𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿𝘀. . . nishimura riki ✔

𝟬𝟭𝟮; princess of the realm

BEFORE THE LATE QUEEN MEI LI DIED, SHE HAD TAUGHT HER DAUGHTER MANY THINGS ABOUT BEING A WOMAN. The most important one being; every man dies. No matter who, no matter where, no matter when, every man dies, and every woman grants them a way to keep their blood alive. A woman should never be abused for such an ability, yet they were, every single day.

It sickened Jieun to the core to see such a thing.

'Ser Jay!' Jieun beamed at him, walking down the steps towards the training yard, seeing the Park triplets. The sun beat down onto her honey skin, red gown almost glowing under the fiery light. 'I see you've got better ever since I beat you.'

Jieun knew well she could never be better than Jay at wielding a sword, yet she liked to tease him about the fact when she once won against him, out of the many times their swords had met.

Jay used the back of his hand to wipe the sweat off the top of his brow. 'Perhaps we should square once again, Princess?'

'I'd rather keep my gown in one piece, thank you, good friend,' Jieun smiled kindly at him, hands clasped together in front of her. She was a polite girl, knowing how to behave like a proper princess. Despite her silent wishes to remove her shoes and pull her gown up above her ankles while running across a field of flowers, she knew better.

'What brings you to the training yard, Princess?'

Jieun took notice that she had been joined by the two other brothers, Jake and Sunghoon.

'I wish to go to the city. If you remember, a little over a year ago, on my name-day, I arranged for the toy-maker to make hundreds of wooden-toys for the children in the orphanages,'

Jieun said. 'I checked with the maids and today marks the day where the toys will be done.'

'You wish for us to accompany you?' Jake asked, his sword in his hands.

'Indeed.' Jieun nodded, pleased that they understood what she was hinting at.

'What will His Grace, King Jaeho, say?' Sunghoon asked her, not wanting to get on the King's bad side. Nevertheless, his uncle's bad side, Lord Park. Lord Park was a trusted advisor to the King, to get on either of those two men's bad side would surely end in chaos for Sunghoon.

'Firegarden may be a beautiful castle, but it does get boring after a while and Firestone is known to be one of the most beautiful cities out there. Can you blame me for wishing to leave?' Jieun countered him with her own question. 'Besides, I have convinced father to pay skilled workers extra to install proper sewers in the Rat's Den, as well as latrines and water pipes with as clean water as possible. Their living conditions are not only a problem for them, but for us, and for me, as their princess.'

Rat's Den, the poorest place in the city. The place where crime was most prominent, the place where faeces covered the streets and the children drank water contaminated with bacteria and. . . faeces. Jieun felt a bit disgusted by the thought, nevertheless pity because of their poor living conditions.

'It is not your duty to take care of them, Princess,' Jake told her with a gentle smile.

'I take care of my people, Ser Jake, in return, they take care of me. It is because of them I am alive,' Jieun told him, lips turning into a thin line. 'If they wished to storm Firegarden and kill us, they would have but they respect us enough not to, I will not abuse that respect.'

'How much will you pay the workers for it?' Jay asked her and Jieun shifted her gaze from Jake to Jay.

'One silver serpent.'

'One silver serpent?!' Jake exclaimed in a loud voice, looking at her as if she had grown two heads. Jieun could have sworn she did not, although she did have a dream where she had three heads once.

The silver serpent was a lot for commoners. Mostly nobles carried silver serpents in their pockets. Commoners were left with bronze coins. Most only had a few on hand while others struggled to make even one. Jieun on the other hand, had plenty of gold serpents, the finest of coins, worth thousands of bronze serpents.

'Perhaps I will add a few bronze serpents if they do their job well,' Jieun said with a sigh. Aside from being her friends, Jay, Jake, and Sunghoon had sworn fealty to her and Jungwon. They had sworn to serve them for life, to never wed nor father any children for their duty rested with the royal family.

She took notice of how Sunghoon inhaled a small breath. 'That is a lot of money for a commoner.'

'A commoner who will do a good job,' Jieun added with a firm nod. Glancing over her shoulder, Jieun laid eyes on another guard. 'Prepare my carriage!'

In an instant, the guard nodded and dashed away to prepare a carriage for her. Granted, she could have walked to the city but it would be quite a long walk and as much as she loved the people, it was dangerous. Not everyone was kind, not everyone admired her.

'I assume you know where we will go then?' Sunghoon looked down at her with a questioning look. 'And that you wish for us to accompany you on your trip.'

'Brother, mine, I just asked that question,' Jake reminded him.

'As if I listen to you.'

'Indeed, Ser Sunghoon,' Jieun said in a pleased voice, ignoring their bickering for it seemed to be a daily occurance. 'The world is a dangerous place and I am a woman.'

'That is why you have us,' Jake piped in, flashing Jieun a smile. 'We are not women.'

'Flattering,' Jieun commented in playful distaste.

'Princess, the carriage is ready,' the same guard from before spoke from behind her.

'Very well,' Jieun said. 'Let us take our leave then.'