.twenty two. 

Instead of finding her prince, Wang Jung, in the vast palace, she ran into one of the people she least wanted to see, even less than Wang Eun. Though she didn't consider the tenth prince a friend exactly, she at least no longer hated him. Princess Yeon Hwa stopped her in the hall, a smile forming on her lips. But it was a genuine smile, unlike the forced hostile smiles she often gave Hajin. Minji was still surprised that the princess actually considered her a friend and she wondered then, what kind of person the real Hak Soon really was. Did she think herself better than others?

"What are you doing lurking around the palace by yourself?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at her in question and closing the small gap between them and linking arms with her. Minji was at least surprised that the princess was being friendly, which was an emotion that didn't usually come from her heart.

Minji was hesitant to talk to her as well because she wasn't exactly fond of the princess. But Yeon Hwa had been good to her, so for the time being she would be cordial and polite. Still, she could not forget the way she had treated Hajin, and also the way Minji had taken a blow to the face while trying to protect her friend. 

"I was just looking for Jung oppa." Minji informed her, biting down on her lip nervously. She was afraid that Yeon Hwa would lead her to the fourteenth prince and then linger around them because she thought they were friends.

The princess shook her head instantly upon hearing why her friend was there. "You won't find him here. He left early this morning to run some errands in the village. His majesty often assigns the princes things to do because he doesn't want them to grow idle and laze here at the palace. He wants them to learn the ways of the kingdom." But if Minji knew him well, and she did, she knew that he was likely out there picking fights with the villagers. It was his favorite thing to do to entertain himself. Though lately, he spent less time in the village alone, and more in the company of the general's youngest daughter.

The fourteen year old's lips came together to form a tight line as she realized that she had been looking for nothing. Hajin had disappeared somewhere and Jung wasn't even in the palace. She had no reason to be there anymore. Except Yeon Hwa was taking it was her chance to cling to her and probably try to convince her once more that she wasn't supposed to be friends with Hae Soo. 

"I guess I should go then." Minji said, trying to pull her arm from the princess' hold.

But Yeon Hwa tried to convince her to stay. "Lets have lunch together before you go. I wanted to talk and apologize for hurting you that time I was scolding that dumb servant." Minji wanted so badly to say something for referring to Chaeryung that way, but she kept quiet in order to avoid any arguments or problems with the princess. But she knew from that that Yeon Hwa wasn't someone she wanted to be friends with.

Before Minji could decline the offer and slip away, the princess was already dragging her off to some unknown part of the palace so they could have lunch together. On their way to their destination, they spotted Hajin talking to a man that Minji had never seen before. But her friend seemed to recognize him from somewhere. The two went completely silent as the two girls approached. Yeon Hwa tried to go right past them without even so much as acknowledging them, but Minji stopped in her tracks, turning to the princess.

"I have to talk to Haj--I mean, Lady Hae Soo for a moment." She gave the princess an awkward half-smile and wrenched her arm out of Yeon Hwa's grip. "I'll find you soon."

Though the princess wasn't entirely satisfied by that, she nodded and walked off. 

As soon as she was out of earshot, Hajin grabbed Minji by the hand desperately and pointed at the man standing in front of them, eyes widened in shock. "Minji, look at him. Don't you remember this man? He was the homeless person sleeping down by the lake. He and I had a drink together."

Minji wracked her mind for any memories, but could not remember any homeless man sleeping by the lake. Then again, she didn't notice anything else when she arrived at Hajin's rescue. All she remembered was Hajin jumping into the water in what Minji thought was a suicide attempt, and her immediately jumping in after her. She remembered everything going black and then waking up in Goryeo where the princes were bathing. But Hajin had seen him and that meant that he was probably from the future like them as well. 

All the man had to say to them was, "Your life cannot change just because you want it to." Then he shot them a wink and warned them to be careful what they say there. He also mentioned that they had to conform to the norms of that society if they wanted to survive. When he had nothing more to say to the two girls, he walked away, leaving the two alone.

His words and the fact that he winked at them was a giveaway that he was the person Hajin remembered from the lake.

The two girls had been standing there for a few minutes until Hajin pointed out a reminder to her friend. "Weren't you going to find princess Yeon Hwa after talking with me?"

Minji crinkled up her nose in distaste for the arrogant princess. "I wouldn't know how to find her. Plus, I know she's trying so hard for me to like her. But I see how she treats other people and I just don't like it." With a sigh, she added, "I'm just gonna return home and tell her later that I couldn't find her."

-

She returned to the palace a few days later. She had been trying to avoid Yeon Hwa as long as possible. But Jung visited her every day and she couldn't keep him away for the palace too long. On their usual outings they went into the village, stayed at her house, or went to their secret place that no one else knew about. Minji always tried to arrange for their siblings to accompany them--Prince Eun and Sook Deok--but the tenth prince was always uninterested in hanging around Minji and Jung. He said he didn't want to see them start acting romantic around each other.

