The Last Dahlia

005

Going for a swim with some rainbow-coloured fish and algae was never part of the plan. Yuehwa spat out a mouthful of water, fishing loose strands of pond weed from her hair as she picked herself up on her feet. The pond was not deep, but the fall was enough to drench her from head to toe. A hand reached out to her, offering to help her out of the water.

Glaring up at the person who had been responsible for giving her enough of a scare to topple into the water in the first place, Yuehwa's pride insisted that she reject his offer, clambering out of the pond on her own accord instead. The man who was standing there with an apologetic smile on his face looked like he was in his early twenties, with a handsome face and soft features that added just the right amount of gentleness to the masculinity. He looked like he could be a guard of sorts, yet he was not wearing the blue that was part of the Dahai guard attire; instead, he was dressed entirely in sombre black with the gleaming silver hilt of his sword hanging at his waist.

"You're not from the palace. Are you from Gi?" Yuehwa asked, arching an eyebrow curiously. She had come across some soldiers and guards from the kingdom of Gi back when she was traipsing about in Jin, and she knew that black was the colour of their uniform. What she really wanted to know was why a random guard from Gi was wandering around the Dahai palace on his own.

The man nodded his head. "Indeed. I'm surprised a young palace maid like yourself would recognise our uniform. The crown prince of Gi is currently having a private audience with the king and I happen to be part of his entourage. I apologise if I scared you earlier. Are you alright?"

Yuehwa rolled her eyes. She didn't need any sympathy or concern from a skiving guard, especially one who was now smiling at her even though he had absolutely no right to be smiling after what he had done. Clearly the crown prince of Gi trains all his subordinates to be annoying, she thought to herself as an image of Park Maroo popped into mind. The prince himself must be one annoying git.

Ignoring his question, Yuehwa sighed as she looked down at her drenched clothing. After all the trouble she had gone through to nick these clothes off the unsuspecting palace maid, now she needed to get herself yet another set.

She turned around and stormed away from the pond, leaving the bemused guard behind. Barely twenty steps in, she suddenly turned around and walked all the way back.

"Skiving are you?" she said to the man. "In that case, maybe I should help your prince teach you a lesson." Raising her right leg, she gave him a hard kick on the shin, smirking when she caught the look of surprise in his eyes as he went tumbling backwards. Into the pond.

Satisfied with what she had done, Yuehwa quipped, "That'll teach you not to scare people from behind the next time." Picking up the wet hem of her skirt, she turned and continued walking away in search of dry clothes.

#

Yuehwa found herself a fresh set of clothes from a chest of drawers in one of the palace maid's rooms. In return, she left the owner her original soggy set and a scruffy note to say thank you.

Right now, she didn't really know which part of the palace she was at. She had simply strolled into one of the palace compounds near the eastern perimeter of the gardens and entered what she thought looked like servants quarters. There were servants quarters littered all across the palace, but the room she had found appeared to belong to the palace maids who specifically served one of the members of the royal family. These quarters were typically adjoined to that of a larger, more extravagant palace building that housed whichever member of royalty that these servants looked after.

Still wearing the sea blue of an ordinary palace maid, Yuehwa slipped in through the back door of the main building and began looking around. There was no one in the vicinity, so she leisurely explored the place, toying with the various antiques and trinkets that were lying about.