Work Text:
The same performance plays every day in the Kingdom of Biassi. Over and over and over. Same scene, same time, same event. The play starts with a bedroom covered in a pale orange with a large pink bed in front of a grand window. In the bed, a princess sits while six people covered head-to-toe in white surround her. Her pitch black hair covers her pale face from the view of the two women in the doorway.
The princess, Joohyun, is throwing up her afternoon meal, not a surprise to any of the people in the palace. The unknown sickness that has plagued her since she was 20-years-old is getting worse by the day. She hasn’t been able to keep down a meal in the past week. The kingdom wishes every day that someone will find the cure. Not as much as Seulgi.
Seulgi, a knight of the Biassi Kingdom and protector of Princess Joohyun, stands in the doorway with Queen Yee-Joon. Even with the Queen’s blank face, Seulgi can tell that she is worried sick about her daughter. She knows because she wears the same expression.
The brutal sounds of the princess are the only to fill the room. Nurse’s hands rub her back as she gives her meal back to the world in a small, pale bucket. No one talks until the Queen turns to the knight.
“I need you to go on a mission,” the Queen says in a soft, quiet voice. “I need you to travel north to the Yerilath Kingdom. They say they have acquired the antidote for Princess Joohyun’s sickness.”
The knight turns in surprise. “I thought that the sickness was unknown to everyone! How could they have found an antidote if we do not even know what it is?” Her voice sounds with disbelief and is little louder than wanted. The Queen shushes her from speaking even louder.
“I do not know how they know but what else am I supposed to believe? My daughter has been sick for 8 years and nothing has been brought up! Now, I need you to get ready to head out for tonight.” The Queen storms out of the room elegantly, leaving the protector alone at the door.
It appears to the knight that the scene is going to change today.
~**~
“The sugar rush comes over me at once
I’m so naturally stopped in front of you
I close my eyes and open them again
But I can’t wake up from this deep dream”- Red Velvet, Automatic.
~**~
The night face has taken over the bright, sunny smile of the sky. The princess sits in her room, lonely once again. She looks down at her bony hands and sighs. She caresses the ring on her right hand. It was the ring Seulgi gave her for her 21st birthday. A creek of her door has her head turned up.
At the door stands her favorite person in the world. A big smile takes over her slim face as the person smiles back at her. The silhouette of her slim yet built figure walks closer.
“Knight Seulgi, what have you stopping to see my dead face?” Princess Joohyun inquires her favorite knight in a joking tone. Seulgi sits own at the edge of the fluffy bed and quietly looks at the princess.
The pale light illuminates Joohyun’s features. Straight black hair surrounds her pale face, and her small, round eyes have deep bags under them. Once full cheeks have thinned over the span of 8 years. Her lips are thin and white.
Seulgi looks up at the princess with a tight smile. “I have to go away for a while."
Joohyun locks eyes with the knight. “Where are you traveling off to?” she questions, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.
“I have to travel north to the Yerilath Kingdom. They say they have found something to help heal you,” the other tells in a soft voice, almost like what she is saying is a secret.
The princess looks away. “Crazy how someone two years younger than me gets to travel farther than I have in my whole life.” The knight looks down at the princess to search for her eyes, yet the other just continues looking at the wall to the right.
The knight sighs and breathes in. “I can sing you to sleep if you want.” It is a theme of the two for one of them to sing the other to sleep.
The older nods her head and gets in a more comfortable position. Seulgi clears her throat and leans back.
“I, who stopped that night with this new tale. I’m spending more time away than when I loved you. Beyond the galaxy, in a distant, untold place. I, who cross our blank memories,” the knight continues with her sweet melody as the princess’s eyes grow heavy and breaths start to even, "Since at least, even in fantasies, it’s alright. Let’s meet again, one of these nights.”
The knight looks down at the sleeping girl. She gets up slowly from the bed and walks towards the door, wiping the tears from her eyes. She has to pack for her adventure soon. It will all be worth it in the end.
~**~
“When I look into my heart
There’s a world I’ve never seen before
Like a light bulb turning on
Shine the light that resembles your charms”- Red Velvet, Look.
