***

A few days later.

It was such a fine morning in The Palace even though it rained heavily last night, complete with thunder and storm.

Joohyun loved the rain but she wasn’t a big fan of thunder so she scooted closer and clung to her wife’s side on the bed. No, she wasn’t taking advantage of the stormy night, she was genuinely scared.

Meanwhile, Seungwan being Seungwan, although sleep deprived, was already ing the third button of her own pajama when Joohyun’s trembling hand sneaked under it. But then, she heard her wife shriek due to a loud sound outside and buried her head under a thick blanket.

Quickly grasping the situation, Seungwan buttoned her pajama back and engulfed her wife in a comforting hug as she lit up the bedside lamp, so the latter could feel safer. She embraced Joohyun all night until the latter was asleep.

**

The birds chirped when Joohyun finally opened her eyes (still in Seungwan’s embrace), she blinked drowsily as she found her head tucked under Seungwan's chin. Without so much thought, she moved her head up a little to give a brief peck on her wife’s cheek. A thankful kiss for being her heroine for the night.

But Seungwan (who was already awake 15 minutes ago) was feeling a little bit naughty, as soon as Joohyun pecked her cheek, she tightened her hug over the older woman’s shoulder and rolled them over a few times on the bed making her wife startled.

The young royal laughed when she released her wife and instantly got hit by a pillow a few times.

“Good morning,” she said after Joohyun stopped hitting her.

“Morning,” although the young princess was pissed off, she still replied to her wife’s greeting.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her wife’s ear, Seungwan said, “Can I have a bowl of seaweed soup for breakfast today?”

Joohyun’s eyebrows twitched. “Last time I checked, I’m your wife, not your personal chef.”

“Your soup tastes better. I need more energy to tackle today’s matter.”

“What’s so important today? Other than office work, do you have any Palace’s affair to attend today?” It was such a common thing for all the princes and princesses to have additional work, be it a sudden or planned schedule.

Seungwan smiled mysteriously. “It’s a secret but I really hope you’ll cook for me today.”

The young Bae honestly expected no less from her wife. Seungwan wouldn’t tell anything even if she beg her.

She wanted to say no, but the young royal’s eyes were shining brightly at her. How could she say no to those eyes?

“Fine. I’ll cook.”

“Thank you!”

Seungwan gave her a toothy smile before leaving her for the bathroom.

Joohyun rubs her face with her hand as she pondered, I’m so easily swayed.

**

Breakfast in the morning was simple as usual. Two bowls of seaweed soups with various side dishes were presented on the table.

After quietly finishing her meal, Seungwan tapped the table to gain Joohyun’s attention. “I’ll be home late today.”

“You always come home late, Taenyeo. I started to think that you only come here for a quick nap.”

Seungwan smiled. “Sometimes I feel the need to let you know, Jagi, in case you’re missing me too much.”

Chaeyoung giggled before coughing behind her sleeve to compose herself.

The young princess put down her spoon with a frown on her face. “If you knew that I’ll be missing you then why are you so keen on staying at the office longer than you have to, Taenyeo? Aren’t you cruel to me?”

Chaeyoung always enjoyed the loving banter between the two. She would share the story with her fellow maids and then, they would voice up their jealousy.

Taejong Hall had always been a favorite hall to work among the maids beside Hanmyeong Hall where Prince Hoon and his wife resided. Even after the young crown princess got married, the popularity of the hall didn’t cease down even a bit.

With an excited mind, Chaeyoung waited for the crown princess’s response.

“Maybe because I want you to show me how much you miss me, especially when the sun is no longer radiating our bed.”

Chaeyoung gasped at what the young royal was insinuating. Wow, Crown Princess Seungwan is so unstoppable!

Joohyun smirked knowingly as she sit straight while putting her elbows on the table and resting her chin on top of her palm as she stared at her royal wife unabashedly.

“Oh? Then, did I do a good job last night, Taenyeo?”

“Good? You were exceptional! It’s a relief that the other halls are at a good distance from here. Wouldn’t want to disturb everyone at night.”

