Chaewon took a deep breath, and the large wooden doors opened. Today was the day she would plead her case: it was time to meet the council of lords. 

Technically, this meeting was held so Chaewon could announce her choice of suitors, since her eighteenth birthday was only a week away, after all. But Chaewon was doing nothing of the sort. 

The blonde princess stepped inside to the center of the large room, her shoes clicking on the black marble floor. She'd never felt so small, standing in front of a podium surrounded by all of these much older, much bigger men, looking down at her from their raised seats. She took another deep breath, her hands trembling, barely holding back a whimper. 

"Princess Chaewon, your highness," the leader spoke, and all of the men bowed at her. 

"You may rise and be seated." They all did as she asked. 

"We have gathered here today to hear your choice of consort and spouse. This decision will be announced to the kingdom," the leader said. 

"Actually," Chaewon interrupted, a murmur going through the crowd. "I wanted to discuss something else first." 

"And what may that be, your highness?" 

Chaewon took her final deep breath and spoke. "I want you all to know the truth: that I was not kidnapped, but left the castle of my own accord. I know this is a criminal offence, but I want you all to understand what I did. What would drive a princess like me, so educated and privileged, out into the wild like that? A lack of freedom. A lack of freedom to see the kingdom I'm supposed to rule and a lack of freedom to even choose the person I'm going to marry, beyond a group of twenty or so young boys. I do not even have the choice of whether I even want to marry or not. So, those are the reasons I disappeared in the first place. And if our kingdom with these restricting laws towards its princesses, we will only have more runaways, more abdications, and more miserable monarchs. A kingdom prospers best with a happy queen. You all want that, correct?" 

She paused for a moment before continuing. "So I truly implore you all to reconsider this law. Let me marry whom I wish, when I wish." 

"And who would your choice be?" The leader interrupt, a glare in his eyes. 

"Olivia Hye, my so called kidnapper but my true savior and companion on my journey, who is currently sitting unjustly in our castle's dungeons." 

A gasp went through the crowd and loud chatter rose through the council and the leader had to hit his desk with a mallet. 

"Quiet! Quiet in the council!" He spoke, and they fell silent once again. "Does anyone have any thoughts they would like to share with the rest of the council and our princess?" 

"I would like to speak." 

"You have my permission, Lord Son," he answered. 

"Although this law has been in place for thousands of years, our princess has a real point. Our royal line has consisted of women and daughters only for many generations. Do you all think it's a coincidence that as soon as they are married, the kingdom's coiffers are quickly drained? And if their husbands may perish, rest in peace, those coiffers are refilled just as quickly as they were depleted?" 

"Objection!" Another council member cried. The relief Chaewon felt when Sir Son spoke quickly disappeared as the rest of the council beat down her point, disagreeing and mocking her endlessly. Chaewon looked down at her feet. Perhaps, she'd never stood a chance. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Olivia had been deep in her own thoughts when a loud noise made her rapidly sit up. From her position it was hard to see what was going on but she could see the figure of the guard falling over, and suddenly, a young girl running to her. 

"Y-Yerim?" Olivia cried as Yerim arrived, smiling and unlocking Olivia's sell door. 

"It's me," she answered. "And now, you're free." 

"Wh-What's going on?" Olivia cried. She stepped out of the cell door and in front of Yerim. "How did you get here? How have you been? How did you escape? Is Chaewon alright?" 

Yerim giggled, probably a bit too cheerful in this situation. "Okay, so I'll start at the beginning. They took me in for questioning but nobody could really figure out my role in all of this, plus I'm really young and clearly appear harmless to them, so they let me go. I've spent the days since my release trying to figure out what was going on with you and Chaewon so I could help you all. Honestly, both of you have been through hell and back. I've had the best time out of the three of us." 

"Did you kill the guard?" 

Yerim giggled. "Oh no. I just hit him over the head with a shield I found! Speaking of, that means we don't have unlimited time. There's a reason I freed you now." 

"What is it?" 

"Chaewon is meeting with the council of lords now. She's trying to make a case for you and her to be together, but she can't do it on her own." 

"Won't I make it worse?" Olivia spoke softly. 

Yerim shook her head and smiled. "Never. If nothing else, you'll bring her hope and strength." 

Suddenly, Olivia pulled Yerim into a deep hug. Quickly Yerim hugged back, smiling slowly to herself. 

"Thank you, Yerim," she said, pulling away and looking over the fourteen year old. "You truly are the most loyal and faithful squire in the kingdom, perhaps even the world. No matter, you're at least the most loyal and faithful squire I've ever known." 

"Anything for the bravest knight in the kingdom," Yerim answered, smiling proudly. "Now, you must go quickly. The council may end and Chaewon could get in real trouble. The council meets at the room at the end of the hall from the third stairwell from the top. Good luck." 

"Good luck to you too," Olivia answered. "If everything goes well, you will have a place of honor like no other squire before." 

"And if things go poorly, I'll be by your side nonetheless. Now go!" 

