The trial of Chou Tzuyu had snuck up on those in the castle faster than they had anticipated. After the heartbreaking conversation Dahyun had with Tzuyu, she had too much on her mind to focus on one thing. 

 

Hence why at the moment, she was running towards the makeshift courtroom that the trial was being held in. 

 

Due to the major amount of stress that was in her life right now, she had not been able to fall asleep soundly or peacefully. The night was filled with tossing, turning, and constantly getting out of bed to pace around her room. She had even had a small conversation with her friend, the moon. By the time she had fallen asleep, the sun was beginning to rise above the horizon. The frenzied knocks on her chamber door awoke her. When she opened it, Momo was frantic. Dahyun was only able to catch some words like Tzuyu, time, trial, and advisors. Eventually, Dahyun grabbed Momo by the shoulders and asked her to repeat it slowly for her.

 

“Tzuyu’s trial begins in 10 minutes, your grace. The advisors are already here and do not have much time. I thought you would be ready by the time I came here because you are such an early riser!”

 

At the realization that this moment was the moment everything would go down, Dahyun became even more frantic than Momo. Slipping out of her sleep attire and trying to fit into the gown Momo laid out. As soon as she appeared presentable enough, she made a mad dash towards her door and began running. Momo quickly followed behind her. 

 

Unbeknownst to them, the trial had just ended and the royal advisors had already discussed what to do with Tzuyu.

 

Dahyun stopped right at the doors and turned around to Momo, “Do you think everything will be okay in the long run, Momo? I must admit...I am petrified of what is to come….”

 

Momo pulled Dahyun into a tight hug. “With what will happen right now, I will do everything in my power to make sure you end up happy, no matter the cost. Now go, you are already late. Do not make yourself more late.”

 

Dahyun nodded and turned around to face the doors. Taking a deep breath, the doors flourished open. Tzuyu was already sitting down at a separate table with Chaeyoung and another guard, who Dahyun later learned her name was Jihyo and was new, looked at Dahyun with an unreadable expression. The advisors were sitting amongst each other chatting until one took notice of Dahyun’s presence and told the lead advisor. Hearing that, he stood up and greeted her.

 

“Your grace!” The lead advisor quipped. “It is a pleasure to finally have you here! I am sure whatever kept you busy was just as important as this meeting.”

 

Dahyun caught the passive-aggressiveness in his tone. “Yes, thank you for waiting for me. Now shall we get this meeting started?”

 

The advisor looked on at his colleagues in confusion and turned back to Dahyun. “I am sorry, your grace, but we have already decided on what must be done. You took too long so we had to take matters into our own hands.”

 

 “That seems quite unfair towards me, do you not think so? I deserve to know what happened since I was...involved with the very same criminal you are prosecuting right now.”

 

“If you had been here earlier you would have had some say in what happened. Unfortunately for you, there is not much you can say. If you would like to stay to hear our verdict, you are more than welcome to you, your grace.”

 

Dahyun nodded. “Very well, I wish to hear of what will come for Tzuyu.” Dahyun took a seat right at the front, taking the lead advisor's chair.

 

Though flustered at the act, the advisor collected himself. He began to walk to the front of the room to capture the attention of those inside the room. He cleared his throat, “As we are all aware, the criminal who is in our presence tonight has done criminal acts against the crown. These crimes include breaking into the palace, stealing the possessions of the beloved royal family, and worst of all, treason. That is why, we as a council, have decided upon this punishment. Chou Tzuyu will be executed.” Tzuyu looked up in absolute shock at the results and Dahyun rose from her chair and was about to say something in fury but the advisor interrupted before she could one word out, “She will be publicly hung in front of her fellow townsmen to deter any further criminals from ever thinking of committing any more crimes against the crown.”

 

Dahyun could not take it anymore. She was appalled at the verdict. “This must be a joke!”

 

One other advisor piped up. “We can assure you, your grace, this was a mutual decision upon all of us. We decide what is best in the situation and this is the solution.”

 

“This is beyond inhumane! It is barbaric! The only thing she did was steal! Never once had she tried to hurt me or do anything to put me in danger. If anything, she tried to steer me away from it as best she could. I have full trust in her that the thought of killing me never once crossed her mind! She does not deserve this archaic method you call a punishment! At most, give her 10 years!”

 

The lead advisor came into the conversation. “It is too late, your grace. Our decision has been finalized. We have already set out a date for the very same execution you protest. In two days, you will understand.”

