Phases of the moon

Part 7

She obviously doesn't like her, does she?

Yongsun stares at the woman in front of her who Byulyi has mentioned yesterday— the lady-in-waiting who will lead the other four attendants that were assigned to take care of her needs and orders. She sees her inclining her head in respect— because it is something that she has to do not because she wants to. She has to respect her, regardless if Yongsun came from Cheon-il because Yongsun is of noble blood... and moreover, the wife of their esteemed Hand and Princess of Wolgwang.

Yongsun briefly studies her. The woman has brunette hair that complements her fair skin well and despite her angelic and young appearance, Yongsun could undeniably sense her authoritativeness and leadership. No doubt that she is the one who holds significant influence over them. She seems reliable, yes,... and trustworthy— only if she did not hold any hostility against her, Yongsun muses.

Of course, her air of hostility is inconspicuous. One would not be able to see it at one glance but Yongsun knows better. Ever since she was but a child, she has come to love observing people. Observing her surroundings and the behavior of the people around her tremendously helps in making decisions and taking action. It helps her how to respond in an appropriate manner. Yongsun thinks that it is a great strategy for understanding the world. Because of this, Yongsun has learned that it is important to sharpen one's eyes. One needs to be keen to catch even a fraction of a second of change to one's facial expressions to occur. This change usually is ignored or missed by most people but she knows... she knows that within that short fleeting time is an involuntary emotional leakage of one's true emotions— it occurs even without the person's knowledge and it is something that one can not prevent from happening. It just happens and Yongsun takes it to her advantage to search for any deception in their words and actions.

So, despite the sweet smile lingering on the woman's lips, concealed under is a bitter taste of dislike towards her.

She can undeniably say that this woman holds prejudice against her solely because she came from Cheon-il. Yongsun, being the Princess of the said country does not help either.

And there are still a lot of people who share the same prejudice against her.

I still have a long way to go.

It is not that Yongsun does not understand them either because truthfully, she was once like them.

She was once like them who are blinded by their prejudice and hate. But... but she has come to realize that her hatred wasn't actually directed towards the people of Wolgwang. What she hated was the war. The casualty of the feud between the two countries. What she hated was the fear and despair that the people felt whenever a war breaks out— the cries of the broken and inconsolable souls. Her heart aches for the people who have to flee from their homes because they had no choice. Worse, she can not do anything to stop all of these. Yongsun feels the most powerless and useless at times like this. All that she can do is offer her prayers to the people.

Hopefully, they'll come around.

Hopefully, the time will come that they won't be blinded by their hatred anymore.

Hopefully, peace may reign over their hearts.

Hopefully.

She takes the cup of tea and smiles now that it has cooled down to her preferred warmness. It has been days yet her appetite has gotten worse. Wheein thinks that maybe her loss of appetite has something to do about the sudden change in her environment. Now, that Yongsun thinks about it, it may be so. Her diet when she moved to Wolgwang greatly changed from what she has been accustomed to. Back in Cheon-il, her meal mostly consists of fruits and vegetables, less on meat intake but here in Wolgwang, she has noticed that their diet has more meat than leafy vegetables. The change in her diet is most likely the reason why her appetite has been affected. Due to that, Wheein has asked for Byeonggyul-cha from the kitchen to relieve her from her digestion problem as well as for her loss of appetite. The citrus fruit came from an island in Byeori. It's a familiar fruit that Yongsun recognizes since she has always loved the citrus fruits that came from that island. She's glad that it is also available in Wolgwang since the two countries have built trade relations.