"Mina Sharon Myōi! You are getting out of your bed this instant!" Sana pouted as she tore off her sister's quilt.
"I don't want to..." Her sister whined, and she was about to reply when Momo joined the conversation.
"You are so totally in love." She smirked, just nearly dodging a pillow attack from Mina.
"And why would I be?"
"Why are you so upset lately?"
"Because! I sort of regret giving Nayeon a break, but that doesn't mean I'm in love! It just means I'm lonely." Mina defended herself, crossing her arms.
"Well there is something else that you told me that you haven't told your sister..." Momo giggled, until Mina threw another pillow at her. Sana turned to her immediately.
"Excuse me?"
🐧👑🐧
Momo was terrified. She was cornered by two girls threatening her with pillows.
"You'd better not tell her." Mina muttered, and Momo finally took a breath.
"You know what? I don't serve you, Mina, and I'm going to be the responsible one by telling Sana!" She almost immediately regretted saying this because Mina wacked her pillow into her face with full strength.
"So? What happened?" Sana asked, her eyes narrowed.
"Mina told me that Nayeon - on the first day of her job - touched her shoulder. But she didn't flinch at all."
The older princess slowly lowered her pillow, before whipping her head round to her little sister.
"I don't understand. Why didn't you tell me?" Sana's voice was breaking, and her eyes welled up with tears.
"I'm not sure. I'm sorry, I know you're angry, I just don't know what's going on and I'm confused." Mina began apologising, but her older sister quickly took her hands in hers.
"I know what's happening, Mina. You're recovering." Sana smiled through her tears. "Why would I ever be angry?"
Mina looked at their intertwined fingers.
"Because this is still the barrier for you. I've known you my entire life, and I can't even let you hug me." Mina answered, and her sister grinned again. Yes, she was a little offended, but it didn't matter in that moment.
"That doesn't matter, because I know that you can't help it." She then stood next to Momo, wiping her tears. "You definitely have a crush on Nayeon though."
Mina used her last pillow to chuck it at Sana.
🐧👑🐧
"I certainly wasn't expecting Princess Mina to request...that?" Nayeon's mother, Se-ah, hesitantly commented, placing a cup of tea in front of her oldest daughter.
"Yeah! How humble is that?" Nayeon's younger sister, Seo-yeon, smiled. "And she likes Snow White? When can I meet this princess?"
Nayeon laughed at her little sister's antics, screaming when she burnt her tongue on hot tea. "She's actually really polite. I do feel bad for her, though. She randomly tells me sad things about her life like it's the most normal and casual stuff to say."
"Like what?" Her father asked.
"One time she randomly told me that her parents fed her cat to their dog because she was talking too much."
Her family blinked at her.
"I know, right? And this other time she said that everyone she spends time with ends up leaving her." Nayeon recalled that evening, and she was suddenly brought back to how she accidentally told the princess how adorable she was. Her cheeks flushed red from just thinking about it.
"So, what should we do first? Sign a petition against the everlasting reign of the royals, or go say hello to the people who've missed you?" Her mother sarcastically asked, and Nayeon giggled.
"Surprisingly hard question..."
🐧👑🐧
Was it weird that Mina had memorised Nayeon's knock pattern? Everytime she knocked on the door, she did it in a certain way, and the princess had been trying to convince herself that that wasn't strange for a while. Two consecutive knocks and then a slight pause before the final knock.
Knock knock...knock!
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Mina squealed, because she did squeal. Nayeon opened the door carefully, a large basket in her hand.
"Is there a mouse in here? Do you want me to get rid of it? I heard a squeak." She asked, placing the basket down onto a small table.
"Squeak? What squeak?" The princess pretended to be innocent, before she laid her eyes on the basket. "What's in it?"
"Exactly what you asked for. Different foods from my village."
Mina hurried over with a chair to sit down, and Nayeon followed. The handmaiden opened the basket, and saw foods she'd never even heard of.
"Those are chouquettes, Princess." Nayeon explained, as Mina held up the pastry, eyeing it like a rare jewel. "Airy pastries covered in sugar crystals."
"Crystals? You eat crystals?"
"You don't leave the palace and it shows." Nayeon sighed. "It's just hard sugar."
Nayeon didn't think she would spend ages teaching her about the foods she brought, but surprisingly, she enjoyed spending time with the princess. She even told Mina about how she managed to sign a petition and, although she didn't show it, the princess was delighted.
🐧👑🐧
"Then the wedding of the Prince and Rosamond was held with all splendour, and they lived very happily together until their lives' end. The End." Nayeon sighed in frustration. "Okay, now, this one, I don't agree with."
"Here we go..." Mina murmured, rolling her eyes.
"Where is the consent? And are we going to ignore the fact that the prince kissed a one hundred year-old lady?"
"She didn't look one hundred." The princess shrugged, and Nayeon laughed loudly.
"I didn't know that was your mindset, I never would have guessed it."
"And think about the inheritance." Mina added. "Many of her family members must have died by then, a lot of money to put in the will for good ol' Prince."
"You're really funny, Princess."
"I think you might be addicted to telling me things I've never heard in my life." Mina scoffed, standing from her chair. She slowly sauntered to the window, looking up at the stars. "Before, the other day, you told me that you used to watch the stars with your mother. When you were a child." The princess let out a breath, leaning against the windowsill. "I also like watching the stars."
"They are beautiful, aren't they, Princess?" Nayeon smiled, walking up to her.
"No. They're littering the sky with their glittery waste. It's another dreadful reminder that unlike them - I'll never be free from this cage. But that's not the point. I like watching them, because Hana told me that when people die, they become stars."
Nayeon bowed her head slightly. "My condolences."
Mina turned to her. "Why do you assume I lost someone?" She questioned, her eyebrows furrowed.
"I'm sorry, it was just because of the context..."
"No, don't apologise. I suppose, maybe if she stuck around a little longer, then I would have the right to say that I lost my real mother."
"What do you mean?" Nayeon asked, and Mina faked a yawn, a pretty obvious sign that she didn't want to continue talking about it.
🐧👑🐧
Mina finally laid down in her bed, but she felt something missing.
"Nayeon. Stay with me again." The princess ordered, patting the spot beside her in the bed. The handmaiden complied, and got in beside her. Mina shyly edged closer to Nayeon. "If I have a nightmare, please don't yell at me. I don't mean to wake you up..."
"Why would I yell at you? I know it's not your fault, Princess."
Mina nodded sleepily, closing her eyes.
🐧👑🐧
Nayeon woke up in the middle of the night. She didn't know why, so she left the bed to look out of the window. It was what she usually did when she couldn't sleep, though she stopped when she was given that closet bedroom with no windows.
She heard noises from Mina's bed and turned around, only to see the princess reaching out desperately in her sleep.
"Don't leave me...I'm sorry..." Tears were falling down Mina's face, and her voice was slowly getting louder. She curled herself up into a ball, sobbing, and honestly, Nayeon was surprised that the princess was still asleep.
The handmaiden walked towards Mina, and gently woke her up.
"Princess, it's alright..." Nayeon soothed, as Mina opened her eyes.
"I'm sorry..." The princess sobbed, and it was the first time Nayeon had seen Mina cry outside of her nightmares.
"Why are you sorry?" The handmaiden asked, and Mina shook her head rapidly.
"It's nothing. Never mind. Thank you for waking me up."
Nayeon nodded, and got back into the bed. She found herself in the same position as she found herself not long ago, with the princess holding onto her. Nayeon felt even warmer when she was held, and she felt calm. A part of her wished to stay like that forever.