Jennie's POV

"I am very excited Chu! This is it! After twenty - three long years of imprisonment, I can now smell freedom" I happily stated. 

We're now on our private plane going to the Philippines and I am very excited for this trip. This isn't actually the first time I am going abroad but I don't know why I am so happy to be part of this mission. I felt like something good is going to happen to me when we get there. It feels like I will be discovering something special in that country. 

"Wow! You make it sound like being a princess is a curse. Don't you know how many people in the world wants to be a princess? Wants to have a life like yours?" she replied while shaking her head. 

"Don't get me wrong Chu, I love being myself but you can't blame me if I want to experience being free too. I want to experience how it feels like to live without people watching you all the time, without people telling you how you should act in front of others, you cannot blame me if I want to experience how to live like a normal person who can eat and walk on the street without bodyguards. I know how privileged I am and I'm thankful but I don't know... Sometimes, I felt empty and lonely. I want to experience having fun too. You know what? I actually envy you coz you are free to do whatever you want to do"

It is true. I always envy Jisoo coz she's living a normal life. Yes, she lives with us in the castle but my father never restricted her to go to the city and explore. She even enrolled in the University located in the City of Seoul. She has friends and she can go outside the castle whenever she wants. Meanwhile, I am restricted to do everything that she can. I am studying inside the castle, I cannot go outside without the King's permission or without bodyguards, and I even don't have friends aside from Jisoo and my servants. All my life, the King wants me to focus on learning how to fight, learning music, archery, language, and running a kingdom. I swear it is not easy to become a princess. It is not like we used to imagine when we were kids watching Disney Princess films. Being a princess is not like a fairytale. Being a princess means always being in a public eye. You cannot do anything wrong or act silly. Being a princess always requires behaving at all times and it is really exhausting. 

Jisoo looked at me with full of sympathy in her eyes. I know she understands me because she has seen all my struggles while we're growing up. 

She reached for my hand and she pressed it a little sending me the signal that she understands what I feel while I looked at her and smiled as a response.

After a four hour flight from Incheon International Airport, we finally arrived in the Philippines. 

Jisoo and I unbuckled our seatbelts as we are now ready to descend the plane. But I stopped when Kai stood in front of me. 

I raised my one brow up and throw a stern look on him. 

"Stay here for a bit Jennie. I will go down first to check if it is safe before you go down. They only assigned two escorts for you, I will ask some more airport police to accompany us" he said. 

I rolled my eyes on him and said, 

"Can you please take it easy Kai? No one here knows that I am the crown princess of Korea so no one will even bat an eye on me here. You will just get more attention if you will ask for a lot of escorts" 

"Are you forgetting that my job here is to ensure your safety Jennie so it is better for you to listen than to argue with me" 

I swear this guy is getting into my nerves already. If he continues being this strict, my plan of escaping will be put into trash. I really have to think of the best strategy to get him out of my way. But how?

I was in the middle of my dilemma when Jisoo whos at my back speaks.

"Kai aren't you forgetting who are you talking to? You may be the only person that the King allowed to court Jennie but don't forget that she is still the crown princess and you should address her as that. Aren't you too ahead of yourself by calling her on a first name basis? Also, Jennie is right. You will just cause a buzz or worst a commotion if a lot of securities will be escorting us" 

I looked at Kai's face and he looked pissed now. But Jisoo is right, he is not my boyfriend so he still needs to respect me as the crown princess. Thank goodness I have Jisoo here who has the guts to slap that truth on his face. 

I walked past Kai and I smirked when I saw how he clenched his jaw. I looked at Jisoo with a  smile on my face and she just winked on me. 

The moment I exit the plane door I closed my eyes and breathe deeply. The weather here is nice, it's warm compared to the cold environment of Korea. At last, we already arrived. I feel very very happy and excited already. I hope I'll accomplish my true purpose of coming here. 

As soon as we descend the stairs two big guys approached us. This must be our out of this airport. 

"Welcome to the Philippines, your highness!" the guy whose taller greeted me. 

"Thank you so much! I'm glad to be here"

The guy nodded and he instructed us to follow him. He brought us to a black Mercedes Benz then he opened the backseat door so Jisoo and I can ride in. Kai is still with us as usual but he is sitting in the shotgun seat. On the other hand, the medical mission team are already on their bus going to the hotel to rest first before we all go to meet the president of this country to discuss all about the mission. The meeting will be later at 6 PM because the President said he wants us to take some rest first because tomorrow will surely be exhausting and also he invited us for dinner.
 

Time skipped...

"Nice to meet you Princess Jennie. By the way this is my wife Carol and this is my daughter Rosie" Mr. President greeted as soon as we met. 

"Nice meeting you too Mr. President, Ms. Carol, Rosie. Thank you so much for inviting us over for dinner" 

The president smiled and he shook his head. 

"This is nothing compared to the help you will give to my countrymen. I am very grateful to you and to King Mino"

"You're very much welcome Mr. President. It is our pleasure to help" 

Rosie smiled at me and I did the same. I like her, she looks very kind and seems like to have a bubbly personality not to mention that she's really pretty. 

"If you wouldn't mind your highness, may I ask how old are you?"

I looked at her and replied, "I wouldn't mind and I am twenty four already. By the way, stop calling me your highness, just call me Jennie please. I guess we're just at the same age?" 

She smiled sweetly. 

"I am just a year younger than you, Jennie" 

"Oh! I see" and we both smiled. 

After that, we go straight to the dining table and  started eating. While eating we talked about the plans for tomorrow's medical mission and relief operations. 

"As much as possible Mr. President we want to keep Princess Jennie's true identity to the public especially to the media for safety purposes" Jisoo informed the President. 

The president nodded and said,

"Don't worry Ms. Jisoo, no one will ever know that she is the crown princess" 

Jisoo and I nodded then we go back eating dinner but not very long when Kai butted in. 

"Also Mr. President, may we ask for an additional security to the place to ensure that nothing bad will going to happen. We want to keep the princess safe until the end of this mission" 

"Don't worry about the security Mr. Kai, that's part of the plan since my child Rosie here will also join the mission"

Kai nodded and smiled at the President.

I gritted my teeth after hearing Kai's demand. More security means it is harder for me to escape. I hate him. He's really here to ruin everything. 

How am I gonna escape this man?

Jisoo hold my thigh and pressed it lightly. I looked at her and she gave me an assuring smile and because of that I started to calm down. Lucky, I have Jisoo beside me. 
 

---

At the hotel... 

"Gosh! I really hate that Kai! How am I gonna escape knowing there will be tons of security tomorrow?" I said walking back and forth inside my hotel room. 

"Chillax Jendeuk! I'm sure we will find a way. Trust me okay?" 

I sat down beside Jisoo on the bed before I nodded my head. 

"Thanks Chu!" 

She smiled at me and she reached for my hand that is resting on my thigh.

"Just promise me you'll be safe, Jennie, okay?" 

"I promise"