In Another Life

The TEA

"Heeseung, Ayame said that Mingyue was trying to seduce one of you." Haneul blurted out.

"Haneul, I will tell you something that you are never allowed to tell anyone." The girl nodded at Heeseung's words, "There might be a forced marriage for Mingyue, Queen Jingjing is trying to organize it."

Haneul audibly gasped, she hadn't seen Jingjing as that kind of person. She started shaking her head, "No, no this can't be right? Does she even know about how the arraigned marriages work? Nine times out of ten Mingyue will be neglecting and left for some stupid mistress."  

"That won't happen." Heeseung said, looking the younger girl in the eye.

Haneul was really scared for Mingyue, truth be told, there was a lot of things that could go wrong. Beside neglect and legal cheating, it could be an abusive relationship. "How do you know?"

"Haneul, if the time comes and she's forced to marry, I've stepped up."

"Thank you Heeseung. I trust that you will treat her well. Much better than the Princes that go to our school, they are the ones I'm worried about."

"You do not need to worry about this matter any longer. We have a whole plan set in place."

Right as they were about to pass the garden, muffled sobs filled the air along with the crickets. Both of them looked towards each other before Heeseung walked forward with Haneul following shortly behind. On the pavilion was Mingyue, covering her mouth from the escaping cries.

When their footsteps became more audible, Mingyue tried to conceal herself even more. She pressed herself against the pillar of the pavilion in hopes of not being seen and stopped breathing so her cries would seize.

Heeseung looked towards Haneul, she quickly understood that he was asking if she could leave. He made his way over to the pavilion and crouched down next to the girl.

"Hey, what happened?"

Mingyue finally let out a breath as she knew it was indeed not her mother. Silent tears had been streaming down her face and perhaps for the first time, Heeseung was noticing all of her beauty under the moonlight.

"It's nothing really."

"It has to be something, and if you want to talk about it, I'm here for you." Heeseung said, sitting on the floor next to the girl. They sat there for a while, looking at the everything around them; the sky, the pond, the flowers. Everything seemed much more dreamlike at night. Maybe it was because when they weren't scorned by they daylight, they could share their beauty.

"My mom wants me to marry. On my eighteenth birthday, she will announce that I am eligible..."

"I see, has she picked a kingdom yet?"

"She hasn't told me, but maybe I'll just run away before I'm deemed as a woman."

"You will be always be welcome in my kingdom, Mingyue."

"Thanks Heeseung."

He hummed, his gaze returning to the sky above. "Did you know that Mingyue means bright moon in Chinese?"

"Yeah, my parents grew up in a predominantly Chinese speaking kingdom. They thought that I could be their bright light through the dark times we were facing."

"Isn't the only kingdom that uses Chinese Kasmira?"

"Yeah, they had to leave because it was getting attacked."

"I'm sorry, Mingyue," Heeseung looked at the girl. He could tell what she was thinking of, but her eyes were glued to the bright moon. "Do you want to head inside? I'm sure Haneul would want to see you?"

The two made their way inside the castle. Warmth spread through them, the door shielded them from the harsh air of night which both had yet to notice when they were outside.

"Hello Haneul–"

Haneul engulfed her sister in a hug. Warming up any parts of her heart that were froze over by the hatred from her mother.

"I've already asked Ms. Byun to draw you a bath. We can't have you getting sick while your ball is right around the corner, now can we?"

"Thank you Haneul~ you are truly the best," Mingyue yawned. After her emotional outburst, fatigue was the one thing that Heeseung and Haneul could see clear as day even during the night.

"Haneul, why don't you take her up to her room and I'll bring up some a warm drink?"

The girl nodded, leading a tired Mingyue back to her room.

Heeseung went the opposite ways, he went down to the kitchen to make tea. He used to make it all the time to help his mother when she was sick. Before they found out of her illness, she kept falling ill.

Haewon got sick so frequently that Hajoon couldn't stay to help her anymore. His wife was very stubborn woman, she didn't want a physician at her side all the time.

When Haewon was little, her mother was poisoned by the medicine that a physician gave her. It was only normal of her to not fully trust their royal physician. She didn't want to repeat history... she didn't want to leave Heeseung like her mother had left her.

From then onward, Heeseung had made his mother tea to help her get better. He had improved immensely since the first time he's made it. 

He waited until the water had cooled down just perfectly. Haewon was sure to give him tips to improve his tea making, so he has a perfect process down. But one problem remained, he forgot to ask Mingyue about her favorite tea.

He didn't know if she was finished bathing or not, so he guessed jasmine tea. It was his favorite, so he was really hoping that she would like it too.

When he was sure that Mingyue would be finished bathing, he knocked on her door.

A faint mumble could be heard before Ms. Byun opened the door. Her eyes widened at the sight of Heeseung.

"Your Royal Highness, what brings you here?"

"I have tea for Mingyue."

Ms. Byun nodded, letting the boy in, she left the room to give them privacy keeping the door slightly opened. Mingyue was fully dressed in her long nightgown, her damp hair rested on her shoulders, slightly soaking through the fabric.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked and Mingyue nodded, although she still looked exhausted. He wondered how it was even possible for the bags under her eyes to get darker. Heeseung put the tea her bedside table before making his way over to the girl.

She had a towel in her hand as she was trying to dry her hair the best she could before he had arrived. Heeseung slowly took the towel from her, his eyes were asking if she was okay if he helped dry her hair.

There they stood, Heeseung drying Mingyue's hair so the girl could relax. As he did so, Mingyue was really excited to taste the tea.

"How is it?" He asked, he would be lying if he didn't say he was a bit worried that she wasn't going to like it.

"It's perfect thank you, Heeseung, for everything."

"It's not a problem, but for next time what type of tea do you like?"

"I think that this one might be my new favorite," Mingyue spoke. She smiled as she took another sip.