Health Festival Day 1 – Outing (2)

Whether it was a court lady or a palace maid, escaping Mullaba’s grasp within the Rose Palace was truly a distant dream. The old palace maid, whose wisdom of an old fox was plastered on her face like wrinkles around her eyes, could discern the inner workings of even the youngest palace servants by merely glancing at a strand of their expression or a handful of their actions.

Serina realized at some point that Mullaba’s piercing gaze was clinging to her like a leech, following her every move. She always tried to be aware of his location and keep him within her sight. Even when Mullaba was away, someone under his orders was always near Serina. Serina felt a chill, as if a blue dagger was stabbing her in the spine.

Of course, Mullaba couldn’t directly order, “Watch over Princess-nim and Serina.” If he gave such an order, even without knowing the specific reason, rumors could spread among the other palace servants that the head maid suspected the relationship between the two. So, he would only say things like, “Just be here,” but Serina was so anxious that she couldn’t bring herself to tell Mirabilis the Keyword.

When they finally managed to find a chance to be alone, Mirabilis brought up an unexpected story in her ‘real’ state.

“I want to go outside with Older Sister-nim during the Public Health Festival.”

Serina was quite surprised.

“You want to go out in disguise?”

A fleeting, embarrassed wry smile crossed the face of the Princess who had become her younger sister, leaving a trace behind.

“It would be a disguise, but it’s not that grand. I just want to see the world outside the palace with Older Sister-nim.”

“Would the ‘fake’ you… want to see it too?”

Serina tilted her head. Her experience of serving the mistress of the Rose Palace for the past three years made her wonder. Would that picky ‘fake’ really want to go outside the palace? Rather than going through the troublesome task of leaving the palace again after attending the Emperor’s ritual, wouldn’t she rather rest quietly in her Main Chamber, basking in the sunlight? But the ‘real’ Mirabilis answered firmly.

“Even if she’s not conscious of it, the fake also likes Older Sister-nim, and she wants to see the outside world too. I can tell… because she’s another me.”

Since Serina entered the palace, Mirabilis had never gone out like this. Except for official duties that she couldn’t avoid as a member of the Imperial Family, she mostly stayed in the palace. Going out alone was one thing, but taking Mirabilis out would be quite a hassle. But Serina couldn’t refuse the pleading look in Mirabilis’s eyes. It might even be a good thing, as it would allow her to avoid Mullaba’s gaze.

The ‘fake’ Mirabilis, just like her ‘younger sister’ said, really wanted to go out with Serina. Mullaba welcomed the idea and readily agreed, but his eyebrows twitched like a caterpillar crawling when it came to taking Serina with her. He subtly suggested that she take another court lady instead of Serina, but when the Princess expressed her strong desire for Serina, he had no choice.

Mullaba stared at Serina, his eyes filled with obvious displeasure. Serina pretended to be nonchalant. She didn’t know how natural she seemed, but in the end, the head maid only said, “Take good care of her,” and gave her consent.

There was no way a member of the Imperial Family could go out in disguise without guards. If the Princess were to have an accident while outside, there would be more than a few people who would have to start preparing their coffins immediately.

Mirabilis wanted to go outside the palace but didn’t know anything about the outside world, so she entrusted all the planning to Serina. So, the court lady who served the mistress of the Rose Palace had to leave the Rose Palace’s territory for the first time since entering the palace and go to the palace guards in charge of protecting the Imperial Family to speak with an officer.

She had seen the knights in charge of the Rose Palace so often that they were familiar faces, but it was her first time meeting an officer of the guard. He was a man who had trained his body in a different way than the knights. Although he wasn’t wearing metal armor at the moment, it made his body, which was a mass of muscles hardened like iron, stand out even more. He picked up a piece of paper with his knobbly hands and read it, then put it down when Serina approached.

“I have already received Mirabilis-nim’s official letter. Two of our warriors will be walking behind the Princess-nim in plain clothes, keeping a distance. And please, Serina-ssi…”

The officer’s voice was deep but calm and easy to understand. But when he let slip a word, a fleeting shadow of a wry smile crossed Serina’s lips.

