⚓ Royal Gardens

@☁ Mir When Mir had reached up to wipe the tears away from her face, his action had just made Soojung cry even harder. How long ago was it since anyone has ever showed concern for her? How long ago was it since anyone had even bothered treating her this way? Far too long.

"He.." She shook her head as she looked down, not daring to look at him. Before she could say anything else, he'd shot up already. Out of instinct, she shot up as well as her arms reached up to grab him by his arm. "Please don't do anything." She pleaded. "He didn't," she paused. "He didn't do anything to me." She muttered. "I've just been growing more and more clumsy.." Before neither could say anything, sounds of leaves rustling could be heard followed shortly by quick footsteps. The next thing she knew, her lady-in-waiting had ran over before kneeling down in front of the two, facing Mir.

"Sir, y-you're the head advisor, Mir from the Grassland Kingdom, aren't you?" The lady-in-waiting asked but before waiting for his answer, she'd continued. "Please.. save the princess from advisor Woobin's clutches." She begged. "He's done things that are far too torturous for the princess to continue facing." She told him. "He.. he hits her almost every night after dismissing us servants."

"Stop-" Soojung spoke up, trying to stop her lady-in-waiting from continuing her words.

"I'm sorry, princess but just this time, I can't listen to your orders." The said lady interrupted Soojung's words before turning back to Mir. "If you don't believe me, roll up her sleeves, there are marks all over now and carefully look at her forehead. I know her hair is covering it but if you look carefully, you can easily see that there's a huge bruise there. It was caused last night.. I don't know what happened but all I knew was that after hearing the loud sound, the princess had ran out of the room just minutes after the advisor entered her room in the middle of the night." She told him. "So please.. please save her from the vile person's clutches." She pleaded.

By now, Soojung didn't even dare to look at Mir, in fear of his reaction. Her grip on his arm had loosened and her hands had dropped to her sides again.

[] I thought I replied- omg I'm so sorry ;A;

@⚓ Soojung Mir didn't stop glaring Woojung until he'd disappeared round the corner. But he still didn't have enough time to breathe because Soojung collapsed right in front of him and his instincts - as always - were to catch her. Though, apparently, this time, his instincts were fast enough.

"Hey," Mir murmured under his breath, though there was still a tight anger there, like a knot in his throat. Not at her. Never at her. He crouched down in front of her, reaching his hand out tentatively, about to rest it against her arm. But he pulled back just in time. In case she snapped at him. "Are you alright?"

No sooner had he said the words then her dam of tears burst over and she was cradling her herself, crying. Crying over something Mir had no idea about. About her fiance? About Mir? He didn't know. But right then, he didn't care. All he wanted was her to stop crying.

Despite himself, despite how much he tried to stop himself, Mir's hand swept up and brushed away the tears from her face. "Don't cry," he muttered. "I'm going to start thinking it's my fault." He let out a low chuckle but it was void of any energy or humour.

Her words startled him. He listened for a second but then he was objecting. "No," he said sharply. "Whatever the hell he's doing to you, I won't-" he shook his head, swallowing his anger. Then his eyes trailed down to her arm, red marks of where Woobin's hand had been only moments ago. And, further up, where her makeshift bandage was. "Soojung..." Mir didn't even care if he wasn't addressing her formally anymore. "Did he do this to you?" Mir's fist curled at his side.

And then he was shooting up, anger bubbling at the back of his throat. "Where the hell is that bastard?!"

@☁ Mir As soon as Mir spoke up, Woobin's eyes rounded in surprise before he finally let go of Soojung, quickly recovering from his surprise.

"This does not concern you." He shot Mir a look before turning to look at Soojung. "Because I still have some matters to attend to, I'll let this pass for now but," he leaned close to her, "this is not over." He growled in a low voice before turning and leaving the two behind.

The very moment Woobin left, Soojung collapsed right down onto the floor. She finally let go of the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in from the very moment Woobin appeared. She just knew the very moment the party was over and the guests, servants and the likes were all gone, she wasn't going to get away from what awaits her that easily. At the thought of that, she cried, breaking down in front of Mir but she didn't, couldn't care anymore. She had everything bottled up inside of her. Fear, anger, mostly fear. Her shoulders shook as she silently cried, her tears cascading down her face and onto the grass.

