(In Ancient China)

Standing at the coast, Leeteuk looked over the sea. "My majesty, the Koreans' treaty?" Sungmin, his adviser asked as he bowed respectfully to him. Leeteuk didn't say anything. He took a deep breath of the salty air. "I can't agree to it." he told Sungmin seriously. Sungmin shifted his feet nervously and then bowed to him again. He spoke, "But, My Majesty, the Koreans said that they'll declare war, if we don't abide by their terms. Please reconsider, My Majesty."

Leeteuk shifted his robes and sighed. "We really cannot agree to that treaty." he said firmly as he walked down the beach. Sungmin quickly followed behind him. The emperor's servants also followed. "May I ask why? Your majesty." Sungmin asked. Leeteuk turned around and saw the entourage behind him. He waved his hands and they bowed and retreated. Then he turned to Sungmin and said, "Think of it, my dear Sungmin. The Korean emperor said in the peace treaty, that they could trade with us, and with that we must open up our sea routes to them. I don't think that is a good idea."

Sungmin nodded his head and didn't say anything. He knew better than to question the Emperor further. Leeteuk turned towards the sea again. Just then, a boy with a sword dangling at his side came dashing towards him. He got down on one knee on the sandy beach in front of Leeteuk and he said, "Your highness, I have returned." Leeteuk smiled as he said, "At ease."

The boy got up uncomfortably and then bowed to him. Leeteuk then asked, "Jonghyun, What did Emperor Jinki say?" "I did not meet the Emperor, your majesty." Jonghyun replied. Leeteuk then asked, a little angry that the Korean emperor didn't meet Jonghyun, "Then, what happened?" Jonghyu replied calmly, "Your majesty, I did not meet the Emperor, but her highness the Empress Dowager Taeyeon met me. And she gave me this letter. She told me the Emperor had requested her to pass this to me." Jonghyun then took out a scroll from a sack he was carrying handed it to Leeteuk.

Leeteuk took the scroll. Then he looked at Jonghyun and asked, "Did you get caught?" Jonghyun shook his head and replied, "The Empress personally ensured that I was escorted out safely."  Leeteuk looked at the scroll again. Smiling, he turned to the boy and said, "You may go now, Jonghyun. Go and have a rest. Either that or, you can check on the Crown Prince. He misses you." Jonghyun's face brightened up and said, "Thank you, your majesty. I'll take my leave now." He bowed and sprinted away, in the direction on the Imperial Palace.

Leeteuk held up the scroll. He untied to scroll and read the contents. After reading, he instantly closed the scroll. He looked up and told Sungmin hurriedly, "Sungmin." Sungmin quickly bowed and asked, "Yes? Your majesty?" "Order my carriage to come now. I need to get back to the palace right now." Leeteuk ordered. Sungmin bowed and hurried off.

The birds chirped outside her chamber. Sulli sat at the edge of her bed, reading a book. Her sister, Sojung was embroidering some designs on a hankerchief. "...The gods pitied them and they turned Shan Bo and Ying Tai into butterflies. Together, they flew away, never to be apart forever." Sulli finished. "Goodness, Sulli! You already read that like five times." Sojung said as she put down her needle. She lifted the cloth and admired the flowers she had embroidered.

"I like that story." Sulli replied flatly. Sojung just rolled her eyes. "Fine..." she said. She stood up wobbly and smoothened out her dress. There were so many layers. Just then, someone said loudly, "The Empress Song Qian and Crown Prince have arrived." Sulli and Sojung instantly stood up from their positions. A second later, their mother and brother came walking in.

Their mother swept into the chamber with her cloak flying behind her. Their brother came in soon after. "Greetings to Imperial Mother and Crown Prince." the two of them said as they curtsied. "At ease." their mother said. She sat down on a seat beside the table. "Kibum! Come over here and stop fooling around!" she said sternly.

Sulli turned and saw that he was trying to carve something into the wooden frame of the bed with his dagger. Kibum shot up instantly and said, "My apologies, Imperial Mother." He then went over to sit beside her. He grinned at Sulli and Sojung. Sulli grinned back but Sojung just rolled her eyes. "Come over here, my dears." their mother instructed.

The two sisters listened and went to sit at the table. "Yes, Mother?" they asked. Just then, their mother picked up the book that Sojung was reading just now. "What's this?" she asked, "Butterfly Lovers?" Then she scoffed. "Who read this?" she asked. "It was me, Imperial Mother." Sulli said in a small voice. Their mother said in a stern voice, "Sulli! Girls aren't supposed to read! It's for boys! Girls have other roles to play."

Sulli nodded her head, feeling a little dejected. "Yes, Imperial Mother..." she said in a small voice. Kibum laughed. Sojung hushed him and said, "Da-ge,  don't be like that." And he stopped laughing. Their mother sighed and said, "Today, my purpose for coming here is-"

A servant came in and kneeled on the floor. He said, "Your hignesses, Kim Jonghyun, leader of the Imperial Warriors has arrived."  "Yay! He's back!" Kibum cried. He sprang up instantly, almost knocking over the table. He bowed towards Mother and then said, "Bye, Mother. I'll see you later." He kissed her on the cheek and waved to Sulli and Sojung  before disappearing through the door.

Sojung then asked, "Imperial Mother, can I-" Mother just nodded her head and said, "Go. Enjoy yourself." Sojung sqealed in delight and bowed to her before running off after Kibum. "Da-ge! Wait for me!" she cried as she chased after him. Mother sighed and then turned to Sulli.

"Sulli, remember what your father said?"

"Yes. He said when I turn 16 I can have the freedom to do anything I want. And I'm turning 16 soon!" Sulli exclaimed excitedly. 16 was an important age in the Royal family. A point where you pass into adulthood. But Mother's face looked very sad. Sulli found this very weird, so she asked, "Imperial Mother, is there anything you want to tell me?"

"I'm sorry Sulli."

"For what, Mother?"

Mother took out a scroll from her sleeve and handed it to Sulli. Sulli gently took it over and unfurled it. It read:

To the Emperor and Empress of China,

With my greatest respect, today I write to you to propose an idea, one that can mend our two countries' feuds. If you haven't already heard, I have a son, my future Crown Prince. He is 20 years old currently and is not married yet. The Empress Dowager and I have been very worried about my son, Ryeowook's future. From your loyal warrior, Jonghyun, I have heard that you have an eldest daughter, named Sulli. The young man speaks well of her, saying that she is talented and beautiful. After much debate, the Empress and I have come to a conclusion. We will offer you a choice of marrying your daughter,Sulli to my ever hard-working son, Ryeowook. We hope that you, Emperor Leeteuk will accept this offer. We await your decision.

Wishing you and your Empress a long and peaceful life,

Emperor Jinki of Korea.

Sulli looked at her mother in shock. "I'm sorry, Sulli my dear." her mother said, looking down. "What is Imperial Father's decision?" Sulli asked nervously. "I have no idea. But I am sure that he still hasn't decided." her mother told her. Sulli stood up instantly and said, "I need to speak to Father now!" Her mother just shook her head and said, "No, you can't. The Emperor is having a court meeting." "Are they disscussing about the treaty?" Sulli asked. Her mother's face darkened. Sulli took in a deep breath.

The sky was darkening. The birds were all flying back to their nests. Sulli was still lying down at the pavillion, reading a book. Soon, the entire garden was bathed in the moonlight and the pavillion was lit up with a single lantern flickering in the wind.

"It's time's fault, that we could only pass by and miss each other.

I miss you but you're so far away.

If I knew that the outcome would be so bitter,

I wouldn't want to escape this moment in time..."

Sulli sighed as she read those words aloud. She was getting worried. Would she just be married off like that? And who was that, Ryeowook? She can't spend her whole life with him! She really wanted to experience true love. Yeah, but, there was no such thing as that in the world.

She closed her eyes and repeated the lines to the poem again. Then, a familar voice said, "You really love that poem huh." Sulli instantly opened her eyes and came face to face with her best friend, Luhan. "Yeah. I love it." Sulli agreed as she sat up. Then she noticed that Luhan was carrying a stack of books. He sat down beside her and put the stack of books down.

Luhan grinned and raised a book infront of Sulli's face. "I got 'The Lliads' for you. They're all the way from Greece." he said cheerfully. Sulli said, "Thanks!" Sulli asked, "Hey Warrior! Aren't you supposed to be back at the west wing?" He made a face and replied, "No, your highness. Jonghyun-ge let me off to have some free time." Sulli laughed, but her expression quicky fell. "You really should have joined us for hunting today. You should have seen how many rabbits Yuri jie-jie-" He stopped talking when he realised that Sulli was silent.

Luhan stopped stacking the books. After a while, he said, "I know about it." "About what?" Sulli asked, clearly puzzled. Luhan bit his lips and said, "The Emperor is deciding whether to marry you to the Crown Prince of Korea." Sulli almost fell off the stone seat. She gripped her book tightly and asked, "How did you know?" "Jonghyun-ge. He told us." Luhan said quietly.

A gentle wind blew through the pavillion. "I really don't know what to do, Luhan." Sulli confessed. "It's just like, one day my 16th birthday is something I look forward to and the next day it turns into a disaster." She finally let out all her inside thoughts that she had been keeping. Luhan kept very quiet through the whole thing. "You know, I feel as if there's no one to turn to. Kibum-ge is becoming closer to Jonghyun-ge, then Sojung is practically ignoring me nowadays." Sulli explained.

