[Kwangya Palace, South Korea, March 2014]

The night quickly turned to day and the crown princess was woken up at 6.30 am the following day by the loud, ringing sound of her bedside alarm. She slowly opened her eyes and began doing some light body stretches when she finally heard a series of soft knocking against her chamber’s entrance door.

Upon hearing the knocks, Crown Princess Yu quickly queried, “Yuna, are you the one knocking on my door just now?”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness. May I grace Your Royal Highness with my presence right now?” the crown princess’ Head of Royal Lady-in-Waiting responded hastily.

“You do not need to attend to me this morning, Yuna-ah. I have a more important task for you. Can you go wake Yizhuo up right now so that we will not be late for today’s visit? Oh, and also help her with her preparation this morning so that it will be quicker,” Crown Princess Yu requested as she finally slid out of the comfort of her bed.

“Very well, Your Royal Highness. I shall take my leave then,” the young Lady-in-Waiting excused herself before heading towards the royal princess’ chamber to carry out the task the monarchy’s first heir had ordered her to do.

Not long after Yuna had left, the crown princess requested for Captain Kim’s presence inside her bedroom as she was troubled with the decision on what outfit she should sport for the visit to the Gwangju Royal Orphanage Home.

“You asked for my presence, Your Royal Highness?” Captain Kim instantly asked after bowing down before the royalty.

“Yes, I did, my friend. Good morning, Minjeong-ah! By the way, how many times do I have to tell you that you do not need to bow before me like that when we are the only ones around?!” Crown Princess Yu greeted the uptight soldier, who instantaneously returned back to her upright position as soon as the royalty had ordered her to.

“How can I be of assistance to you this morning, Your Royal Highness?” Captain Kim inquired in a flat tone, clearly disregarding the royalty’s last sentence.

“Uh, I called you because I am currently pretty conflicted in terms of choosing which articles of clothing I am going to wear for the visit to the orphanage home today, Mindoongie. I am hoping that you can help me figure out what I should do,” Crown Princess Yu responded shyly whilst caressing her nape, prompting a small smile to form on the royal guard’s face.

The noirette soldier, who is undoubtedly someone that most people would classify as a fashion novice due to her lack of fashion sense, caressed her nape awkwardly, mirroring what the royalty had just done several moments prior, whilst churning her brain to its maximum capability as she was attempting to come up with the best and most-suited outfit for the royalty to wear for such an important event. At a day-to-day basis, the royal guard is obliged to constantly wear her green service uniform, whilst when she was on her off-days, Captain Kim would always sport tee-shirts with plaid flannels, shorts, and snapbacks or beanies, henceforth she herself believes that she is in no position to provide any sorts of fashion advice to the royalty. Crown Princess Yu, who instantly took notice of the captain’s scrunched eyebrows and conflicted and lost expression, took the initiative by putting together some outfits on her own and querying the slightly younger royal guard for the latter’s opinion.

Firstly, the crown princess grabbed a white polka dot-patterned on a blue-based, knee-length, short-sleeved tea dress from her closet and placed it in front of her body before asking the soldier, “What do you think about this dress, Jeong-ie?”

“Uh, I… I think it looks good on you, Your Royal Highness. However, do you not think that the dress is slightly too informal for this event? I know that you are merely visiting an orphanage home, but I think it is better if you wear something that is more formal and elegant,” Captain Kim opined soon after, to which the crown princess responded with a series of absentminded nods before proceeding to return the dress back to where it was supposed to be.

Crown Princess Yu, then, took a pastel pink-colored, sleeveless banquet evening dress from her closet and presented it as the next possible outfit option to the royal guard.

Captain Kim, who was never fond of clothing articles that may be deemed to revealing, began rummaging through the crown princess’ closet to search for any jacket or coat that could complement the dress well.

After searching for several minutes, the noirette soldier finally came across a pastel pink-colored, knee-length jacket from one of the royalty’s closet’s sections, to which she immediately took out and handed it over to the crown princess before uttering, “I agree that the dress will give you a sophisticated look for today’s event, Your Royal Highness, however I believe that pairing that dress with this jacket is an even better and more suitable look for you, rather than just the dress.”

