It was past midnight and Suyin couldn"t sleep. Time slowly pa.s.sed on and she couldn"t afford to waste any time because her father was going to force her to marry some old dude. She tossed and turned, groaning with frustration as she sat up, frowning. "d.a.m.n it." She cursed, slamming her hands on her lap. She took off to Areum"s room (which was next door to Suyin"s) and knocked on the door."Areum." Suyin whispered, knocking on her door. She didn"t hear a single thing as she continued to knock. "Arreuum." She whispered, raising the volume of her voice.
"Hmm?" Areum was half awake but somehow managed to open the door along the way. One of her eyes was closed and the other one was open. She was doing her best to wake up immediately, but couldn"t help being tired with the incident that just occurred hours ago. Suyin slid the door open, looking around if there were any other servants walking around this late at night before she hopped into Areum"s little room. Surprised at what Areum was doing, she was immediately awake, her eyes wide open because of Suyin"s actions.
"W-What are you doing, my lady?" Areum asked. Suyin shushed her, raising her index finger to her lips to keep quiet. Suyin sat down on the cold, hard floor and ushered Areum to sit next to her with her hands. Confused, Areum sat down, looking at her. "My lady, you shouldn"t be sitting on the ground..." She whispered. Suyin ignored the comment and glanced around before she came in closer to Areum.
"Areum. You said that you would follow me wherever I would go....right?" Suyin wanted to know if Areum would go along with her plans. She was finally done with this family. She was going to run away from the family and go to the other side where the Qin territory would be at. They wouldn"t be able to do anything since they were in a war anyways.
"Yes. I"ve already promised you that I will follow where my lady goes, even in death."
Suyin frowned at Areum"s comment. "Areum! I"m not going anywhere to die!" She whispered in a harsh tone. "I...." She smirked, "I"m planning on running away from this h.e.l.l---Ahem, this place."
Areum gazed at Suyin, unsure if she was just playing around or if she was serious. "My lady! You are the only daughter in this family. What would they do if they knew-"
"They don"t need to know. Look. I rather run away and take the chances whether I get killed or not rather than marry that old man."
Areum then understood what was going on. If Suyin were to marry the old man, it wouldn"t matter if she was the only daughter in the family. Her name would have been changed into her husband"s name and she wouldn"t even have any power to have a say in it.
"Was that why you tried to learn how to ride a horse that one time?" Areum asked. Suyin calmly thought about it. The day that she took over the owner"s body, Areum kept mentioning about her learning how to ride a horse and how it ran off into the forest. "You knew that your father was going to marry you off already, huh?" Areum added on.
Suyin could remember most of the memories of the owner"s body, but some were blocked out such as that one. Maybe she did realize that her father was going to marry her off, which was the reason why she wanted to learn how to secretly ride the horse. "Yes. And I think it"s finally time to run away for my own freedom and rights." Although the original body owner didn"t know how to ride a horse, Suyin at least had some basic knowledge on riding one, since she rode one when she was a little child.
The two made a plan that would occur two days ahead because Suyin and Areum would need to find some resources such as money, clothing, food, and water. They both agreed that Areum will be leaving first after she goes to town to buy some items and clothes for them. Suyin would come later on at night so that it wouldn"t be too suspicious. She planned on buying a horse of her own with the savings that she saved used to buy accessories and put the horse near her courtyard. When it would be time for her to run away, she would jump over the walls like she did a couple of days ago and take the horse to run off in the middle of the night. The two laughed, talking all night about how their future was going to be far different from the days now. Areum swore to always serve Suyin as a maid and be by her side, no matter the cost. Although Suyin may not have a t.i.tle under her or her family name anymore if she runs away, Suyin will always be a n.o.ble lady in her eyes.
Two days had pa.s.sed after the two girls had made their plan. Suyin was still under house arrest and couldn"t get out of her home. Areum could only go in and out of the house for a while before she would be followed by the other servants. Areum had some errands to run and finish for Suyin since she wrote a letter to Princess Yanyu and Prince Jianyu talking about her escape and the marriage that she didn"t want. She explained that they shouldn"t worry if she disappears since she"ll promise she will be back one day to see them. The Princess and Prince decided to keep this a secret away from her father and people in the palace since it would lead to a bigger problem. The whole morning, Suyin was anxious about their plan. Suyin sewed a handkerchief for her "fiance" so that Areum would have an excuse to go out and tie the horse near her courtyard. After Areum tied the horse, she dropped off the handkerchief to the man and went back home.
The sun was setting and the stars beamed through the dark sky. "Don"t be late," Areum whispered as Suyin nodded, holding Areum"s hands before the two parted ways. "It"s time to sleep." one of the servants of the house exclaimed in the home, as everyone in house walked to their bedrooms to sleep. Suyin walked around in her courtyard, gazing the place where she born. She would never come back again after this, and it was going to be the last time she would see her father and mother. This was the only way for her to secure her freedom and herself as a person. Suyin walked down the corridors along the way to her room, sliding her fingers across the paper walls as she closed her doors and sat down in her bed.
"Just a little bit more and everyone should fall asleep," Suyin whispered to herself. She didn"t know how this was going to go, but she was hoping it was going to work out.
A knock on the door distracted Suyin. Who could be knocking on the door at this hour and time? There shouldn"t be anyone awake right now, so it was probably Areum. She could have forgotten something or didn"t remember to tell Suyin something important. Suyin rushed to the door, sliding it open with a larger figure in front of her.
"W-Who"s that?!" Suyin questioned. The figure covered her mouth and held her close to them. It was night time so Suyin couldn"t see the face of the person. She tried to scream but the person"s grip was too tight. She tried to struggle, only to hear the person"s voice.
"I"ve been waiting since I first laid eyes on you to see you." A man"s voice said. Suyin paused, trying to scoot her face away from the man"s face. "The day that you said you didn"t want to marry me made my heart break, did you not know?" Suyin"s eyes widened, understanding the current situation now. It was the elderly man that was engaged with her! As much as she tried to struggle out of his grip, she could feel the aura of the man enjoying her fight against him.