I woke up with an uneasy start.

Panting slightly, I slowly sat up and glanced around myself with caution.

I blinked as I recognized my surroundings.

I was sitting on top of my bed in my parent’s house. The house I lived in before moving in to the palace.

Shaking that uncanny feeling off the top of my head, I climbed out of my bed and walked out of the room, feeling just a bit nostalgic as I stepped onto the corridor.

“Unni!”

I gasped curtly as a little girl suddenly ran straight through me, racing into the embrace of an older girl standing on the other end of the corridor.

Turning my head around slowly, I found myself staring into the face of my deceased elder sister, whose warm smile lit up her pretty face.

My heart stung with pain as tears came to my eyes without my knowing.

I remember this scene.

I remember this scene so painfully clearly that it hurts to watch it again through my dreams.

For this scene is the last time I talked to my unni before she died.

“Unni!” The little me beamed up at my unni, “I’m going to be sent to the palace to be Kim Jongin’s wife!”

The warm smile on my unni’s face immediately disappeared.

“What are you talking about, Soyoung?” My unni pinched my cheeks lightly, “No one’s going to the palace to become anyone’s wife.”

“But…umma told me that I’m going to live in the palace starting from tomorrow.”

A flash of anger flickered through unni’s face.

“Did she now?” My unni muttered darkly before letting go of me.

“Unni?” The little me glanced up at my unni with widened eyes, “What’s wrong?”

My unni gave me an affectionate smile as she hugged me once more.

“Nothing’s wrong, Soyoung.” My unni let go of me again, and patted my head. “Go and do some embroidery now, alright? I’ll check if you did it properly or not so you better go and practice now!”

My younger self pouted a little yet still nodded her head obediently.

“Neh.” She answered before running away to practice her embroidery skills, eager to please her unni.

After the little me left, my unni let out a big, shaky sigh.

I tilted my head curiously as I saw my unni’s expression darken dramatically before she began walking in fast strides towards my mother’s room.

I followed suit behind her, heart pounding loudly as she entered my mother’s room without knocking.

“Umma, why are you sending Soyoung to the palace?”

My mother glanced up from her embroidery with a start and frowned in disapproval as she saw Unni standing angrily in front of her.

“Where’s your manners?” My mother scolded unni softly like the lady she was, “Don’t you know that you knock before you enter, and pay your respects to your umma before talking?”

My Unni let out a disgusted expression. One I had never seen her worn before in my life.

“I asked you, why are you sending Soyoung to the palace?”

My mother let out a small, resigned sigh.

“Because Kim Jongin requested for her service.” My mother answered calmly as she returned to her embroidery.

“So?” My Unni snapped, “She’s only twelve, umma. Why would you throw her into the battle of the concubines at such a young and innocent age?”

“She’s known Kim Jongin for six years now, hasn’t she?” My mother glanced up from her embroidery, “Ever since she saved him from drowning?”

“That doesn’t say anything, umma.” My unni took a step forward, “You know how deadly those concubines fight just to catch the attention of the emperor.”

“He might not become the emperor in the future,” My mother smirked a little as she continued embroidering, “He has quite a few other brothers, after all.”

“Don’t say such a blatant lie.” My unni’s eyes sparked with anger, “I saw you consult that shaman about Kim Jongin’s future.”

“Hm. Is that all you have to say, Kim Soyun? If so, please leave now.”

“Umma!” My unni was near to desperate, “I beg you not to send Soyoung into the palace! She’s at such a bright and wonderful age right now, marry her to someone who will love her whole-heartedly.”

“And Kim Jongin will do just that.” My mother snapped, finally losing a bit her patience, “Now leave me before I call your father.”

My unni’s lips pressed into a thin line as she clenched her fist together.

“Alright.” My unni seethed darkly, “Don’t come crying to me when your daughter becomes a monster like all those concubines in the palace.”

And with that one last sentence, my unni stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

I could feel my throat tighten as I followed my unni outside of my mother’s room, and I halted in my steps as my unni suddenly stopped, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

My eyes widened as I saw tears gleaming in her eyes.

Sniffing her nose a little, my unni inhaled a deep breath before letting it out with a loud sigh.

Then, nodding her head, my unni straightened her shoulders and replaced her worn out expression with a determined one.

“I’ll go and buy Soyoung a gift to cheer her up.” My unni said to herself, “So that she can find comfort in it when she gets lonely in the palace.”  

I found a small smile appear on my lips.

*Thank you.* I thought gratefully, *Thank you for loving me.*

“Hyoyeon!” My unni shouted out to her personal maid, “I’m going to the market!”

“Neh!” Hyoyeon immediately came rushing to my unni’s service, and she tidied up my unni’s appearance before the two set to leave for the market.

I, of course, followed after them, and swinging my arms as we exited the house, I inhaled the fresh air outside of the suffocating house.

As we walked past a steep grass hill, I noticed seven boys standing atop it.

*Exo M…* My eyes widened as I stopped in my tracks to stare at them, *…And Oh Sehun.*

Walking nearer to them, I saw that Exo M stood on one side of the grass hill whilst Sehun stood on the other side alone with an angry expression plastered across his face.

“You’re not my duizhang!” Sehun shouted at Kris standing opposite of him, “I’m not even part of Exo M! Why do I have to listen to you!?”

Although Kris was the one Sehun yelled at, it seemed like the other members of Exo M were more offended than the target himself.

“You betrayer.” Xiumin hissed as he took a step forward, “We should’ve known you were this type of person after knowing what kind of immoral being your dad was-“

Xiumin was cut off by his sentence as a stone flew past his cheek, and a thin line of blood emerged from the cut on Xiumin’s flawless skin.

Deathly silence plagued through the seven boys as Sehun panted heavily, his arms outstretched from throwing the rock at Xiumin.

“Yah…you!” Xiumin exploded as he attempted to fight Sehun, but the other five members held him back as they glared at Sehun with the same am