faded | jeongguk.

act 1

❝just how much time has passed since we got to this place?❞

☼×☾

hanseong, kingdom of joseon - 1433

this was just so stupid.

a bead of sweat trickled down the side of seol's neck and she loudly clapped her hand against it, wiping the perspiration onto her skirt. her body just felt so leaden and the heat was not making it any better. her hanbok felt less like cloth and more like armor instead. her hair was wound tightly in an intricate updo, fastened together by multiple decorative (and heavy) pins. it was making her head hurt.

just how important was this general that king sejong's and queen soheon's entire court had to be present when he arrived? and what exactly was taking him so long?

seol felt someone pinch her arm hard and suppressed a yelp, whipping around to face her assailant. hwayeon, the head court lady, was glaring at her. she was wearing an expression seol knew well, a little too well. in fact, she got in trouble for this often.

"fix your posture and wipe that expression off your face this instant," hwayeon hissed through her teeth, somehow still maintaining a radiant smile. "when this is over, you will be cleaning the stables until you cannot stand."

seol sighed, blowing a tendril of hair out of her face. obediently (but reluctantly), she straightened up and plastered on a smile. the spot on her arm where hwayeon pinched her was throbbing. she wanted to cry - making her clean the stables was cruel even for hwayeon.

well, no matter, she thought to herself, at least i won't have to be around prince munjong.

king sejong's son was every court lady's nightmare. arrogant and misogynistic, he treated them like playthings. it was absolutely infuriating and seol would often find herself holding back some choice words for the crown prince.

seol's thought tangent was promptly interrupted when she heard the distant sound of drums, horse hooves, and the townspeople cheering.

"he's here," king sejong said. he spoke quietly, but everyone in the throne room heard him.

myungeun, the newest and youngest court lady, gripped seol's hand tightly; her doe eyes were sparkling with excitement. myungeun had arrived right after the general was assigned to deal with the jurchens and had never seen his face before.

the gold doors of king sejong's throne room slowly opened, revealing general shin guk and his army. the room erupted into whispers. seol could barely see over all the other officials standing in front of her. myungeun was on the very tip of her toes trying to see, only to be scolded by hwayeon.

it was obvious the amount of influence general guk had over the room. as he walked in, the room fell into a deafening silence. seol even held her breath. she had seen the general around the palace multiple times, catching small glimpses of him.

but this - this was something different.

shin guk was a breathtaking man. at only twenty, he carried himself in a way that rivaled king sejong. he walked with his shoulders back and eyes forward, not even sparing a glance at the audience that had gathered to welcome him. his armor was stained with blood and grime, but his sword gleamed. his dark hair was swept back into a short ponytail, held with a red string. however, the string wasn't holding it very well and locks of hair were falling next to the side of his face. there was a cut on the side of his cheek.

"that's the general?" myungeun whispered.

seol could only nod.

"you didn't tell me he was that handsome!"

"i did not realize he was that handsome until now," seol breathed.

"his wife is going to be a happy woman," myungeun sighed dreamily.

"be quiet!" hwayeon snapped.

seol and myungeun closed their mouths immediately and turned their attention back to the now speaking king sejong.

"i'm glad you have returned safely, general," the king said jovially. queen soheon nodded in agreement.

"your majesties." guk lowered himself onto his knee. "the jurchens have been defeated and the river is ours."

the room broke out into cheering and some officials even threw their hats in the air. even hwayeon was smiling.

"handsome and capable," myungeun gushed. "seol, do you think general guk would take a court lady as his bride?"

seol rolled her eyes, gently petting myungeun's head. "i do not know, but i know he won't take a child as his bride."

"seol!" myungeun pouted. "i am already twelve years of age. i am not a child!"

"then i'm sure prince munjong would love to take you as his bride," seol teased.

the younger's face morphed into a mix of terror and disgust. "don't even joke about that, seol!"

she laughed, throwing her head back. "your face, eunnie! you should've seen it!"

"yi seol."

seol froze, feeling hwayeon's ominous presence looming directly behind her. myungeun's face turned ashen.

"m-my ladyship," seol answered, slowly turning to face her. hwayeon's usually gaunt face looked even more petrifying, adorned with an ugly scowl.

"come, since you have clearly shown your inability to listen to me - you may start cleaning the stables now." hwayeon grabbed her arm tightly and dragged her toward the doors. no one seemed to pay much attention to them as they were all focused on the king and general guk. hwayeon did not let go until they reached the stables, where she roughly pushed seol toward them.

"you will clean until you learn to listen," she yelled, able to raise her voice since they were not longer in the throne room. with that, hwayeon turned on her heel and stomped away - leaving seol in the empty stables, nothing to accompany her except horse manure.

sighing, seol rolled up her sleeves and looked around for a bucket. as she walked around, hay and even a bit of manure was getting stuck to the bottom of her skirt. she huffed. cleaning the stables in a hanbok was impractical, but hwayeon meant for her to struggle as much as possible. the sun beating down on her was making her even more irritated.

"kim hwayeon!" she shouted into the sky. "i hope you choke on your rice today! who makes someone clean the stables in a hanbok? at least let me change! you are so cruel!"

when she finished screaming, seol was pouring sweat and completely out of breath. she swiped at her forehead and angrily began to scoop manure into a bucket, mumbling profanities the entire time.

"that was not very nice."

seol let out a scream and tossed the bucket toward the direction of the voice. she scrambled back, eyes wide with fear. "who-who are you?"

shin guk tilted his head, letting the bucket sail past him. he clutched the reins of a beautiful black stallion, his other hand resting on his hip. his eyebrow was raised and one corner of his mouth was quirked up.

"i'm general shin guk of his majesty's, king sejong, imperial army. and you are?"

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