My Treasure//Bang Yedam

민 친매

The teacher blabbered off like usual. Today was the same, same as yesterday, same as tomorrow. "Princess, are you even listening to me?" She snapped out from her small daze, looking at her personal teacher. She blinked once, then twice. "Taeil, you bore me." Her blunt words only made Taeil sigh in disappointment. 

"Chinmae-" The six-year-old cringed upon hearing her name. "Don't call me by my name. You are only a servant, you have no right to say my name." She hated her name, despised it, all because she was given a male name. Taeil frowned at her reaction but didn't say anything about the matter and instead would bring it up to the King and Queen. 

"Princess, if you pay attention to your lesson I will tell the guards to let you out to the gardens where you can play with the other kids. I will also tell your other servants to let you leave from the dinner party early later tonight." Chinmae was immediately agreeing with Taeil, nodding her head vigorously. "Deal!" And so the lesson started again. 

"Let's start with the basics: Soulmates. Technically, everyone has three, but some people may not have one or the other. First, there is your best friend, someone who is loyal to you, this person is - to simply put it - special." Taeil scribbled on the chalk board as Chinmae stared at him intensely. He scribbled the word 'tattoo' on the board. 

"This person is connected to you from a tattoo that is printed on your body and can only disappear if you touch this soulmate with your tattoo. Their tattoo should match with your tattoo."

Chinmae tilted her head, speaking up. "So I have a tattoo? Is that why I have this?" She lifted her small right hand, showing her palm to Taeil. The older man nodded his head. "Yes, this tattoo will lead you right to your soulmate who's going to be loyal to you, as you will be to them." Chinmae nodded her head, trying to wrap her six-year-old mind to grasp the concept. 

"Your second soulmate would be your kin. This person is similar to your first soulmate except they are more dependable because of kinship." Taeil scribbled on the chalkboard, drawing a red line. 

"You are connected to this person by a red string of fate. Only the holders on each side can see their red string, but some people are special and can see everyone's string of fate, though that only happens when they don't have one themselves." 

Chinmae stared at her pinky finger, staring at the red string she had always wondered about. She now knew what it meant. Her six-year-old brain processed the information quickly as she actually grew interested in the topic Taeil was teaching her about. 

"Lastly, and most importantly, the last soulmate is something you have to pay very much attention to, Princess." Chinmae nodded her head as she felt Taeil's stern gaze on her. "The last soulmate is your lover. You meet your lover after the age of fifteen, but when you do, a physical feature of yours will be changed. For example, your mother, the Queen's eyes were genetically brown but now they are purple."

"But listen to me now and well, Princess." Taeil stood in front of Chinmae's desk, his arms crossed as he looked down at her. "These soulmates are not meant for heterosexuals. We are a sin in the homosexual's eyes, they don't understand that love is love. Your duty as a princess is to reject your soulmate so you can rule your kingdom hand in hand with a man. Your duty as a princess of this Kingdom is to never hold a woman's hand." 

She knew it was a sin to hold hands with a man's hand, or at least that's how it is outside the kingdom. When she was traveling with her mother and father a few months before, she remembered how they were treated, the looks that they gave them as if they were disgusting monsters. She remembered their harmful words and would recite them if a princess could curse. Her kingdom was the only one that accepted these...different people, and in fact, only these people.