The day I’d coaxed some affection from my father, I still vented my frustration in private by kicking at my covers in bed at night, but it was to be a pivotal moment in my life. The royal Scumbag came several times after that to dine with me. Seo-Yang was so pleased that she smothered me with kisses.
“I’m so proud of you.” she beamed.
“You are?”
“Yes, it’s quite an honor to dine with His Majesty.”
Mother, I wanted to say. “The foremost mathematician and other scholars in the kingdom have called me a prodigy, and you’re impressed that I’m invited to eat with my father?”
She commanded playfully, “Say you love me.”
When children turned eight, their relationships with their mothers were expected to become more distant, and displays of affection were deemed inappropriate. While boys entered school when they turned eight, girls could not even dream of going to school. Girls merely had a coming-of-age tea with the female relatives.
I threw my arms around my mother which moved her to tears. All the women, including my mother, led painfully lonely lives and this small gesture meant the world to her.
My door swung open. “Fetch!” Hwan-Seong, you jerk! I’ll get you someday. But, to my shame, I ran to fetch the ragdoll eagerly.
“Oh, Mother’s here?”
“Hello, Your Majesty.” Seoyeang greeted the brat. “Are you here to play with Sang Hee?”
He replied, “Yes, I wanted to play with the little Mutt.”
Seoyeong did not seem at all perturbed that Hwan-Seong called me by this humiliating moniker and made me bark on command. Instead, she seemed pleased. She seemed to consider it an honor that the noble prince would pay any attention at all to this lowly female.
I exclaimed, “What an honor to see your Majesty!” I would have to wait for the right time to take my revenge.
The ragdoll in hand, I embraced Hwan-Seong’s leg. He was much taller than I was. I jumped up and down excitedly. He laughed and said, “You really are like a stray dog. A really ugly one.”
I took a step back and pouted, “No, don’t say I’m ugly”
He replied, “I have to. It’s the truth.”
I pleaded, “It would make me so happy if you’d say I was pretty.” Oh, kill me now. Where is my pride?
He gave in magnanimously, “Well, you’re not that ugly”
Hwan-Seong then remembered, “Oh, you’re being called to dinner.” My mother’s contented expression changed to concern, likely from the shock that the prince had been tasked with the lowly chore of calling me to dinner.
I asked, “We’ll be eating together, Prince Hwan-Seong?”
“Yes,” he said, “You, me, and father. Oh, you are invited as well, Mother.”
Seoyeong was obviously elated. Quickly, she composed herself. While my foolish behavior was excusable due to my tender age, such behavior in my mother would have been considered unseemly.
My poor, happy mother dabbed at her eyes overcome with emotion. It was pathetic that she would be so moved to be invited to dinner—to eat a meal with her own husband! Did she realize what an ass he was?
The Royal Scumbag, Seoyeong, Hwan-Seong and I were seated around a long, oblong table. In a serious tone, Scumbag asked, “Who walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?”
I paused and tilted my head. Hwan-Seong guessed, “A dog”
“Wrong”
How funny that the two looked so serious. Even a third grader would know the answer to this! I reminded myself I was no longer on Earth.
“You answer,” Scumbag said to me.
Soyeong looked flustered that Scumbag was turning his attention to me. I was tempted to say to Seoyeong, “I know that girls are treated like dirt here, but don’t let that little question upset you. If you let them see how intimidated you are, they’ll lose even more respect for you.” No, this was nonsense. The men really did have something women didn’t. The men monopolized magical power and wielded it to subjugate the women.
I replied, “I need more time. I have to think hard about it.” Setting down my spoon, I made a pretense of thinking fervently. Judging by their expressions, they seemed convinced that the question was very difficult. I couldn’t answer too quickly, as they might get suspicious. You might be mistaken in thinking that I pretended to be struggling to be polite because the question was intended to be challenging, but this is quite far from the truth. I was laboring under a survival instinct.
When dinner was nearing its end, I spoke up timidly, “Is it perhaps a person”
Scumbag stared at me. He said, “You’re really quite remarkable”
I bolted out of my seat and ran past the shocked Seo-Yeong toward him. I asked, “Father since I solved the riddle, would you give me a present?”
