It was a debutante ceremony of the daughter of Duke Park, named Young Miss Park Jinhee. A friend of Bada, invited Bada and Bitna to the debutante ceremony despite Bada was will not being at the age of social debutante. The ceremony was majestic and glamorous, as aspected from the family who became the kingdom's chancellor for decades.  "Young Miss Kang, I'm glad that you came to our party." Jinhee cheered when Bada greeted her. 

Bada was dressed in a bright dark purple dress that was decorated with beautiful red ruby while her hair was wrapped with a long chain of shiny pearls. Jinhee smiled, looking at her best friend's dress; as usual, Bada will be in the most overwhelming dress among the nobles. Bitna's dress was more sparkly and bright compared to Bada's. "It's my mother's choice." Bada sighed, causes Jinhee to laugh, but her laughter was restrained compared to her usual laughter whenever they met in private. 

"I need to laugh like this. Everybody is watching me." Jinhee added at the end of her laughter that was covered with her hand. Bada kept her face formal and nodded as she was aware of all the eyes that focused on her when she walked into the hall. "Did you brought your stepsister with you?" Jinhee asked, glancing around the hall and could not see the real daughter of Marquess Lee. Bada just shook her head. Aera was never the kind that loves to attend a socializing party or debutante event. She preferred to be alone at home, talking with her horse and bird or singing in the house while doing chores. 

"Why is everybody was looking at me?" Bada opened her fan and covered half of her face as the gaze from other people in the hall causes her stomach to twist in knots.  Jinhee took a few steps closer to her and dragged her somewhere to a private balcony. Bada noticed it since she walked into the hall; everyone in the hall was actually looking at her and whispering something among themselves. When Bada and Bitna went separate ways, Bada was assured that they were gossiping about her. 

"Everyone knew what happened between you and the crown prince," Jinhee whispered. "What? What happened between the prince and me?" Bada frowned, listening to her words. 

"Some people witnessed that your throat was almost being cut by Duke Jeon because you keep on pestering the prince." Jinhee words were cut short as Young Master Park Jimin appeared at the balcony. "Jinhee, it will be better if you stop socializing with one that does not befit to our title." Jimin words cut sharper than a knife causes Bada to clench her fist tightly. She could not act according to her emotions because Duke Park is one of the most powerful families after the imperial family, and Jimin was Teahyung's close friend. "But brother-" Jimin lifted his hand that was covered in gloves and pointed at the door to the hall. Without arguing with her brother, Jinhee walked away from Bada and went into the hall. 

"I don't think someone like you belong to this party," Jimin said as he walked closer to the girl. "Your family officially invited me," Bada replied, keeping her head low and looking at the shining shoe belongs to Park Jimin that stepping closer towards her. "No, no. You are mistaken. We invited the daughter of Marquess Lee, not the stepdaughter." Bada lifted her head, only to see the man was smirking while looking down at her. "Did you think putting all the jewellery onto your body like a Christmas tree will make you look noble?" He said in his mischievous voice. "I should go inside. Nice meeting you, Sir." She bowed her head and intended to leave the space. 

But the male seems to have found pleasure in insulting her. "Oh, no. I'm not finished yet." Jimin obstructed her way with his body and continue speaking. "Your mother is a very successful woman with her beautiful facial feature. I wonder, are you really her daughter?" Jimin asked, raising one of his brows while questioning the girl. Bada, who was running out of her patients, took a step back and glared at the man. "Don't you think that your words are a little bit too much?" 

"Nope. A commoner pretending to be parts of the nobles is a little too much for me." He added. "Yeah! I am a commoner! But one fine day, you will kneel when you see me. I'll be an empress, and people like you will be dead." Bada stated coldly with her stern voice before pushing the man away from blocking her way.

"Huh?" A voice came from the balcony's door; Taehyung was slowly walking towards the balcony causes Bada to be flustered, looking at the man in front of her who was glaring at her as if he could kill her with his glare. "You? Empress?" Taehyung tilted his head and looked at the girl with his sharp gaze.  "My prince, how long have you been here?" Bada smiled while her heart was panicking. She did not expect that the crown prince to be there. 

"Now I know why did you become so nice to me all this while." The prince's face was deadly serious causes Bada to shook her head slowly. "Your majesty, I think you misunderstood my intention." She calmly replied, placing a nice smile on her face, hoping that she could ease his anger. "Sir Jimin, I am uncomfortable with this guest of yours. Please remove her from this banquet." Taehyung said while standing straight, looking at the young girl who was looking at him with a questioning look. 

A few guards came to the balcony in less than a minute trying to Bada out of the banquet. "I understood your request. Don't touch me." She dodged her arm from being touched by the guard. "Your highness, may we meet again in the future." She greeted before taking a few steps, but her back stumbled against someone. She turned her head to look at someone she stumbled upon, but she could read the atmosphere was getting tense more than a few seconds ago. Hence, without apologising, she walked out from the balcony in her elegant stance. 

