The first spring morning had broken into the kingdom of Everlasting Sapphire. In the centre of the kingdom, where the city was located, people consisted of traders, on-duty royal officers and some random folks crowded the streets for their respective purposes. A couple of palace maids strolled happily past several hawker stalls with a basket in each hand. One of them pointed out of interest at several baskets of spices laid out on the mat of a Javanese trader. A tax collector extended out his hand as an owner of a particular stall dropped pieces of shillings into his palm. Running past them, were two little girls, probably children of certain traders. One was a brunette in a worn yellow cloak while the other was raven-haired in a faded flowery azure dress. The brunette was tugging the latter, leading the way.

“Don’t run too fast!” the latter hollered breathlessly, struggling to catch up with the other’s pace.

“No! You have to see this!”

They ran all the way out from the bustling town, past the city wall and ended up on the top of a hill at a countrified part of the kingdom. On the other side of the hill, a vast spread of land was colorfully covered by different kinds of newly blossomed flowers. Daisies, primroses, poppies, and violets alike carpeted the ground. With the harmony of the chirping of the birds and the fluttering of butterflies’ wings, the place was like a little slice of paradise.

“Wow.” The raven-haired girl sighed in awe at the wondrous view before her eyes. “Beautiful…”

The brunette chuckled and smiled triumphantly. “Told you you’ll like it. Let’s pluck some of those flowers and give them to our mum and dad. I’m sure they’ll love it too.”

And so, the two friends bounced their way down the hill, hand in hand, venturing into the blossoming field.

It was indeed a fine day in Everlasting Sapphire; a little bit too fine that none of the people would expect that in a few moments later, a catastrophe would befall on the nation.

The steely clashing of swords blended with the heroic roars of a girl and a man every once in a while in the garden of the palace, where Princess Min had engrossed herself in a very intense battle with the captain of the knights.

Kangin, the captain whom she was fighting with, could not help the smile on his face at the sight of the princess’s ferocious expression as she tried her very best to slash away every blow of his sword. Kangin had to admit that the princess was strong and had excellent reflexes, but compared to him, she had less experience; thus, making it hard for her to defeat him. As seconds pass by, the knight was growing tired as he gradually loose his thrill; the apparently endless sword fight seemed to be stagnant and dull, with only Kangin attacking while Princess Min was merely dodging, unable to retaliate at all.

Eventually, the knight decided that he would take it easy on her, and he minimized his attack, giving the princess a chance. That move, apparently, matched to the princess’s level as she had somehow tricked the knight to let his guard down and sent his sword flying through the air.

Kangin watched as his sword fell onto the grass with a dull clang. The princess took that second chance to bring her opponent down. Before the knight knew it, the princess had already leaped onto his armor-studded body, using her weight to drive the knight to the ground with her landing on his stomach.

The metal suit made a crashing noise on impact. The knight groaned and Princcess Min chuckled, removing the mask from his face.

“You alright?” she asked, not moving away from him.

“Ow. Princess.” Kangin grimaced. “Firstly, that hurts. Secondly, you need to get off me. It’s metal – with you sitting on it, its crushing my chest.”

Min chuckled. “Sorry,” she muttered as she got up, her apology betrayed by the cheeky, satisfied look on her face.

“Whatever,” Kangin mumbled, getting himself onto his feet, walking over towards his sword. “By the way, I have to say that you are definitely improving from day to day. More practice, and you’re going to match up with the knights.”

“Thanks, captain.” the princess stated as she picked up her own sword which she had deliberately dropped before pouncing onto Kangin almost a minute ago, slipping it back into the holster.

“You’re welcome.”

“Are you in for a fifth round?”

The captain let out a laugh of disbelieve. “You gotta be kidding me. You lost every battle and proposed for another round?”

“Hey,” the princess squeaked. “I didn’t lose every round. I’ve won the last one, remember?”

“And that was because I’ve deliberately tone it down for you.” Kangin put on a smug smile, arms crossed on his chest.

Princess Min grinned. “I am the princess and you are the knight. I outrank you so you have to obey me.”

Kangin was about to make his comeback but was stopped just as he opened his mouth when one of the palace maids came into the garden, calling out for the both of them.

“Your Highness, Captain.”

