2/5

Queen of Hearts
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

II

 

The royal advisor had ordered servants from the castle to lead the way towards their own bedchamber for the time being. Since they were not a part of the nobles, Joohyun was expecting their chambers to be amongst the same barracks where the servants lived but no. Here they were on the top floor, north wing of the castle, where she could see other stunning ladies in elaborated dresses come and go from their rooms. Some eyeing the pair with interest. They were at the end of the hallway where the servant presented their bedchambers. The room was fairly large with two poster beds sticking at both opposites of the wall, a window with two stone seats built into the walls at both side and a basin of water at the corner of the room sat upon a small rounded table. The servant went away later, leaving both her and Seungwan to gush their thoughts on everything that had just happened so far. Everything felt like a dream. One moment they were spending time at the market, the next day, they were on their way to the castle to be at service. And now, they’re finally here. But the task this time was not as simple as that. Never had her clients gave any time-frame for her to find a perfect match but this time around, it’s different. She was uncertain, very – but with Seungwan’s persuasiveness, at least they ought to try first. If you don’t try, you’d never know. “Alright, so what do we know so far about the Princess?” Joohyun paced about the room. Seungwan took out a scrolled parchment where she would always jotted down information and notes, “Princess Seulgi Kang is the only heir and the only child of – ” “I think most of us know that. Tell me something useful.” “Her mother passed away when she was –” “Twelve.” Seungwan continued, “She has great interest in hunting, very skilled with bows and arrows, loves to travel in and out of the kingdom – mostly in disguise – so, she’s adventurous. And she loves horse riding and doing things…outdoor.” “Oh, don’t forget the most prominent information,” Joohyun turned to her friend with a knowing smile and both of them recited at the same time, “when it comes to relationship, she was never one to be spotted with the same person twice.” The both of them shared a laugh. “The Princess does not come into view as someone who is committed…” “It’s too early to tell.” Joohyun stoop her head downwards to see the view outside their room. It was  a spacious courtyard with young boys practicing with wooden swords. “Do you have an indication of what type of man or woman that you should be searching for?” “First and foremost, I have to meet her upfront and have a one-to-one chat in order for me to know,” Joohyun turned to face her friend, a faint smile plastered on her lips, “But we do know one thing – she or he cannot be a commoner.”   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♥♥♥~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   After a hearty breakfast the next morning, Joohyun and Seungwan took the opportunity to roam the castle before her said appointment with the Princess. It was unfortunate that the Princess was not present during breakfast at the Great Hall earlier. But good thing they had the prospect to mingle around with lower-ranking ladies who sat at the same table, gossiping about and one of the topics were of the Princess. Joohyun heard enough to delude the type of person the Crown Princess was, though some of the rumours were rather exaggerating, if you ask her. They treated both Seungwan and her rather welcoming; there was even a man from which neighbourhood, she doesn’t remember, dropped by and ask her for a walk but she quickly declined. “You just missed your chance!” Wendy kept lamenting to her along the way, “He is a noble from Argos. The second in line, but still – a noble!” Joohyun brushed aside, “You know very well there are quite a number of nobles approaching me even when I’m not in the castle.” “Exactly! And I don’t see the point of you rejecting their offer. Aren’t you keen on finding your own true love too?” “Yes, I am. But I don’t feel the butterflies yet.” Seungwan only managed to shook her head, getting used to the usual answer her friend would gave whenever they briefed this topic. They reached a second courtyard, a shaded one but with the view of the whole town at the bottom of the hill. It was a breath-taking sight and she had never stepped foot in a place this high. It was as if the castle rest amongst the clouds. “This scenery is going to take some time for me to adjust myself with,” Joohyun said as she breathed in the fresh morning air. “Don’t you think this place just oozes with romance?” Seungwan grinned,“It’s going to make our job easier.” “Let’s hope so.” Like the silly girls they can be at times, Seungwan and her took turns to point out the buildings from