Opia ➵ Wang Yo { Book 2 }

ii. princess jueun of kaesong

I had awoke up drenched in sweat, gasping for air and wearing of what seemed to be a white hanbok and a head piece around my head.

Hanbok....

No one wear hanbok in during these days....

That's when I widened my eyes and looked around my surroundings. All of the things suddenly didn't seem familiar to me. They were all made with wood and copper, dusty books piled beside my bed and nothing from my world seemed to be in this world.

Suddenly, the sliding door opened. A girl in a tight bun and maiden clothes suddenly exclaimed when she saw me.

"Princess Jueun is awake! My Lady Song, the princess is awake!" She exclaims happily. And then quickly sat beside me with the biggest smile on her face.

"My princess! We were all worried sick when we found you lying down on the veranda! We thought you were dead, but you were only unconcious! How do you feel, your Highness?" She asks. I didn't know who she was but seeing her as she was concerned for me somewhat overwhelmed me and melted my heart.

"Jueun? I'm not Jueun. I'm Jihyo." I chuckled nervously. But she looked at me with worried eyes.

"Your Highness, what kind of name is Jihyo? The queen especially named you Jueun as it was the name that sounded pleasant in her ears." She explained. Queen...then this must mean I've gone back to the old period of time!

"What is your name?" I asked her. But she looked at me bitterly.

"Your Highness, hearing you right now, makes me think that you've lost your memory." She said, sadness hinting on her voice.

"What happened to me? And where are we?" After asking those questions, a woman dressed elegantly on fine silk of hanbok came in. The girl beside me lowered her head. She must be the queen.

"Oh my Jueun." She hurriedly went to my side and held my head.

"My child, are you ill? What has happened to you?" She asked worriedly. I could only smile a little bit at her.

"Where am I?" I asked her. Though I was smiling, she looked at me like she was on the verge of tears. Like it shattered her when she heard me ask those words.

"My child, you are in Kaesong. I am your mother. Queen Song. And your father, is King Taejo, who is in Songak right now." She said softly, still holding my hand.

My heart dropped at the moment. I have gone more than a thousand years back. Kimchi musn't have been made already-

"The king wishes to see you, Jueun. He wants you to be treated by one of the best doctors in the palace." I could only nod in response and later, the queen left my chambers. Leaving me and the other girl behind.

"Your Highness, I am Ri Na. Your personal servant." She pressed her hands on her stomach and bowed towards me.

"Since the queen said that you'll be heading over to the palace, let me help you in dressing up." She says.

🌸 🌸  🌸

The palanquin made us reach towards the palace, and I had enjoyed my ride of a palanquin since there's no palanquin's in my time. The queen and I walked beside each other upon heading towards the gardens of the castle.

🌸 🌸 🌸

As the sun rose up in the sky, he thought it would be such a bright and fine day. But that was all taken away when the woman he loves was found almost dead in Kaesong.

He wanted to get to her as soon as he heard the news, to be beside her and assure himself that she was okay and alive. But the queen forbidded him, which caused him to release his anger by shooting arrows.

When he was done shooting for what seemed to be a hundred bulls eye of arrows, he was heading over to the gardens. Thinking that he would either see Won or Jung. But what he saw was beyond of what he was thinking.

He saw her.

He saw her dressed up prettily in white hanbok and a pink headpiece on her head. As if she wasn't in an accident at all. He looked so happy and suddenly his heart started to beat wildly in his chest. He was deeply in love with King Taejo's daughter from another woman, Song Jueun.

But he knew that Queen Song had a feud with Queen Yoo and Queen Hwangbo which made Queen Song and Jueun move back to Kaesong and live in their own palace. He was heartbroke by this, but he was determined to get to Kaesong and ask for her hand in marriage.

So he decided to follow the two of them, the sliding doors closed but he leant a little close to eavesdrop.

"What brings you here, Queen Song?" The medical doctor asks.

"Jueun...has lost her memory." The queen spoke.

And this broke his heart into another million pieces. The woman he wanted most lost her memory. She wouldn't have any memory of him. He thought that she was unfair. Unfair that she forgot what they had when they were children. Unfair that she was no longer aware of what he and she feels for each other. It all seemed unfair to him until he decided to get into his chambers and cried in a corner. But even if he was devastated, he was determined to create new and memorable memories with Jueun.