A/N:

I mean after that feast of kwonchaeng content that we got, I had to update right?

CHAEYEON

They came again tonight. The nightmares.

There were flashes of the Oneiric castle. Weaving through empty passages, with someone tugging on her arms for her to follow.

A man in armour with Oneiric colours.

The ring she grasped in her hand. The distress she felt spiked as she hid the ring on a chain so she could wear it without her father finding out.

Kind eyes that looked at her with so much warmth. A name escapes her lips that she didn’t even realize she knew until now.

Eunwoo.

Chaeyeon gasps for a breath of air. Immediately, the want to speak a name grazed her lips, it was just waiting to be uttered. It was at the tip of her tongue. She could visualize in her mind how her lips would look as she said the two syllables.

But when she opened , no sound came. The name was lost, as if replaced by another.

She sighs, disappointed. More so by having the dream itself than not remembering what it was she dreamt. Of course, Chaeyeon was not a stranger to dreams––She wasn’t a stranger to nightmares either. But for a while now she thought she had been rid of the night terrors.

It must have been her father’s sudden presence that triggered it again. It was the only explanation Chaeyeon could think up on the spot.

If this was another night, Chaeyeon might have rolled over and gone back to sleep. But tonight, there was a painful tug in her stomach. She’s quickly beginning to regret not eating dinner just because she wanted to avoid talking to her wife. Though in her defense, just a few hours interacting with her father was enough to deplete the princess of all her energy. 

Maybe that was all the more reason to not have skipped dinner. But what’s done is done.

Chaeyeon got out of bed and her room with light and quick feet. Once she managed to softly, or as softly as she could have given how large the doors of her chambers were, Chaeyeon turned to the corridor on her right. The opposite side of where her connecting apartment to the Queen was.

Once she spots the door to Sakura’s room, she stops to think. Some part of Chaeyeon felt bad to be here, asking for assistance in the middle of the night. Or whatever time it might be right now. But from the looks of the moonlight coming in through the windows, it was nowhere near sunrise yet.

Her stomach growls loudly.

These were the times Chaeyeon hated her father for not letting her play in the kitchen when she was younger. She could have solved this problem by cooking for herself if it weren’t for him.

Just before her stomach could squeeze and alert her of her hunger once more, Chaeyeon rapidly knocks on the door. She figured she was going to wake up Sakura anyway, there was no reason for her to be shy about knocking.

A few seconds pass by before the door opens, and a bleary eyed Sakura appears in the middle of the doorframe. “Your Highness?” She asks, the words blurred into an unladylike yawn. She tries to compose herself, but looking as sleepy as she was in a nightshift, she only barely succeeds. Not that Chaeyeon minds. “Forgive me, Princess, but what time is it?”

“Late,” Chaeyeon answers guiltily. “I apologise for waking you, but I––” Embarrassingly, she was cut off by the sound of her stomach, growling like some beast, echoing all around the quiet palace corridor.

“Hungry, Princess?” Sakura needn’t ask, they both knew that. Chaeyeon could recognize the teasing, almost an, I told you so, for declining the Queen’s invitation to eat just a few hours ago. Sakura rubs the sleep from her eyes. “Come. I’ll cook you something light, Your Highness.” She says, closing the door behind her with less care than Chaeyeon had with hers, and starts heading to what must be the direction of the kitchens.

Chaeyeon follows quickly, almost stumbling over her own feet at the thought of food.

The palace kitchen was enormous. Much larger than Chaeyeon thought it would be, but realized how foolish she was to think it wouldn’t be. It must take an actual army of cooks to feed all the inhabitants of a castle this lively and grand. At least it was what Chaeyeon figures after seeing the few stone ovens, and large tables still dusted with flour. She took a good long look at the large space as her lady’s maid wasted no time to get started on her task.

“You can sit over there while I prepare you something,” Sakura calls out to her. She was holding a sharp knife, ready to cut into the vegetables that she gathered in front of her. Behind her, a stone pot filled with water was waiting to boil over an open flame. “We wouldn’t want you to fall on your feet, Princess.”

Chaeyeon did as she was instructed, taking the seat opposite but facing her lady’s maid. “Thank you, Sakura. I really am sorry for waking you.”

“There’s no need to thank me, Princess.” Sakura smiles so warmly that Chaeyeon did not even bother to argue with more pleasantries or gratitude.

During her stay in Izland, Sakura was her constant. Not only her presence, but also her kindness. Chaeyeon was grateful that her lady’s maid was always there to care for her, to speak to her, and console her. Sakura was one of the few that kept her sane since she moved to this palace.

At first, when they first met some months ago, Chaeyeon couldn't help but feel suspicious of the woman. She knew that if the Queen had assigned Sakura to her, it must mean she was being watched. Chaeyeon was prepared to feel on edge in every interaction, to feel like an animal being studied, or a criminal being interrogated.

But Sakura pleasantly surprised her. She was always nice, always polite. She was funny, kind, and whether she knew it or not, made Chaeyeon feel less alone. Especially when the Queen was too busy for her.

Chaeyeon sometimes wondered if it would be worth it to retaliate against the Queen’s indiscretions. Callous as it is to think it, but there was a perfect candidate right in front of her. Sakura was someone Chaeyeon could be attracted to, and she would, no doubt, immediately report whatever Chaeyeon would say or do to the Queen. It would be easy. But it would a