 

“As the heir to the throne, I do believe that I hold some authority and command you to abolish this verdict and conjure up a better one with I being a part of the process. There should be no more preventable deaths in my very own kingdom.”

 

“It is out of your hands. Unfortunately, as our old counterparts had agreed upon, the royal advisory will hold all power and decide upon the best decisions for this kingdom until the princess becomes of age and ascends the throne. While you may finally be of age, you still have yet to become Queen, your grace. There is nothing you can do. Is there anything else you wish to say?”

“I refuse to stand down! I will not be swayed in any way at all until we can all agree upon a better sentence! No matter what will be thrown at me, I will not be deterred by a group of power hungry men abusing their privilege to kill an innocent soul.” Dahyun could tell the comment of power hungry men had angered the leader. She saw the anger behind his eyes and saw the slight hand movement making her way. “Be careful how you interact with me, sir. I will always have the power even if you may not realize it.”

 

Realizing that she was right, the man composed himself. “Very well.” He turned around to face his fellow men. “If that is all we have to say, this meeting is now finished. I will see you all soon on the day of the execution. Until then.” He waved goodbye and turned to Dahyun. “I sincerely hope you have a blessed day, your grace. Goodbye!”

 

He had motioned to Chaeyoung and Jihyo to take Tzuyu away back to the cell she was being held in. Seeing where he was pointing at, Dahyun scrambled and made her way to Tzuyu who had already stood up from her seat. She tackled Tzuyu to the floor and began hysterically muttering apologies into the side of her neck. “I am so sorry, Tzuyu. Had I known the outcome of today, I could have done so much more to prevent what happened. Had I known it would turn out this way, I would have strived to ensure your safety. Please forgive me.” Dahyun picked herself up and cradled Tzuyu’s face in her hands. “Please, Tzuyu.”

 

Chaeyoung had tried gently to pry Dahyun off of Tzuyu. Dahyun resisted in return. Tzuyu spoke, “Dahyun, it will be okay. I have already accepted my fate. You must accept it too. It is too selfish of me if I ask you to remember me but...promise me one thing? Move on. When this all inevitably ends, I want you to move on. Live a better life without me being present in your mind. Not even a passing thought. Just forget me and be the better person you want to become.”

 

The tears had already made it’s tracks on Dahyun’s face by the time Tzuyu was done. Sobs tore through the princess’ body. “No! I refuse. If I ought to become a better person, I will become one with you right by my side!” Even with the knowledge that there were others present in the room, the princess did not care for their prying eyes. She wanted to have this with Tzuyu one last time, even if the princess wished to deny their reality. Dahyun surged forward and captured Tzuyu’s lips. Dahyun had to commit this to memory. The feel and contrast of Tzuyu’s cool cheek on her warm hand, her soft lips against her own, her forehead delicately pressed against her love. She had to pull back. “No matter the consequences or what actions must be brought down, I will find a way, Tzuyu. Even with the limited time we have-”

 

Chaeyoung interrupted. “Your grace, please. Fighting back will only delay you. You need to let go.”

 

Dahyun inhaled through her nose and continued. “Even with the limited time we have, that will not deter me from finding justice for you. I...I love you too much to see you go. I love you, okay? I am so sorry for what happened that night in the dungeon, I was not in the right headspace to think clearly.”

 

“Do not worry about it, Dahyun. It is what I deserve.”

 

Dahyun was about to say something but Chaeyoung intervened again. “Jihyo, take her back to her cell. I must speak with the princess first.” The captain finally pulled Dahyun away from Tzuyu. The princess always knew she possessed the strength but never had it been used on her. She was in shock for a moment.

 

The young guard nodded and brought Tzuyu back up to her feet and began escorting her back. Dahyun gained her bearings and dashed over to Tzuyu to plant one more kiss. “Have hope, Tzuyu. I promise.”

Tzuyu nodded and off she went back to that cold and dark cell she had taken residence back up in. Dahyun whirled around furious at Chaeyoung. She was supposed to be her best friend, she was the one who was supposed to support her through all of her hardships, even if their situation is not exactly that of common best friends you would find in the village, that still did not mean the rules applied any less. “What is wrong with you?!” The next sound that came out of Dahyun was a surprised squeak.

 

Chaeyoung had brought her into an awfully tight hug. “Dahyun, you are one huge fool, you know that?”

“What?”

