Author's Note:   HEY!!! Yeah, I actually updated. And bear with me, this chapter is pretty long, but I'm sure you're gonna enjoy it. . Just saying, this story is definitely not the most historically accurate, just historically inspired. Also, let me know if you prefer chapters in parts like I did before, or in whole chapters like this.

Just some context: 

.Ayuta- Is Ayodhya, a Northern Indian Kingdom. It is said that a Queen from this Kingdom was brought to Korea, to marry the Korean King, Kim Suro. Her name was Queen Suriratna. There is more information here if you are interested - just type in this link-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indians_in_Korea

. Nihon is the ancient name for Japan, and Qin is for China. Back in the day, Korea was invaded by China. 

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"He opened the door, and you stepped through."

Immediately, you were met with a gust of wind so ferocious it lifted your hefty skirt up, exposing the white lining underneath.

"Hold onto your skirts. It's windy because we are close to the sea, and you don't want to flash the Crown Prince on your first meeting." The guard ordered, gripping his straw hat with a steel grip, so that his face wasn't exposed."What? How is this flashing? I'm literally wearing a gazillion layers underneath!" You asked, annoyed. He didn't reply, just turned his back towards you. "Rude..." you muttered. He flinched in irritation and you smirked. Turning your gaze away, you looked at the royal 'gardens' for the first time, and gasped. "Oh. My. Gods."

The so-called gardens were like literal football fields. The intermingled scent of damp soil and the salt of the sea was intoxicating. There were millions of blades of crisp green grass, so brightly green that it seemed like it was from a cartoon. Each strand was the same length, dappled with dew drops that shone like diamonds in the sparse light. Each side of the field was lined with flowers, each plant the exact same distance away, like it was measured by a ruler. 

A stick-thin, bare-footed worker dressed in a white robe bent down, yanking out a dull brown wildflower that had grown in the middle of the vibrant blossoms, swatting away flies that came near his face. "Why did he pull out the flower? I thought it looked pretty unique. Did you notice how many petals it had?" You said quietly to the guard. "It doesn't belong here, so it gets removed." He said to you, matter of factly. A gust of wind rushed past, and you noticed the chill in the air for the first time.

Ignoring it, you focused on the exotic flora, each flower by itself was already a small beauty, and put all together, it was beyond stunning. They stood there, unfaltering, in dizzying colours of ember, gold, ruby, sapphire and even the odd emerald. You squealed, and ran very un-princess like towards the disciplined paradise, skirts bunched up in your hands, sandals kicking up the dirt.

"Princess! HALT!" The guard shrieked very un-guard-like from a few metres behind you.

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You ran through the field to what looked like a gathering of trees, tall and mysterious. You looked up, admiring the lengthy, bulky trees shading the place with its shadows. Bright green leaves hid some sort of fruit in the branches, only showing glimpses of red speckled with green, shining like it was coated with glaze. Rows and rows of the same trees covered the rest of the garden, which seemed to stretch for ages. The sweet smell of the ripe fruit drifted towards you, as you sprinted through the orchard, dried leaves crunching under your feet. Your skirt billowed out behind you, headdress thrown around by your running and almost falling out of your hair. You stopped at a particularly gnarled tree, running your hand across the lined bark. A squirrel, as orange as a pumpkin ran in front of you, its fluffy tail tickling your toes. It ran up the tree nimbly, and hid away in a hollow hole.

The branches of all the trees seemed to meld into one another as you moved through the orchard. It looked more like a forest now. The trees made a sea of brown, red, and green-apples? Which dangled temptingly between the branches. You sighed happily, in relief that you were finally alone and didn't have to put on the facade of the arrogant, brave girl, who was really the broken and messy girl. You crouched below the tallest tree you could find, satisfied because you had managed to ditch the guard. You looked down at the ground that was littered with yellowing leaves and the cores of browning apples. You also spied several hairy caterpillars munching on the rotting fruit. You watched the apple boughs laden with pale pink blossoms (that you had failed to notice before) sway in the wind, backwards and forwards like a pendulum. You soaked in the silence, closing your eyes.

