Prince Theo, 2nd Prince Egon and 4th Prince Henri-- the three of them wore a bright blue headband, but only Prince Egon tied his long blonde streaks hair into a neat bun on top of his head and used a hairstick to hold it in place.
Inside the Emperor's study room. The Emperor was wearing a yellow court robe embroidered with nine two-horned five-clawed golden dragons and intricate designs in silver and gold, a red and gold emperor's belt and his traditional black hat (similar to yishanguan-- headgear worn by emperors) decorated with golden dragons and jewels.
Once they've arrived outside the emperor's study room, the head eunuch bowed down beside the closed doors, "Your Imperial Majesty; Prince Theo, 2nd Prince Egon and 4th Prince Henri have arrived."
"Come in." The head eunuch opened the doors for the princes, then, he closed it and remained outside.
"Greetings, Your Imperial Majesty," the three princes greeted the emperor when they were in front of his table, side-by-side. Paintings could be seen hanging on the walls, but what really draws the attention of any guests were the paintings on the back of the emperor. It was two large paintings-- on the left was a painting of the Emperor and Empress with a little Princess Laurana at the middle, while on the right was a beautiful painting of a grown-up Princess Laurana.
"Princes. I invited you here to talk about your reward for successfully passing the previous test. Each one of you could ask for my permission to take the princess out of the palace and anywhere you want, but you need my approval first and the princess'. You'll be wearing disguises and no one should know your identities especially the princess' identity. It is imperative that only the three of you know of this reward, understood?"
"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. Your grace is immeasurable," the three of them simultaneously answered.
"Once you've decided, order your male servant to come find the head eunuch and request an audience from me. You may leave, now."
...
The day after tomorrow. After I had lunch with my parents, I ordered my personal servants to not let anyone disturb me nor enter my chamber. Then, I put on a maxi hooded wool cloak, a pure cashmere cloak in burgundy with a big red ribbon on the chest area, more elegant and suitable for a noblewoman compared to the cloak I wore last time. I fixed my dark red hair into a single slightly messy braid with strands of hair on the sides of my face.
Using a wooden rope ladder I secured on the concrete rails of my balcony, I sneaked out of my chamber. As I was getting nearer at the secluded part of the palace, I saw three silhouettes of men so I approached them stealthily. I was hiding behind a pillar when someone shouted.
"Who's there?" It was a familiar voice so I decided to reveal myself.
"Guess I'm not stealthy enough." When I come out of hiding, I saw Prince Leo, Prince Jung and--
"Princess?" the familiar voice.. Jihan?
"Well, I expected to bump into you two here, but noooot Jihan?"
"I caught them sneaking out from the guest wing wearing these clothes so I followed them." Then, he looked at what I'm wearing, also.
"You.. caught us, you might as well, come with us. The more, the merrier, right? Aaaand Jung, here, will be treating us to a teahouse. Lets go!" Prince Leo climbed first, then he helped me up, he jumped over the wall to catch me on the other side but Prince Jihan jumped before me.
"I'll catch her." Prince Leo knows Jihan wasn't being rude and let him catch me since, I think, he's not that physically fit compared to Jihan and the both of us might drop to the ground. Then, Prince Jung jumped after me.
On our way to the cabin, Prince Leo informed me that they went outside yesterday to bring two more horses at the cabin, incase, we need to ride a horse, each. It is a good thing since there's four of us now, and I'll have to ride with someone. When we arrived at the cabin, I went inside to changed into a long robe one-piece garment (similar to a hanfu-- a chinese traditional clothing) that reaches my ankle, a see-through black with red clothing on the inside, then, I wore my cloak again and over the lower part of my face is a white veil embroidered with just a single red rose on the side.
Prince Jihan needed to change his clothes since the other princes was already wearing noblemen's clothes (also similar to hanfu). He wore a traditional clothing black top and a traditional coat with big sleeves, wide as a whole and all have a hint of red, then a long red skirt. While Prince Leo and Prince Jung wore a cross collar long robe up to their knees, split on the left and right side and have a hem on either side, then, a black and gold belt. Prince Leo wore a white one with black traditional pants and Prince Jung wore a black one with white traditional pants.
I chose to ride with Prince Jihan, knowing that he is the best horseback rider among these three. He carried and lifted me up to the saddle, then, climbed up and hugged me-- I mean, here he goes again almost hugging me and leaning against me. Calm down, heart.
From the looks of it, we arrived at a famous teahouse with a very long waiting line. The people turned to our direction and were curious to who those people are, all wearing elegant clothings, especially the only woman wearing a hooded cloak and a veil. Prince Jihan climbed down the horse first, then gently lifted me down. We walked straight to the entrance with Jihan on my side while Leo and Jung were at our backs.
At first, the female welcoming the customers, didn't stop us seeing our elegant clothings, but before we could climb the stairs, she stood in front of me.