APPLICANT #13

the sheltered runaway, kang yoonji

She is pretty. Everyone tells her so. Every day she is said that she has to look good, that she has to wear beautiful dresses so she can always shine like the perfect little girl she is. At first, she likes it – the gifts she is showered with, the many toys she can play with, the colors of all those dresses she can wear. Then, she realizes that she has no one to show those toys to. That she has no one to be pretty for, apart from her mother who compliments her every day. She wants to show her pretty clothes to those outside her home but her father does not let her. She does not understand and when she asks, she is not given an answer. As she grows up, she understands slowly that she is not to set a foot outside for her own protection. As she looks outside her window, she yearns for the life of those travelers she sees leaving for another kingdom, she dreams of the nomadic lifestyle of the families of the Free Lands that she read about in her books. She wants to see the magnificent castle of Luce and the thousands of ships of Aques. Visiting the city once every two months is not enough for her. Today, as the sun shines bright in the sky, she decides that this year will be the last she spends in this house.

Her hands were shaking of excitement. Today was the day. She had prepared everything to be able to leave this house and finally – finally she would leave. At first, she had not expected her resolution of a few months before to be fulfilled so early but she was not unhappy. She let out a sigh as she remembered what had happened a week before. Her family had gathered to celebrate her nineteenth birthday. She was overjoyed, for the idea of being with her family was always able to bring a smile to her face despite having to spend more time with her so-called ‘adoptive brother’ Jitae. However, she had not expected her father to announce that she was to be married to said Jitae. Both had looked at each other in disbelief, sharing the same feeling for once in all those years, but Yoonji would not let that happen. They resented each other and if it was the occasion for Jitae to become officially part of the family and by extension the new heir of the Saeng Foundation, the girl refused to let herself be part of this plan. She had been trapped in this house for so long that she only wanted to go out, and getting married to Jitae only meant one thing: a new set of bars to keep her in this jail of riches. She would not let that happen. That night, she had told herself that she would leave.

Now, one week later, she was ready. She wrapped a few clothes in a bundle than wrapped it around her waist, faking the baggage of a young merchant and covered herself with a thin coat. She took a breath and left her room silently. Her parents were not there, neither was Jitae, so it was the perfect moment. She walked through the living room, left the house and walked as normally as possible to the gates of her father’s domain. There, the two guards stopped her.

“Lady Yoonji, you should not go out,” one of them, Hyukjae, said with a frown.

“Oh please Hyukjae, it is such a beautiful day, I really want to visit the market,” she said with a pleading look, hoping to make him fall for her charms only to make the second guard chuckle at her cuteness.

“If your father hears that we let you out, he will have our heads, you know it,” Donghae, the second guard, pointed.

“He is right, you know it is not safe for you out there,” Hyukjae smiled softly at the pouting girl.

“Please!” she insisted, a charming smile painted on her lips, “The weather is so nice and new books have arrived since the last time I visited. You know how boring it is inside…”

Hyukjae sighed, knowing he had lost already. “Alright. Take this, it should be enough to buy yourself something to eat and a new book. Think of it as a late birthday present!”

The girl beamed, trying not to focus too much on the guilt piercing her heart, and she left off to the market, under the protective eyes of the two guards. As soon as she could, she left the main road and chose to take the little streets of the city so as to avoid any possibility to meet one of her family members. When she stopped at a small shop to buy lunch to prepare for her travel, she was surprised to hear travelers not too far from her.

“Have you heard? The Prince of Luce is getting married during the Spring Festival!” a man was saying.

“What are you saying?” One of his friends scoffed, “Where did you hear that?”

“My friend from Lucia sent me a letter! This is the perfect place to go, there will be a great affluence in the city in the upcoming months, we could sell twice what we usually sell!”

“I heard it too!” a third man interrupted them. “The wedding will be grandiose! Surely the people will have a great time during this Spring Festival, with their Prince getting married and all!”

The travelers were laughing and celebrating their potential profits – Yoonji was not listening anymore. A wedding in Lucia? The Spring Festival? This was definitely something she wanted to see! She stood up, paid for her lunch and left quickly, a renewed energy giving her the strength to move. There was a smile on her face when she walked past the big doors of Etal.

Today, her new destiny was starting. 

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