 

Chaeyoung leaned in closer to whisper into Dahyun’s ear. “At the descent of the sun tomorrow, I will meet you in front of your room. I have a plan. I want to help you two and I might just know a way to safely do it. You just have to trust me, okay?”

 

“How can I? You have not exactly proven yourself to be my ally these past few days.”

 

“You have my word, Dahyun. If it means anything to you, if I help you two out and we get caught....I lose everything I have worked and strived for. I want to help.”

 

Dahyun nodded. “If this works, you will have my eternal gratitude and I will be forever in your debt. Thank you, Chaengie.”

 

“Chaengie?” Chaeyoung pulled back with a smile. “You have not called me that since we were...I honestly can not recall.”

 

“The situation called for it, do you not think so?” Dahyun returned her smile.

 

“Very well.” Chaeyoung’s expression quickly dropped back into a stoic expression. “Prepare yourself for tomorrow. We must be swift and cautious. Until then, I ought to inform Tzuyu. Good day, your grace.” Chaeyoung went off in the same direction Tzuyu was being escorted to. 

 

Dahyun pivoted off her foot and made her way towards the room doors. As she opened them and stepped out, Momo appeared right by her side. “How did it go?!”

 

Dahyun shrieked and placed her hand on her chest. “Momo! You must not sneak up on me like that. You will scare me to death!”

 

Momo sheepishly grinned. “My apologies, your grace...but how did it go?”

 

“Well….”

 

……

The day had finally come. The day Dahyun would be reunited with Tzuyu and the two could have some semblance of peace. Dahyun spent the entire day roaming about the grounds and recalling and pondering all her fond memories with Tzuyu. She had even hoped to catch a glance of Chaeyoung but alas the captain was as elusive as she ever is. She however happened to see a glimpse of the hour and instantly made haste back to her room. It was almost time.

 

At the moment, Dahyun was perched upon a chair in front of her door anxiously anticipating and waiting to jump for the knock that would set forth their plan. 

 

The knock came but a few minutes later. She leapt out of her place and quickly turned the knob to her door. “Chaeyoung, thank goodness. I was worried you-” Dahyun halted in the middle of her sentence. “Momo?!”

 

Chaeyoung walked past into her room and Momo followed suit. “I apologize Dahyun but somehow she heard about our little plan and wanted to help. Do not blame me for this.”

 

Momo chirped up with a bright smile “Of course I wanted to help! We are all friends here, are we not? What are friends for if not accomplices to helping a criminal escape who just so happens to be someone’s lover!”

 

Dahyun and Chaeyoung looked at each other with confusion written all over their faces. Chaeyoung came back to the task quicker. “Anyway! I know this is sudden and we did not prepare much at all but we do not have much time for this. We only have one opportunity to do this and we must take it fast. Here is the plan. In 2 hours, my men will take their leave so their nightly counterparts can take their place. That is when we strike. Luckily, since you have me, it will be much easier to sneak about. If we are caught then I can say something but let us hope that it does not come to that.”

 

“I have an important question.” Momo interrupted. “What is the problem with walking past them?” Momo’s tone dripped with sarcasm at the last comment. “As you consistently tell us, you are the captain of the guard. Will they not listen to you?”

 

“Would you care to explain to some guards what the beloved princess of our kingdom and her handmaiden are doing with the captain at this time of night sneaking off to the dungeon? Or how the princess and our prisoner just so happened to be missing the exact same hour you were last seen with them?”

 

“Touche.”  

 

“As I was saying! If we get past and manage to get to Tzuyu, then I know a way out. There is a secret passage that was built under the palace when it was first built. Unfortunately, the exact reason was lost as the years went by and please do not ask me because I am just as clueless as you are.”

 

“One more question!”

Chaeyoung sighed. “Yes, Momo?”

 

“How do you even know it is there?”

“I take my job very seriously. Due to it, I know many things about this place that even those who served the late King and Queen do not know. No one ever bothers looking at the entire dungeon due to its immense size but not me! I do weekly check ups on it and one day towards the end, I ended up finding the passage. It looked like it was out of commission for god knows how long but not to worry. I know where it leads and trust me it is all safe. Now, since I was interrupted, I know of a place you two can hide until all of this gets resolved. If all of this does end up working, we can all be assured that no harm comes to Tzuyu or you. Any more questions?” Momo meekly raised up her hand. “Wonderful! Now let us get to work.”

 

“I actually have one…” Dahyun jumped in. “I do not understand you, Chaeyoung. Why are you doing this? With your history, it is very much clear that you are not a fan of Tzuyu.”

