The next morning, Seulhee and Sungyeol were close to jumping up and down with excitement. The big day had finally arrived. Once everyone from the village had gathered, they headed in the direction of the palace.

When they got there, a crowd had already begun to form around the walls and gates. There were many guards surrounding the place, attempting to keep order. They weren’t very successful, though.

The princess of Aria would arrive in a coach, so everyone had congregated along the road that led to the palace. It was a wonder there was actually a path for the coach to travel through, so many people were present.

Having arrived earlier than most, Sungyeol and Seulhee had a better view. The only thing they could do once they’d claimed their spots was wait.

They didn’t have to wait long. Cheers went up from down the line into the distance, and from this, those at the front of the line inferred that the carriage was on its way. Everyone craned their necks frantically to try and catch a glimpse of it from afar.

Soon enough, it rolled into view, drawn by two pure white white stallions. The whole carriage stood several feet taller than Sungyeol, with wheels three feet high. The sides were painted white and gold. There were windows on either side of the carriage, but they were covered by crimson-colored cloth made of silk, as was the front of the carriage, so nobody could see inside.

It took only a few seconds for the carriage to pass by Seulhee and Sungyeol, and then it was gone, disappearing into the confines of the palace walls.

The two friends exchanged a look. “That was a bit anticlimactic,” Seulhee sighed.

“Well, she is royalty, so it’s not as if she would be calling out and waving to everyone,” Sungyeol reasoned. “Most likely the drapes were to keep her skin from being burned by the sun.”

Seulhee glanced at her own tanned skin thoughtfully. The noblewomen and royalty favored pale skin. She didn’t have a choice, having to work and do chores outdoors every day for several hours. Frankly, she didn’t see the appeal in porcelain skin. It was pretty, perhaps, but after a certain point it made you look sickly and on the verge of collapse. What was so great about that?

By now, a lot of people had decided to leave. At the same time, a good number remained, hoping for something else interesting to happen.

“Do you want to leave?” Sungyeol asked. “I want to stay.”

“If you’re staying, I’m staying,” she concluded.

So they stood around patiently. Well, perhaps not so patiently. Sungyeol kept fidgeting and tapping his foot and rocking back and forth on his heels, to the point that Seulhee had to grab him by the arm to keep him still before she lost her mind.

Just when they were about to give up and go find the others, their waiting paid off.

“Look!” someone in the crowd yelled. He pointed upward. Following the line of his arm, everyone gazed toward the upper floors of the palace.

There on the balcony, stood the newlywed royals, waving to everyone below. It was too far away for Seulhee to distinguish their features, but she could see that they were smiling.

Everyone waved back, yelling and cheering their well wishes and congratulations. Sungyeol practically broke her eardrums with the racket he made.

After a few minutes, the king and queen turned around and went inside.

Although it was a bit disappointing to see them go, Seulhee was glad she didn’t have to wave anymore. Her arm had begun to ache from the repetitive motion.

Sungyeol turned to look at her. “Well? Ready to go?”

“Yup.” They grabbed onto each other’s hands and began to run back toward the inn where they had stayed earlier.

The others were waiting for them, and they weren’t amused that the two of them hadn’t followed them back. However, once Sungyeol launched into a retelling of what had happened, they were more forgiving. That was his gift, Seulhee reflected. He could make anything seem exciting or emotionally charged, and in that way, he captured everyone’s attention, and over time, their hearts as well.

***

Sungyeol left to attend the Royal Academy less than two weeks after the king’s wedding. Although Seulhee was sad to see her best friend go and wanted to cry, just a bit, she put on a smile for him. He was a positive person, and he didn’t need her dampening his anticipation or holding him back.

Nearly the entire village turned out to bid him farewell. He was taking only a few items with him since he would most likely be purchasing everything else new using his newfound wealth. Just before he left, he gave Seulhee a quick hug, and as she watched him go, she couldn’t help but feel a strange pang in her heart, as if she were saying goodbye to him forever.

When she got back to her home, she realized just how envious she was of her friend. Sungyeol had dreamed big, just as she had, but she was the one who had wanted to go to the city. Now, he would be living the life she could only dream of.

Hopefully, the stories he brought back would be enough to melt that shard of icy bitterness in her heart.

