Areum sat in a daze inside the beautiful but strange wooden room.
Young handmaidens bustled around, dressing her in heavy, layered hanboks.
"Aigoo... I just want to wear a hoodie... hoodiiiieee..." Areum whimpered softly, her voice blurred with confusion.
"My lady, is a 'hoodie' a kind of sacred robe?" one handmaiden asked, confused but full of respect.
Areum could only nod vaguely, screaming internally.
> "Yes, yes... it's my holy outfit."
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the palace, Prince Wang Joon lazily reclined at the garden pavilion.
His eyes were fixed on Areum struggling to walk in the thick hanbok — looking like a lost penguin.
He chuckled softly without realizing it.
"Strange. But... why do I feel calm watching her?" Wang Joon whispered to himself.
The chief handmaiden beside him whispered, "Your Highness... that girl seems... special."
Wang Joon nodded, his gaze unwavering.
"Special? She's more than special. She's like some weird creature... but she makes me want to smile."
Areum's Mission: Return to the Modern Era Begins!
That night, Areum sat munching on some dry Goryeo-era bread.
> "Think, Areum, think. In time travel dramas, they always get back through... river water, lightning, or magic mirrors!"
She immediately got up and ran out of the palace.
With a face full of determined confusion, she:
Jumped into the palace pond — thinking it was a time portal.
Climbed the tallest tree in the garden — hoping to get struck by lightning.
Stared into a large bronze mirror in the hall — chanting: "Portal, portal, open the way to Seoul!"
The handmaidens and palace guards could only stand frozen, watching Areum's bizarre antics.
"Has she... been possessed by a holy spirit?" they whispered among themselves.
One night, Wang Joon happened to see Areum standing atop a large ceremonial table, arms raised to the sky shouting:
"I want to go home! My Netflix series isn't finished yet!"
Wang Joon nearly choked on his tea.
He quickly composed himself and walked seriously toward Areum.
"What are you doing on the royal ceremonial table, strange girl?"
Areum, panicking and still dazed, could only bow and say:
"Testing... the stability... of the nation's table!"
All the palace guards looked bewildered.
Wang Joon fought hard not to laugh.
He nodded slowly and pretended to be serious.
"Very well. Continue. The nation needs... sturdy tables."
Areum: "Huh?"
Prince Wang Joon's Heart Quietly Opens
Despite her strangeness, Wang Joon increasingly felt his heart flutter whenever he saw Areum.
He loved watching the cute little girl smiling to herself, doing silly but sincere things.
He began to tell himself:
> "Maybe... this girl was sent by the heavens to make me happy..."
And Areum?
She was still cluelessly trying hard to find a way back — completely unaware that a prince was slowly falling for her sacred foolishness.
To be Continued...