Chapter-11

"These are your quarters", the guard told us and kept our luggage in front of a house which was three times our house in the village. It had a garden in front which connected all the other quarters together. There was a small fountain in between four quarters. The palace was indeed beautiful. The guard asked us to enter our house. We were allowed to stay here till our house was built again. It would take a month or two and till then we were staying in this beautiful place. My sisters ran inside like we never saw a house ever before. I thanked the guard once he helped my mom in entering the house. The house was indeed very pretty and all of us wondered if the quarters were this beautiful then how beyond the heaven beautiful the rooms inside the palace would be. "Have you seen any of the rooms in the palace?", Mi So asked me. I preferred hiding the truth from them about the night I jumped into the room through the window. I replied with a no. "How is that possible, you work here!", she exclaimed. "I do work here, but I work on the other side of the palace. I don't work in the residential area.", I said. "But she will from tomorrow.", Kang said reminding me of my new job that I was going to start from tomorrow. I shuddered at the thought of babysitting king's mother. I must say he doesn't know how to use the assets he has. I planned to go out and have a look around as we were supposed to stay here for a while. Kang and Mi So were busy setting the house and there wasn't much stuff left with us so I knew they could manage this by themselves. Also, they consider me less aesthetic. I walked out of the quarter and strolled in the garden for a while. I sat by the fountain and I could feel water droplets on my face. There were beautiful cherry blossoms and birch all around in the garden. The light pink coloured flowers were blooming in their own little world unaware that they are being adored. Some flowers were going with the wind and landing delicately onto the fountain water beautifying the water as well. Birds were singing their melodies with glee and making the aura more serene. I sat there in peace when I heard someone humming a song. A voice I knew too well. I jerked upon recognising the voice but there was no one around me. I was about to lean back on my hands again when the voice came again. This time I followed the sound and it led me to the backside of the quarters. There was a man helping an elderly woman in picking up cherry blossoms for the garland. He was collecting them and she was weaving it into an intriguing pattern onto the thread which already had many other flowers woven. It didn't take me a moment to recognise who he was. His covered face had made me an expert in recognising him with other gestures of his. I didn't wish to interfere in their work so I stood behind a tree and watched him run around picking flowers and putting them in a basket. He turned around to pick a flower and my heart skipped a beat. This was the first time I saw his face. It felt like I was doing something I shouldn't have. But I couldn't help but look more and more of his delicate features. He had brown eyes which were now perfectly fitting with his other features. He was way better than what I imagined him to be. His light brown hair was falling on his forehead and reaching his eyes. He had pretty long and messy hair. He was in an informal outfit which was not black this time. He laughed at something the woman said and my heart skipped a beat the hundredth time. Once he had collected all the flowers the woman bowed down to him and said, "Thank you lord Min Ho.", I froze. He was not just some royalty. He was the younger brother of the king. He smiled at her and started walking towards the tree I was hiding behind. I forgot he was royalty and I tried to walk away before he noticed my presence. But he was trained to notice such stuff. He called out, "Hyun is that you?", I stopped dead in tracks. I turned around and bowed. It doesn't matter how well we know each other; he was still a royalty. He noticed the very evident change and realisation dawned upon him that his secret was not hidden anymore. "You don't need to do that Hyun, we are friends.", he said with sincere eyes. I didn't say anything and kept my head low. "I am sorry for hiding this from you.", he said again. I looked up at him but I was still quiet. "I hid this because it was not the right time then.", he said more to himself. He looked at me one more time and left without a word. I was left there standing alone and anticipating what exactly happened here. I walked back to my quarter. The house was perfectly done and my mom was sleeping peacefully. Kang and Mi So were talking about how bad they want to kill Kim. "Have you heard about the king's younger brother?", I asked them. They looked at me all confused. "I saw him out there, so I was just curious because he seemed different.", I explained. It was partially true though. "yes, I have heard a lot about king's younger brother but none of them was positive comments. They all said he was weird and no one knew what he thinks or does.", Kang said. "I even heard some girls say what a waste of good looks he is.", Mi So continued. They both were discussing the newfound topic now but my thoughts were turning into a chaotic mess. Because what I experienced was different. I saw him as someone who was mature, funny, intelligent and not weird at all. But then again what happened today and how he left was also something I experienced. I looked at the cherry blossom that was blooming just outside our window and all these flowers reminded me of was him. I decided to do my side of research on this mystery guy who had very sphinx-likely crept into my life.