Byul felt someone crawling into her bed.

She squinted, her brows furrowed, and resisted the urge to want to haul the person off her bed as her instincts told her. If it had been in the past, the person would have already been on the floor. But there was only one person who would do this.

Byul squinted and saw the outline of Baekhyun beside her. "Ddong-ha?" she croaked, her voice not working all that well since she just woke up.

"Hey." Baekhyun smiled back even though she couldn't exactly see him in the darkness.

Byul blinked for a bit, remembering when and where she was. "Have you gone to see Chanyeol-gun?" she whispered. "How long is his punishment?" she asked.

Baekhyun rolled closer such that his face was directly in front of hers, laying on the cold side of her wooden pillow. "Half a year." he murmured, his hot breath fanning her lips. "Abeoji gave him half a year of jail. And then he'll be free."

Byul smiled. "That's shorter than what any of us thought." she grinned. "That's great Ddong-ha. Half a year will pass in an blink of an eye." she smiled.

Baekhyun nodded. "Yeah. That's great." he croaked.

Blinking in suspicion, Byul squinted in the darkness, trying to see his face. "Are you okay?" she whispered. "Why is it that your voice is thick and stuffy like someone forced you to swallow a rag?" she asked with a small smirk. "Could you be....crying?" she gasped dramatically.

"Babo." Even in the dark Baekhyun could find her forehead and he flicked it. He didn't deny nor admit to Byul's question, but he just sighed softly. "Thanks for forcing me to see Yeol before he's sent to jail, Eunbyul." he murmured.

He reached out to take her hand. "I could visit him in jail sometime or another, but it's different." he admitted. "Thanks for forcing me to forgive him today. I'll never let myself go off unscathed if I let my younger cousin go to jail with a guilty mind that his older hyung was still mad at him. Things are rough enough."

Byul smiled softly. Finally.

"See how wonderful I am huh?" she teased, closing her eyes again. Damn those herbs for making her drowsy all the time. "I'm just fantastic huh?"

Baekhyun chuckled softly and leaned forward, kissing her lips. "Yeah. You are." Byul smiled softly, opening her eyes tiredly but wanting to see Baekhyun's face again before she slept.

"We'll visit him?" she whispered.

Baekhyun nodded. "We will."

3 MONTHS LATER

"JEONHA!!!!!" the maid Luna rushed over to him while he was reading a book in his room. Baekhyun was startled for a moment and jumped from his seat.

He quickly recovered and cleared his throat. "Yes?"

Luna panted and looked at him. "Eunbyul, she ran away again!"

Baekhyun blinked and he couldn't help the foolish grin that came onto his lips. *That girl.* he chuckled softly to himself. He shook his head at Luna. "It's okay. She'll be fine." he assured. Seriously, the Crown Prince assuring the maid? things were getting weird.

"But but..." Luna frowned. "Head Attendant Jung is looking for her!" she looked around to see if there was anyone else and whispered. "She's furious! MAD!"

Baekhyun chuckled. So Byul didn't only get under his skin but other people were affected too. "Tell her Eunbyul's come back to my quarters." he covered up for Byul. "Say she's too tired. Orders from the Crown Prince not to bother her today."

Luna blinked for a bit and she smiled. "Okay." she nodded. She bowed and turned to leave, and hesitated. "Jeonha, you're really nice." she commented.

Baekhyun grinned back. "Not nice. Just loving." he shrugged.

He watched Luna rush out of his quarters and he got out of his chair, stretching. Looking out at the sun, he realized Byul had been gone for a long time. *Time to fetch her back.*

He went out of his quarters and strode knowingly.....down to the stables and the courtyard.

He had gone through this enough times to know what was happening. Why the maids and attendants were worried he did not know. Didn't they know how BYul could take down a full ground man? Why would they worry about her safety? It's the attacker's safety they should be concerned about.

True enough, when he neared the stables, he heard someone whipping her sword here and there, the sound of metal slicing air slick in his ear. He stopped some distance away and marveled at the love of his life as she did some deadly sworld play, twisting and turning.

Her face was focused, but enjoying what she did. No other girl Baekhyun knew would choose swords and horses over make up and clothes, but none of them were his Byul either. She was just one of a kind.

Baekhyun watched with swelling pride, smiling to himself as Byul finished her act with a stunningly difficult backflip and a pose.

"BRAVOO!!!" Baekhyun clapped when she was done, finally emerging from behind a tree and letting himself get noticed. Byul looked surprised and she made a face at him. "They realized I was missing already?"

