"Why, don't you ever spend time in your palace? Your court ladies and eunuchs will forget how you look, Your Highness." Hye-ri asked Prince Wang Won when she saw him in her house the next morning.

He was sitting on one of the shaded seating areas in the garden of the huge Kim estate when she chanced upon seeing him while on her routine morning walk as instructed by Young-ja,

"My lady, a noblewoman should maintain her figure. You should lose your chubby cheek fat; you will turn seventeen this year.At this rate, how will we find a nice groom for you my lady?"           
Hye-ri had simply rolled her eyes at the old woman but decided to humor her so she complied. She didn't fancy being yelled at from her mother again.

"As usual, seeing you has made my day Hye-ri." The prince seemed to drop formalities when it was just the two of them and so did she,

"Oh really? Because seeing you has spoilt my day, Wang Won."

"Now, now! What if someone hears you talk like that to the prince of your nation?" he arched his eyebrows sarcastically and smirked at her.

"As if I give a damn." Hye-ri rolled her eyes and he mock-gasped at her in horror,

"Such language shouldn't be spoken by a noble lady!"

"Now you're sounding like my mother." She scoffed at him and added, "But seriously, what brings you by?"

"I'm here to see your lovely face of course." He grinned at her and she laughed aloud without humor,

"Yes, yes of course. I bet you're here to see my brother. You both spend so much time together that people might mistake him as your lover.I bet rumors are already flying around in the palace."

"Jealous much? Don't worry, you're my one and only Hye ri-ah." The prince's eyes gleamed with hilarity.

"That sounds so absurd! Never in a million years will it happen." Hye-ri replied at once, but she failed to catch the princes' face fall before he rearranged his expression as his usual amused and arrogant one.

"But where are your royal bodyguards and Eunuch Bang?" she asked, referring to the bodyguards who always accompanied the royal no matter where he went and the only eunuch who could stand his antics and therefore had been with the prince since childhood.

"They're nearby. Look there." He pointed to where they stood some meters away. Hye-ri had missed them as they were partially hidden by the branches of one of the trees in the garden. She waved to Eunuch Bang who chuckled and waved back. She liked the good-natured eunuch, who sometimes forewarned her about his young master's pranks.

"Hye-ri-ah, fancy seeing you here." Her brother Ji-hyuk exclaimed the moment her came; he wasn't a stranger to the fact that Hye-ri couldn't stand Prince Won and vice-versa.

"I was strolling by when I saw him and couldn't resist greeting him." She sweetly replied while the Wang Won rolled his eyes.

"Took you long enough Ji hyuk-ah. I've been waiting since forever."

"Yes, yes your lover missed you so much Oraboeni." Hye-ri teased and the prince glared at her. "Well, I'll leave you both to it then." She bowed and left sniggering, while Prince Won glowered at her retreating figure.

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"You have improved a lot."

Hye-ri stopped playing her geomungo at the sound of his voice, her fingers hovering over the strings.

She opened her previously closed eyes as she was totally immersed in the music before; and looked up to meet Prince Wang Tae's black eyes. She had been practicing sitting in the courtyard outside as she knew that her brother and Prince Won were off horse-riding or something.

He stood a few steps away in front of her, his expression as apathetic as ever even though he was praising her. Hye-ri could count on one hand the number of times he had smiled in her presence.

"Thank you, Your Highness." She replied and internally cringed at how breathless she sounded.

'Heaven forbid he discovers my crush on him!'

After a few beats of silence, she decided to ask him,

"What brings you here, Your Highness?" she fidgeted with her fingers as she asked him.

She had never been informal with him, even though she was with his brother. She couldn't bring herself to be, it felt weird to even entertain the thought of being informal with him.

"I'm here to meet your brother."

"Oh, he's out with Prince Won."

"Your other brother, General Baek-ah." He clarified and Hye-ri thought she saw amusement flash in his black eyes but it was only for a split second. She could never be too sure with Wang Tae.

"Oh, I see." She replied lamely and cursed herself internally.

'Just why can't I ever seem to hold a conversation with him? I have no such problem with his idiot brother!' she thought, frustrated with the fact that she still felt like this with him, even after so many years of knowing him.

