The Princess' Handmaiden

Chapter 6

Mina was staring at Nayeon's face like she'd never seen a human before. She was looking at how peacefully asleep her handmaiden looked, and she realised that she could stare at that face forever and never get bored. The princess then looked closer, and realised that Nayeon was clearly exhausted. She suddenly felt a pang of guilt, as she had been keeping the girl awake for three months.

Her eyes drifted over to the bookshelf in her room, and after checking the time, she concluded that it was too early for Nayeon to wake up. Mina did not want her handmaiden to watch her struggle. She slowly stepped out of bed, and walked towards the books. She picked out one of her favourites: 'Cinderella'.

Mina sat down at her dresser, switched on her lamp and stared at the front cover. She traced the outlines of the illustration with her trembling forefinger; memories flooding back to her. She remembered her sister drawing the front of any story she wrote, and Mina used to admire her for it. The princess stopped admiring her when she locked the cabinet and all the books in it away for what seemed like forever. Mina couldn't even look at her own handwriting anymore. That was, until that day. She didn't know what came over her, but she suddenly wanted to try.

She flipped onto the first page.

"There was once a rich man whose wife lay sick, and..."

Mina stopped. She stared at the handwriting, and as she looked at it longer, it made even less sense. Was it because she was young when she wrote this? No. Her handwriting had never been deemed 'legible' by royal standards, but this just seemed terrible. 

The princess bit her lip as she thought of how long it took her to write out all of the books she had. One paragraph alone probably took her about half an hour, and that may or may not have included the punishments and tears.

"Why can't you just get this right?" The familiar voice rang through her ears. A repeated string of apologies mixed with screams also replayed again, and again, and again. Mina looked back at the writing, but if she could understand a few things before, she definitely couldn't then. She found it impossible to tell which letters were which, and when she thought she understood a word, she realised that she'd gotten it completely wrong.

"Are you stupid? Do you even know how to spell stupid?"

As more voices spoke in her mind, Mina had to resort to slamming the book shut. Tears pricked the princess' eyes as she pushed the story away, but of course, out of sight doesn't always mean out of mind. She could almost feel the pain all over again, and she remembered how the extra lesson time really took a toll on her.

"What am I doing?" Mina whispered, covering her face with her hands. "Why can't I just be like Satang? Why can't I actually be useful?"

🐧👑🐧

Nayeon was walking around the palace after being given free time by Mina. She realised how lenient the princess was with her, and couldn't help but blush. As she walked, she heard sobbing coming from a room. The handmaiden knocked on the door, and a familiar voice replied.

"Who is it?" The girl sniffled. It was Sana.

"It's me, Nayeon. Princess Mina's handmaiden. May I come in, or should I-"

"No, you can come in." 

And so Nayeon pushed the door open, and turns out it led right to Sana's bedroom. Immediately the handmaiden noticed that hers was much grander than Mina's. It looked more expensive, more royal. Sana was lying down on a purple chaise lounge, and she was wiping her tears. The princess sat up, and beckoned Nayeon to sit beside her.

"Thank you." Sana smiled, taking the handmaiden's hands in hers. Her tears began flowing again and Nayeon didn't know what to do. "Thank you for helping my sister."

"Please don't thank me for what I've done, it is my job after all." Nayeon replied, shaking her head.

"No, you don't understand. Out of all of the handmaidens Mina has had, you are by far the best." The princess grinned. "I really hope you continue with this job, I do not want my sister in the wrong hands again."

"Have I stayed the longest out of anyone else? The maids were surprised to see me today. They thought I'd leave earlier." Nayeon asked, but Sana shook her head.

"No. There was one woman who stayed the longest. Ms Red Lips stayed for over eleven years. Since Mina was three years old, and until she was fourteen." The princess spoke grimly.

"Ms Red Lips?"

"She never gave us her real name. Only our parents know. Since she wore the same red lipstick everyday, we called her Ms Red Lips behind her back." Sana chuckled before putting on a serious face again. She was looking at the floor and fidgeting with her fingers.

"Was she kind?" Nayeon asked, already doubtful.

"No. Far from, actually. She was cruel, and I think she was a psychopath." Sana sighed. "She was hired to 'straighten Mina out'." She gripped onto the edges of the chair. "Mina didn't do anything wrong..."

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I don't know. Mina would run to me and Momo everyday with new wounds and bruises, but when we asked what happened to her, she would always avoid answering." Sana's eyes welled up with tears. "And then, when Ms Red Lips left, Mina just sort of vanished. She stopped acting how she usually did, I mean. She stopped smiling, she suddenly began to hate physical affection, even though she used to love it..."

The princess looked up at Nayeon.

"I'm her sister, and I can only hold her hands and occasionally kiss her cheek! I really wish I could find out more, but Ms Red Lips must have found a way to silence her, whether that was through threats or just plain fear." Sana sniffed, before staring into Nayeon's eyes, her expression stoic once again. "There is one thing I know, however. I don't know what specifically happened, but on the final day of every month, I wouldn't see Mina. That's definitely why she goes into a panic on those specific dates."

Nayeon was almost content with this. She'd found out a bit more, but there was still something she needed to know.

"Why does Mina have a different surname to you?" She asked, and Sana swallowed thickly.

"Humiliation."