In Joseon, Jung Mae-In, the youngest daughter of the Jung noble family is a cheeky and mischievous youth who one day, ties in the bond of marriage with the nation's Crown Prince, Lee Da-Yeong. Da-Yeong, an introverted and talented Crown Prince full...
Mae-In turned back to see. The crowd in the market was not saneㅡ people kept rushing, buying and selling. It was always like that. But who was calling her?
"Mae-In!"
She looked down at the person calling her.
"Yoon-Hee!"
Min Yoon-Hee, her best friend, was smiling at her with twinkling eyes.
"I have been calling you for a long time but you couldn't see me," said Yoon-Hee.
"Well, I was in a hurry. I ran away."
"What?! You finally ran away from home!" gasped her best friend.
"No! I just ran out because of Mother again," she said, sighing.
"Well, whatever. Let's talk. I have something interesting to tell you!" Yoon-Hee said, her eyes shining brighter than the diamonds that adorned one of the hairpins she wore often.
"Hmm... excited tone, eyes shining... What could it possibly be? You found a boyfriend or what?" Mae-In asked, raising an eyebrow at her best friend.
"Oh, I'll tell you! Let's go to our favourite place first," Yoon-Hee said, getting on Ji-Su.
Mae-In and Yoon-Hee set out for their favourite placeㅡ a place they cherished. Mae-In had found that place when both of them were lost, wandering around a fair and had mistaken it for the identical park near Yoon-Hee's house.
Since then, it has been their favourite place.
Mae-In took a secluded shortcut from the market and soon, their beloved place came into view.
It was a vast park, lined with cherry blossom treesㅡ new buds will soon be blooming; a small pond in its centre and a small bridge over that.
The two best friends got down from the horse and sat down under one tree.
"So, what is it that you wanted to tell me?" asked Mae-In, quite curious.
Yoon-Hee squealed and clapped her hands. "It's about the Crown Prince!"
Mae-In sighed as she felt her curiosity vanish in thin air.
Whenever they talked, Yoon-Hee brought the Royal Family up. She didn't understand what her best friend gained, talking about them. But to Yoon-Hee, they were worth bringing up in conversations.
Most of the time, they were the news and facts her father, Min Ji-Hyeok, a minister in the court brought for her.
"What is it this time?" Mae-In asked in a bored voice.
"Okay so, my father brought some news about the Crown Prince's marriage. The King decided that whichever girl he meets who impresses him while he's on a stroll, he'll marry the Crown Prince with that girl!"
"Wow! Such useful information!" Mae-in said, sarcastically and laughed.
"Oh, you don't get it! Just imagine, you meet the king while casually strolling around... and you do something stupid and dumb and somehow impress him... He marries his son to you... You would be the Crown Princess!" Yoon-Hee squealed again, punching Mae-In's shoulder.
"If you fancied marrying the Crown Prince so much, you could have just passed the Selection Process easily," Mae-In said, wincing at the pain Yoon-Hee's fists caused.
"The fact is that I don't want to marry him. That Palace is a wretched placeㅡ with all the nosy Court Ladies. I am glad I got disqualified," Yoon-Hee rolled her eyes.
"Why are you screaming then?"
"The search for the Crown Princess is a crazy idea! Which King, have you heard before, decided on something like this?" Yoon-Hee's eyes shone again. "Imagine it's you."
"What will I ever get being a Crown Princess? I'll become the Queen and get power, authority and riches, right? What will I do with that? I'm pretty sure the Crown Prince doesn't want to marry any girl who impresses his father. So gradually, I won't get any love and respect from him. It would be one hell of a political marriage. If a wife doesn't get love and respect from her husband, what will be the point of the marriage? Let alone the Crown Prince..." Mae-In said, sounding serious, something quite unlike her.
Yoon-Hee's mouth dropped. Mae-In's wise words shocked people sometimes.
She knows that her best friend was right, thought Mae-in.
"God! I am sorry, I shouldn't have told you. Forgive me!" Yoon-Hee got up and turned to leave.
"That drunk man lives somewhere near this place. What if he starts chasing her again?" Mae-In said more to Yoon-Hee and less to herself.
A few days ago, a middle-aged drunk man came into Yoon-Hee's house and said that he would take her in as his wife. Mae-In had been present there and had chased him out with a broom. Since then, Yoon-Hee had been terrified of that man.
She was pretty, a little smart and talented and she had had a few more situations like these where young men confessed to her. Most recently, another young man tried giving Yoon-Hee flowers but Mae-In dragged Yoon-Hee away and marched off without a word to him.
Yoon-Hee turned to Mae-In, fearing something will happen again. "Can you drop me at my house?"
Mae-In smirked at her friend and headed towards Ji-Su. Both of them got up on the horse and started heading home.
The sun was beginning to set. The sky turned a shade of orange. Mae-In dropped Yoon-Hee at her house safely.
Now the question came, what will she do? Her mother must be boiling with anger right now.
Still, she took the risk and went home.
She entered through her house's gate and tip-toed towards the stable and quietly put Ji-Su back in her stable and turned to leave. But she froze once she saw the sight in front of her.
Her mother was standing there, a broom in her hand and her eyes red with anger. Behind her were the troubled maids who failed to catch her and get her back to class.
"Where were you?" asked her mother.
"Why should I tell you?" said Mae-In, unable to maintain eye contact with her mother.
"What?" her mother raised an eyebrow at her.
"Yes, why do you care about where I go? I have the right to go anywhere I want!" Mae-In said, flinching at her own words.
Her mother's eyes widened and her grip on the broom tightened.
"Your father left for the Palace... You have no one to save you this time, Mae-In!"
Mae-In lifted her skirt and started running. And so did her mother. The only advantage was that Mae-In could run faster than her mother. Within seconds, she crossed her house gate and started running down the streets.
"Mae-In! Come back here, you brat! Jung Mae-In!" her mother shouted after her.
But Mae-In was already gone.
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