“Master Geun, can I take a day off? Whee-in has a cold and I need to attend her.” Moonbyul requested Kwon Geun to excuse her that day. She was not a good liar but she tried her best to make it believable.

Geun easily saw through her but since she was his favorite pupil, he let her go home early. She was a young woman at her peak after all.

Moonbyul prayed that Whee-in did not come home early because she planned to go to the Witchery Forest through the rough path alone where she had encountered the royal guard. She did not want to drag Whee-in into it and wished to inform the witch sisters about what was going on and return back immediately.

>>>

Whee-in arranged the mistress’ room and cleaned the floor. She finished her maid work and walked her way to the shop leisurely. She was exhausted physically and emotionally. She could not stop thinking about the sisters and the crazy writer who could possibly know about her too. And above all, she could not stop wondering why the young man hasn’t visited their shop.

When Whee-in reached the shop, it was closed and the owner did not tell her anything about it. She looked around and there was no one she knew. “I guess no work for today then.”

Just to confirm, Whee-in waited for a few minutes for her co-workers.

She stood in front of the shop and watched the people passing by. The ladies of the noble families walked in groups, dressed up in beautiful dresses and accessories. Whee-in drooled over them, imagining herself amongst them. Wearing the finest dress, she imagined herself hanging out with powerful ladies and having a nobleman as her partner.

She giggled and started to walk back home. Maybe she could live her fantasy life in her next life. She looked forward to living her current life to the fullest as long as she has her friends beside her.

Whilst she walked back home, the figure walking a few meters in front of her looked familiar. From the height and the dress to the way he was walking, Whee-in couldn’t help but suspect he must be the mystery man.

Whee-in didn’t hesitate and quickly tailed him.

The man was not doing anything in particular. He only ambled along the path and once or twice, he would probe on the herb sellers about certain plants. Whee-in went closer to him so that she does not lose him. He turned around and Whee-in pretended to be a random woman in the street.

The man turned back and went towards a marketplace. Whee-in quickly ran after him since he was quick on his feet.

“Whee-in?”, one of her co-workers called her. Whee-in turned around. “Are you enjoying your free time in the Capital?”

Whee-in ignored her for a second to look back and the man was already out of sight. “Ah. Yes. But why is the shop closed?”

The girl replied eagerly, “You didn’t know? The owner is leaving for Heisin Kingdom tomorrow. She will be back after three weeks. Maybe she didn’t get the chance to inform you since you don’t work full time there.”

“Is that so?”, Whee-in fake a smile. “Thank you but I need to be somewhere and should not be late.” She excused herself and ran towards the way the man had vanished.

Whee-in looked around and lifted her head to locate any tall man.

Suddenly, two hands grabbed her shoulders and Whee-in flinched. She could feel someone giant standing closely behind her. “Why were you following me?”, a deep voice whispered behind her ear.

In the blink of an eye, she was dragged into an alley. In front of her was the mystery man glaring down at her while grabbing her tight on the wrist.

“I was not following you!”, Whee-in blurted.

“Do you think I won’t notice? Just because you are small doesn’t mean no one can’t see you. Who sent you?”

“What?”, Whee-in replied in disbelief. “Nobody sent me and I am not small.”

The man smirked, “Then you admit you were following me?”

Whee-in shut her lips and looked away. The man did not let her hand go and asked her again, “Tell me honestly, why were you following me? I will let you go without harm if you do so.”

“I told you. No one sent me. Are you a wanted man?”

“A wanted man? Ha!”, the man exclaimed. “You are lucky to even see my face.”

“Wah. I thought you were a gentleman but looks like I followed the wrong person. I am sorry. Please excuse me.” Whee-in turned to leave but the man clenched her by her shoulder, clawing his nails in.

Whee-in grunted with pain and before she could shout for help, the man covered with his other hand. “Don’t act smart with me. Who told you to keep an eye on me? Is that why you were there in the flower shop as a worker? Speak the truth or I will end you here.”

Whee-in shook her head and tried to remove his hand from but the man clawed in tighter at her shoulder, making her helpless with the pain.

“What’s going on there?”, a stranger shouted at them.

The young man immediately pushes Whee-in and ran off.

“Are you okay?”, the stranger hurried over and asked Whee-in. He told her to be careful of men and learn how to protect herself. He then went on to introduced himself, “I have seen you before. You work at the flower shop, right?” Whee-in nodded. “My name is Hoseok. Jung Hoseok.”

“Oh! We have the same surname. I am Jung Whee-in.” Hoseok helped Whee-in to stand up and both smiled at each other.

“Are you going somewhere? Should I assist you? If you are comfortable with me.”

Whee-in declined the offer and wished to return home alone.

>>>

Prince Taehyung returned to the palace right away after encountering Whee-in and quickly put on his royal robe. Footsteps were approaching the chamber while he struggled with robe. The door to his room opened and Taehyung immediately sat down on the mattress.

It was the head eunuch and the maids bringing in his afternoon snacks. Taehyung let out a soft sign in relief. He then dismissed the maids except for the head eunuch.

“Did you know that the Queen is aware of my absence in the palace?”, Taehyung asked as he sipped his tea.

The eunuch hung his head low in response.

“Do you have any idea about it? She must have hired someone to keep an eye on me. And I think it’s that woman.”

“A woman?”, the eunuch repeated in surprise. Hearing the crown prince accusing an innocent woman of following him, he was burdened with the thought of whether he should tell the truth and stay loyal to his master. But betraying the Queen could be his death.

The eunuch spoke, “Your highness, I am a servant of the palace. That means I do what anyone above me tells me to. Even if it means spying on the crown prince. If you were to blame someone, please do so to me and the people in the palace. Not an outsider.”

