The Red Palace

by June Hur

nae-uinyeos,

Nurses of the palace

To enter the palace means to walk a path stained in blood, our medical teachers had whispered. There will be bloodshed. I only hope it will not be yours.

Jieun remained frozen, staring ahead at the imposter prince.

Girl move, do not question things in the royal palace

“I have summoned you two specifically for a reason.”

This does not sound good...

“In the palace, you speak with a loud voice only when your words are public words; you must whisper when speaking private words. Everyone is listening in the palace. Everyone is spying for someone.

Kohpi.

“I highly doubt our paths will ever cross again.”

Famous words

I would not love, unless I was loved first and loved the most. I would be nothing at all, if I could not be first.

If you knew her as I do, sir, you would be convinced of her innocence.

Girlie.. you should not testify for others...

But it was common knowledge among us lowborns that the police did not follow His Majesty’s commands, and often beat suspects to death.

Even in that time, police was trash...

Women were permitted to roam the streets during the curfew hours; only men were forbidden, for men were considered a danger to the capital at night.

Sulbi nibbled on her lower lip, then shook her head. “She lied to the commander that she was more skilled than she was. She wanted to prove herself to her peers.

“It is,” I whispered, lowering my gaze to hide what I knew: The prince had indeed been missing from the palace on the night of the massacre.

You better keep your mouth shut girlie

In our kingdom, illegitimates belonged to the mother, not the man who had sired them.

I hate men.

“I will play your father this one moment, then, and give you a word of advice.”

Fuck this bastard. She doesn't need your advice.

I could not wait for love and acknowledgment to come embrace me. I had to go find it myself, to earn it through hard work.

But to my shock, Nurse Inyeong answered.

She is going to get herself killed

“The shape of who you are is an image of heaven and earth,”

“Your round head resembles the heavens, and your flat foot resembles earth; you have four limbs as the universe has four seasons, you have two eyes as the universe has the sun and the moon.”

I didn’t trust him—or any man—enough to be alone with him in such an isolated place.

Eojin took off his long white overcoat and draped it over me.

The gentleman that you are love

The Crown Prince killed me. The Crown Prince killed the four women. The Crown Prince will kill again.

The story revolved around the illicit love affair between a palace woman and a young scholar.

How fitting

It might … upset him.”

I'm starting to think that this crown prince is unstable and might have something to do with the murders

“We are women,” she continued, “and nothing short of death stops us from doing precisely what we wish to do. That is what the laws and restrictions binding our lives breed: determination and cunning. The likes of you will not obey me. You will tell me that you intend to be as still as a rock, and yet I know you will dart from shadow to shadow like a fish.”

What could I possibly do to cause chaos up high? How could a mere servant girl imagine disturbing the universe?

Girlie... You are asking for it

nauri.

Nooo call him Eojin

Everyone must choose the paths they will walk. And when you choose, remember to count the cost. Do not live with regrets.”

“Save your teacher, if she means that much to you. It is those you love that make a wretched life worth living.”

“He’s still your father. You are still his daughter.”

That's why men deserve nothing. They sired children but the moment they don't want to take care of them, they dispose of them like garbage.

“My grandmother suggested that slaves ought to kill their master and burn the record of their slave status, and live free from the whip.”

Confucian etiquette,

This is so stupid in a way. They should understand when exceptions have to be made. Stupid men.

as he could not touch—though he had touched me before, I suddenly remembered, when he’d helped me over the Hyeminseo wall, and when he had helped me mount his horse.

👀👀✨

“When the time comes,” he said quietly, holding my gaze the way he held my hand. “You watch out for me. And I will always watch out for you.”

This is the most romantic sentence someone can say

“I do,” he replied. “And I’m not surprised. Many in the government—including my father—have sensed that the prince is prone to violent rage. It began ever since the Daerichungjung.”

He did seem to have psychopath tendencies...

“Revenge begets revenge; the anger is unquenchable. We become the monsters we are trying to punish. Justice, however, brings closure, and that is what I want. It can only be achieved by remaining sober-minded and rational.

Then with a shake of his head, he murmured, “You must have been a general in your past life. A most irritatingly stubborn one.”

Laughter over the terrifyingly ridiculous situation I’d found myself in, and from the sheer sense of wonder that the darkest time had brought a friend into my life.

Eojin reaching out to touch the fallen strand of my hair, just long enough to tuck it behind my ear … and then he was gone.

He is so husband material

It seemed monsters still bled. Killers still had hearts, if only for a particular few.

I wanted to love and be loved. I wanted to be known. I wanted to be understood and accepted.

It was a saying among the poor that, in order to feed oneself, one would have to become a criminal.

At that moment, I forgot where I was. It seemed we must have both forgotten, for he leaned down and pressed his lips against my cheek.

“Calm?” A shallow breath escaped him as his face turned pale. “You’re bleeding.”

“You … You watched me waiting outside in the snow,” I whispered. “You remained watching even as I was crying.”

“The Lantern Festival,” I said, lowering my hands until my palms were cupping my cheeks. “You asked me to go with you.” His eyes remained closed. “You called me a distraction.” My cheeks grew warm, stinging my fingers. “I didn’t mean it. I was upset by what had occurred with my father.” “So you do care for me.” “Of course,” I said softly.

“When we’re together … it’s as though we are like water in the river, my thoughts flowing through yours, yours through mine. And when we are silent”—a faint smile tugged at his lips—“I forget you are even there sometimes.

I could only hold him tighter against my chest, my head ducked, wishing I could tuck him safely under my rib cage, protected under my bones and next to my heart, no matter what happened to me.

He did manage to send me a letter, consisting of three barely legible words: Wait for me.