Warning: This story contains a yandere and themes of violence at times so please proceed at your own risk. Thank you very much and I hope you are pleased with my story.
Was this really the end for you? To think you would have to sustain such an untimely death was already upsetting enough. Or was there still some sort of hope for your survival? However, you believed that if there was such a thing as a way out of this situation then you would have still been drowning in pain.
The pain had melted away what seemed like an eternity ago, and yet you remained in this pit of darkness, so suffocatingly silent. At least before, the ruckus of the ambulance's sirens and the blurry blaring of their crimson-red and cerulean-blue lights were telling you that you were still alive.
If this lifetime of shadow was what awaited you in the future, you didn't want it. In fact, you would much rather just completely dissipate as though you had ever ceased to exist instead of keeping yourself company for the rest of time until the taciturn quietness drove you insane.
Just as these thoughts of doubt begun to plague your mind, it was as though a speck of life had dripped onto your left chest, riveting your body into movement. You took in a deep breath and felt consciousness rush through your veins like a flood of energy, overtaking your frame with vitality and soon enough, you bolted upwards, gaining enough strength to part your eyelids.
As your [E/C] eyes came to greet the world once again, the least expected thing was what greeted you. The rumbling beneath you, the sound of rocks scattering across wooden planks and stone, the distant chatter of foreign accents you had never quite heard before. All these things were already strange enough as it is, yet when your blurry vision became clear you were met with the most ridiculous sight furthest from expectation.
You came to view houses rushing by with each uncomfortable bump you endured, in a rectangular shape with chestnut veranda posts holding up a roof made of charcoal tiles that were as dark as lacquer, gilded at the edges with gold that seemed to hold the sunlight itself. The roof tiles met at the highest point of the roof where a large ridge extended in a scarlet rouge and ink-black colour that matched well with it. The walls were made of a material painted over with murals depicting different things depending on the house, yet they all seemed to follow the theme of nature. The houses also had latticed windows with matching sliding doors leading out to a coffee-coloured, wooden veranda.
It was difficult to see any finer details but the houses all seemed fairly similar, with mainly magnolia and bamboo trees decorating their front gardens, leading to the low-risen walls fencing off the estate's land. As you continued to take in your surroundings, you took note of the fact that you were on a horse, sat sideways yet held securely in place by fairly muscular arms on either side of your body as the owner stretched forwards to keep a tight grip on the reigns.
You nervously felt your heart skip a beat as you looked up to the stranger, who glanced down at you for a moment, their brown eyes like hues that held their memories, as light-hearted as a child's playtime yet steady and firm like an elder's final steps. Just from that glance, you yearned to look into their eyes once again, as they seemed to tell a story of their own, like a window straight into the young man's soul. You wanted to know more about this person immediately.
"It seems you have awoken. I would have expected you to be restless today, rather than fatigued. I must admit though, you look so peaceful when you're asleep that it feels like a sin to wake you up myself," The man confesses, his pink lips upturning into a smile. He had light brown skin, honeyed to perfection and tanned by days of tiring work in the cruel sunlight which matched well with his unruly, rich caramel strands of hair that cupped his face.
Reminding yourself of the situation you were in, you could feel panic begin to arise. Trying your best to keep a cool head, you noticed that your [S/C] skin and [H/C] hair remained just as they were before you had been launched into that pit of darkness, and yet even though you thought you had died in a car crash there wasn't as much as a bruise, nor a scratch on your body.
"Where are we?" You interrogate him, yet tried to play it off as something rather casual. This man looked at you with a sense of familiarity, even though you appeared to look just as you did before waking up in this strange place. What in the world was going on?
"We're in Masaoki, remember? The houses of the higher class really are quite impressive, aren't they?" He confirms with you in his rather raspy voice which had a deep timbre.
"Ah, right," You reassure him, a nervous laugh leaving your lips as you look around some more, trying to familiarise yourself with the area. "The houses really are splendid," You say as they pass by along with the occasional person on the road that had their hair decorated with golden pieces of jewellery and gems of different colours. They wore clothes made of linen and silk, with translucent fabric which added the dream-like appearance of rain.
