Jisoo drank some palm wine.
In the dimly lit mezzanine, a few thin rays of light penetrated the rotting gap in the narrow window, which was covered with old wooden slats. The kerosene lamp rested on a dusty wooden chest.
"Cough" – inhaling the ash, Jisoo coughed. She took out a white silk handkerchief embroidered with a wild chrysanthemum flower, then put it up to cover her mouth to prevent a prolonged dry cough.
This was her grandmother's residence before her death,
Also a forbidden room.
Dad had soon decreed that no one was allowed to come here.
Following the dim light from the kerosene lamp, Jisoo finally found a thick book in an antique chest.
Based on the contents of the notebook, Jisoo made the sign of the Cross in front of her chest, then mumbled cautiously the incantation recorded on the page.
Her palms began to sweat, because this ritual had to be done secretly and carefully, in order to avoid everyone's attention.
Taking advantage of the time when dad and sisters were busy with a banquet, Jisoo mustered up the courage to come here, preparing for the summoning of the "Guardian".
The girls in Jisoo's maternal family are all capable of summoning their own guardian angels.
However, Jisoo was never seen with her own eyes.
Also because her mother died early, the guardian god followed the owner and disappeared into nothingness, like a fragile dewdrop falling from a leaf.
However, the only thing her mother passed on from a handmaiden's account helped Jisoo know what a guardian angel looked like: pointy ears, green eyes, brown hair, snow-white skin.
Looks like the beautiful elves chanted in ancient poems.
Pure and kind, they will do their best to serve their master.
But this time, the "guardian" was not an elf or an angel, but a minion of the devil.
If discovered, Jisoo would surely be seen as a witch, bound and tied to a cross, and then burned to death by fire.
Jisoo whispered the final syllable of the spell.
Suddenly, a cold wind blew past, cold as if forming a layer of frost. The flame from the kerosene lamp flickered and turned to a dark blue color, finally turned off.
The narrow attic suddenly fell into silence.
Jisoo trembled and opened her eyes wide.
There is no guardian angel.
Nothing.
Before she could adjust to the darkness, she heard someone calling her urgently from below: "Lady, the Baron is looking for you."
Jisoo immediately lifted her dress. Relying on her excellent memory, she nimbly dodges obstacles in the dark, then from the rickety loft, she stomped on the old wooden steps that were creaking, and hurried downstairs.
Looks like the summoning ritual has failed.
Jisoo calmed herself and considered: If she tried again tonight in her bedroom, the probability of not being detected...
...will be zero.
In fact, in order to prevent Jisoo from escaping control, aside from going to the bathroom, she was always supervised by her father's servants.
And the closer she got to her coming of age, the more rigorous this kind of surveillance became.
—o0o—
Tonight's party wasn't very interesting either.
At least Jisoo thinks so.
She took dad's arm and greeted her visitors with a friendly smile.
An elegant piano and violin concerto, a dining table covered with thick tablecloth, and a silver-plated candle holder that can hold twelve candles. Everywhere in the room was scattered the scent of laurel along with the scent of roses.
Standing behind Jisoo were her two younger half-sisters. Today, Jisoo is the host of the party, so they are not qualified to stand side by side with dad. Even so, those little sisters who were only a few months younger than Jisoo weren't too concerned about this. They just smiled softly, talking to each other about poetry, about perfume and silk from the far East.
Under dad's direction, Jisoo conversed simply with the ten Barons, discussed tomorrow's weather with a Viscount, smiled at an offer of wine from an Earl, and finally performing a dance with a gray-haired Duke.
In fact, they could only do half the dance, because the old Duke's nosebleed had stained his own silver embroidered rhinestone shirt. There, he had to leave the lobby to fix his clothes.
Jisoo lifted her red dress with one hand, and covered her mouth with the other, as if she were feeling some discomfort in her chest:
"Dad, I need smelling salts [1]."
For a long time, her dad had known about her heart palpitations, he frowned and said:
"Go back to your room...Rest a little early today, don't try to read more books, you have to protect your eyes well."
Jisoo bowed her head, reverently bowing to dad.
The maid beside her extended her hand, and Jisoo put her lace-gloved hand on the servant's arm, borrowing the support of the person next to her, and slowly walked out.
Jisoo's room was located in the deepest part of this huge castle, and every five steps along the passage there would be a sentinel standing guard.
Jisoo lifted her face slightly, her beautiful swanlike neck, her red skirt skimming over the carpet on the ground. Under the flickering candlelight, the lace on the skirt gave off a shimmering light like calm waves.
Instead of metaphorical the place with "princess bedroom", it is better to say that this is a "cage holding key prisoners."
Under the service of eight dumb maids, Jisoo was washed herself clean then was put on a long velvet nightgown. Lying on her bed, she watched coldly as the servants slowly lowered the curtains that covered the ends and sides of the bed.
Outside the curtain there was nothing but six other maids who took turns on duty, in addition to ten guards who were watching her closely.
In a situation like this, even if it was just a sleep talking from Jisoo, it would be well remembered by them to report back to her dad.
Resting her head on the velvet pillow, Jisoo involuntarily frowned.
Time is running out.
She still vividly remembered the contents of the ancient book, including obscure spells that only those of the same bloodline as her mother's clan could understand.
Jisoo wasn't sure if she needed to say the spells out loud either. She made the sign of the Cross in front of her chest, then whispered it in her mouth.
The last stroke of the cross (十) has just ended.
Her surroundings were still as quiet as the grave.
This time, not even a cold wind, the curtain did not move, the whole room was covered with a dead silence.
Failed again.
Jisoo let out a long sigh. She moved her fingers away from her chest and slowly closed her eyes.
Looks like she can only think of other ways...
Suddenly, a pair of hot hands slipped inside the velvet blanket, caressing her collarbone, three seconds later reaching up to squeeze her neck precisely.
Jisoo suddenly opened her eyes.
The space around was pitch black, just like the time in the mezzanine.
The main difference was, she suddenly heard the voice of a mature man, very dark, like smiling, but also somewhat arrogant.
"Raise your head and show me, what little thing are you?"
Note:
[*] Five ranks from highest to lowest of Western nobility in order: Duke > Marquis > Earl > Viscount > Baron
[1] Smelling salt: a compound that helps people who have fainted to regain consciousness in an instant, used in the past for first aid, but today is used in sports because the unpleasant smell of smelling salt will stimulate the nerves of athletes and help them increase alertness.
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