Korea has fallen victim to rule of 1800s England and the wealthy Park family has been entrusted by Queen Victoria to Rule over South Korea.
In a time flooded with the social flaws of old England, Thai orphan Lalisa Manoban struggles to survive in t...
The servants dining room was a buzz with the usual gossiping, clinking of cutlery and laughter. Jisoo and I are seated in our favourite spot, far from the entrance, complaining about the unjust work Prudence had forced upon us that day. With the debutant ball merely a two months away, Prudence has turned into a tyrant.
Before long, the Queen and Princess elegantly enter the dining hall, instantly transforming the chatter into the screeching of chairs as every servant stands up in respect. Prudence and Mrs Kim, Jisoo's Mother, both approach the Queen, greeting her with a small curtsy. The four women speak in the middle of the silent room, too far away from Jisoo and I to be able to understand a word. My heartrate increases tenfold when on several occasions, the communicating women gesture towards me!
Once the matter is settled, the two royals leave the dining room, and the all the servants return to their seats to finish their meal, although my appetite seems to have vanished.
The morning call had rung, and each servant was receiving their jobs for the day. Today Lisa had to polish all 150 plates in the abandoned cutlery shed. All the plates were made of silver and hadn't been polished for at least a decade. Lisa was told that she must return to the servant's quarters by midday, without exception.
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(A/N This will serve as the old scullery shed. I don't know if it's clear but basically, prudence needs more plates and stuff for the ball so therefore all the stuff put in storage in this shed will need to be polished and it will be a very difficult job as the silver hasn't been polished in such a long time.)
With the amount of work Lisa had done since she had arrived, the plates were quite easy, especially since the large amount of dust protected most of the silver from blackening. Saying this, Lisa's arms began to ache around the 90th plate, and her back was aching from the constant bending and crouching. But if being subject to Prudence's tutor methods over the last 2 weeks had taught Lisa anything, it's persistence. Lisa managed to complete her task by 11, and so decided to rest for a while outside before meeting Prudence. She rushed out of the shed, eager to escape the strong smell of metal and enjoyed the sun's golden kiss.
She leant against the old shed, admiring the various colours of the flowers and how they invited all the butterflies and bees to dance amongst them. All too soon her moment of piece was over and so the servant girl trudged back down the path to confront the ever-disappointed Madame Prudence.
Lisa diligently washed the grime from her hands before approaching Prudence, who was scowling beside Princess Park. What is Rosé doing here???
"Lisa, the princess needs gardening assistance in her private garden, and for reasons I do not fully understand, she has requested that you would be the servant to assist her in this task. I leave you in her hands."
"Yes Madame" Lisa curtsy's quietly to hide her excitement.
Once Prudence is out of sight, Rosé quickly grabs Lisa's wrist and pulls her through the gardens, giggling as she goes. Lisa's face contorts into a radiant smile, outshining the summer sun.
