𝕭𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉 𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖈𝖊───
"Dance for me." The figure on the throne said.
Her throat felt dry. Even in the dark, she could sense his eyes on her, tracking her every move.
She couldn't place what it was, but something about his intimidating aura made...
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It was evening, and Ji-ah walked back to her room after ending her shift. She sat down on the bed, letting out a low groan. Exhaustion weighted on her after a day's long work.
She didn't know that there were so many things to do in the palace. It made sense why the prince needed so many staff; running this place single-handedly would be impossible.
Ji-ah briefly wondered what the prince did every day. Did he just walk around, nodding his head at his staff? Now that she thought about it, it was rare to even see him around.
She saw his brothers more often than himself. Did he stay in his study, doing whatever he was doing? Whatever occupied his time seemed a world away from the mundane tasks of her own.
With a weary sigh, she kicked off her shoes, letting them tumble haphazardly to the floor. Leaning back against the soft pillows, she closed her eyes, relishing the brief respite from the demands of the day.
Outside her window, the evening sky was painted with hues of orange and pink as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the room.
A small cry came from outside, startling Ji-ah out of her bed. She approached the window, looking for the source. Who was that?
It was getting dark, so it's hard to see through the bushes and trees outside the yard. The cry sounded like a baby's.
Ji-ah scanned the grounds, looking for anyone who could be outside. But the yard remained barren.
Why would there be a baby's cry in the palace? Is it one of the staff's children? Ji-ah doesn't remember seeing children in this place.
A wild thought creeped into her mind without warning. This place could be decades old. What are the odds that there might be other spiritual beings in this place? Perhaps that could explain her weird dream.
The cry sounded again, this time even closer and louder. Ji-ah stepped back from the window, feeling uneasy. Then she sees a moving shadow at the corner of her window. A black fuzzy tail appeared first, and then it's head popped into view.
It wasn't a child after all, but a stray cat wandering the palace grounds. Ji-ah rubbed her forehead in embarrassment. Why did she get so scared over a small cat?
With a sense of embarrassment and amusement, she bent down to the window to face the cat.
The cat yowled again; it's green eyes glowed in the dark. Ji-ah looked at the feline climbing onto the windowsill. "You scared me there." Ji-ah said.
The stray cat's thin frame suggested it might be hungry. Ji-ah shook her head sympathetically. "Sorry, no food for you here."
The cat meowed in response, almost as if it understood her, then gracefully jumped down from the sill and sauntered away into the bushes. Ji-ah watched it disappear. The rest of the yard got darker, so Ji-ah quickly pulled the curtains shut.