With one last breathless thank you, Olivia ran up the stairs. 

~~~~~~~~~~

It was so noisy that when the doors to the Council of Lords burst open, almost nobody noticed, except for Chaewon. 

She looked almost to the point of tears but her whole face brightened when she saw her lover, although worry crossed her expression as well. 

"O-Olivia..." 

Olivia gave her a quick nod of understanding before turning her attention to the council. 

"Gentlemen!" She shouted, and finally, the crowd noticed her. 

"Here is the kidnapper! Arrest her!" The leader of the council shouted, guards rushing over to hold her back. But she pulled out her sword and the all backed away in fear. Olivia smirked, recognizing some of her old peers in the knighthood behind the armor. They must have remembered her and her skills with a blade. 

"Let me explain myself," she spoke, still holding her sword out so she wouldn't be surprised. "My name is Olivia Hye, and I spent my childhood as an orphan under the care of the castle, if you could call it that. I spent my youth training for the knighthood and was accepted when I was fifteen. This year, I was the true winner of the jousting competition, but the lords of the knighthood were upset a woman won the competition and kicked me out. I was so upset and I wanted to get revenge and make a statement. So I went to the princess's chambers, planning to kidnap Princess Yeojin. But Chaewon told me she wanted to go with me. Along the way, I ended up falling in love."

"Is this the truth, about the jousting competition?" The leader of the council asked, turning towards the lord of the knighthood of the kingdom. 

He held his head down. "Yes, sir." 

With shaking hands Olivia and Chaewon reached out for each other, tightening their grip. Alone amongst a sea of pushback, they had each other. 

Suddenly, the loud noise of a chair being pushed back startled the council. Lord Son was standing up, his chair thrown back, his face full of emotion. "H-Hyejoo?" 

"What?" Olivia asked, and the whole room looked around confused. 

"I..." he spoke, voice trembling. "I have reason to believe you are my daughter." 

A loud murmur went through the crowd and Chaewon turned to Olivia with open. But Olivia just glared. "How could that be?" 

"A-almost eighteen years ago to this day my wife gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. But in the process she perished, and in the confusion, the girl was lost. I-I never knew what happened to her, and I have spent the past seventeen years searching desperately for the little baby girl we named Hyejoo, just before she passed. My wife, whomst death took far too soon...you're her spitting image." 

Now, it was Olivia's turn for her jaw to drop, and the murmur of voices became ever louder. 

"Silence!" The leader of the council spoke, slamming his mallet on his desk. "My squire, please," he called, and a young uniformed boy came running over to him. "Bring in the record keeper." 

"Yes sir," the squire mumbled and ran off, chatter filling the room just again. 

Chaewon and Olivia were mostly quiet. 

"O-Olivia..." Chaewon started. "Oh my god," she mumbled. 

"Oh my god," Olivia answered. 

The squire soon returned followed by a small elderly man, carrying two armfuls of scrolls. These he dropped in front of the council leader. The room fell completely silent as he pored over the documents. 

Finally, he spoke. "It says here that Lord Son's wife did give birth to twins almost eighteen years ago today. She perished, and Lord Son took his son into his care, however, his daughter simply could not be found. In this records, only a few words down, is information on a baby girl, seemingly abandoned in the healing centers. A paper bearing the name 'Hyejoo' was set beside her, however, without a last name, so her parents could not be found. She was taken into the care of the castle and renamed 'Olivia Hye', maintaining part of her old name while giving her a fresh start as a ward of the castle." 

Olivia took in a deep breath and Chaewon realized it was true, and Olivia knew it too. Neither of them spoke, they didn't know what to say. 

Sir Son gave his newly found daughter a loving look before turning to the rest of the council. "Then my vote is set," he spoke firmly. "I believe Princess Chaewon should have every right to marry Hy- I mean Olivia. She is of noble ancestry, and based on her skills as a knighthood, she is a more competent general than anybody. And I also believe the old law should be repealed, for good." 

A hubbub of chatter rose up before a voice piped up. "If this is permitted, how would we obtain an heir?" A lord asked. 

"There is still Yeojin," another answered. 

"But if this law is struck down then might Yeojin be allowed to marry a woman as well? Or not marry at all? Then we may not have an heir at all." 

"Lady Hyejoo has a brother," yet another lord piped up, and Olivia shuddered at hearing herself be referred to as 'Lady Hyejoo'. "Moreover, I believe that Princess Chaewon, Lady Hyejoo, and Lord Son are correct. If our monarchs are unhappy, how can our kingdom be happy? I cast my vote alongside Lord Son's to change this law." 

Slowly but surely, the doubt and disagreement began to cease, and more and more of the lords came to Chaewon and Olivia's sides. Although it was a strange thing to adjust to, knowing Olivia had noble ancestry surely helped many of the lords see the other point of view. This all might not have worked without that ancestry. But, they were changing the law forever. So maybe if one of Chaewon's heirs wanted to marry someone of a lower class, or a woman, or not marry at all, she would have the right to do so. 

Finally, the leader slammed his mallet on the desk. "The lords have spoken, and we shall have a vote. All in favor of changing the law, allowing the princesses of the Kingdom of Eden to marry whoever they wish?" 

Slowly, hands began to raise throughout the hall until finally, every single hand was raised. The leader turned to the girls. 

"Well...that settles it. You two are free to marry as you wish." 

"Yes!" Chaewon cheered, unable to help herself, and smiles and claps filled the large room. Chaewon and Olivia turned to each other and hugged, more tightly than every before. 

Who could have known that their little journey through the wilderness of the kingdom could lead to something so wonderful?