DIVINITY ♛ LEE JENO

TWENTY

"impurities, show you my impurities"

♛

Another week went by and a new routine was established. It seemed that in the past month, the Princess' life had been flipped upside down and the turning wouldn't stop.

Her and the General didn't have to stop by the base every week to pick up the knights. She had been introduced briefly to Lieutenant Johnny Suh, who was a bit too charming (and flirtatious) for his own good. He lived in their townhome neighborhood and brought the knights to and from practice at the crack of dawn. She didn't mind at all, knowing that was less time spent in a moving vehicle.

The meetings progressed with a new arrangement. There was still business to do and with the two lovebirds on the rocks, they quickly realized a meeting with all four of them couldn't happen. Not everyday, at least. The four came to the agreement that Mark Lee would be meeting with the Princess everyday, filling her in and acting as her spokesperson to the rest of the leaders. It was apparent that he had the least amount of bias and the most information about the subject. Minseo attended the meetings as well, now as her new trainer. She had resigned from her job in the meantime to focus on Meilin. In her defense, the Capitol was paying her much more anyways.

Jisung and Seorin weren't broken up— just on a break. Whatever that meant. Neither of them believed in 'breaks', but neither of them wanted to break up either. Many had warned them about the dangers of dating in their positions. Details of their relationship were always kept from the public, but it was known that they were together. It would only cause a divide if the two had publicly split. The things you do for love, Uncle Jin always said.

Meilin's mind couldn't separate itself from the idea of Lee Jin. She reread the letter every night as if the words in ink were going to change or like there was some secret cryptic message behind it. Of course, everything stayed the time. Out of everything in her ever changing world, why did this have to stay the same? She didn't know why her mother urged her to meet Lee Jin. It could've been one of her deathly traps for all she knew. But Meilin's gut didn't let up. Lee Jin knew all the answers and she knew that much.

Her eyes were fixated on the smooth ceiling. The skin beneath her eyes were pulling gray. Meilin hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in days. Each night alternated between her illusions, or some other night terror. Last night, she dreamt of her mother. The Mad Queen was definitely nightmare material, but her dream was the opposite. Her mother was smiling softly, not nefariously. She was in a white dress that flowed in the wind. Her laugh was echoing. Her mother seemed... peaceful. That's how she knew she was dreaming.

It was almost two in the morning and she had been tossing and turning, falling in and out of sleep. She couldn't fall deep enough to actually get some rest- her body would snap her out of it. She couldn't tell if it were out of fear of what she knew was coming, or if the full moon was just making her an insomniac. Either way, she couldn't help the grumpy look on her face.

Instead of turning onto her side again, she pushed herself out of bed, tip toeing onto the wooden floors. She snuck quietly through the hallways, wincing every time one of the planks made a creaking noise. Carefully, she turned the knob of the front door and felt the cool air hit her sleeves. This time, she made sure to close it behind her. General Lee would give her another scolding if she didn't. The moon was large and bright. It were as if it was illuminating the path for her to follow. She crossed her arms and treaded down the sidewalk. Surprisingly, she knew the way to the river by heart. Perhaps she always visited it in her dreams.

As the sounds of the water became louder, she felt a pang of anticipation hit her. There was something healing about the Moon River. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew she wasn't crazy— even if she was sneaking out to visit it on a Wednesday night. Her pace quickened eagerly. Though, as she reached the sidewalk connecting to the railing, she spotted another figure.