"She's a little bit lacking in manner." Duke Jeon hissed, dusting the front part of his uniform that slightly touched the girl's back. "Yeah, everything about her real personality started showing after my graduation celebration. She is totally different than Aera." Taehyung said, leaning at the balcony's railing watching the girl that they were talking about walking out from the mansion and waiting for her carriage to pick her up. Duke Jeon standing straight beside the crown prince, staring at the person who the prince was talking about. Jimin excused himself as someone else was calling for him. 

"How did she heal her wound so fast?" Taehyung stated to himself, looking at the girl. Her hands look normal, as if she was never injured. Jungkook paid extra attention to the small hand that was clutching on the skirt of her dress. The incident was almost two ago, and he was pretty sure that she grabs his sword pretty hard with her hand. 

"Ah, how nice to see you again." Aera giggled, remembering her words to the crown prince. They met each other in secret while riding the horse in the woods. They made a promise to see each other every once a week. She knew that she was not supposed to even talk to the crown prince. She did not even make her social debutante yet. Hence she cannot be seen walking alone with a man unless the man officially courted her. "What are you doing here?" Bada yelled, seeing her little sister sitting on her favourite reading bench. Aera stood up from the bench and bowed her head, scared of the elder sister anger. 

"I just want to look at the scenery from this tower." The younger one replied. Bada gritted her teeth, "I never allowed you to come here." She hissed in anger, stepping closer to the younger one. Aera broke into a cold sweat, thinking about the right reply. "But this is my father's house." She replied. Bada tilted her head, looking at the younger girl. 

"Are you saying that I don't belong to this house?" Bada's lip turned into a smirk, amused with the reply. "That is not what I mean. What I want to say is this is my house." Aera added quickly. "So, this is not my house?" Bada probed more as her anger keeps on raising. Aera's remained silent as she ran out of the right answer to all of the elder sister's questions. 

"Ack!" Aera fell on the floor, wiping the blood that was dripping from the side of . Bada slapped her face really hard with just one move, and she did not even lift her hand high to make a big impact on the flawless face she slapped. "Let me make this clear. This house already becomes my family's house. Your father left us with nothing but useless antiques in the attic. Who do you think that keep this household relevant among the nobles and did not go bankrupt?" Bada stated and pushed the girl out from her space. "People likes you... irritates me." Bada glared at the girl before sitting on her bench to read her book.  

1 year later,

"Mother!!! We got an invitation to the royal ball!  The prince is looking for a wife candidate!" Bitna screamed, loud enough to chase all the birds away from the mansion. Madam Kang walks out of her reading room and looks at her daughter. "I knew about it already. I've customized your dress." The mother smiled, looking at her excited daughter. Bada, who was sitting at the foyer bench, just look at her mother and sister without any expressions. 

"Bada! This is your chance. You used to be in a really good relationship with the prince." "Ouch!" Aera stumbled on her own steps as soon as Bitna ended her sentence. Bada shook her head in annoyance. "I am not going to the ball. Didn't you heard that the crown prince actually almost cut my throat?" Bada asked her sister and mother. She was a fool to be in love with the prince. She was a fool for believing that her fate would change once her mother married the Marquess. She was a fool for thinking that someone like her will be able to walk side by side with the crown prince. Her birth father even abandoned them for another family. 

"What exactly will change if we go to the ball?" Bada walked away from the foyer after asking in sarcasm. Her arm was snatched hard by her mother, who was glaring at her in anger. "You should find a nobleman to court you!" The mother spatted before disappearing back into her reading room. Bada sighed; she knew how miserable her mother had already become. She no longer smiles, and only bitter words came out of . 

"What should I wear to the ball?" Aera whispered to herself before running away as she knew her voice reached the twins. "Bada, let's find a decent man for ourselves and get married right away." Bitna took hold of her sister's hand and walk with her. She caresses the hand that belongs to the elder one. It was rough and full of scars. "Is there any nobleman who will accept a lady with this kind of hand?" Bada asked, walking in silence and just enjoying the silent walk with her sister. 

"We did not even have a debutante party. How do noblemen going to know us?" Bitna asked, but actually, she was talking to herself. Bitna might look shallow, but she was smart. She knew exactly why her mother did not make a debutante party for them. They are running out of the fund to support the Marquess household, some of their maids and stable keeper were fired, and it was only the tips of the iceberg. Marquess Lee had a debt with some business from the north that was worth a million gold coins.

"It was about time for this family to be broke," Bada said, walking with Bitna into the dark forest. Both of them were fearless, and they used to walk in the woods for hours just to find food and hunt for meat. They used to be foragers in the forest. Bada sighed; it never crosses her mind that her life will be back to square one. After a few hours of walking into the woods, both of them heard the sound of a falling object. "Did you hear that?" Bada asked, and Bitna nodded her head. Both of them slowly took a few steps forwards to take a look at the falling object. 