‘I never thought I’d hear myself called Agassi for official business in my life.’

‘Agassi’ was originally a term used to refer to an unmarried daughter of a noble family, that is, a Princess. Therefore, Serina was also an Agassi / Princess, but she had never really received such treatment. To finally be called ‘Agassi’ in the palace, where there were so many people of high status, was truly ironic, but the officer, unaware of her inner thoughts, continued to speak.

“As far as I know, this is the first time the Princess-nim has gone out in disguise outside the palace. Don’t let her drag you around, and don’t let her take off her hood. Mirabilis-nim’s appearance is too striking, and some thugs might mistake her for a noble and try to hit on her. Those who are too lowly have nothing to lose but their own bodies, so they can do crazy things that others can’t even imagine.”

“I guess… that’s true.”

The officer nodded at Serina’s agreement. The metal ornaments on his clothes sparkled as they caught the light, moving slightly with the movement of his muscles as he spoke.

“Frankly, it’s fortunate that Agassi knows the geography of the capital well. Court ladies from prestigious families don’t know the way themselves and lead their masters to the wrong places, which embarrasses us. But that won’t happen with Agassi. Even if the Princess-nim orders you to do so, you must never obey. It’s never Agassi’s fault if you refuse such an order.”

****************

As soon as the Emperor’s ritual marking the start of the Public Health Festival ended and they returned to the palace, the two immediately began preparing to go out. A strangely happy and expectant look was evident on Mirabilis’s face. For the Princess who had grown up lonely in the depths of the palace, the world outside was a distant, different world. It was only a matter of wandering among ordinary people in the excited atmosphere of the festival, but it seemed to be a very exciting and heart-fluttering event for her.

Mirabilis dressed as a daughter of a moderately well-off commoner family, but even then, her appearance was very striking. Her skin was as clear as snow and glowed with radiance, her beautifully flowing hair sparkled like the scales of a freshly caught golden fish, and her eyes were as deep green as the verdure of the mountains. It was impossible to go around unnoticed like this.

“Princess-nim, please wear a hood.”

“Like this?”

Mirabilis reached behind her and put on the hood attached to her cape. Serina looked at the Princess’s face from the front and the side, and although it was better than her bare face, it didn’t completely hide her appearance. Mirabilis, seeing that her court lady was looking her up and down without ever relaxing her expression, asked with a slightly distressed look.

“Am I too noticeable?”

“Please don’t ever take off that hood. It’s already a close call.”

Mirabilis was disappointed, but there was nothing she could do. Then she changed the subject.

“The setup is that you and I are sisters, right? And I call you ‘Older Sister’.”

“That’s right. It’s more natural for an older sister who knows the world well to take her younger sister out than the other way around. I will call Mirabilis-nim ‘Billy’.”

Mirabilis nodded. She put her hands on her hips and looked at Serina, then reached out a slender finger and grabbed the court lady’s wrist, opening her mouth in a natural voice.

“Older Sister, let’s go now.”

Her voice and tone were so similar to ‘that Mirabilis’ that Serina was momentarily confused. Originally, it would have been a burdensome outing where she had to serve and satisfy her superior. But now, it was like a ‘trip’ where they were enjoying the pleasure of being together, immersed in the lighthearted sense of liberation from the extraordinary festival.

The pleasure of being together. Serina never thought that a day would come when she would look forward to something like this. Right now, even if he were to torment her as he did when they first met, she felt like she could handle it without a problem.

The face that Mirabilis showed only in front of her – even when she was the ‘fake’ – was becoming more and more endearing. The way she quietly avoided her gaze even when she presumptuously touched the Princess’s face was truly lovely in Serina’s eyes. And when she realized that she was taking up a larger portion of Mirabilis’s heart, she felt a thrilling joy and a dizzying emotion pounding in her chest.

With Mullaba’s gaze on her, she thought about stopping the hypnosis at this point, but she couldn’t resist when she was alone with the Princess. The desire to imprint Serina’s own name and image more strongly in the depths of Mirabilis’s mind, the flame of love that surged up whenever they had a chance to be alone, even though she had vowed to suppress it herself, moved her body.

