In the dead of night, as the stars twinkled and the night sky shone brightly, Chinua recalled the early days of her life. She couldn't recall when she'd been taught to hold a bow and a sword, while other princesses in the palace learned to wield paint and makeup brushes. She often envied the other princesses in the palace. Every time they passed her courtyard, she would rush to the door, watching them in their gorgeous, colorful dresses, with red-painted nails and porcelain-white skin.
When Chinua was seven years old, she met two princesses on the way to the back garden of the palace. She paused, watching the two princesses sitting in a small pavilion, writing poems. Curious what they were writing, she approached and asked. The two princesses stared at her strangely. With porcelain-white fingers and red fingernails, they covered their rosy lips and giggled.
Amid their laughter, Chinua knew they wouldn't speak to her. She quickly fled the back garden, heading straight for her courtyard.
(Memory)
Chinua hid under the quilt on the bed, ignoring the maid's persistent questions. "Go away! I hate each of you!" she shouted, her voice muffled.
A servant wheeled Batsaikhan into Chinua's bedroom, parking the wheelchair in front of her bed. "Everyone go out," Batsaikhan commanded softly. All the servants slowly backed away and closed the door. Batsaikhan reached for the blanket, but Chinua held onto it tightly, her knuckles white. He sighed. "Are you going to hide there forever?"
"I'm too ugly to face anyone!" Chinua replied, her voice trembling.
"Who said that?" Batsaikhan's voice was sharp, a hint of steel beneath his calm. "Tell me and I will behead that man in front of you."
Chinua sniffed, a fresh wave of tears stinging her eyes. "I saw two princesses in the back garden..."
"What did they say?" Batsaikhan pressed gently.
"They didn't say anything..." Chinua's voice cracked. "They laughed at me."
Batsaikhan offered a small, knowing smile. "That's all?"
In a fit of anger, Chinua quickly sat up on the bed and glared at Batsaikhan. "Do you think I'm weird too?" she demanded, her eyes blazing.
A quiet understanding settled on Batsaikhan's face. He smiled. "Chinua is neither beautiful nor gentle. She doesn't have the flawless skin and beautiful face that men desire." He reached out and took Chinua's hand, his grip firm and reassuring. "Because Chinua is the rarest beauty among all the women in Hmagol. In the future, no woman will compare to Chinua, and all men will kneel in fear when they hear her name."
Chinua frowned, pulling her hand away. "What's so rare about me if others fear me? I want people to praise me, but they laugh when they see me. I know why: my dark skin. My huge body structure. They laughed because of both." Tears welled in her eyes, slowly spilling down her cheeks. "I heard some maids say I'm too tall and too fat. I'm not as pretty as the other princesses. When I stand up, I look more like a man than a woman. If I were a commoner, no man would like me."
"Come and sit next to me," Batsaikhan urged.
Chinua slid off the bed and sat on the floor beside Batsaikhan, resting her head on his lap. "Do you think no man would like me?" she asked sadly.
Batsaikhan patted Chinua's head lightly. "In the future, thousands of men will love Chinua. If she orders them to fight, they will follow her and fight to their last breath. When you grow up and become wiser, you will find that the princess in beautiful clothes will never compare to the 'fat princess who looks like a man,' not the gentle woman men desire."
Chinua grabbed Batsaikhan's left leg and hugged him tightly. "I don't want those maids anymore; I want to be here alone."
"Mother won't allow it," Batsaikhan said, "because no one will take care of you."
"I don't want those pretty maids by my side," Chinua insisted.
"Alright," Batsaikhan conceded. "I heard the chief eunuch say that newcomers just arrived today. Since you don't want personal maids, go choose a few eunuchs." He looked down at her. "Let's go together."
Loud screams of pain from young men and teenagers echoed as Chinua and Batsaikhan arrived at the chief eunuch's room. Chinua saw castrated men lying on beds, white cloths stuffed in their mouths, blood soaking their short pants. Chinua could smell the fresh, rusted blood in the confined room, metallic and sharp.
Twenty boys and men stood before Chinua and Batsaikhan. The chief eunuch and the twenty men and boys knelt before them.
The chief eunuch greeted, "Crown Prince, if you wished to see me, you needed only send for me. Your Highness didn't have to come."
"Princess Chinua wanted to come here," Batsaikhan stated.
The chief eunuch gestured. "These are the twenty men still awaiting castration." He pointed to the left. "Those have already been castrated."
Batsaikhan looked at Chinua. "Choose as many as you want."
Chinua asked the first person standing in line, "Will you willingly pledge your life to me?"
The man hastily knelt, saying, "Your Highness, this subject is willing to pledge his humble life to protect Her Highness."
