"I have to escape!" she spoke pulling her head up, wiping off the tears in a single stroke of hands, courage burning up in her orbs.

Inhaling a powerful puff of air she instantly stood on her knees, adrenaline rushing throughout her body, but the next second she kissed the floor as her knees felt weak, indicating that she was too feeble to even stand properly.

Yesol groaned, her head spinning because of iron deficiency and her legs numb as she tried to get up with the support of the bed next to her frame. She sat over the edge of the bed as she sighed deeply, constantly trying to keep her eyes open and shake her head to see bright and clear when her gaze fell on the colourful plate of mouth watering food, her stomach grumbled loudly.

But why would she eat the food which Jungkook brought, huh?

Her ego was too big to eat the food especially after all he had done and said, she wasn't pitiful enough to eat food from the same man who enslaved her. Nonetheless, her determination to escape over-heighted her ego.

She knew that she needed energy to run and there's no better option than some healthy food to strengthen her weak muscles.

Her eyes scanned the food again, what if there's poison? She thought. But he wouldn't give her poison after all that nonsense he spouted, right? And then he knew very aesthetic ways to kill a human, so why would he go for something so basic?? Eh...

Her hand automatically extended towards the delicious food but she curled up her palm into tight fist, it took every ounce of the leftover energy in her body to keep her hands away from the plate because her ego just couldn't let her.

Yesol clenched her jaw as well as her fist, her teeth gritting because of stubbornness.

No! No! No!

The voice in her head yelled.

Therefore her subconscious reflexes have to betray as she immediately stuffed a boil egg in her mouth without even wanting to do so.

"Mhmmmm" she threw her head back, pleased by the taste and texture as her day tongue finally tasted some food after a decade of torture. Her gaze fell on the plate, she gwaked at the savoury food with overflowing desire. She couldn't keep back anymore, she was hungry and there's nothing as killing and as healing as hunger.

She couldn't control herself, soup, veggies, meat, eggs, water, she rapidly stuffed everything inside her mouth as if it all will be gone if she takes a break. She couldn't help but tear up at the softness of the food, it was like finding water in a desert, the more you intake the less it seems, it was like heaven.

Hunger is an expensive bastard which even the poorest have to afford.

Her legs weren't numb anymore, neither did her stomach grumble or her vision was blurry, she was feeling better than before, better than ever, the best she has felt after such a long time.

Without wasting another moment she got up, looking around the lavish bedroom which had more than enough necessities for a safe escape.

Her eyes landed on the long, thick curtains over the four windows and then the knife between the fruits in the bowl, "Why did I not think of this before?" she asked herself as ideas popped up in her brain one after another, every next scenario better than the previous.

Yesol started to work, first locking the doors from inside. Her fast hands immediately grabbed the knife in one and a wooden stool in another as she made her way to the curtains.

And she was ready till the evening hit.

She tied the last knot of the last two curtains before her long, tight and dependable rope was ready to use. Yesol even packed some fruits and water by bundling up the items in a cloth in case she takes time to reach the nearest village, from the cupboard she wore warm clothes and shoes because it was winter and she had no plans of dying after all that she's done for her survival.

But little did she know that she was wearing Jeon Jungkook's clothes?? But did it matter right now? No.

All she could see right now was the dark forest which divided Jeonson and the other state. She was eagerly waiting for the night to come soon so she could escape from Jeons and their slavery.

Nevertheless, would it be as easy as it seems in her imagination? No.

There'd be hundreds of soldiers out there on every corner of the palace as it wasn't like she had a certified map in her hands to find a way out of here easily, a single mistake and it's all over.

But despite being a princess who was always caged between the four walls of the castle she was naturally intelligent when it came to survival, and thanks to her stubborn will to learn war stuff she trained herself to make maps and notes by observing things from afar. Not forgetting to add how she was a professional at escaping as a kid by hiding herself from everyone's eyes was a result of strict parenting and teaching.

It was midnight now, more guards were put on duty to protect the royal family of Jeons. The window which was towards the backside of the castle had no guards there for now, she checked around before throwing the long rope down and when no one disturbed she slid down instantly. Her heart skipped, doing this was much more difficult than planning it out, she had to run anyway, she should!

She moved out quietly, keeping her steps light and unnoticable. The surrounding was silent as the ocean, the only thing that broke the silence were her light steps. She gulped, now that she continued walking ahead, she realised that it was darker than she thought it would be, it was cloudy making the moonlight fainter than usual and because she had no burning flame in her hand she had no choice but to adjust her vision as per the surrounding.

