The next morning Jong Kook woke up from his dreams to see the sun had already risen and was beaming with warmth in its fiery smile. His eyes ached from the lack of sleep as he spent most of the night trying to get to sleep but being unable to with the image of her haunting his mind. He had tossed and turned, still not able to enter dream land. It was only until the early morning that he was able to doze off and the fact that his brain seemed tired of teasing him with images of her. Jong Kook, feeling surprised at how late it was, scrambled out of his futon and hurriedly put on his military uniform or Jeonbok with his rank badge to distinguish himself as the Military Commander and attached his two tiger swords in their sheath to his waist. As he was exiting his sleeping quarters he stopped, glued to the spot. 

Coming out from one of the other rooms, looking as memorizing as usual was Princess Song Ji Hyo. He remembered what had happened last night and blushed a deep scarlet red. The way she had looked last night, all glowing in a white heavenly aura that was in stark comparison to her long flowing dark hair and light shining brown orbs made his heart swell and ache for her. His twitched with the memory of how her nighting-gown had felt and they were tempted to run over the strands of her hair. He balled his hands into fists to keep his hands in check, least they lose control and actually run through her hair. He remembered the look in her eyes last night and his heart plummeted a little. He didn't want to do anything that would make him so low in her eyes and opinion. He couldn't take his eyes off her as she strolled out of her room, with her maids and ladies in waiting, and watched her until he couldn't see her anymore. 

He breathed a tired sigh. He wondered when this cycle of longing for her but being unable to do anything because of their status differences would end. He walked out from his sleeping quarters and made his way towards the Palace Gates, nodding his head at some guards as they were performing their duties to his satisfaction. As he reached the Gates, the gate-keepers opened the gates, he looked at the lively city. 

Stalls filled with freshly caught fish or hand grown fruits and vegetables lined the street. The heat of the day only made the scent of the fish and vegetables grow stronger, making Jong Kook want to hold his nose, despite the rumbling of his stomach. Yells promising great offers thundered in his ears, mixed in with the sizzle of food being fried in hot oil. Potential customers hovered over the goods, inspecting them with great detail and care, reminding Jong Kook of bees flying over particular flowers. Cattle led by their farmers hobbled through the crowd, chewing their mouths from side to side while swatting flies with their whip like tails. 

The city market seemed to buzz with a certain type of energy. Jong Kook walked, pretending to be a person out at the market to buy goods by looking at the items at the stalls. He wondered around the market for a bit until he came across a jewelry stall. He stopped at the stall, debating whether or not he was going to any for her or not. This is what he had done over the years. Whenever he went out to the city, he would sometimes bring back pieces of jewelry for her to wear, though most of the time he would be to frightened to give it to her. It was only when he was feeling an immense amount of courage and bravery and often he did it at the cover of darkness. 

He would place it outside of her and quickly and quietly leave, hoping that she wouldn't reject the piece of jewelry when she found it in the morning. There had been times when he would see Princess Song Ji Hyo strolling and catch a twinkle. With a closer look he would see that she was wearing the piece of jewelry he had bought, be it a necklace or hair pin, and his heart would feel a wave of warmth as well as doing a flip in his chest. He would feel happy and giddy that she hadn't not only rejected his piece of jewelry but was wearing it as well. 

Later on during the day Commander Jong Kook would be ordered to see the Princess as she had requested to a meeting. There they would make small talk with each other until a silence would fall between them, leaving Jong Kook anxious in his seat struggling to think of something else to say to her. 

Then she would suddenly ask a question. 'Were you the one who left me this wonderful piece of jewelry outside of my sleeping quarters last night?' With that question combined with her penetrating gaze Jong Kook would feel nervous, as if he was a criminal being closely inspected, as if his very soul was being looked at. 'No your Highness' he would answer, hoping she wouldn't notice how his voice was a pitch higher than it usually is. She stare at him for a bit, while Jong Kook would beg her to believe him in his head. He wasn't ready to tell her about his gifts that he left at night, wasn't ready to admit what they signified. 

After a few minutes she would nod her head at him, which he took as a signal to leave. He would exit the room and lean on the wall outside, his heart pounding at a million miles per hour. He wanted to tell her it was him but he was too scared about what she could say. Would she feel disappointed if she knew it was him secretly giving her the jewelry? Did she hope it was someone else? He could only sigh at the Princess's seeming naive nature. 