"Of course, how many tricks do you think you can pull anyway?" Baekhyun chuckled, going over and wiping her perspiration off her forehead. Byul wriggled out of his grasp but Baekhyun held her back. He didn't care if his robes were dirty, none of those things mattered in comparision to this girl.

"Well, I thought when I pretended I had that tummy ache it was quite convincing." Byul shrugged cutely. "Those maids were terrified and Head Attendant Jung even ordered to check up on what was served for lunch just now!" she laughed. "HAh! I thought I had them for good."

Baekhyun flicked her forehead. "You can't go to the toilet for such a long time without anyone suspecting." he chided softly. "They'd notice."

"I got carried away." Byul pouted. She smiled up at him with shining eyes. "But at least I got to have a little bit of a gallop around the Palace grounds!"

Baekhyun chuckled, playing with her ponytail. "Head Attendant Jung would be furious if she hears you." he murmured. "The future Crown Princess going for a gallop without any male companions?" he grinned.

Byul harrumped. "I'm not the future Crown Princess yet." she defended. "I'm still your bodyguard. Just...." she thought for a while. "A bodyguard that went on lessons very frequently."

"Not frequently enough." Baekhyun took her hand after she kept her sword and pulled her back as they walked to his quarters. "You do know that you'll be stripped off your bodyguard role sooner or later right? And when that time comes, it'll be lessons lessons all day long."

Byul scowled and grimaced. "Don't remind me."

Baekhyun squeezed her hand lightly and gave her an encouraging smile. "You have amazing Byun Baekhyun behind you, you have nothing to fear." he grinned.

Byul rolled her eyes, laughing and punched his arm. "PSsshhhh!"

Smiling, the two of them walked back to his quarters hand in hand.

The whole country kind of knew their Crown Prince was going to marry his bodyguard someday, and they were surprised indeed. Not a princess but a bodyguard?

Instead of the rejection and retaliation that they thought they would receive from the people, they were actually pretty happy about getting a bodyguard Queen. Because it showed that their Crown Prince was equal and fair and he didn't discriminate against people of lower status compared to him.

That only put the royal family in better light after the incident with the Park familiy rebel and Byul was immensely popular outside the walls of the Palace even though she hadn't shown her face at all in the three months. There were rumors flying here and there about her achievements in the military academy and the people were even more impressed.

They loved her even before her reign with Baekhyun begun.

Baekhyun looked over at Byul who was smiling at her surroundings. From enemies to friends. From friends to lovers. And from lovers....Baekhyun couldn't wait to make her his wife.

He stopped all of a sudden and Byul was startled when his hand held her back. She looked back at him in surprise. "Wha-"

Baekhyun tilted her head up and leaned down to meet her lips. Byul didn't really like public displays of affections but there weren't any one around then. And even if there were, Baekhyun was prepared to kiss her senseless to make her forget.

Byul smiled. Princess lessons were difficult but for this guy...she'll do it.

-----

"Jeonha." Head attendant Jung bowed. She looked at Baekhyun frowning. "I wonder if you know why Eunbyul agashi didn't report for her princess lessons today?"

Baekhyun glanced at Byul who was hiding behind the bed. "Uhm...she's still not feeling well."

Head Attendant Jung raised a brow. She was experienced enough in her field to detect a lie. "Really? And do sick patients hide behind beds often?"

Baekhyun blanked and Byul mentally cursed in her mind. Damn the sharp eyed woman.

She slowly crawled up from behind the bed and wringed her hands. "Can't we forego today's lesson, Head Attendant Jung?" she pleaded. "A break?" she made a cute smile that Baekhyun couldn't help but smile at.

Head Attendant jung wasn't amused. "No. Princess lessons are important, Eunbyul Agashi." she stepped aside from the doorway and gestured. "If you'll please."

Byul sighed and her head drooped. Baekhyun reached to squeeze her hand and sent an apologetic smile. "I tried." he shrugged.

Byul made a face at him. "Humph. What use is it of a Crown Prince if he can't even save me from princess lessons?" she whispered, shooting Attendant Jung a glance.

Baekhyun grinned and stood up, leaning down and whispering in her ear, ignoring Attendant Jung.

"For starters, no other guy would wait for you to come back from your princess lessons like I do. I'll wait, baby, and I'll wait for a life time even if I have to."

THE END!!!

...or not xD

See you in the sequel for more Baekbyul and Channie's action! ---->> The Kungfu Queen [CLICK]