Sungmin turned to acknowledge the girl with a smile. “Yes, Seohyun.”

“His Majesty needs you and the Captain at the throne right now.”

The Princess and the Captain shared a curious look before she dismissed the maid. “We’ll be there in no time. Thank you, Seohyun.”

After Seohyun had disappeared into the palace backyard, the Princess and the Knight made their way together to the main entrance. While they were walking, Princess Min turned towards him. “Captain, just forget about what I’ve said to you… about obeying orders.”

King Geng was pacing back and forth in the room while Queen Heenim anxiously watched him from her throne. Every once in a while, he took a look at the crumpled letter in his hands, then started to pace again with head hanging low, a disturbed look making a slight crease on his forehead.

“Honey, can’t you think without walking back and forth like that?” Queen Heenim asked exasperatedly. “Seriously ticks me off.”

King Geng halted his steps and looked up to give the Queen a look an upset toddler would make on the verge of crying. He shook his head and started to walk over towards her.

“You know me, my dear.”

Heenim sighed. “Yeah, yeah. If your mind’s working, your body needs to work too. But it’s not like you got anything out of that method of brainstorming. Just relax, Sungmin and Kangin are coming,” she said, taking the King’s hand and placed on her lap, caressing the back of his palm with affection.

As if on a cue, the captain together with the princess marched into the throne room and fell prostrate before the king and queen.

“Your Majesty. I heard that my service is required and I’m ready to serve. What mission should I accomplish this time, Your Majesty?”

The king sighed and gave the paper he was holding to Kangin, who fetched the crumpled paper and lifted himself to his feet. Princess Min did the same.

“I am sure you still remember about Prince Kyuhyun of Sapphire Blue,” the king slowly spoke, noticing a muscle on his daughter’s face twitched and the colours of her cheeks faded.

“What about him?” she anxiously asked while Kangin was trying to comprehend the message on the letter.

“We’ve just received a word about him. I am not sure if we should believe this…”

Sungmin anticipated for the next line, but the king paused for a little bit too long while she grew rapidly impatient, her twitchiness got the best of her.

“What is with him, dad?” she desperately asked, her tone came out a little bit too snappy than she intended.

“He’s not dead, sweetheart. At least that’s what the letter told us,” Queen Heenim spoke before the king could.

“What do you mean he’s not dead?” asked the shocked princess and Kangin gave her the paper for her to decipher for herself.

“It is from Far-far Away,” the queen stated, referring to the letter. “As you can comprehend, sweetheart, it claimed that Prince Kyuhyun is alive and residing in Far-far Away’s sepulcher.”

Peace be upon you, my brethren.

                To make sure that this message is delivered to you safely has been very inconvenient, but if you do receive it, I hope that you keep it as a concern between your kingdom and ours. I am afraid if your knowledge about this matter will subject you and your kingdom towards the threats of a traitor.

                I am sure you still remember our beloved prince, Cho Kyuhyun of Sapphire Blue; the one who we once anticipated to enthrone as the next sovereign after our highly-respected brethren, the late King Choi; the one who we then mourned for after learning his tragic death on the same day we mourned the loss of his father.

                My brethren,

                I am writing this to bring you good news. Prince Kyuhyun is still here with us, lying deep inside a sleeping death. And we need your help, as Sapphire Blue’s remaining associate in the Federal Kingdoms of Sapphire to solve the enigma of the Poison Apple and free Prince Kyuhyun from his curse, therefore, bringing justice to Sapphire Blue’s throne and our fallen brethren.

                Until we meet again, be vigilant for a foe disguised as an ally. Far-far Away.

The princess eyed the letter with a puzzled frown. “What does this even mean and who… which officer from Far-far Away wrote this?”

“Judging from the seemingly machine-generated calligraphy, sweetheart, it’s written by His Royal Highness Shin Donghee himself,” King Geng replied.

“Then what is he trying to tell us? Kyuhyun is in a sleeping death? And is he implying that there’s a traitor among us? And the enigma of the Poison Apple?”

King Geng sighed. For the eighth time that day. “I don’t even know what that is. But it seems like we have a serious matter in our hand.”

