1693,

Hanyang, Joseon Era

===

            A man, in his mid-twenties worn light blue colored dopo1 matched with jade colored dapho2 , walked between the people at the busy port that sunny day. Sometimes his hand fixed his black colored gat3, while his other hand’s busy closed his face with a fan with bamboo picture on it . Something wrapped in black colored cloth carried on his back. He walked in silent, tried not to get attention from his surroundings. It was really a sunny day, as little buds of sweat started appeared on his forehead.

            ”Aigoo, this weather is killing me!” He hissed as he stopped his tracks, ward off his fan to flow the air around him. ”I have sent them a letter about my comeback, why none who picked me up at the port?”

            ”Omo, Naeuri. You seemed so exhausted. Please, have a glass of water,” A mid-thirties woman offered him. A shade pink color appeared on her cheek as she looked at the young man in front of her.

            ”Maybe… sometime?”

            The man left that place in hurry. Spending his time at the bar after his long journey wasn’t one of his plans. His will was that he could arrive at the palace as soon as possible.

===

            The palace was the place which never change. It was five years since the last time he live in that place, yet nothing is changed. Monotone atmosphere, filled with expressionless soldiers and busy court ladies, also greedy ministries. The first place he came to was the eastern garden of the palace which was close to his own pavilion. His feet guided him to the bungalow in that garden. But when it was just five steps away from the bungalow, he stopped.

            ”Who are you?” He asked.

            A girl, she looked a few years younger than him, sat on the other side of the bungalow. Her long black hair got braided neatly on her back, ornamented by a red colored ribbon. Her slim figure wrapped perfectly in light yellow jeogori4 and maroon chima5 . A shock expression drew clearly on her oval shape face.

            ”I…I...” She got stuttered while got up from her place, then bow deeply. ”I’m sorry…I…”

            ”Why are you apologizing? I’m not ask for your sorry, I’m just ask who you are,” The man responded to her reaction earlier.

            ”I…”

            ”One of the crown princess candidates?”

            ”Ne?”

            ”Your cloth.”

            ”Ah…ne.” The girl bowed her head, her hands intertwined towards each other.

            Both of them stay silent for several minutes as they sat on the bench at the bungalow. Back faced back. One mused the endless blue sky, while the other one looked deeply to the golden koi pond near the bungalow.

            ”This place is very beautiful, isn’t it?” The man broke the ice between them.

            ”Hmm. It’s truly… beautiful,” The girl replied in low voice. ”It’s my favorite place since the first time I entered the palace.”

            ”It’s also my favorite place,” The man said. ”Since I’m little,” He whispered.

             The silent filled the atmosphere between them again. Silent… but it felt so calm.

            ”What’s your name?” The man asked her, for the nth time.

            ”Ne?”

            ”I want to know the name whom shared the same favorite place in this palace. Tell me your name.”

            ”In Ha. Choi In Ha imnida.”

            ”Choi In Ha. It’s a beautiful name.”

            ”And you?”

            ”Me?” The man paused for a while. ”Yeongsoo. Lee Yeongsoo.” He said, then got up from his place, straighten his dapho and collected his things. ”Nice to meet you, In Ha-ssi. I hope I can meet you again… maybe tomorrow?”

            The girl named In Ha didn’t have a chance to reply to his statement as Yeongsoo already left the place. ”I hope so.”

===

            ”Long time no see, Eunuch Jo.”

            ”Yeongsoo Mama. If you want to report to the king, I recommend you to wear your dalryeongpo6 than your good-looking cloth which is you wear right now.” Eunuch Jo alarmed the young prince who still insisted faced the king with his current appearance, light blue colored dopomatched with jade colored dapho also a black colored gat.

            The young prince didn’t take a note of the eunuch’s suggestion, as he walked passing that old man then opened the double door of his father’s room, the king’s room. ”You’re really the busiest man in this country, Aba Mama. Even when you have a small talk with your son, you still presented with those rolls of reports.”

            ”Yeongsoo Hyungnim,” A man, he’s around three years younger than Prince Youngsoo greeted him.

            ”Yeongsoo, you’re back.”

            ”Long time no see you, Seja. You look… healthy,” He responded to his younger brother. ”It’s so nice to be able to meet you again after a long time, Aba Mama,” Prince Yeongsoo greeted the older man, his father.

            ”You must bring something interesting, aren’t you Hyungnim?”

            ”Ne. but it isn’t for you. It’s only for Aba Mama,” Prince Yeongsoo answered his brother’s question.

            ”You have nothing to give to me?”

            ”I’m not sure of it.”

King Gyunjong just smiled as he saw his two sons bickered for something trivial. Then he saw his older son who gave him a demanding look towards him, he must want to tell me something important, he thought.

