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[Luhan's POV]

   Sehun stands too quickly at the sight of his friend by the door. Hopeful child in need of some assurance of some sort and it’s exciting to see him this way. It’s been awhile since he’s shown any interest in anything. I smirk playfully teasing him knowing fully well exactly what he wants from me. 

“So?”

   I walked passed him towards the balcony to search the room for anything that is amiss. A friend I am to him but I am still his First Guard. It’s still my duty to think of his safety.  This irritates the Prince more. I swear I heard a growl of some sort when I walked passed him. I take my time when I took a full sweep of his quarters. It was clear. But I do it slowly and meticulously anyway.  He tries to catch my gaze and I try my hardest to avoid him and keep my bearing. He is not going down easy with what he’s done. Telling Lady Hei-Ran my most embarrassing memories. Oh, he will not go down easy. 

“Lu Han.” He says first and I hum an acknowledgment trying my luck on another corner by his hidden trap door in case of emergency. It was all clear from my stand point but it was another insignificant gesture to . 

   Finally he says “Captain!” in full authoritative voice and I was stricken. He’s never used that tone on me in private. I had no choice but stop and stand erect to face him in attention. And I must’ve had a pained expression because the guilt on his face was too apparent. He stops a bit and finally takes his strides to me in haste. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to- It’s just...” The Prince sighs and he falls to the lounge behind him in exasperation. 

   And I knew this was going to be a problem. The way he’s acting, the way he thought of her earlier and think of her still. The way his mind is elsewhere during the day and his gazes only falling to her when they’re in the same room. The other girls have no chance already.

“You were right about her. She was found scaling the wall like a thief.” I began to say. Trying to catch his attention, redirecting his attention.

   His crest fallen face had brighten up at the mention of ‘thief’. 

“Sir…Sehun, you do know your father will not allow.” And I thought I might’ve said too much. Calling him by his name has been one of the things he told me he needed from me.  He needed me to be real with him. But at this moment, it wasn't about the name at all. I’ve over stepped another line.

   He looks up and he studies me in intent. His brows knit together in distress. There’s sadness in his eyes. 

“I know. But we can fix her-“

“You have no right fixing her. She's perfect in her own right.” I say to him because she’s left a great impression on me after she’s spoken of the Prince’s admiration for me. 

"What ever the case is Captain Lu Han, I am very thankful you were there for him. His regard for you is apparent because of your true loyalty and truly I am nothing but happy for Prince Sehun for having you at least.”

   He presses his lips tight in line and runs his hands over her face murmuring something I could not understand.

“What is that?” I ask him again and I wished I had never asked. Because his determined face had scared me momentarily and I was scared for the Prince’s future from then on.

“If I shall not change her. I shall change the Crown.”

   The threat in his voice, the magnitude of his conviction…I was scared for the Prince’s future, his life from that moment on. What one country girl could do in the hands of the Crown. What one Crown can do in the hands of fallen Prince in love with a lowly country girl. I had to fix this now. I had to.

“And if she didn’t want you or the Crown?”

   And somehow that Prince wavered. It’s as if he’d known the answer all along. He had known her heart and what she thought of the Crown. Sehun had mentioned their tryst the other night but he had not mentioned anything about their conversation in detail. I wonder now.

   I never got my answer that night. But I did though a couple days later when an unexpected surprise arrived.

[Hei-Ran's POV]

   As I sit next through another impeccable dinner, I’m more aware of my surroundings when I eat like I’m not hungry at all. Nibbling at small pieces here and there, I am able to pick up conversations and small interactions of the participants amongst each other and with the Prince. But my objective as always hadn’t changed. It’s through observing Minah that I am able to survive this and this is how I negotiate the dinner.  I eye Minah a couple of more times until she stops eating and finally puts her fork down. She turns to me to smile while I return her gentle mirth with equal enthusiasm. I know she notices me. She is very cunning and perceptive as she notices everything that happens during our meals. I do not know how she perceives me but I do I appreciate her friendship and help as we both know she really tries her hardest to coach me on the side. In her own way, she helps me without ever expecting anything in return. As if I had anythign to offer. 

    There is a moment to which we spend the time in the parlor after dinner with our Crown Prince; a cup of tea and gentle conversations where we’re expected to be in our best behavior at the same time show our best side to the Prince. It’s the getting to know part of the deal and I cringe as Prince Sehun looked a little overwhelmed with the mass of women around him vying for his attention.  

“Oh Prince Sehun, you must come to the South. The beaches are to die for. We do not have such luscious tanned skins for no reason. It’s perfect for a season vacation, you must come and visit with me sometime. I just know you’ll love it.”

    I watch him still as he try to acknowledge the invitation though he is clearly declining it since he and everyone knows the Crowned Prince has no other time to ever travel and if the need ever comes up there are emissaries who do the job for him. 

    He turns his head to another girl and she whispers something in his ears that makes his eyes widened and his cheeks pink and I could just imagine what kind of indecent proposal it was. Something I am not new to since I’ve gotten used to girls throwing themselves at my friend Kai.