Luhan looked down and said, "Jonghyun-ge told us, that the person you're looking for is the one closest to you." Then he looked at Sulli. "How long have we been friends?" he asked. "Wow. Since we were kids." Sulli said. She shifted the folds of her dress.

"Sulli." Luhan said. "Yes?"  "I love you."

The moment Sulli heard that, she was shocked at first, but later, she asked, "Are you serious?" Luhan nodded his head tightly. Sulli instantly gave him a big hug. Luhan didn't know how to react, but later he also hugged her back. Sulli really wanted to cry, everything was so sudden yet sweet. "Should we get married before Imperial Father gives the Koreans a reply?" Sulli asked. "That's a good idea." Luhan agreed.

Suddenly, a flaming apear sailed through the air and anchored itself to the concrete, missing Luhan and Sulli by a few inches. Then another one came sailing through the air right for them. Luhan pushed Sulli and hey rolled to the ground. The flaming spear exploded in a starburst of sparks. "What's that?" Sulli asked, mystified.

Then another explosion rocketed the palace grounds. Luhan heard a familiar voice yelling at him, "Luhan!" Then his mentor Yuri jie-jie came running towards him. She threw him his sword and he caught it. She shouted to them, "We're under attack!" As soon as she said that, a flaming spear flew past them and landed in the wine house. Luhan could hear the shattering wine jars. The worst was not yet here.

Soon, Luhan spotted many black figures running through the garden. Some spotted them and began running towards them. "Go! Protect the princess!" she yelled as she threw herself to the intruders. She shot an arrow at one of the people and he fell down dead. The last thing Luhan saw was Yuri slashing at the enemies with her sword. She stabbed one at the heart and dislodged two swords from two people. She sliced one of the person's throat and stabbed the other.

Luhan pulled Sulli by the hand and began running. Luhan looked behind and saw the black hooded people running towards him as if they knew that the princess was there. One of the people threw a dagger at them but Luhan deflected it with his sword. Suddenly another explosion rocked the place and he heard lots of shouting. Sulli lost her footing and fell down.

Luhan bent down and pulled her up. "Are you okay?" "I am." Sulli replied as she lifted the skirts of her dress, "Argh! I hate this costume!" Then she started running. But the intruders were catching up with them. One of them threw a blade at him. He tried to deflect it but it cut his leg flesh. He winced and collapsed onto the ground. He brought his hands up from the wound and his hand was covered in blood.

"Hurry!" Sulli said frantically. Luhan tried standing up but he collapsed again. It was really painful. His eyes danced with yellow spots. "I-I can't!" he gasped as he blinked the spots out of his eyes. Sulli kneeled down and grasped his hands, "No, I believe you can get up! You're a warrior!" He tried again and staggered up, but the pain was intensifying.

"Come on!" Sulli yelled as she pulled him forward. Luhan took a step froward and it felt as if his leg was on fire. Poison. Darn! He should've known! He gave pulled Sulli into a hug and whispered, "Do you love me?" "Yes!" she replied. "Then leave me. Run as far as you can." he said. Sulli stared at him in horror. "I'll never leave you! And that's suicide!"

Luhan shook his head and said, "Yes! I am a Warrior. My role is to protect the Royals." "No I can't! What if you die?!" Sulli cried. Tears were really streaming down her cheeks. "No, I won't die. Trust me!" Luhan said as he looked into Sulli's eyes. "Okay." Sulli said finally. He then unsheathed a dagger from his holster and pressed it into Sulli's hands. "Take this. Make use of it. Remember me. Promise me you'll learn how to fight." he said. Sulli chocked back tears and nodded her head.

Sulli leaned in and kissed him on the lips. She felt like she wanted to melt, but they were running out of time. Luhan pulled away and pushed her. "RUN! GO!" he yelled. The first enemy reached him and was about to strike him when Luhan swung his sword, slicing the opponent's stomach. That person fell over instantly. "GO!" he screamed as the rest of the people caught up with him.

Sulli instantly started running for her life, still crying. She did not know when, but she turned around and saw Luhan fighting for his life in the mob. After that, somebody caught her and she looked up. It was Kibum. She collapsed onto the ground. "Sulli! We have to go!" he urged. "No... Luhan..." she muttered. Something hit her in the head and her vision blurred. The last thing she saw was the starry night sky.

Okay! I hope you all liked that first chapter! Anyway, 'jie-jie' means older sister in Chinese and 'ge' means brother in Chinese. Next chapter, I'll be blending in the Korean with the Chinese. Please comment and subscribe! Thanks!