Heart of Ice

Hospitality

The voice that called out to her was very familiar, and one that Yewon associated with a lot of anguish and pain. She never thought she would ever be vulnerable to this person ever again, never thought she would see this person ever again, but there she was, breathless and slowly losing consciousness in front of her old maid, Seungyeon.

Yewon tried to pretend not to acknowledge her, hoping that Seungyeon would think she was mistaken and leave. But it was all too clear that Seungyeon had recognized her and knew that it was her, despite all the dirt on her face and the tatters she donned.

Seungyeon said something that Yewon could not process as of she was too physically drained to pay attention. Her loud breath was ringing in her ear blocking out all other sounds, and she could no longer hear anything. Almost immediately after, she felt all her other senses begin to shut down as well as she collapsed onto the ground and fainted from fatigue.

-

The next time she opened her eyes, she found that she was in a small cottage.

"She opened her eyes!!!" came the sound of a little girl sitting beside her. "Seungyeon-unnie, the princess woke up!"

Yewon felt that she was too tired to even move her neck to look at the little girl or to make out more of her surroundings. She was in so much pain all over her body, that nothing mattered to her right now but some kind of relief.

Someone lifted her neck, and Yewon glanced to see Seungyeon with a cup of water in hand, pressed against Yewon's lips. She obeyed and drank the water. Even moving the few muscles that she needed to drink the water wore her out, and so she drifted back to sleep.

The next time she opened her eyes, she was a lot less tired. She was also clean and clothed in a clean, but simple dress. The bruises on her hand and feet were bandaged.

"You're up? Finally. You've been asleep for hours," Seungyeon stated coldly. "I had to carry you to the bath myself and get you cleaned. With all due respect, your highness, but you were putrid. Covered in sea water, blood, urine, dirt and God knows what else. Do you guys not bathe in your country?"

Yewon was still trying to process her new surroundings. It was a small room in what looked like a very low-class cottage. She was laid down on a mat on the floor with some worn out wad of cloth as a pillow. There was almost nothing in the room besides those mats and a large trunk.

She also saw two heads of little girls peeking through the doorway.

"Lady Seungyeon," Yewon finally acknowledged her old maid, after finally processing that her old maid was helping her.

"What? Are you going to pretend you don't hate me?" her maid coldly replied.

Yewon didn't reply.

"You saved my life, your highness. I'm only returning the favor so that I don't feel indebted to you anymore," Seungyeon said snappishly. "Don't interpret my actions as kindness or care."

"Thank you," Yewon managed tiredly.

"Please. Save the sentimentality. I can't bear it," Seungyeon replied brusquely.

That was the last thing that Seungyeon said to Yewon before finishing off with Yewon's nails and walking out without another word.

Yewon tried to get up, but her feet were swollen and standing on them proved very difficult. Even sitting up seemed to disrupt Yewon's blood flow, as if her body was yelling at her to stay at rest after all the trials and tribulations she had put it through lately.

It was Seungyeon's little sisters that watched her after that. They were three very young girls of about 12, 10 and 7, who wore rags for dresses.

The girls were enthused by Yewon: a real princess from a faraway land. They had so many questions to ask about her life as a princess, and seemed so fascinated by Yewon's answers. "Do you really wear a new dress every day? How often do you eat meat? Are there feasts and dances? Do you meet handsome princes? Do you sleep on a large, soft bed? Are their knights protecting you?"