Taeyeon knew that she needed to think of an escape plan quickly.

Her life depends on it.

After the bath, she was forced to wear a bright pink hanbok. It has been a very long time since she wore silk. She used to have designers coming in and out of the house, designing beautiful hanboks for her and making sure that she looks presentable to the guests every single day.

Her mother was very strict with her daughter’s appearance and would consult professionals on how to take care of her daughter’s beauty. She even sent her to etiquette classes every weekend to make sure that her daughter will be the perfect wife for some noble gentleman one day.

Taeyeon gently ran her fingers across the light material, missing the smooth texture that touches her bare skin. As much as she misses the life of a noble lady, she knew that the longer she stays, the harder it will be for her to run away.

The maids started to her out of the room, both of them walking beside each side of her to make sure that she doesn't try to run away. Glancing around her, Taeyeon noticed that there were guards at every corner. She would be captured in no time if she tries to run away now.

“Where are you taking me? She asked again.

“Your room, agassi,” the maids finally replied to her.

“I’m just wondering, who ordered you to do this?”

The palace maids simply smiled at her in response. Taeyeon sighed, she is starting to get annoyed by how everyone ignores her when she asks the important questions, which reminded her of a certain man she just separated from a while ago.

Maybe the palace maids have no idea who is the one who was giving the orders. So Taeyeon looked at the older woman that was walking in front of them, the one who had forcefully dragged her off her litter and slapped her across the face.

Who the heck has this much influence?

Oh no, are they marrying me off to the Prince? Or worse, become a concubine of the King?

As they walked, Taeyeon tried to memorise which corner they turned into and which path they took so that she could escape quicker later. The older woman finally stopped walking when they reached a room. Taeyeon glanced around the room, it looked like it was specifically prepared for her. They already knew of her arrival beforehand.

“Don’t even think about escaping this place,” the older woman said as if she had read her mind. “His excellency had strict orders for us to keep you in here.”

His excellency?

The older woman then turned around to leave while the other two palace maids respectfully bowed down at her before leaving as well. Once the doors were closed, Taeyeon quickly checked the room for any secret doors or windows which she can use to escape the room.

She then noticed the windows and tried to open them, but they wouldn’t budge. Whoever kept her in here knew that she would try to make her escape.

“Ugh,” she grunted in frustration when she failed to pry open the window. When she heard the doors open behind her, she quickly sprang away from the window and acted like she wasn’t trying to escape a second ago.

“Orabeoni?”

She was surprised to see her eldest brother, Kim Min Jun. But immediately frowned when she realized what was happening.

“You were the one who kept me in here. I should have known.”

Kim Min Jung smirked and replied, “I see you were trying to escape. I already know all of your tricks, you can’t fool me.”

“Why have you brought me to the palace? I thought you hated me,” Taeyeon taunted. “Need my help on how to be a better tax minister? Since father did say that I am more intelligent than you.”

Her brother just let out a laugh which sounded like an evil cackle as he walked further into the room and leaned against the cupboard in the middle of the room. “I thought you were smart enough to figure it out yourself. You are here to marry Prince Byun Baekjung, the second son of the King of Joseon.”

“I didn’t consent to this marriage.”

“Who cares if you consented to this or not? You should be grateful that a Prince is willing to marry you.”

Taeyeon glared at her brother. Her eldest brother had always been despicable, although they grew up together, her brother belittled her and discriminated against her just because she was born a girl ever since they were young. He was jealous of her when she was also praised by her father for how intelligent she is when it comes to literature although she didn’t receive the same high quality education as her brother did.

“So now you are using your sister to increase your relations with the Royal family, because you couldn’t do it with your own ability,” she mocked. “That’s just low, even for you.”

He scowled at her insulting assumption and said, “When you ran away, I didn’t come to look for you, did I? I let you enjoy your freedom while you can. Now, you have to fulfil your responsibility as the only daughter of the Kim family by marrying the Prince. That is what you are here to do.”

“No. Why can’t you just let me be?”

“Oh please,” he huffed. “Quit acting like you didn’t know that we were going to marry you one day for political gain. You were born to do that. Your only goal in life should be marrying someone influential to help the family.”

“Well, that isn’t my goal.”

