𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗦, Go Won

𝟬𝟲𝟱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗻'𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀

Da-hye had been invited to a banquet that the Queen was hosting. She only wanted to go because there was a chance that she might see the Crown Prince.  Da-hye had recently gotten a new maid as well, her name was Kim Na-ri. 

"Young Lady Park, I think we need to call some dressmakers for dresses." Kim Na-ri said. 

"Sure." Da-hye smiled, she was sitting in her vanity. 

Na-ri squealed and clapped her hands. "I will call Dressmaker Lee, and Dressmaker Cho, and basically all of them." Na-ri said. "We will find the best dress." Na-ri said excitedly as she walked out of Da-hye's room.

Da-hye smiled, Na-ri was so adorable. She was probably Da-hye's age or younger, she was new to Songrim. And was excited by everything and anything she saw. Specially, the Songrim Spirit Plaques. Da-hye was putting on her earrings, she had just finished taking a bath.

Suddenly, Dang-gu barged into Da-hye's room. She turned around and gave him an annoyed expression. "Hey, you are going to the Queen's banquet, right?" Dang-gu asked.

"Yes." Da-hye responded as she got up and gave him a suspicious look. She noticed that Dang-gu was holding a little cute jewelry box. "Why?" Da-hye asked suspiciously.

"Then, if you happen to see Cho-yeon there..." Dang-gu said as he opened the jewelry box, revealing diamonds called The Dragon's Tears made into hairclips. "Could you give these for me?" Dang-gu asked as she gave Da-hye the box.

Da-hye looked up but did not raise her head. "Are these not those diamonds called 'The Dragon's Tears' ?" Da-hye asked as she lowered her eyes to look at the diamonds again. "You purchased them not to long ago." Da-hye said as she raised her head to look at Dang-gu. 

"If Jin Cho-yeon wears these, people will know that these were a gift from you. And that is why she might not accept these." Da-hye explained to her brother. She was just telling him this, incase it had not clicked into his head yet.

"If she refuses to accept them, it would mean she turned me down." Dang-gu said with a sad expression on his face. "Forget it. It will be unbearable for me if she rejects me once and for all." Dang-gu explained as he tried to take the box away from Da-hye but she turned around and moved away. 

"Do you want to keep them for yourself?" Dang-gu asked.

"No." Da-hye said. "But then, what? Are you just going to wait around for her to make a move or something?" Da-hye asked.

"Do you think she will accept? Or will she refuse?" Dang-gu asked.

"Well, you will only know once I give them to her." Da-hye responded.

"I guess you're right." Dang-gu said. "You never know what is in the rice cake until you bite into it." Dang-gu said referencing the Leave-it-to-luck Rice Cakes. 

"I am hoping for honey, but I am afraid it might be fish sauce. But I will bravely bite into it and swallow my destiny." Dang-gu explained.

Da-hye smiled. "Yeah, you better."

"Young Lady Park!" Na-ri came into Da-hye's room. "The dresses are here!" Na-ri said excitedly.

"Dang-gu, are you busy?" Da-hye asked as she placed the jewelry box down on her vanity.

"No." Dang-gu shook his head.

"Then, you two will help me pick out a dress." Da-hye smiled. But actually, they were just there to watch Da-hye try on the dresses. She was not actually gonna consider their opinion.

"Bring in the first dress." Na-ri said.

"Is it because you might see His Royal Highness, there?" Dang-gu asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yes." Da-hye nodded. Of course, she wanted to look pretty for him.

The first dress Da-hye tried on was a peach colored skirt with a peach colored long jeogori, that had peach colored flowers sown into it. It was not really Da-hye's color. She usually wore dark colors only.

"It is a beautiful dress, but it does not suit you." Dang-gu said. Da-hye agreed.

"We need darker colors." Na-ri told the servants who were bringing in the dresses.

The second dress was a purple long sleeveless dress with a long black coat over it. The coat had long and big sleeves, and the end of the sleeves were purple. The coat was tied with a black fabric strip on Da-hye's waist. This outfit was actually not that bad. If she did not find another dress, Da-hye would choose this one.

"Goodness, you look so beautiful, Young Lady Park!" Na-ri said excitedly. "Is this your first time going to a banquet?" Na-ri asked.

"Yes." Da-hye nodded. "Would you like to come along with me?" Da-hye asked.

"Can I?" Na-ri asked excitedly.

"Sure." Da-hye said.

The third dress was similar to the second dress, except it was black and white. "This feels too basic." Da-hye said. "It is pretty, but this feels like something I would wear to sleep." Da-hye explained.

"You have already tried on 3 dresses." Dang-gu complained.

Da-hye scoffed. "And there is always more options." Da-hye explained.

"This is quite a basic dress." Na-ri said. "You need to stand out." 

The fourth dress was a forest green skirt with a black jeogori. And there was a black small cloak coat over it that was tied with black strings, that had small fuzzy balls at the end of them. Da-hye liked it, but she felt like there was a better dress that she could try on.

"This one is definitely the one!" Na-ri said. "It looks amazing." Na-ri clapped her hands.

"You look so pretty, Da-hye." Dang-gu said.

"I know." Da-hye smiled. "But there is still one more dress, I cannot make my choice yet." Da-hye explained.

The fifth dress was definitely the one. It was a long white skirt with a black jeogori over it. It was so similar to the dress that Uncle Jin had given Da-hye to wear when she thought she had found her future husband. And then Crown Prince really liked that dress. And like the fourth dress, it had the same small cloak coat over it.

"This one is definitely the one." Da-hye said as she untied the cloak coat. She thought it looked better like that.

"Hey, this is similar to that one dress." Dang-gu said talking about the dress that Uncle Jin had gifted Da-hye.

"Exactly." Da-hye said.

About 30 minutes later, Na-ri started doing Da-hye's hair. Her hair at the top was braided tied around a bun, and decorated with decorative roses. And strings made black beads were tied into the back of her hair.

Authors note <3

𝗧𝗼, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀, 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝘆 (𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳) 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴!! 𝗜 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁, 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝘆.