In This Life

The Raven Prince

Jeon Song Ji

Song Ji hurriedly made her way towards the gardens that held the least amount of people. She needed to sit and think and cry. Droplets of tears escaped through her mask as Song Ji carelessly pushed through the crowd of silky hanboks and dresses. Nobody seemed to care, and for once, she was grateful for their vanity.

Song Ji hated this place, these people, who couldn't care less about the homeless and starving citizens right outside the walls.

Kwang Soo was one of them, and she hated him the most.

The air was cool around her to the point where every breath she breathed, puffs of clouds would form above her nose. She hugged herself to keep in the warmth and kept walking.

Song Ji didn't know what to think right at that moment. There were, as usual, many questions that begun whirling around in her brain like a storm. How in the heavens did Kwang Soo get here? Did he recognize her? And most importantly, why is fate such a cruel being?

The young girl was at a point in her life where she no longer believed in coincidences. Kwang Soo was here for a reason, the same as Song Ji herself. They have parted ways but met once again as if completing a whole circle. Has fate given her a chance for revenge? And if that's true, how so?

It seemed her feet had a mind of its own as Song Ji found herself in an unfamiliar passage. Surrounding her were tall, thick, green hedges that made a pathway with curves and turns.

She had walked herself into a maze.

Song Ji looked back to where she had come from and saw only emptiness. The music and voices of people propelled her to go forward. The path felt long and eternal. She hadn't realized the palace's gardens were such a spacious place.

Song Ji sighed onto the night air. What a stupid choice she made of continuing this maze.

After what seemed like hours, she finally stopped and found herself at another dead end. It was like all the others she had seen so far, thick vines of leaves crammed together to form an opaque wall. Regardless of the chilly atmosphere, Song Ji's skin was sticky against the heavy fabric of Lady Yin Jidam's ten-pound dress. She took her mask off and felt the artic air against her skin, unconcerned whether any noblemen and ladies were walking about.

"What a night this has become," She whispered to herself as Song Ji leaned back against the dead-end wall.

To her surprise, Song Ji felt herself falling back into the hedges, and she squealed as her body hit the ground.

What in the world?

The mask fell from her hands, and several pearls had astray from her hair as well. Song Ji quietly cursed as she pushed herself off the ground into a sitting position and looked back towards the wall she fell into. From a further out, Song Ji had regarded it as a wall, but as she looked closer, the girl realized the vines were more like streamers.

"How bizarre," She breathed.

Suddenly, Song Ji heard footsteps ambling closer. She quickly grasped the fact that her mask was nowhere to be seen. Oh no! With a primitive surge of energy, Song Ji clambered onto her hands and knees, hunting through the bushes for her mask. She kept her face low as the footsteps loomed closer.

"Lady Yin Jidam?" A voice inquired.

At that moment, she found the rubied mask and pressed it against her face. Still on all fours, she answered the stranger, animating her voice the way Yin Jidam taught her in case of emergencies. Of course, they didn't sound alike, but her excuse could be that she was sick.