"Thank you..for stopping him." Soojung spoke after a few seconds. "but.. next time, please just.. ignore whatever you see." She looked down. "You don't have to stop him.." She paused. "Even if you do, there's no use.." Helplessness was much evident in her voice as she spoke. "There's no use at all.." She muttered.

@⚓ Soojung Mir tentatively lifted his gaze to search for Soojung's, a cautious smile on his lips. He didn't know how far down in her bad books he was, how much she hated him. But he was glad that she at least let him this close.

Sub consciously, Mir found himself trailing his hand down her arm, his fingers tracing her hand, ever so tempted to hold it.

And then a voice snapped him out of it, Mir jolting to his feet like he was a child having just been caught doing something he shouldn't.

At the sight of Soojung's fiancé, Woobin, charging towards them - his eyes so oblivious to Mir's presence - Mir belt his throat tighten, his fists clenched.

It only took seconds to realise this wasn't the same Woobin as earlier. He was fiercer, unmerciful. Ruthless.

For a moment, he couldn't breathe, seeing the advisor raise his hand to, evidently, do something violent, and grabbing Soojung fiercely by the wrist.

Then anger boiled behind Mir's eyes, not even sure why it existed, and he lunged forward, blocking Woobin.

"What the hell are you doing?" He demanded in a low voice, narrowing his eyes. They flickered to Woobin's thick hand around Soojung's fragile wrist. "Let go of her."

{{it's short, otl, I'm sorry.}}

@☁ Mir Soojung's gaze softened as she heard the words he'd muttered to himself. After everything that had happened to her, she'd learned to be more sensitive to sound. She wouldn't have expected him to say that, not when he was the one who threw everything away. Him looking at her wounded arm made her self-conscious. She would've pulled her sleeves back down if it wasn't for the fact that he was holding onto her arm.

At his words, she nodded despite her head telling her to leave before he could see her wound, and before he could ask her questions. She didn't want to risk him finding wounds that were much worse than this one but she was hesitant about leaving. Even if it was like that, being around him still made her feel..safe. Even if he was the person who broke her heart, she still felt safe around him. Before she knew it, he was back in front of her.

As soon as the cloth made contact with her skin, she flinched but she tried her best to stay still, squeezing her handkerchief with her other hand and biting her lower lip so hard that it was extremely close to bleeding but it didn't, fortunately.The last thing she needed was another bleeding wound.

"Okay, done." As soon as those words left his lips, she released the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in the whole entire time to help herself cope with the pain. When he looked at her, she looked away feeling ashamed of her wound. Once he was done wrapping her wound, she pulled her arm away before he could see any other visible wounds, scars or bruises.

"T- Thank you.." She muttered.

"Soojung!" She flinched upon hearing a voice roar. She looked up to see Woobin storming towards her causing her to stand up, visibly tensed. "Have can you be so careless?! What if someone saw your wound?! If someone did, I will-" She flinched as she turned away as if to protect herself upon seeing him raise his hand. Him acting that way meant that he'd not noticed Mir. He'd been far too occupied with his fury. Embarrassment filled her as she realized how Mir could be watching her, them. At that, she turned away, about to run off again if it wasn't for Woobin who grabbed her arm.

"Let go. There's someone else here." was all she said as she shook his grip off of her.

@⚓ Soojung Mir rolled his eyes in frustration, really not caring what she thought about him anymore. "I don't care about my handkerchief," he insisted, taking her arm anyway and carefully pulling back her sleeve. "I care about you." He said it so quietly that he doubted even she would hear. In fact, he hoped she hadn't heard. It was a secret only he could know. The wound made him choke, the blood breaking her skin, relentlessly dripping down her arm. Desperately, he glanced around, looking for something to soak his handkerchief in. He could go back to the party but that would be too risky. Soojung could easily slip away no matter how much he begged her to promise him not to move.

Then his eyes caught the glistening of the pond behind him. It wouldn't be the purest of waters but it was the best he could do. At least it wouldn't be salty.

