The night of her twenty birthday, Hyeon is sitting on the stairs of the orphanage, a stick on her hand, as she draws a butterfly on the dark sands of the garden. The wind brings melancholy to her, as the distant notes of the music box her dad played for her seem to come with the petals, playing softly in her head. She misses her home, but she doesn't remember even half of it. It's kinda curious. Hyeon can't remember nothing more than the smell of her mom's jeongbol and the sound of her dad's music.
The succession war brought death and sadness, specially to her family, as she's the last one of it. She was nearly three when she entered the orphanage and, since then, she has been learning the art of the plants and the flowers, hoping she'll get to work for the emperor. Just a way to get closer to him, to be able to manipulate his tea, to be able to poison him. Make him suffer the consequences of what he did to her family.
She knows it's difficult for a girl to get a job on the palace, and she knows it's difficult to poison the emperor. And she also knows that the price after doing it it's sa: her death.
So, she was really surprised, and terrified at the same time, when Nari searched her that same morning, with a royal letter on her hands, calling all the orphans above eighteen. Between her friend's hands, there was the key to vengeance, if she was admitted to work.
She was hoping to get the apothecary job, the one she's so ready for, but her name was listed under the Prince's auxiliary staff list. She've heard the stories of the older woman that live on the orphanage, the ones that used to work in that same job, about how the Emperor used to call them whenever he wanted to his room, how the prettier ones suffered the most. She prays silently for the Prince to be interested in other things better than seduce service girls. For what the older kisaengs spoke during the long nights, the prince was rarely assisted by women at night. That made Hyeon's heart a little lighter, but, still now, sitting on the orphanage stairs, she feels sad. She doesn't even notice Nari, when she sits by her side, hitting their shoulders together in a friendly way of reminding her she's there for Hyeon. Nari looks at the butterfly on the floor, eyes fixed on the strokes of her friend.
"We're leaving tomorrow early, you should get some sleep." Nari whispers, the sound of the stick cutting the silence when she shuts. Hyeon keeps her eyes locked on the butterfly, leaving the stick near it. "And, Hyeon. You'll do an amazing job." Nari shows her a soft smile. Hyeon can't complain about her job, since Nari got selected as one of the kisaengs. Her beautiful face and her body, added to the fact that she's the older between the orphans, were the decisive reasons for her selection. Even when Nari's talent resides in stitching wounds and treating muscles. Still, Hyeon hugs her friend. "Be careful there, Nari." she asks. She feels her eyes teary, as her friend cries on Hyeon's shoulder. Nari can't protect Hyeon inside the palace, as Hyeon can't save her only true friend, the closest thing to a sister she ever had, from her destiny.
They stay silent, hugged to the other, while the wind hides Hyeon's butterfly under the sand. Tomorrow, she won't be here, playing with the kids and drawing on the sand. She'll be kilometers away from the place she considers home, serving the Imperial Prince, and trying to weave the perfect revenge for the man sitting on the throne.