Princess Min took a look at the letter in her hand. And we need your help, as Sapphire’s Blue remaining associate in the Federal Kingdoms of Sapphire…

…be vigilant for a foe disguised as an ally.

She then looked at her father. “Dad, I am here to be appointed on a mission, am I right?”

 “Positive,” was the King’s purposeful answer before he paused momentarily, and then continued, “I want you to accompany Kangin to the Kingdom of Far-far Away and provide them with whatever assistance they require.”

Sungmin was expecting that all along, thanks to her father who had obviously gave her the hint when he significantly decided to summon her and Kangin into the meeting instead of summoning Kangin alone. However, what surprised her was the fact that her father decided to assign her as a delegate on a quest and that was not any quest but a quest which involved Prince Kyuhyun, the person who used to be her dearest once upon a time.

“I know you still love him, Sungmin,” her father murmured, reminding her that he could read her mind like an open book if it comes to Kyuhyun.

“I know you would do anything for him,” it was the Queen who spoke this time, and she was right. “That is why mum and dad believe you can do this.”

Sungmin nodded as Kangin patted her shoulder, like he was giving her a sort of encouragement or reassurance.

“Of—”

Of course I would, she would like to say, but was cut off by an ear-splitting explosion that was so powerful everybody had sworn they felt the ground shake.

Kangin was the first to recover from the shock. The knight protectively came to hold the Princess, who had her palm on her chest, clearly shaken by the sudden blast. Next it was the King, who immediately looked out for his Queen and the Princess.

“Is everybody alright?” he asked, but nobody managed to response as they were once again stupefied by a shriek of terror from the palace garden.

“It’s Seohyun!” Sungmin blurted, and another roar resonated from one of the palace’s hallways, this time, it was that of a man. A series of explosion followed after.

“Kangin! The two of you need to move now. Go to Far-far Away and tell them that we’re under siege. The traitor that they’ve told us about has got us! Go!”

 With one bow for the king, the knight took hold of the dumbfounded Princess’s hand and ran for the exit. Realizing that the main hallway would be bombarded by besiegers, he diverted his way and dashed towards the hallway which entrance was at the midpoint of the left wall. The princess, on the other hand, could only follow the knight’s lead at the moment, every cell in her cortex jumbled into a chaotic mess. She shared one last look with her father as they darted across the room. The king, noticing the questioning look she casted, gestured towards his sword and nodded curtly.

Every palace has its own secret passage way, and that trend even applied to Everlasting Sapphire’s palace. The palace was one of the few which ballroom had a stage. Behind the stage where the prep room was, a door lay hidden beneath a section of the wooden flooring. The knight and the princess emerged from the hallway and ran across the dance floor, rushing for the stage. Swords clash and gunshot bang resounded from one of the hallways and they knew they had to hurry up. They needed to make it out of that palace unscathed and find a way to get to Far-far Away Land, where they could solve all this absurd turn of events or anything. As a matter of fact, however, they were not sure what should they do next, when they make it to Far-far Away. Still, they had to keep going, as it was also an order from the king.

They hopped onto the stage and slipped into the prep room. Mastering every nook and cranny of the palace, Kangin managed to find the secret door beneath the floorboards the very instant they entered. He drew his sword and used them to lever up the door, prompting the princess to hop in before him. After making sure that the princess had gracefully landed on the tunnel floor, he followed her suit, pulling the door close as he jumped in.

The click of his metal boot against the floor of the palace was drowned by the tumultuous roar of war all around him. His stride along the hallway was majestic and proud as war men fought by his sides, rendering him invincible to the palace defenders that attempted to thwart his footsteps.

Stepping into the throne room with his ten war men faithfully guarding, he made his way towards the rulers of Sapphire Blue standing wearily by the throne. Taking off his metal helmet, he knelt before the king with a smirk on his face.

“Greetings, Your Majesty,” he saluted with a hint mocking in his firm, deep voice.

As much as Han Geng wanted to fall prostrate before him as well and retaliate with an equal slap of sarcasm, he reminded himself that it was simply not the time for jokes.

“What do you want…” he gravely inquired, before scoffing, “Your Majesty?”

The latter brought himself to his feet and his lips, laying his eyes on Heenim, who was standing by Han Geng’s side.

“Your modesty… and your Queen.”

