SUMMER: 

“You and her majesty have been acting weird.” 

“We have not.” 

“Yes, you have. You have been on monotonous strolls every evening for days now, you address each other in a civilized manner, you don’t try to kill each other anymore. It’s all turned so boring.” 

Hyejin had decided to tag along for one of Byulyi’s weekly patrols around town. There were usually not many illegal things going on. The capital's army was extremely skillful at keeping the King’s peace and it showed. 

The new recruits were not looking so promising so far though. She just hoped the blame wouldn't fall on her completely. Yes, she might have been neglecting her trainer duties in order to spend more time with Yongsun but that was something that wasn't needed to be revealed. That was her main job after all, to be close to the princess so she could guard her. Or so she'd tell herself repeatedly.

Still, she had to make herself known around the place just in case something did happen. Not only known but respected as well. A few had already spoken to her in an apathetic manner. Turns out not many men liked a woman to have authority over them. Moonbyul enjoyed every second of it, truth be told.

It was usually quiet. 

Today was not the case.

“Did you get threatened with execution? Did she pull a knife on you? Did she try to set you on fire?” 

“No. No. And most definitely not. We’ve just sort of reached an agreement.” 

“An agreement on ending my only source of entertainment in this dull land?” 

“If you want to put it like that. Yes.” Hyejin looked like she wanted to cry. The blonde felt like she’d achieved something greater than becoming a General. “Her grace has just been a bit worried about her betrothal.” 

“And you’re supposed to make her feel better about that?” 

“More like I’m distracting her from the inevitable for a little while.” 

"Distracting ho-"

A shrieking scream had Byulyi’s hand fly to the hilt of her sword. It came from behind them, and so did the loud crashing of a window. A bloodied-looking man soon followed, landing near their feet.

“Don’t you ever dare coming back here again!” A woman yelled from inside the building. She appeared right behind the now broken glass to deliver her threat. As barely visible as the woman was, the power in her voice was still enough to frighten anyone who heard her, including the two women standing agape at the scene playing in front of them.

“Byul." Hyejin cracked up after the initial shock had passed. "I think I know the perfect place you can take her grace to distract her from the inevitable.” 

The sign above the sturdy door read WHEEIN’S FINE TAVERN.

▝▝▝

It had been difficult at first to try and get out of the palace walls. Not out of fear. The princess had been trying to get out and explore the town for ages now but had never been allowed to do so, not even with personal bodyguards and cavalry to her. 

No. It was Byulyi the one that seemed to be anxious about it. 

They would be escaping in the shadows after all, after everyone in the palace and their mothers had gone to sleep. Yongsun assured her that there was a secret passage that led to the outskirts, one that was only meant to be used during an imminent attack on the city so the royal family could flee.

I’m the one who is going to be fleeing the city if we’re caught, was the only thing running in Byul’s mind. 

Hyejin suggested it, but she could not truly put the full blame on her when she was the one who told Yongsun about the idea. Being completely honest to herself, she had never fully expected the princess to be so eager to visit a random pub in the middle of the local slums. 

Yong was a self-proclaimed rebel that wished to see the world, that Byulyi knew. She just never believed that by the world she meant a decaying tavern right next to a suspicious-looking building.

“I’ll be fine, Byul.” The royal had insisted in the early morning as they took their daily stroll near the ponds. 

The weather was starting to change. It was hot but there was also a cool breeze in the mornings that made Byulyi feel homesick. It was feeble, but her heart still swelled up. Not only in nostalgia, but in tenderness as the wind swept through Yongsun’s loose black hair, making it spiral elegantly for a few seconds only to have it then come down her shoulders with such delicacy that the bodyguard did not know if she was maybe only imagining it all. 

“It’s just for half the night anyhow.” Her princess's voice made her crash back to reality so hard that she felt her backside hurt a bit from the imaginary fall. “Besides, you’ll be there.” 

The sultriness in the words was hard to miss, hardly whimsical at all. Yet, it left as soon as it came, with Yongsun turning her attention to the hungry fish in the water that she was so delighted in feeding. 

Clearing , which was followed by an embarrassing cough that had Yongsun looking pleased enough, Byulyi spoke. “I’m a good warrior, yes. Nevertheless, there is not much I would be able to do if we were ambushed by ten men.” 

Yong shrugged at the potential risk. Unfazed and without fear. “You could bring a few soldiers along. I wouldn’t mind. There are some that happen to be more loyal to me than they are to my father.” 

The question the eldest woman had asked her nights ago at the bridge came to her all of the sudden. Then, she’d sworn fealty to the King. 

Now, seeing Yongsun crouched near the pond, laughing out loud at the colorful fish as water was being splashed on her face, her heart skipped a beat at the vows she’d taken when she became a soldier. 

