Author's Note: I wrote this a while ago and decided to finally post it. It's (very) loosely based on Akatsuki No Yona. The plot is mine, but you'll recognize the characters of Soo-Won, Lily, and Hak, along with a few other minor characters. Like the summary says, the pairing is Soo-Won and Lily. (I think they're cute together, but there's like no canon content for them, so I decided to make this for fun.) Please review and let me know what you think!
Where I grew up everyone knew what was expected of them from a young age. Boys would follow in the footsteps of their fathers. If they were the son of a shoemaker, they too learned the art at a young age. If their father worked as a government official, that's what they trained for as well. Girls were taught the arts of housewifery, such as cooking, cleaning, and sewing, and would grow up to marry a man of their same social class. I, too, intended to follow this pattern, but the winds of fate had other plans. Although born into the middle class, a series of remarkable events resulted in me being lowered into the menial position of a household servant, then eventually rising to become the most powerful woman in the country: the emperor's wife. I'm Lily Aisawa, and this is my story.
I remember my childhood with fondness. My family wasn't wealthy, but we were never in want either. My father was a bookkeeper and scholar, and together with my mother we lived a simple yet happy life. My father strongly believed in the importance of knowledge, and since I was an only child, I was taught to read and write so I could help him with his work. This was highly unusual, but for my part, I loved it. My father said that I took to learning like a duck to water, and often remarked that it was a shame that bookkeeping could never become my profession. Meanwhile, my mother taught me all of the basic household duties that I would need to be a good wife. Unfortunately, these didn't come quite as naturally. I still remember how patient my mother was even after I nearly burned the house down cooking dinner one night. The three of us lived together in a cozy home in a small town on the outskirts of the city of Kuuto. I lived in this carefree manner until an unforeseen disaster shattered my perfect little world and changed my life forever.
The autumn I was eleven, a mysterious plague attacked our village and the surrounding regions. There was no known cure, and it was almost always fatal. I can still see the countless lifeless bodies that piled up on the edges of the street. So many people were affected that there were simply not enough healthy left to bury the dead. My parents tried to help, taking in many of our ill neighbors for medical care, but they too became sick and passed away. I still don't know how I survived, but I did, and just like that I became an orphan. However, that dark night I lost much more than my parents. I had experienced death and suffering firsthand, and would never again be the innocent, rosy-eyed girl that I once was.
Once the plague finished its ravaging and the dust had settled, my parent's will was found. They had wanted me to live with my maternal grandmother if anything happened to them, but word came that she too had succumbed to the plague. Even though I had only met her once when I was very young, she had been my last living relative and my last hope. I was now completely alone.
To make matters worse, the leaders of the town ruled that since I was still only a child, I had no claim to the house or any of our belongings. All of my father's treasured books, my mother's antique dishes, even the home I had lived in since I was born were to be taken away from me and sold. These were without a doubt some of the darkest days of my life. There were times when I desperately wanted to die, but I knew that my parents would have wanted me to keep living. Dying somehow seemed like a betrayal of their final wish. So I resolutely picked myself up and began to think seriously about where I would go and what I would do from here.
I was determined to stay off the streets, which meant that I would have to find work. Not an easy task for an inexperienced eleven year old girl. Immediately, I thought of the Kawashima Estate, the residence of the wealthiest family in the area. Surely such a huge house could always use another cook or maid, I reasoned. Decision made, I set out with only the clothes on my back and one of mother's necklaces that I had managed to hide in a secret pocket on the inside of my robe.
I arrived late that afternoon and entered timidly through the servant's door at the back. I had never seen such a massive house before, and couldn't help feeling a bit awe-struck. I explained my situation to a matronly looking woman who, after a bit of convincing, hired me as a stable hand; the lowest ranked position in the entire manor. I was forced to exchange the silk kimono my mother had lovingly made me with a plain brown dress that looked like it was made out of animal feed bags. The work was back-breaking and I was given no compensation. The meager lodging and food I received was expected to be payment enough. Because of this system, I could never save up money to leave the estate. The situation was miserable, but instead of falling into despair I threw myself into my work. Father had always told me that we ought to do our best at whatever job we are given, and I took those words to heart. Eventually, my efforts were noticed, and after several promotions and five long years of service I became the personal maid of the young lady of the house, Ayami Kawashima.
This was thought to be the one of the best positions in the house, but it had its difficulties as well. Ayami was my age, and her parent's little darling. This fact combined with her noble lineage and wealth made her more than a little spoiled. She was also a very exacting master, and seemed to have a special dislike for me, although I never understood why. But I could put up with her whining and pettishness. I could even handle her excessive need for more costly robes and jewels, when all I had was a simple cloth one and no ornamentation. What really irked me was her disregard for learning.
Every day a private tutor came to her suite to teach her, as I looked hungrily on, wishing more than anything to be in her place. Yet she despised these lessons and never ceased complaining about them. Sometimes it took all of my control not to slap her. Of course, as I was only a servant, I wasn't even allowed to open the books that I so adored, but it still didn't keep me from dreaming about them. Late at night, I would often sit by the single window in my small attic room, clutching my mother's necklace to my heart and reminiscing about my parents and all of the books we used to read.
My life continued in this mundane manner until one day when the wheels of fate were again set in motion. Little did I know that my world was about to be turned upside down once again.