Chinua walked slowly down the line of men and boys, each giving her the same fervent answer. When she came to a teenage boy, she asked, "Will you willingly pledge your life to me?"
The teenager stared at Chinua, his gaze unwavering, and replied firmly, "I will not."
Chinua raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
The teenager shot back, "What good deeds have you done for me that would make me willingly give up my life for you?" He stared at Chinua coldly, but a eunuch swiftly hit him hard on the back of his knee, and he fell to his knees with a thud.
Chinua continued to stare at the defiant teenager for a moment before walking to the person beside him. The last boy in line seemed to be the youngest. Chinua asked, "How about you?"
The boy looked fearfully at Chinua, his voice small. "My father sold me here, and I don't want to stay."
Chinua looked at Batsaikhan. "I choose him," she said, pointing to the teenager. "From now on, your name is Khunbish." She then looked at the youngest boy. "And I choose him. From now on, your name is Khenbish." She walked over to Batsaikhan, leaned beside his left ear, whispered a few words, and then stood by him.
"From now on, you two are Princess Chinua's personal servants," Batsaikhan announced. "Take them to her court."
The chief eunuch's face tightened. "Crown Prince, what about castration?"
"In two days," Batsaikhan replied smoothly, "you will go to Princess Chinua's court, where the castration will be performed."
The chief eunuch bowed his head deeply. "This subject understands."
Inside Chinua's royal hall, only the two eunuchs selected by Batsaikhan remained. The two old eunuchs placed ten plates of food on the table, then backed away respectfully.
Chinua looked at Khunbish and Khenbish. "Come, sit at the table and eat with me," she invited.
Khunbish looked at Chinua strangely, hesitant. "We were told not to eat with our masters."
"I don't want servants," Chinua declared, her voice firm. "I want loyal friends who will never betray me. From now on, call me Chinua. I was never treated like a royal princess, so there's no need to formally address me as one."
"Why are you being so nice to us?" Khunbish ventured, his eyes wide.
Instead of answering Khunbish, Chinua stated, her gaze intense, "Khunbish and Khenbish, you are not allowed to be loyal to any woman except me."
(End Of Memory)
"Chinua... look up at the sky."
Chinua opened her eyes, looked up, and saw a meteor shower streaking across the sky. The dark night sky suddenly lit up with hundreds of shimmering lights, a breathtaking display.
Timicin exclaimed, a gasp of pure wonder escaping him. "Wow, so beautiful! I've never seen anything like it!" He looked at Chinua, his face glowing in the fleeting light. "Have you ever seen anything like this?"
"No..." Chinua breathed, equally mesmerized.
Timicin smiled, a playful glint in his eyes. "Doing a thousand good deeds together in a previous life created this opportunity for us to enjoy this beautiful sight tonight."
"I heard it differently," Chinua mused.
"How does that differ from my theory? Tell me," Timicin prodded, intrigued.
"I heard that the fallen stars were soldiers who died together," Chinua explained, her voice soft with ancient lore. "They became gods in the night sky, watching the innocent people they swore to protect. Once their time as gods came to an end, their spirits would fall back to Earth and be reborn together."
Timicin chuckled. "Your theory is more unreliable than mine."
Chinua scoffed, a smile playing on her lips, and looked at Timicin. After putting aside their differences, Chinua realized Timicin wasn't such a bad guy after all. She sighed, a different question forming. "Do you have a lover at home, or what's your ideal wife?"
Timicin looked at Chinua with a smirk on his face. "Definitely not someone like you." He sneered sarcastically. "Why? If I don't have a lover, do you want to be mine?"
"I'm just asking," Chinua said, undeterred. "If you do, I just want to know what she looks like. If you don't, maybe I can be your matchmaker with a princess."
Timicin scoffed. "The perfect wife in my mind has a thin waist, ample breasts, is shorter than me, and has skin as white and tender as tofu." He turned to Chinua, a challenging glint in his eye. "The exact opposite of you."
"Do most men like that kind of women?" Chinua asked, her question genuinely innocent.
Timicin was taken aback by her sincerity. "Yeah... now that you know, should you act more like one?" he teased.
"Paint my lips red and dress glamorously? No thanks." Chinua shook her head firmly. "I'm going to be who I am. I'm not going to pretend to be someone I'm not. I'm going to be true to myself."
"Being true to yourself won't get you any man," Timicin countered playfully.
"But it will bring me honor and glory," Chinua said, raising her black eyebrows at Timicin, a newfound confidence in her gaze.
Chinua and Timicin watched hundreds of stars streak past them. The two individuals, who were supposed to be punished to set an example for other recruits, found themselves enjoying their conversation under the night sky. They suddenly forgot why they were there in the first place, lost in the vastness of the cosmos and the unexpected comfort of shared company.