Yongsun left for her wedding preparations early the next day, giving the princess enough time to go over her plan all over again.

The wedding ceremony takes place the day after tomorrow. Yong is to be ceremoniously led in a procession to the prince as the royal family watches over. They will all be seated close together in the area and since security has been increased, no villagers will be permitted to enter the palace grounds. However, the soldiers and maids will be enough to create an audience big enough to execute their plan. Hyejin was to create a diversion since she’s the only one who could enter the kitchen without arousing suspicion. Wheein was to accompany Hyejin after the diversion was set.

There was nothing for Wheein to do on the day as she would head down to the boat tomorrow to pack everything that she had collected; first aid, some robes given by Byulyi and some of their luggage. Only the most necessary items were to be packed. The youngest was to collect food and hand it over to Wheein earlier on the wedding day. After setting the diversion, Hyejin would run to Wheein and they both would go to the secret passage situated next to the library. The diversion was to be big enough for the whole castle to notice and go start panicking. Since the enemy kingdom was approaching, Byulyi’s party got an edge as it guaranteed that the whole of the castle’s staff and officials would instantly panic if something out of the ordinary were to happen. The prince would instantly hurry to find the source of the diversion while the other royals would be heading to safety. Byulyi just had to grab Yongsun and head for the exits without anyone noticing. That was the tricky part.

After escaping from the public area, they would head to the library. Wheein promised to leave a lamp for them to navigate through the tunnel.

They would journey through the passage way and finally head to the cave that it leads out to. The two kids would be close by, getting the boat ready for their departure and they would jump onboard as quickly as possible. All four of them would sail along the lake for some time. It was a huge lake, therefore they could go on and on for days. The end of their journey would be when they reached Wheein’s hometown. It was partially deserted and Wheein didn’t have any family left, maybe some friends who she would recognize, but not family. They would stop there for a couple of days and decide their future from there on.

Byul had collected everything she would need and had packed them before safely hiding it inside a wooden case in her room. She had packed some of Yong’s things too. Earlier she had been at the hall in which the soldiers usually practiced. Since they were all sent into the village to guard the borders and deployed around the castle grounds, Byulyi was free to take anything she wanted. The soldiers would hardly notice a few missing equipment now since all of them had their own.

The princess took the sword she usually used for practice. She was used to its grip and could fight undeniably well if she had to. A couple more knives and daggers were taken in case they needed some. As Byulyi was leaving, she saw some bows in one corner of the room and decided to take one of them with a quiver of arrows. Most of the guards were placed at gates and close to other entry points to the palace, but the princess walked quickly and softly hoping no one would notice all the weapons she carried. A bunch of maids rushing somewhere chanced to meet the princess and she her charm and let them know that she was trying to keep the weapons in case she needed to defend herself from the enemy. The impressed party of ladies went their way after bidding good bye to the princess. She too continued the long journey to her room after breathing a sigh of relief. In fact she did not even need to hide the weapons since everyone knows that she practices with them and it would only seem natural that she was carrying them around in case she needed to fight. Even though it was highly unlikely. She thought about it as she opened the room to her door and stacked her stash of weapons next to her wooden box.

Byulyi hoped that Wheein would go unnoticed as she was to carry all of the weapons and everything else that they had planned to take. The princess slightly changed her plan.

“Wheein-ah you can’t possibly carry all these weapons now, especially since you have to carry a lamp inside the tunnel. Take only the things that you collected, the herbs, first aid and the robes that I have packed”

“Alright unnie, I will be going then. Please pray that I get there safely” Wheein looked slightly afraid at leaving alone, but if anyone could do this task it was this girl and Byulyi knew.

“Don’t worry Wheein, you can do this! I have faith in you! The tunnel might have not be used in a while but it certainly is safe, I’ve used it multiple times before” Byul patted Wheein as she pulled her in for a hug. The princess was so grateful for this fire cracker of a human. She certainly wouldn’t have lasted this long as a royal if Wheein wasn’t constantly by her side.

“Okay unnie, I trust you. Let me take those bags”

Wheein had set off in the evening and Byulyi hoped and prayed that the girl would have sneaked past the library without anyone following or seeing her. She knew that the girl was smart and would certainly make her proud.

Yongsun had been away the whole day and still had not arrived when the maid had served Byulyi her dinner. Instead of eating, she stepped out of her building and sat on the stairs waiting for Yongsun to arrive. The maids were quite confused as to why the girl was standing on the steps and looking far out into the garden.

“Princess, your food must have gotten cold?” The head maid inquired thirty minutes after Byul had come outside and decided to stare away into the night.

“Oh that’s okay, I can still eat it. Thank you!” She replied kindly and the maid smiled a warm smile and went back to stand in her spot.

Where is she?

Byulyi saw a small figure approaching alone and when it was close enough, she could make it out to be Wheein. She almost ran down the steps and greeted the young girl but thought better of it and calmly walked down the steps to talk to her.

“It’s all done. None of the guards were placed close to the lake. On the rear end of the palace the guards were posted only up until the gates as opposite to the main entrance to the gate. The tunnel was clear, only a bit damp after last week’s rain” Wheein whispered in a serious tone.

“That’s great for us. Thank you for doing this today, please go take some rest now and come to me if anything is needed, alright?” Byulyi replied to the younger girl, smiling only so that she was to see it.

“Anything for us unnie! I’ll see you in the morning” Wheein wished her a good night and left.

There was still no sign of Yongsun.

Byulyi could only imagine how tired both Hyejin and her lady must be after a whole day of wedding rehearsals.

Only fifteen more minutes passed before Byul saw Yong’s party heading towards their building.

She decided to act casual and greeted her once Yongsun entered the building. Hyejin had much to think about this awkward interaction but Byulyi said that she would take Yong inside and therefore Hyejin was relieved of her duties for a while and decided to rest.

“What took you so long?”

“It’s just that Jin-hee invited me to have dinner with him because he would be busy tomorrow” Yongsun said, not looking Byulyi in the face.

They walked to Byulyi’s room and Yong saw food on her table.

“Byul-ah why didn’t you eat yet?” she felt bad about coming in late.

“I was just waiting for you, but that’s okay I had plenty to eat in the afternoon” Byulyi pointed out casually with only a shrug.

“I’m sorry I was late” she walked closer to the princess and wrapped her arms around the taller girl.

“That’s okay Yong” Byulyi softly said while resting her head on the other’s forehead.

“We got some things done today. The boat’s partially packed now with some of our belongings and I thought the both of us could go down there tomorrow just to familiarize you with the surroundings”

“Oh that’s good to hear! And yes it would be better if I know my surroundings I suppose. I’m free tomorrow so that makes it easier!” Yong said, a radiant smile forming on her face.

Byulyi looked closely at how the older girl’s smile widened with every word she spoke to her. Her heart felt lighter somehow and happier ever since Yongsun had arrived. And now since they were running away together, it felt so much better since Yong was going to be by her side.

“Yong I’m so glad that you’re here” Byulyi sat down with the other girl and laid down on her lap, cuddling in like a baby.

Yongsun Byulyi’s dark hair and drew shapes on the younger’s beautiful face.

“Byul-ah you’re making me sad now. I’m glad to have met you too, and you know I’m so grateful that we’re going to always be together after all of this”

“So you’ll always stay with me?” Byul looked up at Yongsun.

“I always will” she her hair once more and watched the girl, she looked visibly very happy before gradually falling asleep.

Both their hearts were lighter. Their future seemed like it was going to be a good one, and the freedom they felt would have been the most euphoric feeling they felt if not for the pure and overflowing love they had for each other.