The Pre-Test

"Ah, Lady Jang, I see you have arrived." A stern looking woman at the center of the room noted as Hye-won walked forward. The woman's eyes were cold and deliberate as she gave Hye-won the once-over. She gave a curt nod in greeting and looked back to the scroll in her hand.

Hye-won stood where she was, unsure of what she was supposed to do next. The girls in her immediate surroundings were all staring at her, whispering amongst themselves. Hye-won struggled to keep her head held high and appear aloof. She could not show weakness in front of these girls, all just looking for the first moment to strike. Vipers in the making.

Finally, the stern woman cleared her throat and looked back to Hye-won. She motioned for her to go to another side of the room. Yet more baby vipers were waiting for Hye-won as she made her way over. They all gave icy smiles and bowed their heads politely, but as soon as Hye-won passed by she could hear them turn to each other and whisper more.

Surely, Hye-won wasn't that late. How could all these girls already have so much to say to each other. Ah, but it isn't that they are friends. It is because they now had someone new to gossip about. Hye-won merely had to wait for the next candidate to show up before the other girls would turn to her for gossiping. And sure enough, as soon as the next candidate showed up, one of the other girls suddenly turned to Hye-won.

"There's Bang Shin-hye. Look at her dress. That is definitely the latest trend in the market. How nice it must be to be the daughter of the prominent Bang merchant family." A petite girl rambled off next to Hye-won, slightly leaning in towards her, prompting Hye-won to lean towards the girl. The girl had bright eyes and beautifully pink tinted lips, which curled in a smile. Her eyelashes batted along when she blinked, the black of her lashes contrasting against her pale skin.

When Hye-won didn't respond to the girl, she turned to look at Hye-won with a cocked eyebrow. She tilted her head to the side and smiled again.

"You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"

Hye-won gave a nervous little chuckle and smiled with a slight nod. The girl laughed quietly to herself for a few seconds, causing Hye-won to freeze up. Was she already becoming a lone wolf? To Hye-won's surprise, when the girl stopped laughing she gave a slight bow in greeting.

"I am Duk-bin, from the Choi family. I know you. You're Jang Hye-won, right?"

"Yes, I am Jang Hye-won," Hye-won replied nervously. She knew she should've paid more attention to the debriefing her uncle had given her of all the other noble families. At least she vaguely knew about the Choi family. They were a prominent family with years of history working for the Emperor. The Choi patriarch was one of Emperor's current ministers.

"Nice to meet you," Duk-bin bowed her head again. "I heard about what happened to your family; that's really unfortunate. It must be tough having to go through all of that."

Hye-won's mother's blurred face flashed through her mind.

"It was a bit tough, yeah." Hye-won's smile faltered for a second before she snapped herself out of it. She turned to look at Duk-bin. "But my uncle took me in and it has been nice and cozy living together with him and his family."

"Pardon my possible rudeness, but isn't your uncle's estate kind of small? I'd imagine an extra mouth to feed must be troublesome for them."

Hye-won stopped smiling and blinked a couple of times. She wondered if this girl thought before she spoke.

"Indeed, that was quite rude. It may have been a smaller estate than my original estate, but uncle has been very kind to me and treated me like his own. Even if he did not, it is not your place to know." Hye-won smiled at Duk-bin once more. "I advise that you, Lady Duk-bin, consider thinking about what you say before you speak from now on. We are in training to be a possible consort. You should watch your mouth."

Duk-bin stared at Hye-won with a quizzical look on her face.

"I apologize for my rude remark," Duk-bin said. After a pause, she continued, "You're not like the other girls here. You're not nauseatingly sweet and fake. I like you. Friends?" Duk-bin extended her petite hand out to Hye-won with a sly grin, surprising Hye-won. Cautiously, Hye-won accepted the girl's hand. Things seemed like they were about to get a little stressful.

Once all the candidates had gathered and been organized, the stern woman from before called for their attention. Hye-won took a quick glance around the room, analyzing the girls. She estimated about twenty of them were gathered. Many of the girls were from noble families or well-off merchants. She, of course, did not recognize any of them. Despite her rude personality, Duk-bin had proven useful in educating Hye-won on all of the other girls.

"My ladies, welcome to the Royal Palace of the Empire," the stern woman started. "I am Leading Palace Lady Kim. You are here today for a pre-test of sorts." The girls began to shift and murmur. They had not been told of any pre-test. "Since you are competing for the spot of the Princess Consort, we must first make sure your body is deemed worthy." A few girls gasped and others began to mutter under their breath.

"This is going to be great," Duk-bin chuckled, clearly enjoying the distress of the other candidates. "I'd love to see some of these girls get knocked off their high horses."

"Duk-bin, what did I say about thinking before you speak?" Hye-won teased. Duk-bin scoffed and rolled her eyes at Hye-won's jab.

"Yes, yes, Lady Virtue," Duk-bin teased back. Hye-won quite liked having a friend, even if she was rude.

"Now, I separated you into different groups so we can make this go as efficiently as possible," Lady Kim continued. Pointing at Hye-won's group, she motioned for them to come forward. "We will begin with this group."

Suddenly, Hye-won felt her nerves beginning to act up again. If she was eliminated in this very first round, she wondered what fate would befall her. Would she become a royal maid? A handmaid?

As the girls went one by one into a structure made of white screens, Hye-won debated with herself if she should try to sabotage herself or not.

"Lady Jang Hye-won," an attendant called out. Quickly being knocked out of her conflicting thoughts, Hye-won hesitatingly moved towards the white screens.