After a few uncomfortable beats of silence when she looked anywhere but at him, the prince suddenly blurted,
"May I, my lady?"
His hand sticking out at her; he was gesturing for her to hand him the instrument; her brain was clouded in his presence as usual so she took time to reply

"Yes of course, Your Highness." She stood up and moved aside to let him sit in her place.

Hye-ri had heard him play only once before, and she remembered the fact that he played the instrument quite well for a man.

He was around twelve and she was nine and it was one of those days when she was accompanying her mother to the palace. Her brother had tagged along as he wanted to see Prince Won.

She saw him play it that day and it piqued her curiosity and interest. She had instantly fallen in love with the melodious sounds coming from the stringed instrument and decided to learn to play it- the instrument fascinated little Hye-ri.

She had listened to Wang Tae play it in the Princes' Pavilion while her brother and Wang Won were running around playing one of their games; and she was totally awe-struck.

As she was now.

She stood a few steps away and listened to him gracefully pluck the strings and play the instrument; far better than her. His eyes were closed, his long lashes almost brushing his cheeks as he played it effortlessly.

Seeing him play it made heat color her cheeks and neck; he looked so utterly attractive. She couldn't stop staring at him, even though she knew it wasn't proper for her to stare so unabashedly at a man, much less the prince. Normally she couldn't even meet his eyes when they talked, but somehow, he didn't look as intimidating with his eyes closed.

He finished playing it too soon for her liking.

"I have been out of practice for so long, pardon me if I missed a few notes." He said humbly as he stood up.

"Not at all Your Highness! You played it very well, so much better than me." Hye-ri mumbled the last part but he heard it anyways,

"You play quite well too; you've really improved since I last saw you play."

At that she flushed in humiliation as old memories of her playing the instrument horribly returned. He had seen her at her worst, when she had just started learning. She couldn't ever get the notes right and was always out of tune initially; much to the exasperation of her teacher.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I practiced a lot over the past couple of years, so I'm pleased to know that you think that I've improved."

"Improved? Pardon me hyeongnim, but did you perhaps go tone deaf? Because no one with perfectly functioning ears could ever think that Hye-ri plays the geogeum well."

Wang Won and Ji-hyuk were back and both were drenched in sweat.

'They were probably practicing sparring with each other or whatever it is that they do together; thought Hye-ri. She rolled her eyes at Wang Won's taunt directed at her musical skills.

"You can't even play it, yet you seem to have so much knowledge about music, Your Highness." She retorted back to which he raised his eyebrows,

"Is that a challenge I hear Lady Hye-ri?"

"If you say so, Your Highness." She shrugged as Ji-hyuk watched their exchange, looking quite entertained at their squabbling and Wang Tae looked almost amused but not quite. It was hard for anyone to make out what was going on inside the stoic prince's head.

"Challenge accepted my lady. In a week's time, I'll show you how much better I can play in comparison to you, who hasn't been able to master the instrument even after playing it for several years." Hye-ri scowled at the last bit while he smirked at her confidently.

"If I lose," continued the prince, "I agree to do your bidding for three whole months. I'll never tease you, or pull a prank on you." This made Hye-ri smile in satisfaction as she thought of all the ways in which she'll extract her revenge on him for tormenting and irritating her for years; and she nodded, agreeing to his terms.

"Don't be elated so fast." He said when he saw her expression and a slow wicked smile spread on his face. "If you lose-"

"As if that's even possible" scoffed Hye-ri. She thought she said it too low for him to hear but he heard it,

"Don't be so sure my dear Hye-ri. Well, let's say that hypothetically you do lose- then you'll have to do whatever I say for three whole months. You'll have to listen to my every command and you can't say no. So, what do you say? Are you in?" he extended his hand for her to shake.

Prince Tae and Ji-hyuk, who were initially looking entertained and amused now exchanged wary glances. They both knew that neither one would ever accept defeat. They would likely throw a fit if either one loses the bet.

'Heaven help us if she accepts it.' Hye-ri's brother thought; though knowing her, she won't back out as her pride was on the line. Before Ji-hyuk or Prince Tae could object to it, Hye-ri shook the outstretched hand confidently,

"Bring it on prince." Hye-ri said, with an indignant toss of her head.

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A/N

Geomungo- It is a traditional korean stringed instrument with frets and bridges ; literally meaning 'black zither' or 'Goryeo zither'.