“Ah, then I shouldn’t feel bad for our screaming match last night.”

At this point, Chaeyoung wanted to pass out on the floor. Her face reddened for a very obvious reason.

Meanwhile, the playful young princess held her laugh as she glanced at Seungwan who shook her head with a knowing smirk.

It was fun to see the young maid getting so excited over nothing every morning.

**

After breakfast, Joohyun waited until Seungwan is done with her morning prayer for her mother before sending the latter to work. It’s her routine now and in return, Joohyun would get a dimpled smile and a pat on her head. Enough to brighten her day.

Hopefully, today will be a good day for both of them.

**

As soon as the young royal got into her car, her relaxed face changed into a stern one as she made a zoom call to her team.

“Get ready for tonight. I will get in through the back alley like before. Taeyeon, how’s the backup car?”

Seulgi listened to the meeting as her mind wandered. Somehow she got a bad feeling for tonight. She glanced at Seungwan through the mirror and made up her mind.

“May I say something, Taenyeo?”

**

Joohyun arrived early at Classic Cleaner and opened the shop. Today, Joy is taking a day off so she’ll be pretty much managing the shop alone with the help of a few staff.

She was sweeping the floor when she heard the door jingled, Jennie walked in with two cups of takeaway hot chocolate in her hands.

“Heard that someone needs some choco this morning,” she said with a smile on her face. “Want me to help?”

The young princess shook her head as took the cups. “You don’t have to, Jen. I can manage.”

“Just let me help you until lunch. I’m not really needed in my office until noon,” Jennie said with a sigh as she took a basket and walked to one of the few washing machines.

“Well, okay.”

Joohyun didn’t need her help but she didn’t want to make her friend down by rejecting her.

**

It was about lunchtime when the young princess got a video call from her wife.

“Hi, there! What did you get for lunch?” Joohyun’s voice was far too excited and it didn’t go unnoticed by her friend. She didn’t even address her wife formally like she usually does.

“Me? I just ordered tteokbokki. No, it’s not the usual stall. I’m too hungry to wait!” Her face was blooming as she giggled. “It’s fine. You don’t have to send Seulgi to buy me my usual order. I don’t want to hear her complain while delivering my food.”

Jennie frowned as she stared at her friend.

That smile is too genuine like she is really in love or something. It can’t be, right?

As she continued folding the clothes, she couldn’t help but feel bitter inside her heart. Are you faking it or are you really that excited to talk with her??

**

Finance Department, 11.00 PM.

A lone figure in her all-black clothes and face mask walked stealthily in a dark alley. She climbed onto a big trash bin before making a big jump to get a handle on the wall and pushed her body to get on top of it.

“Yeri. How’s the situation.” She touched her earpiece as her eyes wandered to the building in front of her.

[ All clear. A guard just made his round five minutes ago. ]

“Ok, I’m going.”

[ Unnie … be careful. Unlike the last time, it’s strangely quiet tonight. ]

“Got it.”

The figure jumped from the wall and landed on the ground before dashing to the emergency staircase. Instead of going through the door, she grasped the staircase’s rail and swung her body to get on it before walking to the other end of the staircase, near a big tree.

Calculating the gap between the tree and the staircase, she made a jump and successfully took hold of a branch. With a good lower body control, she made an easy swing to reach the top branch near one of the windows to get into the building. Unfortunately, the server room had no windows so she couldn’t see if anyone was inside the room or not.

“Yeri, check their CCTV from one/two hours ago,” she said over her earpiece. She wanted to make sure.

[ Got it. ]

She unfolded her army knife and put it between her lips before jumping once again to reach the foothold under one of the windows.

She easily opened the window with her knife and slid inside the third floor.

Heaving a relieved sigh, she walked to the server room and was about to open the door when Yeri’s voice was heard once again.

[ Unnie, I’ve checked. The CCTV was off for 30 minutes an hour ago. There’s no trace of power failure so it must be off manually by them. I have a bad feeling about this. Should we abort? ]

The figure didn’t say anything but now holding her army knife in her hand.

