"Our society is divided into classes:

Class A is the Royal Family

Class B is made up of elites that are involved in the government

Class C consists of those who have prestigious skills and jobs in areas such as medicine, science, architecture, and engineering.

Class D members are business owners and landowners

Class E members are those who possess skills in the arts such as dance, singing, music, and painting 

Class F members are those blue-collar workers: factory workers, waitresses, cooks, manual labor workers, farmers"

**********************************

Have you ever felt your whole body go stiff even though you really wanted to move? Felt the heat rise to your face from your stomach because of embarrassment? Well, that's how I felt at that moment. 

Prince Woojin was still sitting on that bench in the garden with his face covered by his hands and shoulders shaking from laughter. 

I thought about running back inside my room. It was so dark outside that he probably didn't see my face. He wouldn't recognize me tomorrow at breakfast. But my feet were stuck to the balcony, even though my brain begged it to move. And now it was just an awkward time for me to do anything so I stayed where I was.

I heard Prince Woojin's laughter die down and he swept his hands over his face and cleared his throat. 

"You must be one of the Selected. Hmm" There was laughter still in his voice. "What is your name, sweetheart?" 

I cringed a little bit when he called me sweetheart. He didn't even know me and he was referring to me as such. Did he call every girl sweetheart? Were they swooned by that? I didn't want to be one of those girls. I wasn't here to be wooed or be a pawn in the Palace's games. I'm not here for the show. I was here to make a better future for my family.

I tried to clear those thoughts away because I needed to say something back to Prince Woojin. I didn't know how to respond. If I tell him my name, he will remember me. But if I don't tell him my name, will he punish me for not answering him?

"Your Majesty..." I started to say but my voice trailed off. I was so conflicted with embarrassment and fear. 

"Please, tell me your name." Prince Woojin requested with a big smile on his face. 

I couldn't look him in the face so I stared at my hands as I nervously rubbed them. "Your Majesty, if you would spare me the embarrassment and let this night go by without knowing my name..." 

Apparently, Prince Woojin found this even funnier. This time his whole body trembled with laughter. I was scared someone would hear and come outside. I would get in trouble for sure. 

"Since you have gifted me big laughter tonight, it would only seem fair that you get to keep your name tonight." Prince Woojin replied as he leaned his back against the bench, still with a big smile on his face and I let out a sigh of relief. "But let me tell you this, sweetheart. If you are one of the Selected, which I assume you must be since your room is located on the third floor, I will be meeting you tomorrow. And when we meet tomorrow, you must tell me your name." 

At his last comment I held my breath for a second, but I remembered how dark it was outside and let my breath out. There was a very slim chance he would recognize my face. The only source of light outside was the moon and it wasn't bright enough to let us see each other's faces. And besides, most of the other girls had brown hair like mine and I would not be wearing this sky blue nightgown to breakfast tomorrow so he would have a hard time telling me apart from them. 

The warm night breeze blew past me and suddenly I didn't feel so scared. Maybe that's why I felt the courage to challenge the Prince. "Well, perhaps tomorrow if you can tell me apart from the other girls I will tell you what was on my mind during our encounter. I think it will give you even more laughter, your majesty." 

Though it was dark, I saw Prince Woojin lean forward a little and I saw his smile grow bigger. Was this a good sign? Or was he gonna punish me now for challenging him? 

"That sounds like a good idea to me, sweetheart." I cringed again at sweetheart and Prince Woojin stood and stepped closer towards the balcony I was standing on. "It seems like we'll just have to see what happens tomorrow. You should go back inside before someone sees you out so late." 

"Of course, your majesty. I wish you a good night." I curtsied. Prince Woojin said nothing but smiled at me. 

I carefully turned around and walked quietly back inside my room and closed the balcony doors behind me. I stood with my back leaning on the closed balcony doors for a couple of moments, wondering what just happened. Did I just get myself in trouble? Is this going to cost me my chance of making money to send home? Also, did the prince always smile so much? Whenever I saw him on TV or in pictures, he looked so stoic. No smiles, just a blank expression. I started to think that maybe Prince Woojin isn't bad of a person as I imagined him to be. But I still couldn't imagine myself being open with him or even becoming comfortable around him. After all, I despised the idea of girls falling at a man's feet, just to be looked at or loved. 

I plopped myself back on my bed and let myself sink under the cover. Whatever I just need to stay here long enough to send enough paychecks home to pay for Grandma's medical fees.

I was sure that the prince wouldn't recognize me tomorrow. 

***********************************

The morning had come and I woke up to the sound of my maids busily moving around in my room. They got me out of bed, washed up and they got me ready for breakfast. This morning I was put in an olive green dress; the sleeves came to my elbows and the dress came down to my feet. Small jewelry adorned my hair and my neck but I insisted on not wearing rings or bracelets. I looked very clean and almost as if I lived in the Palace all my life. But couldn't get used to wearing such soft and sleek material. And maybe it's because I always wore clothes that were given to me by cousins that grew out of them, but the idea of having clothes that were made just for me was foreign. 

