This Time, I Stood Up in the Selection Hall novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: The Third Selection
At the final royal bride selection the chief eunuch reads a letter branding her father a traitor; Soyul, who has lived this day before, stands up and proves the forger's hand in front of the court, and the guard captain who carried her papers asks how she knew his name.
The chief eunuch unrolled the letter that would kill Soyul's father, and she mouthed the first line before he read it.
"To the Commander of the Northern Garrison."
His thin voice carried to every corner of the Hall of Spring Light.
Soyul knelt on a silk cushion in her yellow jacket and crimson skirt, one of three girls left in the king's bride selection.
Behind the silk screen on the dais sat the Queen Dowager.
Along the walls stood the families, fathers in their official robes, mothers behind them.
Her father stood near the door with his chin up, broad and grey and smiling at her.
He didn't know yet.
"When the winter grain fails, march south," the eunuch read. "I will open the Gate of Rising Sun to you."
A sound went through the hall.
"Signed, Baek Sanghun, Minister of War."
Her father's smile stopped.
Soyul had heard this letter once before.
The first time, she had knelt right here and said nothing.
They struck her name from the rolls.
They took her father out through that door in chains, and he died of fever on the road to exile before the month was out.
A finalist can't marry anyone but the king.
So they made her the king's consort of the lowest rank.
They put her in the Moon Pavilion, a cold little pavilion at the back of the palace.
The king never came once.
Two years later, on the first snow, she drank a cup of plum tea and died on the pavilion steps.
The captain of the guard was holding her.
That was the last thing she saw.
Then she opened her eyes this morning in her own bed, twenty-two again, with the selection hanbok laid out on the chest.
A tall, gaunt man stepped out from the front row of officials.
Jo Myeonghak, the Chief State Councillor, the Queen Dowager's own brother, in his red robe with the white crane on the chest.
He tapped his black lacquer fan against his palm.
"Your Highness," he said softly. "A traitor's blood can't sit beside the king."
"I ask that the Baek girl's name be struck, and the Minister of War taken."
"Agreed," said the voice behind the screen.
Guards moved toward her father.
He didn't fight them.
He looked at Soyul.
She stood up.
Finalists don't stand in the Hall of Spring Light.
Finalists don't speak.
Her voice came out louder than she had ever heard it.
"Your Highness, I ask that the letter be laid beside the selection rolls."
The hall went silent.
Councillor Jo turned his head slowly.
"Sit down, girl."
"The rolls were copied this morning by the palace scribe," Soyul said. "I ask that Her Highness look at both."
Behind the screen, nothing moved.
A guard stood at the pillar on her right.
He was very tall and broad, in a dark blue military robe with a red sash.
His black hat had a red tassel.
There was a thin white scar through his left eyebrow.
Soyul's knees almost went.
She had watched that scar through the bars of a gate for two winters.
"Captain Kang," she whispered, before she could stop herself.
Then the Queen Dowager laughed, one short dry sound.
"Captain Kang," she said. "Fetch them both."
He stepped out from the pillar.
He walked to the scribe's low table, took the long selection rolls out of the scribe's hands, then took the letter from the chief eunuch.
The scribe was a thin man in his forties with ink on his cuffs.
His face had gone the color of rice paper.
Captain Kang carried both to the dais and knelt.
A court lady lifted the corner of the screen.
"What am I looking for, Lady Baek?" the Queen Dowager asked.
"The character for north, Your Highness."
Soyul didn't look at the scribe.
"In the letter, Northern Garrison. On my roll, the North Quarter, where my father's house stands."
This morning the scribe had held out her roll for her to check.
She had seen the little hook then.
In the Moon Pavilion she had read the forged letter a thousand times, from the copy they gave her to keep her quiet.
She knew every stroke of it better than her own face.
"The last stroke ends in a hook," she said. "Like a fish's tail."
"My father has never made that hook in his life. The scribe makes it every time."
The court lady held the two papers side by side.
The Queen Dowager leaned forward.
It was very quiet.
"The same," she said.
The scribe fell off his stool.
"I only copied it!" he cried. "Your Highness, I only copied what they gave me!"
Two guards had him by the arms before he got up.
The hall broke into noise.
Councillor Jo didn't move.
He tapped his fan once against his palm and smiled at Soyul.
"Release the Minister of War," the Queen Dowager said. "Hold the scribe. The Baek girl's name stays."
Her father put his hand over his eyes.
"One more thing, Your Highness," Soyul said.
Every head turned back to her.
"My name was written this morning by the same hand. I'd like to write it again in my own."
Somebody laughed in shock.
The Queen Dowager was silent a moment.
"Give her a brush," she said.
Captain Kang brought it to Soyul himself, with the roll.
She knelt and wrote Baek Soyul in her own hand, beside the scribe's.
Her fingers didn't shake until she had finished.
He took the roll back.
For a moment he stood over her, blocking the hall, and spoke so low only she could hear.
"Lady Baek."
"Captain."
"You said my name under your breath. Before Her Highness did."
Her heart hammered.
"We've never been introduced," he said.
Soyul looked up at him.
His dark eyes were steady, curious, alive.
The last time she had seen his face, she was dying in his arms.
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend