Since Seulhee wouldn’t begin her duties until the next day, for the time being, she was idle. However, according to the woman overseeing the servants, she would be put to work soon enough. Aside from her obligations for the council, she was also expected to perform other chores and run errands as needed.

In her free time, she went about the castle, exploring the halls and corridors everywhere she could without being obtrusive. She made use of the landmarks that Sungjong had pointed out to her and then added to them herself, categorizing and organizing everything in her head. It reminded her a bit of the inventory work her parents had to do, minus the endless counting and adding and such. Everything would go in her head and be kept in a corner of her mind for reference.

Although Seulhee was reasonably certain that she wasn’t supposed to be visiting certain floors or halls, she didn’t particularly care. Nobody had told her where she could and couldn’t go, so she would keep going along her way, pretending she had permission to be wherever she went, until someone who knew otherwise stopped her. In such a case, she could use her status as a new servant and her “handicaps” as excuses for her ignorance.

Sure enough, as she reached the first of the upper floors of the palace, she was stopped. Just before she made a move to ascend the spiraling stone staircase to the next floor, a shout came from down the hall. “Hey! You there!” It sounded odd to Seulhee since her hearing was only maybe half to three-quarters its original sensitivity, courtesy of the spelled earrings. She didn’t stop until the woman caught up to her on the fourth stair.

“Did you not hear me?” the servant yelled, spinning her around. Seulhee cowered, making gestures and showing the woman that she was deaf and mute. As soon as she saw this, her attacker’s expression relaxed visibly. Moving back about half a step, she gave Seulhee some breathing room and let go of her arm.

“Ah, so you are the new girl, aren’t you? I’d heard you would be a bit different from the usual lot, but no one told me exactly how you would be different. I apologize. But you shouldn’t be here.” The woman glanced at her. “Can you read lips?” She pointed from Seulhee’s eyes to her own mouth.

Seulhee nodded.

“Excellent. My dear girl, you shouldn’t be here. I know the palace is a big place and it’s full of adventures waiting to happen—back when I was a young thing, I did a bit of exploring myself; those were the days—but now is not the time to be going where you shouldn’t. Not with that lot running this place.” Seulhee didn’t think it too far-fetched to assume “that lot” was the council.

“I suppose since you are new, you wouldn’t know about it, but those floors up there—“ She pointed. “—are private quarters that belong to the king, and he is not to be disturbed unless absolutely necessary. The only other people allowed up there are the servants who clean the place and wait on the king and the council members themselves. You might end up assigned there briefly since you’re technically under their pay, aren’t you?” She glanced at Seulhee thoughtfully. Then, as if to reassure her, the older woman added, “Don’t worry, I won’t treat you differently. You’re just a victim, same as anyone else except the greedy bastards who work for them for extra coin. Anyway, between the king’s own depression and the council’s meddling, nobody except people they authorize can go up there.”

It seemed to Seulhee that you could talk pretty freely in the palace, ironically. Either that or this woman was particularly bold and didn’t care if she would have to pay the consequences for speaking badly of the council.

“If you are going to go work up there, you, as a female servant, are required to wear a black veil.” Seeing Seulhee’s quizzical expression, she explained. “Part of the reason is the mourning for the queen.” Even now, months later, the king hadn’t gotten over it, after all. “The other reason is that he doesn’t want to see other women’s faces.” She grimaced as if to show her thoughts on that. “But it can’t be helped, the rules are the rules, like them or not. Nobody wants to risk the dungeons or a beheading over something so trivial.”

Seulhee nodded gravely, shuddering at the thought of people dying so easily, at the drop of a hat or a few uttered words from someone with power who didn’t shy away from using or abusing it.

“Anyway, your adventures are over, my dear. Best to hurry along to supper and don’t put yourself at risk again. Do you know the way?”

Seulhee bobbed her head and hurried along her way. As she walked, she thought about what she had learned. It seemed the council had control over the king, who was too emotionally wrecked to do much of anything anymore. She wondered if he had truly gone insane over time, even if he hadn’t been before, shut away in the towers of a palace, alone with his grief.

***

Pretty soon, Seulhee had a fairly good idea of what to expect from the girls she would be sharing a room with. Most of them chatted amongst themselves, gossiping about whatever they had heard from their friends about the various nobles at court. Although they were under the tyranny of the council more directly than anyone else, they didn’t seem as affect, most likely because the council provided their salaries, so they couldn’t complain that they were having everything stolen from them. If not for the friends and family they had in other places, they probably would have been almost oblivious to the state of the kingdom, knowing only the comfort of employment under the rich.

Their treatment of her varied. Some outright shunned her. Some awkwardly avoided dealing with her, not knowing the best way of communicate. A few tried, but went about it the completely wrong way, raising their voices and slowing their speech unnecessarily. Overall, however, the pity she got from them was almost biting. Seulhee couldn’t imagine what it must be like for people who were really deaf and mute.

She went to sleep feeling apprehensive about her job. There was little room for error, so she would have to step very carefully if she didn’t want to lose her life.