[ Unnie? ]

As soon as she turned the door handle and stepped inside, a kick was aimed at her stomach but she was able to defend herself with her hands, but sadly, the knife flew from her hand, making a loud clang on the floor.

She turned to her side in her fighting stance and recognized the attacker as one of PM Kwon’s men. She saw him a few times in The Palace whenever the old man made his visit.

The guy snickered before delivering a series of punches aimed at her face.

His moves were fast and sharp, he must be a professional martial arts practitioner, just like Hyoyeon. The figure could only defend herself at this moment. She needed to gauge his skill before attacking him back.

As she dodged his attack, her body accidentally bumped into one of the racks beside her causing it to tumble over. While her focus was divided by the loud bang, the man successfully kicked her stomach making her stagger back a few steps.

Damn! She cursed. That kick was quite packed.

Not wasting her time, she made a quick dash and wrapped her arms around the man’s stomach, bringing him down with her, and quickly sat on top of him, punching his jaw a few times before taking the guy’s collar and butting her head to the man’s nose. Cracking his nose, making him lose his consciousness with the impact.

She panted hard before removing herself from the man’s unconscious body.

Taking out her USB, she headed to the server PC and quickly transferred all files into it. She didn’t have much time to check so she opted to just transfer everything.

A buzz was heard a moment later from her earpiece. [ Unnie, you have to get out now! Two men are heading to the server room! They must’ve noticed that the CCTV was cut off. ]

“Not yet.”

[ Unnie! ]

The file transfer was done successfully a few seconds later and she put back the USB inside her pocket. She took her army knife before pulling the door open.

As soon as the door opened, a punch landed on her face making her stagger back inside the room. Once again her knife flew over from her hand.

Two men with knives in their hands blocked the door.

“Where are you going, baby girl?” One of the men mocked, playing with his knife.

Wasting no time, she pushed the rack beside her and made it fall in front of her, it hit another rack and another rack like a domino. Effectively making the papers fly around them and creating a wisp of dust inside the room, successfully making the unmasked men cough and distracted.

Jumping from behind the fallen rack, she sent a strong kick to one of the men. Making the short man fall with a loud bump on the floor, before turning and attacking the taller man with her arm.

The taller man swayed his knife but she managed to knock it with her fist, the knife flew away hitting the wall as she made a strong kick to the man’s stomach making him stagger back outside of the room. As she was about to give her final punch, the short man dashed from her behind and locked her neck with his arms, attempting to choke her.

Struggling a little, she tucked her chin and hooked her hands onto his arms, before quickly squatting down and lifting him off the ground, rolling his body over her head and slamming him down on the ground. Lying on his back, panting hard, he didn’t get much time to react when she hit the side of his neck, making him lose his consciousness.

Another man down.

She could feel her energy slowly depleted by a series of attacks. She turned around and saw the taller man get his knife back in his hand before dashing to attack her.

She quickly moved her body to the side to avoid the knife and tried to hold his wrist to disarm the knife but he was too fast that the tip managed to graze her arm, tearing out her black hoodie and leaving a wound on her arm.

The man smirked as he pointed his knife again, now to her stomach. She ducked down and rolled over to her side while holding her bleeding arm. The man didn’t give her any time to react as he threw his kick to the side of her head, making her fall to her side, and her visions instantly blurred.

“Not so tough now, are you?”

She blinked her eyes and told herself, is this it?

“Say bye to your …”

THWACK!

The man stumbles down after being knocked out by a single strong punch on his neck.

Standing behind him was another figure in a black outfit.

“Not so tough now, huh?” She mumbled mockingly before looking at the other woman who was unconscious now with her bleeding arm.

“Damn*it, I told you to be careful!”

**

A figure carrying an unconscious woman on her back as she escaped to the back alley. She dashed to the end of the alley before entering a van. She could feel the blood of the other woman seeping into her hoodie. The wound must be quite deep.

She laid the unconscious woman on the car’s carpeted floor before opening her mask.

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