01: NAMELESS

The day was near.

It was a cold spring day with gentle weather, fluffy clouds shaped like animals and flowers. The cool breeze blowing against her hair, Joo Jieqiong felt incredibly nervous as she made her way back home. Home sweet home, who wouldn't miss their family and bed after they had been gone for so long? Not her, certainly. 

She had been for nearly a year already, she wondered what would their reaction be like. Of course they would never welcome her back with open arms and throw a party the day after to celebrate. Would they beat her? Scold her? Lock her up? She imagined all the scenes in her head and she was kind of terrified, worrying about herself, about her own future. Coming home was the worst idea but it was the only way for her to enter the palace. Only girls with names and identities that were confirmed by their noble families could then take part in the selection and the competition was real so no strangers would gladly introduce her as a part of their family, which left the Joo family as her only and last solution. She was, in fact, their third daughter even though they hid it from every single person they knew and it wouldn't cost her a leg or two to ask them whether she could come with her sisters or not. Actually, she might lost both of her legs or even her head... 

But it was going to worth the chance. She had come this far and there was no going back. She was determined to set foot in the palace, so determined. 

When Jieqiong stood in front of the huge gates, she was greeted by familiar faces of the family's servants. None of them said a word to her, none of them welcomed her yet all of them gave her the questioning look and all whispered to each other about her disappearance. The servants weren't smart enough to know how to behave, Jieqiong thought to herself as she ignored their looks and walked pass the crowd to enter her house. Hopefully, she wouldn't be welcomed with a splash of cold water in her face.

As Jieqiong came to the front door of the living room, she met her father and mother's shocking gaze. It had been a long time after all, they probably thought they she died or that she would never come back yet she was here, the person they hated the most was presenting in front of them.

"You..." Seja nearly dropped the cup of tea she was holding. "You- I can't believe it, you... fox!" 

The old lady was really mad at her, wasn't she? "Lady Seja, father, I'm sorry for disappearing." She kneeled down in front of them, every movement she made was slow and gentle as if she wanted to show respect. Jieqiong had always been polite like that, even if there were times when she hated her so called parents to guts.

She just wasn't the type to disrespect someone.

"Why did you come back? Why can't you just be gone for good?" Seja stood up abruptly from her seat, eyes filled with rage as she had to face the rat she hoped she would get rid of but her husband, who she didn't think that would interrupet her, shared a different thought. "W-Where were you, after all these months...?" Jieqiong's father asked, his voice was trembling but with joy– Though no one acknowledged that.

Jieqiong lowered her head, knees and arms as well as her eyes were still on the cold floor. Swallowing hard, the girl began her story. "I was taken in as a waitress for this one restaurant after running away. However, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving my family forever so I came back." All of those were lies, she was never good at lying but she was slowly getting used to it.

She didn't feel guilty at all and Jieqiong hoped that they would believe her. "Please... accept my apology." She bit her bottom lip, praying that they would buy her lie.

And they did. 

The corner of Seja's lip curled up. Interesting, she mumbled to herself and exchanged a look with her husband. "It's good that we raised such a loyal dog. As long as you keep your little pretty mouth shut, you will always be welcomed in this family."

It irritated her, how she was referred to as their loyal dog but what was the point of getting mad? She couldn't do anything. She had no right to do anything. Jieqiong was kind of taken aback at how easy-going her stepmother was because in all honesty, Seja would probably be so mad that she might force someone to beat her until her legs were paralyzed but Seja remained calm and collected, as if she was up to something. Or maybe not at all, perhaps, she was just satisfied with how Jieqiong kept the words of her being their third daughter to herself only.

"You come back right in time, Jieqiong. Two more days and your sisters are going on their carriage to the palace as the Emperor's imperial wives."

Jieqiong allowed herself to straighten her back and stared at her stepmother, who was smiling to herself at her own words. Two more days and the selection would be held, there might be a chance that both of them wouldn't be able to get in but Jieqiong remembered what the fortune teller told their family. Among the daughters of the Joo family, one would become the queen in the future and her father and stepmother would expect a lot from their real daughters, she could tell.