"Don't move," he warned Soojung with his eyes before hurrying over to the water and dipping his handkerchief in, twisting it and ringing it out so that it wouldn't be dripping with water. Then he swept back to Soojung, taking his place back to kneeling in front of her.

"This might hurt," he cautioned her, knowing that, with no doubt, it was going to hurt. But it was better than leaving her wound open and uncleaned.

Carefully, Mir held her arm gently, trying not to hurt her more, as he slowly dabbed the damp cloth along her wound, soaking up the blood. Despite any flinching that might have ensued from her, he tried his best to keep her arm still.

"Okay," he swallowed, removing the cloth. "Done."

Mir could see the wound clearer, now that the blood was washed away. It looked like an old, cracked open scab, stretching down her arm. What had happened? His eyes darted up to hers in alarm.

No. This wasn't the time to ask. Instead, he wordlessly took her handkerchief she held in her hand, their fingers brushing together, and wrapped it around her wound as efficiently as possible. Mir wasn't exactly the most medically trained. In fact, this had all been pure guesswork. But the fact that she barely had any trust in him at all anymore meant he'd had to act confident. As much as he hadn't proved to be able to look after her heart, he could at least look after her arm.

@☁ Mir Soojung looked up in surprise upon hearing someone call her name. For a brief few seconds, she'd saw Woobin standing there instead and a flash of fear shone in her eyes as she scrambled to the side a little. That was when she realized that it was Mir. She was so relieved she nearly threw her arms around the said male but stopped herself just in time.

At his questions, she looked at her arm before pulling her sleeves down. "I.. I just accidentally scratched myself against a branch." She lied but at one glance at her arm, anyone could tell it was more than just a mere scratch. Even she wouldn't have believed herself. When he crouched down and reached for her arm, she instantly pulled back. "It's okay.. I don't want you to dirty your handkerchief with my blood." She muttered. "I'll be fine in a while so don't worry, Mir." It was the first time in a while that she'd said his name and her suddenly throwing away the appropriate title to call him surprised even herself.

[ This is so short omg I'm so sorry D: ]

@⚓ Soojung Mir swallowed hard, stiff underneath the gaze of this fiancé. Although they were about the same height, Mir felt so small, so insignificant underneath his strong eyes. Sure, Mir had a higher position than the other, had influential friends and was a major player in their alliance. But what good was that when the other had the girl?

Mir snapped out of fear as the other excused himself, and Mir could finally breathe. He stumbled back, only stopping when he bumped into the nibbles table, almost knocking off a few plates. "Sorry," he mumbled to a nearby servant who looked horrified, her hands ready to catch whatever food would fall. As if as a peace offering, he picked up a mini pastry, cheers it to the servant before plopping it into his mouth.

He instantly jerked away and, as discretely as possible, spitting the monstrosity into his hand. What was in this? Fish? He cringed, casually dropping into into the grass below, avoiding the states of the servants.

Wait. Soojung hadn't seen that? He glanced around, his cheeks heating up, his mind rushing for apologies and excuses-

But she wasn't there.

And she hadn't been there when her fiancé had excused himself either, had she?

Was he relieved? He didn't know... But something was pumping in his chest. Was she okay? She had been bleeding, hadn't she?

As if on impulse, he rushed out of the tent, brushing past and weaving between waitors and guests, asking those he could if they had seen the princess. Those that didn't stare at him as if he was insane pointed him towards a secluded part of the garden, beyond a wall.

He thanked them before hurrying towards the place.

And he stopped.

Was he ready for this? Would she just spit at him?

He had to take that chance. It was the only place he was only going to get to speak to her alone. She already hated him enough.

He rounded the corner. And froze.

"Soojung?" He asked cautiously, before cursing under his breath, expecting her to spit at him for not using her proper title. What right did he have to call her by name now?

But before he could apologise or make excuses, his eyes caught the blood and his body rushed forward. "What happened? What did you do?" There was far too much blood For it to be a mere accidental snag.

He swore, crouching down in front of her, reaching for her arm. "Here," he murmured, taking his own hankercheif out of his pocket, not caring about how much she'd want to be away from him right now. "Let me."

