Chapter 73 - Chance Meeting

Jeely looked at me with eyes so wide that for a second she lost her composure. I didn’t expect that my question would come across as this shocking to her.

“Of course not. I may come from a small town, but I am still the princess of that small town. It is my responsibility to represent my town and my people. If I leave, then the relationship between our cities would fall to ruin. I would never leave this place…” Jeely said with determination.

“I see…” I whispered.

“What about you? Do you want to go home?” Jeely asked.

“I…I guess I do…” I replied hesitantly; however, I wanted to be honest to my new friend.

Jeely seemed to consider my honest response for a while before smiling brightly at me.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. Let’s just both do our best for now…” Jeely said as we smiled at each other.

We spent some time learning more about each other. I told Jeely about my hometown and how I ended up at the palace. I left out the part about how I first met Ren when he was disguised as a trader, though. For some reason, I felt like Ren wouldn’t want anyone to know about that. I felt closer to Jeely now that we shared some parts of our private life with each other.

It was towards the end of our lesson that a maid came to deliver another large wooden box to me. Again? I stared at the box that was obviously a gift from Prince Kin. I had sent him a letter earlier today through a maid, but I hadn’t expected for him to reply, let alone send another gift.

I quickly thanked the maid and sent her back to Prince Kin’s palace. Jeely and I looked at each other before looking at the box. I think I could tell why Jeely was worried.

“Two gifts, two days in a row…” Jeely muttered.

“Yea…” I said with a sigh.

It was later that night when I was alone that I opened the wooden box from Prince Kin. The content inside was different from last time. There was a water painting scroll inside depicting a scene of water birds in a pond of lotuses. I pushed the painting aside and turned my attention to the small envelop that undoubtedly contained a letter.

The contents of the letter were exactly the same as before but with more emphasis on wanting to enjoy a dinner with me at his palace. Sighing softly to myself, I refolded the letter and placed it back inside the wooden box. I had no intentions of meeting with Prince Kin, and it wasn’t like I had permission to leave the inner court either.

…

Morning came and it was the start of another day once more. One more day had passed, and I have not heard a word from Ren or anything about his whereabouts. I didn’t know for sure, but I was starting to get the feeling that he was no longer in the palace…

“Ready for your first assignment?” Jeely asked excitedly.

Another day of water painting it is. I must say that I have made some progress and have started to find the lessons interesting. However, I was not in love or as passionate about water painting as medical training. It was a good way to kill time though.

So far, I was skilled enough to paint basic brush strokes and repeated patterns. Nothing very advanced, of course. I knew I still had a long way to go but I was personally quite pleased with the progress that I have made.

“Ok…what are we doing today?” I asked.

“Since you’ve learnt some of the basic strokes, I was thinking of giving you your first painting assignment. What about finding a flower you like in the garden? You can paint it…perhaps a lotus in the pond in the garden would do…” Jeely said.

“Isn’t that too difficult?” I asked, not feeling too sure about myself.

“No one gets it right and perfect the first time anyways. It’s just for practice so don’t stress out about it,” Jeely said encouragingly.

“Ok…I’ll do that then,” I agreed.

“Great. I’ll meet you back here when you’re done?” Jeely said with a smile.

“Sure,” I said with a nod.

“Let me help you pack up the painting equipment that you’ll need…” Jeely said as she turned to collect the equipment together.

“Thank you very much, Jeely,” I thanked her with relief. She’s such a big help.

“No worries,” Jeely said with a warm smile.

With my painting tools in my arms, I started heading out to the garden of the White Lotus palace to find the perfect lotus to paint. The weather was perfect for spending some time outside in the sun. It was a good change of pace since I haven’t spent time outside for many days now because all the lessons were held indoors.

There was an area of shade next to the pond and I chose that place to look out for the perfect lotus to paint. I laughed a little to myself at the thought of finding the perfect lotus. My painting skills wouldn’t produce a perfect painting even if it was based on a perfect lotus, but I guess it’s the effort that counts for now.

I crouched down to take a closer look at the lotuses floating in the pond as I tried to picture the painting in my mind. Creativity clearly wasn’t my fort, so this painting is going to take a while. I was so focused on the task at hand that I did not hear footsteps approaching me.

“Fancy meeting you here, Lady White Lotus,”

I whipped my head around at the unfamiliar voice behind me.

“Prince Kin?” I said in surprise.

Why is Prince Kin here?

I turned around to see a smiling Prince Kin standing behind me, dressed in his golden royal robe.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady White Lotus,” Prince Kin greeted me with a smile.

I suddenly felt like something was off. Was it usual for Prince Kin to be in Ren’s inner court? I wasn’t used to palace customs, but I presumed that that was not the case which begs the question of why was he here?

--To be continued…