- Hana

The dress I was helped into was a gossamer pink, simple but not plain, eye catching but not obnoxious. This really was a well-made dress.

“Cissana really overdid herself again,” Grandma muttered as she buttoned up the back. “This dress alone probably took days.”

“Cissana? The tailoress?” I asked. “Grandma, you know her too? Sewing Mistress seemed to be close friends with her.”

“She…” Grandma hesitated. “She’s made a few dresses for me.”

I nodded, too distracted by the upcoming event to question further.

I was going to the castle today. Today.

“Do I look okay?” I asked Grandma nervously when all the preparations were done. My hair tumbled past my shoulders in soft waves, and I was wearing my favorite pair of earrings.

“You look beautiful,” Grandma said softly, something I didn’t hear often from her. She hugged me tightly, her eyes looking a little moist.

“Grandma! It’s not like we’re parting forever,” I smiled, trying to hold back my own tears. “I’ll come visit as soon as I can.”

“Of course you will,” she said, smacking my bottom. “You can't leave your old grandmother here to rot by herself, can you?”

The front door opened and Daeryong stepped in, his eyes widening softly at the sight of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Grandma smirk slightly at Daeryong’s reaction.

“I think the carriage’s almost here,” Daeryong said, his eyes still stuck on me. He then just sighed, “You look pretty, Hana. So annoying. You’re going to be a pain at the castle.”

I made a face at him and smacked his arm. “Can't you be nicer? I’m leaving.”

“So am I,” Daeryong smirked. “Just because you’re leaving a few days earlier than me doesn’t mean you’re departure is more special than mine.”

“Dishonest fool,” Grandma muttered, smacking Daeryong upside the head.

“You’re the best Grandma,” I beamed at her while Daeryong rubbed his head.

A knock came at the door, the same coachman that took me to town standing at the door.

“Hello Lady Hana,” he bowed. I curtsied in response. “Where is your luggage, Miss?”

I tapped the trunk at my feet, “This is it.”

As we carried the trunk to the carriage, I turned to Grandma and Daeryong.

I hugged my grandma tightly, “I’ll come visit as soon as I can.”

“Do your best, Hana,” she smiled at me. “Don’t let anyone look down on you, not even the princess. Remember that if you ever decide to come back, I’ll be waiting here.”

“I love you Grandma,” I whispered, hugging her one more time.

“Ahem,” Daeryong cleared his throat. “Don’t forget about me.”

Laughing, I turned to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Don’t miss me too much for the next three days.”

“Same goes for you,” Daeryong laughed, tussling my hair. “You’re gonna come to my knighting, right?”

“Of course,” I smiled, giving him one last squeeze. “Alright, I’m off. Wish me luck!”

With a smile on my face, I entered the carriage and waved goodbye as I left.

***

“Who’s that?”

“I’ve never seen her before.”

“Is she the new lady in waiting for the princess?”

“Oh dear… poor girl.”

I ignored the whispers and followed the count around the massive castle.

“And this will be your room. Your trunk has already been moved inside,” he finally said, turning around to face me after a confusing tour of the castle. “Any questions?”

“Uh… when will I get to meet the princess?” I asked nervously.

The count smiled, pointing at the grand double doors at the end of the hallway, “That is the princess’s bedroom. Everyone who lives in this hallway serves the princess. I believe she wanted to have tea with you at noon. You have a couple hours to unpack and get settled.”

He bowed and left the hallway.

Hesitantly, I opened the door, revealing a beautiful bedroom. In the center of the room was a bed with soft looking baby blue bed sheets. White furniture decorated the round room, and plush rugs covered the floor, making it feel like I was walking on clouds. There was a large window on the far side, bright sunlight streaming in and lighting up the room. At the foot of the bed was my trunk. I sat down slowly on it, trying to take in my surreal surroundings.

I finally stood up and began to unpack. My new dresses were already stored in the wardrobe, so unpacking didn’t take too long.

A small knock came at my door. “The princess is asking for you, Lady Hana.”

I threw one last glance at the mirror, straightening my dress, and left my new bedroom.

I knocked softly on the princess’s door.

“Come in.”

I opened the door and quickly stepped in, closing it behind me. This room had to be at least three times the size of mine, filled with more pink and frills than I could ever possibly handle. Sitting in the middle of this room was the princess, a small table in front of her with tea and cake.

This was my first time seeing the princess, although I’d hear descriptions of what she looks like before. She had short blonde hair that fell in ringlets around her face, bright blue eyes, and small cute facial features.

Anyone would consider her pretty and cute. She was like the model example of the typical beauty found in Agonia.

“Hello,” I curtsied.

“You’re Hana?” she asked, standing up. Her body was dainty too, about half a head shorter than me.