Crown Princess Yu’s eyes instantly lit up in amazement after reassessing how well the outfit that her best friend had just picked would look like for her, prompting her to comment, “Wow, the addition of this jacket is indeed better for my overall look. You know what, Mindoongie? Those people that say that you do not have a good sense of fashion is absolutely wrong. You actually have a good taste of clothes, my friend. I will take up on your suggestion for today’s outfit. Thank you, Jeong-ie!”

Captain Kim immediately became shy upon hearing the compliment, causing streaks of blush to form on her face.

The captain, then, cleared once to refocus herself before responding, “Thank you for your kind words, Your Royal Highness. I am glad that I can be of help this morning. Is there anything else that I can be of assistance, Your Royal Highness?”

“I guess that will be all for now, Minjeong-ah. I am going to do my morning routine to get myself ready for today’s event now. You can stay inside my chamber and wait here if you want. Take it as a moment of rest after guarding my chamber the entire night,” Crown Princess Yu answered after giving the captain’s question a thought for several minutes.

“Uh, a rest will not be necessary, Your Royal Highness. I guess I shall return back to my post right now. Please do not hesitate to call me should you need any help,” Captain Kim excused herself before bowing down before the royalty and exiting the royalty’s bedroom.

Nonetheless, before the captain managed to return back to her position outside the monarchy first heir’s chamber, Crown Princess Yu called for the captain again and said, “By the way, Minjeong-ah, if by any chance Yuna comes back before I finish getting ready, just have her enter the room immediately.”

“Very well, Your Royal Highness,” Captain Kim answered curtly to the order before finally exiting the room and staying at an on-guard position right outside the royalty’s chamber.

Several hallways and bedroom doors away from the crown princess’ chamber, the monarchy first heir’s Head of Royal Lady-in-Waiting was incessantly knocking a gold-plated, three meters-tall door, which served as the entrance to the royal princess’ chamber, for over half an hour already as she patiently waited for the youngest royalty to finally wake up and start getting ready for the trip. However, for the aforementioned period of time, all Yuna could hear were merely grunts and ruffling noises of a person shifting one’s position on the bed restlessly.

“Your Highness, this is Yuna. Her Royal Highness sent me here to wake you up and help you get prepare for today’s visit. It is already 7 am right now, Your Highness.You really need to wake up right now or else the two of you are going to be late for the flight,” Crown Princess Yu’s Head of Royal Lady-in-Waiting pleaded repeatedly in the midst of her series of knocks.

“Just go away, Yuna-ya! I need more sleep. Tell Minmin unnie that I am not coming with her to Gwangju today,” Royal Princess Yu shouted before covering her ears with her pillow and drifting back to dreamland for the umpteenth time that morning.

Upon hearing the youngest royalty’s statement, Yuna decided to just give up and head back towards the crown princess’ bedroom, where she could be of use more. However, whilst as she was walking back to the said place, a brilliant idea suddenly popped up inside her brain, causing her to swiftly run through the palace’s corridors to reach the monarchy first heir’s bedroom even quicker than the supposed.

As soon as she arrived in front of the older royalty’s chamber, the brunette Royal Lady-in-Waiting noticed the noirette soldier opening , presumably to pose a question as to why the former was running that morning or to inform the younger girl about the royalty’s further orders for her.

Nevertheless, before the captain managed to produce a single sound, Yuna immediately cut her attempt by saying, “I need your help right now, Minjeong unnie. Can you please head over to Her Highness’ chamber and wake her up? I have been knocking her doors for half an hour, but my attempts were futile. If she is not up and ready in about 25 minutes, the entire itinerary for today will be messed up.”

Captain Kim’s expression instantly switched from looking relaxed to serious and focused, one that she would only sport when she has a certain goal that she must achieve. The noirette soldier, then, shortly relayed the crown princess’ request to the younger girl before speedily running through the corridors of the palace, heading straight towards the youngest royalty’s chamber. Upon her arrival at the intended destination, Captain Kim immediately banged the door hard and quickly, instantly startling the royalty inside the said room.