"Fancy seeing you here, Princess." A gruff voice whispered into your ear.

"WHAT THE FU-" Your heart dropping, you jumped up, yanking the diadem off your head, prepared to use it as a weapon. Unfortunately, you also tripped on an ancient looking root in the process, feet fumbling. A warm, calloused hand gripped your elbow to steady you. You whipped your head around, hair flying, headdress falling to the ground. Am I going to be eaten by the Big Bad Wolf for veering off the path?

And, the voice behind you, could only belong to the pretentious, snobby, and fiercely attractive prince, Kim Namjoon. Dressed in the same leather armour you had seen him in, in the dungeon. He grinned at you with his deep-dimpled smile, your headdress/diadem thing (you didn't know what to call it, it was just a pretty bit of precious metal) glittering in his hands.

"Careful, you almost dropped this." He gently placed it back onto your head, arm brushing against yours. Butterflies danced around happily in your stomach, but your face remained passive. His smile faltered. "That is not the headdress I requested for you." You took it off again, and looked down at the simple yet elegant braided golden diadem- band , the small flower engraved with green and red stones in the centre looked dull in the dark forest-orchard. It didn't seem... out of the ordinary?

"Here. You can take it back." You said grudgingly. "No, keep it. It looks...nice on you. It's just that, well, it used to belong to my later mother when she was a court lady, and none of her items have been allowed to be touched since her passing. My father has made it the law. There must have been a mistake?" His voice turned uncharacteristically quiet. You placed it back on.

"So, why exactly did you call me here?" You asked, slightly nervously as your sandals sank into the scattered leaves. "An excellent question. I just wanted to take you on a tour, and taunt you with the details of the claiming." He offered his elbow to you, and you looked at him, disgusted. You were forced to play nice because he could end you at any second, when all  you really wanted to do was punch his weirdly precious , little mushroom nose. But that didn't mean you had to hold onto him like you were a married couple. "So, I guess that's a no." He withdrew his hand, but didn't look the slightest bit disappointed. "Follow me." He led you back on the path towards the fields, and you noticed a black-iron bench, wrought beautifully sitting most oddly in between the trees. You thought you saw a name inscribed on it, but the 'Crown Prince' was walking so fast, it was all a blur.

"So. I assume you, the dirty peasant-spy-foreigner, are wondering why everyone is calling you Princess and treating you with respect you do not deserve." You looked at him, offended and shocked. He grinned at you again. "Well, you haven't exactly been friendly enough to answer General Kim on why exactly you were in the horse-feeding barrow, and why your Korean is accented with a hint of something else, and why you keep saying words in another harsh, vulgar, language." You stared at him, mouth open. "How...how did you know I was in the barrow?" He smiled wickedly. "I'm quite close with General Kim. He also informed me of your fiasco, "'flailing around like a chicken about to be butchered" I believe, is what he described it as."

You hid your true name, your true self, and put your 'Ruby Red' mask on again, of the care-free, unafraid, rebellious girl, and glared at him. "Did he mention that I almost gave him a nosebleed?" You stared at your nails, and glanced up at him, amused. His eyes opened in surprise at your retort. "Why, yes he did. Also, you do realise that you are addressing the future King? Where are your manners, Princess? Did you not learn formalities?" Shit, Shit Shit...Grandma warned me about this. "Well, the mysterious foreign country I'm from never taught me that. Besides, why do you deserve respect? You threw me into a horrific dungeon, threatened to hang me, and now I'm supposed to compete for your love?" You answered back smoothly. He frowned. "You know, girls here are usually taught to not have an opinion. Certainly not talk about it in front of royalty, or insult them, or swear at them. But, I like you. You remind me of her." His eyes glazed over a bit. I Remind you of who?

"An old lover of yours? That's gross." You laughed fakely. His frown deepened, and you turned serious again.