There was a knock on my door and when my maids opened it, Miro stood at the door. She stated it was time to go down to the great dining hall to have breakfast and at that moment, I remembered what I had done last night: I'd challenged the Prince of Cahan to recognize me at breakfast. And if he did recognize me, I would have to meet with him and tell him what I was thinking. Really, what was I thinking?!

There wasn't even time to panic because Miro pushed me out of my room.

Walking down to the great dining hall, I saw the other Selected girls come out of their room in beautiful dresses. There were so many of them that I couldn't remember all of their names but I remember the girls that were from the lower classes because it comforted me that I wasn't the only low-class girl here.

Woojung walked out of her room in a dazzling deep navy dress and she must've felt the same way I felt when I wore my dress in the morning because she kept fiddling with her sleeves. Woojung was also class E, and the only time we got to wear nice clothes was when we were performing, whether it be dancing, singing, or playing an instrument, and the clothes weren't nearly as nice as these.

Only one girl that was Selected was from class F. Her name was Minseo and I heard from my maids that she was a cook at a local school. Minseo wore a lavender dress today and she had brown hair that fell to her mid-back. 

I let myself fall behind all the girls as we walked to the great dining hall because I wanted to give myself a few more moments before I had to face the Prince. I rubbed the inside of my left wrist with my right hand in anxiety. 

The great dining hall was very true to its name. It was a huge room with tall windows and marble floors. There was a long table in the middle of of the room for the Selected, and another long table at the front of the room for the Royal Family. The tables were placed to make a T. 

After all the girls curtsied to the Royal Family, we were instructed to sit. There was no particular order in which we sat in, but I ended up sitting next to Woojung and another girl named Gayoung from class C.

The Royal Family sat at their table all on one side facing us, and they sat on chairs that were designed to look like thrones. I found it amusing that the Royal Family couldn't sit on regular chairs. The King sat in the middle with the Queen to his left and the Prince to his right. 

Maids came around the table offering us various foods and my jaws dropped at the variety of foods. Who needed 3 different kinds of pastries in the morning? But they tasted heavenly. Woojung must've felt the same because we both let out sighs of content. We made eye contact and let out quiet giggles. 

"They taste nothing like the stale bread I eat back at home. It's so soft and airy!" Woojung said as she took another bite of her croissant. 

"I know, I've never tasted so much sugar on a piece of bread," I replied to her as I took a sip of tea. 

Woojung turned to me slightly "You're from class E, right? What's your skill? Mine is painting." 

"Oh, my little brother paints! But my skill is dancing." I missed Daehwi. I made a mental note to myself to write to him after breakfast.

Not only was I already comfortable around Woojung, but I was also relieved by her presence. During the entire trip to the Palace and the time I've spent in the Palace so far, I was worried I would be ostracized by the other girls or that I would stand out too much. But finding a companion like Woojung made those worries go away. 

Woojung and I were sharing stories from back home when the King cleared his throat. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned towards him. 

"Welcome to the Palace, ladies. It brings me such happiness to know that my son Woojin has the chance to find a partner, just like I found mine through the same process 25 years ago." The King turned towards the Queen and reached for her hand as he said this. "I know the Palace must be overwhelming for some of you, but I do hope you will make yourselves at home here. I'm sure Prince Woojin is excited to get to know all of you." 

My heart was warmed a little bit at how much the King seemed to be so happy with the Queen. The other girls seemed to marvel too. Perhaps it planted seeds of hope for them; hope that they would end up with Prince Woojin and find happiness like that. 

After the King had given his short speech, we finished up eating and the King and the Queen exited the dining hall. Prince Woojin stood by the door as Miro instructed us to stand up and leave the dining hall in an orderly line. Every girl stopped by the door to have a brief introductory greeting with the prince and because I was in the back of the line, it took a while for me to get to him. Some girls ran their fingers through their hair in nervousness while talking to the prince and other girls' were seen wiping their hands on their dresses. My habit was to rub my wrist when I was anxious. 

When it became my turn I curtsied to the Prince and I looked up at him. He was a lot more handsome than I thought he was. Well, it was probably because it was so dark outside last night. But he had eyes that sparkled and his lips were shaped so perfectly. His eyebrows were very sharp and his silver hair gave him a mysterious look. 

Prince Woojin smiled when we made eye contact. "Good morning, sweetheart." I cringed again but I tried not to show it. "How was your breakfast?"  

"Oh, the food was marvelous, your majesty. It was so good that I wanted to hide some in my dress for me to take up to my room." Was this too weird to say for the first official greeting? 

Prince Woojin chuckled. "I see you are still humorous." 

I froze. Still humorous? Did he recognize me?

"Did you think I would not recognize you, sweetheart?" Prince Woojin raised his eyebrow. 

"I... I did think you would not recognize me. It was, it was so dark last night." I stammered and I must've looked funny because Prince Woojin broke into a huge smile. 

"I'll tell you how I recognized you when I see you later, sweetheart. I'll see you in the afternoon. I'll come to get you."

Miro signaled for me to walk forward so that the next girl could talk to Prince Woojin. And as I was walking past Miro towards the staircase that led up to my room, Miro congratulated me for being the first Selected girl to have a one on one meeting with Prince Woojin.

Let me just say that it took me a very long time to make it up to my room.