Even though she thought that she was being tainted by impure obsessions, she couldn’t let go once she had tasted it. Serina recalled Bingalsa’s warning anew. The word ‘wicked’ that he had warned her about was true, at least for her. Serina took a deep breath to calm her heart, which was pounding with a strange excitement.

The outside of the palace on the first day of the Public Health Festival was so noisy and chaotic that at first, it felt like her ears were going deaf. The totality of the boisterous sounds and acrid smells was painfully stimulating to the Princess. It was a familiar sight to Serina, who had seen it since she was a child, but everything was like freshly wriggling raw fish to Mirabilis. Like a country bumpkin who had just come to the capital, the lady from the depths of the palace was constantly looking around in a daze.

Two bodyguards must have been following them since they left the palace. Serina was curious about where the guards were, but she didn’t make the mistake of looking around to find them. She wondered where Mirabilis would like to go, but the person in question said that anywhere was fine and entrusted everything to her. As they walked down the noisy street, Mirabilis suddenly grabbed Serina’s hand and pulled her.

“What is that? Older Sister.”

Mirabilis pointed to a street vendor on the side of the road. It was a place that sold common street food: large shrimp skewered on a stick, grilled, and coated with spicy sauce. As they got closer, the smell of scorched shrimp mixed with spices wafted through the hot air of the brazier and tickled their noses. These were things that Serina hadn’t smelled in the past few years, things that she missed with a pang.

“It’s grilled shrimp with sauce.”

Mirabilis was startled and pointed at the shrimp’s face with her right index finger as she approached Serina. The Princess pursed her lips as if complaining, her face so close that it seemed like they would touch.

“This… this bug is a shrimp?”

The owner of the stall, who was constantly wiping the sweat that flowed from the heat of the brazier with a towel, overheard the conversation and smiled wryly, as if amused. Serina was a little embarrassed, but on the other hand, she really felt like Mirabilis was a young sister, which she didn’t dislike. Serina lowered her voice a little and replied.

“Well, the ones you ate were already trimmed of their tails and heads. This is what they look like untrimmed.”

Since fresh seafood was supplied from the coast near the capital, shrimp was a fairly common ingredient in the palace, but she had only ever seen the chefs in the palace personally cut off the heads and tails and trim them to be easy to eat, so it was her first time seeing untrimmed shrimp.

As the translucent grayish-brown shrimp went onto the fire, its skin lost its shine and slowly turned red, emitting a sweet sea smell. The Agassi watched this whole process with great interest, not taking her eyes off it, and Serina paid the owner and received two skewers, sharing one each.

“How… do I eat it?”

Mirabilis was flustered, with the shrimp, its head and tail still intact and bathed in sauce, in front of her. She couldn’t bring herself to put it in her mouth and hesitated, only engaging in a futile staring contest with the shrimp’s black, bead-like eyes. Serina smiled at the sight.

“You can eat it with the head and tail removed, or you can just chew it.”

Serina put the shrimp’s head in her mouth and chewed it. It was an ‘action of the vulgar masses outside the palace’ that was not befitting of a noble, but the Princess also closed her eyes and followed suit after seeing her do it. The skin covered in brown sauce was crispy and crumbled on her tongue. The white flesh was juicy and filled her mouth with a rich, savory flavor and a deep sweetness. The shrimp shell remained in her mouth like barley awns and felt rough, but she swallowed it.

She frowned when she tore off the shrimp’s head, but her face relaxed when she ate the body, and she threw away the end of the tail without eating it.

“Agassi, is it delicious?”

The owner of the stall greeted Mirabilis and spoke with a smiling face. Even though his face was flushed red from the spicy heat of the brazier, he seemed to find the sight of the Princess eating the shrimp carefully quite amusing.

“The taste is vulgar and the texture is rough, but once I eat it, it’s delicious. Give me one more.”

Somehow, she spoke to Serina in a way that matched the ‘younger sister’ setup, but she suddenly answered the merchant she met on the street in the tone she used in the palace. Although the owner called her ‘Agassi’ and spoke politely, it wasn’t because he thought she was a daughter of a noble family. He was just being polite to the customer to make them feel good.

