The Hands of Time

Chapter 8: The Prince's Arrival

Back home, Jimin had a lot of hobbies that she excelled at. Shooting, archery, swordsmanship, martial arts, named it, if she hadn't started it, she would manage to do it properly only within a few tries.

One thing she didn't know how to do, she tried multiple times, and failed miserably, was horse riding.

For some reason, Jimin felt like the animal just hated her.

"We could've taken two, you know?" Minjeong looked down at her in concern. "I feel really bad having you lead the horse like this."

While trying to stop her hand that was holding the rein from trembling, Jimin shook her head. "It's fine." She flinched when the horse shook his head lightly.

"We can ride together?"

Jimin let out a chuckle and shook her head once again.

That intense night, The Princess hadn't overheard much of their conversation. Thankfully, she had just arrived a moment before Ji Hoon did and found her standing outside of Ningning's door.

But ever since then, even though Jimin had a lot on her shoulders, she had another thing that could keep her mind off of her problems besides her bath times.

A trip to the village with Kim Minjeong.

It had been a little longer than a week, Aeri was still trying to find another solution after Ji Hoon told them about the mission. Unsurprisingly, they were right. The King wanted to strike first before the enemy found an opportunity to attack them.

General Kang hadn't been around much, she figured he must be busy with planning their strategy, leaving Minjeong and Jimin to spend their time alone together.

The Princess herself had been in a really good mood. It felt like the woman he found by the river appeared once again. She managed to get her father's permission to roam around the village, Jimin didn't know how she did it, but she did.

She thought The King would be more uptight with the threats that were happening close to his home, but seemed like he believed in her abilities, maybe Ji Hoon said some believable lies to convince him or something.

Jimin was just glad that she would have some time off before the decisions she had to make soon. She was tired of denying her feelings, it was no use anymore.

Heartbreak was already inevitable, both for Jimin or for Minjeong. The Princess would end up marrying the prince, and Jimin would either be dead or go back home. They would never see each other again.

The practical thing to do now, was to enjoy the moment she could have to the fullest. And she was thankful that Minjeing had the same thought in mind.

They had been going to the village every day. Sometimes they would come back with little things they found at the shop, or with empty hands, they would be out of energy from playing around all day with the people who had no idea that they were in their Princess' presence.

Today, as Minjeong asked her if they could ride a horse instead of walking to the village, Jimin almost refused.

"Jimin-ssi?"

"Yes?" Jimin had gotten used to answering to her, she didn't know when or why, she just felt like it was the natural thing to do.

Minjeong leaned down to whisper. "Are you afraid of the horse?"

As if the horse was being called, he let out a loud sound and Jimin tensed up. She gulped then looked back at the chuckling woman. "Sit properly, you're gonna fall."

"You are, aren't you?"

"Be quiet."

While Minjeong kept laughing, Jimin pulled the horse into a stop before tying the strap to a tree. She then held up her hand to help Minjeong get back to the ground. "Do we have enough money to buy something today?"