one || scene

Sohye’s family lives in a small village called Kressmill within the Kingdom of Marionet.

Her mother works as a seamstress at a local dress shop at another village a little far from theirs to earn money.

Her older brother works under their father's old friend as a miner just a bit outside the walls near the mountains.

Her sister roams around the village doing who knows what.

Her younger brother lies sick in bed all day.

She takes care of her sick younger brother.

The sun had already set when the miners called it a day and got ready to go back to the village. Kim Mingyu took his ragged bag and slid it on one hand when a man suddenly calls him from behind. "Mingyu!" Mingyu slightly turned his head to the direction where it came from and saw the foreman motioning for him to come close. Without hesitation, he hurriedly ran towards the man and asked, "You need me for something?"

"I have something for you." the man pulled out a piece of parchment from the sack he was holding and gave it to him. “You told me before to let you know when something comes up.”

Mingyu wiped his dirty hands on a towel hanging by his waist before taking the sheet and scanned through it. His brows furrowed, "What does it say?" upon skimming through it, he asked. Unfortunately, he wasn't really good at reading, sure he could read a few lines, but as a whole, it was hard to understand.

It’s not like he wanted to be unable to read.

He had his own circumstances.

His father passed away when he was eight, he stopped going to school because the fees were too expensive for them to pay, not to mention with four people and a sick kid in the family, their daily expenses were no joke. Add the fact that they had a huge amount of debt to pay.

At an early age, Mingyu had to carry the responsibilities left to him by his father. He took care of her mother and siblings very well. He worked all around the village, from cleaning farms to cleaning stables. He would wake up every morning go off to find something that could earn him money.

He had no choice, he had to, but he regretted nothing.

"The palace needs extra security, they need more people to guard the kingdom for that bratty prince's coming of age ceremony in three days." the man explained. "Guard for one night, the pay is quite high."

Mingyu's lips formed into an ecstatic smile. "I'll take it."

'It's the palace, they should pay a lot.'

'With that money, I could buy Ji Hoon's medicine.'

"Come to the palace in three days then, I’ll tell them we have an addition." with a smile on his face, Mingyu took off and walked his long way home.

Concurrently, Sohye, who was reading a book in her hand, stood up from the stool beside the bed where his brother slept soundly, and closed the book, placing it on top of other books piled up on the table.

She carefully opened the cabinet and took a small basket, picked up the books, placed it inside the basket, and then went outside, slowly and quietly closing the doors so that her brother wouldn't wake up. After that, she hurriedly walked straight to her aunt's house just a few meters away.

Inside the house, the people were already getting ready to sleep when three knocks hit the door. Aunt Doo Shim, a good friend of her mother's, smiled as if seemingly expecting for Sohye to come, grabbeda book from the shelf and a basket filled with fruits and vegetables then opened the door. "Sohye." she greeted her with a smile. "You're quite late today." Aunt Doo Shim said as she handed the basket over to Sohye, taking the empty one from her.

"Yes, Ji Hoon slept later than usual. I had to wait and make sure." Sohye happily took the basket, but as she caught a glimpse of the fruits that were in there, she frowned. "Aunt, these fruits are expensive, you shouldn't give this to me." she felt horrible. Even though it was something that is given, it felt wrong to take it.

"What are you talking about! We're family here, it's fine!" she said that, but Sohye still didn't feel good about it. Seeing this, her Aunt didn't let her refuse anymore. She placed her hands on Sohye's shoulders and said, "Your father and grandfather took care of all of us, they were the greatest rulers our kingdom could ever have, if it weren't for them, we would've died long ago. We owe everything to them. These things we're giving you isn't even enough to repay their kindness." taking back her hands, she sighed. "And besides, those weren't going to sell anyway, if I don't give it, they're just going to rot away."

Hearing those words, her heart felt a little lighter, Sohye smiled. "Thank you Aunt." even though she felt hesitant. And as much as she didn't want to take it, they needed it, she had no time to consider her feelings before their family's needs.

“And this one is the new book Dawon borrowed from the library.”

“Thank you.” Her eyes gleamed as she saw the book.

Sohye liked reading. When she was a kid, she would often go to Aunt Do Shim’s place with her mother and play with her grandson. But Dawon only liked to read books and study. He was the one who taught her how to read and write. She was a very slow learner right from the start, but Dawon kept patient with her and slowly but surely, she made progress.

“Please tell him that I’m very grateful.”

“Be careful on your way home.”

Sohye originally planned to go home immediately, but upon noticing the commotion at a distance, she couldn't help but take a closer look. "You---you! How dare you step on my food!" she didn't expect it, but a voice very familiar caught her off guard.

'Oh no.' Sohye rushed to the crowd and squeezed her way through it. There, she saw her sister looking disastrous in the middle of the crowd. "Kang Mina!" she shouted, running