Chapter Two

The Emperor

Yeonhwa set the tray down before pouring the tea into each cup. She then put the cups in front of the two men before her, the two most important men in her life; her father and her fiancé.

Joonmyeon sneaked a small smile of gratitude to Yeonhwa, to which she smiled back shyly. Her father looked upon their small exchange warmly, but did not say anything. He was glad that his precious daughter was betrothed to his best student. He trusted Joonmyeon with his whole life and the thought of Yeonhwa being in good hands warmed his heart.

The Chief Scholar thanked his daughter before turning to Joonmyeon to continue their conversation.

“The Emperor could speak our language fluently, but we should converse with His Majesty in Chinese out of respect.” he told Joonmyeon. The latter nodded.

“He is also said to have quite a temper, so The King had reminded us to be careful as to not invoke his anger.”

“The Emperor of China is coming?” interrupted Yeonhwa.

“Yeonhwa, I raised you better than to interrupt conversations.” her father scolded.

Yeonhwa blushed and Joonmyeon had to bite down a smile.

-

“Do you know how The Emperor looks like?” asked Yeonhwa as Joonmyeon walked her back to her quarters.

“No, not yet. I’ll be sure to tell you when I meet him.” answered Joonmyeon.

Yeonhwa nodded in reply and they both walked in silence, hands brushing against one another. Joonmyeon noticed that her fingers had turned cold due to the night wind, so he intertwined his fingers with hers, as if it was the most natural thing ever. Yeonhwa’s cheeks turned pink, but she did not say anything. Instead, she only gripped her fiancé’s hand tighter.

That night, Yeonhwa thought of what kind of person the Emperor would be. Yeonhwa prayed that he would have mercy on the palace officials. She did not want him lashing out at them, especially not at Joonmyeon and her father. Considering the fact that he was said to be ill-tempered, Yeonhwa assumed that he was an old grumpy man.

She was wrong.

-

Yeonhwa sat by the lake, engrossed in a book as usual. There were crickets singing in the meadow nearby and a faint fragrance of lotuses in the warm air, allowing her to forget the world she lived in and travelled with the characters in her book instead. After a while, she looked up and frowned slightly. Something was not right. Usually, by this time, Joonmyeon would have came to her and walk her home. However, considering the situation at the palace, she figured that he would be very busy, so she shrugged and decided to read a little bit longer.

She was halfway done through a chapter when she heard footsteps behind her. She quickly stood up with a grin, expecting to see the love of her life, but instead, she turned to find a tall man, looking at her in surprise. Both of them stood there staring at each other, without saying anything. If it were not for the crickets chirping and wind blowing slightly, one would have guessed that ti