Chapter 9 Mingyu's Exclusive Mission

Steve was 13 years old, the same age as Ash and one year younger than the original Lynn when she found him under the bridge outside her palace. She used to secretly come out of her palace in a commoner's dress to see the washerman who does laundry for the royal palace's youngest son Douglas Nixon who was turning 19 that year. Douglas hated this little girl who kept on pestering him for the past few weeks with flowers and food. He, on the other hand already had a lover.

It would be inappropriate to call her his lover, as he seduced that woman knowing she is the army's chief general's only daughter. He wanted to secure his life by making her his wife but his plans were getting disturbed when Lynn started following him continuously. He wasn't aware of Lynn's identity and kept ignoring her.

One day Lynn made pancakes for him to nourish his health as he was working hard every day and gave them to him thinking he was waiting for her. Douglas that day got very angry on seeing her there as he was waiting for his woman and threw the boxes of pancakes down the bridge. Lynn not having seen anyone behave like that to her and was very heartbroken. She thought maybe Douglas was very tired and without saying any more words that might make him angrier, she started walking down the bridge to take back the boxes of pancakes she herself made for him. As soon as Douglas saw her leaving down the bridge, he ran as if he saw someone without sparing her a look.

Lynn saw him running into the forest, thought maybe he has some important work and reached the tunnel entrance under the bridge to take back those boxes. What she saw there was a very small and malnourished child who was already eating those pancakes from the mud. She immediately ran and took those out of his hands and looked at him with eyes full of worries. He was momentarily very surprised to see her expression but seeing the pancakes in her hand his stomach started growling. He snatched those again from her hand and started eating them along with the mud. Lynn stopped him again, helped him to stand and started walking towards the palace pulling his hand. She didn't say a word, and neither did he, throughout their walk. Reaching the palace, Steve saw so many people running towards them and was scared out of his wit thinking that they are coming to beat him for stealing the pancakes. He crunched down holding his head in fear.

A few mins later, he felt that nothing happened to him and slowly took his hands from his head to see what is happening around him. Those people who came running towards them were all now standing surrounding the little woman who dragged him there and was taking her commands obediently. Lynn after giving her orders squatted down to his eye level and asked in a very soft voice "Can you talk?". He shook his head from left to right once. Humming very softly, she again asked "Can you hear?" He nodded once but this time he started shivering very nervously. Seeing the fear in his eyes, Lynn patted his head very gently while still smiling at him, and told the servant who was standing next to her, "Help him clean up and bring him to my palace".

The afternoon passed, and Lynn finished her classes for the day and slumped back on the cushion looking very tired. "Where is he? Why aren't you bringing him here yet?" she asked the servant standing beside her. "Your highness, we didn't want to disturb you during your classes. Forgive my irresponsibility. I will bring him here in a min" she said this in a single breath and rushed outside to bring him. Within few minutes, they brought Steve into her palace. Lynn was very happy to see him all cleaned up and dressed up. "You look good now. Here, I told them to bring pancakes and other good foods too. You can eat them slowly. hmmm... Do you have anyone outside? Any relatives?" she asked him sitting next to him while gently patting his head. Steve at this point found out who she is and was very scared to even hold the chopsticks. He still politely shook his head in a response to her questions. "Hmmm? Then how about staying with me? As my.... bodyguard?" she wanted to say brother, but she knew her father's behaviour which she herself hated very much. She also wanted to keep Steve away from her own father as he is good-looking and fits the type of people her father was taking into his possession. Steve looked at her very shockingly. She thought Steve might deny her offer and said very fastly not giving him any options to deny "I will teach you to read! and... I will also find someone to teach you to fight. You will get good food here and a place to stay. How about it?". Steve blinked at her without saying anything. Taking that as an approval, she continued grinning full mouth "Then it's fixed! From today onwards, you are my... my little bodyguard. You have to grow up strong to protect me in the future...." She paused for a moment and asked him "Oh? What is your name?" for which Steve shook his head. "You don't have one?" after thinking a while, she continued "I read a name in one of my story books and I quite liked it. I will call you the same. Steve and since I brought you here... I will name you Steve Spencer giving you my surname. How about it? Do you like this name?". Steve nodded his head vigorously and for the first time, he smiled brightly. From then onwards, Steve's major mission in his life is protecting Lynn.

Six months after this incident, Douglas came to the palace to deliver the laundry. When he was about to return, he saw the beggar child he has been bullying for fun, standing in the garden in a martial arts attire with a sword in his hand. He was shocked to see him there and went closer to see what was happening, there he had another shock to see that the little girl he had been pushing aside, was there sitting in the garden watching him practice martial arts with so many servants standing around. He stood watching her in shock not knowing that Steve already noticed his presence. He then quietly left the palace without notifying her.

Later that week, Lynn went again through the secret path to meet Douglas. This time instead of insulting or avoiding her, he was very gentle with her. 2 years passed and their relationship reached the point where they started showing intimacy. Steve never felt good whenever Lynn met Douglas who looked very cunning and so he decided to secretly check on him. What Steve found through his investigation shook him and he immediately brought Lynn to show the reality.

Lynn was hidden behind Steve and saw Douglas in his house with his wife and children. His wife asked him in disbelief "How long are you planning to play these little games?" Didn't you see? She is next to the throne? Do you think she will marry you when there are many princes out there? What about me and our children?". Douglas not taking her anger seriously, coaxed her in a loving voice "I know her well. Once I marry her, I will take the throne. I will then make her slowly lose her mind and take you as my empress. Do you think I will let you and our children live in such a place? You belong to the palace, my darling."

Lynn's attitude totally took a 180-degree turn later this incident. She was once a well-educated and a very humble woman who was never interested in any of her father's ambitions but was always forward to helping people. She never asked to be a princess. She even fell for a man who doesn't have any status and wanted to live a life somewhere far from these places with her family and a small farm. She was invisible to people even though she was a princess but now people know her for her craziness. She was later pushed to the corner where she started playing along with men who approaches her to see their real colours and people started seeing her as a carbon copy of her father who loved to collect good-looking people for personal satisfaction. One year later, as soon as she became 18 years old, she was made the empress right after her father's death whom she also hated for what he has done to innocent people and to their only prince in the last war.

Within few months she became the empress, Lynn was then forced to marry the third prince of the Southern kingdom by the ministers calling it for the sake of the people but she found out through Steve that her fiancé, the third prince, Prince Louis was planning to murder her.

Knowing how powerless she was to change anything, Lynn decided to go along with his plans and die in the same, relieving herself from all of these sufferings. She, knowingly, rode the horse that Prince Louis gifted her and disappeared into the forest. Steve least expected this to happen and searched the entire forest only to find her unconscious down the hill.

Today seeing her not remembering any of those and being stronger than before, Steve was little relieved. He first thought maybe Lynn wants Ash's help for something but later seeing her being extremely caring about him to the point of asking his help to cajole Ash, he took it as his mission to monitor Ash for now and help Lynn to succeed in her new love which he, of course, misunderstood.

Not having any personal experiences, he went to bookstores to buy love story-based novels and within a day, he personally chased the authors who wrote those novels to ask for the best ideas to succeed in love. In the list he made of the most famous authors, he decided to ask for help from the top ones which ultimately led him to meet the expert.... the most famous singer from the most famous night brothel in their kingdom whose face was seen by none, Lady Jasmine.