Behind These Walls | Park Banryu

XXII

Areum POV

"I will be going out of the capital to send someone a message for my mother. You two must come along as you are to protect me from any harm." The princess tells us. "Yes your highness." Seonwoo and I bowed.

"We will leave tomorrow at dawn, make sure to be ready outside the palace by then." she says before dismissing us.

"Aish, I'm tired of serving that emotionless thing." I muttered but loud enough for Seonwoo to hear. "Tsk, did you just call the princess an emotionless 'thing?'" Seonwoo laughed. "Yes, I did."

"I heard you called the queen a bitch too. How bold of you." Seonwoo teased. "Keep it down, I don't want the whole capital to know." I scolded.

"It's getting late, I'm going to get to bed now. We have to wake up early tomorrow." Seonwoo said and I agreed. "Alright, see you in the morning." I wave and head to my room.

I plopped onto my bed and let out a loud sigh. "I just want all of this to be over." I whisper before falling into a deep sleep.

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The sun started to appear as I hung my sword on my waist. I tied my hair up and took one last look at myself in the mirror before going outside.

Seonwoo was already there, standing in front of the palace along with Dong Baek (Princess Sookymyung's servant/court lady). I stood beside them and we waited for the princess in silence.

My legs started to kind of hurt from standing for so long. It has been thirty minutes yet Sookmyung still hasn't showed up.

Where the hell is that brat.

A few seconds later Sookmyung shows up and takes a look at us. "Sorry I'm late, let's go." she plainly says. I silently scoffed and followed behind her.

Eunhi POV

I stood outside the gates of hwarang and waited for someone to walk outside. I waited for around ten minutes with my mask over my face to make sure no one could recognize me.

The doors opened and a young man with a hwarang hanbok on walked out. "Oh, excuse me do you know where Areum is? I need to talk to her." I approached him. "Sorry but who are you." he asked. It only made sense that he would ask, especially if I had a mask on.

"U-uh, I am one of her good friends." I responded. He hesitantly nodded before speaking. "Oh alright, I don't know where she is though. Sorry." he says quickly before rushing off.

Banryu POV

I walked away from the woman and I started to question a few things.

I've never seen her around before, who is she? Why does she have a mask on? Why is she looking for Areum?

I quickly pulled myself before entering my father's house. "Hello father." I bowed in front of him. "Banryu, about time you showed up." Master Youngshil says.

"Sorry father, I ran into someone before arriving." I apologize. "Whatever. Anyways, I called you here to ask you something." "What is it father?"

"That girl, Areum." My head shot up as I heard her name. Youngshil chuckles. "She's your instructor, isn't she?" I shake my head. "Not anymore, the queen made her a Wonhwa." I explain. Youngshil rubs his chin and ponders for a moment.

"Do you like her?" he asked which caught me off guard. "N-no father." I stutter and Youngshil laughs. "Don't lie to me Banryu, I saw how you rushed to her the moment you had the chance to. You talk to her quite a lot as well." My eyes widened.

"How did you know that?" I asked. "I decided to watch the fight, I saw you carry her and rush her to the medical room. I can tell you are quite fond of her." Youngshil responded.

"Now let me ask you again, do you like Areum?" I gulped. "Y-yes father, I like her." I responded. Youngshil smiles widely. "I have some news about her."

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Areum POV

The trip was silent as we rode our horses out of the capital. We reached a gate and it was opened immediately and we walked through.

Whispers were heard throughout the village. "Is that the princess?" "What is she doing here?" "She's so scary."

Suddenly someone rushed in front of us making us stop moving. He was on his knees and started to shout for the princess. "Your highness! Where has my son gone? He entered the capital and never returned!" he cried.

Sookmyung got out of her carriage and approached the man. "Are you perhaps Choi Jaehyuk?" she asked the man. "Yes, I am your highness." she handed him a piece of paper and he took it into his shaky hands.

As he read further into the letter he bursted out into tears. "Y-you highness, w-why would you kill my son?" he cried louder. "You entered the capital wrongfully, thus you have to pay the consequences." The princess simply said.

"Your son was killed due to his stupid actions, but a father must also pay the consequences for their sons. Therefore, you shall come back to the capital with us where you will be executed." Gasps were heard from around us and the man started to cry louder. He bowed down and pleaded for her forgiveness but she ignored him.

The two guards from behind us picked him up and dragged him into the small carriage behind the princess. "This is a reminder to never break the rules of Silla." Princess Sookmyung announces to the crowd. The village went silent as they watched us leave.

"I used to live here." Seonwoo whispered to me and I looked at him in shock. "Do you know that man?" I asked and he shook his head. "No, surprisingly not. I feel bad for him though." Seonwoo sighed. "They have no mercy don't they, they have no shame huh?" I rolled my eyes. These damn sacred bones.

"They really don't, that's what makes me hate them the most." he said which made me laugh.

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We arrived at dusk. I was quite tired so I wanted to head to bed right away. I brought my horse back to the stables and began to head back to my room until I ran into someone. I didn't recognize the person at first so I pulled my sword out.

"Calm down, it's just me." The familiar voice made me place my sword back in its sheath. "Banryu? Shouldn't you be in your room?" I asked him. "Yeah but where have you been?" "I had to go outside the capital with the princess. Why?" I explained.

"Some lady with a mask was asking for you. She said she was your friend." Banryu tells me and I thought about it for a bit until realizing who he was talking about.

"Ohh, uh yeah. We go way back, she went on a trip but only returned now." I lied, hoping he would buy it. "Oh alright." he shrugged and a wave of relief washed over me.

"I'll head to bed now, I'm tired. Goodnight." I was about to leave until Banryu spoke again.

"You didn't tell me you are a half breed."

a/n: oooo things boutta get real lmao. this chapter is kinda short but oh well, plz vote and comment if you'd like <3333