The Thief (Sahyo)

Chapter 9: The Past

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Jihyo's hand began cramping as she wrote her name over and over again on the parchment Sana had given her. Nearly every blank space was covered in ink. The princess told her to repeat her name until there was no available spaces left on the parchment and then throw it in to the fireplace opposite the omega's bed.

"Repetition is key to memorising something". The voice of the princess bounced through her mind.

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"Once you've filled the parchment, throw it into the fire and start again. This time using only your memory with absolutely no help from me." She gave the alpha an encouraging squeeze of her shoulders before disappearing from her chambers.

She had been gone nearly two hours. Jihyo flexed her cramping hand and glanced briefly at the door. Picking the quill back up, she wrote her name once more.

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The alpha sighed to herself. It was pointless her being here. She was confined to Sana's room most of the time with a guard stationed outside of the door. No one would notice her disappearing for a few hours throughout the day. Jihyo wasn't sure if the guard was there to protect her or make sure she wouldn't attempt to escape.

Jihyo wouldn't try to escape. She already gave her word on that. Maybe the king has actually noticed how many alpha servants have gone missing and has finally decided to step up the protection of his property.

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Escaping was the last thing on the alpha's mind anyway. Not only did Sana allow her the freedom to do as she pleased and talk as freely as possible, Jihyo was really enjoying the princess' company.

She still took off from the omega's balcony at nightfall and returned at dawn. She missed her sisters and Mina terribly. The other alpha's at the camp knew Jihyo was up to something and cheered her return every night like she was a hero coming back from war.

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In Jihyo's absence Mina gained the confidence to sneak into the kingdom and head straight to Chae's home. Joohyun took on babysitting duties in the two hours it took for Mina to go there, collect Chaeyoung and come back. The omega was always greeted with a smile and a bow from nearly every alpha in the village.

Things were looking up. All Jihyo needed to do was to sit and wait for Sana to finish her end of their deal. Whenever that may be.

Before Jihyo got the chance to write her name again, the door to the princess' room opened and closed loudly. A young handmaiden, no younger than Jihyo herself, entered. Her arms were so full of silk sheets that she could not see where she was going. Her foot caught the leg of a table and she stumbled forward. Jihyo caught her just in time but the sheets fell to the floor.

"Forgive me." The girl bowed her head and squeezed her eyes shut.

The alpha chuckled. "It's okay." She let go of the girl and bent down to pick up the sheets before tossing them haphazardly onto the princess' bed.

The girl shrieked, "No! They're expensive silk sheets! You can't throw them like that!"

Without as much as a glance in the alpha's direction, the girl, who as far as Jihyo could tell was an omega, jumped to the bed and began carefully folding the sheets one by one. Jihyo eyed her for a few seconds before shaking her head and sitting back down at the desk and continued writing.