Cupid's Magic
Cupid at HeartDespite being of marriageable age, the young princess of Heart displayed childish antics whenever she was fuming in anger. With a knife in her hand, she diced the Medela roots into smaller pieces. Her movements were rather dangerous and resembled the murder of a blameless floral plant.
“Hm, seems like someone is in a foul mood,” a voice suddenly appeared from her side.
Hyunmi looked up, glaring at the cat who had taken on a human form as he pleased. She had no idea where or how they had adopted the purple colored chester cat, but she had gotten used to its blunt remarks and magical ability to shapeshift.
“Sungjong, apparently I am going to be courted,” Hyunmi said. That growing grin on Sungjong’s face increased her frustrations towards the king’s one-sided decision.
“I heard. It’s the prince of Spade, isn’t it? He seemed like a nice fella,” Sungjong rolled around on the wooden table, knocking over a few of the kitchen equipments with its long purple tail. Sometimes, he forgot whether he was in his human or animal form.
“It doesn’t matter. It doesn't change the fact I don’t know him.” Hyunmi let out a long exasperated sigh. She paused momentarily, lost in her thoughts, before proceeding to place the chopped off roots in the cauldron.
“I thought it was every princess’ dream to marry prince charming,” Sungjong remarked, not bothering to return the utensils he had dropped.
Hyunmi rolled her eyes, wondering where Sungjong heard those foolish thoughts from. She absentmindedly stirred the medicinal soup she was brewing, and sighed once more.
“Perhaps if I can find a cure to father’s sickness, I can change his mind of rushing me into marriage.” Then she paused and turned to Sungjong with a new thought. “Or, I could just poison the soup to erase his memory.”
Sungjong let out a dramatic gasp, and let it morphed into his signature chester grin seconds after. “But you do not possess such skills, Hyunmi,” he then said playfully.
“Don’t you have to address me by status?” The princess asked the feline creature who showcased no proper manners.
“I am a cat. I can address you any way I want.” Sungjong hopped off the wooden table and had transformed back to his cat form as soon as his paws reached the kitchen’s wooden flooring. “Although Mrs. Prince of Spade would suit you well.”
Then he quickly ran away with a snickered laugh before Hyunmi could throw a spatula at him. On the way, he nearly bumped against Kang Seulyi, the head maid in charge to tend to the youngest princess’ needs.
“Watch it, you filthy beast!” Seulyi snarled at the creature. Unlike Hyunmi, she was never too fond of animals. Sungjong in particular was exceptionally annoying. So she mumbled some profanities below her breath, and approached the princess with some freshly washed wooden bowls.
“Thank you.” Hyunmi took the bowls from her hands and placed it next to the cauldron. Then she kept her silence and continued watching the bubbles forming on the soup.
“I heard about the engagement. Congratulations, Hyunmi,” Seulyi then spoke, clapping her hands with such glee she did not see the princess’ appalled face.
“Engagement? What kind of rumor has been spreading around the castle? The prince is only courting me,” Hyunmi said, raising her voice with great protest.
Seulyi nearly jumped up in shock from the blaring volume. She had been working with the princess nearly her entire life, grew up together, and formed a formidable friendship despite their different status. Never before had she seen the princess panic over something so trivial.
“Courting eventually leads to marriage. Do you not wish to get married?” She then carefully asked her friend.
“Not to a stranger I barely know,” Hyunmi said with yet another sigh.
“As far as I know, marriage among royal families is to empower the status of the entire kingdom,” Seulyi said, understanding her friend’s dilemma. “Therefore, I am glad I am only a mere servant girl with no royal bloodline.”
The remark earned her a soft slap from Hyunmi. With her lips protruding as a form of her annoyance, Hyunmi scooped out the soup from the cauldron into the wooden bowl.
“Though if I may offer a word of advice,” Seulyi added before she was dismissed, “It is not wrong to try. Perhaps, you may even fall for the Prince of Spade. I heard there are many women of high social classes trying to marry him.”
“Really?”
“I have only heard good things about him.”
Hyunmi stared into her friend’s eyes, finding no fault in her speech. Perhaps she was right, and she shouldn’t have judged the prince in a way she hated to be judged by others.
So she picked up the bowl and handed it to Seulyi. “Bring this to my father, please.”
The head maid made a face when she inhaled the stench that came with the medicinal soup. “Ugh, what did you put in here? It smells horrible.”
“It is the natural herbal scent. You’re not the one having to drink it. Just go,” Hyunmi told her friend with a small laugh, giving her a light push from the back. As the head maid left, her words still lingered in her head.
It was nighttime, and Hyunmi isolated herself at the garden balcony connected to her bedroom. The view of the stars were always the brightest up there, and she had gotten used to the moon being her only companion at times. There were things she couldn’t have shared with Seulyi, with her brother Dongwoo, and which even Sungjong didn’t know about despite his adoration of anything scandalous.
She did not know how many times she had been sighing that day alone. Her arms rested against the balcony’s white pillared rail, and she kept staring at the beautiful shape of the crescent moon. A soothing melody accompanied the calmness of the night with an equally serene tune. Strange, she was not aware of anyone in the castle having the ability to play a stringed instrument.
“Why should a sorrowful frown taint the princess’ beauty?”
The foreign voice made Hyunmi turn around in alertness. On the other side of the balcony rail, a dark figure was sitting with outstretched legs and his back leaned against the castle’s white wall. He was holding a stringed instrument in his hand which she identified as a tiple. He continued plucking the strings so gently it drew the princess’ attention.