Looking up from your feet, you realised that you were back in the orderly orchard, the fields only a few steps away. He remained quiet as he quickened his steps, walking in front of you. You walked into the fields again, silence hanging between the two of you. Stepping into the lush green garden again, you inhaled the comforting scent of the sea and the earth, glancing at the bright flowers again, still as awe-striking as before, but you had no time to admire them close up, as the Crown Prince was speeding ahead of you. Following him, you made a sharp right, which led to a part of the field where the grass was higher, and less...rigid. You counted, One, two, three, four....Thirty five, Thirty six...Ninety nine- One hundred, One hundred and one..." And after walking a substantial distance of the mammoth field, you eyed a huge log-fenced enclosure, complete with a log door.

"Bahhh...Bahhh..." You heard distinctive bleats coming from inside the enclosure. "Sheep!" You grinned at him genuinely for the first time, eyes twinkling in glee. "Did you bring me here to scoop up their shit, or something? Because, I'm so not dressed for that. " He raised his eyebrows. "Did you just swear for the third time, Princess? Honestly, we don't get many foreigners here, but even so, your swear word vocabulary is almost as immaculate as mine." You almost said, My grandmother heard me say it once, and scolded me, which is how I knew it was a bad word! 

But you couldn't because this was the 16th century, and everything was confusing and you still didn't know how you got here. It all still seemed like a fever dream. But it was getting real, and that was frightening you. You often wanted to escape to the fantasy worlds in your head, but this was nothing like the one you had been envisioning. But for now, you shoved that lump in your throat aside, and focused on the present- wait no, the past. Agh, whatever, this is seriously messed up.

"I thought Princes weren't allowed to swear." You gazed at him mockingly. He fixed you with the same stare. "Oh, but I'm not like any other Prince, Princess. And you better be careful with what you say, I could order you executed at any moment." His eyes turned darker, and now it seemed there was a thick wall between you two. He had seemed so vulnerable in that forest, and you were forced to admit it, he had also acted respectfully. But it seemed that the part of him you had seen in the dungeon was now coming forward.

He led you to the enclosure, where a small, hunched woman stood, leaning on a wooden cane for support. She was also dressed in a white robe, like the gardener, however she wore thick wooden sandals. As you got closer, you noticed her unusually pale face, the many wrinkles on it, and couldn't help comparing it to a raisin-dry, and sucked of life. 

"Joonie-ah!" She yelled, eyes squinting. You snorted, and then covered your face in embarrassment at the Prince's adorable nickname. The Crown Prince ignored you and embraced the tiny woman. "Yee-moh!" He exclaimed in childish glee. His aunt... is a farmer? You stared at him, eyes demanding an explanation. "Princess, this is my Yee-moh. My mother's older sister." Again, his eyes glazed slightly and his joy was dampened. His aunt seemed to notice this and looked up at his tall form. "You have brought this girl to the petting zoo? Her fancy-shmancy clothes are already streaked with dirt. What if they get streaked with shit as well?" You burst out laughing, glancing at her with shock yet also with respect. "Well, you two will get along just fine." He sighed, acting like he had known you forever. You glared at him suspiciously. His aunt walked towards you and also embraced you in a hug. "Yes, Joonie has talked about you, the foreign princess friend, is it? I like you very much." You were surprised at the warmth you felt in her tight clasp, a warmth that you hadn't felt in a long, long time. This sweet woman is the aunt of the murderous Crown Prince?

"Well, come in, both of you. Take this." Like it appeared out of thin air, she wielded two carrots, enormous in her bony hands. She handed one to you, and one to the Prince. Reaching into a deep pocket of her robe, she wrangled out a massive key, inserting it into the locked enclosure door. She pushed it with both of her hands.

"Welcome to the Official palace petting zoo!" She announced happily. Your heart dropped.

Buckwheat flowers grew freely in random clumps, and Cosmos flowers huddled together in huge patches, some bent, others straight. Grandma's garden... it looked...exactly like this.

A fluffy sheep- no, ram- with elf-like ears and horns had one of them in his mouth, chewing slowly. Another sheep stood off to the side, half-submerged in the tall grass, sleeping peacefully with one eye half-open, a lamb cuddled between her legs. The lamb looked at you innocently, black eyes huge.

