Thief of Twilight

Part One: Chapter 3

That...was the best sleep I have ever gotten.

I'm guessing I woke up shortly after everyone else. How come no one came to wake me up? Maybe the servants were instructed not to. But...I didn't think that I would be that exhausted. I mean, I did have an eventful first few days here. I didn't sleep the first night I was here either. I placed a hand on my stomach. Why does my stomach feel so tight? I must be hungry. Twisting my back, I felt a few cracks in my spine.

"Much better." I stretched my arms above my head. Turning my head, I saw streams of sunlight pouring in through the windows. What do I do now?

"Miss!"

I perked up at the sound of a voice. "Yes?"

"May I enter?"

"...Yes..." I realized the voice was coming from the other side of the door.

A hand slid open one of the double doors. Sitting on the other side of the door frame was Sang-mi with a warm smile.

"Oh, good morning!" I smiled back. I'm glad to see a familiar face.

"Good morning miss." she bowed her head. "I came earlier but you were asleep. I'm glad to see that you have woken up. Also, this room does get a lot of natural light. I hope that is alright."

"Oh, it's okay." I watched her walk toward the futon carrying a tray of food.

"Here." she set the tray of food before me. On the tray was a plate of dumplings. They look like the ones I ate with Beom.

"What are these?" I don't think I trust them quite yet.

"Red bean dumplings. The emperor told me to bring you something to eat as soon as you woke up."

"Oh...I see..." I took one of the dumplings and held it to my mouth. That was nice of him.

"How did you sleep?"

"Oh, I slept pretty well. Thank you." I happily chewed the soft airy dough and red bean paste.

"I'm glad." Sang-mi stood up and began cleaning the room. She gathered the pillows and stacked them against the wall next to the vanity.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I am cleaning your room." she said. "You have a very big day today."

"A big day? What are you talking about?"

"Yes." she hurried back to me and began folding the blanket over my legs. "When you are finished eating, please take a bath. I will prepare it for you."

"...Oh...okay..." what could possibly be happening today? Ugh, there's just too much going on! I can't keep to keep up! I ate about five of the red bean dumplings before taking a bath. When I returned to the room, Sang-mi was accompanied by another woman. But it wasn't Ye-rin or even any of the women I saw during my first night here. Sang-mi helped me into a short white bottom robe that tied at the side. I was then given what looked like a long blouse that was white with red along the collar. The sleeves on this blouse were long, they almost covered my hands. The ends were red just like the collar. I was then given a long high waist skirt that was the same color red as on my blouse. After clasping the back of the skirt, I was given a white belt with gold beads along the center. The gold beads reminded me of the emperor's eyes.

"Here you are." the other woman handed me another robe that was short with long sleeves. As I stuck my arms through the sleeves, I noticed that the sleeves were slightly wider and longer than the sleeves of my blouse. I couldn't tell if this top robe was more of a silver or pearl.

"Miss." Sang-mi draped a sheer red sash with decorative gold circles along the center.

Wait a minute...is this when I get my eight million silver!