@☁ Mir [ nah, it's not terrible \o

that moment when i realize that the flawless soojung is now damaged to the point where she's about to break down mentally ;A; I'm sorry about my bad reply- ;; ]

Woobin had smiled at Mir at his greeting while Soojung stood there feeling completely uncomfortable especially because Woobin was standing there next to her and mainly because she knew that Woobin was merely acting. He wasn't as polite as everybody thinks he is and he was most certainly not someone kind.When Mir had stepped forward, she inwardly freaked out.

"I-I'm-" She never got the chance to answer however, as someone else had already shrieked.

"Oh my goodness! Princess! Your arm's bleeding!" Possibly an old advisor's wife had gasped. She moved her arm to hide it by her side as she turned to face them. From the corner of her eye, she could see how Woobin's face had turned dark and she just knew that he was going to take it on her again when there was nobody around. Panicking inwardly, she spoke.

"It's nothing big! Please do not fret. I merely accidentally cut myself on a branch earlier. I was just about to have it tended to." She lied and as she turned to face Mir once more, the wind blew causing the bangs that were covering her forehead to move with the wind, possibly revealing the bruise resting on her forehead. Instantly, she fixed her hair to cover her forehead as she bowed her head lightly to excuse herself. "Please excuse me for a moment." She turned and she left with her hand covering her wound as she walked before breaking into a run. Woobin on the other hand, shrugged and excused himself as he approached some other advisors. It was obvious from the way that he didn't bother going after her that he didn't care about her and that he simply couldn't possibly be bothered by her. In fact, just by that almost anybody could tell that their engagement was a mere show, nothing more and possible lesser than that.

As soon as she reached a spot in the garden where there was nobody else around but her, she glanced around to check for people before sitting on the bench and rolling up her sleeves, wincing when she saw how bad her wound looked now. It looked far more worse than any of the bruises on her arms. She reached for her handkerchief and began wiping her bloodied arm and hand before she tied it around her wound to stop the bleeding.

Mentally, she was honestly already breaking down. Just how much more of this could she take before she really completely broke down? Honestly speaking, she was already having thoughts of just running off again and this time, to really disappear from everyone's sight. After all, she was broken. How much more longer would it take before she completely broke into a million pieces? The previous night had came dangerously close to her being broken for life. At that thought, she broke down again as she looked down, her hair covering the sides of her face. Nobody realized but her laughter and smiles were all gone. When was the last time she genuinely smiled? Even she couldn't remember. Oh right, it was before her heart got smashed for the very first time.

[post deleted by owner]

@⚓ Soojung Mir stiffened as his eyes caught sight of Soojung and her apparent fiance approaching him. He seized up, his eyes darting round for a means of escape but found the walls of the tent too enclosing. It was too late. They were almost upon him and he had no where to run.

"Greetings," the vile man slithered his voice over his words. Of course, that was purely based on Mir's opinion. His mind twisted the tone of the man's voice in to something that had a meaning to hate. Instead, the man was polite as any advisor should be, political and sensible.

But Mir couldn't help but noticed the way he had gripped Soojung's arm and how she had tugged away from him. Hope sparked in Mir's chest. Perhaps she hated this marriage too; perhaps she'd call it off and Mir would have another chance-

He was yanked out of his hopeless dreaming by the wordless nod of Soojung's head. His throat closed up, his hands tensing into fists behind his back, a stiff smile forced on to his face.

"And to you," he said as politely as possible, addressing the man but finding his eyes locked on Soojung. Was she as uncomfortable as he was? Did she really want to be here with this man? Mir's eyes searched her face, a sad line creasing his eyebrows. They could have been happy - he could have made her happy. And here she was, engaged to another man, her body shuffling away from his.

"Thank you," Mir coughed, clearing his throat. "For inviting me. I feel honoured..." His words trailed off, his voice stiff and unnatural. But he had to try and be social, acceptable.

Mir dropped his gaze. It was bittersweet really - all the happy, joyous memories had turned into hopelessness. It had been meaningless.

Mir froze, his eyes catching drops of blood landing cleaning on the blades of grass behind Soojung. "Hey," he stepped forward, worry casting his face into shadow as he reached for Soojung's arm. "Are you alright?"

