"Hurry!" the princess cried to the children.
"I have been gone too long!
By now the servants will be looking for me!"
When they reached a courtyard, several servants rushed toward the princess.
"Where have you been, Your Highness?" cried one woman.
"Your Highness!" Another servant gasped.
"Who are these strangers?
Did they kidnap you?"
"No, they did not kidnap me!" the princess replied.
"They helped me," she added.
"And now they are my honored guests."
The servants did not look happy to hear this.
But they bowed quietly and then stepped aside.
The children followed the princess into a small building.
She invited them to sit around a low table.
Then she left for a moment to change her clothing.
Mandy noticed a sheet of paper with unusual writing.
"Are these Chinese characters?"
she asked when the princess returned.
"No," said the princess.
"That is hangul, the alphabet that my father invented."
"Your father invented an alphabet?" said Mandy.
"Yes," said the princess.
"Our people have always spoken in Korean.
But they used Chinese characters to read and write.
Chinese characters were very difficult to learn.
And only nobles could go to school to learn them."
"That's not fair!" Mandy said.
"I agree," said the princess.
"My father didn't think it was fair either.
That is why he worked with scholars to invent a simple alphabet.
Hangul is very easy to learn.
And now the Korean people have their own alphabet."
"It sounds like your father was a great king," said Mandy.
"He was. And he loved his people very much," replied the princess.
"But hangul has not spread to everyone yet.
Some people are upset by hangul.
They say that learning is only for nobles and royalty."
The princess pulled out a clean sheet of paper.
"Now I will show you just how beautiful hangul is!"
The princess poured water into the inkstone.
Then she made ink, dipped a brush into it, and wrote two hangul letters.
"Here you are."
She gave the paper to Vinnie.
"This says Vi-nnie.
For your name!"
"Thank you!" said Vinnie.
Next the princess wrote Mandy's and Gildong's names in hangul too.
Gildong was very pleased by the gift.
"Thank you, Princess.
I will remember this.
I hope I get to learn hangul soon."
"I think you will, Gildong," she said with a smile.
Just then there was a sound at the door.
A servant spoke in a worried voice.
"Your Highness! The guards are coming!
And they are looking for your friends!"