In Another Life

Secrets

The letter was indeed not where it was originally hid. Mingyue had looked all over trying to find the stupid letter, although she had no clue where it could possibly be. This was probably the first time she's tried snooping in her mothers business.

'If I were a letter, where would I be?'

She looked around until she heard the door being opened. She had no time to run out of Jingjing's room, so she hid in her closet.

Mingyue was most definitely too big to be hiding in the closet, but that was the first and only option that came to her mind.

Jingjing walked in, not noticing that her everything had been rummaged through a few minutes ago. She was too distracted by the letter from this morning. Jingjing hid it in a secret compartment under her desk, but now Mingyue knew where to look in the future.

They stayed there for a while, Mingyue in the small closet and Jingjing re-reading the letter at her desk. Although Jingjing had been smiling, she pondered the question, 'how would Mingyue react?'

These actions went on for months, Jingjing would constantly be hiding things from Mingyue.

All the while, the King of Solona had yet to stop smiling. Everyone noticed that the kind king was in an even better mood than usual. On a typical day, King Yoobin would be kind to everyone, but he was never actually happy. After the death of his wife, everyone noticed a change with the king.

King Yoobin had two children with the late Queen: Price Kangdae and Princess Haneul. Those two had been the light of his life since his wife had passed, they were the reason that he got up everyday.

"Dad! Look at this, do you think that I could wear this to the ball?" Haneul asked, spinning around for her dad to see the dress.

"You look beautiful, Haneul" Yoobin nodded, admiring his daughter. This was before a certain letter came through. "I have to go, I'll see you at dinner?"

Haneul nodded and one her father walked away, her graceful features turning into a pout. She hated being alone, but that was something she got used to over the years. She might have a luxurious life, but it was a cold life where her father had no time for her, her mother clearly wasn't there for her and her brother was being trained to be the future king. She felt completely alone, the only person that would do any activities with her was her servant, but that was only because her servant was forced to.

King Yoobin had been at his desk, writing back to Jingjing. He would describe it as love at first sight, seeing Jingjing for the first time brought this happiness to his heart that felt long gone. He didn't even know his heart was still capable of feeling this way anymore.

A small smile played on his face as he wrote her back.

Li Jingjing,
I don't know if I can keep us a secret anymore. I want to declare our love for each other to the Kingdom, to the heavens above, to everyone. It's been months and I would be delighted if you and Mingyue would stay with us in the castle.
This is a huge request, but please think about it.
Your Yoobin

Jingjing and Yoobin had been sending letters back and forth for nearly four months. He's made it part of his daily routine to go to the bakery, but he does realize that Jingjing would have to give up the bakery if she ever wants to be his Queen. 

"Mom? What's going on? Why are you not at the bakery?" Mingyue asked her mother. Jingjing was putting all of her clothes in boxes.

"We're moving, sweetie, go pack."

"You didn't consult me about this?"

"Don't be a brat. You'll like this new change." Jingjing said, ushering her daughter out of her room.

It was made official, Jingjing and Mingyue were going to be living in the castle. Jingjing didn't seem to give two thoughts about giving up the bakery... perhaps it was a reminder that she was trapped to the bakery.

When Mingyue heard the news, she immediately went to Mrs. Kang's house.

Seeing the older woman brought a sad joy to her heart, "Mrs. Kang, I have something to tell you."

"Come in, we wouldn't getting you sick now." Mrs. Kang pulled Mingyue out of the white covered path and brushed a few snowflakes from her hair. "Now, what were you saying?"

"Mom and I are moving, and I wanted to be the first to let you know about the bakery, I'm sorry."

"Don't be!" The older woman tried to reassure.

"Is it bad that I really don't want to leave? I would be happy waking up everyday, for the rest of my life, to work in that bakery."

"That's not a bad thing, sweetie, it's normal to miss something... if you want, we could hire people to keep the Li Bakery going?"

Mingyue thought about the words, it was a brilliant idea and she could be able to return any time she wanted. The girl nodded, thanking Mrs. Kang for everything and promising to visit her even after she moved away.

"Mingyue, where have you been?" Jingjing asked.

"I went to talk with Mrs. Kang, I told her that we were moving... she thought that we should hire people for our bakery, that way we wouldn't have to give it up," explained Mingyue.

"That's silly. We are selling it, end of story."

Leaving no room for discussion, Mingyue had written a letter that would be delivered to Mrs. Kang's residence. She had written the older woman, asking if she could buy the bakery and keep it running. She knew that Mrs. Kang would run it without a problem, or she would hire others to run it.

Mingyue wrote down every recipe by heart on another piece of parchment, folded it neatly and tucked it into the envelope with her letter.