{{Sorry for the terrible post. OTL!!}}

@☁ Mir Soojung politely smiled as she nodded her head lightly at the guests that were coming up to her. A few congratulations were sent towards her but each time, she'd merely muster up a fake happy grin so that they won't see how unwilling she really was about getting married to someone who didn't have and never did have her heart.

"Excuse me for a moment." Soojung said as she left Woobin alone to deal with the guests. She turned around. She'd seen some people from /his/ Kingdom here so that would mean he was here too. That would mean he'd see her. As if on cue, her eyes glanced at one of the tents and she caught sight of him. She whipped around, not wanting to face him just yet. She just knew she'd breakdown from everything. Her hands unconsciously reached towards her arms that were filled with bruises and wounds these days. Fortunately the wound on her wrist had already healed and all that was left behind was a small scar that was barely noticeable.

Out of nowhere, a hand grabbed her arm and this time, she noticeably flinched because one, she was surprised and two, the person had touched the bruise on her arm. Her head turned towards the person and her eyes rounded slightly. Woobin was the one holding onto her arm. She twisted her arm away but he held on tightly causing her to bite her lower lip from the pain. He pulled her towards him before dragging her off elsewhere. It was only then that she realized that he was pulling her towards the tent that Mir was under.She twisted her arm away and she stepped back.

"What do you think you're doing?!" She snapped.

"Don't you want to see a certain advisor over there?" He had the guts to smirk before grabbing her by her arm once more, this time accidentally opening a wound on her arm causing her to almost let out a very loud yelp if it wasn't for her quick reaction by biting on her lower lip again. Woobin began dragging her towards Mir without noticing her bleeding wound as Soojung tried formulating a plan to escape.

"Greetings." Woobin greeted Mir and that was what snapped Soojung out of her thoughts. She noticed her bleeding wound and she quickly hid her arm behind her back, the blood now dripping onto the grass instead. She mustered a faint smile as she nodded her head lightly to greet him.

@⚓ Soojung The last time he'd been here, he'd broken someone's heart. Mir didn't like to say her name any more; if he did, it would surely erupt some feelings he'd stuffed away in the back of his heart, behind a metal, padlocked door.

What use that now did given that he knew he was going to see her soon anyway. His heart was hammering, that metal door shaking as if there was an earthquake going on inside of him.

"Wait," Mir's throat tightened as he ordered the footman to stay where he was. Mir needed a minute. Well, actually he needed thousands of minutes, but he couldn't be picky. The chariot had parked outside the walls of the Oceanside palace, the horses fidgeting as they itched to canter on.

He wasn't ready for this. No matter how many pep talks he'd given himself - or Hyelim had given to him - he was never going to be ready for this. He was going to have to face Soojung again. It had been weeks since she'd announced to him that she was getting married - but the time hadn't healed his heart. It had lined up some crudely sewn stitches along the wound - and just one beat of his heart would rip them open.

Mir closed his eyes, breathing as steadily as he could. If he'd felt stronger, he would have refused the chariot and ridden saddleback on one of the horses. But his legs had never felt strong enough - not now.

He opened his eyes. "Okay," he nodded and, obediently, the footman opened the door of the chariot and Mir stepped out.

- - -

He pretended to smile. He'd gotten pretty good at that over the last few weeks, had had a lot of practice. Generally now, no one noticed that he was faking it - or at least if they did, they didn't say anything.

"Welcome, Sir," some butler said with a silver tray atop his hand, laden with alcohol.

"Thanks," Mir smiled his politician smile, unashamedly grabbing one of the flutes and downing the alcohol in one. The butler didn't seem to notice.

Politely, Mir placed the empty glass back onto the tray. He was going to need the alcohol in his system for what he was going to face.

Many people tried to spark up conversations with him but he politely waved them off as he headed for the tables of nibbles seated underneath fabric, white tents.

He breathed under the shade, loosening the tie around his neck and ing the top button of his thin shirt. 'Okay, Mir,' he pep talked himself. 'You can do this. It's not that hard. There's plenty of people here, what's the likelihood of even seeing her at all. Maybe she's not even here. Maybe she's climbed over the balcony and gone... to the beach...'

His eyes were betrayers. No matter how many times he warned them not too, they still moved on their own accord, searching for her.