It turned out to be a messenger bird with a roll of paper tied to its leg. However, the bird is injured. "How did you broke your wings?" Bada sighed and looked at her sister. Bitna raised her shoulder, "Let's not change its fate Bada. Leave the bird somewhere safe. We already had a long walk; let's go home." Bitna pulled her sister to walk away from the birds. Bitna shook her head, looking at her sister, who was staring at the little bird. She knew exactly what was on her older sister mind. "No, no. We are too deep in the woods." She hissed, confronting her older sister. 

"Let me heal it first." Bada turned her head, looking at her sister. "Are you insane? Kang Bada, mom, forbid us to use these tricks unless it's for family. We don't know the effect on you!" She added while looking around her surrounding.  This will make things go bad if anyone saw this. Bada placed her hands around the little bird for a few minutes. Bitna just shook her head while a shining yellow light emitted on the place that Bada touched. "Ouch!" Bada yelped in pain after she healed the bird. The bird now was able to move its wing and flew away. 

"See!! I've warned you!" Bitna screamed at her sister, looking at her sister arm that was twisted like the bird's wing earlier before she healed it. Bitna gritted her teeth in anger before assisting her sister to stand up. "You brought this to yourself," Bitna grunted in anger and helped her sister walked back to the property. "Let's tell mother that I broke my hand. Then, I will not go to the royal ball." Bada smiled like an insane person as if her twisted arm did not cause any pain at all. That was the rule for a healer. Nothing comes free. If she heals one creature, the injury will be transferred to her. Her mother had the same power as her. Bitna did not have the exact power, but she was gifted with a really good medicinal skill. 

Their steps were halted when they encountered a man after a few minutes walking back from rescuing a poor bird. Bitna gasped to look at him up front, while Bada did not even flinch when he came closer towards them. "What are you doing here?" Duke Jeon asked, crossing his arm while looking at the twins. "We- we, I- I actually... Uhm, " Bitna stammered on her words while looking around where she saw a few royal guards were walking towards the Duke. "Well, if you may excuse us. We are heading back to our property." Bada said monotonously and walked past the Duke. Bitna bowed her head to the Duke and ran after her sister. 

"Did I allowed you to walk past me?" The other royal guard was standing in front of them, not allowing them to pass through the line. "We should really go. My sister is injured." Bitna pleaded to the duke, but Bada pulled her sleeves to stop from talking. Duke Jeon walked closer to the woman who refused to lift up her face. "May I ask how did you hurt your arm?" He asked, but Bada just remained silent. She refused to talk to someone who almost killed her.

"Duke Jeon! We found the bird!" A royal guard came with a birdcage in his arm. Bitna sighed, looking at the bird inside the birdcage. It was the bird that Bada saved earlier. "Is it injured?" The duke turned his head to look at the man who brought the birdcage. "No, sir. It is not injured." The man replied. The bird chirped when it saw Bada and Bitna. Royal birds rarely make any sounds because they needed to complete their job sending letters in silence. "This bird is chirping. Maybe we should ask his majesty to exterminate it." Duke Jeon sighed, looking at the bird. Probably the bird already was no good to the royal family.  "The bird recognize me. I fed it; that was why it chirped." Bada interrupted the Duke from staring at the bird for too long. 

"Uh! Why did you feed a royal bird?" He raised his brow. He had enough of this woman in front of him. The woman keeps making him do more works. "Jungkook!!! Where is the bird?" A hoarse voice was heard yelling from afar. Man in a black cloak was riding his black horse towards the group of royal guards. Bada knew who was riding the horse as soon as she saw his shadow. It was none other than the crown prince. "Someone had been feeding it. That was why the letter was late." Jungkook stated after a brief bow to the crown prince. The crown prince turned his head, looking at the two women who were standing beside the duke. 

"Oh Lord, why do you keep trying to be in the middle of everything?" Taehyung hopped off his horse, crossing his arm while glaring at Bada. Bada bowed her head as a gesture of respect to the crown prince. "Young Miss Kang Bada, what exactly that you desire from me?" the prince tilted his head, looking at the lady. After being silent for a few minutes, she stated, "Your highness, please let me through. I just need to go home." She replied, as cold sweats forming on her forehead. Her pain threshold had a limit; she needed to see her mother so she could be healed. Her weak voice causes the duke to smirk, where is the arrogant lady who refuses to talk to him politely. "Please, your highness. We needed to go home right now." Bitna added. "My sister, she's not feeling well. She's injured." Bitna looks at the prince, waiting for his approval to let them pass. Suddenly, Max, the black horse that belongs to the prince, walked closer toward Bada and nudged her shoulder. Bada nodded her head and placed her uninjured hand on its head. "Max, how are-" She fell down on the ground as she loses her consciousness, crashing her head on some random tree roots.

"I told you that we need to go!!" Bitna yelled in anger at the crown prince. She picked up the unconscious sister and carrying her unconscious sister on her back. Max, the horse, neighed and nudged Bitna. "It's alright, Max. Go back to your master." Bitna said, walking away from the group of royal guards and the crown prince. "How did she know Max?" Duke Jeon asked, looking at the crown prince. "I'm not sure. Taehyung shook his head, probably during his training in the forest behind the academy. They met each other pretty often there.