[Challenge #141: Quintessential.] Dae Jang-Geum. "Thoughts & Prayers."

[luminious]

Title: Thoughts & Prayers
Fandom: Dae Jang-Geum/Jewel in the Palace
Author: luminious
Rating: G
Word Count: 732
Characters/Pairings: Lee Yeon-Seng, Seo Jang-Geum, King Jungrong, Choi Seom-Geum, Yoon Young-Ro, Choi Geum-Young
Warnings: None outside of the implication of ritual sacrifice in part IV.
Summary:

The attendant and kitchen ladies who used to respectively work around and with her now sneer at and mock her, but Lady Lee pays them no mind, resuming her whispers of Jang-Geum’s name hundreds of times she’s never done for the ruler of her country, seeing her best friend in her dreams far more than seeing King Jungjong either indirectly or directly.

Jang-Geum, Lady Han, and Lady Jung have been damned; as the sole survivor of Lady Choi’s rampage, she will press her palms and knees together even if they bleed until her prayers finally cleanse them of the sins falsely administered to the first two, and the accelerated illness that hit her mentor.

Her injuries she will wear with pride, far more than the sparse hair ornaments and makeup within her chests and closets.

 

(Or, a look into one of the many moments said (and at a few points shown) that happened while Jang-Geum was on Jeju, aka that Yeon-Seng did daily prayers outside her neglected chambers not for the king to see her again but for Jang-Geum to return to the palace. Character and relationship study. For vocab_drabble Challenge #141: Quintessential.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Dae Jang-Geum/Jewel in the Palace, nor am I or will I ever profit from this work.

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( EVERY SUNRISE AND SUNSET YEON-SENG PRAYS OUTSIDE HER CHAMBERS—THERE HASN'T BEEN A SINGLE MORNING OR AFTERNOON SHE'S FORGOTTEN TO DO SO... )