Anything But Worthless [Akakstuki no Yona Fanfic]

2. Killing

¤ Third Person ¤

Roughly three weeks had passed since Ji-Na's forgotten birthday.

Yona stared at the dirt path, debating whether or not she should step into it. Sure, her sister did it every day, but she was Ji-Na. As the heiress, she had a level of pride she never wanted to tarnish.

Her sister knew this and opened the door to her room. Smiling, she hurried over, holding something in her arms. "Yona-nee, I finished it. Your birthday is the in five days, right?"

"Ah, yes..." Ji-Na grinned and presented the masterpiece to her sister.

"Thank goodness! I finished just in time then!" the recently turned ten-year-old held up, with slight difficulty, a slightly red, purple top with purple lining along with a long-sleeved, white-to-blue ombré under-dress. "I was thinking of pairing it up with your purple sash and the blue rose ornament. What do you think?"

Yona stared at it for a moment before huffing, "You told me you'd be able to make me look nice!"

Ji-Na's smile didn't fall but it wavered slightly. "Eh?"

"I held off all the servants from picking me a dress and this is what you give me?" Yona complained, "This is... this is..."

"Yona-nee—"

"Soo-Won can't me see in that dress!" she fret. "It's okay, Ji-Na. I shouldn't have bothered with you."

Ji-Na's arms fell and the dress slipped from her fingertips as she watched her older sister hurry off. She could feel the eyes of a nearby maid and she quickly lowered her head, hair cascading over her eyes. Her long orange hair was good for a single thing, they never failed to hide her face from the world as she felt like breaking. She knelt down and collected her recently finished dress before gripping it tighter within her hands, her injured and loosely bandaged hands.

"Worthless..."

'Please stop.'

"Hime-sama, are you alright?"

Ji-Na wasn't. There was no way she could be. But she forced her smile to remain in place and she lifted her head so her hazel eyes could gaze into the brown eyes of the maid. "I am fine." Turning, she returned back to her room but not without hearing the woman scoff.

"Ingrate."

'Please stop.'

Throwing the dress over onto the bed, she sighed. The window was finally repaired but all they really did was hammer down wood over it. It couldn't be classified as a window anymore; it was simply the bars to her cage.

The bits of light that used to illuminate her room a bright gold color was now just a dark shadow. To her, it resembled her life; once beautiful and filled with happiness but now, nothing more than the follower of another man. Stripping herself of her dress, she dragged her feet to the dresser. When she brought her gaze to the mirror, she was greeted by a disgusting figure.

Bags under her eyes, eyes pained, smile forced, hands bandaged terribly, arms bruised, legs shaking... how didn't anyone notice she wasn't alright? She heard her stomach growl and sighed. 'It doesn't really matter what I wear, does it?' Walking to her wardrobe, she fished out the most simplistic dress she could find; a white top lined with blue and a matching under-dress. Pulling her long hair up into a side ponytail, she touched the pendant. 'Hahaue, why did you leave me? Why didn't you take me with you...?'

She picked up her perfume bottle and inhaled the scent of jasmine⁶ before staring at her reflection once more. She remembered what her mother had told her so many years ago and relaxed. Practicing her smile, she held it still before closing her eyes. "I'm fine." She repeated the words until she knew her voice didn't sound too forced. She was sure no one would notice her pain... no one ever did after all.