“Your Highness, this is Captain Kim. I need you to wake up right now and get yourself proper and ready for today’s visit to the orphanage home in 20 minutes or else Her Royal Highness and you are going to be late for the trip. If I do not receive any response or if I do not hear any sounds that are indicating that you are getting ready within the next five minutes, you can be sure that I will break this door open and drag you out of your bed, Your Highness,” the noirette soldier shouted in a stern tone, causing the youngest royalty to instantaneously jolt up from her sleeping position as she knew that what the former had warned were not empty threats.

“I’m up! I’m up, Minjeong unnie! Please don’t break my door down, unnie. It was hard enough for me to persuade Mama to get me this door,” the royal princess said hastily in a semi-shouting volume, afraid that she was going to induce more of the captain’s angry side, before continuing in a softer tone, “By the way, unnie, can you come inside for a while? I need your help in choosing my outfit for today’s event since I want to coordinate with Jimin unnie’s outfit as well.”

Royal Princess Yu’s entrance opened soon after, revealing the presence of Captain Kim from behind the door, who then bowed before the former curtly whilst giving an ‘I am disappointed in you’ look towards the younger girl. The youngest royalty immediately let out an apology for waking up late and sending her older sister’s Head of Royal Lady-in-Waiting away rather rudely, to which Captain Kim responded by repeatedly shaking her head, portraying her discontent and disapproval towards the younger princess’ actions.

“Her Royal Highness is wearing a pink pastel-colored dress and knee-length jacket, so if you want to coordinate your outfit with her, I suggest you can maybe wear something white or bright-colored,” Captain Kim informed a few moments after the youngest royalty’s apology.

Royal Princess Yu nodded at the advice, prompting her to grab a light blue-coloured button-up shirt, white chino pants, a light blue-coloured checkered suit with white linings, and a black leather belt from her closet before asking the crown princess’ Senior Royal Guard for the latter’s opinion. Captain Kim scanned the outfit for a short moment, whilst also imagining whether the two royalties’ outfits would match with each other, before giving a nod of approval to the youngest royalty. With the outfit in tow, the royal princess disappeared inside her bathroom to start her morning routine while the noirette soldier headed back towards her station in front of the crown princess’ chamber. Not long after she had returned back to staying on-guard on her supposed post, Captain Kim noticed Yuna's exit from inside the crown princess’ chamber with a worried look.

Before the younger girl managed to ask a question, Captain Kim immediately gave the former a warm smile before informing, “Her Highness is inside the shower as we speak. She should be ready in 20 minutes tops.”

The Royal Lady-in-Waiting instantly heaved out a sigh of relief upon hearing the captain’s statement before uttering in gratitude, “Thank goodness you are here to help me wake Her Highness up, Minjeong unnie. I believe Her Royal Highness would not be too happy if she heard that her younger sister is not joining the visit merely for the reason of sleeping in,” and excusing herself back inside the crown princess’ chamber.

Albeit the fact that the crown princess started her morning routine a whole 10 minutes before her younger sister even woke up, the two princesses would most likely finish at the same time, or that the younger of the two would finish earlier than the older, primarily due to the hastened pace at which the youngest royalty utilized to carry out her morning routine, one that she learned from frequently waking up only five to ten minutes prior to the supposed departure time. Approximately 15 minutes after she had first woken up, Royal Princess Yu was finally ready for the trip, looking sleek and neat in her suit, which was topped off with a pair of new suede brogues to complete her look. The royal princess, then, made her way towards her older sister’s chamber, guessing that the latter would not actually be done with the morning preparation yet, so that the two princesses would walk together towards their ride to the airport. Captain Kim, alongside the other royal guards stationed in front of the crown princess’ chamber and at various spots along the palace’s corridors and other royal staffs, instantaneously bowed down before the youngest royalty’s presence, to which the latter ordered all of them to merely return back to their previous position and proceed with their tasks at hand.

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