She got up when the rooster crowed.

Actually, she woke up when the rooster crowed and got up when her mother yelled at her. “Seulhee, get out of bed! It’s past time that you do your chores!”

Grumbling and mumbling incoherently, Seulhee peeled herself off her straw mattress and stumbled out of her room. It was early morning, too early for her liking, but business had to be taken care of. Chickens did not feed themselves, horses did not muck their own stalls. She didn’t have much of a choice. Her family’s livelihood depended on her, in part.

The first thing she did was go to the creek a few stones’ throw away from their straw-roofed house to wash herself up. After splashing some water on her face, she felt much more awake and fresh.

“There. The day is begun,” she declared as she marched back into the house to grab a bite to eat.

Halfway through the doorframe, it hit her. For a moment, it was like her mind separated from her body. 

The train had deposited her here, and somehow, she’d found some sort of niche. For reasons unknown, she knew this person, this Seulhee, wasn’t her. She had memories, but they weren’t hers. She was just adopting a sort of persona here, wherever here was. 

Then she was back in the present, walking into what, for practical purposes, was her home.

“Hurry up, child, the day doesn’t stop and wait for you,” her mother scolded from the fireplace.

“Yes, mother,” she said, complying. “I’m going right now.”

The chores were a pain, but she was used to them. Just another part of the daily routine, that was all. Sometimes she found it rather boring, living so far away from other people. If only she lived in the city, where things were livelier. Every day would be a new adventure, every stranger a potential new friend.

But she knew she was only dreaming. It wouldn’t happen. She was stuck here forever, with the same old family, the same old chores, the same old—

“SEULHEE!”

She jumped in the middle of picking vegetables from the garden, scared witless. Turning toward the source of the yelling, she spotted a familiar tall figure running toward her.

“SUNGYEOL!” she hollered back. “What do you want?”

That boy was forever making noise about something or other. She could never figure out what the fuss was, and so put it down to him liking the sound of his own bellowing voice. Even though he was nearing twenty, he still acted like such a child sometimes.

Finally, he reached her, and by this time he was out of breath from the running and the shouting. “Guess what?” he said. Despite being winded, his eyes carried a sparkle, and he was grinning broadly.

“What?” she laughed. “There’s no way for me to guess. It could be anything.”

“Fine, don’t guess.” Sungyeol pouted comically. On any other boy his age, it would have looked ridiculous, but on him, it managed to look endearing. “It’s really big news.”

“Not big enough that I have any clue what you’re talking about.”

“I just heard about it myself. But anyway, the king is getting married!”

Her jaw dropped. “Really?” she gasped.

“Would I deceive you?”

“Er, yes. I have been the victim of your pranks far too many times.” She remembered all those times she’d been made a fool, the weird things he had put in her food.

“That doesn’t count,” he insisted. “Anyway, it’s true. Just ask anyone in town and you’ll see.”

She jabbed him the arm. “I haven’t been to town all week, so I wouldn’t know.”

“Wanna go?”

“With you?” she asked, raising a brow.

“Who else?”

Seulhee rolled her eyes. “Oh, some other kid who doesn’t yell all the time and poison my food and pick on me for being shorter.”

He grinned sheepishly. “Sorry about that.”

“Too late.”

“So are you going or not?”

“Sure, sure, I’ll ask my mother. See if she has some sort of errand for me to run. I need to tell her the news, too.”

As it turned out, her mother happily agreed to let her go after hearing the news. The king getting married was a good thing. He was only twenty right now, having ascended the throne nearly two years ago upon his father’s death. He was young and inexperienced.

Even so, his rule so far had not been so bad. He had a council to advise him, and he was wise for his age, as well as generous and fair. Some had thought this would make him weak, but he had proven quite iron-willed when situations took a turn for the worse.

Now that he was getting married, perhaps some of the neighboring kingdoms would back off a bit. The marriage would secure an alliance between the kingdom and its neighbors, strengthening its position. Plus, this meant an heir, so the throne would not need to be passed to a distant relative in case something happened to the king.

Also, simply because the king was well-liked, his upcoming marriage was a happy occasion.

“Who is he marrying, exactly?” Seulhee asked her friend as they walked to town together.

“The princess of Aria,” Sungyeol replied. He was taking smaller steps than usual to accommodate her slower pace. She always had difficulty matching his long strides.

“Ooh…actually, I don’t know much about her,” she admitted. “Is she beautiful?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know much about her either. However, I heard she’s gifted in poetry and music, if that means anything to you.”

“Well, we know the king will have his share of entertainment if he likes those things.”

“Of course.”

They finally reached town, and it seemed more crowded than usual.

“Looks like everyone here knows the news,” Sungyeol observed.

“It’s fairly important, you know.”

A clump of people were gathering at the town notice board at this time. “I think there might some sort of official announcement going out.”

“Wait, you mean there wasn’t before?” Seulhee inquired.

Shaking his head, Sungyeol explained, “It was all through gossip. Someone in town who has a friend who works in the palace found it out.”

“How do you even know that’s trustworthy information?” It sounded rather sketchy to her.

“Well, we get to find out now whether it’s true or not,” he replied, pointing. That said, the two of the hurried toward the notice board to see what was going on.

A herald, dressed in rich fabrics, was standing before the notice board. He was attempting to make himself heard, but it wasn’t really working.

“This is getting nowhere,” muttered Sungyeol beside her. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he screeched, as loudly and shrilly as he could, “EVERYBODY BE QUIET!”

His voice carried pretty far, and it got the job done.

“Thank you!” the herald called from his place a few paces away. Somebody brought forth a stool, and the man climbed on top of it. From the bag at his side he retrieved a scroll, which he unrolled and began to read in a loud voice.

“People of Ashidor, listen well. The king shall be wed to the princess of Aria in a few months’ time. All villages and towns are expected to contribute the wedding preparations, and for those who meet a certain quota, the king will lower taxes and sponsor the education of one talented young individual at the Royal Academy.”

Seulhee and Sungyeol exchanged a look. This sounded almost too good to be true.

“The quota that needs to be met is as follows.” The herald began to name several things that Seulhee attempted to commit to memory. It was a long list of different items, and by the time the messenger reached the end, she had lost hope of her village reaching such a quota.

On the way back home, she voiced this thought to Sungyeol, who simply said, “I think it’s doable.”

Apparently the village council thought so, too. The day after, everyone began to work on an effort that would last several months.