A week had passed since she first received the letter, and two weeks since that dreadful day she brought shame to her family's name. She had begged her father countless times to make an excuse for them to decline the invitation, but her pleading had proved to be useless. She had clutched unto her father's pants with teary eyes, yet to no prevail, her dearest father successfully pried her fingers off; his apologetic expression dug its way to her memory.

Chinsun shook her head.

"...His Majesty asks you to bring your daughter for your next visit…"

Another shake came.

"...His Majesty asks you to bring your daughter for your next visit…"

She shook her head more vigorously this time as the words she read kept reverberating in her mind.

"Why does Emperor Han want to see you?"

'Useless!' A hit on the head would have been a better option.

"This way." The voice of the old tight-bunned court lady broke her train of thought. "His Imperial Majesty would like to speak to you alone."

The middle-aged man nodded to the woman and turned to his daughter. "Chinsun, stay here for a moment."

She wanted to lock her stare on the floor, but she tiptoed and pulled his shoulder down instead. Following her actions, he moved to lower himself to her height. "If it's not a bother," she whispered quite loudly into his ear, "could you please tell His Imperial Majesty that I am deeply sorry for what happened and to cancel the execution?"

He sighed then straightened his back. With a nod to the court lady, he followed her inside.

It was a time to stay hopeful.

'If I were going to die, I might as well do something worthwhile.' She knelt and set down her knapsack, rummaging through its contents, putting out a few of the things outside. With the bag completely empty, she sighed and looked through it again, even shaking the bag downwards. She scrunched her nose, finding nothing interesting among the things she started to pack back inside her bag.

She looked up at the imposing architecture that stood in front of her. Judging from the height, it must have had three—or even four—floors.

'How many white stones were made for the exterior?'

She marvelled wide-eyed at the structure. The Hans must love their symmetry; even the front door and windows had symmetrical squares. Despite the geometrical patterns, the asymmetrical roof and turrets of varying sizes broke the near-perfect symmetry.

Supposing she survived the day, at least her sketchbook was still home. In the meantime, she would just have to marvel at the tall masterpiece.

"Here is the ointment Her Imperial Majesty has requested. It is to be used twice a day: once before bedtime and once just before bathing," he informed as he pulled out another glass jar. "Aloe vera in case of a winter rash. Please use it sparingly. I am not quite sure when I would make another one, what with the expensive and slow trade in Choi. Also— "

"Thank you, Daejung," he was cut off by the emperor's imposing voice. "About your daughter…" he trailed off.

Daejung genuflected and lowered his head in an attempt to hide his distress. 'What had she gotten herself into?' He had started formulating the best way he could possibly relay an apology, but he held his tongue before the emperor until the situation was clear.

The momentary silence made his pounding heart ring in his ears. He was not even aware how anxious he was till he heard his own heartbeat drumming.

"You had served my first wife's health until her very last breath, and for that I will always be grateful. Now, I would like to return your generosity to my family by offering your daughter professional education."

Daejung slowly raised his head. It was not the response he expected.

"Forgive me. I don't quite follow, Your Majesty."

"The mentors I have chosen are the best in this empire. They are my sons' mentors, and I want your daughter to have the privilege to finish with optimum education."

"I served Her Majesty out of free will. I am overjoyed by the offer, but a reward might be unnecessary, for I have only done what a doctor is supposed to do."

"Nonsense! Goodness must be rewarded, so I insist! Unless you would like a different reward?" he inquired whilst looking curiously expectant.

To say he was surprised with the sudden turn of events was an understatement. Daejung had readied himself for the worst the second he stepped into the emperor's room. Like a deer cornered by a hungry lion which chose to spare its life, his bewilderment manifested on every inch of him.

Hastily shaking his head, he blurted, "The offer is perfect, Your Majesty, though I would like to ask my child if she would approve of it. I always put Chinsun's feelings into consideration… I hope it's not of disrespect."

o-o-o-o

Her papa ordered her to stay put, but her legs had a mind of their own and she now found herself inside the palace.

The interior design had her in awe, she must admit. She openly gaped at the artistic works that decorated the entire hall she walked on. Paintings, sculptures, mosaic artworks made from different materials depicting tribes, gods and myths adorned the place. All of them were breathtaking; however, one painting had caused her steps to slow down to a halt.