Inside the structure, there were three female attendants dressed in all white. Hye-won recognized the white hair ornaments they wore to be physician ornaments. Based off of the lack of ranking symbols, Hye-won guessed they must be assistants. Without even addressing Hye-won, they each approached her and began scrutinizing her appearance. Was this when Hye-won should sabotage herself? Should she make unsightly facial expressions?

Before she could even consider the option more, one of the physician assistants turned Hye-won around and began taking her body measurements.

"Lady Jang," one of them said, "we will need you to strip down to your undergarments."

Hye-won was flustered at the request. She knew that becoming a Princess Consort was somewhat a shallow task, but she didn't expect it to be as shallow as basing it off of her body measurements. Despite her inhibitions, Hye-won allowed the assistants to undo her outer dress. Soon, they began to examine her skin in addition to her hair. Finally, they had finished what they were doing and Hye-won was dressed again.

"How did it go," Duk-bin asked as Hye-won came back. Duk-bin had yet to go and Hye-won could tell she was unenthusiastic about the process.

"It was...uncomfortable. They made me strip down and scrutinized my skin, hair, and body. I did not like it one bit." Hye-won smoothed out her dress as if to wipe away her feelings of discomfort.

"The royal family is really big into appearances, that's for sure. I hear the criteria for this test is beauty, bloodline, and brains. Though, I doubt how much brains they're really looking for."

"Choi Duk-bin," an attendant called.

"Well, guess that means I have to face destiny now. I'll be back soon." Duk-bin gave Hye-won a light squeeze on the arm and made her way towards the white structure. For the first time since she had arrived, Hye-won was alone again. It didn't take long for a viper to make its way towards her.

"I see that the Choi family has poor taste, mingling with nobodies like you." A slender girl with wavy, black hair tied up in a bun with intricate ornaments appeared in front of Hye-won. Her dress was ornate with bright red fabric and gold embellishments. Behind her were two other girls dressed in equally ornate clothing.

"I'm sorry?" Hye-won responded, unsure of what to respond. She was taken aback by how rude these girls could be. Her uncle had told her how the Imperial Palace was filled with vipers, but she thought they would be vicious in secret, not as blatant as the girl before her.

The girl snickered and rolled her eyes at Hye-won.

"Do you even know who I am?" she asked. Before Hye-won could even venture a guess, the girl continued. "I'm the firstborn daughter of the Su family. Su Nam-jeong."

Hye-won nodded gently, trying to remember what her uncle and Duk-bin had told her about the Su family. From what she had been told, the Su family was another family similar to the Choi family, having served the royal family for many years. Her father was another one of the emperor's current ministers, and her older brother was a high-ranking officer in the army.

"It appears you recognize my name. Well, I happen to know you, as well. Jang Hye-won. I'm surprised you're even here. I thought your family had fallen into poverty." Nam-jeong smirked at her last remark and the girls behind her giggled. Hye-won could feel her temper rising and her hands balled into fists. She wanted nothing more than to sink her fist into the face of this viper. Before she could, though, Duk-bin returned.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the dunce from the Su family," Duk-bin remarked, earning a glare from Nam-jeong. "What, you couldn't stand the heat from other girls so you had to come pick on Hye-won?"

"Choi Duk-bin, you better watch what you say. Just because your father is a minister doesn't give you the right--"

"Yeah, and neither does it give you the right," Duk-bin interrupted. "Get out of here before I comment on your uppity pig nose." Duk-bin gasped in mock surprise. "Oops, I already did." Hye-won chuckled at Duk-bin's taunts, drawing the ire of Nam-jeong.

"Jang Hye-won, you think that's funny? You're nothing. A noble in name only. No imperial family member would want you." Nam-jeong snarked. Hye-won closed her eyes and took a deep breath to keep herself from smacking her.

"Su Nam-jeong, the Jang family has many prominent generals in its ancestry. Hye-won has every right to be here," Duk-bin retorted, surprising Hye-won. It wasn't often that others respected her family's past affluence. She was also tickled that she had yet to even say a word to Nam-jeong yet the girl was about ready to murder her socially.

Before the battle could continue, Lady Kim began to gather the girls together again.

"We will be announcing those that have passed and those that have not. For those that have not passed, you will be given the opportunity to serve as palace servants. I will now call the names of those that have passed to the next round."

Nam-jeong gave one last glare to Hye-won and Duk-bin before sauntering off with her entourage to await the results.

"Good riddance," Duk-bin made one last comment, dusting off her dress. Duk-bin turned to Hye-won suddenly. "You were right about that pre-test. I feel icky now. " She quietly groaned and Hye-won patted her back in encouragement. She wished they would just send her home, but she knew she was stuck here no matter what. She wasn't sure what would be better, becoming a servant or continuing on.

"Su Nam-jeong," Lady Kim called. Nam-jeong smiled proudly and straightened her posture. She smugly grinned at Duk-bin and Hye-won. Suddenly, Hye-won decided she didn't want to be a servant if it meant being under Nam-jeong.

"Choi Duk-bin." Duk-bin blinked a few times before sighing and walked away from Hye-won to the group of selected girls.

"Jang Hye-won."

Hye-won took a deep breath and held her head high as she walked towards the group of girls. Duk-bin had a smile on her face, while Nam-jeong rolled her eyes and looked away. As she passed Nam-jeong, Hye-won couldn't help but give her a triumphant smile. She felt as if she had somehow won the battle.