“Every young noble lady dreams of marrying the Prince, and here you are, complaining instead of being grateful!”

“I don’t care. I will not marry the Prince.”

“It doesn’t matter what you think,” he sneered as he spun around to leave. “Don’t even think about escaping, this place is surrounded by my guards.”

***

The next morning, the Crown Prince decided to take his morning walk around the palace. Eunuch Nam and the other servants from his quarters followed behind him. As the Crown Prince strolled past the river, he made an abrupt stop in the middle of the bridge, causing his subjects to stop walking behind him.

Eunuch Nam followed his highness’ gaze towards the river, wondering what made the Crown Prince stop in his tracks so suddenly.

“Your highness? Is there something you need?”

But his question was drowned out by a loud voice from the opposite side of the river. The Crown Prince looked up to see Prince Jung walking towards him with a huge smile on his face.

He showed up just as I was thinking about how to summon him here.

“Hyung, I am so sorry that I wasn’t able to visit you yesterday. I was so worried when you didn’t come back!” exclaimed Prince Jung. “I heard you were hurt.”

“Thank you, for worrying about me,” Baekhyun said nonchalantly. “I almost thought that you would be furious that I came back alive. Because I am an obstacle to your goal.”

“What? No! How could I think that?” Prince Jung chuckled, giving the Crown Prince a pat on the arm. “Besides, I don’t have the time to think about that. I am getting married.”

The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow, surprised by the news.

Who would marry this disgusting excuse of a human being?

“I know it was sudden. But it’s a marriage that has been planned since last year.”

“Last year?” Baekhyun murmured to himself.

“Well, let’s just say the bride went missing for a while. But now that she’s back, the marriage will finally be held in a few days.”

“Congrats.”

Baekhyun faked a smile at him before walking away from the conversation, not wanting to waste his time talking to Prince Jung. His half-brother has a bad reputation around women in the palace, people would often gossip about how he is a disgrace to the Royal family.

Rumour has it that Prince Jung would peek through peep holes he poked through the doors to spy on the palace maids when they were getting changed. He also ually harassed them behind closed doors as he knows that he won’t be punished or called out for his behaviour because he is a Prince.

“Your highness, if Prince Jung gets married first and his wife gives birth to a son, your position could be threatened,” advised Eunuch Nam.

“What’s the worry? The selection process of the Crown Princess is starting soon,” Baekhyun replied. “And Prince Jung isn’t capable of leading, the King wouldn’t pick him just because he has an heir.”

***

Taeyeon didn’t sleep all night, trying to think up a brilliant plan that could help her escape the palace. Her brother kept the room secured, all exits from the room are heavily guarded. The guards would switch shifts when the sun rises and another group of guards would stand in when the sun sets.

The only people that stayed in the room with her were the two palace maids who escorted her to her room earlier. But whenever Taeyeon tried to start a conversation with them, they simply smiled and kept their lips sealed in return.

“Ugh, I’m so bored,” she groaned, lying on the bed and outstretching her arms over the edges of the bed. “I am getting ignored all day. First that handsome jerk, then the guards and now you two,” she ranted.

She glanced at the two maids that stood still beside the door, not reacting to her complaint at all. She then flipped over and laid flat on her stomach, fluttering her legs behind her as she rested her chin on her palms.

“Have you two ever met a man who tries to kill you the first time you two meet?” she asked them. She smiled when she noticed their eyes slowly averting to the ground, probably interested in hearing her story. “And it’s so weird, I feel weirdly attracted to him. Maybe it’s because I don’t interact with a lot of men in my life, that’s probably why.”

She laughed and rolled off the bed, walking towards the table to grab a snack before stopping in front of one of the maids. “You must think there’s something wrong with my head. So imagine, me, this crazy lady, marrying your precious Prince? You wouldn’t want that.”

She spun around to face the other maid when she saw the maid trying to suppress the smile on her face.

“You seem to know a lot about the Prince, tell me about him. What is he like?”

The maid hesitated before opening . “His excellency is… is handsome.”

“Handsome? He must be popular with the ladies then,” Taeyeon trailed off, casually shoving the mini bun into . “He wouldn’t want me as a bride, I am really really possessive and wouldn’t be willing to share my man with other girls.”