Taehyung understood what his head eunuch meant. He was the one who kept an update to the Queen but he was only doing his duty. Taehyung felt apologetic to Whee-in for his harsh behavior. He sips his tea as he thought of how his action could bring trouble to people around him and what he should do from now on.

-------

Moonbyul has reached the rough path and was on high alert of her surroundings. Even though it was afternoon and no one ever walked that path, she could not risk encountering another soldier there. She had her bow and arrows with her in case if she was caught, she could use hunting as an excuse.

She rushed through the path. She should inform the sisters and return before night falls.

Halfway, Moonbyul slowed down for safety. She was so focused on reaching the Witchery Forest that she was not aware of the masked men following her.

The skilled masked men had been following her since she took that path. However, a twig gave away their cover.

Moonbyul swiftly turned around to the sound of the broken twig. She then quickly got behind a tall tree and cautiously took out an arrow, stretching the bow and aiming it in the direction of the sound.

From nowhere, an arrow with a red ribbon strikes next to her feet as a warning. Moonbyul stumbled and fell down on her .

A male voice called out to her from a distance. “Put down your weapon and come with us. We do not want to hurt you.”

‘Don’t want to hurt me? You just shot an arrow at me.’ Moonbyul’s hands trembled with fear as she got up from the spot. She clenched her bow tighter with the adrenaline rushing in. She did not know how many of them were there and who they were. Running away was the best option since she did not know how to fight.

She took a deep breath and on the count of three, without looking back, she dashed off towards the Witchery Forest that was just a few minutes away.

She must tell the sisters not to come to the town and Whee-in would be heartbroken if she did not return home. She must live, not for her but for them.

She ran as fast as her legs could take her while the masked men chased her. They were catching up to her. With the forest in sight ahead of her, Moonbyul smiled and ran with all her might.

But the sudden pain on her left leg halted her and she rolled on the ground. Moonbyul yelled with pain while holding her left leg hit with an arrow. At the sight of the blood stains on her dress, she could not hold in the tears.

The masked men ran up to her and five of them stood surrounding her. They wore animal masks and dressed in black. They were all armed with bows and arrows and swords. One of them crouched and covered her head with a gunny bag.

“Please don’t kill me. Please tell me what did I do. Please don’t kill me.” Moonbyul begged as she cried with fear and pain.

Another one kneeled down and pulled out the arrow off her leg abruptly. Moonbyul instantly screamed out loud but the voice was obscure by the bag.

They lift her up and Moonbyul staggered with her wounded leg. She wept under the head bag as they tied her hands behind her back. As soon as they were done, one of them hit her neck and Moonbyul fainted.

The same man lifted Moonbyul on his shoulder and bowed to their leader, ready to depart.

Seok-jin took off his fox mask and stared at Moonbyul. “This time, my arrow didn’t miss. I knew you would come back here again. I just didn’t expect that it would be you. Huh. Witches.”

>>>

Moonbyul was carried to the secret camp of the Queen’s special soldiers. She was tied on a wooden pillar inside a food storehouse. The pain in the neck brought her back to consciousness. She scanned the room and there wasn’t any sign of men. On the outside, she could hear mumble sound of people talking.

She tried to shake and remove the cloth covering . The chirping of the birds could be heard and the sound of tree leaves as well. Moonbyul could easily guess that she was somewhere far.

Meanwhile, she was struggling to break free, the wooden door opened from outside and the masked men entered. Moonbyul stopped to look outside the door. The sun has already set and it was about time she should be home. Her heart got heavy when Whee-in came to her mind. She would be anxious if she did not return back.

The masked men moved to the sides and a woman in a jang-ot with a maiden mask stepped inside the door. The different masks creeped Moonbyul out and she stuck against the wooden pillar. The sight was a nightmare for her as the night begins.

The woman moved closer to her and she reached out her hand towards her face. Moonbyul instantly shut her eyes close tightly and shrunk in. Her heart raced at the unpredictable situation. However, nothing happened.

She slowly opened her eyes and jumped on seeing the woman standing close in front of her. One of the men untied the cloth covering and the woman asked, “Why did you go to the witchery forest?”

Moonbyul froze. How was she to answer that question? The truth or the lie?

The woman asked again, this time a little impatiently.

“I was out there to hunt.” Moonbyul muttered.

The woman took out a small blue pouch and stick her finger in to scoop out a paste. The masked man pinched in Moonbyul’s cheeks to forcibly open . He almost tore her jaws apart that Moonbyul had to readily open .

The woman smeared the paste on Moonbyul’s tongue. The strong bitter taste instantly irritated her tongue and before she could spit it out, the man closed . The bitterness ran up to her nose and as she struggled to swallow the paste, her body twitched and curled to accept the foreign product.

The woman once more asked the same question. And Moonbyul voluntarily replied, “To visit my friends.”

“Who are your friends?”, the woman asked eagerly.

“I cannot say their name or I will die.” Moonbyul bit her tongue and shouted in frustration. She couldn’t stop herself from answering the woman.

The woman went on to interrogate Moonbyul but all she could get was that the witch sisters live in the forest and the sighted witch was one of the sisters. Frustrated enough that she could not find the demented writer and where the rest of the surviving white witches and wizards were, she slapped Moonbyul across her face.

In the end, the woman tied a red string on Moonbyul’s left hand and whispered, “You are mine now. And you will do as I say.”

The woman covered herself with the jang-ot and step out of the storehouse. She turned to the one with fox mask, “Send her back.”

“Yes, Your highness.” He bowed and ordered the other men, “ the Queen back to the palace.”

After the Queen left, Seok-jin crouched down next to Moonbyul and hit her neck, making her unconscious again. He then untied her and command his men to take her back to the town.

‘I am glad you are not one of those selfish beings.’