Because of that, each time Minji invited Soon Deok out with them, she either ended up being the awkward third wheel, or the only ones of his brothers Jung convinced to come along were either Baek-ah or Wang Han. 

Minji could easily tell that the handsome eleventh prince really liked Soon Deok. But in turn, the general's other daughter only had eyes for the tenth prince. 

When Minji finally went to the palace again, princess Yeon Hwa happened to be there, as were the other princes. The princess hurried to her friend's side and jutted out her bottom lip in a pout. She tried not to give it too much importance, but she was hurt by the fact that her friend left her hanging. 

"You didn't come find me the other day." She said to Minji.

"Yeah." Minji crinkled up her nose as she gave her excuse which she had been practicing for almost a week. "I don't know my way around the palace since my injury, so I wasn't able to find you."

The fourteen year old joined the group of royals as they headed together into the palace to have lunch together. Their father would not be joining them, as he had other things to do. But once again, she heard Yo muttering about how she wasn't supposed to join them. Yeon Hwa had caught his rude mutterings and shot him a look. Hak Soon was one of the few people she was willing to fight someone for, and that spoke a lot for their previous friendship. Minji wondered if she would have gotten along with the third prince back then. He was as bad as Yeon Hwa, though much worse.

The princess was about to say something more to her when they entered the palace and found Hae Soo there. The tenth prince was instantly glad to see her. "Soo-yah, did you come to see me?" He wondered with excitement and Minji found herself rolling her eyes at his delusions. He was bent on making himself think that Hajin liked him. He didn't want to accept the truth and instead look at someone who actually loved him.

Hajin quickly burst his bubble, shaking her head. "No. I was just here to drop something off."

He hurried to the table, as though looking for whatever she had dropped off. "What is it?" He questioned her, his eyes trained on the table. "Is it food?" Her eyes widened in fear and they fell upon the note she had left on the table just as she and the tenth prince both reached for it. "Is it this?" He asked another question, eyeing her and the note with suspicion. Now he was holding the paper out of her reach.

"Yes." She replied, trying to take it from him.

She continuously shot the eighth prince looks until he stepped in. "I wrote her a poem so she could practice reading and asked her to respond with another poem. You may go now."

Hajin nodded and scurried out of the room.

Once she had left the room, Wook tried to take the piece of paper from his younger brother, but Eun playfully held it out of his reach as well. There was a hint of jealousy in his eyes as he smiled wide, "Lets see what Soo wrote for our brother Wook." The other princes nodded in agreement and raced to their tenth brother's side, while Minji saw Baek-ah rush out of the room the same way Hajin did. Now Jung, Han, and Wook were by Eun while So, and Yo took a seat at the table. Yeon Hwa stood by Minji at the foot of the table. On Yeon Hwa's face was a scowl.

Eun opened up the note to find none other than what appeared to be random lines on a paper. To them, it meant nothing. Jung and Han stood on either side of him, confusion reflected on their faces.

"What is this?" Han looked over his older brother's shoulder. 

"Did she write something, or draw?" Jung asked, squinting his eyes to see if he could make something out.

"You idiots." Won decided to step in. Snatching the paper from Eun's hands, he took a look at it. "Give it to me." But he too found that he didn't understand Hae Soo's message. "Do you understand what she means, Wook?"

The ninth prince turned the paper around for Wook to see. Minji was then able to catch a glimpse of it and immediately knew what it was. It was an emoji laughing face. But she would not say anything about it. She was going to instead let the princes figure it out on their own.

"Its...ah..." Wook had no answer for them.

Eun went onto the next person, showing the drawing to Wang So. The fourth prince was able to figure it out quickly, which surprised Minji since the others had a very hard time with it. 

"Hold your arms out." He instructed and Eun set the paper down on the table. He held his arms out in front of himself, Jung and Han did the same. "To the heavens." So clarified, and the three younger princes held their arms up over their heads. "Now open you mouth." The princes did and So once again added more instruction, "Make your mouth rounder." When they did, the fourth prince broke out into a small smile. "There it is."

Won took one look at his three brothers and broke out into a laugh. "He's right!"

Minji pretended to come to a sudden realization as well. "Its a face laughing with excitement."

For the next few minutes the princes had a good laugh and proceeded to take turns making the strange pose. Minji smiled to herself as the thought came to her that they could laugh and be happy because they were so young and didn't have to worry about the throne yet.

But she was once again filled with the thought that one of them would kill off all his brothers.

-

another little update for you all today. i have to get ready in about an hour because im going to my first manager class this afternoon. so that's pretty exciting. they gave me today off so i could go to the two hour class.

and then i have friday off as well. so i will probably be very active on here this week. thank you all so much for reading this story. if i get back from my class pretty early, i will try to write another update so please look forward to that.

thank you for the support.

-clary