Seoyeong’s growing panic was palpable. I could almost hear her thoughts. Sanghee…..Noooo! How can you dare? My poor mother’s hands were shaking.
Ugh. You can have your chocolate bars, but I have other plans.
“What would you like?”
“Pet me!” I replied.
His hands, which were hanging on the chair, were as large as saucers. I stuck my head down and rubbed my head against his palm. To be reduced to this! How abject was this condition.
Scumbag laughed heartily. Seoyeong’s looked about nervously while Hwan-Seong laughed out loud.
“He’s petting her!” He laughed jeeringly. I wanted to slap him. Scumbag at first resisted, as if I had made an outlandish request, but he began to stroke my head. He behaves as if he is doing me a tremendous favor. I hid the rage in my heart and acted as though I were the happiest girl in the world.
“Daddy.”
Upon hearing the familiar term, Seoyeong was in full panic mode. Even princes were not allowed such familiarity.
I repeated, “Daddy, I love you!”
I was only seven, so this was allowed. I could be this daring because I was only seven. I assured myself of this.
Seoyeong’s eyes, full of alarm, pleaded with me to stop.
Scumbag did not stop smiling though. See? I wanted to say. Use your head. Would he be smiling if he were angry? No need to be so terrified.
Scumbag stopped smiling then. He said to Soyeong, “You look like a cadaver”
“No, no,” She protested
No need to deny it. In truth, she looked absolutely terrified. She replied, “This little girl is quite eccentric.”
Hwan-Seong piped up, “Because she’s a dog!”
Scumabg announced, “I’m very pleased with her. If she had been a boy, she would certainly have grown up to be a national hero.”
I cut him off, “If I could have been a hero, I would have been allowed to marry you!” I punctuated my words with tiny clenched fists and a resentful pout, I was certain that I was quite adorable in doing so.
Seoyeong was about to collapse, so shocked by my audacity. How could I interrupt the king? She awaited the explosion that never came. I knew how far I could push the boundaries.
This time, Scumbag stroked my head, without my having to ask him.
He said to Seoyeong, “Wait for me tonight in your bedroom.”
A few days ago.
The Kingdom had lots of ladies in waiting. There were twelve queens and almost thirty princesses (T/n: Dayum!! KING!! THAT STAMINA(´◑ω◐`). The-ladies-in-waiting waited on them faithfully day in and out. Su-Jin, the one who cared for Princess Sanghee was exclaiming now, “What? It couldn’t be!”
The other replied, “It’s true! The King invited Princess Sang-Hee especially to dine with him!”
Sujin couldn’t believe it. This was a rare occurrence, and it had never happened before during the current King’s reign.
“They might personally kill a girl if they think she’s more trouble than she’s worth.”
“Don’t say such things! It’ll bring bad luck! And the princess is so beautiful and good!”
“Why are you so upset? You’re just upset because you know it’s true.”
Sujin bit her lip in silence. Yes, it could happen to any girl. If someone took a disliking to her, she might be invited to dine with someone, where she’d be poisoned, according to the custom. It was not expected for a king to feel the slightest fondness for a daughter. She did not feel the current king had such evil tendencies, but she had read of incidents like this in history books, especially if a princess dared to strive to gain an equal footing with Princes.
The news that Princess Sang-Hee enjoyed the King’s favor as well as the affection of the princes spread, reaching the ears of the other princesses, all thirty-two of them.
“She’ll have her coming-of-age soon,” Princess Seohee, who was twelve, said.
“We have to teach her a lesson. How dare that little brat even dream of mingling with the princes?”
“You’re right. She’s ugly and ill-mannered. It’s our duty to teach her a lesson. She’s eight now, so she’s old enough to know how to act. Isn’t it our job to teach her some respect?”
“You’re right, Princess Seohee. It is our duty.”
“We need to use the coming-of-age to knock some sense into her.”
It was the last day of 1003 by the Aureus calendar.
“Hwan-Seok,” Hwan-Seong said, “Do you realise tomorrow is Sang-Hee’s coming-of-age”
“Is that so?” was the uninterested reply.
January 1st, 1004, The day of Sang-Hee Kim’s girl’s coming-of-age-was here.