A majestic lion stood on top of a boulder before several lionesses. They were on dry land and all the lionesses looked thin from starvation. One of them carried a deer in its bite as it stood in front of the great lion. It was a beautiful yet simple painting, but something about it tugged at her sense of familiarity. Minutes might have passed, still she did not move her gaze from the masterpiece.

A gust of air passed as two kids ran past her.

"Gaaah! Give it to me! Give it back! Give it back!" The redhead tiptoed and jumped, struggling with futile effort to grab the wooden sword from the tall albino's hand. When that unsurprisingly did not work, the shorter boy resorted to kicking him on the shin, though the taller one did not budge. It was not the reaction he hoped for.

"You cheater! You really have the nerve?!"

"Keh." The shorter boy stopped jumping and crossed his arms. "Jealous?"

"Why would I?!"

"Uh, 'cause I won?" The redhead stated confidently, seeming like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"The hell you did! That doesn't count!"

"You two!" A tall boy with mint-coloured hair passed her and got between the bickering boys. "Have some respect. Do you want Master to give you another round of laps?"

The two boys visibly shuddered, but the redhead seemed more disturbed by the thought.

"But I'm tired," the redhead whined and pouted. "Fine, I'll be the bigger person here!" He locked his golden eyes on the albino's red ones. "If that's what'll make you happy, you can have my victory. You know that I value our friendship more than anything."

"Friendship, my ass! You didn't even win in the first place!" he seethed through gritted teeth. The veins on his neck seemed to bulge as he drew closer to the redhead, hands positioned to strangle him and completely ignoring the mint-haired boy between them. The boy blocked him from getting closer to the redhead, being the only barrier from a possible crime.

"Shush! Don't be embarrassing. Look," he pointed to somewhere in her direction, "there's a girl staring."

The two boys snapped their heads towards her direction. While the redhead seemed unbothered by her, the albino was the complete opposite. Mouth agape and face growing redder, he looked away from her.

She averted her eyes from the three, looking mildly interested at the ground. She did not mean to eavesdrop. Hopefully, they would think she is blind by staring blankly at the floor.

Unfortunately for the albino, the redhead noticed his growing embarrassment.

He smirked while wiggling his eyebrows; it was a sign of the danger about to come. "Ya, Hyun. Don't be a sore loser. And in front of a girl!" The redhead feigned surprise, covering his mouth with his palm. "You'll look ugly," he clicked his tongue as he shook his head.

"Why you little—!"

"Huh?! Little?!" He lightly shoved the mint-haired boy to the side. With his chin up and chest puffed, he widened his eyes and tiptoed, surpassing his height by barely a hair strand. Hyun, in turn, accepted the challenge by doing exactly the same.

As their display of childish bravado went on, the third-wheeling boy scratched his head. Chinsun couldn't help but pity his current predicament.

With the two focused on their fight, the boy palmed his face. Peeking at the spaces between his fingers, he looked to her direction and smiled.

She looked behind but there was no one. As she turned her sights back to him, he was already trying to settle the quarrel down.

With no business left—she never had one anyway—she left her spot.

In just a few minutes, she arrived at the spot where her father now stood, tapping his foot in a fast manner.

"Did I not tell you to stay here?"

"Papa," she did not meet his eyes. "What did His Majesty say?"

A few seconds of silence went by before he spoke. "I'll tell you at the inn."

Her heartbeat thumped faster than ever. The Creator must have loved dangling her over the edge.

"Education? Did I hear you wrong?" Chinsun leaned forward, golden eyes widening and lips pursed. Eventually, she could not suppress it any longer and gave in to the toothy grin slowly forming.

Daejung shook his head, eyes bleary from lack of sleep. It was unsurprising, considering he was one of the best doctors of the land—not that he was complaining. In fact, he could have stopped whenever he wanted, yet he still chose to do it and would continue to do so for a long time.

"Please tell me this isn't in jest. 'Cause if so, then it's not funny," she pleaded. This was education he was talking about!

"It's not."

She let out a sigh of relief. "But an offer coming from His Imperial Majesty..." her voice trailed off.

"No need to decide now. In fact, you don't even have to accept the offer. You can think about it until my next visit. Of course, it's entirely up to you. If you ask me, I think it is a good opportunity."

Of course, she knew that. In a nation such as the Choi Kingdom with no available institution, homeschooling was the only choice they had and even then, the only ones who had it within arm's reach were those of noble status. Fortunately, she was one of the privileged able to afford the costly education.

