𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 - 𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐨𝐧

(five)

"Kim Bora, you're late."

I set the tray down beside her and pour her tea. "I'm sorry, Princess," I whisper, "I was very busy today and got distracted."

She sighs. "You know, if I wasn't so nice you'd be gone by now," she snaps. "Any other member of any other royal family would've killed you or sent you home for how many mistakes you make."

"I know. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

After a few minutes of silence, Princess Siyeon answers me: "I can't think of anything now, but I will. For now, let's just say you owe me a favour. Any one request from me, you have to grant, no questions asked."

"Yes, your highness," I say through gritted teeth. She pats the velvet loveseat next to her and looks at me expectantly. "Is this your favour?" I ask. "Sit with you while you read?"

She scoffs and says, "No, this is your job. You do as I say." She's right, of course, so I comply. I awkwardly walk over and sit next to her, my posture stiff and uncomfortable, aware of my every movement and how it might set her off. Princess Siyeon sets down her teacup and instead rests her hand on my leg.

"Um, Princess–"

"Shut up, Kim Bora. I'm reading." She pauses before adding, "I'm cold. That's why I wanted you to sit with me. So just relax, okay?" I try to relax, but the Princess is so close to me and I don't know how to behave. In all my time here, she's never once asked me to do something like this. I sit in silence, feeling myself sink into the plush seat more and more as I sit here listening to Princess Siyeon flipping pages in her book. She absentmindedly fidgets with the fabric of my skirt while reading, and slowly I hear the page turns become more infrequent. I glance over at her just in time to see her with her eyes closed and her head hanging limply, her hair in her face.

I try to help her sit back up so she won't hurt her neck, but all I succeed in doing is letting the Princess fall into my lap. Well, at least it's more comfortable than how she was sleeping before. I know how she is when someone wakes her up, so I decide to just let her sleep, moving her slightly to keep her comfortable. In the meantime, I pick up her book to keep myself occupied. It appears to be a romance novel.

For some reason, the two main characters hate each other. One is uptight and stoic, and the other is practically ruled by his emotions. Both of them, though I don't understand why, are holding themselves back. Why do they have to be so stubborn? I haven't read more than a few chapters and I'm already frustrated. The characters just can't seem to understand each other. I suppose I'm no better, though. I don't understand others much either.

Maybe reading this book can help me better understand Princess Siyeon.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
if you are interested in binge-reading this story, every chapter along with its song recommendation are posted on ao3. my username is cereal_and_sadness. if you're down to stick around for daily updates here that's great too :) thank you for reading