But Mirabilis’s answer naturally contained the tone of a truly high-ranking person. The owner had a flustered look on his face for a moment, but as a merchant who had experienced all kinds of customers, he quickly changed his expression and responded with a bright smile and a friendly manner.

“Of course! I’ll give you one more!”

Of course, he didn’t know that she was a Princess, but he could guess that she was a daughter of a fairly high-ranking family who had come out with her court lady. Serina quickly paid and grabbed Mirabilis’s wrist, hurrying away from the stall, and ate the shrimp as they walked down the street. Eating while walking was also an interesting deviation for Mirabilis.

“Uoko solorem pauram.”

As Serina called out to her ‘younger sister’ as if it were nothing on the street, Mirabilis paused for a moment and then reached out and grabbed Serina’s hand.

“I’m really happy to be out of the palace like this with Older Sister-nim.”

Serina couldn’t bring herself to say the words she wanted to complain about. Mirabilis continued to talk, matching her pace while holding her hand. What is that, where did Older Sister-nim often go… Mirabilis kept asking, and Serina faithfully answered. Then Serina grinned and asked in a low voice.

“Younger Sister, are you still doing the punishment I gave you well these days?”

“O, Older Sister-nim…”

Mirabilis blushed and lowered her head. Serina put a suggestive smile on her lips and cast a hypnotic spell.

“Yes… the pleasure you felt back then… when I give you the signal… the same pleasure will come again… the signal is when I say ‘I like you.’ Understand?”

“Yes… Older Sister-nim…”

Thanks to the short suggestion, it went straight to Mirabilis, who already liked Serina deeply and was already very familiar with hypnosis. As they walked like that, Serina went to a stone bridge in the capital. It was the oldest bridge in the capital, but it was still called ‘New Bridge’ apart from its official name because it was the ‘newest bridge’ at the time of its construction.

People swarmed around like ants, bustling and swirling around in a daze. The voices of hundreds, thousands of people mixed haphazardly in the air, becoming a futile vortex that surrounded the plaza. Musicians who played instruments and received money and speakers who shouted their claims were desperately trying to get attention by shouting as if competing with each other in this market-like, chaotic place.

The people were boisterous and noisy, but the river flowed under the bridge as clear and gentle as a sleeping baby. The surrounding trees were tinged with autumn colors, but the spot was warm under the midday sun. The two sat at an outdoor shop near New Bridge, basking in the sunlight and drinking simple beverages.

“I liked to sit here and eat and drink like this. Because of my family, I had to go out quite a bit. So, I wanted to come here from the moment I left the palace. How about you? Do you like it?”

Mirabilis’s face was flushed red, and she was panting with a hiccuping sound, her shoulders heaving. She puffed out her slender chest with a sulky look, then squeezed Serina’s hand on the table.

“Older Sister-nim, not in a place like this…”

“Because it’s a place like this. Billy is happy to be here with me. Do you like it too?”

Every time Serina said the signal she had set, a shivering pleasure like a spark burst inside Mirabilis’s body. She felt like she was being swept away by the blazing sensation and falling into a distant, different world.

She wanted to get closer. Even though she felt like she would lose her mind in the vast pleasure, she held Serina’s hand tightly with both hands and breathed heavily because she wanted to get closer to Older Sister-nim. Nothing else mattered. In front of this feeling of being with Older Sister-nim, everything else seemed to lose its vitality and wither, fading into dullness.

“Billy, there are people watching us. We have to be careful not to look strange. Okay?”

“Ugh, yes. You mischievous Older Sister-nim.”

As Mirabilis shook her body in ecstasy, the hood fell off her head, revealing her sparkling golden hair. As Serina reached out to put the hood back on, some men suddenly appeared.

“There are no seats, so can we sit with you?”

They spoke in a tone as if they were throwing a light joke, but their posture was crooked, and an unrestrained malice was draped over their faces like a smile. Serina knew their faces well, as they were famous hooligans in the area. She had even worried about running into such people before entering the palace. She was embarrassed to meet them at a time like this, but on the other hand, she was relieved because she knew that there were guards somewhere. Serina pointed to the empty seat and replied as if nothing was wrong.

