HUMAN PAWNS

29 August 2048, 1.00 p.m.

Twirling the tip of the black pawn piece in her hands, Queen Hyewon smirked softly as she watched comfortably from her velvet chair, knowing that it would be impossible for white to simply think of its way out.

Sticking out a slender hand to take a sip out of her teacup, Hyewon silently observed her counterparts’ faces, as hers contorted into a little smirk whilst the other kept itself from seeping through the cracks of their stiff facade.

Right opposite of her, Wonyoung scrunched her thin eyebrows before mirroring Hyewon’s actions, taking a sip out of her teacup as well.

“Hm, shame. I liked that piece but I think it has served me well.” Hyewon commented as she watched the black bishop get knocked off the board unceremoniously by the white bishop.

The Queen’s slit eyes lightly hovered over the tiny shadows, brought about by the late afternoon sun, as she reviewed each step they could possibly take. With the limited spaces she could travel over, it pressured her pawns into a tight spot.

Alas, a little window of opportunity showed itself as the afternoon sun crept away, casting an eerie shadow on her lone ‘Queen’ surrounded by other useful pieces, yet viewed as a mere tool to be tossed away for the ‘Queen’.

Sugar cubes for their tea eventually diminished as a few pieces slowly dwindled down to a pair of a king and a queen on Hyewon’s side and a lone white queen standing serenely on Wonyoung’s end.

“You know what I despise about such a simple yet complex game of chess, is why the Queen isn’t as important as the King? I mean in all fairness, at the end of the day. They are chess pieces.” Hyewon muttered bitterly as her pieces closed Wonyoung’s lone piece into the corner.

With nowhere to run to, Wonyoung watched silently as the Queen twirled the only chess piece that would yield a simple checkmate from her parted lips.

“Before I decide to simply announce checkmate, may I ask a simple question?”

Unconsciously her lips, Wonyoung nodded her head.

“You know, my children’s affairs are none of my business, considering that they have matured enough to my expectations. Even so, sometimes these expectations are broken by some sort of revelation.” The Queen sighed deeply before shrugging her shoulders.

“What sort of revelation, Queen Hyewon?”

“Imagine seeing your child walking past the freshly mowed lawn, drunk and barely able to hold herself up on her assistant. Of course, I don’t blame the child. They need to explore the world on their own wings someday. But it’s curious to note that when your child had yet to show any form of attraction to anything that could be remotely human, had surprisingly turned up with a human.”

“It’s curious indeed but I don’t see why you would have to ponder so deeply over it. Why don’t you have your child invite them over and perhaps you can exchange pleasantries, or play a simple game of chess to pass the time?” Replying back in a lighthearted tone, Wonyoubg took a sip out of her tea.

Over the rim of her cup, she could faintly see the Queen shift the positions of her chess piece which hovered lightly over the perfect squares.

‘That’s exactly what I’m doing right now, Princess Kwon. And checkmate.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

30 August 2048, 1.00 p.m.

BANG

Casting a pitiful glance at the slumped body of the officer, the masked person’s fingers the gun tenderly, allowing the steel frame to cool their nerves.

“Perhaps this serves as a reminder of how you should really take your work seriously instead of moping about, handing me files filled with useless information.”

Scoffing lightly, “The chips can’t work due to technical issues blah blah blah...”

Sliding the gun into their holster, the soft whirring of the air conditioner could only comfort the dead body’s descent to somewhere better from their own personal hell.

“Shame that you didn’t put up a real fight. Most of my victims had been thrill to torture but only when you have someone to do with it. My partner had things to preoccupy themself so I decided to take things into my own hands. Impulsively of course, I seek no thrill in having to calculate every move.”

Taking a last glance at the body, the perpetrator could only chuckle softly to themself.

“Why am I even talking to a dead body? But then again, it’s not like everyone that I interact with, follows back with my words.”

Muttering softly, they quietly stalked off in the direction of Castle Elysian, not before stripping them self off with their disguise, stowing the plain disguises into their briefcase.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

30 August 2048, 9.00a.m.

“Remember that you have your respective schedules to attend to, especially you, Ahn Eugene. I expect that you are aware of your special day tomorrow.” Sakura reminded the Crown Princess as she peered over the tabloid in her wheelchair.

“Yes, Mother. I’m well aware of such a schedule. We have personal assistants for a reason.” Gesturing to her hologram, Eugene bowed before showing herself out. To enjoy a day prior to being an age that held responsibilities as a never ending buffet, the only difference is that she didn’t have any choice in what the future held for her.

Sighing deeply to herself, Eugene sought to regain a little composure especially from all the incidents that were running around the castle lately. From Sakura’s recent bruises from a bad fall to Eunbi throwing around prophecies, there was the occasional kiss from her girlfriend though it wasn’t enough to quell her fears on what was bound to happen.

Yuri’s death hadn’t seemed to shake the Royal Family from Yujin’s eyes, for they simply carried on with their lives, as if they were simply flipping through a page of a boring novel to turn straight for the next chapter that the novel had to offer.

Though there were traces of sadness lingering in the atmosphere, Eugene simply locked such memories deep away. She was afraid that if she attempted to reconnect to it in any way, it would be like prodding a hot iron rod to a raw piece of flesh. As a Crown Princess of the Ahn Family, she could only hang her head down, avoiding to answer any questions pertaining to the deaths.

However, it wasn’t the only thing that weighed her head down.

“To Lee Yena”

Those were the only three words she could recall from the event made to honour the deaths of the soldiers in the military training that had taken a different turn.

Yet, her mind seems to contain drops of memories, some of which couldn’t fit the puzzle pieces that she had found. They came in different sizes, shapes and lengths while having a common thing to share.

‘They didn’t belong to the puzzle yet found themselves fitting right next to the pieces.’

It was confusing. One moment she finds herself running out of the Castle Elysian due to a sudden rebellion by the soldiers yet, words spoken by her dead sister seem to contrast the memories that hovered in her mind.

When was the last time she ever had a single interaction with any of the Lee Family?

Perhaps years ago? The Crown Princess wasn’t entirely sure though she had learned to accept that life in the castle was simply the new normal, with no questions asked. But it wasn’t like she had the freedom to ask questions relating to the Lees. Eventually she turned to others like the blue moon girl, but not even her girlfriend could provide her the answer she wanted to hear.

The next best thing to do was just to leave it as it is, just like the rest of her childhood memories. Sometimes, such questions don't have the answers that people are looking for even if it is there, staring blankly at our faces. Perhaps, some people aren’t just ready to hear the answer that they need.

Sighing to herself, Eugene discarded the wrapper of the granola bar and crunched on it silently as she shuffled down to Minjoo’s room.

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