Chapter 4: In Which There is Much Procrastination

“What?” Eunkyung stared at the cowering messenger in front of her, disbelieving. “What do you mean, she hasn’t left yet?”

The girl gulped. “I… I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Lady Miran said it wasn’t a priority, so -”

“Not a priority?” Eunkyung twisted her hand deeper into her hair, massaging her head and wincing at the imminent headache. “How is it not a priority to find out how seventy-seven Amphi Pambis escaped under the watch of our queendom’s finest trappers? I gave the order to send a messenger to investigate the escape days ago!”

There was no response from the messenger girl, who was positively white with terror, and Eunkyung sighed. She already knew the answer anyway. Miran and Gwisoon, even more sour-faced than usual, had been dragging their feet in all their duties recently, likely because the Rain Council hadn’t gone the way they had wanted. In fact, the entire palace seemed to be running more slowly than usual, and Eunkyung wondered with a rising sense of insecurity if it wasn’t because of her own lack of ability as ruler.

At her side, Eri clucked her tongue. “It’s procrastination, Your Majesty. Rampant procrastination, everywhere! Crawling through the hills, swimming in the water -”

The messenger flinched again, and Eunkyung finally took pity upon the poor girl. “That’s enough,” she said, interrupting the rapidly reddening Eri’s tirade. “Dispatch the messenger immediately on the fastest turtle you can find. And do make it clear that I will accept no more procrastination from anybody, regardless of rank.”

Nodding so rapidly Eunkyung feared for the structural integrity of her neck, the messenger scrambled to her feet and fled in a flurry of blue robes and paper scrolls. Yet somehow, as the last corner of her robe disappeared from sight, even the girl’s fleeing did not seem as… flee-like as usual. The panic was less panicky, the haste less hasty, and Eunkyung wondered if Eri had been right and if procrastination really was on some sort of rampage throughout Bijeon.

Everything feels slower these days, Eunkyung thought with a frown. Actions, thoughts, everything. The messengers aren’t following orders on time. Paperwork is going slowly. Is the whole world procrastinating?

She peered out the window. Well, not the natural world, at least. If the people of Bijeon were procrastinating in their daily tasks, the land of Bijeon itself was not. With each additional day, more water leached out of the ground, into the dry air and seemingly magicked away, and the crops were dying faster than ever.

“Procrastination everywhere, I tell you.” At her side, Eri had resumed her angry muttering. “It’s something in the air! Something in the… in the wind!”

Suddenly feeling terribly drained, Eunkyung sighed and turned back to her desk. “Sure, Eri. Something in the wind.”

***

The rosebush seemed to have calmed down from its anti-conjunction tantrum when Eunkyung found herself in the dream-clearing again that night. Swaying in the wind, it waved a thorny branch at her in greeting and parted to reveal Prince Baekhyun, who looked just as miserable and allergic as before.

“So you’ve finally come back,” he said nasally, wiping at his nose. “About time. I’ve been waiting for ages.”

Eunkyung frowned. “There’s no need to be so impatient. I was busy - I am a crown princess, you know, and my queendom needs running. I don’t always have time for sleep.”

The prince flapped the hand that wasn’t clutching the handkerchief to his face. “Pish posh. Isn’t foreign relations part of your job description? Have you notified my mother that I’ll be coming home soon yet?”

Honestly, Eunkyung hadn’t even thought of doing that. “How am I supposed to tell her that? She’ll think I’ve lost my mind if I write her saying her son visited me in a dream and is living in a rosebush for unclear reasons. It’ll cause a diplomatic disaster!”

Indignant, Baekhyun frowned. “Hey, don’t make it sound like I’m just kicking up my feet in a rosebush for fun! I was cursed! It’s not my fault this demon had a nasty sense of humor and stuck me in one of the plants I’m allergic to.”

“One of? Are you allergic to many plants then?”

The prince shrugged and blew his nose. “Just a couple. Aside from roses, also peonies, daisies, tellyweed, goldenrod, nook nook trees, alfalfa, baby’s breath, floofweed, dahlias…” He trailed off, and Eunkyung raised her eyebrows.

“Is that it then? Just a couple?”

“Just a second.” He paused, nose twitching, then sneezed loudly. “Ah, there we go. I was waiting for that one. Anyway, to continue the list, also midnight aster, gloryleaf -”

“Alright, alright, I get the idea!” Pausing, Eunkyung dug around in one of the many pockets in her skirt. “Here, take this.” She tossed the jar to Baekhyun. “It’s stinging fern cream. The healer I got it from says it helps with allergies if you rub it into your pulse points. It might take a bit of