Jessica's POV

I walk through a crowd of people. Not one of them see me. Not one of them ever do. Not one of them ever will.

But I can see them. I can see every single living person in this kingdom. They can not hide from me.

I single out a boy of about eight. Cho Kyungsan is something off his fingers. His black hair shines in the light and his dark eyes sparkle like jewels. He is obviously just a peasant, but when he grows up he will be more handsome than countless princes.

I reach out and touch him with my right index finger on the forehead. He can not feel my touch. Not yet.

My finger drops down to my side.

I hate who I am sometimes. I hate what I do. I hate my very existence.

Kyungsan will not feel well tomorrow. His parents will not have enough money to pay a doctor to see him. But the boy is strong; he will survive the sickness that is now running through his body.

I walk away from the young boy. He doesn't even know I was ever there.

I continue to walk through the marketplace. The next person I choose is an elderly woman sitting in the shade next to a stall. Ban Hyojung has lived a long, happy life. I do not think she will live much longer after my visit. But before I touch the woman, I follow her gaze to a middle-aged man and a young girl running the stall. The man shares many of the same physical traits of the woman, and the girl also has a fair share of the man's looks. They are a family.

I finally touch the elderly woman. She closes her eyes, making me think for a split second that she felt me. But she didn't. She is just sleeping.

I take a step away from the woman. I do not think she will be in pain when she passes. I take another step back. I am taking a life for not the first time, and surely not the last time.

I am hating myself again. I decide as I walk away that I shall not visit that family again for a long time. A long time from their point of view, at least. Not necessarily from mine.

I walk through the crowd, only touching a few people as I get closer to where the nobles stay. On my way I see a stand selling beautiful mirrors. I stop for a moment to look at them. Big and small, complex and simple, expensive and cheap mirrors are all being sold. Without touching any of them, I look into the mirrors. They do not show my reflection. They never do.

I am just about to turn around when one of the mirrors catches my eye. It is small and square with rounded edges. I take a closer look at it.

Looking at me from the mirror is a woman of maybe twenty-five. She has fairly pale skin and light brown hair that falls down in waves. Her eyes are such a dark brown that they look like dark coffee. She is beautiful, but there is sadness in her eyes. I smile at her, and she smiles at me the same time. And then I realize that the girl in the mirror is me. Never before have I seen my reflection. I reach out for the mirror and gently lift it. I normally never take anything, but this mirror seems special. I slip it in a pocket of my dress and continue on walking.

I reach my next destination; a large house belonging to a wealthy man and his family. Shindong never did anything to earn his money. No, he had inherited it when his parents died after I visited them years ago. Now I am visiting him, giving him a taste of what his parents suffered before their deaths.

I walk right through the doors of the house. He is in his study, reading a book. Shindong has brown hair and brown eyes. He isn't handsome, but he isn't necessarily ugly either. His face is a fairly forgettable one. I will not forget it, though. He had been in the room with me when I touched his parents.

Once upon a time, he had been a kind young man. His parents' deaths made him cold and hard. I sometimes wonder how he would have turned out if I had never visited.

Oh well. The damage had already been done. I touch the man and walk out of the house, heading towards the palace. I touch a few others on my way.

My last victim before I entered the palace is a girl. Choi Sooyoung has long wavy brunette hair and dark eyes. The daughter of a high-ranking nobleman, she has been engaged for months to another noble.

Sooyoung is wearing a long, beautiful wedding dress and there is a short plump woman standing next to her. Sooyoung is likely getting her dress altered for the final time before the wedding. Yet despite how beautiful she looks in her dress, the bride is frowning. On closer inspection, I see that her eyes are red from crying.

I know why she is not happy, just as I know everything else. She is not in love with her fiancé. No, her heart belongs to another man, one her parents do not approve of. She will never learn to love the man she is about to marry. He is just as cold as the rich man I had touched before, Shindong.

Besides Sooyoung and the plump woman, there is another person in the room. Sooyoung's mother she must be. Yet she does not feel sorry for