Ha Noon's
CHAPTER 2: Warm Memories
Mom Suri smiled gently at the little princess who had a new hobby was busy scraping the thin tip of the pencil on the clean white paper. His eyes sparkled when he saw the young man from a distance swinging his wooden sword. Mom Suri advanced her head slightly to peek at the clean paper that already contained the lines
abstract by the hand of the 5-year-old. “Is it the Crown Prince, MrPrincess?”
Ha Noon raised his head, his brown eyes glowing when met with the sunlight. Staring at Mom Suri while showing off her unfinished work, little Ha Noon smiled, “Very much like Big Brother, isn't it?”
Mom Suri nodded small, “Very similar, Mr. Princess.”
“Mom's Mom!” Mom Suri turned her head and found a young servant running a little towards her. The maid stopped nearby, and her lips drew closer to Mom Suri's earlobe. “Your Majesty the Queen calls.”
Mom Suri nodded in understanding, then lowered her body back to Ha Noon. “Mr Princess, I have to see Her Majesty Queen.”
Ha Noon nodded without turning his head, “Go.”
Mom Suri straightened her body and left followed by the young maid. Before becoming Ha Noon's personal servant, Mom Suri was the Queen's personal servant. He had already accompanied the Queen for over 10 years, and despite his age had already stepped on the head of 4, and even already had a son who was the same age as the Crown Prince, Mom Suri does not want to leave the palace and will continue to serve the Queen.
Mom Suri knew everything about the royal family, and had already gained complete trust over
whole performance. Increasing age does not eat up his skills in serving the royal family. As a senior, he was highly respected by other servants regardless that he was a butler. Because of this, all the servants called her ‘nyonya’ and only Mom Suri the servant got the call in the kingdom, even if she was not from a noble family.
Mom Suri sped up her pace as her steps drew closer to the Queen's room. The door opened, several servants serving the Queen stood with their heads bowed and faces full of worry around the bed covered with curtains. Mom Suri looked around before finally reaching the curtain and opening it, finding the Queen lying pale.
“Suri..” A heavy and hoarse voice came out from between the lips of the weakly lying woman. Mom Suri quickly reached out her hand and helped the Queen sit up and lean on the head of the bed. The Queen sighed weakly, “Give me medicine.”
“Good, Your Highness.”
Mom Suri immediately stepped up and opened the drawer in one of the small cabinets next to the bed. Take on
containers made of gold, and medicinal mortar made of ceramics. Mom Suri opened the lid of the golden container and there was a small collection of green balls inside. Mom Suri took the 2 small balls, then smashed them until they were very smooth. Mom Suri handed the medicine mortar to the Queen, and the Queen immediately sucked the fine grain, until she felt calm.
Mom Suri breathed a sigh of relief. For the past three years, the Queen's health has become increasingly alarming, and this fact is hidden from the outside world. Only the Starting King, the Crown Prince, the Queen's personal servant, the royal family's personal physician, and a few ministers were aware of this fact. Ha Noon only knew that his mother was sick, but he did not know that the pain was incurable. The illness suffered by the Queen is very difficult to cure, and even potentially to be incurable. Without the expected period of time, the Queen would experience asphyxiation and some strange delusions to the point of making her mind go awry. With
weak lungs, making himself weaker, even difficulty to walk alone.
The doctor still could not concoct a medicine that could cure the Queen. Therefore, he made a drug that can help launch breathing and calm the mind when the Queen's disease relapses. No one should know about this medicine other than the King, the Crown Prince, Mom Suri, and the doctor himself because the medicine came from an illegal plant. The kingdom forbids trading the plant because if consumed in excess, it will trigger damage to the mind. However, this plant is actually very useful for treating some types of diseases if used in the right dosage.
Of course, this fact is hidden so that the public does not use various alibis to consume these plants illegally. If an unexpected situation arises and they have no other choice but to use this plant as medicine, then the King will receive a request to consume the medicine under the supervision of a doctor.
This hidden fact led everyone to believe that the plant was illegal and the punishment would be meted out absolutely for anyone who consumed the plant. If the Queen is known to use this plant as a medicine, it will certainly cause inevitable conversion. Therefore, the presence of this drug must be hidden so that the tranquility of the kingdom is maintained.
Mom Suri, as the Queen's personal servant and highly trusted even by the King himself, became the only outsider who knew of this. As a king, he could not trust anything easily to anyone just because he had a blood relationship, especially if it was related to the safety of his family.
