Author's Note:
Before you begin, I would just like to
remind you to read the prologue first
because that's practically the foundation of this
entire book. I hope you enjoy your stay!
IN THE BEGINNING of time, the thought of civilisation was but a dream.
As the years passed, five kingdoms have been formed by great leaders who emerged from the midst of the people—Mirador, Erest, Karrstad, Stormhill and Elios.
For so long, the five kingdoms have been divided, constantly driven to the edge by each other until countless of men have been lost in war. Eventually, Elios rose up from among them and began to dominate the other four kingdoms, ruling over them as tyrants and forcing the other kings to their knees.
Jeon, the ruling family of Elios for half a dozen generations were unstoppable. Their powerful armies went rampage on the streets of leaders who'd rebel against them, villages torn down, countless other families massacred and their children taken as slaves.
King Jeon claimed that in order to have true peace, every person who threatened their authority must be eliminated.
The king was cunning, deceitful and arrogant. But intelligent and strong. He lived with a dream that all the five kingdoms would forever belong to his family, and as a result neglected the people's cries of need.
And as their power grew, so did hatred against them. This eventually led into rebellion, which brought along brutality and countless of casualties like never before.
Driven to the edge, the other three kingdoms, Mirador, Erest and Karrstad gathered together and in desperation, made a pact to overthrow the king of Elios. King Jeon's most trusted friend and second in command, Han, plotted against him in secrecy and eliminated every single member of the royal family, so that they may never again rise up against him.
He besieged the throne, and as the new ruler of Elios, rewarded the other three kingdoms with a peace treaty and returned to them the rightful power of each of their kings. The royal branch of Jeons were obliterated, wiped out by formal execution, while the other smaller branches were thrown out and looked down upon by the remaining societies.
And for a long time there was peace among the five kingdoms.
However, things are not always as it seems.
A YEAR AFTER the Han Revolution, a baby girl was born to the new royal family. Han Saeron, with eyes the colour of baby almonds and skin as soft as silk. As soon as the news was announced, colourful lights erupted in the sky; lights that were never seen before; popping so beautifully.
It was on this night that Jeon Sejin looked up. He pointed at the lights bursting on the black sky, before glancing down at the baby he rocked in his arms. "A beautiful sight, isn't it?"
It wasn't like the one year old baby could understand anything he was saying, but he found himself speaking to the child often.
"Would have been more beautiful if your mother was here, wouldn't?"
He leaned back against the bench and rocked the baby in his arms. The baby yawned, as if he was already bored of watching the sky and annoyed by the loud noises that kept popping. Sejin chuckled. "Alright then. Let's go inside now shall we?"
The sound of the fireworks drowned out, replaced by the gentle tune of a flute.
A few weeks after the birth of the Han princess, chaos ensured in the palace. The story of a poisoned baby, bitten by a snake after an incident in one of the royal gardens spread like wildfire.
But for some reason never publicly announced, the baby survived.
The folks called it a miracle, that she was a special child blessed by the Gods. And so the royal family gained more and more respect as the days passed, while the little Jeon boy grew older and wiser.
It was when he was 8 years old that the boy saw the castle for the first time.
His "father" had never let him go to the King's Capital for a reason he was never told. The young boy, curious fascinated, had followed a new friend all the way to the castle on one quiet night.
How he ended up there was a pretty complicated story.
You see, a flu epidemic had broken out in the kingdom at the time.
His father was a skilled doctor, perhaps one of the best. And although the other villagers and town folk were wary and insulted him often because of his name, the old man was always going around. He was always helping as much as he could; preparing medicine, checking in on the sick, providing shelter to those who were in need.
It was no surprise when his father had caught the flu as well. However, what made it complicated was that by the time his father had managed to cure everyone else, all of the medicine had run out.
Jeongguk had seen his father create the remedy hundreds of times to remember what the exact ingredients were. But he had everything else except for the most essential one. A fire lily.
It used to be easy to obtain one before the epidemic, but now that it had increased in demand, fire lilies were considered rare and expensive.
While helping his father with the sick, the boy had come across a family of nobles in their small village. A lord and his son had caught the flu but they heard tales of a doctor in a small village by the borders of Elios who had cured hundreds of people.
After curing them of the disease, Jeongguk befriended the son of the noble, who would then come every few months to visit the village. Park Jimin was a boy with bright eyes and the warmest smile. They were a stark contrast to each other; considering Jeongguk's dark and quiet demeanour. But somehow they managed to get along quite well.