    Kai. I turn to the window and perch my elbows trying to hold steady a still full cup of tea. I look out into the garden view and I think of just that my good friend Kai. What he could be doing at this moment. Wondering if he had gotten back with that last girl or if he had gotten a new one. I wonder if he’s taking care of my father as he had promised and if he’s thinking of me too. I slightly raised my cup to the chilly night air and smiled to the black night. Closing my eyes to savor the moment, a beautiful memory, crescent slits of sparkling brown eyes smiled back at me. 

"We are the loved ones. A fine breed. We are the loved ones. Friends of God indeed. We'll build a fire.  We'll watch it burn. Cause my heart is reckless. Soon you'll learn. May the days stay sweet. May your steady heartbeat be the good in me."

   The Crowned Prince is reciting to the group. "We are the loved ones..." He began. There's smug air to his tone playful yet very indifferent. It's thoughtless yet full of meaning to me. It's like listening to a boy change his voice to sound like a man but failing. It's so transparent, I wanted nothing to do with it, him and all of them. But the giggling and the whispering of the women fawning over him blurred all the meaning it had for me. It only vexed me to think he would try something presumptuous and boastful. It's very unlike the boy I met in the carriage or the mansion's wall by the garden nearing dawn. Somehow that boy was different. He was full of life yet he lives for the simplicity. Not this boy who talks about "a fine breed" whose "heart is reckless".  I wanted nothing to do with it. With the wind whispering to me, touching my rosy cheeks softly, it's like a chaste kiss. I began to wonder about books and poems and sonnets and verses of love. I closed my eyes because this was a good night. It is a beautiful night for a walk and it took all of my being not to put down the cup of tea right at the window sill and toe off my shoes to run to my window to scale that wall again. My body ached for it. My mind whizzed as the minutes ticked down to lights out. And when we were called to our rooms, I have never been so glad in my life to finally be sent to my room. As I scrubbed away the day and donned my sleeping gown, I wondered how I can ever be so excited as to be in this situation. Though I've hated the idea at first, my aversion is too clear not because of anything else but ignorance. I somehow found something beautiful within the castle walls and I'm addicted to it. It is not the beautiful dresses I get to wear everyday, the good food, or the lovely mansion meant just for the participants. It is not even the prospect of becoming the Queen or the possibility of more luxury I can only imagine. No none of it excited me.  None of it made me want to scale the wall faster than I've ever done so in my life. 

   It was only when I've reached the bottom of the wall and a hand had grabbed hold of me, helping me down to the lush ground that I've finally realized it.  It was the crescents slits of the brown eyed Prince that enticed me to stay and want more for myself. It is these hands that are holding tight to my waist that melted my resolved and made me want to survive, to live in a dream. In this dream.

But is it right to think this way?

    Although I was excited to meet him, I realized that it was all different once I've gotten to actually see him. I had no idea how to act once I got myself settled in the bottom of the wall. I picture him in his full garb from dinner and his too slick hair talking about how much of a fine breed he was along with his family of royalty and I can't picture it now. His hair is matted to his forehead, shin of sweat from what may look like a run he had made just to get here.  Everything that he was in that parlor was lost now and in front of me, the pair of crescents slits of brown eyes looked gently at me once again and I know them too well. 

"I'm glad I made it." He says through pants.

   I smile at his appearance and he's no way the Crowned Prince right now. To me here in this wall, he is just Sehun and I'm weary. It's scary to think this way. 

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" He says questioningly.

    I quickly shift my head away. "Oh nothing." I tucked my legs closer to wrap my arms around them.

"C'mon, Lady Hei-Ran. if I can't trust you with honesty, who else can I?" I glanced a look at him and he's still fixed at looking at me. 

   Trust.

"You seem different. I mean you're like a different person up there." I pointed to my window. "Than here." I paused to see his reaction and was surprise to see him examining me more intently.

"I just feel like you act different to them as opposed to me."

"Hmm.." He pauses to think first before looking away. 

   When he didn't say anything else, I added, "Don't take it the wrong way.. I--" I began to say worried that I might've offended the Crowned Prince or over step my boundaries. But he only stopped by grabbing hold of my shoulders and leaning, closing in our gap.

"Who did you like more, Lady Hei-Ran. Prince Sehun or Sehun the Night Crawler?"

"The Night Crawler? Really? You couldn't think of a better bandit name?" I playfully jested and he smiled a bit but regained himself quickly.

"This is a serious question, my lady. Will I only be graced by your presence when I act like a bandit?"

"Pardon me?" I didn't know where the question was coming from and I was caught offhanded. 

"You only talk to me when were alone hiding away into the night. You are never so much as look at me when we're up there." He mocked my gesture earlier. 

"That's because..." Unsure of my answer, I stumbled through my words but unfortunately blurted something I definitely regret now. "What business do I have chatting with the likes of those ladies? What do I know of poets and the classics? I have not a villa or a vacation home by the beach. Nor have I learned anything cultured than the necessary just to be around you. I do not have a place up there, my Prince. I may be in the running to be your Queen but there is no way in hell I belong in that world." I gestured to the window again but this time looked him straight in the eyes. Suddenly, the Crowned Prince mirrored my gaze and opened his mouth to say something but chose other wise. 

