Chapitre 6: 5.
"C'mon why won't you glow again? Am I just crazy?" I mumbled to myself.
I tried tapping and shaking my royal blue pendant but no matter how many times I did so it refused to glow the brilliant royal blue color the day I left the Royal Infirmary.
The Royal Infirmary.
Does that place have something to do with why it glowed?
No, normal jewelry glows like that and considering this is no ordinary pendant I can't help but wonder what caused it to glow the way it did once I had gotten outside of the palace gates and back in the city among the people.
"Seonmi, can you run out and get the mail for us? I would get it myself but I'm busy helping your father and won't be done for a while." I admired how my mom helped out my dad whenever she could.
"I'll get it for you mom" I replied
I haven't been able to leave home for the last three days since I left the palace after the incident at my shop. My parents have been so worried about me and as nice as that is it felt suffocating not being able to leave home because they were overly worried.
They ended up coming to the agreement that if I managed to stay inside the house for three days without complaining about not being able to not leave then they'd allow me to leave the house again this time with someone escorting me where I needed to go.
I told them Nabi would meet me close to the house but that's actually not the case. Nabi isn't coming with me and they aren't going to find out about that either. I dressed into something comfortable instead of my typical clothes I'd wear for work slipped on my shoes and headed out.
The weather outside was pleasant even though it was late in the day. I had my family's mail sent to my business instead because the rich areas in the city were first priority when it came to mail delivery. Even though it was a bit of a walk to get there I didn't mind since it allowed me to clear my mind as I made my way there.
After some time I finally approached my business. I opened the box I had set out front incase I wasn't working or not available and customers needed to leave me a message or request. The box was almost full which was no surprise to me considering I haven't been here in the last few days.
As I sorted through the mail one scroll caught my eye. It was one that's rarely given to normal people like me. The look of the scroll seemed so out of place among the rest of the mail it sat with.
"Why do I have a letter from the palace?" I mumbled.
My curiosity got the best of me leading me to open the scroll that I held in my hand. Is this from Subin? It's not even guaranteed that Subin is his name so why would it be him?
"Huh?" I was surprised and confused.
The letter reads as follows:
To the owner of this business,
Prince Jeon of the Royal family of Woseon Kingdom requests your presence at King Jeon's palace.
The palace is holding two special events at the end of both this week and next week. Your participation for event preparations and attendance of the final event is required.
You will receive further instructions regarding event preparations soon. Furthermore, you will be handsomely rewarded for your participation for the event.
The Woseon Kingdom thanks you for your service to it's royal family for this auspicious event.
Sincerely,
The Royal Office of Prince Jeon.
The letter was stamped with the royal seal indicating it was official and not some sort of scam or joke. It's hard to even work in the kingdom meaning it's even harder to be picked at random for a commission from them either.
"Oh my god." Was all I could bring myself to say in the midst of reading the letter until I heard a crashing sound not far from where I was standing.
"What in the world?" I muttered to myself.
I tiptoed around the side of my business and peaked around the corner to notice someone attempting to break in.
Why do I have the worst luck?!
I didn't have anything with me except for the large wad of mail I picked up just now. With any luck if I use enough force I might be able to hit them just enough to keep them on the ground till the authorities arrive.
They didn't seem to notice me as I snuck up behind them. I tried to fix my stance so that when I hit them I wouldn't fall back in the process. I raised my arms mail in hand ready to strike and...
SWUNG!
However as soon as I swung I soon found myself on the floor holding my head in pain. How did this man know I was behind he when he didn't seem me sneak up on him?
He turned back and looked down at me which almost felt like a attempt to make me feel small or as if I was insignificant from him.
"It's rude to sneak up on someone so you can physically assault them." He said as he analyzed me.
He held his hand out for me to grab so I could get back up but as I took his hand I flipped him on his back as he now accompanied me on the ground in pain.
"And it's also rude to break into a business to steal or vandalize it." I replied.
He scoffed at my remark clearly more appalled that he was caught rather than him attempting to commit the crime.
I managed to get up on my own however my arm got bruised and scraped on the fall to the ground. I started yelling out for someone to call the authorities over but as I did so the criminal jumped up behind me and covered my mouth with his hand but just as he did that I suddenly got a headache and the world started spinning just like the day I ended up going to the Royal Infirmary. I tried to fight this feeling that came over me but it was impossible.
My legs buckled underneath me as I dropped to the ground on my knees as I blinked in what felt like slow motion. I mustered up as much strength as I had to see what happened. The criminal must have done something to me but when I turned to look at him he too had collapsed to his knees. He held his head in his hands as if he had a headache himself.
I watched him with what little energy I had left and noticed his amethyst gemstone ring glowing a brilliant shade of purple. It struck me as odd causing me to look down at my royal blue pendant which also happened to be glowing a vibrant royal blue color. I tried to bring myself back to my feet but it was no use and ended up falling back down. Before my eyes had shut I watched as the criminal fell to the ground because his knees could no longer support him as we both lost consciousness together in this moment.