Jimin lived in the castle, Jeongguk learned, because his father was a close friend to the royal family. The day Jimin found out about Sejin's disease, he dragged Jeongguk back to the King's Capital with him, certain that the castle gardens were filled with fire lilies.
Thanks to their small bodies and camouflaging skills, they managed to get through the gates of the King's Capital fairly easily without anyone noticing them.
"There's a secret entrance to enter the castle. I use it to sneak out often. This way!"
Jeongguk was as scared as he was desperate. The tall guards standing by the gate looked intimidating even from afar. He swallowed a lump in his throat.
Jimin led him through a tunnel under the walls that was well hidden by some bushes. The tunnel was quite small, but large enough for their bodies to pass through. Jeongguk questioned how his friend had managed to find this in the first place but decided not to ponder on it as soon as they popped out in a dimly lit garden.
At first, he had asked Jimin if he could just retrieve the flower for him but the younger boy had always admired Jimin when he told him stories about how fancy and luxurious life at the castle was. Now that Jeongguk was finally here, he had the urge to see more despite the nervous trembling of his body.
The garden was filled with flowers, as Jimin had promised. There was a walkway and a large pond where pretty white lotuses bloomed. Around them were filled were shrubs and trees and little lamps to provide light. Jeongguk didn't even realise he had his jaw dropped like a fool.
"Wait, wait, wait," Jimin suddenly halted and the other boy nearly bumped into his back, too mesmerised by the view to notice the older had stopped. "Didn't you say you wanted to see how the castle looked like?"
As much as he wanted to, Jeongguk knew how important the lily was to him and shook his head. "If we stay here any longer we'll get caught. Let's just get the flower and go."
Jimin nodded and tugged on his arm. "I remembered seeing it somewhere over there. Come on then."
Sure enough, the fire lilies were there, pretty red petals welcoming them. Jeongguk's eyes twinkled in awe. "There's your flower," Jimin said, feeling proud of himself. But the moment couldn't last forever, because all of a sudden the older boy heard a familiar voice calling out to him.
"Mister Park Jimin-ssi?"
"Shoot! It's my caretaker," Jimin whispered, but it was too late for him to hide because the woman had already pointed him out. "What are you doing over there? It's forbidden to be in the royal garden."
Jimin threw a quick glance at Jeongguk, apologising through his eyes. His caretaker probably didn't catch sight of the other boy yet, so it was still safe. Jimin signalled for Jeongguk to get down before turning back to the woman. "My bad. I must've gotten lost again."
Jeongguk tossed him a look of disbelief from where he was sprawled out on the ground.
The older put a hand over his mouth, whispering, "I'll be back in a minute. You get the flower and I'll meet you back at the tunnel."
And off he went, leaving the small boy alone among the lilies. As soon as Jeongguk deemed the coast safe enough, he crouched up and reached for the lily closest to him. As soon as his fingertips grazed the petal, he heard another voice.
Frankly speaking, it was a miracle his soul hadn't jumped out of his body because at that very moment when he looked up he saw a girl as young as he was, staring at him with hawk-like eyes but keeping a safe distance.
But what really terrified him wasn't the girl. It was the weapon she was pointing at him, and she definitely didn't look hesitant about letting the arrow loose on him.
"Thief," she uttered, arrow cocked and poised. For the first time in his life, Jeongguk felt as vulnerable as an animal.
How someone as tiny as her could hold a huge scary looking crossbow so naturally was lost on him. He parted his lips to defend himself, maybe to coax her into slowly lowering the weapon, but a huge lump formed in his throat and he found himself gaping awkwardly like a fish out of water.
"I—" He swallowed, but it didn't seem to help.
The girl raised a brow at him demandingly, clearly unconvinced. "Hands off the flower, thief," she bit out, eyes narrowed. It felt like she was staring right into his soul. Jeongguk internally wished that Jimin would hurry up with whatever he was up to and come back.
Nevertheless, the boy did as he was told and retracted his hand.
"Now take a step back slowly."
He took a step back, his arms dangling at his sides. "I-I'm not a thief," he muttered under his breath.
"You're a thief if you touch something that isn't yours," the girl seethed.
"But... it's just a flower," Jeongguk tries. "Plenty will grow back, won't it?"
He dared himself to look at the girl again. Her peach-coloured robes fluttered in the gentle night breeze, and there were flowers pinned onto her hair. If she wasn't holding such a scary thing in her hand he would've thought she looked pretty.