She was told to come back to her room, where was turned into a storage after his sudden disappearance. She felt her heart tightening at the sight in front of her; spider webs and dust with a bunch of old clothes, chairs and stuffs that were no longer used, she guessed, because that would be why they were thrown in her bedroom. They didn't come looking for her, she shouldn't be surprsied but to think about the cruel reality that no one bothered to clean the bedroom every day just to wait for her to come home because no one really cared, it pained her. Her eyes were stinging, she tried to swallow the tears that were about to flow down like a river. 

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Jieqiong began redecorating her bedroom. On her own, without anyone's help. 

She was the family's third daughter, she should be respected but in this family, her rank was even lower than a servant. 

It was not until midnight then she finished tidying up and flopped on the soft bed. A heavy sigh escaped her dry lips and Jieqiong gently close her eyelids. Finally, she could rest. All she needed right then was a rest because her body felt so tired at the moment, she didn't feel like showering at all though she just came home after walking for miles, sweating and then got herself covered in dust and dirt. 

Then she heard the door creak. 

Jieqiong didn't need to pretend to be asleep, the girl tiredly sat up from her bed and rubbed her eyes. In a sleepy voice, she asked. "Who's there?"

The candles and lanterns were already out and she could barely see the figure standing at the doorway. Receiving no response, Jieqiong intended to lit up the candle until she heard a familiar voice. "Jieqiong."

But she didn't reply to the voice. She was hoping to avoid hearing it, actually. 

"Jieqiong, where have you been to?" The person sounded worried and Jieqiong thought to herself, it was impossible for this person to care about her. "I don't think it matters now, wherever I have been to."

"No, it does. You might think that no one cares about you but it does matter."

Feeling weirded out, Jieqiong crossed her arms together. "You wanted to get rid of me, I ran away right in front of you, Tzuyu. Shouldn't you feel happy about that?" 

Her older sister flinched a bit, probably feeling guilty of what she had done. "Lord Seongwoo came over every day after your disappearance. It has been two weeks ever since the last time he visited. I and everyone was convinced that you were dead and would never return."

Seongwoo? Ong Seongwoo? Seongwoo... He came over? Jieqiong's heart skipped a beat as she had flashback about the nights they spent together. Lord Seongwoo and his charming smile... He was the only thing that kept her happy during her time living at the household before she ran away. He cared for her, she understood why would he do that and unlike what she felt towards Tzuyu, she was actually thankful for his feelings for her. Seongwoo must feel freaked out by her sudden disappearance and Jieqiong wished she would be able to meet him, to tell him that she was doing just fine.

But she knew the sisters wouldn't let her meet him. Sejeong would probably beat her again out of unecessary jealousy because there was nothing romantic about their relationship. It was just a huge misunderstanding. 

"I guess, I should have never returned." 

Normally, Jieqiong wasn't like that but after leaving home for too long, she finally realized how much she hated her family. 

Tzuyu leaned against the wooden door, Jieqiong could see her dress touching the ground. "I'm happy to see you home, Jieqiong. I just... wanted to make sure that you are feeling fine. Rest up, we'll talk tomorrow."

Jieqiong didn't reply, she lied down on her bed again and turned her back against Tzuyu, pretending to be asleep. She was giving her the cold shoulder. The elder Joo received the signal, she wasn't an idiot like her sister. Tzuyu then gently walked away after closing the door and Jieqiong waited until the footsteps no longer echoed to let out a small groan. 

Tzuyu was never happy to see her. Tzuyu never wanted to check up on her, to see how she was doing. Why must she tell lies? If she ever did anyway, Tzuyu would have at least done something to take care of the "storage" to welcome her home. This family was full of lies, Jieqiong couldn't wait to get rid of it.

The next morning.

Sejeong found out about Jieqiong's return and wasn't happy about that. Another war occurred and Jieqiong couldn't do anything besides biting her bottom lip and letting Sejeong did whatever she wanted to do, including cursing and hitting. Though the selection was coming really soon, Sejeong seemed to care about her more than the Emperor which was actually quite amusing to say at least because only then Jieqiong could tell what kind of person she was. 

Her mother, however, remained calm and collected. She even told Sejeong to keep cool because an important day was coming and they wouldn't want to see wrinkles of Sejeong's forehead.

Jieqiong sat in the garden, water dripping down from her wet hair as she listened to the servants and the Joo family going crazy about the preparations for the selection. They were really excited, weren't they?