The queen heaved a sigh of relief after her mind regained its composure, and her lungs resumed pumping oxygen. Mom Suri immediately put the rest of the medicine into a bag and tied it tightly. With a check, Mom Suri cleaned the medicine mortar and put the medicine back in the drawer. Mom Suri then helped the Queen to lie down again.
“How is Ha Noon?”
“Mr Princess is fine, Your Majesty, she is discovering a new hobby.”
Queen smiles thin, “What kind of hobby?”
“Mr princess really likes to pay attention to His Highness the Crown Prince practicing the sword, and painting it in
paper.”
“What will he display his painting?”
“True, Your Highness.”
The queen laughed bitterly, then fell silent for a while. “Ha Noon growing well.”
“True, Your Highness.”
“Your Majesty the King, His Highness the Crown Prince, even you.” The Queen looked at Mom Suri, “The servants, you guys
everyone saw how good Ha Noon grew. What have I done these last three years?”
“No, Your Highness.”
“I also want to pay attention to His Highness the Crown Prince practicing the sword, and make a similar painting with Ha Noon.”
“You will definitely do it, Your Highness.”
Queen smiles steadfastly, “I always trust you, Suri.” The Queen's eyes were like a mirror looking at Mom Suri. The wrinkled face forced a smile on the tip of his lips. Her hand was raised weakly, her rough fingertips touching the surface of Mom Suri's skin. “Suri, never leave Ha Noon, no matter what.”
Mom Suri's eyelashes trembled, and the puddle of water almost covered her visibility. Shaking, his hands
raised to touch the back of the Queen's hand filled with fine lines, “I've already considered Ha Noon as my own daughter, Your Majesty. I will never leave his side.”
The Queen's smile widens, the sincerity and subtle feelings of a mother are drawn behind the fine lines
adorned smile. Slowly, her eyelashes dropped, and her eyelids closed her eyes completely. Mom Suri gently patted the back of the Queen's hand and placed it slowly on the soft mattress. Mom Suri bowed her body, paid her respects, and slowly retreated to close the bed curtain.
***
Ha Noon swung her legs while humming ria while waiting for Mom Suri to finish styling her hair. Feeling bored, this little princess moved her head following the song humming the tempo was getting faster. Mom Suri chuckled at the behavior of the princess in front of her, “Relax, Princess, you can ruin her makeup.”
“I'm bored, can't auntie tie her up as usual?”
“Can't, Princess must look beautiful tonight.”
“I've been very beautiful, of course I will be beautiful tonight.”
Mom Suri laughed amusedly, “True, the Princess is already very beautiful. But, does the Princess know who is prettier?”
Ha Noon raised his eyebrows, “Who?”
“Your Majesty the Queen.”
Ha Noon turned his head with a stiff face, “Mother?”
Mom Suri nodded seductively, “Isn't this party for the Princess? The princess should look more beautiful
than Her Majesty The Queen.”
Ha Noon turned back to the mirror, his eyes round until his brown pupils almost popped out of place. “Alright, I have to look beautiful. You can't look prettier than me.” Ha Noon fixed his body position, his legs hanging parallel calmly, his chest firm and his waist straight. Mom Suri could not help but laugh her gel at Ha Noon's behavior, her hands gently braiding Ha Noon's hair again.
Mom Suri picked up a box in the drawer and took some accessories in it. Silver accessories in the form of pigeon feathers tucked in some between the braids of his hair. “Come.” Ha Noon brought her body to Mom Suri, and Mom Suri gently tidied the bangs beside her. Her braids were carried forward, showing pigeon fur accessories that adorned her hair.
“Am I beautiful?”
“Very beautiful,” Mom Suri said while hitting the tip of Ha Noon's nose with her index finger tip. “Alright,
everyone is waiting, come on.”
Ha Noon nodded enthusiastically and cheerfully stepped towards the main palace. The nobles look dazzling tonight enjoying fresh wine and sweet little snacks. Delicious dishes neatly arranged to enliven the atmosphere of the ballroom. Ha Noon peeked at the majestic and luxurious atmosphere of the ballroom from the sidelines of the large open door.
“Your Highness the First Princess enters the room!”
The entire nobleman became calm, the big door opened and the majestic light of the ballroom hit Ha Noon's face. Ha Noon would almost smile widely seeing all the attention was on him.
“Mr Princess.”