***

The first time he returned, he was full of smiles and engaging tales about his adventures and misadventures, his strange encounters and new acquaintances.

“What did you learn?” Seulhee asked.

“Well, first I had to learn to read,” he admitted, looking embarrassed. “But I wasn’t the only one. There were maybe sixty of us who were from nowhereland who were illiterate. I thought I’d be looked down upon, but the teacher was actually quite nice. She was very patient with everyone, and it seemed like she was genuinely interested in teaching and concerned about her students.”

“Oh, that’s good,” said Seulhee. At the back of her mind, though, a tally had begun of things Sungyeol had that she didn’t. The ability to read was now on that list.

“So far actually I haven’t learned that much,” he said, sounding a bit disappointed. “Mostly it’s just been history and politics and stuff. I guess it makes sense since the vast majority of the students are nobles. There’s also trade and accounting for the merchant class people. I should probably take one of those classes. It would be useful.”

“What you want to start your own business?” she teased. “No one would want to buy anything from a child like you.”
“Hey, you never know.”

The second time Sungyeol came back to visit was almost two months after his first visit. Before then, he had sent a letter to the village council to tell them to pass on a message to her, but instead of listening to them, Seulhee had demanded that they teach her how to read because she wanted to see the message for herself.

That was part of it, but the other part was that she didn’t want to be left behind in the greater scheme of things. She didn’t want Sungyeol to look down on her for not being able to read.

Thus, almost two weeks later, she held the piece of paper that Sungyeol had written on in his own hand—his writing looked rather bad, but Seulhee couldn’t really judge, given her own situation.

Sorry I can’t come back to visit this month. I’ve been busy, and I have people pestering me to go places and do things with them. The night life of a student in the city is a rowdy one, it seems. So far I have avoided getting hopelessly drunk (some of my friends haven’t been quite as successful), and I hope it will stay that way. I really need to stop frequenting these taverns, but they’re so full of interesting characters and funny incidents. 

I’ve met a few girls.

She paused to wonder at the implications of this statement, but read on.

City girls seem so different from girls back home. They are quite independent and assertive. A bit out the outrageously flirtatious side, in fact. But none of them have your sense of humor, I’m afraid. They seem to think I’m a bit touched in the head or something, just because of the way I act and talk.

Seulhee couldn’t help but snort at this.

Anyway, I will bring back a present for you next time to make up for not being able to go back. Sorry!

-Your friend forever,

Yeollie

When he finally appeared on her doorstep, she all but attacked him, bowling him over.

He hugged her and gave her a small box. Inside was a golden locket.

“Is this real gold?” Seulhee asked, her eyes wide.

“Only gold plated. But it’s pretty enough. Do you like it?”

“You shouldn’t have spent your money on this. You’re a student, and your money supply isn’t exactly endless.”

“It’s okay. I’ve been living rather frugally, anyway.”

They had dormitories to stay in at the Royal Academy. He’d described one to her, talking about how other people furnished their rooms with all sorts of random junk, whereas he’d left his mostly bare.

At this point, she had begun to notice the change in him. The most obvious one was the way he talked. He was losing his country accent, talking more briskly and enunciating his consonants differently.

“You sound almost like a city brat,” she informed him, laughing at the way he pronounced “forward.”

“I’ve had to adapt to my environment,” he shot back defensively. “If I kept my country accent, people wouldn’t take me seriously.”

“Is it really that bad?” Perhaps her dreams of the city were only fluff and nothing more.

“Well, no. But it’s just better to talk to others in the way they talk. It gives a sense of closeness, if you get what I mean.”

“Yeah.” All Seulhee could think of was that he was drifting away from her.

The third time he came back, the change in him was very obvious. He didn’t yell her name when he saw her, and he didn’t launch into any stories. He simply sat down next to her on the grass by the creek and laid back, sighing.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned.

“Nothing much. Just busy, as usual.”

“You didn’t have to come back if it was going to have a bad impact on your schoolwork,” she pointed out. Despite saying this, she didn’t mean any of it. The longer he stayed in the city, the worse he would become. But there was no way she could convince him not to do it. He had all that money, and he had the opportunity to make something of himself. Nothing would be able to convince him to come back to this parochial little village. He’d tasted a better life, and now he would drink from that cup until he drained it.