“Yes, princess,” I answered.

“Ah, so the rumors are true,” she huffed as she reached where I was standing. “You really are pretty, Hana.”

“I’m nothing compared to you, princess,” I said, feeling nervous.

She seemed to ponder my words for a few moments, then a smile appeared on her face. She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the tea table. “I like you Hana. Maybe we’ll get along.”

“That would be great,” I smiled, sitting down opposite of her.

As she poured me a cup of tea, she asked me, “How old are you?”

“I’m seventeen, princess,” I said.

“Ah, you’re a year younger than me then,” she said. “Hm, you don’t look that young though.”

“I get that a lot,” I laughed softly.

“Oh! You should meet Kai!” the princess said, setting her cup down. “Since both of you will be around me a lot, you two should get acquainted. Kai?”

A door on the far side of the room opened, and a tall man wearing dark clothes stepped in, coming over to us. He had dark hair, almost as black as mine, and similar pale skin.

“Kai, this’s Hana, my new lady in waiting,” the princess said, patting his arm. “Hana, this’s Kai, my special knight.”

When Kai raised his head to look at me, I was startled by his pale blue eyes. They were so pale that they almost looked silvery.

I stood up and gave a small curtsy, and he bowed.

“Kai doesn’t talk much, by the way,” the princess laughed, trailing a finger down his arm. “He’s shy.”

Looks more scary than anything in my opinion… With his non-changing stoic expression and dark clothes, he looked pretty menacing.

The rest of the day, I kept the princess company, although she seemed pretty good at entertaining herself. She was a little self centered at times, but definitely not what other people made her out to be.

Someone knocked on my door. It was late at night, and I was about to go to sleep.

“Yes? Come in,” I said tiredly. The door opened and a maid I had seen around today stepped in, giving me a curtsy.

“Hello Lady Hana,” she said nervously. “I’m sorry to be bothering you at such a late hour… but I really wanted to meet you for myself. I’ve been hearing so much about you all of today.”

I smiled at her cute nervousness and beckoned for her to come to my bed. I patted the spot next to me, and with wide eyes she sat down.

“What’s your name?” I asked. “I think I saw you a couple times today.”

“Io, miss,” she said.

I waved the air in front of me, “You don’t have to refer to me as miss or lady. I have common background. Before today, I was just a common villager.”

She looked at me with wide eyes, “I can really call you Hana?”

“Please do,” I smiled. “But I want to ask. What’ve people been saying about me?”

“Oh, everyone’s talking about you!” she said in hushed excitement. “Mostly about your appearance. All the maids were talking about how unbelievably beautiful you were, so I wanted to come see myself.”

As soon as she stopped talking, she glanced at nervously, probably scared that I would get mad at her or something.

I laughed, “Well, do I meet your expectations?”

“You’re even prettier than I thought you would be!” she squealed. “Lady Hana, I’ve never seen anyone who looks like you in Agonia.” She stared into my eyes, “And your eyes… everyone here says the brightest eyes are the prettiest, but after meeting you, I think that’s wrong.”

I blushed at the extreme flattery, “Thank you Io. And again, you don’t need to call me lady.”

“And you’re so kind…” she sighed. “I wish the princess could be more like you.”

I frowned, “She really didn’t seem that bad today.”

“Oh, that’s because,” she said, leaning in and whispering. “Today was a good day.”

“Huh?”

“The princess…” she said quietly. “No one says it out loud, but we all believe that she has a split personality. There’s a pattern. About every fourth day, she locks herself in her bedroom and doesn’t let anyone in, except for Kai. Then, the next day, she’s possibly the worst human being on earth. You don’t want to cross her on those days. But then, she gradually get better and nicer, until she locks herself in her room on the fourth day.”

“Oh…” I said slowly. “So today was… the third day then?”

Io nodded, “She’s going to lock herself in her room tomorrow. I guarantee it.”

“That’s so odd,” I said. “Does anyone know what she does?”

Io shook her head, “Only Kai. We tried asking him once, but he didn’t even look at us. Kai doesn’t talk to anyone but the princess. I’ve never even heard his voice before.”

I nodded slowly, “Then what do people do on the fourth day? Everyone in this hallway serves the princess. What do we do when she locks herself up?”

She shrugged, “We just treat it like an off day. Prepare ourselves for the next day, since it’s going to awful for sure.”

We hushed when we heard footsteps in the hallway.

“Oh, I better go,” Io said, slipping off my bed and walking to the door. “Thank you… for everything, Hana! Can I come talk to you again?”

“Of course,” I smiled. She smiled at me, then left.

I lay down in my bed and settled in. Today had been a long day and I was exhausted. I fell asleep, thinking about home.