The snow fell on her delicate skin, passing chills. The clothes were thick but the icy air was thicker, and the fear of taking such a big risk made her cold all over. She took faster and more cautious steps when she sensed that there were guards around as she heard the murmuring voices of men. She knew she had to be careful, a single wrong move could cost her, her freedom.

And when she turned, there they were, the big, buff guards coming where she was. She froze, a loud gasp escaped her mouth making the guards turn their gazes towards her direction.

She twirled and hid behind a big, cylindrical pole. The guards saw nothing but it did make them attentive and suspicious, they took gradual steps towards that pole. She put her palm over her mouth and stopped breathing as she sensed them coming closer every second.

Her eyes swelled with tears as her body trembled, her right hand covering her left arm as the nail dug over the pole teared through her flesh, resulting in oozing blood. It was painful, so much painful that she wanted to scream in agony but it'd be more painful if she gets caught.

No, no... please no! Not now, not again. I don't wanna go back to that hell. I don't want to be his thing. I don't want to see his horrific smile again. Please God, not now, please help me!

"Hey! The lamb is roasted, come!" the guards stopped hearing it from the other guard who stood at the corner. She waited calmly as she heard the footsteps getting lighter and inaudible.

Yesol sighed heavily, her heart pounded against her chest, she gulped a large lump of saliva to clear her dry throat, her teeth bristled against eachother. This whole situation was about life or death; she almost died.

She came out on the dusty ground again, her arm still bleeding making a few drops fall on the mud. She ran faster now, she was almost there, nearing the castle wall before she could run to the forest.

********

And here, Jeon Jungkook was hopelessly failing at trying to convince himself that everything she said in the afternoon was
out of anger and hate towards him and not that she actually still loved Seokjin like a stupid worshipper.

He hoped that she understood even a little bit of what he said earlier because he didn't want to hear that she loves Jin ever again. He hated hearing that, he didn't want her all to himself just for her to keep loving Jin. He wanted her the moment he laid eyes on her, he wanted to snatch her away from the world, he wanted to cherish her, protect her and possess her like nothing else...

His trophy, his throne, his achievement, his win, his woman, his pretty little warrior...he had so many tags to mark her with the ink of his possession.

Then why was Seokjin getting something he deserves??

He hated Seokjin from the very beginning, he hated him for being the love of her life and this was the hidden reason for kicking him out of his way. The jealousy, the pain, the anger of Seokjin being the man she adores made him crazy, how dare he take his place? Isn't he the only one that woman should love, then who the hell was Kim Seokjin to step in between? He had to push him out of the scene, if not nicely then cruelly.

He wanted to erase Jin's whole damn existence, not only from the world but from her heart too, isn't that why he killed him in the first place? He even hated the thought of Jin's thought crossing her mind and here she was mourning quite loudly for her pretty little, fake lover. When Jin accepted that just how big of a betrayer he is, he thought that would be cherry on the cake but here, Kim Yesol really became his unmarried widow even after all that which was obviously irritating, however, he kept his patience. Too much patience.

Jungkook huffed, annoyed. She was testing patience in a man who never learned what patience is.

The door of his bedroom opened with a loud jerk, his brows twitch to see who dared to disturb him at night.

"Princess.... princess Yesol....Yesol..." the court lady breathed heavily, irritating him more.

"The fvck speak clearly!!" he shouted as he stood up furiously.

The court lady trembled trying to catch a breath so she doesn't lose her life, "Princess Yesol is not in her bedroom" she said abruptly pointing out.

He frowned, "What?" before taking heavy steps towards her as he choked her small neck. "Didn't you have just one work? Huh..." he tightened his grip on her neck as he mumbled tightly, his eyes getting darker.

She coughed, her face red as she tried to say, "Please....spare...me..please"

He pushed her out of his way as he held his sword before his feet took him to Yesol's bedroom.

He stormed in like a thunder without giving two shits about the guards court ladies in the room, what mattered was Yesol and only Yesol.

His angry dark eyes traced every inch of the room when they found the rope made out of curtains hanging down from the window which was tied to the edge of the bed, he looked down; only heights. He frowned wondering if she really jumped from this height through the rope made out of curtains?!

He turned, his eyes finding the fruit basket empty and so was the plate in which he brought lunch for her and next was her wedding dress lying on the floor. The way she cut off the curtains indicated how she also had a knife with her. He scoffed darkly as he scratched over his eyebrow, more irritated by the jaw dropping impression she left on him.

That scaredy little girl really took this much risk?!

