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Before I knew it, the season had arrived where a single coat was enough to stay warm. Finally, the day to enter the palace. I was told that about twenty people, including myself, would be entering the palace. Is everyone else trembling like me?
I wondered if perhaps my "Daddy-Long-Legs" was someone who worked at the palace. If I were to meet him, I would certainly repay him for his kindness all this time.
Unable to sleep from excitement, I woke up even before the dawn light had brightened. And so, I arrived at the palace early, at 8:30 AM instead of 10 AM.
The entrance was heavily guarded. A massive gate that towered high above my head. In front of it, a guard input my identity into a machine to verify it. The gate, which seemed impossible to open with human strength alone, opened, and I stepped inside.
"Is this a dream?"
At the scenery unfolding before my eyes, I unconsciously muttered to myself. If I were to capture the hope I had imagined in a single scene, would it feel like this? Flowers in full bloom. An endlessly stretching garden, statues, and fountains, all well-tended by the hands of gardeners.
Eight years old. I had been to this garden just once before, holding my mom's hand. There was a time when the palace was briefly opened to the public for a royal anniversary. They only allowed a limited number of people in, and mom said she had waited in line for hours to get tickets on site. Although I had never been to a theme park, the palace garden was, to me, the first theme park I ever visited with mom. I was definitely walking alone, but the memories of that time lingered, making me feel as if I were walking with her.
As I walked, the palace came into view in the distance. The immensely large palace unfolding before my eyes was a fairy tale itself. In a place like that, a handsome prince and a princess would meet and live happily ever after. The protagonists are determined from the start. Since I would be nothing more than an extra, not even a supporting character, this too is a story that has nothing to do with me.
I looked at the back of my hand, which was so white it was pale. It was lifeless and dry. Just then, a butterfly flew in from somewhere and hovered near my pale hand. Leaving behind the beautifully blooming flowers. Riding the breeze on my gently swaying dress. Flying over my long black hair, it landed on the bridge of my nose.
It was a butterfly so beautiful that the flowers didn't even catch my eye. That butterfly flew to me.
"Want to be my family?"
Since it was a butterfly that couldn't speak, naturally, I didn't hear an answer. For some reason, laughter bubbled up. As the butterfly I couldn't even catch in my dreams landed on the bridge of my nose and on my fingertips, it felt like something good was about to happen. Like the hope my Daddy-Long-Legs gave me.
"If only you don't leave me, I think I could adjust well here."
...
Around ten o'clock, about twenty people filed into the palace like ants. It was a massive palace that well incorporated the traditional elegance of an ancient palace with a modern style. Unaware that my jaw had dropped, I was admiring the palace when I met the eyes of a guide who was looking at me from the side. She smiled so that I wouldn't feel awkward.
The interior of the palace was even larger and grander than it looked from the outside. A lobby the size of a small sports field. In the center stood a statue of the current King, and spiral staircases leading to the second floor were symmetrically placed on both sides.
The guide stood in front of the King's statue, explained the history of the royal family, and then led us to the corridor right next to it. As we walked, the inside was divided into multiple spaces like a maze. It looked easy to get lost if one wasn't careful. Among them, she led everyone to a wide space that looked suitable for holding annual events. Various people gathered together, from those doing simple chores like me to chefs making royal food and advisors assisting right under the King.
The appointment ceremony began, and with applause, Crown Prince Go-won appeared. With a tall height of 188cm and broad shoulders, he radiated an aura like someone who would do great things. His black hair and distinct features were even more defined than when seen on screen. Thick eyebrows, sharp eyes, a high nose bridge, and especially his confidence-filled gaze created an overwhelming atmosphere unique to him. A man who had voiced that a twenty-eight-year-old greenhorn was just playing politics following his dad, upon actually facing him, was overwhelmed by his presence to the point where he couldn't even meet his eyes properly.
He calmly waited until the applause died down before greeting us.
"Everyone appointed today stands here by virtue of your ability. The royal family stands upon tradition, but it is you who protect that tradition. The task ahead is solely to accurately understand the royal family's purpose and prove it with results. I sincerely congratulate you on today's appointment, and we respect and support your dedication in the name of the royal family."
Clearly, he held no script in his hand. Without trembling, he instilled a sense of responsibility along with a slight tension in everyone.
As Crown Prince Go-won descended from the podium, our eyes met. Our first eye contact. The first impression was truly intense. Tension stiffly circulated through my whole body as if I were facing a Doberman.
If I got on his bad side, it felt like he would bite and eliminate me right away. It would be better not to run into him if possible.
At the moment I tried to avoid his gaze. His lips moved slightly as he said something.
"Annoying girl."
Standing right in front of the stairs leading down from the podium, I heard the words he muttered.
Since when had he seen me? Did I hear wrong?