The sun sets and my journey begins. May it not rise again until my blood has tinted the skies red anew. I shan’t marry, take lands, or win glory. My life is the realm’s and the realm is my life. 

The words for the oath she’d taken before venturing to the capital in the presence of her father echoed in her mind like a pulsing reminder of her promise. Mentally, Byulyi repeated them. 

“I’d much rather we go alone. The less attention we bring to ourselves the better.” 

“Not even Hyejin?” The princess asked sarcastically. 

To be mocked for the rest of my days? 

“Most certainly not Hyejin, no.” 

There was a high chance she would already be there anyway, if the loving expression she had on after the tavern’s owner almost killed a man was enough of a clue. The youngest had a likeness for danger, and the angered woman seemed dangerous enough.

Yongsun giggled again. It was starting to become Byulyi’s favorite sound, she decided. 

“It will be alright. I have not been outside the palace since I was a child. Nobody will recognize me.” 

I will.

“Well, I certainly hope you do.” 

Did I say that out loud?

Another laugh. A snort this time. “You did, stupid.” 

“Ugh. Stop doing that.” 

“It’s not my fault you’re so ridiculous.” Emptying the last bag of food into the pond, Yongsun got on her feet with a stupidly smug smile on her face. “Tonight after dinner?” 

▝▝▝

The secret passage did, in fact, exist. But its existence wasn’t really what surprised Moon Byulyi. It was how extensive and awfully old and dark it was. Had she not brought a torch, they would’ve certainly fallen to their deaths down the stony steps at least thrice already. 

Well, she would have. Yongsun would’ve rolled her eyes at her lack of gracefulness while murmuring I told you so. 

Her majesty was far from looking discontent, however. Even under the hood that Byulyi had given her so she could hide her face just in case any acquaintance happened to be near the streets, her gaze could catch a glimpse of an excited, toothy smile that motivated her push forward in their descent. 

A rat ran past them. Byulyi almost tripped. 

“We need more cats.” Yongsun reflected as two or three more rats appeared after the first. 

“What you need is to burn this place down. Come on.” 

Moonbyul took Yong’s wrist into her hand and advanced. She didn’t really know where the passage ended, or if there would be a door or just an opening waiting for them at the other side, but she needed something to distract herself from the rodents. 

Yong’s quickening pulse under her fingertips could’ve worked if she had not been experiencing the same thing. She blamed it on their circumstances. The dark, the wild animals, the probability of being caught. 

Nothing more to it than that. 

▝▝▝

An old door was what they’d found right at the end of the dim pathway. There were another set of stairs right after it, but Byulyi assumed that it would take them to the farmlands outside the capital. Instead, she opened a cellar hatch door covered by tall grass to reveal empty streets. 

With a victorious hoot, Byul helped the princess emerge from the hole in the dirt. “We made it.” 

The roads to their left were illuminated by torches, one after the other, as well as by the moonlight that never seemed to stop shining on them at nighttime. The sound of screaming and laughter came from down the street, and Byulyi knew they had arrived to the right location. 

To their right, wooden temples rose above the clean water of the river that went through and out of their town. A canoe full of newly captured fishes navigated in the distance and the singing from the man pushing it mixed with the loudness of those down the street. 

Yongsun seemed so enthralled by everything that she’d forgotten to put the hood back on. Her eyes gleamed, her jaw hung agape as she struggled to take it all in. Byulyi could scarcely believe what could be so astonished at the less fancy part of the city. 

If I’d been locked up inside the palace walls since I was little I would also be aghast. 

Well, if her mind put it like that. 

Properly taking Yongsun’s hand into hers now, interlacing their fingers perfectly, Byulyi smiled at the princess as her eyebrows rose in excitement. “Follow me.” 

She was glad that her armor had been left behind in her chambers. Leather and iron were heavy enough already to jog in. Running was even more difficult and tiring, to say the least. Her simple loose blue shirt, clean grey bajis, and pair of light boots were the perfect combination so she could drag Yongsun behind her. 

“Byul. Byul, wait.” The princess gasped after a while, forcing her bodyguard to stop in the middle of the road. The crowd had started to grow the more they went into the city, and some stared at them curiously. 

“You need more training.” Byul said before turning her back on Yong only to take the back of her thighs into her palms and gathering her weight against her back. “Now we can go.” 

“Byul-ah! If you drop me I’ll drown you in the river over there!” Yongsun yelled after attempting to stabilize herself with her arms tightly wrapped over Byulyi’s neck desperately. 

She won’t need to drown me if she ends up choking me before we even get there. 

Wheein’s Fine Tavern came into view after running for two or three streets. Moonbyul unceremoniously dropped the princess when they got close enough, half regretting her actions that were now being protested at by her back and arms. 

Maybe she would indeed show up to train the new recruits in the morning for a change.

