Chapter 20
Lotus FlowerIlhoon speed walked towards the Emperor's throne. He had to get back quickly, he felt nervous leaving you behind. When he arrived at the front gate, he took a deep breathe and and patted away any residue left on his hanbok and opened the gate, heading towards his father's office.
He knocked against the wooden door, waiting for the deep coarse voice that belonged to his father.
"Come in."
Ilhoon gave a small sigh as he opened the door, gently closing it behind him as he stepped into the room.
He faced his father's direction and watched as his father finished writing something before rolling up the scroll and putting it aside. Ilhoon's hands began to sweat, as he waited.
"Do you know what brings you here today?" the Emperor asked.
Ilhoon slowly nodded his head, "It was the celebration of our accomplished plans."
"And what are those plans for?"
"For the war," he replied back.
"Correct, and why were you not there to celebrate this event with us?" he asked sternly.
"I went out to get some fresh air," Ilhoon said.
"We almost lost some allies because of your absence. They took this lightly as if we were taking this as a joke," the Emperor's voice deepened. "You know how this would effect us if we lost allies."
Ilhoon said nothing as he waited for his father to finish. But he wasn't expecting the next words that were coming out of his mouth. "Go pack your things, we are departing tomorrow."
Ilhoon snapped out of his thoughts, "So soon?"
"The war starts in five days and it takes two days to get there, of course we must leave now," the Emperor glared down at Ilhoon. "We planned this two days ago, have you forgotten everything already?"
"No," Ilhoon muttered.
"Good, now go get packing, we leave at sunrise tomorrow morning," the Emperor said before taking another scroll out and began to write. Ilhoon exited the room and stood in front of the door.
*Tomorrow is too soon...I can't leave yet...* Ilhoon sighed and his snapped up *Eun Mi!*
He quickly ran towards the stable and looked around, but it was completely empty. His eyes searched the stable and soon found a door. He tried opening it, but it was locked. He tried to pry it open but it wouldn't budge. He ran back towards the stable and found a hammer. He ran back towards the door and took a deep breath before slamming the cold metal against the metal lock. It didn't break open, but there was a dent. Ilhoon slammed the metal repeatedly until the lock finally broke open.
He dropped the hammer onto the floor and quickly unraveled the tangled metal before opening the door. He was short of breath, but he didn't care as he ran into the large maze of carriages. *Where is the carriage?* He finally spotted it before stopping in front of it.
"Eun Mi?" he whispered. He heard a small whimper and he stepped onto the carriage, slowly opening the flap. He was shocked as he stared at your state. Your hair was a mess and you had obviously cried.
"Eun Mi, it's me," he whispered as your red, wet tears met his eyes. He felt his heart shatter, *She must have been scared* He took one step and quickly embraced you. You leaned against his broad shoulders, "It's okay, everything's okay. I'm here," he said. Another tear slipped your eyes before you began to bawl again.
Ilhoon felt like someone had cut open his heart, your cry hurt him so much. He felt your pain as he closed his eyes and hugged you tighter. "I'm sorry Eun Mi."
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