Modesty? Han Geng could barely stifle his laughter.

With Captain Kangin on the lead, the both of them stalked their way through the darkness of the underground tunnel. As they wandered longer in the closed space, dust particles started filling up their lungs and the lack of oxygen was aggravating the suffocation.

Just as Sungmin felt like she was about to pass out, reaching out her hand to prop herself against the stone wall for support, she felt Kangin’s firm grip on her arm and she instinctively looked forward to see a ray of sunlight at one end of the tunnel. Desperate for fresh air, they both scurried in the direction of the light and they soon found themselves back in the outdoor world, just outside the perimeter of the palace.

However, that was not exactly a lucky turn of event.

“Halt!” a harsh bark greeted them at the instant they emerged from the tunnel and their heads snapped around in alarm. A group of knights charged for them like a stampede of hungry lions, prompting the duo to scramble in the direction of the woods behind the castle.

Arrows started flying past them as they plodded through wild grass. Seeing the princess running in no armor for protection, Kangin let her go before him so that he could shield her. But alas for him, his armor could not protect himself from the powerful force of a weighted net that ricocheted through the air. Flung by a very skilful combatant, the net slammed into the knight’s back and drove him to the ground.

“Ooof!”

Sungmin turned around when she heard a thud, and saw that the knight had fallen face-first into the mattress of grass.

“What the heck?!” she grumbled as she made a U-turn to rescue the knight. Kangin lifted his face and yanked the net away before the princess grabbed his hand, heaving him to his feet.

“Thanks,” he muttered and immediately picked up the pace. But even if they could run as fast as a cheetah, their precious little time was successfully stolen from them when Kangin was driven to the ground. Just a few flights through the perimeter of the Enchanted Forest, the princess and the knight were soon outrunned. War men in sapphire blue capes surrounded them with horses and swords, rendering the princess a swearing mess.

“, , , …”

“Princess, not in my ears.”

They knew it was time to draw out their swords. But even if they had a weapon, hope seemed to be very thin for them; with two against more than a dozen, it was impossible to escape unscathed. Realizing this, the knight stopped and turned around.

“Kangin!” Princess Min shrieked as she skidded into a halt.

“Run away, princess! Go to Sapphire Blue as soon as possible and get help!”

“What! Don’t tell me to go alone!” she protested and ran back towards him.

“Princess, your mum and dad and people will not make it out of this alive if you don’t run now and get help! Please, let me handle—”

 A swordsman noisily lunged for the knight, interrupting his sentence as he had to thwart the attack. The princess watched as a sword fight began between the men before more warriors joined in. She hesitated for a moment, until the knight beat her to it.

“For the love of Kyuhyun, princess, please, run!”

Maybe it was due to the fact that her parents’ and people’s lives were at stake, or there was some sort of motivation in the name Kyuhyun; Princess Min wordlessly turned around and fled further into the forest, leaving Kangin to precariously obstruct the war men from following her suit.

Unfortunately, a knight spotted the princess’s attempt and began pursuing her. The tired princess was unable to outrun the horse. Flashing a triumphant grin beneath his helmet, the knight, stopping his horse in the middle her way, hopped off the steed and began threatening her with his long, sharpened lance.

She breathlessly held her own sword up, fully prepared if the knight started slashing.

And he did.

It was true that she practiced sword fight every single day for about three years, with the Captain as her first-hand trainer. But, she had never participated in a real battle. Finally given the chance to put her skills into a try, she was somewhat taken aback by the fact that it was not as easy as she expected. Kangin was, for sure, a mighty war man, but when it comes to training the princess, he had to take it easy as she had started literally from scratch. Meanwhile, in a real fight, foes didn’t take the fact that you’re a beginner or a princess into consideration. Every weakness will induce no sympathy, but in fact, will be used as an advantage to take you down.

However, those short three years of hard work did not do nothing in making her a decent fighter. At least she could protect herself from severe harm. She could have been stabbed in the upper left shoulder, but her trained reflex reduced it into a painful incision.

Like a fight or flight response, the pain triggered some kind of aggression in her, which destroyed every single trace of mercy for her foe. She began brandishing the sword around wildly, repeatedly knocking that of her opponent so hard that it sent impulses into his hand. The swordsman took one, two and three steps backwards as the princess hit him blow by blow, so ferocious that it seemed like she was going to chop off his arm altogether, if the steel armor wasn’t there.

