The little girl stood there shaking, clutching her Cinderella doll in one hand and holding tightly onto her mom’s shirt in the other. They were standing in front of a set of large, white double doors and were about to ring the doorbell when the door slowly opened and an elderly man in a black suit appeared and gestured for them to enter. “Mrs. Kang has been expecting you and is waiting in the drawing room,” he stated and one of the maids ushered them down the hall.

After a few moments they appeared once again in front of a set of large, white double doors. The maid knocked and then opened the door, ushering the guests behind her to follow her into the room. When they entered, a woman about the age of the girl’s mother placed a book down and stood up quickly. “Oh my, if it isn’t Shin Giyong,” the woman said, rushing up to the girl’s mom and hugging her lightly. The woman then looked down at the girl and her doll. “What’s your name, sweetheart?” she asked, crouching down in front of her.

“Seulki,” the girl muttered, shifting her weight and playing with the hem of Cinderella’s dress. Then, realizing that she forgot to bow, quickly did so.

The woman smiled and bowed back. “How old are you Seulki?” she asked. Seulki looked down at the floor and held up four fingers. The woman playfully gasped and said, “You’re four years old? Wow! You’re so cute!” Seulki blushed and smiled. The woman continued, “I’m Kang Yoonji but you can call me Mrs. Kang. It’s nice to meet you. Come, now, I want you to meet someone.”

She held out her hand for Seulki to take and Seulki looked over at her mom who nodded supportively. She took Mrs. Kang’s hand and walked behind her as she led her further into the room and into an adjacent room. “Insoo,” Mrs. Kang called out, stopping just at the entrance to the room, “Come say hello to our new maid and her daughter.”

Seulki hid behind Mrs. Kang’s legs, unsure if she wanted to see who this ‘Insoo’ person was. She heard the tiny footsteps sound throughout the room and in no time, an unfamiliar child’s face appeared from the other side of Mrs. Kang’s legs. Seulki guessed that was Insoo.

“Hi,” the boy said with a broad smile, “I’m Kang Insoo.” His voice was soft and when he smiled, his eyes became crescents. Seulki also could have sworn she saw a light shining from behind him. Insoo looked up at his mom and said, “Why isn’t she talking? Is she sick?”

Mrs. Kang looked down at Seulki and knelt down beside the two children, gently Seulki’s hair. “She’s alright,” Mrs. Kang calmly explained, “she’s just shy. You’re only one year older than her so, Insoo, you need to take care of her, alright?”

Insoo nodded and tried to take Seulki’s hand but Seulki backed away from him and hugged her Cinderella doll tightly. Insoo frowned and looked sadly at his mom. Mrs. Shin then walked into the room. “Come on, Seulki, let’s go see our room,” she said. As soon as she heard her mother’s voice, Seulki ran up to her and gripped her leg, her eyes not leaving Insoo.

Mrs. Kang smiled. “I’ll see you later,” she said and waved Mrs. Shin and Seulki off.

As the two of them wandered the mansion mindlessly, Seulki looked up at the ceiling, the ground, and the walls in an attempt to take it all in but found that it was too much for her. Eventually she found herself entering a ruby room with two beds and two desks in the corners of the room. Seulki’s jaw dropped in awe at what seemed like the largest bedroom she had ever been in before.

“Seulki,” Mrs. Shin said, kneeling down in front of her daughter, “this is where we’re going to live from now on. Do you like it?” Seulki’s face transformed from wonderment to happiness in a matter of seconds and she nodded her head, clutching her Cinderella doll tighter. Mrs. Shin smiled at her daughter’s reaction and led her toward the set of beds. “Now I think it’s time for Cinderella to go to bed, alright?” she said, carefully taking the doll from Seulki’s hands.

After a while, they both then heard footsteps approaching their door and they turned around to see a new maid waiting for them in the doorway. The woman bowed to them and then said, “The mistress would like to inform you that dinner is served.”

Mrs. Shin looked at Seulki and stood up as Seulki put down her crayons and they both followed the maid into the dining room – Seulki still clinging to her mother’s shirt. As they approached the dining room, Seulki’s grip tightened and once they walked up to Mrs. Kang and Insoo, Seulki hid behind her mother’s leg.

“Please, please, sit down,” Mrs. Kang instructed, “I want to hear about everything that you’ve done since our days in college.”

Begrudgingly, Seulki let go of her mother’s shirt and sat down in the chair next to her. Food was swiftly being served to those at the table and everyone began to dig in except for Seulki who was looking down at her lap and messing with the hem of her own shirt. Insoo, who was sitting across from her, kept trying to look into her eyes and to get her attention.

“Seulki, sweetie, are you okay?” Mrs. Kang asked, suddenly noticing Seulki’s behavior.

Mrs. Shin smiled sweetly and wrapped her arms comfortingly around Seulki’s shoulders. “She’s alright, she’s just tired. Seulki, why don’t you go upstairs and go to bed. You must be tired.”

Without a sound, Seulki got up from the table and ran out of the dining room.

A few hours later, Seulki still hadn’t made it to her room. In fact, she was lost in the giant mansion and she soon found tears forming in her eyes. Suddenly, a loud crash of thunder sounded and a flash of lightning lit the strangely dark hallway. Seulki screamed and crouched down against the wall, closed her eyes tight, and tears poured down her face. “Mommy!” she called out. She waited for her mom to come and find her but no one came. “Mommy!” she screamed again. Once more, no one came.

By then, the tears were falling harder as the thunder crashed again and lightning continued to flash. Suddenly, Seulki felt a hand on her shoulder. Thinking it was her mom, she opened her eyes and was about to hug her when she noticed it wasn’t her mom; it was Insoo. Seulki immediately backed away and fell back down onto the ground.

“Are you okay?” Insoo asked, slowly approaching Seulki. Seulki backed away. The thunder boomed once more and Seulki flinched. “Are you afraid of the thunder?” he asked, crouching down to her level. Seulki nodded. Insoo smiled and reached his hand out for her to hold. “Do you like ice cream?” he asked. The tears immediately seemed to dry from Seulki’s cheeks and she nodded her head. “Come on, I know where the chef keeps all of the ice cream.”

With that, Seulki hesitantly took Insoo’s hand and he helped her up. Then, as he led her back downstairs and to the kitchen, Seulki then realized something. Insoo was just like the princes in her fairy tales. He was kind, sweet, smart, and above all, handsome – just like Cinderella’s prince.

“Ahh, here we are,” he said, letting go of her hand and going to the fridge. At the moment, he was too short to reach it so he had to jump to get the tub of ice cream from the top shelf. Eventually, he grabbed two bowls and two spoons and placed them in between the two. Seulki took no time at all in digging into the tub. Insoo laughed and began to eat some of the ice cream as well. “You really like ice cream, don’t you?” he chuckled.

Before Seulki could respond, Mrs. Shin suddenly entered the room and said, “There you are, Seulki!” Seulki looked up at her mom with a spoon still in and her lips surrounded by ice cream. “I was wondering why you weren’t in bed. Come on, let’s go. It’s late. Goodnight Insoo.”

Without protest, Seulki nodded and took the spoon out of and wiped her lips with the back of her arm then walked up to her mom. She glanced back at Insoo quickly and then looked down at her feet. “Thank you,” she mumbled and then scurried out of the room behind her mom.