"Jieqiong, you have to enter the selection with your real identity."

One afternoon, Jieqiong was reading book in her tutor's room when he wrote something down on his notebooks. The sunshine was gentle, not too bright and the weather was just perfect for a chilling afternoon. Cool breeze continiously blowed into the room, through her jet black hair and Jieqiong sniffed the lingering fragrance of roses that the wind carried. Long eyelashes touched one another as she blinked and Jieqiong stared at the man behind the curtain with her head cocked to the left side. "Seonsangnim, what should I do? My family will never let me come to the selection."

He probably had already figured that out, her tutor chuckled lightly. "Why don't you stay, then?"

He was trying to make her change her mind, again. 

"Personally, I would prefer it if you stay."

His voice was soft and listening to him comfort her soul somehow. "That's the only way for me to change my life. I don't want to live as a burden in everyone's isolation but seonsangnim, I know you would never hate me." And she grinned.

She saw the figure behind the curtain moved a little, he was looking up at her face, she could tell. 

"Besides, that's the quickest way to find you a cure."

A moment of silence passed by when they said nothing but only stared at each other through the red curtain. She was used to it, not being able to see his face even though the curiosity was killing her inside.

"Why don't you try to come as one of your sister's maid? They won't find out because no one really has time to care about a little servant, all they see is her master and how gorgeous and powerful that lady is." 

"Then... no one is going to care about me?!" Jieqiong flipped the page furiously. She heard another soft laugh through the curtain. "That's why I told you that it won't be easy to live in the palace. It's a women's battlefield out there and they only target the winners but that's also the price they have to pay for being the Emperor's favorite. Jieqiong, if you enter the palace as a servant, they won't notice you, you can do whatever you want and you will have plenty of time to prepare for your next move but be careful, there's no guarantee that the Emperor will notice a servant either."

Jieqiong bit her lower lip, though she was reading the words written on the page but she didn't take in anything at all because there was something else going on in her mind. Jieqiong thought about his words carefully before speaking. "I can do it, I can make the Emperor notice me but more importantly, I have something more important to think about."

Jaeho didn't say anything but only stared at her through the curtain. She was smart, he knew it. 

She would figure it out. 

Jieqiong felt a hand on her shoulder and when she looked behind, she met Tzuyu. She promised to talk to her, didn't she? Though Jieqiong wasn't sure if there was something to talk about, she couldn't just be rude to the elder Joo. That were how things usually went like, she had to respect the Joo girls. 

"Sejeong's pretty excited about the selection, isn't she?" Tzuyu chuckled, eyeing the people inside their house. 

Jieqiong saw how she wanted to start a conversation and only shrugged to that. "I guess so..."

"Coming to the palace, meeting the Emperor, becoming his favorite concubine is every lady's dream." Tzuyu sat down next to her, a coy smile bloomed on her lips as she stared at the violet flowers in their garden. "Do you wish to enter the palace someday, too, Jieqiong?"

How could she not? Jieqiong dreamt of that, too, every day, every night. "But I can't, only you and Sejeong can go now." And she already thought of a plan. 

Tzuyu didn't seem to be surprised at her answer. Instead, what she said next was even more surprising to Jieqiong. 

"What if I say that you can go instead of me?"

For a moment, Jieqiong thought Tzuyu was crazy. But then, it could be a part of her new scheme of trying to get Jieqiong to be beaten to death. "What are you talking about?" Furrowing her eyebrows, she asked the elder girl and Tzuyu swallowed hard. "Jieqiong, if you would like to, you can take my place, enter the palace under my name and take my identity."

Whatever she was saying, Jieqiong didn't find it funny. 

"I know you might think that I'm just messing around with you right now but Jieqiong– I, I really hope that you would go for me." 

All of sudden, Tzuyu's smile turned off and Jieqiong was now met with a somewhat nervous-looking girl. It seemed like Tzuyu was being very honest and serious about what she was telling Jieqiong. 

"I can't do that." 

Tzuyu's eyes widened. This, was not the answer she expected.

"Whatever you are planning, I'm not gonna trade places with you." Jieqiong said with a firm look on her face and that look was something Tzuyu had never seen before.

As if Jieqiong could finally stand up for herself but the truth was, Tzuyu didn't mean any harm to that offer. "Don't you want to become his concubine?"