Hearing Mom Suri's calm voice, Ha Noon immediately held back a smile to taste. She straightened her body, her hands gently intertwined with each other in front of her stomach. With the glass shoes on her feet, Ha Noon entered the ballroom with a calm step sound. Her transparent white skirt lace swept the slippery floor, the blue flickering that adorned her chest shining, the silver ribbon that adorned both of her wrists also dancing.
that Ha Noon is a very beautiful princess, but no one believes that she is still 7 years old even if they know the facts about this event. The princess really grew up well, she knew how to be dominant in the presence of all the nobles even when she was 7 years old. His expression was the perfect image for prestige and pride, making the adult noble not dare to touch him even though he was still 7 years old.
Ha Noon's brown eyes stared proudly at the old man and his older brother who were waiting for him on the throne. The King smiled proudly at his youngest daughter who controlled the entire ballroom just by walking. Ha Noon's pupils shifted to a young man sitting right next to the King. The young man looked at him with
proud, and Ha Noon slightly widened his smile revealing high pride.
His Highness the Crown Prince went down the steps and extended his hand gently to Ha Noon. Ha Noon received it with great dignity and slowly climbed the steps one by one until he stopped before His Majesty the King. Ha Noon looked at his mother who was smiling warmly at him, she bowed as a sign of respect, then knelt before the King. The king stood up from his throne, and someone carried a crown covered with soft cotton.
The crown has a simple shape. With silver, the crown is shaped like a curved rice on the right, and shaped like an chest of leaves on the left. Calmly, the King took the crown, and the kneeling Ha Noon lowered his head. The king lifted the crown with both hands and began to speak in a domineering voice and tone, “Your Highness First Princess, Ha Noon, has already turned 7 years old this evening. With this crown, she took on her duties as princess of the kingdom of Anthropon, built the kingdom of Anthropon, had the right to speak in connection with the operations of the kingdom of Anthropon, grew up as a revered, loving, loving princess, and protect the people. Her Highness First Princess Ha Noon, I hope this crown keeps you aware, who you are in this kingdom, keeping your honor as a princess, as well as what obligations you have for the sake of the people.” Slowly, the King landed the crown on Ha Noon's head.
The entire clap of nobles filled the ballroom. Ha Noon stood up slowly, turning around to stare at the entire noble who was staring at him. Ha Noon took a breath, and began to speak out loudly, “Ha Noon, First Princess of Anthropon Kingdom, swore to grow up to be a princess who respected, loved, and cherished the people, guarding my honor as a princess, she said, as well as serving my duty as a princess for the sake of the people!” Back, an ovation full of respect was fixed on Ha Noon, his entire pride dominating the ballroom.
***
After exchanging words with almost all of the invited guests, Ha Noon felt like he would faint with all the energy he spent. His feet could barely lift to climb the stairs. However, he clearly refused to show his weakness in front of the invited guests. Ha Noon forced his legs to support his body up the stairs. His eyes glanced at the Queen who remained seated on his throne. Due to his weak body, the nobles understood that he could not move much to chat. The King took his place to talk with the nobles, and the crown prince who would take the throne of the king had to make strong relations with the nobles.
Ha Noon's butt landed on his throne, he heaved a sigh of relief. The Queen glanced at her daughter and smiled, “Noon,”
Ha Noon looked over.
“You are very beautiful today.”
Ha Noon smile, “Sure, prettier than mom.”
The Queen laughed amusedly, her head moving straight back to the nobles, her eyes landing on the Crown Prince who was conversing with a middle-aged man. “You said hello to your uncle?”
Ha Noon followed the view of the queen and found her uncle there, “Already.”
“How about Jungi and Yan?”
“Just say hello for a minute.”
“Talk more often with them.”
“Ha Jungi just wants to talk to sister, and I don't want to play with little boy younger than me.”
The Queen looked at her daughter with raised eyebrows, “Yan is only two years younger than you.”
“Tetap it doesn't feel good. They'll only whine if I don't give them what they want.”
“Isn't that what you're supposed to do because you're older? You must love your brothers. Your brother always relented to you.”
“I still don't like it, want Ha Yan or Ha Lii, I don't like them.”
“Noon...” The queen suppressed her voice and glanced at a woman who sat on the throne one step lower than them. She is the King's concubine, Ruyong Niyi, who now takes the name of the royal family. Due to a political debate in the past, the King was forced to remarry and make Ruyong Niyi his concubine.
Ruyong was a noble family that had authority in the royal legislature. The king holds three powers at once, executive, legislative, and judicial. However, in undergoing royal operations, the King needs several cabinets to regulate the running of legislative functions consisting of several families
patricians. In this case, the Ruyong family became the highest-ranking family in legislative functions. Therefore, the Ruyong family thought that they had great power in binding the royal family. Although it seemed that they did not think too much about the throne of the King, but it was very clear that they wanted to make the King into their toy.