The other maid giggled and said, “His excellency would like you.”

Taeyeon frowned and replied, “But too bad, I like someone else.”

“My lady, you must be careful, you must hide your feelings for another man from his excellency. His excellency is also… a violent man,” the maid advised.

Taeyeon heaved a sigh as she spun around to face the maid who advised her. “But I cannot ignore my feelings for another man, what can I do? If only I can avoid this marriage to avoid being punished for having feelings for another man.”

The maids looked at Taeyeon with pity, and Taeyeon knew that her plan was working, so she continued the act.

“Is it a crime to fall in love? I didn’t mean to fall for him. Aigoo, I am going to live miserably for the rest of my life,” she complained, grabbing one of the maids’ hands and looking up at her pleadingly. “Can you grant me a wish?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Help me escape,” she whispered. The maid pulled back her hands in shock and shook her head aggressively. “Unnie, you two are my only hope. I don’t want to be the wife of Prince Jung for the rest of my life, like you said earlier, he’s a violent man. And my heart belongs to someone else.”

“I wish I could help you, but this room is heavily guarded,” the maid said, diverting her eyes away from her.

“Trust me, I have a plan,” she whispered, grabbing the other girl and pulling her closer to the circle. “If you two help me, I will be eternally grateful.”

***

“Your highness, perhaps you should rest for today. You are still recovering from the injury,” Eunuch Nam advised, looking at the Crown Prince with full of concern as he watched the Crown Prince train with Soo.

The Crown Prince simply ignored Eunuch Nam’s advice as he bent down to grab his sword that had fallen out of his grasp when Soo disarmed him with his sword.

“Your highness, it is getting late, you should rest,” Soo added, glancing at the Sun that was setting down.

“No. I have grown weak ever since hyung’s death,” Baekhyun grunted. The Crown Prince is a stubborn man, ever since he was a kid, he had always overworked himself so that he could achieve perfection, and while the King admired that quality his son has, the Crown Prince’s servants are always concerned for his health because of it. “Let’s continue.”

“Your highness,” Eunuch Nam pleaded. “Please.”

The Crown Prince continued to train by himself when Soo stopped cooperating. Eunuch Nam, Soo and all of the servants from the Crown Prince’s quarters stood beside the training field until the sky started to turn dark, waiting for his highness to finally take a break from training.

When the Crown Prince didn’t show any signs of taking a break, Soo decided to interrupt and persuade the Crown Prince again.

“All of you can just leave. I can do fine on my own,” Baekhyun snapped. “This is an order,” he added when Eunuch Nam and the others remained still. His stern tone left no room for further arguments.

Soo heaved a sigh before glancing at Eunuch Nam. He then nodded towards Eunuch Nam and led everyone away from the field, leaving the Crown Prince alone.

The Crown Prince tried out different combos of strikes with his sword and practiced his newly-acquired skills with a few straw dummies. He fought until his hands gave up on him and he lost his grip on the handle.
Sitting on the ground to take a short break, he leaned backwards and looked up at the night sky. It was such a comforting sight to see the stars scattered like snow-flakes in the night. Baekhyun closed his eyes and breathed in the cold night air, a satisfied smile appeared across his lips.

He opened his eyes when he heard faint footsteps in the darkness and a black figure walking between the pillars. He slowly reached over to grab his sword, trying hard to not make a single sound as he crawled towards the table.

Peeking from behind the table, he noticed that black figure suspiciously hiding behind the pillars as they continue to make their way to the other end. His eyes traced on the black figure and he noticed that they were wearing a hanbok, so it must be a girl.

He refused to let down his guard as he quietly stood up from behind the table and approached the suspicious girl. She was so distracted in hiding herself that she didn’t notice him coming from behind at all. When he was finally close enough, he grabbed her from behind and placed the blade of his sword under her chin.

“Tell me what you are doing and who sent you here.”

“I was hungry, so I left the dorm to look for something to eat,” she replied, her voice slightly shivering, scared for her life.

He frowned, instantly recognizing her voice. He drew back his sword and spun her around to face him. Her face was lit by the moonlight shone from the full moon in the sky, and he was surprised to see her of all people in the palace.

“You?”