His gaze looking down on me insignificantly with half-closed eyes. A side of Go-won different from the beautifully packaged image shown on the news. The shadow cast behind the bright light. Suddenly, I got goosebumps. As if I had encountered something I shouldn't have met.
Feeling like I was going to vomit, I hurriedly ran outside. In the restroom, I kept retching up nothing. While washing my hands, I faced my face reflected in the mirror. The memory of Crown Prince Go-won's eyes, discriminatingly dividing people with a subtle gaze, kept coming to mind, distressing me.
Leaving the restroom and walking blankly, I got lost. Not a single person passed by in the large corridor to ask for directions. I paused for a moment and opened a huge side door.
Click.
"Excuse me. Is anyone here?"
The place I entered upon opening the door looked like someone's office. It was a spacious room, not excessively filled, but rather full of order and restraint.
Possessed by something, I began to look around the space. What caught my eye the most was a dark ebony desk stretching long along the window. A neat and heavy desk without superfluity. On top of it, neatly arranged documents and a fountain pen engraved with a silver crest were placed in an orderly manner. It felt like someone had been agonizing for a long time or making cold-headed decisions here.
One wall was filled with books so densely it was secretive, and on the other side, the flag symbolizing the Korean royal family hung silently.
"Don't tell me."
Only then did I realize that I had come to a place I shouldn't have entered.
The moment I hurriedly moved my steps to open the door. The sound of shoes hitting marble coming from very close by. I closed the door again and looked for a place to hide. The clean and wide space had no gap for even a rat to hide. The footsteps were getting closer. I had no choice but to barely hide my body under the large ebony desk.
I heard the sound of the door opening and closing again. All the nerves in my body concentrated on my two ears. Along with a sigh, I heard the sound of a coat being taken off and hung on a hanger.
Vrrr. Just then, the phone vibration sound rang. He answered the phone and spat out dull words like 'Got it, okay, yeah.'
"No, tomorrow I feel like killing more difficult targets."
My face turned pale in an instant. I swallowed dry saliva several times to calm my pounding heart.
What did I just hear?
"Let's do that. Report tomorrow and handle the schedule as usual."
Mischievous fate dragged me here. The Crown Prince's study, which I entered after wandering through the maze-like path. There, I learned a secret of the royal family that I shouldn't have known.
Should I go out now and kneel and beg?
While hesitating, the fountain pen that had fallen on the floor caught my eye. It seems it fell when I hid inside the desk.
Ah, please.
I held my breath and hoped it would pass, but the footsteps were getting closer.
"What are you doing here?"
To think it was the study of that person who found me annoying!
Hiding inside the desk, I checked his cold expression that wouldn't listen to any excuse and slowly came out from under the desk.
"It's you. It's you again."
He spoke as if today wasn't the first time he saw me.
"You were annoying from the moment we brought in someone like you with unclear origins. Now seeing you hiding like a rat and digging up secrets... Who are you colluding with?"
"Absolutely not. The situation might be misunderstood, but absolutely not."
"You speak quite confidently for someone who sneaked in."
"I didn't try to sneak in, but..."
"I don't want to hear a sinner's excuses. I don't know what you overheard or what you are imagining in your head. But it would be better for you to forget what you heard."
Pressing his temples as if tired, he continued speaking.
"Ha... Of course, if you think you've caught a weakness and intend to gain something from this opportunity, you'll have to make another plan."
It was certainly a situation worthy of misunderstanding, but treating me like a spy still made me feel aggrieved...
"Just because you found out about this, nothing changes. You don't have a choice anyway. Either keep your mouth shut and quietly do your cleaning. Or be kicked out of the palace."
"..."
"Of course, if you run your mouth outside, your insignificant life might become even shorter."
Seeing him unhesitatingly spit out words that cut at one's self-esteem, I realized he had an ice-cold character that didn't even give attention to those beneath him. So I acted even more nonchalantly. I didn't want to show him the look he wanted, bowing my head as if hurt.
Taking slow breaths, I calmly settled my mind.
"I have no interest. Nor do I wish to be entangled in the Crown Prince's affairs."
"Even if you say you have no interest. How can I trust you?"
"I will prove it."
"With what?"
"You can just watch me from now on, can't you?"
When my eyes met Crown Prince Go-won's, my body tensed up on its own. But trying not to avoid it, I stared straight ahead with even more force.
"What a funny girl. Don't you watch the news? Do you think I have the time to follow someone around and watch them?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Enough. I hate chattering. Rather than your proof, it would be better for me to tell you one thing."
One step. Then another step. Soon, the distance between us became close enough that our bodies could touch. He lifted the tip of my chin with his index finger, and I met his dark brown eyes.
"Once you have entered the palace, everything of yours belongs to the royal family. You are prepared for that, aren't you?"