The Prince's Guard | JinByul

chapter 1

There was one time of the day that Byulyi got to relax. When the Prince went to bed several of the Lieutenant guards under her took over her post and guarded the Prince. She was supposed to sleep during this period as well, but often she took the time to go on walks on the river. It was cold as hell at this time of the year, but there were rarely people down by the river at this time of night and she just wanted to be away from the palace, away from people, away from everything.

She had left the cobbled path ages ago and she slogged through the reeds towards the bank of the river. The moon was rising and with it so was the red dragon constellation. Her black boots were covered in mud and so were her pants. She was starting to shiver, but she wanted to make it to the bank of the river. It was always the best place to see the stars.

Finally, she made it to the bank and she sat down in the wet sand. There she had a perfect view of the mountains in the distance and above them the moon. It was beautiful. It took her back to the days when her mother would take her out on their boat and point out all the stars and different constellations. Her mother had been a very superstitious person and she had believed that the stars were very important in the lives of humans. She had taught Byulyi how to follow the stars and how to read her fate from them.

According to her mother, the stars were telling her that there would be hard times approaching for her. She chuckled at that. Hard times had been "approaching" for the past eight years apparently. She was starting to think she did not remember how to read the stars as well as she thought she did. She would ask her mother, but... well.

Byulyi laid her head back, her short black hair fanning out around her head. If only the hard times would leave her be for a few hours. That was all she asked. Just a few hours of peace and quiet. No Prince, no palace, no guards to train, nothing. Only Byulyi; at least what was left of her.

~~~~~

Byulyi walked through the halls of the palace, her boots clicking against the wooden floors. The Prince's quarters were on the eastern side, facing the city, coincidentally the farthest wing of the palace from the barracks. As she walked through the palace, the sun had barely risen but the servants were already moving throughout, cleaning and the smell of dumplings was coming from somewhere. There was a great entourage on its way to the Palace today and the Empress had ordered everything cleaned. Everything. Her oldest child - Yongsun - was getting married to the son of a prominent general and it was all anyone could talk about. It was a very important match for the kingdom.

Byulyi finally reached the Prince's bedroom where two of her Lieutenants were stationed. To her credit they didn't look tired at all, not even Jungkook, her youngest Lieutenant.

"At ease." She said as she approached. They lowered their salutes to her and gave her a smile. She couldn't help but smile back.

"How was the guard last night?" She asked. Her second in command stepped up to give her the report.

"Very quiet Captain. His Majesty went to bed and there were no disturbances from that point onwards. We didn't even hear Bomi." Byulyi couldn't help her chuckle. The Prince had a dog - Bomi - who slept with the Prince in his rooms and the guard often ended up taking Bomi out during the night. Bomi was, unofficially, of course, a ward of the Royal guard. And they took their job caring for him very seriously.

Each member of the royal family had a captain of the royal guard who oversaw their protection and Byulyi was in charge of Prince Kim Seokjin. She had been in charge of his protection since she was first promoted to captain at the age of eighteen. She had been the youngest captain of the guard ever. However, before that, she had been a part of the unit who protected him from the time she was fifteen.