"Why aren't there that many people out?" You question the young man, avoiding saying his name or even bringing up the need to.
"Because Masaoki is a residential area for the high-class and it's still rather early in the morning. I think that perhaps nobles enjoy awakening rather late here. I decided to take this road out of the four main ones to the palace because the other three are practically flooding with merchants since it goes through the business district. Naturally, this is the most peaceful way there," He answers you, raising his brow slightly, as though surprised you didn't know this already.
"Of course," You corroborate to him, deciding to finally turn your head forwards. Your breath hitches at the sight of a castle, nearly 8 stories high, made of pearly marble walls which you could tell were at a staggering height even though you were still quite a distance away. Between each floor were ruby-red and midnight-black eaves that fit the theme of the surrounding area with the same golden detailing you had seen before, except much more excessive and ornate. With each movement, a different flicker of light hit your orbs with curiosity.
The palace mimicked the shape of a pagoda, as the tiered, rectangular building was so large that each corner stretched to opposite sides of the colossal walls gating off any sort of outsider. In fact, it looked more like a fortress for those overtaken with grief. While you couldn't see the palace well as it nestled behind those protective, ashen stone walls with vermillion tiles upon the top, you could already see how breathtaking that it was. Just the aura surrounding screamed out imperial authority and complete submission to whoever was the master of its chambers. Something so great - something so breathtaking - must have suited its owner.
"You seem to be accepting your fate now, yet before you were thrashing about. I know we're childhood friends but... I have a loyalty to your mother which I can not break. I think you should be proud of yourself, this is a noble sacrifice you are making," He speaks words of comfort, making you aware of the fact that perhaps you were meant to be concerned about your situation. You adjust been trusted back into life, and here you were, already in a complicated sitch.
"Am I really making that great of a sacrifice right now?" You ask, not a hint of timidity in your tone.
"Perhaps sacrifice isn't the word, considering your mother has sold you off to the emperor to be the latest addition of his harem. The emperor... even I begin to tremble just at the thought of him," The man's voice grows weaker as he continues to speak, and his once delightful gaze darkened to become the shade of rotten pears.
You had absolutely no clue what was going on. Was the emperor truly this frightening? Even this seemingly confident, bright young man had begun to tremor to his very toes just at the mention of his ruler. The imperial monarch of this place - no, this world. You had to accept that maybe you weren't even in your own world anymore, or if you were, you didn't have the slightest clue. The best thing that you could do right now is trying to silently get more information so that you could at least survive.
"The emperor has paid a really great amount for you, and your mother even split the pay with some of us back home so we don't interfere. This is the reason that I'm afraid I can't be your friend anymore the moment you enter that place. It'll be a fight for your life. Every move you make will be under the unforgiving gaze of the people within that cage. I've heard stories from behind those walls that are simply too grim to even describe. No matter what, you must make sure you please the emperor. If he is unhappy, only God knows what sort of misfortunes will come upon the village," He whispers to you, his gaze unwavering from the limestone road ahead, engraved with a pattern of vines and blossoms which matched the pale cherry trees at either side.
"So you all sold me off to the emperor to make some money?" You repeat what you believed he had just revealed to you, a trace of disgust in your voice.
Reluctantly, he bites his bottom lip before nodding his head: "Yes. There is no way to sugarcoat it. I think that this whole time you already knew. That is why I don't want to be friends with you anymore, [Name]. I don't want any sort of connection to the emperor because truthfully, I have no faith in the belief you can survive there. He kills people for even the simplest things. If you were to do something unspeakable, I could end up dead too. But before you go, just know that I am thankful. I now have enough money to study abroad."
"Let me get this straight," You begin, raising your fingers to your temples and massaging them in an attempt to calm yourself down as you spoke. "You've sold my life away to a man who is most likely going to kill me just because you wanted to study abroad?"
