Chapter 11

Yuna woke up to the sound of maids gossiping outside her window. The sunlight shined down on her eyes, causing her to scrunch her eyebrows. She could tell that today was going to be another throbbing headache. She was sick and tired of listening to gossip. People were always finding negative things to say about others regardless of if they were good people or not.

Yuna wasn’t interested in most gossip and didn’t really care for people that liked to gossip. She tried to muffle the sounds while pressing the pillow snuggly against her ears, but she stopped as soon as she heard Minho’s name. The maids were giggling and laughing at him. There was a change in the timeline. How in the world did he become a laughingstock?

She wasn’t particularly interested in anything that happened to Minho, but if it was anything to do with his humiliation, she was willing to take a part in all the gossip in the world. She pressed her ears to the window to try and get to hear what they were talking about.

Unluckily for her, the maids were done gossiping when they realized that the head maid was there, and she was extremely strict. She didn’t allow any of the maids to gossip or be distracted from their work. They immediately split up and dashed to their respective cleaning zones.  Yuna frowned at the development outside. She was hoping to hear more of the gossip, but that didn’t look like it was going to happen.

She decided to eavesdrop on the maids and servants today. It wasn’t a very productive thing to do that day, but she wanted to know how the timeline changed. She quickly got dressed and headed to the servant’s quarters. She just had to find out what was going on. After walking around for a while, she heard the sound of gossip from a different pair of maids.

She pressed her back against the wall to hide from them. One of the maids came running over to the others. She excitedly began talking about the other day, “Were you there when Prince Minho came to visit?” The other maid shook her head, “I wasn’t there, why? What happened?”

She grinned as if there was something big that happened over the weekend, “So apparently, the Prince came to visit Miss Yuna in hopes of meeting the general’s daughter. General Junho punished him severely for having eyes on his daughter. ” The other maid burst out in laughter, “That must’ve been humiliating. I heard that he’s very handsome and intelligent. Why did the general do that to him?”

          She explained, “I think it’s because the general wasn’t happy to have him as a future son-in-law. He was treating the servants with disrespect and I think he deserved it.” Yuna was shocked to hear this coming out of the servant’s mouth. Most people weren’t scared of the consequences of being heard. Either way, the prince didn’t live here so no one would really care.

          The other maid said, “He shouldn’t have come to visit the Miss without her father’s approval. I guess the face isn’t really what matters, but the heart. I’ve always thought the prince was charming and friendly. Who would’ve known that he’d be so uneducated?” Both the maids began laughing.

          Yuna couldn’t stop herself from laughing. That stupid prince was her ex-husband. Thank god she had a father that could scare the entire nation. If she didn’t, she probably would’ve had to deal with the annoying prince. It was just a matter of time before he comes seeking trouble.

          If she remembered correctly, Minho was the sweetest at the very beginning. He spent his days pampering her and taking her out on dates. They were still incredibly young, so he took her out to the town and bought her all the accessories and dresses she wanted. He acted like a friendly prince charming that was in love. If she knew he was such a playboy, she definitely wouldn’t have been head over heels for him.

          In the end, his goal was to get her father’s support to become the next crown prince and eventually the emperor. Yuna wasn’t going to waste her time getting revenge, but she sure as hell was going to enjoy seeing his misfortune. She wasn’t going to fall for his ploys any longer and she was going to enjoy her life the best she could.

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         The news about Minho and his humiliating defeat spread like wildfire. It spread so far that it reached Yuna’s cousin’s house; Kim, Haemi. She was Yuna’s cousin from her father’s side. General Junho had 2 brothers and their names were Namjun and Dongwoo. Junho was the oldest out of the three. Namjun was the second oldest son and the current right Prime Minister. Dongwoo was the youngest and he was also Haemi’s father.

          Haemi heard many stories about her cousin Yuna and she couldn’t help but feel jealous. She was always being compared to this cousin of hers. She's never even met the girl. She couldn’t understand what made her so different from any other noble girl. Why were people speaking of her like she was a mysterious goddess while everyone thought of her as a good for nothing?

          When comparing the two, Haemi was prettier than Yuna and she was also taller than her. Haemi had the face that most men desired, but Yuna was just like any other girl. At least that's what Haemi thought. Haemi was already 9 years old and she was closer in age to the two princes. She's always found Minho to be charming and hated the fact that Yuna got all his attention. She was sure to be able to gain Minho's favor if she were to meet him. She constantly thought about what made her different from Yuna. There was no way Yuna could compare to her when it came to appearances. 

          The only difference between Yuna and Haemi were their fathers. Haemi grew up with a good for nothing father that spent his days gambling. He was so addicted to gambling that he almost sold off his own daughter to pay off his debts. He was lucky to have a smart daughter that knew how to find him more money every single time.

          No one knew what she did to make that money. Most just assumed that she was a nice and friendly girl that knew how to be filial to her parents. It was a mystery how their family was able to remain rich even though the father spent most of his time in the gisaeng district. (a place where slave/poor girls were bought in order to train them into courtesans that specialized in artistic entertainment for men of the upper class. Some were known to be prostitutes.)

          The gisaeng district was very closely related to the gambling houses and some of the shops had gambling rooms for noble men. It was easy for him to spend his days avoiding his wife and daughter. His wife only cared about bragging to her friends about being a sister-in-law to the Kim and Yoon Household. Whenever she mentioned his brothers, the noble ladies would feel jealous. It made him mad when his wife compared him with his brothers.

          He wasn’t happy living under his brother’s shadows. This caused him to spend even more time on gambling and enjoying himself. His brothers avoided him at all costs, because he would always find ways to make them cough up money. It wasn’t hard at all for him. All he had to do was manipulate the situation a certain way and he would always end up walking away with money.

          Haemi felt ashamed by her father and mother. She felt jealous of Yuna for being born into the world renowned General Junho’s Household, while she was born into a toxic family. If only she could take her spot. Haemi wanted the privileges that Yuna had. Yuna had the position to marry any man she wanted just because her father was such a powerful figure. Their family was so well off, she never had to worry about resources like she did.

          Haemi was stuck living in a run-down house regardless of their status. Her parents were living a fake life. They were great at deceiving others about their living situation. Most people thought that they were extremely wealthy, but they were the exact opposite. They owned a large amount of land and the exterior of the buildings looked extravagant. The problem was the interior.

          The walls had paint peeling off at every corner and there was a stench that remained stubbornly throughout the years. No matter how much they cleaned, the rooms remained smelly and dirty. The floorboards were so old and worn-out that each step was a liability. The furniture was not much different. There were tears and stains all over each fabric. It was a wonder how they could afford their hanbok when all of their surroundings were in horrible condition.

          Haemi was sick and tired of living in that run-down house. She didn’t deserve to live that sort of lifestyle. All she had to do was get Yuna on her good side. She hasn’t had the chance to meet her cousin yet. Hopefully, she can get something out of being close to her.