Chapter Five

Safe Haven

Luhan stared at his Emperor as the latter paced around the room. Yifan had his eyebrows furrowed and his lips pursed into what seemed like a permanent pout. He has not seen Yeonhwa ever since he left her in their bedchamber after their disastrous first night. It has been 3 days. He was frustrated to the point that he wanted to pull his hair out and strangle someone with it. He could not fathom the reason Yeonhwa was so afraid of him. All he did was treat her with respect and gentleness, so why was she so hesitant to reciprocate his feelings?

Yifan had told Luhan of everything that had happened that night in their bedchamber. Luhan understood Yifan’s actions; after all, the Emperor was in love with his wife. Luhan knew because of the way Yifan seemed to change at the mere mention of Yeonhwa’s name. Gone was the cold and hardheaded Emperor, replaced with a gentle, hopelessly smitten man with a soft gaze. Luhan smiled at that thought, who knew that Yifan would finally fall in love? Luhan had always thought that Yifan would rule alone, without an Empress by his side. Luhan liked the fact that Yeonhwa was instilling these changes into Yifan, even if neither her nor Yifan realized it.

“I don’t get it, Luhan. She couldn’t even look at me. Why is she like this? The maids told me that she hasn’t even touched her food! Why won’t she eat? Are all women this strange?” exclaimed Yifan, slumping down on the chair by his work desk.

Luhan chuckled; it was very amusing to see the great Emperor Wu Yifan so exasperated over a woman. Yifan glared at him and sighed deeply.

“What do you suggest I do? Help me, Luhan, I’m going to be insane.” Yifan sighed again. He was worried about Yeonhwa. He did not want this to go on for the rest of their lives. He cared for her, a lot more than he would like to admit.

“Well, Your Majesty, if you trust my advice, I do have a few ways to solve this predicament.” Luhan replied with a smile. Yifan’s head perked up and he listened intently.

“Your Majesty, Her Highness is a young maiden with a very sensitive heart. Maybe you should try courting her by-“

Before Luhan could even finish, Yifan’s eyes lit up and he stood up abruptly, interrupting Luhan mid-sentence.

“THAT’S IT! She’s homesick! I know just the remedy for this! Luhan, do you remember when we went to Korea and ate the food there? We should hire a new cook and have her meals specially prepared! That way she wouldn’t miss home so much!” he exclaimed excitedly.

“Your Majesty, forgive me for saying this but I don’t think-“ Luhan was interrupted again.

“It’s settled! See, Luhan. I am a genius when it comes to these things!” said Yifan, a smug smile.

You’re an idiot, Luhan internally screamed, but he bit his tongue and sighed, before excusing himself to make the arrangements.

-

Yeonhwa has not seen Yifan ever since that night. When she woke up the next morning, Yifan had already left the bedchamber. She immediately returned to her residence and has been left alone ever since. She wanted to thank Yifan for what he did, but he was nowhere to be found. Perhaps he was still angry with her. She could not blame him. He expected things from her, but she could not give it to him.

But then again, he was the one who forced her to marry him, so he should not even be angry in the first place.

A maid suddenly entered and placed a tray of food before Yeonhwa. Yeonhwa smiled in gratitude and the maid excused herself. Yeonhwa stared at the tray of food and noticed that the food was slightly different than the previous days. They seemed a lot more familiar. Yes, it was Korean food. She stared at the food for a bit more before a heart-wrenching feeling came onto her.

She was alone. She was far away from home, she knew nobody in the palace except her maids who seemed too afraid to talk to her, and her husband, The Emperor, who seemed untouchable.

And the food was making her miss home even more.

Swallowing the lump in , she pushed her tray away and sat by the window, imagining what her father and Joonmyeon would be doing at this time of the day. Were they thinking of her as much as she thought of them? Did they think of her at all? Was she going to be lonely and sad like this for the rest of her life?

She pulled her knees up to her chest as a single drop of tear rolled down her cheek.

-

“SHE REFUSED TO EAT?!” screamed Yifan, his frustrations reaching its limits.

The maid who informed The Emperor cowered in fear, while Luhan quickly dismissed her, before she was the one who suffered the man’s wrath.

“Your Majesty, please calm down, I’m sure…” before Luhan could even finish his sentence, Yifan barged out of his study chamber and walked straight to Yeonhwa’s residence, causing all the eunuchs and maids to become startled.

“YOU ARE SO UNGRATEFUL!” Yifan roared, making Yeonhwa jump out of her seat.

“I’ve tried being nice to you! I’m not forcing you to do anything you don’t want to! I EVEN HIRED A NEW COOK FOR YOU! YOU’RE BEING DIFFICULT AND STUBBORN! DID YOUR PARENTS EVER TEACH YOU HOW TO BE THANKFUL?” He screamed.

Yeonhwa was ready to apologize but when he belittled her parents like that, her blood boiled.

“Well, Your Majesty, I’m sorry for making life so difficult for you. But I beg of you to not talk about my parents like that. My mistakes are mine alone, and it has nothing to do with my parents!” she shouted, surprising Yifan.

Before Yifan could say anything, she took a step towards him.

“You dragged me away from the comfort of my home, my family and my country. You took me away from the man I loved and forced me into this marriage, and then leave me all alone with absolutely nobody to talk to. So I deeply apologize, Your Majesty. I’m sorry if it takes more than a new Korean cook to please me. I beg for your forgiveness because I’m being so horribly stubborn.” she said, anger giving her a sense of courage to talk back to The Emperor, her husband, even if tear