Author's POV
Lady Jeongsun's heels clicked sharply against the stone floor, as they usually did—echoing down the deserted palace corridor. Back ramrod straight beneath lavish silken robes, she swept towards the familiar carved doors of Minister Yoon's study with single-minded focus.
Reaching her destination, Jeongsun paused only to smooth any errant strands of inky hair back into her severe updo before rapping authoritatively on the heavy wood. When several tense heartbeats passed with no response, she knocked again, more insistently.
"Minister Yoon, I know you are within," Jeongsun called out, voice ringing with command. "You will make time to receive me now."
Muted shuffling sounded briefly on the other side before the door creaked reluctantly inward. Minister Yoon's sallow face appeared in the narrow gap, features visibly tightening when he registered his unexpected visitor's identity.
Jeongsun's red lips curled sardonically. Rather than wait for his greeting, she took initiative and shouldered her way inside.
"Lady Jeongsun, to what do I owe the...pleasure..."
Yoon trailed off as Jeongsun slowly pivoted to pin him with an assessing stare. She tilted her head just so, taking in his disheveled state beneath her hooded gaze.
"I desired to give you formal notice of my return to court, Minister," she purred, tone at odds with the predatory tension coiling through her frame. "Yet you make yourself scarce. One might question where your loyalties truly lie."
Jeongsun began to prowl closer, trailing one languid hand along his desk's polished edge. Minister Yoon visibly tensed, pulse jumping beneath sallow skin as she invaded his space. Delight sparked hotly behind Jeongsun's hooded stare at his obvious discomfort. She had missed this terribly.
The older man paled, opening his mouth to respond when a rough shout interrupted them. Lady Jeongsun prowled ever nearer while Minister Yoon visibly recoiled. Her focus remained locked upon his twitching features, already envisioning how she would shatter his composure.
Her plans disintegrated abruptly as a bellowed shout preceded icy water abruptly cascading over Jeongsun's poised frame. She staggered, mouth falling open in an outraged shriek as the deluge soaked into her fine silks.
Vision blurred, Jeongsun swiped soaked strands of hair from her eyes and whirled unsteadily to find Minister Yoon's wife poised furiously in the adjoining doorway. An empty wooden bucket still dangled from the woman's white-knuckled grip and her chest heaved with emotion.
"Why must you continually appear to bewitch my husband with your presence?" Yoon's wife seethed, venom distorting her features.
Lady Jeongsun reeled, scarcely able to process this unexpected assault, let alone formulate a response. She trembled with impotent fury, fine garments plastered uncomfortably to her skin.
With what remained of her tattered poise, Jeongsun jabbed one damning finger towards the other woman. "If left you free and you've begun to underestimate me!" Her strangled cry seemed wrenched from somewhere primal. "I shall see you flayed for this!"
Turning recklessly, Jeongsun fled the study, unwilling to lose herself further to base fury under their contemptuous stares. She raced blindly back to her own chambers, hair streaming behind her.
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Veil of the Dusken Rose - #ambw (18+)
RomanceNeeria, a foreign court lady, captivates Crown Prince Yi San in the restrictive world of the Joseon palace. Despite his rule of not inviting a lady to his chambers twice, Neeria becomes an exception.
