In Another Life

Dinner and Disaster

"Oi Sunoo!" Jake yelled over to the conversing two, "we have to get unpacked."

The prince nodded before going into the castle. He apologetically turned back to Mingyue, but her attention was back on the village of Lumena.

Sunoo was a little irked that Jake interrupted such a good conversation, he finally found someone that loves mint chocolate chip ice cream as much as he does.

"We didn't really overhear you two, what's she like?" Heeseung asked the younger.

"Go talk to her yourself, Heeseung."

The families soon unpacked, all of the children were able to get their own rooms as were the Kings and Queens. Although it was much too late to go out into the village because the had already begun to set.

"Your Highness, it's time for dinner," Ms. Byun informed Mingyue, "This is mandatory..."

The princess sighed, she was already exahsted from the day, she didn't even want to eat dinner. Reluctantly, she forced herself up and started making her way down to the dining hall with Ms. Byun was five paces behind her.

She was one of the last people to arrive, Ayame being the last one. There were two large tables, one set for the adults, and the other were for their children. Once everyone had taken a seat, their meals were placed in front of them. All of them were made their own special meal.

Mingyue looked at her plate compared to the other girls, it clearly wasn't similar to theirs. Although theirs were already small portioned, Mingyue was just given fruits and water. She still age it gratefully though.

Jingjing looked over at her daughter apologetically. Her mother said that life here was going to be better, but it's more depressing.

"Mingyue, did you ask for that?" Haneul leaned over to her sister, who was sitting right next to her, whispering the question. Mingyue slightly shook her head, and her sister tutted in annoyance. Haneul cut up her already small portion of chicken and moved it onto Mingyue's plate. "Don't say anything, you will get in trouble if you are seen eating anything but your fruits."

"Thank you,"

"It's not a problem, we've all been treated like that and it's not a fun feeling."

While the sisters were whispering, the rest of the table had been talking about their trip to the village tomorrow. But some of the princes noticed Haneul giving her food to Mingyue. It was a weird action, but they really thought nothing of it.

"Tomorrow we should visit the Lumena Village, I've heard about this amazing bakery! We should try it out," Jungwon suggested. Everyone seemed to agree, looking at the whispering girls for their input.

"Yes, we should go." Haneul hummed.

"Where are we going?"

"Tomorrow we are going to the Lumena Village to visit it's famous bakery. I promise you it will be so much fun," Haneul told Mingyue.

Although the girl was skeptical about it, she was worried that it was going to be her families bakery. She didn't even know if the Li Bakery was still open. And there were only two famously known bakeries. One being hers and another one that she didn't pay much attention to.

The next day came increasingly faster than Mingyue had hoped. She knew she was going to run into a lot of people she knew and she was trying to mentally prepare herself. She also needed to talk with Mrs. Kang as she promised before.

She found a hidden room that was concealed by a curtain of dresses in her closet. It went into a smaller room that she's made her own little safe spot. She had all of her drawings hung up and a bunch of pillows and blankets were scattered throughout the floor. The source of light primary came from the bay window, it gave her the most beautiful view. Also in that room was a crate that had all of her old folded dresses in it.

She put it on instead of a flimsy cloak that wouldn't hide any identity. It reminded her of her normal routine when she was a baker.

Mingyue walked back into her closet and looked at herself. This felt like the first time she was seeing herself in a really long time. She could barely recognize herself when she was wearing all these fancy clothes. She finished off the look with a flimsy cloak just to fit in with the others.

"You Highness, everyone is ready." Ms. Byun said, "You're going to wear that out? With the others?"

"I don't see why not?"

"Forgive me, but shouldn't you be wearing proper clothing?"

"Is this not proper? I believe that that it's dignitary, it not only covers every aspect of me that could possibly be alluring, but also I think it represents the people."

"Well said, Your Highness, you would make a fantastic leader once they assign you to a mission." Ms. Byun smiled.

"Can we make a deal? In private, when it's just us, could you call me by my first name?"

Ms. Byun contemplated for a second, "I suppose I could do that, Ms. Mingyue."

The girl smiled, finally making some progress towards Ms. Byun.

"You'll fit in well." Ayame commented on Mingyue's outfit. Mingyue simply shook it off, she didn't need the negative energy if she was going to talk with Mrs. Kang.

"They don't know," Kangdae informed Mingyue, "It's completely up to you if you want to tell them."

Kangdae sent a smile towards his sister before they all went to leave the castle. On the way out, Jingjing was wandering the halls, "Where are you kids going today?"

"We are going to the village ma'am, we wanted to try the bakery that Lumena was known for." Heeseung answered formally.

"I see," Jingjing's eyes fell on her daughter. Her smile dropped as soon as she saw what the girl was wearing. She forcefully grabbed her daughters arm and pulled her into a vacant office. "What the hell do you think you're wearing? Change. Now!"

"You act ashamed Mother. I am not ashamed of the years of hard work we did. People should know that their queen didn't just sit around waiting for someone–"

For the first time in Mingyue's life, Jingjing had struck her. The queen held no remorse in her eyes, only stone cold disappointment. Mingyue was on the verge of silent tears, she never thought that her mother would change this much.

"I miss Dad."

Yet again, Mingyue was struck by her mother.

"There will be no more discussion for this. Your Father is dead. I've moved on and you will to. We will start with burning those awful clothes." Jingjing grabbed a fistful of fabric and started tearing it.

Mingyue stepped back, away from her mother, she didn't want her mother to ruin the dress that brought her nostalgia.