The Cold Emperor

Chapter 20

"What's wrong, what did he say?!"  Jungkook asked bewildered as he jogged up into your direction. Seeing your blanched face and your hands shaking in shock, he froze in his steps. "Y/N? Y/N, what wrong?" He asked again, feeling is own panic rise up. When you failed to utter the words that were frozen on your tongue, Jungkook looked at Jimin and saw him holding the scroll, looking as horrified as you. When he pulled the scroll from Jimin's hands and scanned through the contents on the paper, his jaw locked in fury. "Nothing like that is going to happen Y/N; over my dead body," he gritted through his teeth. Jimin finally seemed the snap out of his thoughts and looked at you as well. "He is right; you will do no such thing," he assured. "B-but I will be his concubine, I will have no choice," you uttered, hating how your voice broke. Jungkook crouched down in front of you and held your hand, making you look at him directly. "You are right, you will be there as his concubine, but even a concubine has to marry first. You are so renowned throughout both empires; he will have to wait until you are married, otherwise it will be an insult to your and to Emperor Min," Jungkook explained calmly, instantly soothing your soul.

"He might be willing to attack the empire behind our backs, but he is not so foolish to anger Emperor Min over you. He knows that he will dig his own grave if he does something like that," he assured. You nodded slowly, feeling a wave of relief wash over you. "He is right, don't worry about it anymore, I will be by your side the entire time and I promise you; no one will dare to lay a finger on you," Jimin promised with a deadly gaze. With a deep sigh you urged Jungkook to continue the journey and lead the convoy. Both Jungkook and Jimin had made you feel safe enough to continue. You were willing to do anything for mission, but this was a step you were not willing to take. With them on your side, there was nothing holding you back to fulfil the mission you were planning to finish. After hours and hours of travelling, you finally made it to the imperial palace. You looked around in wonder; although it was filled with golden sculptures and extravagant riches, it was nowhere close to Yoon's palace. As your convoy entered the palace grounds, there was no one there to welcome you. "This shows that manners that Zhao has," Jimin spat in rage. Although you felt insulted, there was a small part of you that was happy not to face him yet.

When you walked out of your palanquin, a group of maids appeared from the palace. "Lady Y/N, His Highness Emperor Zhao sends his regards," they announced with a bow. "We were instructed to guide you to your quarters so you can freshen up and then you are invited to dine with His Highness,"  the head of the maids explained. "I will make sure that all your maids and servants are properly given a place to stay and then I will visit you after," Jungkook informed you. With this agreement you, Jimin and Minji went to your assigned rooms. After resting for some time, Minji helped you to get ready for dinner. You were absolutely dreading to see him, but this was the only way to complete the mission and to make sure that he wouldn't hurt your people. As you walked to the throne room wearing one of the most heavy and expensive hanboks you had ever seen, you felt the comforting presence of Jimin and Jungkook on either side of you. When a guard announced your presence, two heavy doors opened to lead you inside. You didn't really know what to expect, but reality was far different than what you could have imagined. Whereas Yoon was young, spirited and intimidating, Emperor Zhao was old and frail-looking, taking you off guard. 

"Your Highness, it is a pleasure to meet you," you said with a deep bow. "Ah, I see that Min knows how to pick his women," Zhao said with a grating voice. As you straightened your back and looked up at him, you had to force yourself not to recoil. Zhao was proudly showing off his stumps of rotten teeth; making you gag at the sight. "Thank you for being so generous and hosting your dinner," you uttered formally, trying hard to keep your posture. "Keeping you well fed is the least I will do once your belly will swell with my offspring," he said while making a guttural sound; probably his version of a laugh. Besides you, you could see Jungkook's hands clenching into fists with fury. "These are of course matter to discuss later," you said with a weak smile, trying to diffuse the situation. "I suggest we eat first and discuss these matters later." After you peacefully made it through dinner, which was nothing less than a miracle, you wanted to retire to your room before you were interrupted. "Where do you think you are going? My room is not into that direction," Zhao barked. "Your Highness, under our empire's rules and regulations, a man can only bed his concubine after marriage, as she is not a prostitute. Lady Y/N will remain in her own quarters until the wedding will take place," Jimin firmly announced. 

"This is preposterous! You are not in your own empire anymore, this is MY land!" Zhao bellowed as he stood up in rage. "I understand this very well, Your Highness, but by not respecting our rituals and customs, you will directly insult OUR emperor," Jimin spat back; eyes blazing with fury. If you weren't supposed to be the demure Royal Concubine right now, you would have sliced Zhao's throat for even looking at you this way. "I do however have an alternative in the meantime," Jimin announced, making you and Jungkook both look at him in surprise. "Lady Y/N and I will both perform a dance in your honour and for your entertainment." 

It had been two days now since Yoon had left the palace in General Hoseok's hands. He was the only person he could trust to rule and defend the palace until his return. Throughout the journey his suspicions on the relationship between Captain Kim and Agust seemed to grow bigger and bigger. They tried to appear neutral towards each other, but there was a strange undertone to their interactions. There seemed to be a heavy layer of tension whenever they were together. Up until now it had not mattered what their equation was, but during war times it was essential to know who could turn against you at any time.  

Yoon made it his personal mission to figure out what had happened between the two, and now seemed to be the perfect moment. He instructed his horse to slow down until he was riding next to Taehyung. "It must be great for you to catch up with your old friend," Yoon said casually. Taehyung visibly flinched at hearing his words, before he carefully adjusted his expressions to a neutral gaze. "We had grown apart from each other after various years; so there wasn't much to discuss," he said with a slightly hoarse voice. "But still, I imagine that seeing him must bring up some wonderful old memories; playing together, having fun and running around in the streets," Yoon interjected, catching him gulping weakly. "I-I," Taehyung started, feeling his cheeks turn scarlet in shame. "What do you want to know, Your Highness," Taehyung sighed in defeat. "I want to know the truth," Yoon said with a hard gaze, "What truly happened between you two." Taehyung looked down, no longer able to hold Yoon's gaze. "We were indeed best friends growing up," He started, looking ahead as if he could see the scene unfold in front of him. "We used to play together on the streets when we were younger and discovered to world together," he said with a weak smile. 

"It all changed after I got scouted for the Hwarang; we didn't see each other anymore for a long time. I had to slip away at night to visit him. As we grew up, the feelings we had for each other stopped being innocent and we fell in love," he said as his voice broke. "We tried to keep seeing each other but we got caught. That's when I had to make a decision; the Hwarang or him. I chose the Hwarang, as I was afraid to fall into poverty again," Taehyung said with a silent sob,. "He never forgave me for choosing the group over him. He promised to make a name for himself and show that I had made a big mistake; so he became the biggest crime lord of the empire." Yoon kept quiet after hearing his words, not really sure what to say. Yoon was not the conservative type and he did not care about who people loved, but that was not the case for the culture they lived in. Two man or two women loving each other was considered a disgrace and was not accepted in society. He understood the great dilemma that Taehyung must have gone through. Just when he was about to utter a response, he was interrupted by a messenger charging towards him. "Your Highness, there is an urgent message for you," he said as he rushed off his horse.

"Lady Y/N has urgently requested you to come and siege the palace"