Her sword grazed his forearm deeply, a part which his armor ceased to protect. She could hear the deep groan that ensued from behind the helmet as he recoiled further backwards. She was about to knock the sword off his hand – the only tactic she knew to effectively defeat an opponent – but a group of swordsmen were seen in the distance galloping on their horses through the pathway and she knew she had to leave quickly.

She slipped the sword back into the holster and sprinted further into the wilderness, using all the remaining energy in her. For some reasons, the colors around her seemed a little bit too sharp and the spot where her attacker’s lance had cut was beginning to throb painfully. She came to an intersection and she chose the one to her left. The path she trod was gradually sloping downwards and Sungmin knew she was going farther than she had ever been. She had never been that far into the Enchanted Forest before; but at that moment, she had to push herself to run more, run anywhere as long as those men wouldn’t find her.

Apparently, Siwon was not that happy when the King of Everlasting Sapphire informed him that he had sent the Princess with the Captain as her to Far-far Away. Upon receiving the new information, the King of Sapphire Blue had immediately instructed a war man to carry a hunt throughout the city. “They have not gone too far,” he had assured.

With ten Sapphire Blue war men surrounding him at that moment, Han Geng had no choice but order his men to surrender as Siwon had threatened to activate “a newly-innovated” explosive to “blow up several parts of the town”. After all, he decided, he could buy Sungmin and Kangin extra time by diverting Siwon’s attention way.

With Han Geng and Siwon’s order, the abrupt siege that day came to a stop; but the people of Everlasting Sapphire were then under the tight scrutiny of the Sapphire Blue’s Army. The people of the palace were declared war hostages, rendering them slaves to Sapphire Blue. The King’s weapon and armor was confiscated. One wrong move that brushed King Siwon the wrong way, the whole kingdom will crumble with a swipe of the dictator’s trump card.

Behind the purposeful façade he showed to his palace people as the Sapphire Blue Army walked him down the palace hallway, he was praying desperately for salvation. The fate of the Kingdom was in his hands, and the Kingdom’s only hope was the Princess and the Knight.

The dungeon door slammed shut, and Han Geng was left alone in the dusty dark room, where he would spend the rest of the days.

Sungmin had no idea at all about how far had she wandered and how long she had been running. The men who were pursuing her could no longer be seen or heard; the eruptions of war from the palace had long faded into the back of her mind.

She was heaving very heavily; her chest ached and her head hanging. Her steps gradually slowed down, but she found it tricky to come into a halt without feeling like tumbling over. Her right hand reached out to for a tree to hold on and that was when she realized she couldn’t open her eyes. Something just felt disturbing about the wound on her left shoulder inflicted by the lance of the knight earlier.

Her extended palm slightly grazed a rough, bulky surface of a tree and she instantly threw her weight onto it, hugging the bark like it was her pillar of strength.

Through heavy eyelids, she scanned her surroundings. A sense of doom overwhelmed her when she realized that she was in the middle of nowhere. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to clear her mind of all anxieties and fear but the feeling that she was standing on shifting ground and the stinging pain from the wound made it clear that she was bound for hell. She opened her eyes and forced herself to concentrate. The agony she felt was overwhelming, threatening to knock her onto the ground. However, she had no choice but to fight her weaknesses, for the fate of her kingdom that was in her hand.

Time might be running out for her, and she decided to proceed with her journey. With small, shaking steps, the princess returned to the pathway and continued the slow, perilous pursuit towards the heart of the Enchanted Forest, where the Seventh Fall of the Seven Jeweled Hills awaited.

At some point, the sound of flowing water greeted her from the distance, and her eyes flew open. She must have been yearning for refreshment that her footsteps instinctively quickened despite her unstable form.

Eventually, the princess came across a brook, where on its bank, she fell on her knees. Her hand smacked the surface of the water before she hastily rubbed that hand on her face. Feeling how her strength had diminished and how her will had withered, she succumbed to gravity, which rendered her sprawling on the ground, helpless.

 Later did she knew, she wouldn’t get herself up to proceed with her journey anymore.