below and guessing which is which. They were figuring out which rooftop was their own house when a voice spoke behind their back. “Well you must be the commoners.” They turned around to see a young girl, perhaps thirteen or fourteen of age, dressed in a faint pink gown with crafty laces at the edges. Her chestnut, brown hair was let loose but braided at both sides of her head reaching at the back like a small crown. “Well hello there.” Joohyun greeted back, “And yes, we are the commoners. I am Joohyun and she is Seungwan. And you are – ?” “ – Not where she was supposed to be.” Another voice made an entrance and this time it was someone familiar. The lady-in-waiting, Sooyoung, who now looked exceptionally different, no longer in dark cloak and donning a red satin dress that matches so well with her cherry red lips. “Begging your pardon,” Sooyoung spoke, a firm hand gripped on the girl’s shoulder, “This is my sister, Yeri – who was supposed to be tending to her studies.” “I was just welcoming the commoners –” “ – Guests!” “ – to the castle.” “I see…” Sooyoung stared at the girl, unamused, as if she was used to the girl’s excuse, “I would suggest you to go back to the cabinets with the other girls before the Maester send a search party for you again.” Yeri dramatically sighed, walking back inside the castle but not before throwing a mischievous like smile at both her and Seungwan. “Apologies for my crude little sister, she can be a headache some time.” “Not a problem. We completely understand.” Seungwan chirped rather too merrily, earning a blatant stare from Sooyoung. “I have come to assist you to meet the princess now.” Sooyoung nodded to Joohyun. “Are you ready to meet her?” “Certainly.”   .   .   . She was in one of the cabinets, chatting along with Lady Chungha and Lady YooAh of her recent trip to the city of ashes. The girls were always ever so keen to listen to her stories; ooh-ing and ah-ing at all the right places with their silly little laughs. “I heard there is an evil witch hiding in that city,” Lady Chungha spoke, “Did you happened to meet one?” “Witch?” Seulgi snorted, “There is no such thing. I would’ve knew if I met one. But all I see were roads covered in soots and breathe in grimy air. That is why one of my knights fell sick and we had to stopped by an inn along the way back.” “Did the people discover your true identity?” It was Lady YooAh’s turn to ask. “No. No one outside the kingdom even knew how the Princess looked like.” Seulgi pointed out, “Even the people of our own town barely recognise my face, what more a faraway city.” YooAh sighed, “I wish I could join one of your travels soon. I’m going to pester my father every day until he gets tired of me!” Seulgi then shook her head, dejected, “Unfortunately, you should put that pestering on hold since I’m going to stay at the castle for quite some time.” “Oh, why is that?” “I – ” Two knocks on the door and the royal advisor, Seungho walked in. Seulgi knew the appearance of the man himself meant he came for her. “The King has requested your presence…immediately.” . . When Seulgi walked into one of the cabinets in the castle, she noticed the atmosphere of the room was awkward and quiet. Her father sat on one side and another woman, head bowing low, sat on the opposite, as if she does not know where to look. Seulgi announced herself, “Apologies for the late arrival. Hope I’m not interrupting any discussions.” Both the King and the woman stood up from their seat in an instance. Seulgi glance at the woman, doe brown eyes, button nose and small pink lips. Huh, beautiful. But who is she? She turned to her father who was sporting an impish grin. “Princess Seulgi of Adonia,” Her father spoke, “Allow me to introduce you to Bae Joohyun of Adamur.” The woman, Joohyun, politely smile before stretching a hand for her to shake. Seulgi took it and asked, “and you are – ?” “Your royal matchmaker!” Joohyun eagerly answered. “Matchmaker?” “She expertised in romance,” The King explained, “You may or may not know, but the town dubbed her as the Queen of Hearts. So that is why I have hired her to aid you with your quest.” “My
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter
Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
DASH_5834
#1
Chapter 5: ❤️
Reveluv4vr
#2
Chapter 2: Haha.. funny and cute interactions 😁😁
its_aaarrriii
#3
Chapter 1: woah new story for me to read!
Oct_13_wen_03 36 streak #4
Chapter 5: 🤍🤍🤍
Apcxjsv
#5
Chapter 5: 💗💛
railtracer08
357 streak #6
Chapter 5: Matchmaker Joohyun still has her 100% success rate hehe
Jensoo4everlove #7
Rereadingg
Oct_13_wen_03 36 streak #8
Chapter 1: 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍
karen_plvra
#9
Chapter 5: it was so good!!!
democratits
#10
Chapter 5: This is so good for my mental health😭 I love the build up, the conflicting feelings, the side wenjoy!1! Thank you for writing this <3