It had been two full weeks since the Emperor's departure from the City. He had left to bring a friend back home,....a friend who eventually arrived alone in the city.
Rumors had been circulating that the princess from the brother kingdom had arrived, although one had seen her for days. She was supposed to enter the city gates three days ago. The citizens had gathered early in the morning at the gates to welcome her, but it was all in vain.
When Yura arrived, she had entered the city secretly with Meiylin's help. Although the princess had no idea, she could understand that someone was helping from the shadows. Entering the city was no joke, so for her to enter without anyone knowing was impossible. But she had entered only to be captured by soldiers and taken to the place. The soldiers had claimed to give all the care she needed till they reached the gates. The princess had thought it was the Emperor's order until she saw a young Noble lady by the palace entrance. Her disdain and irritation evident.
Meiylin was supposed to welcome the princess, but she didn't.
With Yura's knowledge and experience, she could tell that the young lady Eunuch Song had told her about would make a big deal out of it. Yura was a woman too, she could tell it would sound disrespectful if you were told to leave your house and travel to welcome someone who might be a threat to your love life.
During the journey, Eunuch Song had introduced the princess a bit about the new nobles she didn't know or hadn't met but probably needed to know about. Their presence in the Empire was either for the honor of the Emperor or because they were of great use to the Empire. Since Yura was to be the Queen in the near future, she thought that was the reason she had to know all the influential nobles. The young lady from the North City, the no man's land where wealth defined someone's status, was one of the people introduced to her.
Eunuch Song introduced her as a childhood friend, someone from a place that had helped the Empire somehow, somewhere. He hadn't gone into details for some reason about her, which made the Princess more intrigued than she already was by this so-called childhood friend's identity.
The childhood friend sounded cliché, for someone who had left her land and followed a man, only to be disrespected like that. There had to be more to her.
(*As I said, Yura was a woman too. She could feel it when another woman was disrespected from afar.*)
During that introduction, she had taken the opportunity to ask about the Kim family. Eunuch Song had tried to shove her curiosity aside, continuing with his introductions. "Prince Gwang, he is not the youngest, but he's taken that title somehow."
"I have heard of him," Princess Yura spoke first, she was more interested in Yunxi's matter but the Eunuch didn't like he was going talk about him. The old man looked at her suspiciously as if sensing something which made her continued her sentence, "Rumors of that kind travel fast." Eunuch Song sat straight, his face full of hesitation.
"You should stay away from that boy. He's terrible news," he started. "I don't know what it is that you take him for, but what I know is that…" Song paused as if hesitating a little, then continued, "He is not your friend, nor will he be more than what he is right now."
Princess Yura looked straight ahead, determination visible in her eyes, then she spoke, "You take him for a criminal, I get that. You want him to be one, am i not right? I don't care about any of those things, mister, but…"
"Your Highness, you are not understanding my point, so… I will make it clear." The Eunuch turned to look at her. His flat and cold look was enough to bring chills to whoever looked back, but Yura didn't look. She needed not to, she had already decided what she wanted.
"You think you will do anything to have him? Accept that he doesn't count you among the people he can be with." That did it. Yura looked back at the old man, tears threatening to fall. Then Song continued, "You can't have someone who doesn't want to be had. That means you will have to take him. Will you snatch him? Can you play dirty? Because if you can't, then you've already lost the game before you even moved a piece."
With all that lecture, the carriage had reached its destination, as it finally stopped.
Yura prepared to leave, anger flaring in her eyes, but the old man spoke again, making her pause in her movements.
"You are not one of those fools who think they can snatch away things that already belong to others."
Yura turned with fury. "Brother Yunxi is not something to be owned…" Tears flowed uncontrollably. She couldn't take it anymore. But this was reality, and it was just the beginning.
"Well, I think you fell for the wrong person, or we are talking about two different people and things." The old man's words were sharp as he continued, "The 'brother yunxi' you are bluffing about might be someone who can't be another's property, but the Kim Yinxi I know, is someone's property, and he's bound to be."
The mocking smile that tugged on his lips disappeared as he grabbed the princess's wrist, pulling her close, and sneered. "Kim Yunxi, the boy you can't really have."
Fear filled the princess's eyes. The old man was no joke to laugh at. He had pulled her like a doll, gripping her wrist hard enough to hurt as he spoke.
And the more he spoke, the harder his grip became. Yura was not brave enough to ask him to let go, nor was she a little brave to even speak.
"Yunxi is something that can be owned by those brave and powerful enough to take him. He is a property, an expensive one, and he is already owned. His owner swings his sword lightly. Don't get yourself killed, kid."
Yura's eyes widened, terror evident. Eunuch Song grew scarier by the second and finally pushed her back as he finished. Before turning to his side and leaving the carriage, he spoke.
"You will have to be stronger than them to have the boy."
---
The princess couldn't stop replaying those terrible memories in her head. She felt goosebumps as the feelings and voices echoed in her mind. She wondered what the heck was happening in this Empire. Everything was unfamiliar, like a new world, similar to the one she used to know. She had lived here as a child. The laughter of her childhood felt like a blur. Now, in the room she used to live in, those memories of her own laughter felt like a made-up story. She felt so bad for herself.
Then came the memory of Meiylin. She had come for her from that hotel near the city gates where they had planned to stay until the Emperor arrived. She remembered Jing being threatened with execution if he didn't give way for the so called Queen's passage. Everything felt so messed up and frightening.
Was she ever going to find peace here?