"Why are you in a hurry? Stay here for a week." The emperor basically ordered. "Yes your highness, I will. It is such an honor to get invited here." Aemi reluctantly said and smiled. "Consorts, show her to the guest room and Princess Yumi, come with me." The emperor said and started to leave afterward. "B-but-" Aemi was going to say something when Yumi signaled her to stop. She put her finger on her lips indicating for Aemi not to say anything. Aemi replied with a hand gesture of zipping .

"Is there a problem, Princess Aemi?" The consort asked in mandarin. Aemi stared at her dumbly and just shook her head aimlessly. The consort lady opened the door for her as they arrived and then left her alone after saying something in mandarin. "That was awkward," Aemi said as she threw herself on the bed and then cursed herself for forgetting how hard the bed is. "At least I have some privacy."

Aemi's POV:

I woke up to the sound of water pouring into a bucket. "Your highness, it is an honor to serve you."  I heard a soft young voice. I sat up immediately and saw a girl maybe about 16 years old. She was smiling widely. I like the fact that she's speaking in Korean. I smiled back to her. "It is an honor to be served by you too," I said. I swore that she was blushing. "I have ordered the servants to prepare a hot bath for you." She said politely. I wish kids nowadays behaved like that too. I smiled and nodded my head. Indeed, being a princess is extravagant here and I can't deny that either. I went to the bathroom and saw a bath tub full of flower petals.

The servant was going to undress me when I asked them to leave me alone. They all warily looked at each other. "It's okay. It's an order. I'll be responsible." They reluctantly left the bathroom. One thing for sure, no one watches me showering, never will in my life.

The day went by quickly and it was time for dinner. The emperor has invited for the royal dinner. I haven't seen Yumi anywhere until I reached the dinner location. It was beautiful. Yumi was beautiful too with her pink golden hanbok. "Hey, Sorry for not meeting you. I was busy with the queen. She was lecturing me the whole day long." Yumi said as I sat next to her. I smile back at her. "It's fine, I was not that desperate to see you anyway." I . She glared at me and then pouted. She was going to say something when the drum started and a pack of girl started dancing at the center.

I was too focused on the performance till my eyes landed on the man sitting next to the emperor. His vibe was scary, full of power and greatness. He was literally showing no interest in the performance as he kept on drinking the soju. My eyes can't seem to budge from looking at him until he stared back at me and smirked. I quickly directed my gaze on the performance again. I looked at Yumi who was clapping to the beat while smiling widely.

"Pst, Yumi" I called her. She stared back at me and told me to continue. "Who is that guy sitting beside the emperor?" I asked her. She looked at me strangely. "The only person besides the queen who sits to the emperor is who?" She asked me instead. "Jeez, I don't know!, the eunuch maybe" Yumi looked at me like I'm an idiot. "The crown prince! Omg, how did you pass your history exam?" Yumi faked a shocked expression. Yup, I felt dumb as I responded to her by smiling sheepishly. Then she stopped and give me that dangerous expression of her. "Why? Why? You're in love with him?" Yumi waved her eyebrows. I looked at her weirdly.

"You do know you look ugly now?" I laughed and she just pouted. The drum stopped all of the sudden. An arrow has been shot through the performer's chest. Everyone panicked and ran away from the scene. The guards surrounded me and Yumi. Everything happened so quickly. The guard was on protect mode. "Search all over the palace. Don't let the culprit escape!!!" The emperor ordered angrily.

"Your highness, please follow us." One of the guards told me. Everything was in chaos and without thinking I followed him around the back of the building. I realized something was wrong and stopped on track. "Who are you!?" I shouted. The guard looked at me and then all of sudden, a sword was being pointed at me. I was careless once again. "Don't shout or run. I'll kill you if you do."  The guard commanded me. I gulped and then almost immediately, an arrow pierced through the guard's chest. I gasped in shock and fell to the ground as my knees weakened. I forgot how easy it is, to kill people here in this dynasty. "Princess Aemi, have you hurt anywhere?" A guard with a bow on his hand came and asked me. I'm guessing he was the one who helped me. The most embarrassing part is, I actually cried and thanked him repeatedly.

"The crown prince is the one who saved you, your highness." The guard told me. My body was shaking as I tried to get up but to no avail. Yumi came afterward and helped me to stand up. " Aemi!!!!! Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?" She was really worried.

"Crown prince!" The guard bowed when he realized the crown prince was behind me. I turned back with the help of Yumi and saw the crown prince, looking directly at the dead body. "The FangZhou factor, how did he manage to get in?" He asked the guard.  The guard flinched and fell to his knees. "I am deeply sorry your royal highness, it's my fault that this happened. I should have died-" "I'm asking you how did he manage to get in!!!!" The crown prince exploded.​

I felt sorry for the guard. He looks like he's going to pee on his pants any second. "Forget it. Guards! Accompany the princesses to their room! Look out for any danger!" For a split second, our gaze met. It gave me a scary feeling rather than a romantic one. I gulped and make my way to follow the guards.