CHAPTER THREE

Edelweiss

To say that she was amazed would be an understatement. They’ve arrived at the palace and have passed through multiple gates with more guards garbed in red robes and their signature feathered hats. Proclaiming the arrival of their crown prince, and jumping at every opportunity to show their undying loyalty to the heir. They’ve left the horses as soon as they’ve entered the second gate and Jungkook has kept it his mission to keep Lisa close by as they walked. They were approaching a small bridge by the top of a canal, the water beneath it was as still as the palace. The bridge was adorned with statues of beasts who kept guard, giving anyone who dared to cross it a watchful gaze. 

 

Lisa kept her head down, avoiding the hostile glares from Jungkook’s personal guard, Yong-Min. She’d been silent ever since the scuffle at Jiyulheon. Well, aside from the polite nods she gave every time the prince asked if she was fine, wanting to avoid unnecessary attention. She was probably already included in Yong-Min’s kill list, any wrong move and she’d have his sword down . Lisa barely noticed that they’ve stopped by a compound in front of a building with red walls. 

 

An old man ran to greet Jungkook, addressing him with a curt nod, his black hat unmoving.

 

“Yi-Hangweon.” the prince nodded in response, meeting him in a quick awkward looking embrace. 

 

“Seja Jeoha, I have matters I need to discuss with you in private.” he spoke in a hushed calculated tone

 

“Of course.” Jungkook looked back, catching Lisa’s gaze. “Forgive me, I would have to leave you in Yong-Min’s capable hands. I have important matters I need to take care of at the moment.” 

 

Lisa smiled back, aware of the weird look Yi-Hangweon was giving her. 

 

“Yong-Min, I can see dried blood on her clothes. Take her to the palace physician, and prepare an empty room in one of the princess’ quarters” Giving Lisa a quick smile, “She needs to rest.” 

 

Yong-Min nodded and signaled for Lisa to follow him, as Jungkook went with the older man towards the other direction. 

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

Yong-Min walked ahead of her, Lisa taking long strides to keep up with his fast pace as they rounded a corner and stopped in front of a closed room. Lisa could hear hushed voices inside and giggling. 

 

“Park Chaeyoung? I have someone that needs attending to.” his crude voice breaking what little sanctuary the people inside the room has created. There was a brief silence before the door slid open a crack. A beautiful woman in a bright green hanbok emerged with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. Her features innocent and delicate. 

 

“Agasshi, forgive our intrusi--”

 

“It’s fine Yong-Min… I was about to head back anyway.” she had a dark voice for such an innocent looking face. “I’ll be on my way, Chaeyoung is all yours.” She looked at Lisa briefly and smiled. 

 

Yong-Min bowed and opened the door fully, waiting for Lisa to step inside. 

 

The room was small yet spacious as it only had a small table in the center and plump pillows for chairs. The windows were open and a cool breeze wafted in, creating a serene atmosphere. A woman with brunette wavy hair smiled at her warmly, her plump cheeks making her look childlike against the light. She tied her hair back in a loose ponytail and signaled Lisa to sit down. 

 

“I will have your quarters and a fresh pair of clothes ready.” Yong-Min excused himself “Park Chaeyoung, I will be back for her in an hour.” he added as he closed the door slowly. 

 

The brunette gave her a huge smile as soon as the door closed. “I believe you already know who I am.” 

 

Lisa nodded, easing into a comfortable position. Allowing herself to relax, she seems harmless enough.

 

“Well… are you going to tell me your name or are we going for a guessing game?” Lisa knew she was trying to break the awkward tension, she had a playful smirk. Almost as if daring Lisa to answer back with a smart retort.

 

“Lisa, Lisa Manoban.” 

 

“Sounds foreign and the clothes…”

 

“Not from this kingdom.. I know. I know.”

 

“I can tell you’ve been hearing that quite a lot” She had a beautiful laugh, it made her eyes crinkle and her cheeks plumper 

 

“You have no idea” Lisa smiled back in turn, genuinely this time.

 

“Well.. let’s take a look at your wounds.” She looked at Lisa’s shoulder with a serious expression as she stood and sat right next to her. Her slender fingers barely grazing the tear in her sweater. 

“Can you take your clothes off?” 

 

For a minute Lisa froze, she was far too close and she smelled like roses. Why do women from this period look so stunning and smelled so nice? Heat was starting to make her cheeks go red. Roses and lilacs. The scent of roses -- harsh feline eyes, why was she thinking of her suddenly? The memory made her light headed, wait was chaeyoung asking her a question? Focus Lisa…

 

Chaeyoung was looking at her with an amused expression. Reaching out, she hitched Lisa’s sweater, exposing a bit of her stomach causing the other girl to jump in her seat.

 

“I really need to look at that wound to treat it.”

 

Lisa shuddered at the brief touch. Chaeyoung was gentle but she was too immersed with her own thoughts that the innocent gesture made her blush profusely. 

 

“I, uh.. Sure. I’ll take it off myself.” flustered and stuttering.. Great. 

 

She took the sweater off in one fluid motion. She felt oddly exposed, not that it made her uncomfortable -- it just made her feel weird to be almost in front of a stranger. A beautiful stranger to be exact. 

 

The wound was no longer bleeding. It didn’t hurt as much as it did before either. The tender flesh around it was red and puffy. Chaeyoung gingerly pressed on the skin around it, causing some of the dried blood to flake off. 

 

“Does it hurt?” her eyebrows creased.