"Well, the emperor paid so much for you that we were able to give a substantial amount of gold coins to each person in our minuscule village. I can understand why you aren't happy, but you've made everybody's lives better by doing this. Even if your mother didn't tell you until earlier today, it's too late to go back and it would have been rude to turn down the emperor's offer," He admits.
"Why would the emperor want me in particular?" You desperately query your supposed 'childhood friend' as the horse begins to slow down, pausing in front of the undoubtedly tall barrier surrounding the castle, in front of an extravagant gate decorated with jade and gold in the shape of dragons and orchids, accompanied with two thick, white pillars at either side that had a pair of knights.
"He randomly chose you, don't flatter yourself," He hisses cruelly, suddenly cold as he pauses in front of the gate, which was made of slim bars of silvery metal closely compacted to one another, like the moonlight and its stars twinkling around it as though they were its lovers, each pining over the great, pearl moon.
"State your business coming to the palace's private entrance," One of the guards yell out strictly, hitting the bottom of the spear in his left hand against the light grey pavement, the sharp sound clashing with your eardrums.
"This is [Name] [Last Name], I am delivering her to the emperor on my steed today because she is to join his harem," The once charming man speaks back in a voice loud enough for the knights to hear.
"Give her to us, you are not allowed in the palace; only she is allowed inside," The guard announces boldly, turning his head to glare at you.
They wore a uniform which was made of pitch-black fabric on top of a white shirt with a collar that stood up snugly near the neck, one side of the darker fabric folded over then cinched at the waist by a statement piece of blood crimson fabric tied around it and holding it in place yet clashing with the twinkling, silver detail that seemed like moon dust was used to paint the portrait of a dragon upon their right chest. On the bottom half were matching, baggy pants however they stopped mid-calf due to the burgundy leather boots that they wore.
You swear you could have heard a sigh of relief exit the mans figure as he gestures you to jump off of the horse and make your way to the guards. There was no way left to go but forwards on this path of life for you. You had to play along if you wanted to live from what you could tell. If this truly terrible emperor had bought you to be his property, and such a gracious amount too, then he wouldn't exactly be pleased if you were to run away for your freedom right at his doorstep.
Smoothly jumping down onto the stone road from the colourless horse, your sandals click on the floor and you bend your knees as you come into contact with the earth. This was your first time walking since what had happened, so naturally, you were nervous, only to be pleased to find that it was no different to how you remembered it. Taking cautious steps to the guards, the moment that you were close enough to one of them, the one who spoke immediately gripped onto your left arm forcefully.
"Come this way," The guard demanded you as the gates were opened by a different set of guards on the opposite side of the barrier surrounding the palace.
You hastily nod your head, feeling threatened by the guard's intimidating aura. This was all so much to take in that you couldn't even spare a minute to theorise about why you were now in this place.
"Can I ask what country we're in right now?" You say to the guard, who by now was pulling you past the gate and into the enormous front garden of the palace.
"We're in Xiryin. Surely you have been educated to some extent, my lady?" The guard retorts firmly, his voice rather gentle despite how rough he was being with you. Ahead of you was the substantial and godly-large palace straight over a massive stone bridge going across a sapphire lake in the middle of the front garden, lined with exotic flowers and shrubs in all sorts of colours that you had not seen before. The almond blossoms were a colourless petal in full of bloom, so tall that they extended over the bridge, spilling their beauty onto the stone and the lilypads of the lake below.
The pale grey, granite path stretched about eight to ten meters in width, with the middle made of a darker shade of grey that was carved to depict illustrations of dragons full of vigour among thin, swirling clouds battling in an intense ballet against peonies fluttering yet held in the stone permanently in place, their beauty trapped for the rest of time.
Given the guard's response, you deducted that you really were in a different world, or at least somewhere that you had never heard of before. So far, everything seemed relatively similar to your own world besides some parts of the scenery, nature and people. Of course, you were sure that there were more underlying changes but for now, things were very similar.