"She's really not scared of anything, is she?" he mumbled to himself thinking of how she's not scared of him or anything else to just run away in the middle of nowhere. "Our princess is really something" he scoffed sarcastically, he was amused and frustrated.

She doesn't even know where she was heading, there could be so much danger out there, the guards might've caught her, she could encounter wild animals in the forest, she could die without even seeing the light of the day and even after so many risks she just flew away like it was the best solution to get rid of him and live freely like a butterfly; but a butterfly only has a life of one day.

He looked up at the guards, "So you're telling me that little girl escaped and no one saw her?" he bit his inner jaw, a sarcastic smile prepping up on his face as he glared.

The guards held their heads down in unison, they gulped in fear, they knew better than to annoy Jeon Jungkook.

"And what were you all doing?" he held his sword at the back as he took rounds in the room, that dark, sarcastic smile still played on his lips as he awaited an answer.

No reply.

Blood splattered in the room as he used his sword against a guard's chest, he fell on his knees almost dead, making everyone tremble.

"Speak up mother fvckers!"

They all fell on their knees joining their hands for mercy. He glared, his expression strict and deadly.

"We were eating roasted lamb" the one infront shivered.

He slid his sword down the guard's chin as he made him look up at him, the man cried. "How about I roast you up alive?" he said, his voice was just hard above a hoarse whisper.

"Please spare me, My Lord!--- " he rubbed his hands as he begged for his mercy. "She shouldn't have gone far away, we'll find and bring her to you before she crosses the border" he begged, his tone pleading as he swore.

Jungkook pressed the tip of his sword to his throat making him gulp, "If something happens to her while she's out....this will be the last meal of your pathetic life!" he threatened gritting his teeth hard to prevent shoving his sword in.

As soon as he went out to look around for her with a burning flame in his hand, his sharp eyes found blood droplets on the dusty mud, he squinted his eyes at the blood as he bent down to observe the drops more clearly and just as the flame lighted a small area on the ground he found another clue right after, the footprints of his shoes which she was wearing and as he extended the flame forward, the trail of footprints led to the forest above the castle wall.

He smirked darkly, a prey always leaves back a clue for predator.

He sighed with a smirk as his frustration rose, "So bold, princess"

Even after giving her all these days the things didn't change, neither did her opinions for him nor did her stubborn behaviour. He can't sit and watch her overcome this all by herself anymore, she was not even trying to overcome in the first place. She was self-sabotaging, brain washing herself in the wrong way.

So there was only one way to end this now, he will be changing his methods. Enough with being the nice guy, which he is not, now he'll do what he was supposed to do since day one and what he always does -forceful and blunt.

He needs to shake some sense into her self-sabotaged head before she does something more stupid to herself.

He would have to break her, her heart and her poor mindset so she could be born again, again as a whole new person. A person who she needs to be and a person who she was born to be.

And then as he followed the trail of blood and faint prints, his smirk grew wider. Her boldness was exciting, yet her distance was igniting a fire within his heart. He quickened his pace, the thrill of chase sending adrenaline through his veins. He knew he would find her anyway and that satisfied him the most right now.

**********

She ran through the woods, her heart racing and breaths laboured as she tried to put as much distance between herself and the castle as possible. She didn't know where she was going or what way led to the other village, but she continued running anyway. Her only plan was escaping the castle and him, Jeon Jungkook. Her legs ached from exertion and the air stung in her lungs but she knew she couldn't stop now. Every few seconds she looked back to see if someone was following her but so far she was alone.

She stumbled over a rock, getting hurt on her knees, a loud groan left her throat as she tried to get up, she cried because of the jolting pain. She froze when she heard wild animals' echoing roars through the forest. Her heart skipped as she tried to pinpoint where the sounds were coming from. She was so alone that she could hear her pulses racing and her heavy breaths.

But then, she sensed a presence right behind her back, that unknown animal's soft and heavy breaths sending a shiver through her spine. Her heart sank as she slowly dared to turn her head and saw the most dangerous one of them.

Jeon Jungkook.

Her blood ran cold, the air caught in her throat as she saw him smirking at her so darkly and nonchalantly. She scrambled back in fear.

This can't be real. She would've rather preferred a bear.

He stepped closer slowly as if he was enjoying seeing her like that. She was right there, under him, so vulnerable and fragile, it would've taken him nothing to just pick her up and take her back to the castle but where was the fun in that?

"Lost, princess?" he grinned like a devil.

***********

A/n: Sorry for the late update, I was working on making it better so I hope y'all liked reading.

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