, including her own flesh and blood, to keep them safe.

Maybe Jinsol was doing the same.

Jungeun would let Jinsol play her knight-in-shining-armor obsession. She just hoped the moment was short-lived and after a few successful quests, she’d be home safely in her arms.

(Little did she know, it would take years before Jinsol got a rude awakening on the fencing piste.)

“What you did was uncalled for and foolish but there were reasons behind them. We understand that.”

“Permission to—.”

Jungeun glared. Hyunjin didn’t need to do that when they were in private. She must have been away for so long to have difficulties reverting back to her niece personality. Jungeun hoped nothing like that happened to Jinsol.

(Again, Jungeun, too much hope.)

“Right. Aunt Jungeun, they’re going to hate me again.”

“Not if I can help it,” Jungeun smiled, wielding her power.

Hyunjin could only nod. She knew Jungeun wouldn’t leave the castle for her. She hadn’t left the castle for anybody. She would most likely tell Jinsol to help garnish Hyunjin’s reputation from the safety of her own throne. But Hyunjin couldn’t blame the queen. She had been through a lot. It’s why Jinsol was eager to join her.

Taking a bite out of her cookie, Jungeun gave Hyunjin a good night and left her alone in her thoughts, hoping she’d figure it out soon.

(As she wished the same towards her wife.)

---

Hyunjin stoked the fire quietly, observing how stiff Hyejoo was as they made dinner.

She knew Hyejoo was capable of finding a better grade of venison but Hyejoo was wisely holding herself back.

Much like Hyunjin did during her rookie days.

It had been an awkward stakeout with Hyejoo keeping pace beside Hyunjin and Hyunjin trying not to overdo it with Hyejoo. The dance they had resorted to claimed no casualties and no leads to where the wolves had moved their lair.

They were to return tomorrow per the council’s request.

It was more of a test for both of them.

If Hyunjin could lead and if Hyejoo could survive. They both knew they would.

“You hungry?” Hyunjin offered Hyejoo the bigger chunk of meat.

Hyejoo jerked at the silver-tipped sword holding the piece of meat and Hyunjin drew it back.

(Both knowing the reason why Hyejoo didn’t accept the meat. Hyunjin was far down the family tree to not be affected by the alloy but Hyejoo was the first in her generation. They both should’ve been smarter.)

“Right, sorry.”

“Huh?”

“You don’t like dark meat, right?”

“Oh I do. Just not hungry,” Hyejoo acted coolly.

“Right,” Hyunjin acted the same.

Hyejoo shook her head even if was watering. She could down that piece in a few bites. Hyunjin had seen her eat at the Jung table so she shouldn’t hold herself back here. But this felt different. Almost like Hyunjin was provoking her. Telling Hyejoo to take the lead in some areas to see what she was capable of. She wouldn’t be surprised if Hyunjin would convince a wolf to tackle Hyejoo to see what she would do.

Hyejoo was grateful. She wasn’t sure if she could kill her kind yet.

Even if she was wearing a crest, it felt like it wasn’t truly deserved until Hyunjin told her…

“Noble job today, Hyejoo. I’m proud of you.”

Hyejoo’s ears perked up at the compliment.

Hyunjin didn’t want to scare off the new knight, listening to a familiar tune Hyejoo hummed every time she ate. (Recalling a time she heard it when Hyejoo was in a different body.) Even with their skewed levels of experience, Hyunjin felt safer with a wolf. Jinsol was admirable but she didn’t possess the feral instincts their kind had.

Yes, their kind because Hyejoo and her were one and the same. Hyunjin just didn’t know how to break it to Hyejoo yet.

“Thank you.”

But she had to play it safe. Her best kills were done without Jinsol’s eyes on her and without the royal witness, she could get away with more. But Jinsol and her were skimming the line between impressive and unbelievable.

Which is why she was okay that this mission with Hyejoo was a dud. 

Hyejoo wasn’t sure what the objective was but at least she would be returning home with a quest and a crest.

Her parents were waiting for her - probably with a lecture for not playing it “human” like she promised.

A part of her hoped Chaewon would be waiting for her too.

---

Chaewon smirked as the knight paced back and forth behind the blue and red tapestries. Being one of the few female knights, Hyunjin would be going last.

Another scandal had broken out of a princess ing with a knight and while the council took further action, different kingdoms were throwing an event.

A date auction.

Chaewon found it odd to combat one dating scandal with a plethora of ones but she saw the monetary advantages to this. It would further fund the education board to adhere to their abstinence-only pedagogy.

Hyunjin, being one of the only female bachelorette knights in the Jung kingdom, would be going last on the roster per Jungeun’s request.

