CHAPTER 19: FLYING.

Jinsu was seated at his desk. When Gihyeon attempted to embrace his friend from behind as he always did, he felt himself flying. He wasn’t flying on purpose. Jinsu had cast a spell though Gihyeon was obviously used to it by now.

“Yippee! I’m flying!”

He landed on the bed. He was getting pretty good at landings too. After landing head-first enough times, he had finally mastered proper landing. At this point, it isn’t surprising any more of he’s called as the Master of Landing

“Are you reading the letter from your fiancée again? You? And yet you only glanced at the letter I sent you and threw it away!”

“I didn’t throw it away. The maid did.”

“Even so! Yoo took such care with her letter. What’s so special about her?”

The pouting Gihyeon’s resentful face, but he warned, “Keep pushing me if you want to die.”

“Harrumph! You keep smirking. She’s only nine! It makes my blood boil to think about it. You just tossed my letter aside while casting a protection spell on hers and read it every night. You’re obsessed! Don’t tell me you have grown feelings for that girl?”

“Of course not. That’s absurd.”

Jinsu, there no need to obsess over your fiancée. Girls are mere tools to bear children. All this after rejecting Freesia? Nothing he does makes sense. Gihyeon was sprawled on the bed. All of this had become familiar to him, his friend poring over the same letter after getting rid of him with a flying spell.

It must have been a blow Freesia’s pride.

Freesia, called the flower of the Empire, was the sixth-ranked empress. But more importantly, she had the distinction of being the only woman able to use magic. Of course, her powers were not as strong as those of men’s, but it was remarkable nevertheless. It was well-known at the academy that the beautiful Freesia had her eyes on Jinsu and had even offered herself to be one of his wives and yet, Jinsu had no interest in her at all.

Gihyeon snickered, “Ignore her, then! Bastard—he’s like a eunuch. Or maybe he’s gay. If so, he might be into me after all!”

Grinning mischievously, Gihyeon tiptoed over to Jinsu, “If you don’t like Freesia, how about me?”

 Jinsu summoned a powerful spell. The desk had quaked and the bed vibrated. Gihyeon went white with terror.

“Calm down! I said I was sorry! I can’t believe you’re still pissed about it. It was a year ago!”

A year earlier, Jinsu had sent a letter on the occasion of Princess Sang-Hee’s coming-of-age and he had scribbled, “Sang-Hee, my love! XOXO” as a prank.

It was unfair! Gihyeon thought. Jinsu had sent the letter anyway, fully aware of my prank, so why’s he mad at me? He should be grateful to me for expressing his true feelings.

It was outside the realm of possibility that one of the most brilliant magicians in the Kingdom, and even the Empire, Jinsu Han, would have been unaware of his little prank.

“Do I look like your punching bag? With this face of mine? Well…I’ll take your rude, obnoxious behavior. It’s one of your charms. Oh! Right, I remember now. She will be taking her excursion outside the palace now that she’s nine!”

***

Finally, I can see the world outside the palace!

The date of my excursion was set. These excursions were intended for princesses to see the world outside and expand their horizons, but they were also a great source of fear, for although they were daughters of the king, they were not guaranteed privileged treatment. Weren’t they simply defective throw aways in the failed attempts to produce male offsprings? And I was named Mutt. It had taken nearly nine years to be “promoted” to a status akin to a tolerated and sometimes beloved pet. Such was my lot in this life.

But I’m not too badly off. Compared to the way the King and my brothers treated me would be horrifying by Earth’s standards, but in this world, their kind consideration toward me was unprecedented. I understood intellectually why Sujin was so envious of me, even though I resisted it emotionally. I wanted to say to her, Maybe you should experience the flying spell. See if you’re still jealous.

“Let’s go!”

And then something nagged at me. A premonition.

Sure enough. “Fetch!”

The ragdoll came flying. You’re asking me to run in this fancy skirt? Fine. I started to run after it. I readied myself to run after it, but at the exact moment, Gitae Kim, a solidly built knight, shot in the air like a rocket from where he was standing beside me.

“Here, Your Majesty.”

“Oh, no, I wanted my little dog to get it.”

“His Majesty, the King, has given orders to personally fetch the doll if you were to beckon.”

My jaw dropped to think of the King being so considerate of me. I was moved by this thoughtfulness until I heard the Knight’s explanation.

“His Majesty warned that if she plays fetch outside the palace walls, she might be raped in the streets.”

Why would you say this so bluntly? Couldn’t you have simply said my Father was concerned for my welfare, I know I shouldn’t be shocked after so many years in this world, but such flagrant examples of misogyny still shook me to the core.

The gates opened, and I was to have my first glimpse of the outside world. Hwan-Seong let out a gleeful cry and flew high into the sky. I was on a magic bicycle like the one I’d ridden before. The problem is that Hwan-Seong was driving. I wondered desperately the whereabouts of my oldest brothers, Hyeong-Seok and wished he could save me from this thrill-seeking brat. I was literally being chauffeured by a child!