With that arrogance, they urged the King to marry one of the daughters of their family and make her a concubine. The king knew that they only wanted to slip spies into the royal family so that they could bind the royal family. However, the King still responded with the determination of not allowing his children to become the toys of these arrogant noble families.
From the marriage of King and Ruyong Niyi, was born a daughter named Ha Lii. Although the Queen felt a little objection to the King and Ruyong Niyi's marriage, the Queen had a gentle heart. She knows how to risk her life to bear a child, and how much a mother loves her child.
Hearing Ha Noon greatly underestimated Ha Lii, the Queen was afraid that it would offend the concubine.
The Queen moved closer to Ha Noon, and spoke in a suppressed voice, “Don't talk like that, she's your sister.”
Ha Noon frowned holding back his annoyance, “I understand.”
“You will replace your father soon. Don't think I'll loosen up your training just because you'll be busy politicking.” Ha Gungi patted Ha Gilyu's shoulder like a military general.
Ha Gilyu laughed, “I understand uncle, uncle don't need to worry about that.”
Ha Jungi's eyes sparkled at Ha Gilyu, his hands tightly squeezing his father's clothes. “Wah, Sister is very cool.”
Ha Gingu looked down upon hearing this, he patted his son's head, “Hei, call him His Highness the Crown Prince, he is not your brother.”
Ha Jungi pursed her lips hearing this.
Ha Gilyu laughed amusedly, she bent her body and rubbed Ha Jungi's hair. “You're big, Jungi. You're the same age as Noon this year, ‘kan?”
Ha Jungi nodded enthusiastically.
“You are growing very fast. In a moment, you will be in the palace and replace your father with a sword. Isn't that cool?”
Ha Jungi innocently shook her head, “No. I don't want to be like Dad. I want to be like a mother and work in the fields, be a farmer.”
Ha Gilyu raised her eyebrows, gasping with this plain boy's reply. Usually, a role model of a boy is his father, and they will imagine the future just by looking at their father. Especially, if their father was a military force that raised a sword. However, this boy instead wanted to follow in his mother's footsteps as a farmer.
Ha Gilyu looked up and saw Ha Gungi whose face became darker. His eyes showed sadness, but he tried to close the puddle of salt water in his eyes by blinking his eyes a few times. Ha Gilyu withdrew her slight smile and patted Ha Jungi's shoulder slowly. “Not bad also being a farmer. Farmer
even more powerful than the military army, right?”
“True!” Ha Jungi raised her voice due to the enthusiasm from Ha Gilyu's reply. “They can make delicious food. Everyone would be happy if they had food.”
Ha Gilyu felt overwhelmed by the innocent thoughts of this boy. “You will be a great farmer.”
Ha Jungi nodded happily. Ha Gilyu back up straight, “Where is Ha Yan?”
“She is enjoying some pudding there.” Ha Gungi called his daughter who was calmly sitting on a chair in the corner of the room next to a table filled with desserts. Some adult nobles tried to get her to talk, but she just said that she wanted to eat pudding. The little boy ran with his little feet through the sidelines of the crowd when he heard his father's call. “Come greet His Highness PrinceCrown.”
Ha Yan bowed respectfully, “Your Highness the Crown Prince."
“Ah, Uncle.. Let them call me brother only, they are all my sister.” he said as he gently rubbed Ha Yan's head.
“Your Majesty, you know we are no longer part of the royal family.”
“Despite that, uncle is still my uncle, we are still family.”
Ha Gungi smiled steadfastly, “I just want them to learn respect for the royal family.”
“They will learn when they are big. Right, ‘kan?”
Ha Yan simply nodded innocently expressionlessly staring at Ha Gilyu.
Ha Gilyu smiled amusedly, her hand came down to gently pinch the white cheek of the girl, “She is very pretty. Go play with Ha Noon, she is always in the palace and has never played with a girl her age before.”
Ha Yan turned his head and found Ha Noon sitting on his throne.
“Isn't Her Highness Princess Ha Noon older than Yan?”
“Just two years different, not much difference, they will make good friends in the future.”
“Yan did not grow up in the palace, he will not understand the rules of nobility.”
“Why think about that? Yan is Noon's sister. No need to think about the rules of nobility.”
Beside Ha Gilyu and Ha Gungi's talk, Ha Yan did not turn his attention away from Ha Noon who was having a warm conversation with his mother. Her mother looked very beautiful and gentle, making her vaguely recall the warm face of her mother who sang a sleeping song for her. At this point, he could only remember it, he could no longer sense it. An empty gaze that hid a feeling, could not be separated from Ha Noon