            ”Can you give your hyung some time, Yoon?” The king asked his youngest son, the crown prince.

            ”Yes, Aba Mama.”

            The crown prince bowed his head towards his father then got up from his previous place. He took the soundless steps, left his father with his brother in that room. As the crown prince has out of his sight, Yeongsoo got closer to his father. He opened the black clothed package on the desk between him and his father then gave two books to his father.

            ”That’s my report during my investigation, Aba Mama. I wish it could …”

            ”Things are really getting worse, isn’t it?” The king cut his son’s explanation.

            ”Yeah. Too many illegal golden and silver that have distributed around Tamna, and maybe… it has been reached Hanyang too. Many of those illegal golden and silver came from Japan. It’s too difficult to differ the illegal one to the original one, they seemed too similar. The investigation bureau’s still lacked of the evidence about this things, Aba Mama.”

            The king kept his composure face as he heard his son’s explanation. He has sent his oldest son just to investigate that crucial issues, yet he still got none of its way out.

            ”It seems that I’ve already spent your time being fruitless, Yeongsoo.”

            The prince looked up at his father’s face in surprise. ”Aba Mama.”

            The king closed the report book, then faced his oldest son. His legal son with the queen. Prince Yeongsoo, he’s supposed to be the crown prince but the king gave that position to his youngest son, Prince Yeongsoo’s brother, Prince Yoon.

            ”Jeonha, what’s wrong?” Prince Yeongsoo asked his father after realized that his father eyed him than read his report.

            ”You must very exhausted. This mission looked really wasted your time and your energy, Yeongsoo.”

            ”That’s not true,” the prince answered shortly. ”That mission isn’t anything than your daily reports, Jeonha,” The prince continued, then collected his things. ”You should take a proper rest, Aba Mama. Excuse me,” Prince Yeongsoo got up from his place, bowed towards the king then left the room.

===

            The sun shone so brightly that afternoon, made the temperature a little bit hotter than usual. Choi In Ha together with the other seven crown princess candidates gathered in one of the small aula in the western side of the palace. They will performed tea serving in front of the ladies of the palace, as one of the tests being held to be the crown princess.

            ”You looked so calm, In Ha-yah,” Seo Yeon Hwa, the candidates who sat beside her said in low voice.

            ”Aniyo. Inside of me, I’m nervous too,” In Ha replied.

            She lied. Actually, that tea serving test has already forgotten by her. Something has taken place in her brain since that meeting in that early noon. Her meeting with that handsome stranger named Lee Yeongsoo. Yes, that man was handsome, maybe he’s the handsomest man she ever met. He must be a noble or something related to it. Maybe, he’s someone related to the royal family? Who knows? But, one thing that she realized after that encounter. She has fallen to that man.

”I hope I can meet you again… maybe tomorrow?”

            Even his voice was so melodious in her ears. Ah, I hope this test end quickly, she said in her mind. As the name of the girl who sat next to her being called, she got all of her attention back to the test. She never wished to be the crown princess, it was her family, precisely her father and her mother. Since she stepped in that palace, she never found something interesting in her eyes but that garden at the eastern side of the palace. She also didn’t find someone so trusty around her. But then she met him, the man who shared the same favorite place with her. For the first time, she felt save, inside that uncertain palace.

            ”Choi In Ha.”

            She heard her name got called by the court lady. She stepped in slow, voiceless towards the royal ladies of the palace. She showed her ability in tea serving, gave the royal ladies each their tea served in the porcelain cup. Smiles after they took a sip of the tea, In Ha bowed her head then retreated towards her previous place. She kept her sight on the floor, as she felt pairs of eyes sent her resentful looks.

            ”You all can go back to your place,” The queen said in motherly voice, got responded by bows from the candidates.

            Just few steps away from the aula, some candidates have a chit-chat about something so interesting. Sometimes, In Ha heard them giggled.

            ”You have heard it, haven’t you?”

            ”Mworago?”

            ”Yeongsoo Mama have back.”

            ”Yeongsoo Mama? You mean… Seja Jeoha’s brother, Yeongsoo Mama?”

            ”Yeah.”

            Yeongsoo Mama?  In Ha asked herself.

            ”They really something, aren’t they?” Suddenly she heard Yeon Hwa’s voice beside her. In Ha didn’t replied Yeon Hwa, just gave the girl a question look. ”We’re here to be the crown princess, the crown prince’s woman. Since the start we should realize that just being the candidate, we’re already become the crown prince’s. That fact won’t change,” Yeon Hwa continued.

            In Ha got a little bit surprised by Yeon Hwa’s statement. It’s true, she and all the candidates have marked as crown prince’s, having a dream to be with someone else but the crown prince was a ridiculous thing.

            ”In Ha-yah,” Yeon Hwa called her, brought her to the reality.