“There are seats next to us. Sit in the seats where the people who just left were sitting, not where my sister and I are.”

But the other party chuckled and looked Mirabilis up and down as if groping her. Whether he opened his mouth or kept it shut, he was always carrying a bundle of filthy greed and dragging it around.

“Billy? Is that your name? It doesn’t sound like a girl’s name.”

Serina clicked her tongue inwardly. Before leaving, the guard officer had explained that if there was a conflict with lowly people, they should not raise their voices or fight, but wait for the bodyguard to approach and then step back. However, they were also told not to look around to find the bodyguard. Otherwise, they would know that she was a daughter of a noble family ‘with a bodyguard’ and become even more persistent.

Serina patted Mirabilis’s shoulder, who was looking distressed.

“Billy, let’s get up.”

But the man, as if he had just learned Mirabilis’s name, blocked their way with a glint of greed in his eyes.

“Billy? Is that your name? It doesn’t sound like a girl’s name.”

The other party reached out a rough hand to grab Mirabilis’s hair. Serina sharply slapped his wrist away, but the other party still smirked.

“I’ve never seen anyone with such beautiful blonde hair like your sister… will it wear out if I touch it?”

Serina thought that talking to this man would only waste time. As she got up from her seat and tried to leave with Mirabilis’s hand, the other party tried to grab the Princess’s collar. It was then.

“Hey, don’t touch my sister.”

When Serina turned her gaze, there was a warrior in front of her whom she remembered meeting briefly in the palace. He was also dressed like the ‘son of a moderately well-off commoner family’ to match the setup of Serina’s group, but his shoulders were broad and his muscles were firm, and his face changed to a fierce one in an instant when he frowned. It seemed that he had stepped forward, calling himself ‘Older Brother’ because Serina and Mirabilis were moving with the setup that they were ‘sisters’.

“Older Brother.”

Even a hooligan who was used to fighting couldn’t have a body as good as someone who was serving as a bodyguard in the palace. He felt intimidated inwardly, but these kinds of people valued their pride as much as their lives until they were actually beaten. So, he raised his voice as if nothing was wrong.

“You even had an older brother?”

But the warrior was sneering with a smile on his lips and squinting his eyes, making a ridiculous expression.

“I was nearby so that my sisters could play. But then a fucking dog was barking in front of my sisters?”

The warrior deliberately provoked the other party. He was trying to provoke the other party so that he would focus entirely on him and not the Princess.

“This bastard…!”

As the hooligan took out a knife from his pocket, the warrior gestured to Serina. It was a signal to quickly take the Princess-nim and leave. Without even looking at what he was doing, Serina grabbed Mirabilis’s wrist and hurriedly ran into a nearby deserted alley.

There was no need to rush. If they waited a little, another warrior who was moving separately from the warrior fighting the hooligan would surely come. Mirabilis had never run so frantically like this before, so she was dragged along by Serina, panting. They only stopped after entering the deserted alleyway.

“Older Sister-nim… I was scared just now.”

Mirabilis grabbed Serina’s arm and leaned on her. Serina patted her back and hugged her. Then she quietly stroked her head and opened her mouth in a low voice.

“This is the first time we’ve come out of the palace together, and something like this happened… I’m sorry. But still, I like being here together like this.”

It was at that moment. Mirabilis also hugged Serina with all her strength and then raised her head. The Princess’s face was flushed red with heat, and her eyes were filled with a bloodshot lust. Her lips were unusually glossy and deep red, so seductive that it instantly blew away the embarrassment and fear she had felt until just now.

“I like you too, I like you too, Older Sister-nim. My one and only, my true Older Sister-nim!”

The moment she uttered those passionate words, which were like a confession of love, she reached her climax while being held in her arms. Serina hugged and patted Mirabilis, whose body was trembling with voluptuous pleasure, and stood silently in the quiet alleyway for a while. They felt each other’s warmth like that.

When another bodyguard found the two and entered the alley, Serina had to ask him to wait until the Princess-nim calmed down for a moment. Mirabilis’s first ‘sneak out’ ended like this.