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The piece of paper was burning a hole in her pocket.  She wanted desperately to read it, but there were several words she couldn’t translate yet.  Kiran made her way quickly to the room her brother, Yoongi, had designated as the library.  

She had summoned Namjoon.  It was time for another reading lesson.  And hopefully, a writing lesson too. She had much to learn if she wanted to continue the correspondence with her secret admirer.

She had found three letters now.  All of them hanging from the tree outside her bedroom window.  The tree that grew in the inner courtyard.  Which meant that her admirer had to be someone living in the palace.  Someone who had access to royalty and their private chambers.  She bubbled over with excitement as she considered the possibilities.  But in her heart of hearts, she hoped that it was her tutor himself.

She debated whether she should tell Namjoon about the letters.  He was the one who had mentioned the possibility of her receiving such a missive and needing to be able to read in order to decipher it.  The problem was that if they weren’t from him, he might feel the need to inform her brother that she was receiving secret missives.  

Nope, it was better to keep it to herself.  To just ask for help with individual words.

“I have begun reading a book as you suggested for practice.  But I’ve come across several words I do not know.  I’ve written them down so that you can help me to interpret the symbols correctly,” she began speaking as Namjoon stepped into the room behind her.

For a moment, they touched as he accidentally bumped into her.  Occasionally, her tutor was a tad clumsy, but she enjoyed this attribute of his.  She was always hoping he’d grab a hold of her as he was falling forward.  She’d imagined several romantic scenes being birthed out of his clumsiness.  Perhaps his lips would accidentally contact hers one of these days, and he would discover that he was madly in love with her too.

Namjoon quirked an eyebrow at her.  “The Princess Kiran was reading a book?  Was someone holding a sword to your throat?” he teased her mercilessly.

She sniffed.  “Namjoon, I finally take your advice, and now you’re mocking me?”

“I thought you said that you were a silly girl without a serious thought in your head.”

“And you said I should take my education seriously!  Now that I am, you, sir, are mocking me!  I shall go back to sketching pictures and leave the books to you.”  She stuck her pert, little nose up in the air.

“All right.  That is probably for the best.  You don’t want to learn too many big words.  They’ll squeeze out all the space in your brain that you wish your lovely images to occupy.”

She glanced sharply at him then.  Had he guessed at all her daydreams of him?

He turned from her then and walked over to the window to gaze out at the courtyard.  And the tree her secret letters had been hanging from.

He was annoying her now.  “So…am I a genius or an idiot?  I can’t tell what you truly think!  Last week, you acted like I could be a brilliant queen if I would just learn what you’re trying to teach me.  But today, you act as though being with me is a waste of your time,” she pouted.

“It is only a waste of my time if you deem it so, your highness.”  His words were soft and serious.  So was his tone and the look in his eyes as he turned around to face her.  “What is it that you want, Princess Kiran?”

Oh, how provoking!  What I want is you, you blind man!

But, of course, she couldn’t say such a thing to him.  So she sighed instead.  And opened her mouth to admit something to him.  She set her piece of paper on the table.

“I want to learn to read.  Starting with these words.”

He grinned at her suddenly, unleashing the power of his dimples on her, as he crossed the room towards her.  “Well, it’s about time.  Let’s get to work then…”