She could have stuck to her current study sessions with her private tutor, but an education offered to the crown prince himself… it must have been of the highest caliber. It must be better than her current studies.

With an offer like that, she should not even be thinking about it. To reject an offer (from the emperor, no less) would not only be wasteful, but it would be foolish and ungrateful as well. It was a decision that should have been made on the spot. It was too good to not be accepted.

And at the same time, too good to be true. Not everyone can have as much luck as she did. There has to be an exchange...

"As I said," he let out a big yawn, causing her to let out her own, "it's for you to decide. There is no harm in accepting or rejecting it."

He was right. A chance like that was not something that happens often. It pops out and disappears before one could even blink.

Before she could ask her next question, her papa's snores filled the room.

o-o-o-o

Chinsun sat at the benches alone while her father went inside the house. It was another one of his medical visits that usually took almost three hours. Using the time she had by herself, she drew a moon; it was still an outline and not yet as detailed as she planned it to be. Being the perfectionist she was, she usually took time with her works. Knowing that her father would take long, it was the perfect time to draw something.

"—sun?"

She could faintly hear a voice but she did not respond.

"Chi—?"

The muffled voice pressed on but she was too engrossed in her work to reply or even notice.

It took a violent shake on her shoulder to snap her out of her deep ponder. "CHIN! SUN!"

"Ah!" She dropped her brush. After picking it up, she faced the source of disturbance. Upon seeing the familiar tall, pale-skinned, and black-haired girl tapping her foot, she grinned.

"Eunju! It's been so long! I missed you!"

The taller girl scoffed at her. "I kept calling you!"

"Hmm?" Chinsun tilted her head. "How come I didn't hear you?"

"I was shouting your name!"

"Are you sure? I cleaned my ears though," she mumbled.

Eunju crossed her arms and let out an exasperated sigh. Though seemingly annoyed, Chinsun knew better. She knew when the other girl was serious, while the other was used to her tendency to space out. Had it been other people, they would have taken her seriously, but not her. In fact, she would go so far as to say it was her talent.

It took intense observation and experience to notice the slight quirk of her lips and the playful glint in her dark brown eyes, a slight oddity amongst the gray-eyed Han citizens: a nuance that Chinsun was used to.

Then again, knowing her for almost five years combined with the occasional medical visits they have with her parents, it was not difficult to notice.

"Anyway, Mother baked biscuits. It's plenty enough to last you for three days!" She took Chinsun's hand and pulled her along. "As long as you eat them three times a day."

"Really? You will live here?" Eunju beamed at the brunette opposite her. "So you can visit us anytime, am I right?"

"I'm not too sure," Chinsun whined before taking a bite out of her butter-flavoured biscuit. It was delicious, but not even the taste gave her comfort. "If you were in my position, what would you do?"

Eunju scoffed, "Of course I would accept. Why are you even hesitating?" She narrowed her eyes as if remembering something. "On second thought, girls would want to be you just for a chance to get near Prince Hyun."

"Prince Hyun?"

'What about him? Wasn't the Crown Prince's name 'Jumin'? Or am I misremembering? Prince Hyun…' The name sounded familiar but she could not quite pinpoint where or when she had heard it.

"You don't know? Good-looking, tall, white hair, red eyes?"

She tapped her chin as she racked her memory, "White hair, red eyes…? Does that combination even exist?" she murmured to no one in particular. She would have noticed such unusual features from the start.

Not long after, she widened her eyes as the image of the squabbling redhead and albino from yesterday flashed in her mind. "Oh!" She snapped her fingers. "I think I saw him!"

"You did?"

"I think so. I wouldn't say we talked, though. I didn't even know he was a prince," she bit her lip. So far, she had been ticking off reasons as to why she was not worthy of His Imperial Majesty's offer.

"Hm, that's odd. He's pretty famous for his unique looks. All over the land. Also, he is very approachable compared to his brother."

She tilted her head, "Brother?"

"Mm-hmm, Crown Prince Jumin."

"Crown Prince Jumin? Ah! Is he the tall one with black hair? I attended his party a week ago."

Eunju nodded, "The one and only. He looks the exact opposite of Prince Hyun."

Chinsun gulped the embarrassment about to arise. She had to ask the opinion of a Han citizen. "What is the royal family like?"