"This is our sheep family. The eomma is called Smile, the appa is called Cosmos , and the baby is called Sweetie." The old woman beamed at them lovingly, like they were her own children. "She saved the sheep from being slaughtered- said it was inhumane, because it was pregnant. My mother gave her this piece of land for her rescued animals." The Prince had bent down to whisper in your ear. You had forgotten he was there. "Oh, and there goes Janggwa!" A fully brown- furred rabbit jumped past you from the high grass, stopping at the aunt's feet. It's nose twitched cutely, as it nuzzled into her sandal. "He hopped into the King's pickled vegetables at the royal picnic! Janggwa is pickled vegetables, if you didn't know that." She said to you kindly. "Quite the troublemaker!" You exclaimed. "Can I pet him?" She glanced at you incredulously. "My dear, this is the petting zoo after all! Here, I'll hold your dress for you." You chuckled, and she gripped your skirts in her hand, making sure it didn't touch the black soil. You bent down near her slipper, where the rabbit was still nuzzling, and stroked its velvety fur gently. It nudged its tiny pink nose against your hand, before hopping back the same way it came. "Ah, he is a shy little thing. But don't worry, he'll be back soon if you stay here long enough." "Forgive me, Yee-moh, but we will have to take our leave." The Prince said coldly from behind you. You frowned. She glanced up at him, and a look of understanding passed between them both. She took his sturdy hands in her withered ones, and looked straight into his eyes. "I'll be here if you need me, Namjoon."

There was only a slight chill in the air, but your grandma had you wrapped in her huge knitted sweater. You walked with her, hand in hand, in the small garden of her house, the wildflowers you had just picked in your other hand. Suddenly, she turned towards you, grasping both her hands in yours, the flowers enclosed in both your palms. "I'll always be here for you if you need me, my Ruby." She reached for a flower, and tucked it underneath your ear.

Tears clouded your eyes as you placed a bouquet of wildflowers on her casket, savouring the memory tucked into your mind.

Gone. She was gone. She was gone. She wasn't breathing anymore, you couldn't breathe, you couldn't talk to anyone. She was dead.

You gripped your head in pain, trying to shake the horrible feeling in your heart away.

"Princess? Are you alright?" A voice asked, but it seemed muted. "My Ruby." "My Ruby." My Ruby. It echoed throughout your head, voice deafening. You screamed in agony, doubling over in pain, "RUBY! RUBY! RUBY!" The voice bellowed deafeningly straight into your brain. You fell to the ground, hands still clasped over your head. "STOP IT!" You shouted, and everything went black. Again.

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"No. I have no idea what happened. She kept screaming, saying "STOP IT!" and she had her hands clasped to her head, like she had a headache. And then she fell to the ground. I think she must have fainted." A soft voice said, from far away. "My aunt carried her here, told me to run and get you." It said again. "Well, it doesn't seem like she's had any injuries from the fall. Maybe she hasn't eaten or slept well, she could have fainted from exhaustion?" Another voice spoke warmly.

You opened your eyes, and tried to sit up. "You're awake, Princess!" An elderly man with a long, white beard smiled at you affectionately, putting a pillow behind your back. "Here, drink this." You took the china cup from his hand, sipping it cautiously. To your surprise, it tasted citrusy and sweet, like a warm lemonade. "Do you feel okay, Your Highness? What happened?" His eyes crinkled in concern. "Yes, I feel perfectly fine. I'm not sure. I had a bad headache." You lied, turning your face away. "Did you have breakfast yet?" He asked. Your stomach grumbled in return. You couldn't remember the last time you ate since you came to this wretched, breathtaking place. "I take that as a no." He handed you a cold bowl filled with white gruel, drizzled with some sort of syrup and candied nuts. "You gave my aunt a real fright." The now familiar alto voice said. You glanced up. The Prince was leaning against an engraved wooden pillar. "That's not my fault. You had me locked up in-" You began to say, your anger towards him building up. You were tired of acting nice. He had held you in a dungeon, and now acted as if you were besties. He glared at you, warningly. You stopped talking, and immediately felt another surge of anger because he had scared you into silence. You hated that feeling of condescending-ness. Absolutely despised it. "What the Princess means is, she forgot to have her breakfast because I invited her to go on a walk with me." The kind man beside you looked up at the Prince, eyes showing a hint of concern, before turning blank again. He bowed low, facing the Prince. Then he turned to you. "Eat this porridge Princess. Would you like some Gyeran-ppang with it? Oh, I forgot you weren't from here. It's a whole egg in bread. Please, just eat it, you'll regain energy. The cook made a whole batch, fresh, just for you."