Next of all, was there any sort of way that you could get home back to your friends and family or were you going to be stuck here forever? It felt wrong being in somebody else's place - what had happened to the person whom you transmigrated to? It was possible that this was a 'glitch' in the universe, or maybe not; it was also a possibility that the universe had put you in here for a reason, that reason you did not know.
You had been conveniently transported here at what seemed like a vital part of this person's life, and you still seemed to hold some of their important memories. However, you found that your 'childhood friend' didn't seem to react differently even though your appearance must have changed. There were several theories that could be made from this-
Your trail of thought is cut off as you bump into something on accident and immediately squeezed your eyes shut. Having been distracted by your own mind, you were lucky to be stabilised as an arm slithered around your waist nearly immediately due to the person's quick reflexes, and soon enough your stumbling feet were planted on the ground steadily once again.
"You should watch where you are going, my lady. If you can't even be careful where you walk, then my job to look after you will be more difficult than I thought," A masculine voice states in a deep tone, which rumbled like winter waves of the ocean collapsing on the beach, with an afternote of gentle softness.
"I'm sorry, I was deep in thought," You immediately explain yourself, opening your eyes to look up at a young man with tawny hair, like sun-loved acorn ready to meet the earth as it reached its full potential, that was long and trailed to just about three quarters down his back; his hair was as smooth as strands of silk, primly tied back with a golden piece in the shape of a bundle of leaves. His dreamy, deep brown eyes imitated amber polished by the sunrays of newborn dawn. This man was handsome, from the depth of those eyes of his to the gentleness in his voice and the tender smirk on his lips that assured you that maybe not everybody in this palace was going to be bad.
"It's quite alright. It's just that I didn't quite expect my new supervisor's first impression to be bumping into me when I saw them walk over here. I panicked a bit when you came so close and couldn't stop you quickly enough, my apologies," He continues politely, trying his best to ease you, given that he could see how tense your muscles were right now.
"I should be the one apologising, I'll be more careful next time," You admit, waving your hand in a way to persuade him not to be bothered nor concerned too much about it.
"I shall introduce myself - I am Liqiang Hideki Wang and the emperor has hired me as your personal assistant. I shall be looking after you and your needs, along with doing my best to keep you out of trouble. Therefore, I recommend summoning me before venturing anywhere. It is an honour to serve you, my lady," He speaks regally before bowing and taking your hand into his and gently placing it on his heart as he finishes: "I swear my loyalty to you from today on once the Imperial Contract has been signed."
"The imperial contract?" You echo, looking around confused, only to find the guard had already left, given that he had escorted you all the way over the bridge and most likely left silently to leave you in the hands of Liqiang.
"We should speak about it inside your private chambers. The contract is confidential and you never know who could be listening... either way, welcome to the emperor's harem," Liqiang says, rising up from his bow with a light smile. His outfit was nothing short of refined and classy; he sported a dull, duck-egg blue piece like a sky overtaken with clouds and threatening to fall with snow, which was imitated by the thinner layer underneath. The yukata-style piece had black borders which helped his countenance stand out more, contrasting beautifully with the loose yet milky jacket he wore on top, with sleeves which draped down to be embroidered generously with gold.
"I would have thought the emperor would welcome me," You suggest, tilting your head helplessly. If the emperor had spent so much to purchase you, surely he would have wanted to come and see you.
"Perhaps - I can't say for certain. That emperor is so unpredictable, sometimes I wish he'd say what's on his mind more. I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore, considering that you are now the one I am dedicated to serving. Fortune must be on my side if I really do get to be by your side," Realising what he had allowed to slip from his mouth, Liqiang looks away with a rosy blush spreading across his pale cheekbones. "On another note, being in the emperor's harem means you must sign the imperial contract. There are certain terms that you must follow."
"Like?"
"Do not ever fall in love with the emperor."
Status: Unedited.
A/N: How exciting! The beginning of a new story. I'll try my best to update frequently, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.