Sitting on a carriage on the way to Songak was not the way I planned for my day to go at all. It was soon to be the day of the exorcism rite and I had intended to spend my day preparing for it by relaxing my mind and reading poetry by the chrysanthemums yet instead, for no particular reason whatsoever, I was being driven away from Chungju. I hummed in displeasure as I drew back the curtains and observed the bathing grounds we were passing.

Oh, I will get you for this, Father…

It had all been very ridiculous. Father had simply announced to me out of nowhere that I would be indefinitely staying with his sister and I was expected to go along with it. Who did he think he was dealing with? I am not a fool and I knew for sure that Father had something up his sleeve. If it were not for the fact that my paternal aunt happened to be her Highness, Queen Yu, and that she had personally requested my presence, I never would have agreed to have my plans ruined. In fact, I would most definitely have kicked up a storm and broken a few teapots. Alas, though broken teapots may upset Mother, I doubt that they would make Queen Yu bat an eyelid. She herself has probably got to deal with things worse than my fits on a daily basis.

“My lady, we have almost arrived at the palace!” called a female voice from outside the carriage.

I rolled my eyes as I ripped the curtains apart and glared down at my servant who was walking by my left window. “Is that so? For so very long, I have been sitting in this carriage, Minyoung. Do you know what it is I have been thinking all this time?”

“Minyoung is sorry to my lady. You must be feeling tired from the journey. It is my shame that I am lacking and do not know the answer to your question.”

“It is not you who is lacking. I’ve just been thinking that perhaps if this carriage were to go a little faster, we would already be at the palace. Do you not agree?”

Before Minyoung had the chance to open and apologise again, a male voice I recognised as that of my friendly round-faced driver answered in her stead. “My apologies, my lady. There is a palanquin in front of us so it is not possible to increase our speed.”

The driver’s words made me scoff in disbelief. “A palanquin dares to slow me down in my path? Get rid of it.”

It had not been my intention to be so mean to Minyoung and the driver but having been in a carriage for far too long had put