* * * *
When I came to I was laying down facing an all too familiar ceiling. I last remember losing consciousness outside so
"How did I get in here?"
"Finally you're awake. I was starting to worry." Said from the exasperated voice of a criminal.
"YOU started to worry? You're the whole reason this happened in the first place!" I shouted at Ji-yeon making sure to emphasize the you.
Wait Ji-yeon? How do I know this man's name? Or more specifically why do I feel like I already know him?
I couldn't understand why but I had the strangest urge to kiss Ji-yeon. I can't deny that he's handsome with his pitch black hair so neat yet falling so delicately in front of his face in the most perfect way. His big sparkling blue doe shaped eyes stared into mine almost as if they could read the condition of my soul.
This man is a criminal c'mon and focus!
"Instead of yelling at me shouldn't you be thanking me for being generous and helping you inside and waiting to see if you'd wake up to make sure you were okay?"
He rubbed the right hand corner of his forehead from which I assume is due to his head still being in pain from when we fell and passed out. My body acted on it's own accord before I could process anything. Instinctively reaching out for Ji-yeon and placing my hand on the side of his forehead that still had pain.
He flinched and grabbed my wrist from what I could only guess may have been out of instinct while I looked up to meet his eyes. We stayed like this for what felt like an eternity but realistically may have only been a few short minutes. He looked as if he was searching for words but before he could formulate what he wanted to say into words I took charge and spoke instead.
"You may be a criminal but I'm not heartless, Ji-yeon. I just rather we drop this and pretend nothing ever happened and anyway it's just going to be more of a pain to bring the police into this for some petty crime." Ji-yeon's eyes widened at my statement.
"Wait Seonmi, how do you know my name? I don't recall ever telling you my name." He said as his hand was still gripping my wrist.
I suddenly wanted to pry my wrist out of his grip and shrink myself down now being under scrutiny from this man.
"Your name? How do you know my name?" His eyes scanned mines maybe looking for answers. It's not everyday you meet a complete stranger who suddenly knows who you are.
"I- well..."
I didn't realize how close Ji-yeon was to me. When he breathed I could feel the gentle gust of air graze my face as he exhaled. Any closer and I'd be able to feel his heartbeat against mines that now began thumping in my ear.
After pausing for a moment to search for his words he lightly shoved me. I would've been upset over such rudeness in my own store but there were more pressing issues at hand.
"I wasn't here to steal from you. In fact I was here for the exact opposite. I was here to commission you but I wanted to meet you in-person. I didn't know if you were here or if you didn't hear me knocking on the door so I just wanted to take a look to see if I'd see you inside." He finally admitted after a few moments.
"Had you left me a note or letter I would have reached back out to you. So there was no need to go to such extreme lengths."
"Well I-" Before Ji-yeon could finish he sentence we were interrupted by a knock at the door.
The knock at the door cause Ji-yeon to sigh clearly indicating his frustration.
"Look, when you have some money come back to see me and might consider helping you with your commission request."
"Money? Did you just say I'm poor?! I'll have you know-" Another knock at the door interrupted Ji-yeon
"I'll be there in a minute!" he shouted with a now visible irritation on his face.
"I don't think you should keep them waiting. Time is money and by the looks of it you're lacking. I'm a busy woman so come back during business hours, okay?"
Ji-yeon jaw dropped while I gained a sly grin. As much as I could tell he wanted to argue his side he knew he I was right and he shouldn't keep the person on the other side of that door waiting. I watched as Ji-yeon walked out of my store and closed the door behind him leaving the tense atmosphere between us.
Something about Ji-yeon intrigued me and I couldn't place my finger on it. Was it his handsome face? Was it how comfortable we felt being in close quarters with each other? Or was it the strange circumstances that surrounded both him and I?
Speaking of strange circumstances this interaction also reminds me of the one with Subin. Both Subin, Ji-yeon, and I are all strangers with seemingly very different backgrounds and yet we somehow know each other. I looked down at the royal blue pendant around my neck that rose and fell according to my breathing patterns.
"What are you?" I mumbled to the piece of jewelry.
Looking at my pendant only reminded me of Ji-yeon's amethyst gemstone ring that also glowed a vibrant purple when we lost consciousness. He must be the key to this somehow. Being around both Ji-yeon and Subin made my pendant glow and I need to find out why. I just wish I wasn't going to be so busy this week.
It's an honor to be be commissioned by the royal family so I couldn't just decline such an invitation. Maybe this will give me an opportunity to be able to see Subin again because I have so many questions I want to ask him starting with how he managed to have the same style of pendant as me even though there is a color difference with the gem.
Will I really be able to find out why I was cursed with this pendant?
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone