Cris Jin
Athenian Holiday
Ann, the princess of a certain ancient Greek nation visits Athens on a diplomatic relations trip with her royal family. However, due to the long term pressure of the restrictive formalities, she escapes at night to explore the city of Athens she had long dreamed of visiting. However, soon after she made it out of her residence, she tripped on a rock, fell on her head, and lost consciousness next to a tavern. It was there that Joran, a mercenary, found her as he walked out after a few drinks—just earlier that day, his patron Hyacinth, a political rival of Ann’s family, had dismissed him from her service due to his incompetence as a spy. Seeing that she is unconscious and lost, he brought her back home, hoping to make some easy money off of her for caretaking seeing that she seems to be pretty well off based on her clothing.
The next morning, noticing that she’s still unconscious, he goes out to seek a physician. On his way, he hears of the gossip of a foreign princess that came into the city whose description happened to match the girl exactly. Having found out that he had the princess in his possession, he thought of ways to make even more money. Turning her in wouldn’t gain him much, so he devised a plan to dig out valuable information from the princess and sell them off. He went to seek his best mate Iren, a man whom Hyacinth trusts greatly, as his backing will be essential to convincing their patron.
Joran hurries back home, and to his relief, finds Ann still unconscious. She eventually wakes up and thanks Joran for helping, and declines his offer to show her around the city. She runs off to see Athens for herself while Joran follows her at a distance. They eventually met up again by “chance” and Joran again offered to show Ann around, which she accepted. Iren also ran into them by “accident.” They climbed the Acropolis, shopped around (where Ann found a bracelet which she adored yet didn’t have any money at the moment to purchase), and visited the areas around on horseback. Though when Ann tried to ride the horse herself, she lost control and they were chased by the guards.
At night, they attended a party over a large bridge, near the temple of Dionysus, where the princess was spotted by men hired by her family and attempted to force her back home. A fight breaks out as Joran saves Ann from the men and they jump into the river to escape. They swam to land and held onto each other as they try to warm up from the freezing water, before heading back to Joran's place. Ann asks Joran to drop her off near the royal family’s residence, knowing that she will cause more trouble if she stays. Before she leaves him for good, they share their bittersweet moment.
The next day, as all the politicians gather, chanced onto a secret conversation between Joran, Iren and Hyacinth. Overhearing that Joran and Iren had decided to keep their day together a secret, she breathes a sigh of relief. Hyacinth dismissed Joran of his position completely and left without another word. Ann waits for her to leave before gathering her courage to talk to Joran, but when she went to find him, he was gone. She ran towards the direction that he would have gone and ended at his place, but only to find all his belongings gone and a bracelet on the table,
Princess Ann arrives in Athens, yet she had to deal with all the formalities
Ann runs away at night, though she succeeds, she trips over a rock and falls unconscious
Joran finds Ann and takes care of her, in hopes of receiving some money in return, but he then finds out that she is a princess and devises a plan to profit from her.
Ann runs off on her own to see Athens and Joran follows her
Joran again offers to show her around town which she agrees to, Iren also joins them as well
They climbed the acropolis, went around the markets, and rode on horses
Ann tries to ride a horse but she lost control, and the guards started chasing them
The lost the guards, and decided to attend a party
During the party, the royal family’s men found the princess and attempts to take her back
A fight breaks out as Joran saves Ann from the pursuers, and they escaped by jumping into the river
They went home and decided that it’s time for them to part ways
Joran gives her a ride back to her residence, and they share a bittersweet moment together
The next day, Ann overheard a conversation between Joran and his patron, and realized that he didn’t leak any information about her.
Ann chased after Joran, but he disappeared and left her a gift.
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