Then. There she was. Mir's heart sagged. Even when they were distances away, even when she hates him and he hated himself, she was still able to make him hold his breath.

But she looked uncomfortable. She rubbed her long sleeved arms, a contrast to the girl he'd once known. Had he done this to her?

But there! Beside her. A man.

Mir found himself glaring. Was it him? Was he the one she was engaged to?

'Stop looking, Mir', he warned himself. But he couldn't. He wouldn't. His eyes raked over the man, noticing the way he plastered on a polite smile, how clastraphobically close he was to Soojung. How she clinched away from him.

Mir snapped his gaze away. If he looked any longer, he'd be burning.

Forget about it, Mir. Forget about her...

But he couldn't.

@☁ Mir CRASH!

Soojung flinched in surprise as she jerked awake from her peaceful slumber. Almost instantly, she got up from her bed and reached for something on her bedside table. Anything would do. Anything that could protect her would do but unfortunately, there was nothing on her bedside table. This had been happening ever since she'd found out about Woobin's true intentions of marrying her. He'd both physically and mentally abuse her just so that she wouldn't ever reveal it to anyone. This caused that confident, cheerful side of Soojung to disappear. Her once flawless skin was now covered with bruises and wounds.

Boom! The door to her bedroom door was flung open and in stepped her extremely drunk fiance who proceeded to slam shut the door before locking it. Instantly, fear took over her as she backed away silently, not wanting to face him. Her heart froze when he glared at her and stepped towards her. There was nobody who could save her now. He'd warn her servants to ignore whatever they heard and as for those who almost told on him, well he got rid of them so nobody knew about his vile ways.

"W-Woobin-ah.. Y-You're drunk so-" Soojung stopped talking once she saw how hard he kicked the chair in front of him. The next thing she knew, he had his hands around her neck again but he wasn't choking her. Instead, he shoved her to the side causing her head to knock against her bedside table. She just knew a huge bruise was going to form the next day. Out of nowhere, he picked her up again by her arm and this time, she got thrown onto her bed. Her heart pounded in fear of what could happen next. Before he could do anything, she kicked him in the shin causing him to stumble backwards. She took this as her chance to run off which she did. Her fingers clumsily unlocked the door before she dashed out. She could hear footsteps behind her and it made her push herself to run. She ran towards another bedroom in the castle before locking it. Her eyes shut as she slid down onto the floor with her back against the door. Tears began to stream down as she covered her face with her hands before wrapping her arms around herself. She didn't know just how much more of this she could take. With her head leaning against the door, she fell asleep.

By the time she woke up, it was dawn and perhaps he was gone. Hopefully he was. She stretched her strained neck before opening the door hesitantly. Fortunately, it was busy once more so she was probably safe for now but she stayed at this room as she asked one of her servants to help her get ready for their kingdom's garden party which her mother had thrown for the heck of it. Soulessly, she got ready and soon enough, she was standing in the gardens.

Soojung had on a long dress with long sleeves along with a pair of lace gloves to hide the wounds on her legs, hands and arms. She wore her hair down so that she could hide the bruises on her neck. Her bangs covered her forehead so that she could hide the fresh bruise on her forehead which she'd just gotten from the night before. The way she dressed was very much unlike what she wore back then, before she'd gotten herself betrothed to Woobin. If it was her back then, she would've worn a yellow dress which had short sleeves and she would've tied her hair up . She most certainly wouldn't have worn a long-sleeved dress. Beside her stood Woobin. Despite the fear inside her, she was slightly more relaxed that day because with so many visitors from the other kingdoms as well as her mother on site, he most definitely wouldn't dare to do anything. With a forced smile, she greeted everybody she came across. Luckily, nobody questioned the way she dressed despite her being the odd one out.

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@⚓ Soojung It had been two months since MiA had last stepped foot in the Oceanside Kingdom, and had told himself he wouldn't be back for a long time. But he was needed here. After hearing of Soojung's probably he'd offer his friend, his only friend, a way out. Whether it be by taking out whomever was bothering her, or by taking her away for a few days to allow her to cool her head and think of a solution the correct way. Which was odd coming from MiA. The heterochromatic male was anything less than civil and usually took care of business with brute force and left a bloody mess. He preferred a bloody mess because it allowed him to take out his anger on those whom he was contracted to kill. But there was a problem getting to Soojung: he was currently in the Desert. He had left the Nomad Tribe not more than two days ago and left another dirty noble dead... along with his entire guard. Wrapped in a black coat he trudged on in the direction of the Oceanside Kingdom.

