The Secret Sonata || Ryeji

Epilogue 2

Then, the princess plonked down on one of the sofas and crossed her leg over the other, holding her tail and scratching it resiliently. Such an act of elegance by the monkey king's daughter!

Lucy pondered if the monkey in her room was really a royalty or a random peasant who had no value for dignity. When she first heard the word monkey princess, what she envisioned was a dainty-looking monkey in a glamorous, tailor-made victorian dress with a sparkling tiara on her head; not exactly a tomboyish monkey in hoodie and jeans.

Fixing the lapels of her black pantsuit, Lucy took a seat on a sofa, adjacent to the princess'. Next, she mustered up a bright smile and extended her hand toward the nonchalant monkey, offering a handshake. The monkey just stared at the hand from underneath her hood, showing no acceptance for a friendly handshake, which, of course, puzzled Lucy and made her retract her hand after a long time.

I think monkeys don't usually shake hands when they meet a person for the first time? The demon queen contemplated, clasping her own hands together.

"Well, it's a pleasure to have you here, your highness," Lucy started, her tone formal and professional as she addressed the hooded individual. She, at least, expected for a hum of approval from her, yet what she received was ignorance because the monkey was busy playing with her own tail.

Maybe she's mute? Or I guess monkeys don't understand modern Korean at all. Lucy mused and probed the princess sitting adjacent to her. Why did the monkey king even send someone who does not speak the same language? How am I supposed to discuss my alliance plans with her? All of a sudden, an idea struck her.

"Ooh ooh ahh ahh!" She uttered and began scratching everywhere, mimicking a monkey. In a snap, the princess' gaze flitted to the queen, who was literally doing nothing but embarrassing herself.

"Are you mocking me?" A deep, husky voice echoed off the walls, startling Lucy in her wake. Again, she did not expect a princess to have a deep voice, yet something seemed familiar about that voice. She just couldn't pinpoint why.

"Oh, you can speak?" Lucy breathed, surprised.

"Of course, I do, dummy," the monkey huffed and pulled the hood back from her face, dragging her short blonde hair over her head as she did.

Lucy was about to shoot a comeback at the monkey for calling her a dummy, but she found her linguistic ability disabled immediately when her vision settled on the latter's face: almond eyes, pointed button nose, pink human lips, chubby cheeks with fur studded at the sides— what an oddly attractive sight! Appalled, the queen kept staring at the princess, trying to decipher why she looked like a furrier version of someone she'd met before, not until an image of a certain woman invaded her head.

"I know I'm attractive, but stop staring at me," the arrogant princess snapped, rolling her eyes to the back of her skulls to the extent that the demon could see the whites of her eyes.

"I wasn't-"

"Well, where's the contract that I have to sign?" The furry creature rudely cut Lucy off, vigorously fanning herself as she couldn't stand the heat that hell was emanating, "I don't wanna spend another second here."

Lucy bit back a response that would have put an immediate end to their alliance and trigger an intense bickering between them, deeming it best to just tolerate the monkey as the more mature person she was.