Labyrinth of Love

Stand in a Fire

Hello to all my readers. How have you been? I normally do not write author's note at the beginning of a chapter. However, I'm doing this because this chapter contains hints of rape and a bit of violence at the end. This is just to warn you all. But, I can assure you that nothing too graphical is portrayed. 

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The Lotus Palace was beautiful. It was designed in the shape of a lotus. The palace had intricate works of floral patterns which were highlighted by the detailed designs of golden lotus on its walls. Those golden lotuses were made of real gold. The medium sized majestic palace was surrounded by a well decorated garden where lotuses were grown in huge quantities along with other colourful orchids and various types of roses. 

This palace was the replica of the Lotus Palace of the original Dong Bang empire which was marked as the resident of the queens. King V constructed such a palace to hold on to that tradition. However, since at present King V had no queen, so, the Lotus Palace was occupied by the head of the royal concubines, Lady Hyuna.

Lady Hyuna was the daughter of the minister of culture and education of Bangtan kingdom. She was the most beautiful woman in the country. With a fair skin and sharp, proportionate features combined with a beautiful smile and good manners, Lady Hyuna easily won over V when she came to the royal palace during the first year of the "Royal Concubine Selection" ceremony.

King V was especially fond of Hyuna since she had the right amount of arrogance and kindness one should possess if the person was of royal blood. Also, Hyuna was a learned and wise woman. Her precision about the inside happenings of the palace often proved to be right. Hyuna single handedly ran the Lotus Palace and sometimes even took over the Royal Palace. She performed all the duties of a queen just without the title.

People often speculated that Lady Hyuna would eventually become the queen. Hyuna knew half of the respects she got, was because of that speculation. She showed indifference to all these remarks and speculations. But in the inside, she relished all the attentions she received as the future queen. Never having any competition as she was the sole occupant of the Lotus Palace meant for the queen, Lady Hyuna thought it was only a matter of time as she really becomes the queen. After all, she was born and raised to be a queen.

Imagine the shock Lady Hyuna got when Diya was escorted to the Lotus Palace before her eyes. Hyuna was present at the party and watched the king spending time near Diya. But at that time, Hyuna thought V was talking to Lady Min, the wife of the chief advisor. She never imagined that by the end of the night she would get her very first rival. This made Hyuna immensely uncomfortable.

Diya was absolutely amazed when she was escorted to the Lotus Palace. The grandeur of the royal palace was present here as well but this one gave off a feminine vibe. While thinking of the palace like that, Diya herself was not sure what that was supposed to mean!

The maids were guiding her to the room she would be staying. But before they arrived, someone blocked their path. Diya looked up to find an excruciatingly beautiful woman in front of her. The maids bowed at the lady. Watching them, Diya also bowed. The woman cocked an eyebrow and examined Diya from head to toe.

"I'm Lady Hyuna, the head of the royal concubines and the future queen of Bangtan. State your name, girl," Hyuna sounded totally arrogant and rude. This was the first time Lady Hyuna felt challenged and she refused to take it easy on her rival.

On the other hand, Diya almost chocked but somehow formed words to answer the woman, "My... My name is Diya, my lady."

"Diya huh? I see... Enjoy your stay as long as it lasts." Lady Hyuna left quickly after saying that.