Chapter Text
there used to be whispers, stories, about a kingdom in the sky. it was said to be beautiful and vast, peaceful and powerful, prosperous and generous. it was said to be a place where one could live freely, that was, if you could ever find it.
mina was raised on stories. fantasies about knights and princesses, wizards and dragons…. castles in the sky. and she had always been one to believe in dreams. so of course, once she grew up, she expected to be saved by a white knight on horseback, or to be swept off her feet by a handsome sorcerer. but not all dreams come true, and sometimes being a princess comes before being a romantic.
and being a princess meant a political marriage with a prince she had never met before from a country she had never been to before on a day she didn’t choose. and being a princess meant she was more than “mina.” and being a princess meant she had to sacrifice herself for the good of the country.
so it was at the age of fifteen that mina neatly put away her storybooks and plans for the future, tucking them away from sight, her hope for freedom (and love) in the kingdom in the sky, nothing more than a dream.
------
there used to be rumors, gossip, about an icy princess. she was said to freeze men with a single glance, but still, people longed for a peek of her beautiful countenance. she was said to be stunning, most of all when she smiled, if you could be one of the lucky few to witness it.
jihyo was raised on gossip. chatter in the marketplace about corrupt knights, the latest pregnancy scares… cold princesses. yet she had always been one to check her sources. so of course, as she grew up, she grew less inclined to believe in the tales of princess mina’s frozen heart. because not all rumors are true, and sometimes, being a princess didn’t mean you were happy.
and being a peasant didn’t mean you were unhappy. but being a peasant meant poverty and working odd jobs to make ends meet. and being a peasant meant praying for a chance to enter the palace, because it meant a steady income and an allotment of land.
so it was at the age of seventeen that jihyo entered the palace, a newly trained maid, who unlike the rest of the staff, ignored the gossip, because without truth, all the chatter, all the rumors were nothing more than sounds.