Love In The Palace

Mother

"Your Highness!" Lis rushes to her side, hurriedly pulling her fan from inside of her sleeves and fanning her master.

"Hurry! Summon the Imperial Physician! Hurry!" Lis swipes her hand as a signal to all the palace servants standing by the palace as she frantically but still carefully pours a cup of warn tea from the porcelain teapot into the Empress' favourite phoenix teacup and hands it to the Empire's Mother.

"This is...this is really...I cannot wait anymore... His Majesty is losing his trust for my Zeth, I must do something. But I am just afraid that I cannot hold on any longer..." Empress' sharp pain on the head soon is taken over by another stabbing pain on her lower stomach. She gasps for air as she sweats profusely and her hands reach for her lower stomach, trying her best to caress her belly to soothe the pain but it has always been in vain.

"Your Highness..." Lis can no longer hold in her tears and they drop down his cheeks, profusely, uncontrollably. She has always been with her Master and she understands her conditions best, even better than anyone else.

The Empress has always been ill ever since her miscarriage. Her First Princess was born in sickly condition. Then Crown Prince was born, and it still remained as a miracle to her that her second child was born and grew up healthily despite that one time when he fell off from a horse. Next, the Empress was pregnant again for the third time, but she lost it not too long after the sickly First Princess passed away. She has carried way too much sadness and burden on her shoulders, not to mention that her dearest younger sister Miya passed away during her most difficult time as well. However, when she realised that all her misfortunes were caused by someone else, she knew and she understood very well that she must stand up for her son. Thus she has always been hiding her illness, even from the Emperor and the Crown Prince, and appear as a strong, healthy and almighty Empress, despite her actual weak condition. She has been fighting against so many people, even including herself. She is indeed the strongest of them all, but she is still a human, and humans too have a limit on them. Maybe she has reached that limit and her body can no longer bear all the stress and burden she puts on it.

As a woman she has proven to the world that she can fight for her own survival. As a mother she has proven to the world that she has been able to bring up her child and protect him from all sorts of danger. As a wife she has proven to the world that she has never been a burden to the Emperor despite the fact that she can actually depend on him for her health.

However, as a human, maybe it is time for her to rest. She may still be young, but she is already on the verge of breaking down. She is already too tired. Maybe the Heavens are already pitying her and they want to let her rest, soon.

---

He remembers that he was once dropping into this state, indulging in jugs and jugs of alcohol everyday, no longer caring about his appearance. Now he looks just like any drunkard on the streets of the Capital, though the only difference may be that he wears the belt and crown that signifies his Imperial status as a Crown Prince.

Everyday, every single day, he drinks his wine in his room where no light can shine through, while staring straight at the doors. Every single time the door creaks open, he shoots up, hoping that the face that appears before him is Jade, just like during the times he was still under house-arrest around five to six year ago. However, every single time, the people who enter his room have never been the Mistress he misses. He knows that she will never appear before him anymore, but there is just this single tint of hope that he holds onto, hoping that miracles will happen.

And suddenly the doors creak open, letting streaks of sunlight shining through, blinding his eyes for a moment. He recognises that figure, he recognises that woman.