Both Dokja and the woman he saved stood in awkward silence for a bit before she broke it. Her eyes sparkled in recognition as she raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, would you happen to be Sir Dokja?"
Cocking his head to the side, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
What were the chances that this random woman would be able to recognize his face? Pointing at himself, Dokja questioned "Huh? You know me?" She nodded right away, but Han Sooyoung was the one that spoke out next.
"Lady Jiwon?!" She exclaimed. Jiwon looked at the heiress with a similar look of shock.
"Lady Sooyoung..."
Figures anyone able to recognize him would at least know of Han Sooyoung too.
"Are you two familiar with each other?" They both turned to face him.
Han Sooyoung was the one to answer.
"Like me Lady Jiwon is the only daughter of her family, the Min Count household. You probably don't remember but she was actually there with me when you passed out the garden." Thinking back, Dokja did faintly recall Sooyoung sitting at a table with another woman before.
Heewon couldn't help but add on to her.
"Isn't she also well acquainted with Lady Seolhwa…?" she pondered, before quickly shutting her mouth. Not only her, but the other two women also tensed up as soon Lee Seolhwa's name was spoken, all of them falling silent and glancing uneasily at Kim Dokja.
"Oh, I see.." He muttered, and then nodded. It'd been his intention to distance himself from Lee Seolhwa and not associate with her at all. Though it looked as though that wouldn't work, as the people around him were already anxious about his character's blooming obsession towards her. Even if he couldn't completely avoid being connected to her, at the very least he could start offsetting that image by showing people that he was no longer interested in her. So, he quickly changed the subject.
"Come to think of it, what are you doing here Lady Jiwon?" She stared at him, a flash of surprise briefly appearing on her face, before she looked down, her expression soon morphing into embarrassment as she clung onto the hem of her dress. She answered in a low whisper.
"Umm actually I...snuck out…," with every word her voice got quieter, her face becoming more and more red. After a brief pause, Dokja and Han Sooyoung glanced at each other before laughing jovially.
"H-hey, there's not need to laugh at me!" the heiress huffed, shooting a meek glare, misinterpreting their laughter as mocking.
Dokja continued chuckling a bit as he replied, "No, no, it's just, we're sneaking out too!" he said, pointing to his two companions.
Han Sooyoung added, "If you're sneaking out too, you should come with us. We have some pretty good protection with us"
"Lady Sooyoung is correct; I'll make sure to protect all of you from any other belligerent harassers" Heewon remarked proudly. Heewon turned back to Prince Dokja, wondering if he was alright with Lady Jiwon joining them.
"They're right Lady Jiwon," he huffed lightly," it's better if we accompanied you," She gave him an appreciative smile before bowing to him.
"Thank you Sir Dokja!".
He grinned at her
"No need to thank me."
----
The rest of their time at the night market proceeded without incident. After watching a puppet show, the group went around to buy anything that happened to catch their eyes, their arms quickly filling up with items.
Predictably, Han Sooyoung spent the most money and was responsible for most of the items they were carrying; surprisingly, though, she'd spent a good amount of her money for Heewon despite her earlier reluctance to let the knight join them.
Dokja apologized to Jiwon for Sooyoung making them haul her items all over the market, but she graced him with a small smile and said it was fine. After a few hours of shopping, they'd all decided that it was best for them to start heading back to their respective homes, first escorting Jiwon close to hers.
"Thank you again for saving me and accompanying me." she murmured appreciatively.
"As I said before, there's no need to thank us." Dokja smiled back.
Jiwon continued, "I have to admit though, you surprised me tonight, Prince Dokja, from the rumors I thought you'd be more of a crazy bast---," but before she could finish, her eyes widened. "A-ah I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have said that" she said, flustered. "But still, I want to thank you," she finished with a smile.
"It's ok, there are probably a lot of rumors about me out there, I'm used to it," Dokja shook his head.
"But--"
Taking note of the sky as dawn was drawing near, he interrupted her.
"It's really okay Lady Jiwon, I think it's best if we all hurry home now," glancing at the sky herself, she nodded to him.
"Right, please make sure to also return safely to your homes," she bowed before rushing away. As soon as they couldn't see her anymore, the three remaining figures started making their way back to the castle.
----
Dokja groaned as light hit his eyelids. He wanted nothing more than to go back to the land of sleep, his bed sheets were too warm to leave. In the end, his little escapade had resulted in him only going to sleep around four in the morning.
"Young master, please wake up," a maid had urged him, after she had pulled back the drapes and opened the windows.
"Five more minutes," he groaned out, reaching for the cushion next to him.
"My apologies, Young Master, but we must begin your measurements for the upcoming occasion."
Trying to go back to sleep, Dokja faintly asked, "What occasion again?"
"The birthday banquet of His Highness, The Crown Prince"
"oh, alright…" Dokja said sleepily, before shooting up from his bed, almost headbutting his maid in the process, startling her back.
"Birthday banquet of what?!" he yelled, looking frantic.
" T-The birthday banquet of His Highness, The Crown Prince..." she said as she bowed, assuming he was furious at the mention of his enemy. Dokja inhaled deeply and clutched my hair—that banquet, the one where the Crown Prince and Lee Seolhwa kissed in the garden, where they both formally declared their love for each other.
"Can I not go to the banquet?" Dokja pleaded. The maid hesitated before responding, not wanting to anger her master further.
"I'm sorry young master you must to go...the duke is currently in the countryside dealing with other affairs, leaving you to represent the duchy."
The maid then informed him she would prepare the bath for him, trying to excuse herself from the room as fast as possible. As she rushed away, Dokja heaved in a large sigh, knowing he couldn't do anything but follow this plot advancement. Perhaps because he had embodied Kim Dokja he was destined to encounter the two other main characters of this story. It felt as if at every turn he couldn't avoid them being mentioned. If that was the case, the only thing he could do was confront the problem head on.
Just as he had made up his mind, his maid reentered the room, "Young master your bath is ready,"
Jumping off the bed, he headed straight to the bath, hoping a nice soak could calm down some of his nerves. He couldn't remember the last time he'd used a bath, so he'd make sure to savor the experience.
------
Exiting the bath and changing into his bathrobe, Dokja changed into the outfit prepared for him consisting of a white dress shirt and black pants, going on to have a delicious breakfast in the palace gardens.
As soon as he was finished though, a servant came over to guide him over to the dressing room to take his measurements.
When Doka had arrived, he was instantly bombarded with other servants and maids around him, not only taking his measurements but asking him questions about suit preferences, shoving different color palettes and clothing samples in his face, and rambling about all sorts of other things he had no idea about. He had a feeling he'd be stuck in this room for a while.
Haaa, I'm already drained