The old tower near the south gate still kept the deep secrets of a long-forgotten ancient library. Nobody ever visited, nobody even knew it was still standing. Whenever Yongsun felt like escaping, at least for a few hours, that was the place she ran to. Ever since she was a child the old tower had provided her with solitude and a weird sense of protection. 

Years had passed and only she had ever known about it, until now. Now that Moon Byulyi was comfortably lying on a long chair, skimming through one of the abandoned books lying on a decaying table. One single candle would cast some light to the right side of her face, the other half hidden in the darkness that engulfed them.

It made for a pretty sight, Yong determined, albeit in silence as to not hurt her pride. For almost a year she had known Byulyi, but all she had ever seen from her bodyguard was either utter silliness or care. Never did she really think she’d live to see her angry. Frustrated. Jealous? 

They had managed to escape again, but barely so. It was starting to get more difficult to avoid her responsibilities towards her betrothed, even more so now that her father had taken notice. Three knights he had sent in the afternoon to her to the gardens where her betrothed would be waiting. She’d never seen Byulyi think faster. She’d never ever seen Byulyi jump from a balcony either, beckoning for her to follow right after. 

She’d scraped her knee, but as soon as Yongsun guided the blonde to her usual hiding place, the wound had been carefully tended to. Now it was covered in some torn cloth that came from Byulyi’s long-sleeved red shirt. 

The stinging that was still kind of present was quickly being drowned by a tingling sensation that Byul’s lips had left behind after she sweetly kissed the covered bruise as a final touch to her ministrations.

If the times were different, Yongsun would throw a book right to her face for being so corny, but now, with Byulyi’s sweet side covered in darkness and her sullen side the only illuminated by the poor light, she did not dare. 

The princess sat cross-legged on the floor. It was dusty, but there were cushions around that helped with the freezing cold that winter brought upon the kingdom. If she were covered in more fur, she wouldn’t be able to walk. 

The blonde looked as relaxed as her current state of mind allowed her to be, in nothing but her usual leather armor, with the only addition of a pair of black gloves and wool boots. Northerners might perish under the southern sun, but thrived in the snow. 

Yongsun found it endearing, especially with Byulyi’s nose and cheeks tinted adorably in a bright crimson color, some snowflakes still clinging to her long eyelashes for dear life. 

To be able to behold that sight for most of the year, the princess thought, would be a blessing. 

“Are you dying?” 

“Huh?” 

Byul’s voice took her out of her trance immediately. The woman in the chair was staring at her curiously, the sulkiness still present on her features. The book had been long discarded aside, the candle almost out. 

Damn it, she’d lost track of time again.

“You have not blinked in a while. I thought maybe you had died and was just frozen in place.” 

“And you decided to ask until now?” Okay, maybe she wasn’t that adorable. 

Moon Byulyi only shrugged, taking another old book in hand to inspect it. The melodrama of it all was starting to get on Yong’s nerves. It had been cute at first, but now, with her bodyguard brooding like a child with zero acknowledgement towards her, it was maddening. 

“Are you?” She asked back in defiance, chin propped up.

“What?” 

“Are you dying?” 

“What kind of dumb question is that?” Byulyi replied, not looking up from the item she was holding. 

Okay, now Yongsun had gone from daydreaming to annoyed. It was quite something that nobody but Byulyi managed to make her go through that upheaval of emotions in such a short time-span. 

The book was gone before Byul knew it, thrown somewhere to the back of the library. Not only had it disappeared, but now Yongsun was also facing her closely, hands propped on each side of the chair, trapping her completely. 

“Stop playing stupid and tell me what’s going on with you.” 

“Yong, will you stop-” One small movement and she was quickly pushed back onto the chair. Gods, how she wishes the black-haired woman wasn’t the princess just so she could throw something at her in this very moment. “What?”

“We got away, Byul-ah. We can stay here until after dinner. They won’t find us.” 

“Yes.” The bodyguard mused, eyes focusing on everything but Yongsun’s. “Yes, but we can’t stay here forever, can we? We won’t be able to get away forever.”

“I thought you didn’t care-”

“I do.” Stare straight into Yong’s eyes now. Finally. Oh, how much she’d missed them. “I do care. He’s not right for you.” 

And you are?

“Do you think I am not aware of that, Byul-ah? What would you have me do differently?”

She waited. 

She hoped.

Let’s runaway together. 

With a heavy sigh, eyes averting, Byul croaked, “Nothing.”

 ▝▝▝ 

Lying wasn’t good for the soul and Moon Byuli knew it. It wasn’t good for anything at all, especially if the other person knew you were lying. And oh, Yongsun does know. Yongsun has her in the palm of her hand, all of her layers out for nobody but her to know them. 

Yongsun knows when Byulyi is lying. 

Yongsun knows when Byulyi doesn’t push herself far enough to do something she knows she can do. 

And Byulyi doesn’t know which of the two angers Yongsun more. 

Both, she’d guess, if the princess not opening the door for her that morning was enough of a hint. 

“You’re an idiot, I hope you know that.” 

“I concur.” 

Hyejin and Wheein were no help at all, to make things worse. But Hyejin did owe her some favors; favors that were about to be paid as a necklace made out of gold with inserted diamonds was set on the table by the youngest of the three. 

“I do know that.” Byul said, taking the item delicately into her