Jeongguk sucked in a deep breath and gathered up his courage to speak again. "Miss, all I want is one flower, and then I'll be on my way."
The girl squinted her eyes at him as if he just said something really offending. "If you touch them again I'll shoot you."
Okay, this was getting more difficult than he thought. He looked around, trying to find Jimin among the bushes but to no avail. He was going to have to do this himself.
Forgive me, m'lady, for what I'm about to do. As quickly as he could, he reached for the nearest lily to him, plucked it, and made a dash before the girl could properly make aim.
There was the sound of an arrow being let loose, but Jeongguk felt nothing on him. He rushed pass the girl but all of a sudden something tugged the back of his shirt and he was sent tumbling onto the grass. When he opened his eyes, they widened instantly at the sight of the same girl hovering over him.
This can't be it. She was straddling his thighs and both her hands were pinning his arms to the ground. He tried to wiggle himself free but it only seemed to intimidate her, because she increased the force of her hands and he cried out in pain. The grass was slightly wet under his back as he struggled to escape her grip.
"Stay down!" She said sternly. "Or you'll get hurt for real."
Jeongguk imagined what his father would feel if he'd heard that his son had been thrown into a dark cell charged with stealing a flower. What a shame that would bring! All of his father's efforts to reclaim their family name would all be for nought.
The boy whimpered, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest at this point. Suddenly there was the sound of footsteps approaching, and then a deep gruff voice asking if everything's alright. The girl's eyes lit up and she shouted out, "Guards! There's a thief over here!"
That seemed to be the final straw for him, because as soon as the words left her lips he was flipping them around with all the energy he had left. The girl yelped in surprise and before Jeongguk could register it all, a quick pain stroke his cheek.
She had scratched him on the face with a rock.
Deciding not to delay any longer, Jeongguk leaped back on his feet. But unfortunately before he could make a run, a hand wrapped around his ankle and gripped him tightly.
Okay, as small as this other kid was, she sure as hell was not going down without a fight.
Jeongguk has been in fights before; when he argued over the last piece of bread with other kids back at the marketplace. But it always resulted in him giving in before they could physically harm him.
Honestly, he wasn't the toughest kid around.
Anyway, back to the current situation. The girl pulled him by his ankle and he was sent tumbling to the ground, again. And she was tackling him down. The guards were coming, and he had to do something fast.
So he looked around, and without a second thought, heaved the girl off his body and tossed her.
Into.
The pond.
There was a loud splash and a high pitched squeal but Jeongguk wasted no time and rushed out of the garden back towards the tunnel. When he got there, Jimin was already waiting for him, panic written all over his face as he took in Jeongguk's appearance.
"For the love of God," the older said before pulling Jeongguk into the tunnel before closing up the entrance with a bush. "The princess slipped out of her night classes, again. Thank Heavens you didn't get caught or things would've gotten really ugly—"
"Wait," Jeongguk froze. "That was the princess?"
Jimin nodded, but the look he was giving Jeongguk seemed to say he found the question absurd. Was everyone supposed to know how the princess looked like anyway?
"Uh-huh? Princess Saeron. The only one. Hey, what happened to your face?"
Heavens save him. Jeongguk buried his face in his palms, crying out in disbelief. "Mayhaps I did a little something and... wrestled the princess?"
Jimin looked like his eyes were about to pop out of its sockets. "You what now?"
"And um," Jeongguk looked conflicted. He was dead dead. "I tossed her into the pond."
If it were possible for Jimin's eyes to grow any larger, it did. The older boy looked bewildered. But he snapped out of it and grabbed Jeongguk's hand.
"It's not treason if no one finds out it was you. Now hurry, before anyone sees us!"
And with that, the two boys made their way out of the tunnel and rode back towards the north.
Jeongguk's father was cured in no time, thanks to the medicine that Jeongguk made on his own. The boy never told him how he'd gotten the poppy despite being questioned dozens of times accompanied by his father's concerned eyes.
He figured that it probably wouldn't matter anyway.
Author's Note:
I feel like I'm entering a new world writing this ngl. Feel free to let me know what you think and if there's anything more I can improve because honestly I think I'm pretty bad at descriptions. They always take me a really long time to come up with and it's brain wrecking. However, you can picture the setting anyhow you want.
Anyway, here's your usual reminder that I appreciate you whoever you are and I hope to see you around soon.