He shook the thoughts out of his head and looked at the jewelry on display, ignoring the suspicious yet knowing gaze of the stall vendor as she looked at him just staring without really looking at her goods. Jong Kook looked at all the pieces of jewelry on display but they didn't seem to resemble her in his eyes.  Then he came across this perfume sachet that caught his eye. It was shaped to something that looked like a heart molded from gold with a bit dangled in with the slightest touch hung on a chain made from golden beads. Little clasps edged the heart-shaped sachet. Inside was some red like substance. Jong Kook brought the sachet to his nose and sniffed its scent. It smelled of Mugunghwa or Rose of Sharon, its sweet scent making his nose twitch. 

He liked this one the scent represented the seemingly unlimited love he felt towards her and the sachet itself was beautiful to look at. He looked up at the stall vendor. "Ajumma how much is this sachet for?". the old woman looked at the sachet in his hand before answering him-"twenty thousand won". Jong Kook nodded his head before counting out the right amount of won coins before handing them to the out-stretched hand of the old woman. She handed him the perfume sachet and just before he was about to leave she said to him with a knowing smile and wise eyes "The lucky woman who you bought that sachet for will be really happy". Jong Kook could only blush at the old woman's sharp intuition and at the thought of Princess Ji Hyo smiling widely at his gift. 

After giving the old woman a shy smile and a quiet thank you, he left. A few hours later, with the sun starting to set, Jong Kook couldn't find any information about the big merchant called Dong Wan. He had asked around but all he got were half assured answers, rumours of him having dealt with a powerful client. No one had seen him since. It was like as if he had disappeared off the face of the Earth. Jong Kook grumbled as he walked back to Palace, mumbling how useless he had felt at not finding any good news about the mysterious merchant.

The Palace Gates opened and he strolled through and carried on walking, heading in the direction of the Throne Room. Jong Kook reached the Throne Room and walked right in, stopping when in front of the Old King. The Old King, as attentative as ever, looked at Jong Kook before asking "What is it Commander Jong Kook-ssi?". Jong Kook cleared his throat before answering. "I patrolled the city as I advised yesterday. I asked about the merchant Dong Wan but the strange thing is nobody's heard from his recently" "He's gone?" the Old King sat up in his Throne, eyes alert with concern."Yes it seems so. The people I had asked said that he hadn't been heard since dealing with an unknown client. What that client wanted from him nobody is sure of as they have made up all sorts of rumours and assumptions". 

"What do you think happened to him, Commander Jong Kook-ssi? What do you think he could have been selling? And what will you do next?" said the Old King, with worry carved into his face. "I think maybe Dong Wan was killed by that client of his. But as to what I'll do next I'll just keep on asking around some more, maybe see if anyone has heard from him yet. And to answer that last question of yours, I honestly have no clue as to what he could have been selling. But it can't be good if nobody had seen him since". The Old King only mutely nodded, again showing the trust he had in Jong Kook. He dismissed Jong Kook, wanting time to think and seeing that Jong Kook would like to go to his sleeping quarters after a tiring day of walking around in the summer heat. 

Jong Kook strode to his quarters, touching the sachet that was in his pocket. He thought about Princess Song Ji Hyo and the joy she would feel at being a gift from her secret admirer. He hoped that the Princess would be in her quarters so that he could secretly place it in front of her door. Having reached the front of her quarters he gently placed the sachet on the ground and quietly left, not realising that someone was peeking at him through the window. When he had left and was inside his own room, Princess Song Ji Hyo tip-toed out, smiling excitedly and picked up the sachet. She took a sniff and sighed as she smelled the sweet smell of the Rose of Sharon. Before entering her room with the sachet she turned to look at where Jong Kook currently was. With a tender smile she said "I knew it was you. Your bad at lying pabo-yah Kim Jong Kook-ssi"

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Here's the update I promised though I feel as if I rambled on for too long about certain things. Sorry that Song Ji Hyo hasn't appeared much in the fanfic lately. Will try to write about her more in the future chapters. Hope you enjoyed it. If anyone has any suggestions or improvements you can comment or send me a message.