What You Never Had

Chapter 3

"Ouch!"

"Please stay still, Princess."

You tried not to frown at the matron's irritated chiding as she tugged your hair roughly into an elegant half-up, half-down style. It was not your fault that your head moved when she pulled your hair; to keep yourself still against her harsh force was impossible. You longed for Ji Eun's gentle touch, even if she didn't know how to dress your hair into anything more complicated than the simplest of hairstyles, which had been determined as insufficient for such a special occasion. However, you bit back the complaint forming on your tongue and caught Ji Eun's attention out of the corner of your eye to make an exasperated face, which caused her to choke on her laughter.

After threading some pearls into your hair to match your earrings, the matron declared that she was finished, and you breathed a sigh of relief that would be considered completely inappropriate for a princess should you be with proper company. The elderly woman either did not hear the loud exhale or chose to ignore it and quickly excused herself, obviously having other things to do on this busy day. Catching Ji Eun's admiring face in the reflection of the mirror in front of you, you turned to face her, smiling and saying, "Stop looking like that, it's still just me."

At your words, she burst into laughter, but you could see the tears welling up in her eyes. "I can't help it, you look so beautiful! I feel like I'm giving my daughter away."

The little snort that you made in response would have had your tutor nagging at you, but you never had to watch yourself around your lady-in-waiting. "Please! You're only a few months older than I am."

As she led you out of the room into the hall overlooking the huge ballroom, you thought about how much you were looking forward to this day just a little over six months ago. The coming of age ceremony meant that you would be taking your place as the Princess Royal, the only daughter of the monarch, and would mark the start of your duties as one. It meant that you would finally be allowed to step foot outside the castle grounds and present yourself as the princess while you take over the responsibilities that were used to be borne by your late mother. So many things had changed after that first time you sneaked out of the castle. Although you were still looking forward to doing your part for your country as your brothers did, a part of you were disappointed and afraid that it would become harder for you to sneak out unnoticed to see Jin.

The ceremony wouldn't begin for a few hours yet, but you couldn't stay inside your quarters a minute longer. Besides, you had been told that you would meet the new Royal Guard assigned to protect you from that day onwards, and Jimin, who had supposedly met him when they were choosing suitable candidates for the position, would not stop dropping by your room to tease you about how good looking he was. It did nothing but annoy you and honestly, you didn't care about how handsome your Royal Guard was. No one would even come close to Jin based on looks.

The hallway you were walking through was long and quiet, one side of the wall decorated with beautiful paintings and the other filled with wide archways leading to a balcony above the ballroom. It was still early, but the floor below was filled with servants and guards, the former busy setting up for the ceremony while the latter were checking everything to make sure that the place was safe, since many important figures were expected to attend. You peered out behind a curtain adorning one of the archways, watching them bustle about their activities.

It was interesting to see just how much work went into making the ballroom as beautiful and magical as you had seen during the coming of age ceremonies held for your brothers before, and you spent some time watching everything; the tables of carefully prepared food and beverages, flutes of champagne on trays ready to be brought about by waiters for the guests, beautiful, fresh flowers in expensive vases by the walls next to intricate sculptures slowly being put together, but after a while you decided that you'd had enough. Just as you were about to turn away from the scene, you saw a familiar figure. A tall figure with brown hair and broad shoulders, dressed in the midnight blue of the royal guard's uniform. You couldn't see his face as he was facing away from you, talking to another guard, but you could recognise his back anywhere and you could feel your stomach drop to your feet in horror.