And only women within certain age brackets can bid on her, per Jinsol’s request.

And the date must take place within the castle grounds, per Chaewon’s request.

The queens were first scandalized to hear Chaewon’s small voice calling out from the doorway. She wasn’t supposed to be listening in on their council briefing but she was wise in suggesting Hyunjin’s terms. Any woman could be paid a percentage to bet for a man for Hyunjin and that way, the young knight and her date would be within the vicinity of Jinsol’s sword.

Jungeun laughed, knowing Jinsol couldn’t do much damage with that thing anyway. She was a bred and born pacifist.

As knight Hyojung was bid a considerable amount of money to go on a date with barista Hyuna, Hyunjin peeked outside at whoever remained.

Haseul and Vivi gave her a wave from their corner of the room. Yerim and Yeojin were giggling at the new couples forming before their eyes. Jinsol and Jungeun held solemn faces as their knights were cattled off, reminded of how their marriage started the same way. Paired up by who had the best monetary prospects. Chaewon left the table early because Jungeun and Jinsol decided to list off the reasons why their marriage was more real, one-upping each other. And Heejin…

Heejin?

There the cook was, clutching onto a pudgy book, most likely full of money.

Who was she betting on?

Certainly not her?

Chaewon watched the action quietly, seeing Hyunjin’s widen in surprise. She was sure bobbed as she gulped. Hopefully, in nervousness.

If this evening ended well, maybe her parents would’ve have to waste their time chaperoning Hyunjin’s date because she’d be bought by someone whom they could trust.

---

There were enough scalding buckets of water - they would have cooled down by the time they would replenish the water so scalding was the only option - to keep the two in their tub for an hour.

Jinsol had to consult Vivi about those splotches on her hands when the water sloshed on her dumping it into the tub. When she joked with Jungeun that she’d suffered worst marks on the frontlines, she immediately pulled her wide-eyed and frantic wife against her chest as they sat in the tub together.

(“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s alright Jinsol.”

“No it’s not. You’re shivering.”

“You’re right it’s not. But we’ll get through this.”)

Not much cleaning was done as they held each other tight.

“Something troubling you, my love?”

Sometimes, Jinsol could read her like a book. Years of pretending to be cold towards her - and years figuring out if citizens were a non-human based on body language - made Jinsol perceptive.

(Something Chaewon inherited.)

Moment of truth, Jungeun.

Jinsol had already been so open with her transgressions, her regrets, her fears. They would’ve spent the whole day in that bed with Jungeun trying to kiss the pain away. But Haseul was adamant to get them down for Vivi’s not-so-secret birthday feast that night.

And it had been three days since then.

And she still hadn’t revealed a word of her apology.

But with the way Jinsol held her, kissed her, loved her, she couldn’t ruin it.

“Nothing.”Jungeun couldn’t risk it. Jinsol sacrificed her knightly duties - which she loved right? - to be with her and even if she drilled it into her skull that Jinsol should put herself first, she couldn’t distract her wife from her personal growth.

What if she said the wrong thing and that triggered Jinsol to run off again? Would she have to wait another several years for Jinsol to return? She fell into Jinsol’s embrace, which was warmer than the sudsy water could offer. How could she ruin this with her own problems?

She’ll tell her later.

“Nothing at all, my love.”

Definitely later.

---

“If I was a knight, they’d all be broke betting on me!”

Yerim giggled and pulled Yeojin to her chair, wondering where Chaewon was skipping off too.

Looking over her shoulder, seeing Jinsol and Jungeun ensnared among themselves, Jungeun running her fingers up Jinsol’s arms, impressed at the muscles forming there from her training with Minho, Yerim understood why Chaewon ran off. Seeing couples in love, especially if they were your own parents, made one queasy.

(She wondered if she’d react the same if her parents were alive and giggling in the corner.)

She also understood why Heejin was vibrating the entire bench next to them. She could hear her. A talent all wolves and wolf descendants had and could utilize if they trained it well. Not like Yerim was doing anything else around the castle anyway. She tuned into Heejin’s rapid heartbeat and shallow breathing.

Clutching onto her novel with enough money to buy a horse, Heejin was anxious as Knight Hyojung took the stage. She fit the requirements - a woman and okay with a date in the royal castle - to be able to bet on the next knight.

Dong Hyunjin.

Yerim’s sister.

And formerly Heejin’s best friend.

Yerim imagined there were other ways to get someone who’s been avoiding you for years to talk to you but the flattery of being chosen and bought - even if it was demeaning - would prove useful. Sometimes, her sister’s head was thicker than her jousting helmet.

Yerim hoped Heejin would win.

They whole castle did.

