Sunwa realized that she was going to be late for the selection ceremony, but the mysterious man who had saved her had still frozen the time. She thanked him for being so kind to do such a thing, but she still paced herself. 

"Why are you running so fast?" Suho called out to her. "I've frozen the time so you can take however as long as you like." 

To that comment, Sunwa turned around and gave him an unpleasant look. "You are ridiculous."

"Time cannot be stopped forever." And to that she quickly turned around and continued dashing across the path with Suho treading behind her. 

"Never before have I heard such peculiar words." Suho chuckled to himself and felt warm inside. 

Is she the one for me?  

I don't think I've ever met anyone in this universe like her.

Once Sunwa had completed a long distance toward the castle, she told Suho to allow time to continue since she would be in time for the selection now. Suho smiled and unraveled the hourglass from his pocket. "Time, release." He whispered, and the sands within the hourglass swiveled around until the scenery moved again. 

Suho placed the hourglass back into his pocket and watched Sunwa near the doors of the castle. The selection ceremony, huh? Suho thought to himself and scratched the back of his head. 

"Good luck, Sunwa." He spoke softly through the rustling trees. He was standing on a hill close to the castle, watching the beauty of the scenery.

"I will see you again very soon." Suho's chuckle rang along the wind. He then turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

"So many thorns along that path." Sunwa said to herself. "Good thing I was small...I could squeeze through them..If not I would have been brutally scarred by them, and I wouldn't think that the king would want a physically injured maid in his castle." She blew against her bangs and stood in a long railing of seatings in the arena, waiting for the king to come out.

King Ryeo eventually opened the gates to his arena and waved at all the women.

"We will begin the selection very soon." King Ryeo announced, and the women sitting upon the seats applauded. Prince Kail had joined his father's side to observe the ceremony; he was bored so he decided to come outside. 

His eyes caught Sunwa's, and she noticed him smirking at her. 

Why did the prince just do that? So strange...I must not be bothered with trivial things. Sunwa turned her head away and tried to bring her mind to focus on what King Ryeo was saying. 

Strange. That ragged girl my father helped on the streets of the village is not showing any interest in me. How unique. Aren't all women supposed to faint upon my glance? 

I am the most attractive man in this kingdom.

Kail gazed upon the girl again, but this time she seemed annoyed and had turned her head away. Kail rolled his eyes and turned back to watch his father. 

"Well then." He then twittled with his fingers. "We'll see how far you make it in this selection, girl, considering how I'm one of the judges who will choose who to live in this castle as a maid from now on." Kail then chuckled and was not surprised by the sighing of young girls who had heard his luscious voice.

"And that's more like it." Kail laughed, sitting back in his royal seat. 

"We will score every one of you lovely women by points on the various activities that you can do." King Ryeo continued, and Sunwa listened with ease.

"There will be breaks in between, and our current servants will offer you a fine meal." "Women do need their nutrition." King Ryeo smiled, and some of the older women sitting close to Sunwa sighed. The king was one of the kindest men ever. Such charisma and fine character matched a king well.

"Session One will start very soon, everyone." "Please be ready." 

Sunwa soon saw curtains being drawn out from different sections of the arena. The king's servants shuffled inside the tents, and the king finally announced.

"We will divide you all into ten equal groups, and each group will swap around in the tents for skill evaluation." 

"Good luck everyone" King Ryeo waved at the women and returned to the seat beside his son.

Castle food is really delicious. I've been starving for two days, and to have such a refreshing meal right now just seems unbelievable. Sunwa delicately lowered the silverware into the dish and chewed on the tender chicken meat. She smiled as she felt her hunger being satiated. How wonderful it was to satisfy her stomach.

Sunwa peered around the long table and noticed the other women ravenously eating the castle's food. She then eyed at a fruit bowl and started watering. Fruit..was so expensive in the market..Sunwa could only afford it once a year. She grabbed a few cherry tomatoes with her fork and placed them one by one on her plate. "Yum." She chewed on the tomatoes before reaching out for some strawberries.

But before she could do so, she noticed a hand stopping her. 

"Are you crazy?" "Stop being such an animal." 

Sunwa looked up to see who had disrupted her meal. Her jaw dropped as she noticed Prince Kail glaring into her eyes with distaste. "Do you not realize that you are being tested on this inconspiciously, girl?" Sunwa instinctively dropped her silverware out of surprise, and the prince smirked upon seeing her actions. 

He turned around and walked in the other direction, and Sunwa sat in her seat, watching him trail away through the royal hall. She lightly rubbed her chin with her index finger as she turned back around to the table. 

It's true..The Crown Prince can be really nasty in tone..

...but was he trying to help me out just now?