When he turned to meet her eyes, she flinched inwardly in surprise. She took in all there was about him. His chiseled features, his sharp jawline, his pouty lips, and sparkling dark brown eyes that shone brighter against the moonlight. He wore an outfit the color of maroon and white, which officially associated him as a citizen of Heart.
“Ah, so the rumors are true. The youngest princess does possess remarkable beauty that would make a goddess bath in envy,” the male spoke, letting a playful grin paint his lips. He hopped off from the rail and stopped playing his tiple.
The statement was no longer new to the princess who was well aware of this curse. Unlike her brother, she had always been bad at remembering people’s faces. This time, she could not identify the young man in her memories.
“My apologies, but have we been acquainted prior to this?” She asked politely.
“Acquainted we have not, but perhaps you may have heard of me,” he spoke in such a way that needed her sparked curiosity before elaborating. Indeed, she seemed to be thinking of a clever reply.
“A handsome young man who goes around from castle to castle, playing his tiple in the moonlight. I have never heard of such a person,” Hyunmi told him, offering him her slight humor.
This made the male chuckle. “Perhaps the beautiful maiden has heard of Cupid?” He asked.
“Cupid?” She frowned, once again taking a good look at him. “You mean the baby who goes around with a golden bow and arrow?”
Again, he laughed. “That is, sadly, the image that has evolved over the centuries. I am clearly no infant holding archery equipments,” he said.
Hyunmi smiled, holding back a laugh from escaping her lips. Her eyes peered towards his back side suspiciously. “I thought cupid had wings.”
“I do not wish to brag, so I have hidden them,” he spoke playfully. It was hard to tell whether he was serious or joking, but she was amused.
“So what qualifies you as Cupid? The ability to play a tiple and emit words of flattery?”
“Along with the possession of extremely good looks,” the male said, striking a pose.
The answer was so absurd it made Hyunmi laugh out loud in a rather unlady-like manner. She could no longer withhold it. The hearty sound she emitted seemed to make the male’s eyes twinkle with interest. “You are not supposed to say it yourself.”
“I did not. I merely quoted your earlier words, your highness,” he said, grinning as she looked at him in confusion. “I believe you were the one declaring me as a handsome young man.”
Hyunmi realized he was right, and felt her heart race faster in panic. Yet the smile on his face was so enchanting she could not retract back her words. The stranger was indeed handsome, especially when the dimples sunk in his cheeks whenever he smiled. His eyes took on the shape of crescent moons, and it was gorgeous.
“It would be rude to be stared at, but since it is the princess, I suppose it is a high form of flattery?” He had caught her staring at him in silence.
“I… I was not.” She cleared and quickly looked away. Her heart continued to race faster, panicking in front of him.
“Although I am not sure whether I deserve the princess’ affectionate stare. The prince of Spade would be jealous,” he then said, rather carefully.
The mention of that title soon returned Hyunmi to her foul mood. “Is this what it is all about?”
“I have declared myself as a Cupid. What else did you suppose my task was?” He asked.
“I thought you were joking. Perhaps you were a court joker sent here to make me laugh or to entertain me,” Hyunmi said.
Instead, her naive thoughts made him chuckle. “Does that mean I have successfully entertained the princess?” He questioned as if it was the highest achievement he could attain.
“It doesn’t matter,” she told him. Seeing him grin at her almost resolved her will to show him her great protest as well. But she proceeded anyway. “I am not going to marry someone I do not love.”
“Well then, your highness,” Cupid spoke as he picked up his tiple and began plucking some strings again to create a romantic and calming tune. “What kind of person would you love?”
He wasn’t looking at her, and Hyunmi had a sudden desire to astonish him. “Perhaps it would be a handsome young man who sits around on a castle’s balcony, playing his tiple in the moonlight,” she spoke.
The answer made the male’s finger miss the right chord. He instantly lifted his head to stare at the princess with immense shock, but she was laughing instead.
“I was joking,” she quickly followed afterwards and continued laughing. The look on his face was priceless.
“Should it have been real, it would be quite troublesome,” he said, not laughing along.
“Why?”
“Because I am having second thoughts regarding this task,” he answered, and continued elaborating willingly. “Why have the princess fall for the prince of Spade when I could have her fall for me instead?”
Hyunmi stopped her laughter, this time being the one to give him a pure look of surprise. “You… Are you serious?”
“Ah, I was just testing the art of joking,” he then added playfully, perfectly mimicking her earlier tone, and continued playing his tiple.
Normally, Hyunmi would start fuming after being tricked. But somehow, the cupid only made her burst in laughter. Still, she noticed that widening glint in his eyes whenever she showed her delight, as if he truly took pride in his ability to make her laugh. Whoever he was, he was a very entertaining man.
“How should I address you?” She then asked with a curiosity to know him better. “Surely the almighty Cupid must have a name.”
He smiled his signature charming grin and extended a hand to the princess. “It’s Woohyun, your highness.”
There was something intimate when addressing someone by their first name. Strangely, she wished for him to drop the formality as well.
“You may call me Hyunmi,” she said, stretching her hand to reciprocate the touch as he enveloped his fingers around hers.
At that moment, there was something that erupted in her heart. It was only a mere touch, but it bore the ability to thud her heart with clamoring thunder. She looked up to meet his eyes staring at her with a similar curiosity, and suddenly she felt her cheeks flush red.
Perhaps it was Cupid’s magic at work.
Aaahhh, WooMi's flirting but in fancy olden style language! >.<
I am sorry, but I am so in love writing this. And fyi, this isn't even the cheesy part yet. :3 hehehehehee
Comments