   A moment later, seeming as if eternity, he let go of me, letting his hand slide down my arms first before turning his whole body completely. There was an awkward silence between us and I had not a clue as to why it had even happened. Except that I have told only the truth and it had both affected he and I.

   He made a move I thought was a change of direction to stand. So in a panic not wanting the night to end already, I suddenly blurted.

"I like this man better than the one up there, if you must know. He talks true to himself and laughs wholeheartedly. It is my only requirement in a man. I mean a friend." I winced at my little mistake which earned me a relieved smile.

   I straightened wanting so much to turn back time and omit that last part. But he only smiled and continued on.

"That's all? No power or money?  No good looks for good bearings. Everybody needs that much." It was a playful tone but I could tell there was still a hint of hurt from my previous reply.  

"I have none of that to offer. How fair would it be if I didn't offer as much? But loyalty, honesty and a companion to laugh or cry with; that is invaluable. I can truly say that I can and am willing to offer those wholeheartedly."

   He silently acknowledges my answer and nods to himself. 

"How about you Prince Sehun? What do you want in a wife?" 

“Regal, poised, mannered, cultured, well-read, loyal. The Queen has to be all those to stand by my side. She needs to be able to stand by herself in the midst of politics and fake faces and yet still maintain a smile.”

“My Prince. I did not ask you what the Queen needs to be. I asked what you want in a wife.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

   I shake my head. Casting my eyes on the Prince who began examining his imperial ring, passed down from generation to generation. He takes it off and grips it in his palm as if weighing the responsibility it had.

“Is it heavy?”

“Oh, more than you know.” I knew he didn’t mean the ring. I instinctively took it from his hands with a quick sweep of my fingers. 

“Hey!” He exclaimed shocked that I’ve stolen his ring. There's a playful mirror of the bright moonlight on his eyes tonight.

   I dare put the ring in my finger and cast it in front of him. Too big and heavy,  we stared at it together. Until…

“The law says you try to steal the throne, you lose your head.” I stared at him for a second before I realized what he had meant.  Treason. I immediately took off the ring and pushed it in his palm. He chuckles, crescents slits that I’ve grown to love and appreciate. It wiped away my worries, sweeping away my frown.

“I was just kidding.”

   I let out a loud exasperated chuckle when I finally realized his true nature. "Thank goodness. I happen to love my head.”

   He laughs some more. “It is the law, my Lady. But...” He leaned in closer to my face and playfully smiled. “But I’ll keep your secret our 'Princess Thief of the Night'. Since you did bring it back in perfect condition.”

    I broke out into a smile. He still insist on calling me a thief. Prince Sehun shrugs his shoulder before pressing himself in the wall again. He looks out into the garden now as if parting the trees for the arrival of the moon. Eyes distant, lost in its magnificence. He began now more serious without a hint of jest in his tone.

“I want...I want someone who’ll connect with me. Someone who’ll connect with life, birth, death and rebirth. Someone who can blur the lines of reality and fantasy, of absolute and infinity. Someone who thinks of me the moon and the stars, and stay through my deeds and sins. Someone just for me.”

   He lowers his eyes now casting them on the ring once more now back in his finger. 

“Everything had been chosen for me. My future had been set in stone before I was even born. And for once, I want to choose for me.” Prince Sehun turns to me now and there’s something in the sparkle of his eyes that tells me of his intent. Sympathetically, I hold his gaze almost feeling the burden and pressure of his situation, but even more, I was shocked when he reached out to my shoulder and acknowledged me.

“This, this is my only chance in happiness. This will be the first and last time I get to choose for me and I don’t want to make a mistake. So please.  Please help me. Help me find a Queen, Lady Hei-Ran.”

   As a friend, I should take it right away and relieve him of misery and worry. I am his friend after all. A friend. From the first time we’ve met, from the moment he’s opened up to me, I should’ve known. 

   I remembered when just weeks ago I thought he truly was just the First Guard of the Crowned Prince. 

“I don’t know. I just figured, if you were able to befriend me, I would think you’d do great befriending the Prince. You know he doesn’t have very many.”

   I said “No problem” right away. Just to get him to stop looking at me like that. With the hand that was resting on my shoulder that is prickling now in annoyance, I almost just wanted to shrug him off. But thankfully, he retracts right away, while I turned my head and lowered it. 

   I play with the ring on my finger now. Without its importance it’s just another reminder of my job here. To help the Crowned Prince find his Queen-to-be. I know Sunmi told me of my place here, as a participant as another one of his choice, I now clearly know, my real position in all this. An assistant in his search. A confidant. A friend.

   And although it pains me to melt away any want I have for the Prince, I truly understand. I will never be suitable for him. Not if he himself can’t see me as one of his options. 

“Minah. I bet my gold in Park Minah.” I began to say

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