The Last Snow

Chapter 9: The Lowest Of The Low

The three girls made their way to Lisa's home, where General Shindong was waiting. Lisa introduced Rose to the general, and to everyone's surprise, Rose and the general already knew each other and were quite close.

Lisa's personal handmaiden, Yoona, prepared a private room for the group to talk in. Lisa went inside first, followed by Rose and then the general. Jennie was about to enter when the general stopped her.

"Uhmm... Your highness, do you not need my services at this time?", asked Jennie? She was really curious. There were a lot of questions in her head.

"Why does Lisa need Rose?"

"What do they have to talk with the general with?"

"Why wasn't she allowed to know anything?"

"Not this time. I'll talk to you later, Jennie.", answered Lisa.

The general closed the door, leaving Jennie by herself. A pair of the general's men approached the private room to guard it. Both of them insisted that Jennie go somewhere else. So she went out of the house towards the kitchen to help Yoona prepare lunch.

If there was one thing that Jennie was good at, it was cooking. She got her mother's eye for measurements.

They didn't cook too much, and before they knew it, everything was prepared. Yoona thanked Jennie and assured her that there were no more tasks to complete.

So Jennie had nothing to do again. She made her way back to the private meeting room using side doors and back exits. There was a small room adjacent to the private meeting room, away from the guards' eyes. Jennie made her way to it and was excited to eavesdrop, but as she pressed her ear to the wall, she couldn't hear anything.

Either the walls were super thick, or the people inside were really silent. Not knowing what to do, she decided to take a bath since she had not had a good washing for a day now.

There was a small washing area at the back of Lisa's home. Jennie decided to take a bath there instead of heading back to her room at the servants' quarters. She went to the kitchen first to grab a small towel to use.

"The short route or the long way round?", thought Jennie while eating a small pear that she found unattended.

The short route felt too quick, so Jennie decided to walk back to the front then use the side courtyard to make her way to the back. This way, she would also pass the meeting room again.

The doors were still closed. And the guards were as strict as before. So Jennie just kept walking towards the washing area.

On her way there, she saw Lisa's mother, drinking tea by herself in the courtyard.

"Good morning, Lady Lalisa.", greeted Jennie with a 90-degree bow.

"Jennie. Come here, dear. Lee told me everything that happened yesterday. Are you really not hurt? Sit down and let me look at you.", said Lisa's mother with a smile as sweet as Lisa's.

Lady Lalisa offered the seat in front of her to Jennie and prepared a second cup of tea.

Now that Jennie knew Lisa's secret, she couldn't help but see the many similarities between Lisa and her mother. She sat down happily and reached for the cup. And then something happened that was too fast for her eyes to see.

Jennie's hand didn't even come close to the teacup. Lady Lalisa grabbed it very swiftly and twisted it in a way that almost made Jennie shout.

And she would have shouted if not for the Lady's other hand that covered her mouth.