 

“I can ask you the same thing, your grace. Though, I suppose you have already forgiven Tzuyu in the last few days. To answer your question...you are my best friend. Dahyun. I have known you for god knows how long now. My only wish from me to you is that you are happy. I just want to see you finally at peace. If that involves running away with your secret lover, then so be it. Frankly, I have no idea what you see in her or how she managed to woo you, the princess, but as long as it is safe and you come back to us, then I will be more than okay with it.” Chaeyoung appeared to look vulnerable for a moment. “Can you...promise me that...you will come back?”

 

Dahyun advanced towards Chaeyoung and brought her into a tight hug. “I promise, Chaeyoung. Do not worry about me.” Dahyun looked over and saw Momo tearing up. She brought up her hand and motioned to Momo to come join. Momo came into the hug and squeezed Dahyun hard. “I will be back before you know it. I love you both. Do not forget that.”

 

Chaeyoung chuckled and broke away from the hug. Dahyun caught Chaeyoung wiping away the tears that fell and she warmly smiled at her. Chaeyoung cleared . “Now that we have that out of the way, let us get ready to pull this off. Come along.”

 

……

 

“The coast is clear.” Chaeyoung said as she stepped out of Dahyun’s room. “We must hurry. Due to us having to examine the plan, we missed the essential moment of time so we need to go. Now.”

 

“I mean, I get that but why are you walking like that?” Dahyun questioned.

 

Chaeyoung was crouched down very low with her arms outstretched comically. Almost like an imitation of a crab. She blushed at the comment and stood straight up. “Standard stealth protocol. All of the guards learn it but for everyone’s sake I will not do it.”

 

“Right. That is surely why.”

Momo butted in.“Can we please get back to the objective?” The remaining two nodded and began walking close to the walls.

 

Everything was going quite well. With all three knowing the castle very well and the combined skills of Chaeyoung, things were going better than planned. No disturbances were made. Carefully avoiding the guards was easier than Chaeyoung had said. She even made a passing comment. “Remind me to train them better when this is all done.” Nobody could have anticipated the arrival of one last guard standing in their way though. It was the same guard who was present during Tzuyu’s trial. Jihyo. She was standing right in front of the door that would lead them to where they needed to be. The three women stood behind a corner as they looked on and discussed what to do now.

 

“That is odd. I never gave her orders to stand in front of that door. I told her today that she was relieved of her duties for tonight in anticipation of right now. What is she doing..?” Chaeyoung was lost in her thoughts before coming back to. “Okay. So clearly, I cannot tell her to leave. If she sees me and after the events of today, I will surely get into major trouble. What else can we use? Think, Son Chaeyoung!”

 

Momo began to step out but was harshly pulled back by Dahyun. “What do you think you are doing?!”

 

“Improvising.”

 

“Your idea of improvising is to walk out and then what? Get caught and possibly get us in trouble too?! No way!”

 

“No. My way of improvising is better than that. It will be easy. You do not have to worry. I will go up to her and lead her away from the door with some poor excuse of something. That should be plenty of enough time to let you guys slip into there with no detection. Jihyo is new. I am sure it will be easier to distract her.”

“Now, Momo, you know I do not normally say such things to degrade you in any way but today will be an exception. That has to be one of the foolish ideas I have ever heard from you. You agree with me that is a bad idea right, Chaeyoung?” Chaeyoung avoided Dahyun’s eyes. “Right?”

 

“We do not exactly have any other options, Dahyun.” Chaeyoung sighed. “Unless you somehow pull a plan right out of your head.”

“No! I am not letting Momo do this! There has to be another way!”

 

Momo snapped. “Dahyun! I will be completely fine. At least I can say it was a coincidence that I took Jihyo away at the same moment you two disappeared. You are acting like I am going to die if I step right out. Calm down, okay? I promise nothing will fall upon me.”

 

Dahyun looked between Momo and Chaeyoung. Dahyun quickly brought Momo into a hug and squeezed tightly. “I guess this is our goodbye for now, huh?” Dahyun chuckled with tears in her eyes.

“You do not have to cry, Dahyun. You promised us you would come back anyway. Think of this as...a temporary goodbye. You still have the luxury of saying goodbye to me but you do not have to worry about never seeing me again. I am still going to be here when all of this blows over. Do not worry your pretty little head about it. Though, if this temporary goodbye is to actually mean something, you have to let me go.”

 

“Right!” Dahyun gathered herself tog