~**~
It takes a total of 3 days to travel to the northern kingdom. Seulgi takes a deep breath as she looks at her crew: three other knights dressed in formal attire (all black armor, a soft face mask, and a yellow sun in the center- Biassi’s national symbol.), and four horses with all white fur.
Seulgi trudges up the rough terrain to reach the gates of Yerilith’s palace. She wishes she had more clothes under her uniform, for it is always chilly in the kingdom. The knight glances up at the dark brick exterior. She would have stared at it longer but she has a mission to complete.
She signals her crew to continue walking. They walk closer to the grand doors of the palace and see a short guard.
“What is your business with the royal family today?”The guard says in a fake deep husky voice. Seulgi wants to roll her eyes at the obvious fake voice.
“My crew and I have traveled from the Biassi Kingdom. Your royal family says that there is an antidote for our Princess’s sickness.” Seulgi says in a formal tone. The guard looks over Seulgi’s shoulder at her crew.
“The princess requires that only a knight by the name Seulgi enters. No one else is to come in.” The guard commands and Seulgi grimaces.
“Why must only I come in?” She questions the now annoyed guard.
“I don’t know, lady. Those were the commands I was given to say. So do you want to come in or not?” The guard hardly tells.
Seulgi looks over her shoulder. If something bad were to happen, her crew wouldn’t be able to come in and save her. If she didn’t go in, the kingdom would never know if the antidote were to actually work. She has to take the chances.
“Okay, we’ll agree to your terms.” Seulgi hears her team groan in displeasure, all of them had been so excited to finally leave Biassi’s gates. Ever since the Princess has been sick, no one was to leave the kingdom’s property unless completely necessary.
“So you will. When I open these doors, someone will lead you to the throne room.” The guard says as the doors open for her to walk in.
Seulgi turns around. “Stay here and wait till I come back out. If I’m not here in the next 10 minutes, send someone to our kingdom and the others will try to get into the palace,” Seulgi whispers to her crew and they nod in agreement.
Seulgi turns and walks into the palace. A young girl, possibly a five or six years younger than her, nods when she sees Seulgi and grabs her arm. The knight follows without much resistance but stays alert. This girl could possibly be leading her to her death.
They reach a glamorous brown door at the end of the hallway. The girl pushes it open to Seulgi’s surprise. She turns her eyes upwards and finds a girl with a small face and piercing brown eyes sit in the middle of a black throne.
“What is this? A knight from the Biassi Kingdom. Must be my lucky day. Tell me your name!” the mysterious girl says in an alluring voice. From what Seulgi remembers, this is Princess Yerim of Yerlith Kingdom.
The girl that dragged Seulgi has scurried off leaving the knight by herself. “My name is Seulgi. A pleasure to meet you, your majesty,” she says in a calm voice while bowing, even if she feels like something bad is going to happen.
“Oh good! I have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for you to show up,” Princess Yerim says cheerfully. “I know how desperate your kingdom is for the antidote to cure your precious Princess’s sickness. Lucky for you, thanks to my magic, I have found the cure!” The knight grimaces at the cooing, definitely mocking tone of the Princess’s voice.
“Yes, your majesty, my Queen has sent me over to get the cure. If you would give it to me I would be in your delights,” Seulgi musters up the most respectful voice she can, thinking about how she can get out as soon as possible.
“Nope, not so fast! You are going to have to fight for the potion. You know, show me how much you care about your lover!” Yerim basically yells for Seulgi to hear.
The knight flushed. No one knows about her relationship with Joohyun besides them and the Queen. Yerim laughs at her shocked face.
“What’s with the surprised look? Didn’t think I know about your dirty secret. Besides that, let's have a little fun, shall we?” Yerim says as she pulls a lever beside her that Seulgi didn’t notice before.
Two ginormous ogres, about 10 feet tall, stand to the left and right of Seulgi. The knight groans but quickly bends her knees into a fighting stance, her training has taught her this. The ghoul to her right charges at her with its fist to pound into her.
She swiftly shifts out of the way as the fist come in contact with the floor. She jumps onto its arm and runs up to its back while drawing her sword. She pushes her sword into the bumpy expanse of the back. The ghoul groans and gets back up to hit the threat.
