The Princess' Handmaiden

Chapter 15

When Mina woke up, she wondered if she'd changed her mind and killed herself. But then she realised she was laying in her bed, and she looked to the side to see Nayeon. The handmaiden seemed like she was trying to stay awake but dozed off in the process, and it was adorable.

Her mind felt foggy, but Mina also felt like something different happened while she was locked in her room. Her body was aching, but not nearly as much as it usually did. Nayeon opened her eyes, suddenly sitting up. She turned to Mina and her eyes softened.

"Good morning, Mina." She smiled, and the princess blinked at her. She knew what was odd. She hadn't been able to get a good night's sleep in far too long.

"What time is it?" The princess questioned, and the handmaiden simply groaned.

"I don't know..."

"Why are you whining all of a sudden?" Mina asked, sighing. "Never mind. I know something happened yesterday, so what did?"

"Oh, nothing much. I may have come into the room and-" 

"You did what!?" Mina exclaimed, her eyes wide. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Do I look hurt?" Nayeon asked, and the princess calmed down. "You just fell asleep."

"But I don't normally fall asleep. Not from what I know, at least."

Nayeon considered this, and hummed thoughtfully.

"Maybe you panic because you get locked up. Maybe if people stopped being scared of you, then you wouldn't act like that."

The handmaiden had a good point. Despite this, Mina was still worried. If this was true, then Nayeon might catch on, and the princess would end up revealing too much. She couldn't let that happen to her again.

🐧👑🐧

"What's this?" Nayeon asked, and the princess walked beside her. She took the large book from her handmaiden and her eyes twinkled at the front cover.

"It's not a story, more of a journal, in a way. No artists were hired to paint me, so my sister would do it. This contains illustrations of me, Hana, Momo and Sana."

"Are you serious? We have to look through this!" The handmaiden snatched the book and sat down on the bed eagerly. Mina followed behind her, and watched as Nayeon flicked onto the first page. 

It was a drawing of when the princess was still young, but it wasn't amazing as Sana was five when she drew it. Nayeon giggled, amused by the scribbles that somehow came together. As the pages went on, Mina grew up, and soon new people were added into the portraits.

There was an illustration of Momo sneaking food into Sana's bedroom, and they all seemed to be having a sleepover.

"I remember that." Mina commented quietly, her cheeks red from the embarrassment of going through pictures of her younger self.

As they saw drawings of Hana, Nayeon's smile faded. Her eyes narrowed as she examined the pages, but ended up brushing off the feeling of uncertainty.

"You used to smile so much." The handmaiden mindlessly murmured, tracing the outline of a drawing with her thumb. Mina turned to look at her, her expression unreadable. "Your smile looks beautiful."

"Your smile is beautiful,"

The princess shook her head to try and forget it, tried to forget him.

"I don't like smiling." Mina muttered, looking away. Nayeon gazed at her with concern, but nevertheless continued with the pictures. After some point in her life, Mina began to smile less in the drawings.

"I think the rest of this is blank." Nayeon noticed, and Mina shook her head.

"No, this page is stuck. Hold on." As she tried to flip over the page, a memory popped into her mind.

"I'll stop drawing in this book, Mitang. There's a note on the final drawing." Sana winked, handing her fourteen year-old sister the book.

But Mina never checked the page. She just locked it up with the other books in her room. She unstuck the page, and felt her heart break.

It was an unfinished illustration of her, without a face. The princess stared at the writing beneath it, tears threatening to appear in her eyes.

I can't draw you if you aren't smiling. You're prettier like that. Smile more, Mitang! (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)

Nayeon caught Mina's eye and touched the back of her hand. She flipped onto a previous page, and it was a picture of Hana. The handmaiden squinted her eyes before realising.

"Is this Hana?" Nayeon questioned, and Mina nodded. "It can't be..."

"Why?" The princess asked, confused.

"I think I know her."

🐧👑🐧

Mina couldn't believe she was sneaking out again. They decided to wait until the 30th of September to do it so they could leave for the entire day. Then something hit Nayeon. They'd already thought of a plan in case Mina did go into a panic, but they hadn't thought of this.

"What about your sister?"

"What about Sana?"

"She sometimes sits outside your door, and-" She paused. Mina was staring at her with wide eyes. Of course she wouldn't know that.

"Uh, I'm sure she'd understand." The princess hesitated, holding the rope.

🐧👑🐧

The pair were running through the gardens, the moonlight shining down on them. Nayeon stopped in front of a cherry blossom tree.

"That tree is wonderful." She grinned, looking up at it. Mina stopped as well and followed her gaze. She sighed.

"I like it too."