The punch that Yongsun gave her right to her middle-back did not help. 

“That hurt.” The princess whined.

“Oh, you’re hurt?” 

“I didn’t ask you to carry me.” 

“Why, I didn’t ask you to eat so many fishcakes.” 

Another punch. Harder. 

She might’ve deserved that one. 

The door of the pub opened wide to reveal a large group of people dancing to music being played by a small troupe atop a stage in the middle of the building. A fat man welcomed them in, directing the couple to an empty table near the broken window that had some dried blood still clinging to it. 

“Extravagant.” Byulyi said, approving of it. If anything it was a clear warning on what could happen if anyone acted like an .

A buff, half-drunk man was passed out on what would have to be Yongsun’s chair. The princess eyed him indignantly, as if by it he’d get up and leave. 

Chuckling, Moonbyul got up from the only chair left for that table and offered it to Yongsun by jumping and sitting on the table instead. 

“You’re going to get us kicked out.” The eldest complained but still took the offered seat. 

The table was old and she hoped that it would not break under her weight. Still, she put on a brave face for the sake of Yongsun’s enjoyment for the night. 

“You’re going to get us kicked up if you order wine. Get soju instead. Or ale.” 

“My system is not really that good with alcohol.” 

“Now you’re really going to get us kicked out. Stop that.” 

If looks could kill, Byulyi was sure that Yongsun’s glare would have her a hundred feet under the ground already. She felt the tiniest bit afraid, quite honestly. 

“Well, I can’t call you your highness out here. Or your real name either.” 

“Come up with something a bit respectful at least.” The way the other woman could swiftly go from murderous to a pouty mess made Byulyi’s stomach twist and tickle. She blamed it on hunger.

“Ddun.” She said before she could think twice about it. It just felt logical. It felt right. It felt-

“That’s dumb.” 

“You’re dumb.” Byul mumbled loud enough for Yong to hear. 

She did, and the lethal stare was back. 

There was a knife too close to Yongsun’s hand for Byul’s comfort. Whether she knew how to use one or not, Byul preferred not to take any chances. 

Her little finger inched closer to it, but so did a brown-haired woman with a round face and big eyes. The height made Byulyi remember her right away as the one that had kicked that drunk man’s the other day. Indeed terrifying.

“What can I get you two?” 

“We-” 

“Is there any old, fine wine in the cellar by any given chance, dear?” 

Moon Byulyi did everything in her power not to facepalm herself right there. Really, she did. 

“Do you want to get kicked out?” The confused-looking woman asked.

“Just two glasses of ale, please. Don’t listen to her. She makes bad jokes all the time. I can’t really take my sister anywhere without having her shame the family’s name.” 

“I swear I’m-” Yongsun whispered threateningly. 

“Also, I’m sure you’re as lovely as you look. Could you please get us another chair? I’m afraid this drunkard denied a pretty lady like myself a place to sit.” 

The woman didn’t do much to try to hide her blushing cheeks away from Byulyi. With a giggle, she pushed her softly with a hand, and then pushed the sleeping drunk man more harshly so he ended up falling face-first onto the floor. 

“There you go.” She smiled sweetly, offering the chair to the blonde.

“You have my gratitude, my lady.” 

“I’m no lady.” She said, looking down to her feet. “My name is Jung Wheein. I’m the owner of this tavern.” 

“The owner?” Yongsun asked in surprise. It was then that Wheein’s eyes landed on her for the first time since the wine fiasco. 

“Jung Wheein.” The bodyguard repeated the name to herself, gazing around at the inn they were in. There was a second floor right above them, wooden railings decorated with vines and flowers that seemed to have died a while ago. 

Two chandeliers hung from the ceiling, illuminating the entire building. The kitchens looked busy enough and full of just the right kind of alcohol anyone would expect outside the highborn areas. Delicious still, even better than the wine some lords and ladies boasted about. 

The music was loud, the dancing and shouting was even louder, and everyone seemed to be loving it a little bit too much. Even Yongsun, to her surprise. She looked like a child almost, someone who had never seen the world first discover there was an ocean or land beyond the mountains. 

It was endearing. 

With a smile, Byulyi continued. “I’ll make sure to memorize that name. There is someone that might like to know it.” 

Wheein didn’t push for more information regarding who that person might be. Byul was thankful for it, she wasn’t yet quite ready to explain to Yongsun that her lady-in-waiting had developed a crush on a lowborn owner for a tavern in the slums. 

No, that would be a conversation for some other time. Maybe while she’s eating. It would be hilarious to see her choke on some asparagus. 

For now though, the princess only examined her curiously. Her amazement for the new world around her had faded and now, her bodyguard seemed to be of more importance. 

“What?” Byulyi asked as she chewed on some of the bread-rolls that Wheein left on the table before leaving.