Yuna was lost inside the darkness within the deepest recesses of her mind. She had no clue where she was. She inspected her surroundings to make sense of her surroundings. She couldn’t see anything, and nothing made sense to her. Wasn’t she sparring with Namjoo just now? How did she get here? Did she die?She didn’t believe that she was dead. Her first death wasn’t like this. She was sent towards the heavens to meet with God. She was in a peculiar place with no one and nothing around her. The darkness reminded her of how lonely the world really is. No matter how many people loved and cared about her, she could only feel how lonely it all is after death. One statement stuck with her - Everyone must die alone. The solitude engulfed her.There was nothing and no one around. The only thing she could feel was the burning sensation that kept tearing at her insides. Something within her was changing. It felt like something was ripping apart her body and putting it back together. She couldn’t
Yuna trembled in fear, “Please don’t eat me!” To her surprise, the phoenix didn’t come closer. The phoenix erupted with laughter, “I’m sorry to disappoint, but I don’t eat humans. It should be the other way around.” Yuna thought to herself, “Huh?” The phoenix explained, “I guess you don’t know yet. You’ve just taken the elixir of the phoenix which is made with my heart as a recipe.” Yuna panicked when she heard that she had consumed one of its organs. She denied fervently, “I didn’t eat your heart. There’s no way I could’ve taken that elixir.”The last thing Yuna remembered was sparring with Namjoo. She didn’t recall ever taking the elixir of the phoenix. She begged, “I didn’t eat your heart so please let me go. This is unfair! I don’t even know how I got here.” The phoenix’s wings spread out magnificently. Yuna curled up in fright at the sudden movement. Her shivering came to a halt when she felt the wings wrap around her body. The flames didn’t burn her like she expected.The wings
Eunho was expecting to face an arrogant Prince Minho, but instead he was faced with the dead corpse of one of his soldiers. He clenched his teeth in fury at the scene. The soldier’s head was cut off cleanly and blood was pooled beneath the body. He remembered the soldier happily talking about his wife and kids. He was constantly working hard to earn money for his family.The soldier planned on retiring just a few days later to spend time with his family. He needed to work at an old age, because his wife and him conceived at an old age. After years of working, his plan was to retire once he earned enough for his family. He was weeks away from retirement.He felt immense guilt towards his wife and kids that were waiting for his return. The news would be devastating. He couldn’t imagine how much pain and sorrow they would be faced with. If only he let him retire sooner, he wouldn’t have died at this age.Once everyone heard of his death, the soldiers gathered around the corpse. They plac
Yuna stared at the familiar ceiling and the beautifully draped curtains that hung down over the bed. Her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. How is she in this room? She changed the future. It shouldn’t be possible. She quickly got out of bed and noticed the familiar furniture. The room was decorated luxuriously, and it felt like she had become empress. She dashed to the mirror to check.She sighed in relief when she noticed that she wasn’t her 19-year-old self. She couldn’t figure out how she was in the same bedroom inside the palace. She should be in her family home. Did Minho kidnap her while she was unconscious? Yuna looked at her reflection once more. There was something different about her.Her pale appearance was gone, and her face glowed beautifully. The dark circles under her eyes were gone and it looked like she grew a few inches. Her non-existent chest seemed to have grown as well. She wondered what could’ve happened for her to change so drastically. At that moment, she rec
Yuna’s previous room was unusually far from Prince Minho’s bedroom. She never questioned him because she liked the courtyard and its surroundings. Most people in the palace avoided this place because there were rumors about it being haunted with ghosts. They assumed that the concubines that died tragic deaths were sent to this courtyard. Their last moments were spent in this isolated place with no one around. Yuna never thought anything of it throughout the entire time she was engaged to Minho. She enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere and she especially liked that she wasn’t surrounded by dangerous people. The palace is a battlefield. Jealous concubines and high-ranking officials are constantly scheming in the palace. If Yuna would’ve looked more deeply into things, she would’ve realized that Minho had sent her there because he didn’t truly love her. He treated her like a worthless concubine, and she was too stupid to notice it. It was a good thing that she experienced living here. She kn
Yuna made her way out of the courtyard and towards the Pocheung (Jail Cell for Criminals). She couldn’t make her way inside because it was heavily guarded. She’d have to wait till nighttime to get past the guards. It was too bright out and she didn’t want to draw too much attention to herself. It would be easier at night.She decided to hide out somewhere before breaking into the Pocheung. She remembered a place that wasn’t too popular. There was a garden nearby. She remembered that not many people were permitted to enter the garden. The Emperor restricted people from entering the garden.This garden belonged to her Aunt Yuna that passed away years ago. The emperor had fond memories of her and didn’t want anyone else to ruin it for him. He restricted access to the garden for everyone including the Empress. After the emperor’s death, she would come to this garden frequently. Since the emperor is still alive, no one should be there.Yuna found a patch of grass and laid down behind a tre
Prince Jimin knew that the garden was off limits, but he wasn’t everyone else. He was special. His father favored him unlike his brothers and sisters. He was given special treatment. He was given permission to enter the garden only if he kept it a secret from the empress and his siblings. Jimin enjoyed the company of his family and friends, but he still needed alone time on occasion. He needed a place to think and the only place he could truly get alone time was the garden. There was nothing special about this garden, but he enjoyed going because he knew no one else would be there. While he was taking a stroll through the garden, he was shocked to find a girl there. Her voice flowed seamlessly with the atmosphere. The flower petals flew up from the ground, making her look like a fairy. Her glossy black hair swayed with the wind. She had her eyes closed while singing. There were plenty of girls in the palace with beautiful faces, but none of them made his heart tremble. Just the sigh
Jimin’s request surprised her, “Could we meet at least once a week?” Yuna was so dumbfounded, she didn’t know what to say. Did he think she had all the time in the world? Wasn’t he supposed to be busy? She had only one thought, this stupid prince only thinks about playing around. He should be worried about his scheming brothers and sisters. His death is approaching and all he can think about is playing around. Someone please smack some sense into this prince. Yuna tried her best to not show what she was thinking, but it was difficult. She definitely wanted to yell at him, but she knew that the only way to get out of this situation was to agree with him. Even if she had to agree, she wasn’t going to make it easy for him. Yuna put on a pouty face and acted sad, “I’d like to agree with you, but my father is very strict. Even if my father agreed, I still wouldn’t be able to. I’m very busy. I hardly have time to meet you once a week.” Prince Jimin was a sly on