            ”Eoh? Yeon Hwa-ssi, you said something?” In Ha asked her back.

            Yeon Hwa shook her head, then smiled. ”You seemed lost in your own world.”

            ”Is that so?”

            The two girls walked far behind the other candidates. In Ha looked at the group of girls far in front of her, they seemed still have interesting conversation. Earlier, she heard they talked about Prince Yeongsoo, the oldest prince aka crown prince’s older brother. In Ha knew too about it. The oldest son of the king, Prince Yeongsoo was three years older than the crown prince. He was the legal child from the king and the queen, but he lost his chance to become the crown prince because of his illness, or so… it was the knowledge she got from the report about the royal family she has to study several time ago.

Just like his younger brother, Prince Yeongsoo also genius. Truth to be told, Prince Yeongsoo became the first prince in Joseon’s royal family who took a part in making a war strategy and succeed in his first try, it was when he’s fifteen years old. He’s the one who suggested to create the special armed force in Joseon, a military force to investigate the troubles happened at the border line of Joseon and to help people who lived there. Not only in the military and fortress, he also have a good impression in many field, such as education, economy, law, governance, and art. He’s perfect to be the next king of the nation, it was her opinion. But, the fate said something else opposite to her hope.

Then suddenly reality shocked her. Yeongsoo, it was that handsome stranger said that it was his name. What if? What if he’s … In Ha stopped after realized that fact. Why she didn’t realize it? Yeon Hwa got stopped suddenly, looked at In Ha’s horror expression.

”What’s wrong, In Ha-yah?”

In Ha looked at Yeon Hwa, then shook her head. ”Nothing.”

===

            Prince Yeongsoo stood in silent inside his room. The neat folded futon and silk blanket at the corner of the room, two medium size candle got its fuse burnt to create light in that room. The loaded book shelves, rolls of the calligraphy and paintings laid untouched at the left side of his desk. His eyes settled on something wrapped in white colored cloth stood near the window of that room. His delicate steps approached that thing. His left hand got the white cloth, revealed a blank canvas behind it.

            ”It’s unusual for you to have a blank canvas than a painted canvas, my son.”

            His attention got shifted from the canvas to the owner of that voice. He looked at his left side, the woman who has got birth him stood there.

            ”You even didn’t left a greeting to me, after your long journey, son.”

            ”Something must have ruined my brain until I forgot to greet you, Eomma Mama.”

             He approached the woman who he called Eomma Mama, then hug the woman. ”I’m back, Eommoni,” He whispered.

            ”Uhm…welcome back, Yeongsoo,” the woman replied as her hand caressed his back tenderly. Words were untold, the silence engulfed them. The woman inside his embrace trembled, soon he felt his cloth got damped. His mother was crying. ”I feel so alive again, son. Five years without your presence here, this palace felt like a hell. Thank you, for coming back.”

            Prince Yeongsoo hug his mother tighter, he knew it. He knew that his mother has lived a terrible life during his absent this recent five years. People who hated him and his mother were much more than the people who loved them. ”Don’t worry Eomma Mama, I’m here, by your side.”

===

            Prince Yeongsoo looked at the night sky from his opened window. After his mother’s visit, he stayed awake. The moon got obstructed by the cloud, made its existence invisible. He then looked at the blank canvas. ”If I can use it to turn back time when Eomma Mama still commoner and make her never met Aba Mama, her life won’t be miserable like this.” He said to himself, as he changed his gaze towards the night sky, again. Black, it was all he could saw. He closed his eyes for a while, then gazed at the bungalow where he met that beautiful girl named Choi In Ha. A sudden shock hit him, he realized it, clearly. That girl was one of the crown princess candidates. She’s already become his younger brother’s, even he desired her, she never become his. ”Argh… damned that nobility things! Because of that, none of the things or the people in this palace is mine.” He hissed in frustration.

===

            The first dew of plum blossom leaves fallen voiceless on the ground. The sun has already up, but hidden behind the gray colored cloud. The first cloudy day on that summer, brought the wind blew his face slowly. He still sat there, his back leaned on the wall where his opened window stood. It was still early, but his eyes didn’t miss her figure got inside the bungalow. She wore peach colored jeogori paired with wood-brown colored chima. She sat on the same spot as the day before. She’s embroidering. It will be a waste if I just look at her from here, he thought. He got up from his place, then walked away, left his room to cleaned himself.

            While at the bungalow, In Ha started embroidering her white colored cloth with silver colored strand, made a moon shape on it. Sometimes, she looked up at the blue sky which was has turned to gray. Will he come? She asked endlessly. Then when she was about to made another move on her embroidered cloth, she heard foot step approached her place. She looked up from her cloth to the owner of that steps. There he was, stood about five steps away from the bun