"Thank you, Sir." You gave him a small smile, and the old man recoiled at your words. "She doesn't understand formalities, Healer Gi." The Prince said, disappointedly. "That's..it's alright, Your Royal Majesty." He bowed low again, and scurried away. 

You looked around, and took in your surroundings, smiling softly as you eyed a beach, and an ocean, with never-ending water, wind roaring, not far from where you were sitting. It seemed you were in some sort of high-rise pavilion, in a hard, bamboo bed-frame, with no mattress. The Prince walked towards you, and scanned the tremendous view murderously. He removed the pillow from behind you, throwing it onto the floor. "You can't just go around, telling random people where you've been, and why you are here. You still don't know the disguise I've given you. You've just risked your life." He raised his voice, each word unfeeling and brutal."Well, I think you should shut up. I was half scared to death, bruised by your men, locked in a dark dungeon with wet clothes, and now you act like we are childhood friends. I'm confused. Don't blame me." You said to him, exasperated. And then you wondered if you had gone too far.

 He laughed cruelly. "You are ungrateful. I have saved your life, and in return, you go around complaining about your consequences for breaking curfew. I still don't know who you are, and why you are here, but I've made you safe, and you still complain?" He chided you, like you were a child that needed to be scolded. "I feel anything but safe here." You looked at him unimpressed, dead in the eye. He handed you a spoon, and you began eating, spooning the surprisingly flavourful mush into your mouth. "I wish I could execute you. Believe me, I really do. But I've already announced you as the fifth and therefore, final competitor in the queen claiming." He ran his hands through his dark brown hair in frustration. He breathed in sharply, pronouncing his v- shaped jawline, lips clenched in frustration. He looked even hotter when he was mad, but you just... didn't care anymore. He was a straight up pain in the ass. 

"Look, when you finish your breakfast, you're free to do anything you would like, go anywhere in the palace. Your guard will escort you. The whole purpose of my visit was so that I could inform you about the Queen claiming. In a week's time, there will be a royal banquet, where you will meet the four other ladies contesting. My first contestor is Princess Xiaoxue, from the North. She is half from Qin, and half from Joseon, that is why she has a Qin based name. Then, Princess Aika from Nihon and Joseon, with a Nihon name. Both these princesses have foreign mothers, and royal fathers. Then, Duchess Di-na, from our very own Joseon's fishing village, and finally, Lady Iseul, a court lady from our palace that my father has chosen. You will have a week of training, everything from simple hobbies to combat, and then, the series of three contest rounds to see who will become my Empress." He explained everything like it was so ordinary, so normal, and...boring. How stuck up can this asshole actually be? He smoothed down his leather armour, which had ridden up, exposing his muscular bicep. Ew. I bet he did that on purpose. You cringed in distaste.

His armour was lined with green and red gems, the same as your diadem-band. You had just noticed, as you were too busy glaring at his face. His dark brown eyes flashed angrily, even more menacing under his hooded eyelids.

"Everyone thinks that you are the war orphan descendant of the royal couple from the deposed Korean king and the Queen from Ayuta. An indo Queen. Unusual, yes, but it matches your...mixed skin tone, your facial features. Princess Ru-bi, that's what you're called. Just stick to the story. I have to leave. War meeting with the King. Peasants are stirring up trouble again." He spoke each word slowly, like you wouldn't be able to understand him, before turning on his heels and leaving the same way the healer did.

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