Shiyeon was staring at the back of the small black car that was leaving her view. Her eyes locked on the small smile Serim had on her face, looking back at her. The girl inside the car had her hands tied up with old grey rope, signaling that it was probably a small regional police car, since they didn't have the proper handcuffs that most police officers always carried with them. 

 

Regional or not, she was still getting arrested for theft and it was all Shiyeons fault. She couldn't imagine what would happen once they find out that Serim is known for stealing in several towns and market places. If Shiyeon was the one being arrested she would probably stay in prison for a few months or had to pay a big amount of money, since she never stole anything before and the medicine wasnt't that expensive. But Serim was a different story. Shiyeon knew that Serim was stealing even before they met an she could only imagine how much she actually stole. 

 

“Where is Serim unnie going?"

 

Shiyeon looked down to her right leg. Hyun-jin was staring at her with confusion in his eyes, his small hands holding tightly on her dirty skirt, that barely resembled a commoners hanbok. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that they might never see Serim again. Shiyeon kneeled in-front of him ruffling his hair slightly before speaking.

 

“Serimmie is going on a long and dangerous journey."

 

The little boy frowned, why would Serim unnie suddenly leave them for something dangerous ?

 

“Why? She could get hurt! And who will play with me and Eunbi?"

 

Shiyeon smiled.

 

“You see, when you really love someone, you do everything you can to keep them safe. Serim just wants the best for us so she decided to protect us by leaving. She will be away for a long, long time, but I know she will never forget us okay?"

 

“But what does she have to protect us from, we are safe aren’t we?"

 

Shiyeon sighed and hugged Hyun-jin closer to her body. Mumbling in his hair.

 

“From the unfairness of the world, nobody is safe from that."

 

 

 

———

 

 

 

The road was crooked. Every few seconds the car would jump up slightly due to a rock or a bump on the road, making Serim hit herself on the sides of the car. Her hands were tied up behind her back, making her unable to hold herself down. The police officers weren’t paying attention to her and she was quite sure they would forget about her if it weren’t from a occasional sneeze from her. It just it so happened that the two guys were eating peaches, something she was allergic too. It was almost as if whoever was up there was giving her a one big F you. 

 

Serim sighed as she looked out of the window, wondering what was Shiyeon doing. How will she survive the winter alone? They were struggling a lot even when she was with them. Serim hoped that they were going to be fine without her help. 

 

“Hey, we’re here."

 

Serim looked up to the police officer, he had a small beard and looked a bit like Mr. Shim, a old grandpa that all the parents took their kids to when they wanted to know what would their child achive in the future. It was probably good that Serim’s parents didn’t take her to him as they would find out that the only acomplishment she would achive was going to be being arrested for theft. 

 

The police station was small, only a few officers were inside and the chairs and tables looked quite pitful. The guy pushed her towards the most normal looking table it the middle of the room. She sat down  in-front of what had to be the head police officer at this station. 

 

“What do we have here.......Jo Serim.......nineteen years old.....theft?" 

 

The man looked up from his papers to Serim. Watching her for a bit before turning to a man that was standing next to her. He gestured for him to come closer and quickly whispered something to his ear. The other guy smirked and left the room. The head officer leaning closer to her and placing the papers beside him.

 

“Alright, Jo Serim, I see here that you got caught stealing medicine, but it wasn’t your first time as we later found out. Do you know that you are quite known in several towns? As you probably know, this could get you quite some years in the cell and I’m sure you really don’t want that."

 

The man paused before leaning back on his chair, the smirk on his face never dissapearing. 

 

“I have a proposition for you. I will destroy everything saying that you were arrested for stealing and all the complaints about you, but you have to do a little favor for us."

 

Serim looked at him with wide eyes.

 

“What? Why would you do that?"

 

The man smirked once again, taking a small stack of papers from the man that just returned, sliding them across the table for Serim to see. She started to read what was written on it, her eyebrows furrowing more and more with each sentece. Seeing her confusion, he spoke up once again.

 

“The monarch is looking for a new maid that would be suitable for all hardwork and labor, and I need someone inside the palace that would give me informations about a certain thing. He plans to pay quite a lot, definitely more than we would get for arresting you. You are the perfect age and seeing you got away with so many things you must be quite clever and agile. I’m sure it would be a lot better for you to work fort the rozal family then being locked in prison, plus you get a monthly salary so you wouldn’t have to wory about being low on money. So...what do you say? Can I get rid of these papers and both of us win something?"

 

Serim wasn’t stupid, she knew that this was the best option she would get, however if she would get caught trying to gather information to give it to someone outside the royal family, it would be way worse than being locked up in prison. But she would be able to help and support Shiyeon, Eunbi and Hyun-jin, and she was used to working hard. She was a thief after all, she won’t get caught. A sigh left , she looked at the man in-front of her contemplaining about what she should do. After a few silent moments she gave in.

 

“Alright, I will do it."

 

“Great, it is a pleasure working with you, my name is Yi-jong and I lead a revolt against the monarch."

 

Yi-jong extended his arm but relized that Serim had both her hands tied behind her back. He signaled to one of the guys inside, making Serim’s hands free again. He them stood up and gestured for Serim to follow him. Yi-jong led her to a small side room and handed her a plain blue hanbok with a white overskirt and lining. 

 

“Wear this and then meet me in-front of the building, we need to go to the palace quickly before someone else takes the spot. I will tell you about the details inside the car."

 

With that he left, closing the door behind him, leaving Serim alone. The hanbok reminded her of a similar one her mother used to wear when she went to work. The design was the same, but this one was blue and her mother’s was light pink that alwas reminded her of the cherry blossoms. She quickly dressed herself and went outside where Yi-jong was standing next to a car. Both got inside and the driver started the car. 

 

“Your name wil stay the same, it would be too risky changing it in case you forgot about it and slipped up. You were born in Gaegyeong and moved to Hanyang almost a year ago with your parents...wait...do you have parents?"

 

“No."

 

“Great, so, you’re mother told you about the job and you decided to take it becouse you want to support your family. Now comes the important part. I heard that the situation in Korea is getting a bit out of hand. The monarch is killing everyone who is trying to take him down. A lot of people are criticizing his way of ruling. It looks like there will be quite a lot of demonstrations soon. I need you to find information about when and where will the monarch try to stop the people so they can be prepared. The best way you can do this is to get close with his daughter, if you can do that, it will be easy for you to obtain all the information. Who knows, maybe the princess will tell you herself. " 

 

The man chuckled, before he continued to talk.

 

“We plan on ’attacking’ the place where the princess will be staying in about a week. I need you to ’save’ her once we get inside. I will send you a message through one of my men everyday, so you will know how the situation is progressing. He will be one of the guards. Look for a tall guy with a scar on his neck, that will be him. Try to be as discreet as possible, we don’t want anyone to find out what we’re planing. I it all goes right, she will trust you and we will be a step closer to where we want to be."

 

They continued discussing the plan and all the stuff Serim should do in order to get closer to the princess. 

 

When they were done talking, the sun was already on the horizon, highlighting the nature. Serim was tired and the sound of the small birds chirping in the trees celebrating the morning lulled her to sleep almost instantly. The outline of a big city slowly appearing in the distance, looking almost intimidating, but that was the last thing on Serim’s mind as she drifted off to a uncomfortable sleep, hunched over in the car seat, her mind occupied with one big question.

 

 

 

What the hell did she just got into?