The Bracelet

Chapter Six

Vivian

As the maids led me to the - hopefully luxury - apartment I was given. I stopped and took a cursory gaze at it and its surroundings and I was drenched with disappointment to feet when 'what I got was different from what I thought'. It was a small hut, or to say a cabin that I saw.

Where's all the luxury, your grace yada yada at? Was this all he could offer, a pen looking like a poultry? Hmmph! So much for a royal guest.

I smiled at the maids as they turned bidding me to enter, which I did as they followed behind me and stood at the door to slide it open for me to enter. But what you see ain't always what you get! This room's spaciousness was not what I saw on the outside, this was on a whole different level.

As I walked in, the black ink painting on white paper that stood spread behind the table was the first thing that caught my eye. It was a detailed painting of three mountains with streams that ran from the top of the widest mountain by the right, down to the next mountain that was lower than it by the middle. The third and tallest of them had a waterfall that ran directly to the ground. The widest mountain was depicted like it was the mother of the other two, which was wonderful.

I looked at the luxury furnishings, the golden curtains that separated the sitting room from the bedroom on the right. A mini library by the left side of the painting opposite the bedroom.

“It seemed so tiny from the outside though.” I shrugged as I went and stood over the bed to feel the softness of the sheets; as I laid on it feeling the smoothness of the sheets, slowly I could feel my exhausted self lose consciousness with the world around me.

I couldn’t tell how long I slept but I knew it was for a long time because the day was already dark and dim lights had been stationed at some specific places that I could see standing up through my window pane over the bed. I stood up deciding to continue from where I’d stopped.

I noticed the room had another door that didn't look like one and I decided to check it out. I slid it open and found a small veranda to a pathway that I followed with my eyes, and was led to a garden. The beauty of this garden called to me and I couldn’t resist it, especially the way the lights stationed in it shone into the yard.

So, I stepped outside closing the door to go into the garden. The particular place that made me comfortable was under the white plum tree and the bench underneath; somehow, it gave me the feeling of being back in Seoul.

Now talking about Seoul, I tried to figure out anything I could remember up to the light that shone from the jewel but nothing else. What could have happened? How did I get here? These questions continued to swirl in my head and I was hoping to ask someone but, who?

I just sat there contemplating, without even seeing the figure that was walking up to me, startling the civilization out of me.

“Whoa!” l flinched, startling that person and almost falling off the garden bench but, the person quickly caught my hands in the air saving me from 'Humpty Dumpty had a great fall'.

I breathed out as the person pulled me back on the bench and got closer to me before speaking,

“I apologize for scaring you, Your Grace.” as the person’s voice got to me, I turned to view the speaker. A petite young girl I presumed to be fifteen bowed to me. Thankful for the company, I took her hand smiling, and motioned for her to sit, which surprised her yet, she sat down slowly next to me.

“What’s your name?” I asked,

“Dong Yi - Choi Dong Yi - Your Grace,” she answered.

“How old are you?”,