Upon hearing her question, a pause passed between them. Eunju focused her brown eyes on the ceiling. Walls have ears, and considering it was the imperial family they were talking about, she tried to find the perfect words to convey. "His Majesty is a strict but capable ruler. I am not too sure about Her Majesty though. Well, not his mother but the Empress Consort."

"I see…" Chinsun nodded, pretending to know who she was talking about. 'I might live here from now on… might as well act like a true Han citizen.'

"His Highness on the other hand," she hummed in thought, "I guess he seems… cold?"

She flinched. Just the thought of a blunder within his presence was enough to send chills all over. To make matters worse, she was quite inattentive.

"You shouldn't worry. In fact," she split the last biscuit in half, offering the other to Chinsun who accepted it, halfheartedly munching on it, "he probably won't talk to you for more than five seconds."

Chinsun dusted off the crumbs that fell on her lap. 'Is that a good thing or a bad thing?' Before she could answer her own question, they heard a knock. The two turned their attention to it.

"Eunju?" called the man from the other side.

"Father?" Eunju stood from her seat and made her way to the door.

A tall middle-aged man in crutches entered. The man bore a striking resemblance to his daughter; he was tall and pale with sharp facial features and black hair (albeit with greying streaks). The only differences were his gray eyes and the presence of wrinkles; despite those, he was like his daughter's older male counterpart.

Following behind was Doctor Bo carrying his backpack of medicine and supplies. "Chinsun, time to go."

"Aaww," she pouted. 'Time really flies fast with Eunju.' After all, it was not often that they visited the Han empire.

Fortunately, she made up her mind.

o-o-o-o

It was her third time being in the Han household. Three times in less than two weeks, which was more than how much most nobles visited in a month.

Immediately upon telling her papa of her decision to accept His Majesty's offer, they came back to the Han household the following day. After all, the earlier she accepted, the more lessons she could catch up on.

Before Doctor Bo left for an appointment with a noble from the Hae clan, he informed her of when the class starts and which room she should go to. After kissing her forehead goodbye, she sat on the ground near one of their gardens.

To pass time, she continued her previous sketch of the moon, adding more details to it.

"Hi," a boy called from behind. Chinsun turned her head back and saw the mint-haired boy from the last time she visited.

"Oh, hello." She dipped her head and smiled politely.

"Mind if I join you?" He pointed to the spot beside her. When she shook her head, he sat cross-legged beside her.

"Aren't you the girl with Rika at the party?"

Chinsun paused, biting the wooden end of her brush. "Rika? The pretty blonde?"

"Yes, her."

Brush still in her mouth, she smirked. "So you recognize her as the 'pretty blonde'?"

"Ah." He blushed, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "Yes, sort of…" he chuckled.

She giggled at his display of embarrassment, finding his reaction quite endearing. 'Is this what they call 'puppy love'?'

He cleared his throat and took a peek at her small canvas pad. "Do you like art?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't like me apparently." She sighed, tearing the page she drew on. Despite it being a work in progress, she did not consider it a waste of effort. After all, she only started yesterday.

"Why were you sketching the moon when it's sunlight?" he asked as she crumpled the paper.

She hummed, "If you want to put emotion into your art, then you'll have to draw what you feel, not what you see."

He nodded. "I see. So what were you feeling when you were drawing the moon, if you don't mind answering?"

She rolled the ball of paper in her hand and set it down by her side.

"Maybe I'm feeling a bit lonely."

"If that's the case," he scooted towards her, "may I try?"

She giggled, "I was just about to ask you." She handed him her brush, charcoals, and canvas pad.

Upon taking it, he pursed his lips. Narrowing his eyes at the blank page, Chinsun could hear his quiet exhales. He was experiencing, as she likes to call it, 'an artist's nightmare'.

She watched him dip the brush into the ink bottle and use it to make an outline of a big circle. It was an imperfect circle, but she cannot blame him; after all, she could not even perfect one. Curious of what he planned to do, she did not dare to disturb him as he seemed too focused. He was so engrossed that he did not even bother tucking the fringe that fell over his left eye while bent down.

Chinsun curiously stared at his face. At first glance, she found him good-looking—perhaps the most good-looking boy she has ever seen—but the longer she stared, the more she couldn't take her eyes away from his features.

It was a refreshing sight to see, compared to the everyday faces of her father and her tutor.

As she stared at him, she couldn't help but wonder if he was a native of Han. He did not possess the common black hair unique to the Han people; in fact, she had never seen anyone with mint hair, even among the nobles her father usually treated. The closest guess she had was that he was a visiting noble from the kingdom of Hwang.

Once he was done with the outline, he took two charcoals—one yellow and one orange—and faced her. "May I use this?"

"Of course."

At her response, he gave her a small close-mouthed smile, polite and not necessarily infectious, but it had a gentle charm to it that Chinsun couldn't help but return his smile with her own.

He proceeded doing gentle strokes of yellow on the canvas, adding orange along the way.

"Does the sun remind you of Rika?"

He coughed, disrupting the intense concentration he had.

'Perhaps I was too blunt?'

"Well, a bit since she gives off this bright aura," he said as he added shades of white to his art.

Despite meeting Rika only once, their conversation about Rika piqued Chinsun's curiosity that she wanted to know her more.

And, perhaps, be friends with each other.

"But I'm doing the sun because my mother likes it." He softly smiled, to which Chinsun could not help but give a smile of her own.

"By any chance, is this your first time?"

"Hmm, not really. I think this is my… third time? It's been a long time since I last did this…"

"Are you serious?" Chinsun looked at his artwork, then back to his face. "I wouldn't have noticed."

"Really?" He focused his mint green eyes on her golden ones. "You think so?"

"Of course!" She beamed and drew closer to him. "If it were my first time, I would have settled with a circle, add a few lines around it and bam!" He flinched at the sudden outburst. "It's the sun!"

He stared at her with his mouth slightly agape.

In less than a few seconds, the realization sunk in and she scooted away. Feeling the heat rising to her face, she hung her head down.

'Was I too invasive? Can he still see my face? I should've let my hair down. I guess I should apologize.'

She faced him but he did not seem to notice; in fact, he was not even looking at her. He had his head down and arms crossed. Without a sound, his body slightly convulsed.

"A-are… are you… are you alright?!"

"Aha," a whisper at first, until soft giggles emerged. Eventually, he burst out laughing. She stared at him with parted lips, watching his body quiver.

"I-I'm s-so—!" He hugged his sides as he chortled.

Her eyes fixated on the laughing boy beside her. 'Should I laugh? Is it rude not to? But I don't know what he's laughing about…'

Although his humour was lost on her, she joined him with her own nervous chuckles, trying not to embarrass herself—if she had not done that already.

Finally, the laughs slowed down to chuckles until he was now breathing heavily. She, too, followed suit.

"I apologize," he faced her. "I'm not making fun of you, if that's what it seems."

"I… I see."

"You just seem embarrassed, that's all."

"Uh… huh…" she slowly nodded, wondering if Han nobility had a unique sense of humour or if she simply didn't have one.

"Don't worry, I didn't mean it in a bad way. It's just… you remind me of someone."

Someone? The corners of his mouth perked up ever so slightly, making her wonder if that 'someone' was a special person to him.

Before she could ask, he stood up, dusting off the back of his pants, and handed back her art supplies. "Thank you for letting me use these."

She nodded as she took them from his hands. "My pleasure! But…" she pointed at his white button-down shirt. A tiny dust of yellow stained it, but it was not as bad as hers.

"Oh, you're right…" he rubbed the stain off to no avail. He lightly groaned and mumbled something she did not understand. The only word her ears picked up was 'father'.

"By the way," he released his shirt, giving up on removing the stain. "I don't think I asked what your name is…"

"Oh!" She stood and curtsied. "It's Chinsun! Bo Chinsun."

"Chinsun…" He gave a dimpled smile and nodded. "It was nice talking to you. I hope we meet again."

"So do I!"

He waved his hand then walked away.

She stared at his kempt mint hair and retreating figure. For almost two days, she has been waiting not in anticipation but in dread; now, she could finally loosen up. 'Thank heavens there is at least one affable person. I hope I get to see…see...'

Her eyes narrowed. 'Who was he again? Did I forget his name or did I just forget to ask him?'

couthy

(adj.) (of a person) warm and friendly;

(of a place) cosy and comfortable

Heheheyy! Baeyoung here! I'm very sorry for the late update! I may be a slow updater, but I won't abandon stories~ I'm loyal, but I sometimes two(or six)-time with other WIPs huehueue

Thank you for reading and I hope you liked this chapter! We greatly appreciate feedback so if you have something you want to say, feel free to comment down below ^^

Yororong~

Notes:

Chinsun - MC 1