thief (of my heart)

-XXXI-

Queen Jennie and her companions were guided by the castle's maids to a waiting area, anticipating their meeting with Emperor Han. They were instructed to patiently sit and wait for his arrival.

Obviously that's now something that you can say to Lisa. Ignoring her friends' pleas to stay put, she stealthily began to wander the castle's corridors.

"Remember the last time we explored a castle?" Chaeyoung reminded.

"Don't worry, honey. It's different this time. No way I will stumble into a secret room again!" Lisa assured her with a cheeky grin.

Yet, in her enthusiasm, Lisa failed to notice the carpet hanging against a wall as she turned to flash Chaeyoung a smile. She collided with it, but to her surprise, it wasn't a wall behind the carpet. Instead, she felt herself falling through a concealed hole in the wall, the carpet serving as a cover.

"Great, just great, another secret room? Good job Lisa." Chaeyoung sighed, naturally following her inside it. So did Jisoo and Jennie.

If Chaeyoung wasn't wrong, then the girls just entered a hidden prayer room. There were stone walls and stained glass windows. A wooden altar was in the middle and a statue of the Virgin Mary graced one corner.

They witnessed a girl kneeling before the wooden altar. Her eyes were closed, she was deeply engrossed in her prayer. Chaeyoung placed a finger to her lips, signalling for Lisa and the others to remain silent and respectful. Their presence went unnoticed by the girl.

"Please, may my parents see reason," The girl prayed, her tone sounding bitter. "I mean, seriously, stepmother? She's all about 'proper and prim,' forcing me to do this and that. Control freak much? She's such a bitch." She scoffed. The unexpected profanity caused Chaeyoung's jaw to drop. She quickly signed a cross in response.

"And as for my father," She continued, her tone now laced with resentment. "He's like, the greediest guy on the planet. He's all, 'I wanna occupy that peaceful village where your BFF lives in, Ningning.' Like, can you be more selfish? Ugh, I can't even... What a loser. Screw him." She kept mumbling insults in the middle of the prayer, causing Lisa to quickly cover Chaeyoung's ears.

Her provocative prayer wasn't over yet. "I pray for both of them to disappear, and I mean, like, poof, gone. Please get it done until lunch, so I can go hang out with my friends. Thanks a million, Lord. Amen!" She clapped her hands.

The girl's choice of words and her intention surprised the group of friends. They expected a heartfelt prayer, not basically praying on someone's downfall.

"Who is there!?" The girl's head whipped around, her eyes wide with surprise as she called out to them. She managed to hear their small gasps.

The four sheepishly revealed themselves with raised arms, showing that they meant no harm.

"Uh, hi there," Lisa offered with a nervous chuckle. "Sorry for interrupting your, uh, prayer."

"Who are you?" The girl stood up, fully alerted.

The queen stepped forward, clearing her throat. "I am Jennie and these are my companions, Lisa, Chaeyoung and Jisoo. We didn't mean to eavesdrop. We stumbled into this room by accident."

The girl's eyes flickered with recognition upon hearing the names. "Queen Jennie..." She mumbled, only a bit awestruck. "I am Ningning, the daughter of Emperor Han."

"You know who I am?" Jennie asked in surprise. As the daughter of the emperor, Ningning would be kept out of politics since she was a woman.

"'Course I do." Ningning snorted. "My dear father has a portrait of you in his bedroom where he throws knives against before sleeping peacefully. But don't feel special," She exclaimed when Jennie's eyes went wide. "He has a whole room flooded with these wooden figurines he carves in his spare time. Each one is an enemy of his, and believe me, he has a ton of them."