Heart of Ice

Heard

Sungyeon woke Yewon the following morning by pulling her violently onto the floor. Yewon landed on her back, which was already in pain from all the bruises. She whimpered in pain when her back came in contact with the floor, and Sungyeon, of course, did not care.

Sungyeon had this unrestrained wickedness in her expression, one that Yewon had never seen before. The maid had always been cruel, but never did this cruelty manifest in her facial features as clearly as it did now: that twinkle in her eyes, that slight curve of her lip as if she were grinning at the prospect of causing Yewon pain. It was as if Sungyeon suddenly felt secure in her actions, and so went forward with her cruelty without worrying about repercussions. Seungcheol was now on her side after all.

The bath was as torturous as ever, and Yewon felt like she couldn't say anything. She felt like a subject to Sungyeon, like she answered to her and not the other way around.

It was only when the bristle of the brush scratched against her already wounded back with unwarranted force that Yewon couldn't take it. She took the brush and threw it across the room, wincing in pain as her back burned and bled.

"Your highness!" Sungyeon roared angrily, "let me do my job!"

When Sungyeon tried to touch her, Yewon pushed her, and the wet floor caused the maid to fall back.

Yewon left the bath soaking, dripping with water, soap and some blood on her back.

"Stop trying to escape me, princess!" Sungyeon called out angrily, following Yewon out of the bath.

"Get away from me, you witch!" Yewon yelled back, as tears came down her cheek from the excruciating pain in her back.

Sungyeon gripped Yewon's wrist and tried to pull her back to finish the bath but Yewon wrestled her way out of Sungyeon's arms, pushing the maid forcefully again.

The pain in her back was made worse by the soap, which burned the wounds in her back like alcohol. Yewon took a nearby towel and tried to dry the soap off, but instead of soap, the towel was tinted with blood.

This time, Sungyeon was unrelenting. She pushed Yewon against the wall, earning a cry of pain from Yewon. Sungyeon's fingers then dug into Yewon's arms, and she glared threateningly at Yewon.

"Mark my words princess, if you don't stop struggling, I will make your life more miserable than it already is, and no one will take your side..."

Yewon kept struggling though, and kept yelling at Sungyeon to leave her alone.

Amidst the struggling, the crying and the pain, Yewon did not notice another person walk into the room and witness this unfold before them. Yewon only noticed when Sungyeon gasped and stepped away from Yewon, bowing towards the person in question.

Standing at the doorway, a pile of novels in his arms, stood Wonwoo.

Yewon quickly wrapped the towel around her body, so extremely embarrassed to be in such a state in front of him. Crying in pain, nothing but a towel to cover her battered body, and being scolded by her own maid.

"Your highness, I can explain," Sungyeon said to Wonwoo as she bowed to him unceasingly.

His highness?

Wonwoo looked worried as he stood there at the doorway, witnessing what he did. He placed the pile of novels on the floor and looked to Yewon with concern.

"May I ask you to turn around, princess?" he asked her. When Yewon didn't turn around because she was too shocked to process the request, he took a few steps towards her, pulled her from against the wall and turned her around himself.