"Do you?"

Tzuyu hesitated, but eventually let out a small sigh. She didn't understand Jieqiong at all, she didn't understand what was going on in her mind. She thought Jieqiong wanted this, she thought Jieqiong wanted power and to become something that she would never dare to dream of... She had always mistaken Jieqiong for some weak girl with a desire to achieve something bigger and scarier. 

In this case, the desire to crush her and her sister, the desire to become the queen of this country. But maybe she was wrong after all. Tzuyu was known as a quiet and timid pretty flower but she was no ordinary. She was the same as her sister, wicked and full of schemes but she was way more intelligent. However, at the end, she was still the cunning little girl everyone shoule be aware of yet this time, the smart girl couldn't figure out what was going wrong in her plan. The most important part of her plan was Jieqiong and she only needed Jieqiong to go for her, Tzuyu wanted to stay, nothing else more than that.

What was Jieqiong thinking, really? 

Tzuyu looked at that girl but she couldn't solve the mystery. Just like that, Jieqiong left.

She got the perfect chance, what stopped her?

The selection day.

Dressed in beautiful and gorgeous costumes, the two daughters of the Joo family had never been more beautiful than this day. Sejeong potrayed the charming look of a real lady, one that represented the colorful phoenix in gold and velvet and she just had that glamorous look that stole all the hearts and attention. Sejeong was born for that. Beautiful just like her sister, Joo Tzuyu wore a crystal blue dress. A pure and innocent fairy from folktale, that was what Tzuyu looked like and Seja couldn't feel more prouf of her daughters. 

Jieqiong stood not far from there, stealing a glance of the sisters. She knew Sejeong and Tzuyu were pretty but today, they totally blowed everyone off with their beauty. 

"I can't wait, I can't wait!" Sejeong's smile brightened the moment a servant put a flower on her hair. "Meeting the Emperor is going to be the best experience of my life. Gosh, I can't wait to see how he looks like." And she had a daydream about her future husband, a wonderful dream.

On the other hand, Tzuyu couldn't even smile. She just let out a small sigh after another as she stared at herself up and down in the mirror. 

Jieqiong looked at the noisy scene and knew she had to act so sh went to meet Sejeong's personal servant, Kim Hyemi, when the girl was also packing her clothes. Hyemi was busy singing when Jieqiong startled her and Hyemi wasn't pleased with that. "I could slap you right now, you know?"

Even though she was their third daughter, to these servants, she was nothing.

"Hyemi, how are you and your boyfriend doing?"

Hyemi's face turned green immediately. "W-What are you talking about?!"

"You know what I'm talking about. You and our chef, Haejoo." 

It was forbidden for a servant to be in a relationship. A servant's love life had to be decided by their master and it was up to her father and lady Seja to find Hyemi a husband. If the servant had an affair, they might be sentenced to death. 

"Lady Jieqiong, is there... anything I can help you with?"

Oh. Jieqiong smiled in her imagination. Finally, she was winning. 

"Are you intending to follow your master to the palace and leave your boyfriend here at this lonely and rotten household without you?" Asked Jieqiong, she tilted her head. "It might be up to us to decide what's going to happen to Haejoo then." Though her voice was gentle, there was something rather threatening about it and Hyemi was scared the eff out.

She underestimated this witch.

"Lady Jieqiong, please help me." Hyemi suddenly kneeled down on the floor in front of Jieqiong and it wasn't what both of them expected because it was the first time it had ever happened. "I'm begging you, please help me...!"

Jieqiong knew because she wandered around a lot at night and no one ever noticed her, no one ever cared about her. She would stop by the kitchen where she heard noises and when she peered in, she heard a girl . She recognized those two figures that were embracing each other. Kim Hyemi and Han Haejoo. She knew about them. She knew.

And she used it against her but Jieqiong didn't really mean to report it to her father or trying to kill Haejoo off, she would never harm anyone though putting on the threatening act would trick Hyemi. 

"With what, Hyemi?" A mocking tone, joyness could be heard.

"Please... Please take my place and come to the palace."

Victory, for the first time in her life, Jieqiong could have a taste of victory.

sorry for disappearing! but after a while, finally a new chapter's here! please look forward to meeting hwang minhyun our king!!