Brother's Arrival

"What?!" Da-eun blurted out. They had only talked about it the night before, but her 'brother' had already arrived?! She was in shock.

"Yes! He's come to visit us here! He will be joining us for tea here at the palace today! He'll also come with us back to the estate and stay for 2 days. This is such a joyous occasion, Da-eun!"

"Uh, indeed. I will get to meet my brother."

With that, Da-eun got ready with the help of Ha-jin.

"Ugh, why are there so many layers of garments? This suffocating!" Da-eun complained.

"You must endure it, my lady,"

After she'd finished, she talked to Ha-jin.

"Ha-jin, why do you always walk behind me?" she inquired.

"My lady, it is only proper etiquette! If I'd done otherwise, I'd be punished severely,"

In a few minutes, they'd walked together to the room Da-young and Da-hyun had been waiting for her in. Of course, Ha-jin positioned herself at the corner of the room to stay on standby.

"Welcome, Da-eun!"

"Hello,"

"Da-eun, this is Da-hyun! You might not know him due to the head injury, but he'll tell you more about himself. What do you want to know?" asked Da-hyun. "Well, for starters, what is our family name? Surely it is not 'Da'," Da-eun inquired. "Our family name? What a great question! We are a part of the Seong Clan. It means to succeed." Da-hyun explained.

For hours they talked and got to know each other. Finally, at 3:00 pm, it was time to meet the royal family for tea. "Well, we should get going. It's time for tea with the royal family." Da-hyun concluded. "What?! Noooooo!" Da-eun suddenly exclaimed, worried the Crown Prince would ridicule her. Da-hyun and Da-young looked at Da-eun in a concerned manner. Had she gone insane after that head injury?! "Um, I mean yes, we should!" Da-eun said, quick to fix her mistake. Da-young looked a little surprised, while Da-hyun was just confused. "Hehe, um, we should go," Da-eun nervously laughed. Soon after, they arrived at the Palace Cafe. As Da-young and Da-hyun entered the room, Da-eun shyly stayed behind. "Da-eun! Come into the room!" Da-young whisper-shouted. "I can't!" Da-eun replied. "And why is that?" Da-young asked. Da-eun had no choice but to follow Da-young and Da-hyun into the room. As she walked, she kept her head down, so as to not let the Crown Prince know that she was there. "You may sit." said the Queen Dowager. "Queen Dowager, this is our sister, Da-eun. The one that has a head injury," Da-hyun said. "I see. Well, let us introduce ourselves, as Da-eun might not know who we are," said the Queen Dowager. "Oh, it's really no trouble!" said Da-young, Da-eun's older sister. "Oh, but we must! Jeong-min, let us start with you," Insisted the Queen Dowager. "Uh, alright, mother. I am Young-min, the 3rd Prince of Joseon. I'm 21.." Stated Jeong-min, feeling awkward. As they all stated their introductions, finally came Jeong-yook's introduction. Naturally, Da-eun was nervous. She broke into a cold sweat. "I am Jeong-yook, and I am the Crown Prince of Joseon. As well as the man you met in the garden, of course." Jeong-yook said with a smirk on his face. Right then and there, Da-eun wanted to return to the palace garden and bury herself alive. "Oh! Have you met before? How nice. Maybe I can make you a royal concubine when Jeong-yook becomes king!" Snickered the Queen Dowager. Da-eun took back wanting to bury herself alive earlier, she wanted to do just that even more now! She was so embarrassed, she was even blushing a little. After that disaster, the other princes went and introduced themselves. Other than the Jeong-yook disaster, the tea ceremony was successful and maybe even a little fun for Da-eun. "Well, that was enjoyable," she said. "Indeed," agreed Da-young. "But you must rest in your room for now. We'll be in the palace for the next 8 days. I have some political business to discuss, and you'll be attending a meeting with the Queen Dowager with me tomorrow. "Oh, then I should get plenty of sleep, yes?" Inquired Da-eun. Da-young nodded. "I'll head to my room now, I'll be leaving tomorrow," Da-hyun stated. "You just returned today though!" Da-young pouted. "I'll visit the estate when you return home," assured Da-hyun. While Da-young and Da-hyun chatted, Da-eun spoke to Ha-jin. "Ha-jin, what do you think the Crown Prince meant? Was he trying to spite me? How immature... But I can be more immature!" Said Da-eun as she ran off. "Wait! My lady! Don't do anything reckless! Please!" Exclaimed Ha-jin, running after her. "Don't worry! It won't be too reckless!" Said Da-eun, running to her room, ready to hatch a plan. "Hm.. What if I embarrass him as well tomorrow at the meeting? He'll surely be there," Da-eun stated. "Oh, my lady! You shouldn't do this!" Ha-jin exclaimed. "Oh, but I shall!" Replied Da-eun with a determined smirk on her face. "I will fetch Lady Seong!" Ha-jin said. "Ha-jin, you better not call for Da-young! You can't!" Ha-jin quickly ran to fetch Da-young. With a worried look on her face, Da-eun ran after her. "Ha-jin! Stop! Um.." Da-eun quickly thought of a solution. "I think I hurt my ankle!" Da-eun lied. "Oh no! You shouldn't have followed me, my lady! Walk slower, let's consult Lady Seong," said Ha-jin. She fell for it! Oh, but what do I do about the ankle thing now? Maybe I'll just lie about the pain, Da-eun thought to herself. Finally, they'd arrived at Da-young's room. "Lady Seong! She is hurt!" exclaimed Ha-jin. "Da-young, I hurt my ankle!" Said Da-eun. "Oh goodness! We must fetch the palace doctor right away!" said Da-young. Da-young ordered Ha-jin and her servants to bring the palace doctor, Da-eun felt a little like she was doing something wrong. She wasn't hurt, but she had to lie to keep Ha-jin from speaking about her plan. On the other hand, people who were actually ill could be waiting even more now because of her fake ankle injury. "The palace doctor is here! Please tell us what to do!" Exclaimed Da-young. "Well, let's see here... She hurt her ankle, yes? It's a little red, so we should bring her to a bed in the palace and let her rest," the palace doctor concluded. It's red? When did that happen? Oh god, what if I'm actually hurt? I can't deal with this! I have to get rest for the meeting tomorrow, and if I'm actually hurt I won't be able to attend, Da-eun said in her thoughts. Finally, Da-eun was brought to a bed in the palace and was taken care of. The doctor carefully placed mint leaves on the 'hurt' ankle. "This will do for now. All you need is a bit of rest now. Oh, and I almost forgot! The royal family will be visiting you, as they are worried about you. Well, mostly the Queen Dowager is worried," stated the palace doctor. Damn it! Now I have to deal with meeting that arrogant and self-entitled snob of a prince, Da-eun thought.