After the near-death experience I'd barely escaped, my mind refused to rest.
Who was that stranger the, one who'd risked his own life to save mine?
It felt like something torn from the myths of old, from the kind of stories whispered by firelight, yet it had happened to me.
"I must know who that man was," I murmured, clenching my fists until my knuckles met my palm. The thought refused to leave me.
"Your Highness!"Poong Yeon's familiar voice broke through my thoughts. "You sent for me?"
"Yes," I said, forcing a calm I didn't feel. "My mind can't stop drifting back to the… incident that took place yesterday." I stirred the bowl before me, though I had no appetite. The scent of the soup made me think of smoke and blood.
The only place I found peace lately was the target yard, one of my sanctuaries within the palace. There, the silence always listened.
"I've been thinking," I continued, setting the bowl aside. "Whoever that foreigner was… I must find him. I owe him my life; and a proper reward."
Poong Yeon bowed slightly. "The road where you were attacked leads to Sungjoo Village. If we're to find him, that's where our search must begin."
"Sungjoo…" I whispered, tasting the name like a promise. "Then that's where you'll go. Turn every stone, climb every mountain if you must. I have to meet my savior again, no matter what."
There was something haunting about the memory of him, the way his eyes had caught the light, strange and wild, like no eyes I'd ever seen.
"I'd go with you myself, Yeon," I said, sighing, "but royal duties tie me down. The Prime Minister still needs investigating, and the King's patience runs thin. I'll lend you every resource you need for this journey."
"I'll do my very best to find him," Poong Yeon vowed.
"You leave at dawn," I said, turning away before he could see the unease on my face.
Days bled into one another, each one slower than the last. No letter. No word.
I grew restless.
"Eunuch Yang!" I snapped. "Prepare my royal robes."
"Your Highness, by the King's order, you're not to step outside the palace due to-"
I shot him a glare sharp enough to slice through his sentence. He bowed immediately, trembling. "At once, Your Highness."
Before he could move, a court maiden appeared, breathless.
"Your Highness, Poong Yeon has returned!"
I barely heard the rest. My heart quickened, feet moving before thought could catch up. I rushed through the halls toward the courtyard.
And there, standing beside Poong Yeon, was my savior.
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince Lee Ji-ho," the eunuch announced.
I walked forward, my composure hanging by a thread. My pulse thundered in my ears.
But as I drew closer, something felt… off.
Those eyes. That presence.
"You're no man," I breathed. "How did you come to save me?"
She stared back at me, unflinching, fierce, and strangely familiar. Her skin was like dark brown Jangajji, her figure structed but yet strong. Her hair like waves of the ocean. But it was her eyes, those green eyes, that stole my breath. They shimmered like sunlight trapped in glass, both otherworldly and beautiful.
She wasn't like anyone I'd ever seen.
She was… a living goddess.