DIVINITY ♛ LEE JENO

SIXTEEN

"what you doin' on the weekend?"

♛

"I don't have anything to wear!" Meilin groaned. She could only fit so much in her suitcase on her way to the Republic- yet they were all dresses and high heels. Ten sat on the edge of her bed, shaking his head at the tornado that struck her room. It was Saturday afternoon, the sun shining in the January frost. The Princess was looking more like a damsel in distress as she frowned in her nightgown.

"Oh no, not this. This sweater reminds me of the livestock back home." the knight threw another one of her clothing items into a 'hell no' pile, as he'd like to call it. "Very funny." Meilin's eyes lowered at him.

"You're telling me you don't have a single pair of pants in your entire wardrobe?" Ten asked for the millionth time.

"I've worn trousers like twice in my entire life from what I can remember. I don't like them, they're restricting." she looked down at her mess of a room. "I can't look like a Princess out there, General Lee said I have to be disguised in public. But I also can't look like a mess in front of Baek Seorin." she spoke fast and frustrated. Ten eyed the girl's expression and the frown that hadn't left her face all morning.

"Look, just wear this." he pulled out a long white skirt from the 'not terrible' pile, along with a white sweater. "Complements your new hair." he shrugged. Meilin's eyes widened, remembering the birds nest that rested at her back.

"What's that about anyways?" Ten questioned, staring at the white strands that were starting to become more noticeable. She stole a glance of herself in the mirror next to her door, running a finger through her long locks.

"I don't know." her shoulders tensed up. "It's been turning white since I've gotten here. Every night, I wake up and there's more." she explained in a ramble. It wasn't the full truth, but she hadn't lied on purpose. She only noticed it turning more white every time she dreamed— or whatever those illusions were. Though, she didn't want to go through the trouble of explaining her oddly comforting night terrors and sleepwalking nights to him. So, maybe she did lie on purpose.

"Maybe you're extremely stressed," he looked up at her, seeing the snowy strands of hair up close. All of a sudden, his nose scrunched up, a disgusted expression rising on his face. "Or you're turning into a skunk." he plugged his nose jokingly. Meilin pretended she wasn't amused, shoving him lightly on the shoulder.

"Get out of here, I need to get ready." she rolled those umber eyes again, pushing him out of the doorway. One thing about Ten was that he knew Meilin. He could read every emotion on her face by the twitch of her eyebrows, or the lack of teeth showing in her smiles. Every waver in her tone, he noticed. Ten knew how to make her smile and he knew exactly what the Princess needed to hear. So he stood outside of her door for a moment, gulping down his dry throat knowing she was lying to him about something.

Meanwhile, Meilin shoved everything back into her closet quickly. The outfit her knight chose was definitely on the casual end, but not casual enough to make her blend in. To compensate, she held off on the jewelry, leaving her wrists clear of any gold. She did in fact leave the Jade pendant hanging from her neck, hiding it beneath the fabric of her sweater.

The Princess took another look at herself in the mirror, seeing the strands of white blend in with her sweater. She took them into her palms, running her fingers through them. There wasn't a single explanation she could think of in her head that could possibly make sense of her ever changing hair. She grabbed the rubber band from her wrist— the same one from yesterday— attempting to pull it all into another loose ponytail. Needless to say, she was going to need some help.