Seulgi jumps back onto the floor and runs out of the of the other charging monster. She complains in her head about how unfair this is.
The first ghoul tries to punch her again but Seulgi slices the hand of it. The ghoul groans and kneels on the ground. Before it can get back up again, the knight pushes the sword into its chest.
The ghoul cries out and turns into dust. Seulgi blows her hair out of her face and takes a few moments to take a deep breath. Before she can completely relax, a scream can be heard from the back left of the large room.
Seulgi looks to see two people shoving swords into the other ghouls. Her crew came to save her.
The princess gets up and storms to the middle of the room. “What is this! I said only Seulgi and you hooligans barge in and-” she gets cut off by a net falling on top of her.
She screams and flares around. “This wasn’t supposed to fall yet! Who pulled the lever?” she says angrily, her voice turning louder by the second. Everyone turns around to see a cat right next to the lever.
The princess starts crying with disappointment. “The antidote is over there. Go heal your little princess, I don’t care,” she says while banging her head on the ground and pointing to her throne. Seulgi quickly runs over to the tall throne and grabs the little bottle filled with a purple liquid.
Seulgi almost cries in joy.
~**~
“I don’t care if you’re not a prince
Just be mine, la la la la la
I’ll complete you instead, okay
Happily ever, happily ever”- Red Velvet, Happily Ever After.
~**~
The travel back to Biassi is one of the longest trips Seulgi has taken in her whole life. Once they finally reach the gates of the kingdom, Seulgi bolts to the palace, leaving her crew behind.
She jumps over crats and doges villagers. Her armor is getting heavy but she just keeps on going faster, and faster, and faster.
She finally makes it to the gates and runs up the grand stairs. Servants fill up the empty space making it harder for Seulgi to get through. Her lungs basically give up by the time she reaches the stairs. She groans and throws her head and slowly climbs up the stairs.
“My training didn’t prepare me for this,” Seulgi says aloud as she trudged down the hall.
She makes it to the door she knows all too well. She smiles brightly and clutches the antidote in her hand. She swallows and pushes the door open.
The princess lays there, as beautiful as ever. Her eyes open when she hears the creak of the door. Her face lights up as much as it can.
Seulgi starts to cry, tears of happiness streak down her face. “I-I have the antidote,” she says as she practically jumps over to Joohyun. The knight uncaps the potion and tips the princess’s head up. The purple liquid flows down her throat. She wrinkles her face in disgust but swallows it anyway.
Seulgi takes a deep breath. After a few minutes of doing nothing but praying and holding Joohyun’s hand, she sighs and sits on the bed.
“I guess we will have to wait unt-” the knight is cut off by the princess screaming. Seulgi jumps up from her spot on the bed and backs up.
A bright light envelopes the princess and shines brighter than the sun. Seulgi looks away and hears other people gasps, probably the queen and the nurses.
Seulgi peeks from her hands and sees a cloud of blackness leave the blanket of brightness. The knight can’t help but stare and the bazaar occurrence.
The light eventually fades away and the princess is spread out on the bed. Seulgi runs over to Joohyun and hugs her with her face in the shoulder of the other.
“Are you okay?” Seulgi asks in a worried voice, hoping the princess wasn’t hurt because of the light.
All she feels is a nod, but that is better than nothing. Seulgi finally looks up at her face. She gasps in shock. The others face is full of life again with cheeks having returned to normal, whatever normal is. The princess cards her fingers through the knight's hair. Seulgi can feel how full they are.
The Queen stands in the doorway with her hands in front of her mouth and tears running down her face, though it feels like no one is in the room beside the couple.
Joohyun grabs Seulgi’s face and kisses her right cheek with her soft lips. “Thank you for saving me. How will I ever be able to repay you?” The princess asks in a low tone. Seulgi chuckles and wipes the loose piece of hair out of the other’s eyes.
“Stay alive and be by my side,” the knight says while staring into the deep and beautiful eyes of the other woman.
The play ends in a happier ending than once thought.
~**~
“Every morning in my dreams,
In the same place,
I can meet you
Oh something nobody knows,
Feel like heaven’s eyes
Now I can fly too” -Red Velvet, Be Natural
~**~