Lost and Found: A Story of a Broken Princess

Ch 3- Breaking rules

Kougyoku had to take a shower, like she had sauce all over her bangs and wine was drenching her clothes.

She let the water wash away the food and wine on her face. As the water did the job, she stood there, thinking about the dream she had in her sleep.

"Why now? Why now?" She repeatedly thought, desperately not wanting to think about it.

She wanted to forget about it, she tried so badly. After all, she wanted to live her life with peace, not fear.

She turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. She grabbed the towel and started to dry herself.

She then put her nightgown on and prepared herself to go to sleep. As she lied there, distressed, she felt so empty, like nothing was inside her.

Or in other words, she couldn't sleep.

So, she picked herself up and walked towards her  window, and looked outside to see the beautiful view.

After the civil war had ended, she fell into despair and blamed herself for the cause of the fall of her nation. Almost everyday she would look outside the window and watch the once prosperous nation burn into poverty, and the worst thing was that she couldn't do anything because she was busy trying to lift herself up.

But now she can see the nation that once fell, stand on its 2 feet again.

She kept looking outside, soaking in the beautiful view. 

She had longed to see her people's face, but alas, she couldn't leave the palace unless she had some outside business to do.

Looking at the window, she suddenly had a brilliant idea......

"Maybe I can sneak out the window, just for a couple minutes or so. No one is going to see me..." she thought.

So, executing her plan, she got exchanged her nightgown for some lighter clothes and got rid of her jewelry and put her hair in a simple braid.

She opened her window and sighed as the air brushed against her bare skin. She lifted her foot to stand on the window's rim and jumped silently into the forbidden area. There at least 5 ft of space between her window and the ground, but she could easily cross the space, after all, she was trained warrior

She knew where the guards were and were not, so she simply found a path where there were no guards, she chuckled silently as she reminded herself to get some guards there.

When she finally crossed the palace territory, she raced to the marketplace as she put on her hood she had carried with her. 

Once arriving, she peeked out of her hood and looked at the people.

Some people were celebrating, drinking alcohol until the passed out, and wearing a variety of clothes, as the social classes did not restrict them anymore.

But what Kougyoku only cared about was that everyone was smiling, some had frowns but then later, they turned upside down, and started enjoying the fun.

"Everyone is so happy" Kougokyu teared up at the sight.

Enjoying herself a little too much, she sat at one of the restaurants and ordered some tea. 

She drank some tea, which soothed her, thinking "Is this really what I did?", and looked at all her happy people

Paying for tea, she left the shop, satisfied of what she saw, she turned to walk back to the castle.

"Please, STOP, PLEASE!!!"

Kougyoku turned to the direction she heard the voice, and raced towards the source.