Little did Hyunjin know, everyone wanted to pitch into Heejin’s pot but she was stubborn. It was Minho that took her to the market with a small bindle. But Yerim knew what Heejin sold to make the money in time. The things she spent years collecting. It was ironic to sell them just for a taste of the real thing.

Knight cards for a date with a real knight

They would make a good match with their thick skulls and secret-keeping, Yerim mused in her head. 

---

Hyunjin told Hyejoo to sleep well so she’ll keep guard the first shift.

But the rookie couldn’t sleep, Hyunjin hearing her heart racing from her position against the tree. Sonic hearing was useful hearing for predators but Hyejoo’s heart was too loud for her to concentrate on keeping watch.

“Can’t sleep?”

“No. Are you sure I can’t take the first shift?”

“Sleep Hyejoo.”

“Okay.”

A few uncomfortable turns under the blankets later.

“What’s the best part of being a knight?”

Hyunjin would answer this in an essay years ago - recalling when Heejin used to tell her to calm down at every bullet point she’d list with a proud fist banging on her chest. The fame and fortune had faded over time. In its place were sore muscles and unsettling consternation of assassination.

“Permission to speak freely?”

“Shouldn’t it be me asking you that question?” Hyejoo boasted, having memorized the training manual from table of contents to glossary, a few changes from her mother’s old guidebook.

“I don’t know if you’d like what I’d have to say,” Hyunjin kept her eyes at the moon. A little less than third quarter, she thought. 

But there was a formal name for it. She knew Hyejoo would know.

She only tracked the moon it for hunting purposes, the terminology didn’t matter. As long as it was full, she knew when she needed to be on guard. Unlike now, where she was listening fully to what Hyejoo was asking.

“Permission to listen freely?”

She could hear Hyunjin chuckle under her breath - Hyunjin knew she could.

“Being a knight is advantageous. Some of us own land, some of us collect taxes. Some of us spend our earnings at the brothel every other weekend. Not me though. It’s not my lifestyle. Not harlot-shaming anybody of course but...I like feeling like I did something great. Every time someone tells me I made them feel safer or I saved them, I feel like I did a lot.”

“Hmmmm…”

“Huh?”

“Just thinking.”

Hyejoo was expecting an answer like that. Hyunjin didn’t seem the type to wield her knight status for freebies or kisses. Was it selfish for her to be a knight for her family? Just because she thought her talents wouldn’t be put to waste?

Did she even consider the other populations she’d be serving?

“Why did you want to be a knight, Hyejoo? Back then, it was different but now with the wolf population decreasing, our job isn’t as dangerous. Most people are in it for the trading cards.”

“Oh I know.”

Hyunjin could see the color returning to Hyejoo’s face at the embarrassment flowing through her. She cocked her head in confusion.

“My mother used to collect my mom’s. She still has them.” Hyejoo shuddered - not from the cold, but embarrassment.

Hyunjin let out a barking laugh, feeling free to not be Knight Hyunjin anymore. And why shouldn’t she? Hyejoo should be able to trust her if they were going to partners.

One secret at a time.

As the wind whistled past them, Hyunjin could see Hyejoo letting her guard down as well. It was the most emotion Hyunjin had ever seen on the young knight’s face since she received her crest. She could see Hyejoo cease faking her shivers as the cold didn’t affect her, the blanket pooled around her ankles as the excited girl talked a mess about her mother fangirling over her knight in shining armor.

A phrase that was a metaphor to some lovers but not in their case.

Jiwoo waited for her knight after every mission, knowing death could be around the corner for both of them. Then, they mothered a child who took after their legacy.

Hyunjin had never admired Jiwoo as much until this moment.

As Hyejoo ranted, the seneschal wondered if Heejin had replenished her own stack of knight cards after the auction.

---

“I’m going to protect you!” Hyunjin tipped over the side of the stream to say to the fish, almost falling in.

Vivi and Haseul were quick to come to her rescue as Hyorin was holding a fussy Yerim and Taeyang was receiving correspondence. Even Heejin joined in, ready to pull Hyunjin in.

But Hyunjin was quick to save herself.

“You don’t have to save me Heejin.”

“But I want to,” Heejin pouted.

Haseul and Vivi melted at the exchange but quickly changed their moods by offering to play freeze tag. Haseul would be “it” of course. The rest of the castle watched the game in delight as the sun set in the Jung kingdom, setting an orange glow over the land.

“And what about you, little one, are you going to make our kingdom safe?” Jungeun asked the wide-eyed Chaewon in her arms.

“Well, she has to be a queen,” Jinsol sighed.

