The Handmaiden - Jensoo

Chapter 5

It was wrong to come.

"Jisoo, you brought watercolours, right?"

Jisoo seethed at the Count. Struggling up the dirt trail behind the heiress and the Count with a heavy easel under one arm and canvases in the other, she couldn't believe him right now. The anger had been bubbling for days now, and Jisoo disliked the Count more and more as time went on. The handmaiden had grown a liking to Jennie, became comfortable in her presence with a connection she knew she wasn't supposed to feel. 

"Of course, milord!" Jisoo replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Watercolour paints and brushes--"

The Count stopped in front of her with Jennie by his side, looking elegant in her baby blue kimono. Just seeing the unlikely pair together made Jisoo's blood boil, knowing the Count's hidden purpose that deceived Jennie. 

"Go and get the oils." The Count ordered with a flat tone of superiority.  "A day like this demands oils!" His mouth stretched across his face in a fake smile. 

Whipping her head around back to the steep hill behind them, Jisoo was beyond enraged. She gave one last glance to Jennie, who stood unfaltering at the Count's orders. Dropping everything, she stumbled down the hill, tripping over her own feet whilst trying to balance herself. 

She sprinted back to the house, adrenaline kicking in as she thought about the Count's plans to seduce the heiress. He was trying everything to have alone time with her, meaning shooing Jisoo away at any chance he could take. 

Out of breath, chest heaving in exertion, Jisoo made her way down the grand staircase with the box of oil paints. Her body ahead of her mind, she missed a step causing her to fall, the pots of paint tumbling out of the box. "Shit!" She was nearing the verge of tears as she raced back up the hill, desperate to return to Jennie. 

"Lady!" Jisoo called out with the small amount of energy remaining, running along the dirt track looking left and right, "Milord!"

Panting and leaning against a tree, Jisoo's widened. She surprisingly felt her heart shatter in the moment, her world crumbling around her. 

Jennie had her arms wrapped tight around the Count's broad shoulders as she sat sideways in his lap, their lips locked together in a passionate embrace. Jisoo watched painfully as the Count slipped his rough hand up the heiress's leg, cupping her ass firmly.

"Lady..." Jisoo whined out, her voice weak and broken at the sight. Jennie broke away from the Count's mouth, turning her head at the sound of Jisoo's voice. She stood silently from his lap, an apologetic look struck across her face. The Count merely placed his white hat upon his head, and Jisoo was sure a smirk grew from his mouth.

Unwilling to face the two any longer, Jisoo wordlessly sprinted back to the house, dropping the paints carelessly. Ears ringing, her broken heart beat hard in her chest.

***

Lights flickered hauntingly throughout the building, the glow contrasting with the midnight sky.

"A blackout! Bring a lantern." Someone called. 

A thin blanket covered Jisoo's eyes as she laid in the heiress's bed fully clothed with her shoes still on. She imagined what Jennie felt in her nightmares, staring up at the wavering lamp above the bed in a blackout.   

Jennie watched the lights blink around the library. She sat, makeup caked on her face and hair pulled up heavy on her head, before suited men including the Count and Uncle Kouzuki. A book placed on a stand in front of her. The room fell into darkness.