 

“No” She didn’t realize she was holding her breath the entire time her wound was being examined. Soft brown eyes looked at her with a worried expression. “Look it’s not a deep cut, it will heal on its own. Nothing to worry about.” as she tried to move back, avoiding Chaeyoung’s gaze.

 

“That needs to be cleaned, however what I meant was this…” Chaeyoung was pointing at her side. Lisa could see the ugly way the purple looked against her pale skin. Before she could answer, delicate fingers grazed against the bruise making her shudder.

 

“This looks painful, let me put a balm to help with the pain and swelling.” She was back with a bottle in hand. The coolness of the mint felt nice against her hot skin. She tried hard not to focus on the circular motions Chaeyoung was making as she applied the ointment. Lisa closed her eyes and hummed, this feels nice… 

 

“Did Yong-Min do this to you?” her voice was a little over a whisper, pulling Lisa from her bubble. Chaeyoung was holding onto a wet cloth to clean the cut on her shoulder. “He takes his job seriously”

 

Lisa laughed, “No.. this one was from... someone a little fiercer. She… she uh gave me this as well.” She reddened at the thought. Harsh eyes against soft features. 

 

The skin around her wound was pink and raw from all the cleaning. Chaeyoung was back with another ointment that smelled weirdly of grass. She covered the wound with a clean white cloth, setting it in place before tying a makeshift bandage around her armpit. 

 

“There, that should do. I’ll change the bandage tomorrow.” She was putting everything back into place when someone knocked. 

 

“I have her clothes ready and a bath drawn. If you’re done here I’ll accompany her back to her room.” 

 

“I’ll come looking for you tomorrow.”

 

Chaeyoung winked as she helped Lisa to her feet, helping her with the sweater. “Now go, before Yong-Min decides to break in through my door.” pushing Lisa outside and closing the door behind her softly. 

 

Lisa was greeted with an ominous looking Yong-Min, who looked like he would want to be somewhere else than with her. 

 

“Come with me.” He was already walking away before he even finished his sentence. 

 

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Yong-Min has left her alone and went off to look for the crown prince or something other than being with Lisa. She stood against the open door and looked around the entirety of the room. There were big windows filling up any space it can reach with natural light. A table at the far right corner of the room was bare, as Lisa looked around everything seemed to be bare of anything, a chair by the table stood alone. Lisa fixed her gaze towards the windows, bathing her face with warmth. She ventured further and found the clothes on a heap on top of the bed. A partition hid a tub filled with warm water from prying eyes that might accidentally look inside the room, allowing her to enjoy the privacy.

 

Taking off her clothes Lisa dipped into the bath, enjoying the warm water and allowed the tension building inside her to ebb away as she scrubbed on her arms. Washing away the filth that clung to her, and allowing her to think about the events that happened. Somehow she was teleported back into the Joseon period, and the crown prince seems to think she’s here for a reason. Sinking deeper into the water, she tried to come up with a reason as to how this happened, and more importantly how to get back. It had to do something with that cat. She shook her head, spilling water all over the floor, I have to focus on ensuring I dont get myself killed here. She was given a hanbok a couple of sizes too small, cutting off around her ankles instead. She looked funny, or she thought she did. It was hard to tell given there wasn’t a mirror inside the room. Lisa tied her hair in a half ponytail, half of it loose and cascading. 

 

 Lisa tried her best to fall asleep, willing the hunger away. She could feel her stomach protest, gamjatang… urgh do they have gamjatang in Joseon? Come to think of it, she hasn’t had any food since yesterday. Would Yong-Min kill her off if she decided to hunt for the kitchen? Surely the prince wanted her alive right? 

 

Lisa knew this was a stupid idea as she opened the door slightly, looking into the long spacious hallway. It seemed to stretch off on the right, banisters stood guard up until  the end of the corridor. Hearing the door softly slid in place behind her, Lisa walked slowly, passing by closed doors one by one. Her feet treading carefully on the cold floor. She tried hard to recall the path back to Chaeyoung’s clinic, all of the buildings around here looked exactly alike. They took a right here and then straight down the hallway, and then left? No, it was right… wait …  Lisa looked back and forth. Why was she born with a poor sense of direction again? Right… Lisa thought, she could come back and take left if she was wrong. 

 

Forging on with newfound determination Lisa took a quick turn to the right and bumped into someone. 

 

Harsh feline eyes…

 

Sh*t. Not again… it couldn’t be….

 

She could see her smirk. 

 

“Jennie!” The innocent looking girl from the clinic caught up with her, 

 

Jennie… 

 

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Heyrrra
Thank you to everyone who've continued to read and to those who subscribed, commented and upvoted. Much love to everyone ♥️♥️♥️ ... Enjoy your week!

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Astraea21 #1
Chapter 11: Awww. Cute.
143Redangel #2
Update please.
JenLisaShipper77
#3
Chapter 10: “We will always need things we never want” - I think she means that even though she wants Lisa (a woman) she can’t because it’s illegal and wrong in that time period. She needs a man that she doesn’t even want because that’s what people require of her. And that is so sad. Lisa should just take Jennie with her to her world when the time comes.

I hope Chaeng can help Lisa with that antidote.
143Redangel #4
Chapter 9: ? So excited for the next chapters.
JenLisaShipper77
#5
Chapter 9: Their first kiss uwu.
JenLisaShipper77
#6
Chapter 8: I need more
JenLisaShipper77
#7
Chapter 5: Things keep getting interesting
JenLisaShipper77
#8
Chapter 3: <span class='smalltext text--lighter'>Comment on <a href='/story/view/1406921/3'>CHAPTER TWO</a></span>
2 chapters in and I’m already hooked and loving it.