Chapter Text
Quotes of Wisdom from a Humble Artist to her Daughter Day 293:
Listening trumps talking by a long jump. Listen to the silence, to the rain, to the pitter patters of footsteps in the apartment halls. That's how you come out victorious.
Royalty. The meaning of “Royalty” can be found in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The definition will range from a person of royal lineage to an elite class of society. They’re partially correct.
Let me tell you the true meaning of “Royalty”.
The status of power given to individuals of a ruling lineage with no access to their human rights. Their offspring's choices and futures are already made up. Truly, they have no say but to obey.
I haven’t the slightest clue how I became one of the two adopted daughters of the Jade Emperor and Empress. All I remember was being no less than thirteen when the fight with the Golden Ninja and the Overlord happened. My father was in the military, my mother was a humble artist. Both of them were collateral damage, or so I have collected.
I remember sirens, then yelling, then a flash of light. When I could finally open my eyes, I was leaning against one of the outer pillars of the Jade Palace. A girl who looked two years older than me, started shouting. She wasn’t shouting at me, she was calling for help as it turned out. Soon I found out she was the Jade Princess. She's now my adopted older sister. Her name is Harumi.
Everything else happened in a flash. I couldn’t describe it to you even if I could. Now I stand here, in a very expensive kimono, no face paint, and a short veil covering my eyes. From the outer perspective, no one could see my eyes. From my perspective, it was like seeing through hair.
A glass is tapped with a fork, it snaps me out of my thoughts. The emperor, my father, is about to speak.
“Welcome! Welcome! Thank you all for being here today on this very special occasion. Today, on this very night, my youngest daughter, Princess Y/N, is turning eighteen. She has reached the age of adulthood and we all look forward to what her future has in store for this prospering nation.”
That’s red flag numero uno. A princess doesn’t live her life for her, she lives her life for her people. That’s Princess 101, the first thing they’ll teach you is to be “selfless”. Everybody wants to be royalty until they start busting out the rule books.
“It has been a tradition of our family for centuries, to give our daughters’ hands in marriage on their eighteenth birthdays.”
Now this, this was the one sentence to have caught my wandering attention.
“As you know, our oldest daughter, Princess Harumi, turned eighteen two years ago. We haven’t given her hand then, breaking tradition, however, it has come to our attention that Ninjago is approaching an era of disasters. There has been an agreement amongst the council and the royal family to wed one of our daughters to a very righteous suitor.”
I subtly turn my head to Harumi. Her eyes bounced to me, then to the long elegant dining table. I really hope this isn’t what I’m thinking. Please. Please. Please. Don’t prove I’m right. (said perfectly by our lord and savior, Sabrina Carpenter.)
“Princess Y/N has been chosen by the suitor and his family.”
AND PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DON’T BRING ME TO TEARS WHEN I JUST DID MY MAKEUP SO NICE!
…
When I catch you Ricky. Ohhhh. When. I Catch. You. RiCkY.
I can’t even cry. I don’t know whether to laugh or scream my head off until I feel better. Who knew turning eighteen could be more miserable than before? I sure didn’t. Oh wait, I do.
I completely blacked out after he told the crowd that I would be meeting my betrothed within the week. My betrothed. It feels like someone grabbed me by the neck and stuffed a pile of Styrofoam down my esophagus just to think that. This is worse than eating bitter melon, AND I HATE BITTER MELONS TO THE END OF TIME.