“Brother! I’m going to have a heart attack!”

We flew through the air. The flying in and of itself was fine, but not the aerial acrobatics. We soared high into the air and then dropped suddenly into a free fall that had my stomach about to fall out of my mouth. We flew sideways, spinning until I felt certain that this excursion might be the death of me. I was holding onto Hwan-Seong for dear life.

The ground was in sight. My head was still spinning; my eyes out of focus. I held on to Hwan-Seong even more tightly with all my limbs, like a koala clinging to a tree. All that was keeping me from falling was my grip. Hwan-Seong only became more daring in response. I cursed him silently.

“Please! Please, I’m begging you, Brother. If you drive more gently. I will love you ever more faithfully!”

I was trying to be as sweet as possible, even though I really wanted to clobber him.

“Okay, but only because you want me too. Maybe this is too scary for a little girl like you. It’s actually not dangerous at all.”

The braggart! My anger rose, but I held it in. You brat.

The outside world was like Earth 2.0. Everything was well-organized, as though meticulously planned black by black. The roads were wide and empty, quite unlike Seoul. They looked like they would be great for driving because there were almost no cars on the roads. Well…that makes sense since only men could drive here. The streets were different in another aspect. It was overrun with girls and women of all races.

Wow. So many girls!” I murmured.

“Our Father, the King is truly magnificent,” chuckled Hwan-Seong.

What he meant by that was that having managed to bear three princes was a grand feat. Only five percent of the babies born were boys which means five out of one hundred babies were boys. Scumbag had performed the remarkable feat of having three sons out of only thirty-four.

“His Majesty is a great person. I am ever so thankful to have such a father.”

“So true.”

“And I am also thankful he gave me such a handsome and amazing older brother.”

“Of course.”

Hwan-Seong’s chest swelled. I wanted to sock him right in his smug face.

Since the vast majority, the economic activity was out mostly by women. Since men were no different from Kings, they were exempt from work and lounged at home. The women were providers. Impregnating women were the men’s only job.

Given I was accompanied by two me, I could not avoid attracting the jealous attention of other girls. Of course, I only had this privilege because I had been born into a royal family, and royalty made up less than five percent of the world’s population.

“Princess Sang-Hee, we will head into the city from the outskirts and visit a total of five sites before returning to the palace. Our first destination is the great plain. We will travel by car.

Thankfully, the knight, Gitae, was our driver. A car could only be operated by magical power, so naturally, I couldn’t drive.

I looked outside. We drove for three hours straight. I’m so sleepy…

If the prince was awake, I could not fall asleep. While I knew this, I still had the body of a nine-year-old. Having slept poorly the night before, I tried to fight it. Hwan-Seong was silent as if lost in thought. Perhaps I could try to engage him in conversation.

I-I must not fall asleep! I cannot commit that break of etiquette! I tried so hard to fought it off, but sleep overtook me soon enough. I dozed off. I wasn’t sure how long I had been asleep, but I awoke with a start.

Hwan-Seong was snickering. “Mutt! You were drooling! Ewwww!”

“I’ve committed a mortal sin! I beg for your mercy!”

“But what did you do?”

 He cocked his head, and I saw his childish innocence. It was unthinkable for a princess to dare lean her against a prince’s shoulders. I cursed myself for my stupidity.

Hwan-Seong said blithely, “If you’ve committed a mortal sin, then you deserve to die!”

“…”

“I don’t think you did anything, mutt. Explain to me what you mean. I know you’re not very smart but try anyway”

“I dared to sleep with mu head on Your Majesty’s shoulder.”

Hwan-Seong scratched his head and said, “But I did that. So have I committed a mortal sin?”

Awww,  LOOK AT THAT INNOCENT LOOKING SMILE! he’s like a puppy!

He told me then that I had looked so pitiful dozing off that he had leaned my head on his own shoulder. He chuckled delightedly. I felt uneasy.

“You dare argue with the prince about whether you committed a crime!?”

“Oh, no, I don’t”

“You’ve committed a crime punishable by death. Stand and take your punishment!”

“Your Majesty!”

This rascal was entertaining himself.

“Fetch!” He hollered.

The rag doll flew toward the dazzling sun. Oh, how I wanted to clobber him!

He never went anywhere without that damned doll! Gitae did not move to help because there was nobody around. I raced after it to take my punishment. He was being gentle with me as it only flew about two hundred meters. I retrieved it, panting. I pretended to be completely spent and collapsed, in my imitation of a fragile girl.

Hwan-Seong was having the time of his life. Tch. Does it entertain you to see me suffer?

Gitae moved us along. “Our first stop is the cotton plantation.”

“The cotton plantation?”

“Yes, it’s the sixth largest cotton plantation in the Goryeo Kingdom and is the closest farm to the city.”

I had heard of the Goryeo Plantation where superior cotton was cultivated and exported all around this world.

But then I froze….

…

.

No, it can’t be.  I could scarcely believe what I was seeing.