That had been over five days again. Still covered from head to toe in black he entered the Kingdom without anyone noticing. He had a knack for being unseen, even with his odd hair and eyes. The black usually kept other's eyes to themselves. Which was a good thing. He didn't attract attention thanks to the cloak and the sheer black mask that covered his face.

The Kingdom was as it was three years ago when he first arrived. It smelled of ocean water, the saltiness scratching at the back of his throat. The air was thick here, easier to breath in than the desert air that was filled with gusting sand. It was... much more fresh... here. The male moved through the crowd like smoke; unseen but felt. He passed a fruit stand, his hand reaching out and grabbing an apple. Not only was he stealthy, he was also lighting fast. His mother had been a spy and a contract assassin and she taught him well. She taught hi everything from reading people, to staying quiet in desperate situations, to seducing men to fulfill a contract. When she died he held a grudge so large he stopped talking when not necessary. He had remaied quiet for nine years before meeting Soojung. Though he communicated with her through gestures and actions he was glad she got it most of the time.

An apple rind was dropped on the ground as he made his way through the town towards the castle. Now, he didn't have all the details, but, what he did hear from those bandits, was that she was forced into a marriage agreement. What happened to the other male she was seeing? MiA wanted nothing to do with politics and often times paid no attention to who was who until he needed to kill them.

MiA whipped past a few guards who looked around frantically for the source of the gust of wind on his way to the gardens. He knew she'd be there. She always was when she needed to get away. A minute later he was within the garden, approaching the girl with his body still covered. His dual colored eyes looked the girl up and down, noticing the glove right away. A slim finger pointed to it without so much as a word, asking her what happened.

@☾ MiA It hadn't been too long since Soojung got herself stuck in a damned arranged marriage with Woobin and it certainly hadn't been too long since her heart-wrenching separation from Mir, the person whom had decided to choose the alliance over her despite her telling him that there could be some other way, completely smashing her heart into a million pieces but she didn't blame him. In fact, she chose to accept it because she knew how important the alliance would be to his kingdom. Perhaps she was the one who was foolish for letting her heart come into play. Maybe she should've just brought him to her cousin straight away after the revelation at the masquerade ball but it had all happened and passed.

Now, she had someone else to worry about, Woobin. It hadn't been too long since she'd been forced to stay with him in his estate, her mother giving the ridiculous excuse of wanting her to get to know her future husband. What her mother didn't know was that she merely sent the young princess straight to hell.

Every single night, Woobin would come home completely drunk and well, he'd beat her. If she fought back, he'd hit her even if he wasn't drunk. In fact, it'd just happened the other day.

That particular morning, Soojung was packing her things, wanting to leave the god-forsaken place when Woobin walked in and..

"Where do you think you're going?!" Woobin yelled as he walked in, his eyebrows furrowed from anger.

"Back to the castle. I've had enough of this." She glared at him before continuing to pack her belongings.

"You humiliated me in front of all the advisors earlier today! Shouldn't I be the one mad?!" She turned to face him. "Who told you it was right to speak about cutting off the alliance with the Grassland kingdoms?!" She was beyond furious. At her words, he smirked. "So that's what this is all about. You're worried about lover boy aren't you?" He purposely tried to spite her. "I don't know what you're talking about." She turned back to her belongings but he continued. "You're getting married to me so stop thinking about him! HE CHOSE THE ALLIANCE OVER Y-"

"STOP IT!" Soojung spun around, hand in the air with the intention to slap some senses into him but he grabbed onto her hand and shoved her onto the ground causing her to cut the back of her hand against the sharp table edge. With that, he stormed out leaving her to sit there, stunned. In her 20 years of leaving, never had anyone done something like this to her.

At the memory earlier, she sighed. She was currently sitting on a chair at the pavilion of the royal gardens. Her bandaged wound was hidden by a glove. If anyone asked,she'd simply say that she wore it for no reason.