If their daughter was anything like Jungeun, Chaewon would make the most selfless, thoughtful, and caring queen. Also beautiful, as Jinsol watched the halo around Jungeun’s figure with the setting sun in awe. Sunsets always did justice to Jungeun’s beauty.

Along with sundowns, dusk, high noons, any time of day really.

Of course Chaewon would have to be a queen. She didn’t have much of a choice. The last queens that denied their position for true love were labelled runaways and hereby dethroned.

(It’s not like Jinsol wanted to talk to her parents anyway.)

Unlike Heejin and Hyunjin who were gleefully running away from an exhausted Haseul or a hungry Yerim that was clawing at Hyorin’s chest or a kicking whatever-their-name-would-be making Sooyoung scold Jiwoo’s stomach, Chaewon was born into what she would have to be for the rest of her life.

Jinsol and Jungeun only hoped she would be so lucky to be surrounded with a family like theirs. 

---

Maybe this was a test.

Hyejoo had to give the council credit for their setup.

The Ha cottage was barren, completely devoid of life. Even her mother’s handcrafted bench was gone. Hyejoo requested to stop to greet her parents before giving a report to the queens but she wasn’t expecting her parents to not be there. The markets were on limited hours until the new year so they shouldn’t be at work.

Swords out and back-to-back, Hyunjin and Hyejoo scoped around the empty cottage looking for any signs of breaking and entering. But this sweep was clean like there was no struggle.

As much as she didn’t want to give credit for it, her non-carpenter mother was quite adept at B&Es.

(Don’t ask why. It was something Jiwoo always wanted to do.)

Hyunjin’s hyper-hearing heard Hyejoo’s breath quicken.

“See anything?”

“No,” Hyejoo dejectedly said.

Hyejoo thought the worst.

Her parents were gone. They must’ve hated her and regretted bringing her back to the Jung kingdom. Were her parents that livid that they just up and left? She knew she pushed their buttons but she didn’t think she took it too far.

Three knocks.

Seeing and feeling that Hyejoo was in distress, Hyunjin opened the door.

“Oh, I was just checking to make sure they didn’t forget anything. Welcome back you two!” Haseul greeted with Yeojin and Yerim waving behind her. Yerim accidentally whipped the reigns in excitement and the horses were off - a nervous Yeojin yelling for them to stop.

Before Hyunjin could ask about the Has’ whereabouts - Haseul seemed a little too happy to see an empty shack - a blonde blur rushed in to hug Hyunjin and then almost toppled over a confused Hyejoo who hit her head on the bunk bed frame.

(Karma for constantly threatening her mother with collapsing it.)

“YOU’RE BACK! YOU’RE BACK! YOU’RE BACK!”

“Welcome home you two. Chaewon, let her breathe.”

Home.

Maybe that’s what Hyejoo was going to call the castle now. 

“Yes, that I am,” Hyejoo uttered, never realizing how much she missed seeing Chaewon’s face until now. Did she always have such a calming effect on her?

Chaewon was too happy to formally share the news and a proper explanation. She would tell her all about it on their carriage ride back. She would also need help as she left the castle hastily. When news of the Jung horses crossing back over reached Yeojin’s hands, she requested a ride to the borders at one, with Haseul following along to check the status of the Has’ cottage.

(Hopefully her parents were still “busy” to hopefully not notice her absence. Hyejoo’s parents seemed quite “busy” as well when they found out they’d be taking their old room once again.)

Hyejoo’s new home.

Their home.

“You are,” Chaewon whispered, burying herself into the rookie knight, not caring that eyes were on them. Including the neighbors who wondered why a royal carriage was doing donuts on the street.

Hyejoo knew there were perks being a knight as Hyunjin listed off but being able to hug the princess like this wasn’t one that was on the pamphlets. She held Chaewon steady as she returned the embrace, feeling a warmth spread into her chest that was foreign but welcomed.

Hyejoo had given her parents and herself a home.

They were going back to the Jung castle.

Just like she promised Chaewon those years ago, she came back.

Hyejoo made the right choice after all.

 

 

NEXT CHAPTER UPDATE: NEXT NEW MOON

Q (ourtuneisohigh): Shout out to the recent vlives for giving us great content for the astrology part of this chapter. We're about to take a break from the main drama and veer into an arc over a pairing whose reunion conversation is long overdue. Figure it out yet by the build-up in this chapter? It's not out yet but 365 is about to be that song. For those taking exams, best of luck. For those working in retail and delivery services, even more luck to you. Happy holidays and a warm winter to all of you. Twitter | CC

N (LazyNinja on ao3):  All bless Goddess Vivi for giving us such great things with her birthday! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and we look forward to seeing you once more before the new year. Stay warm and healthy, please drink water and remember you are loved. Twitter | CC