In a small courtyard, a woman probably in her late 60's hummed a lovely tune as she tended happily to her garden of herbs and flowers.
Lee Yeon hee as they call her has a specialty in making spices for food flavoring. As she stood up to stretch her weary waist, the crudely made brown farm dress stretched fully to reveal her physiques and natural attributes.
During her time, she was an unparalleled beauty who turned down prince and kings. As a very young girl, she had only one ambition and that is to make the best food people would never forget in a hurry. She succeeded which made her settle for retirement.
Her movement stopped as felt a presence not belonging to the only personal assistant she lives with. She wondered who it could be as her sole compound is located far from the rest of the world. Occasionally, bandits do drop by but leaves eventually as she had no worldly possession albeit the spices she makes.
The inner wooden gate separating her present location from the main courtyard was widely opened, she snuck behind it with a long stick in her cursing silently under her breath. Whoever it is would regret coming there.
Her eyes was leveled to the point of an adult height when she felt something short pass through the gate, her quick reflex made her respond only to find a kid staring at her with the same expression she had. Shock.
Luckily, the child has a quick reflex too.
Bang! . The letter she had received earlier on came to mind.
The beautiful sculptured human curtsied. The shock of discovering such a creature left her speechless.
Almond shaped eyes peered at her deeply. little nose, lips as red as cherry or rather a lip so red it can shame the rose spoke words her daze was unable to fathom, and her smile... oh wait! how can dimples be this beautiful? .
Lady Lee was almost lost in euphoria when the angelic voice of the little girl brought her back to earth.
"Greetings my lady, Kim Yoona at Your service"
Wait a minute... is that the voice of an angel or human?. Lady bashed herself for her momentarily lost of speech as she finally acknowledged her greetings.
She scrutinized her one more time with a tacit evaluation and assessment. The little one's had a passable amount of physical strength with a proper conditioned body essential for labour.
She beckoned on her personal assistant to take her to her new place as she sent her maidservant back home. Yoona was made to understand the need of her maidservant wasn't needed as she would have to rely on herself from then henceforth.
Yoona whispered on seeing the wretched condition of the place acclaimed to be her new home.
The personal assistant saw her dissatisfied expression and smiled good-naturedly.
"Lady Lee said your training begins from now", she explained softly. "To become a cook, you have to learn how to keep your surroundings clean". She patted her back in encouragement, then left quietly.
She got pumped with adrenaline as she earnestly began the sanitation with the sole aim of satisfying her mistress and drilling herself properly.
The compound was properly weeded, debris and dead woods cleared, cobwebs removed totally, the utensils washed, the little room cleaned and her bed made.
The room's interior was changed from a dirty shack to a princess room befitting someone like her.
Dusk met the completion of her task as she was invited to dine with lady Lee at her open pavilion.
An animal is first fattened before being slaughtered. Seeing a table full of varieties of cuisines, Yoona felt nothing could go wrong not knowing that would be the last lavish meal she would ever get.
"This is a welcoming party", lady Lee told herself as she placed a large chunk of meat on her plate. "Tomorrow onwards, you will begin the real training".
The taste of the meat with the aroma of the soup prevented Yoona from catching the underlying meaning.
"I will do my best, my lady!", she promised with a mouth full of meat.
Dinner over, Yoona took over to the washing of plates as a deed of gratitude and obligation. Lady Lee watched her enthusiasm from the shadows while hoping she never loses it until the completion of her education.
Satisfied with her, she left for her room as she recorded everything that took place that day, especially those involving her little student in her personal diary.
"She is good girl", she mused . Stuffing the diary into it's hiding place, she succumbed to the slumber of the night.