“The Emperor and the Crown Prince of the Flame Dragon Empire has arrived!” a eunuch announced before bowing low. That man must be one of the senior eunuchs of this palace.
I hated the horrendous fact that the people of my village had chosen me as their sacrifice and offered me as part of the spoils of war to this empire after our small country was conquered. The villagers resented my existence so it came as no surprise that if a woman had to be sent to serve as a slave to the Empire, it would be me, the one they hated the most and needed the least.
Two men entered the grand hall where around a hundred women were standing in rows like trophies on display, I was one of them. We were all dressed to please and entice men. We all wore the same dress, common for the concubine of this palace, in the bright red auspicious color of this empire. Simultaneously, we bowed low to greet the Emperor and his favorite son, the Crown Prince of the Flame Dragon Empire. I kept my head low and my eyes casted down to avoid catching anyone’s attention or inviting trouble.
Needless to say, a lowly commoner like me has never been in the presence of royalty, not one from my homeland and definitely not one from a foreign country. My homeland was nothing more than a small town, we didn’t actually have royalty, but we do have a governing family that served as the Elder of the village. I didn’t know how to react, so I copied what the other women in the room were doing; I bowed low and kept my eyes down on the floor. Perhaps, if they didn’t take interest in me, I could return home.
“Your Majesty and Your Highness, we have gathered beautiful and talented women far and wide to present for your choosing. These fine women have been specially nominated from their hometown to pay tribute to your greatness. Please do let us know if any of them pleases you,” the old Eunuch proudly announced as he gestured to the rows of women standing in the grand hall.
“Before that, I have a very important announcement to make. The woman who manages to become pregnant with the Crown Prince’s child will be immediately promoted to the Empress of the Flame Dragon Empire along with the Crown Prince ascension to the throne as the new Emperor. As per the traditions and customs of our Empire, the Crown Prince is only able to become the Emperor once his woman is pregnant with an heir to secure the royal bloodline. I sincerely hope that the future Empress of this Empire is one of you lovely ladies standing in this hall,” the Emperor announced in an authoritative booming voice that echoed throughout the hall.
“Father! … Your Majesty!” the Crowned Prince exclaimed in apparent shock at this father’s announcement. It was clear that he had not been informed of such an arrangement beforehand. In other circumstances, I may have pitied the poor guy. However, my current mood and situation does not leave enough room for me to sympathize with other people.
“I am an old man already. I want you to take over the throne as soon as possible, and more importantly, I want to see the face of my grandchild. You will do your duty and pick some women to bed in order to produce an heir!” the Emperor replied sternly. His words were final.
The Crown Prince bit his lower lip in annoyance and frustration as he eyed the endless rows of women in the vast hall. They all look the same, he thought, how will I be able to choose. I don’t even want a woman in my life. Why isn’t it enough to just go to war and expand this Empire’s territory as I’ve always done? It’s not like I even want to be the next Emperor…
“If I may humbly suggest, in order to assist with the Crown Prince’s selection, would it be an acceptable idea to get each woman to introduce herself and showcase her special talent? I am sure all of them have been chosen to represent their homeland based on their exquisite beauty and outstanding talent,” the senior eunuch recommended before bowing low.
“That sounds like a great idea! Let’s start at once. I would like to find my future daughter-in-law as soon as possible!” the Emperor exclaimed, clearly pleased. While the Crown Prince had a tight frown on his face.
What?! I’m supposed to display some type of talent! I was never told of this before. Obviously, I had nothing prepared and I didn’t have any special talent for that matter. Well, perhaps this was working in my favor, if I don’t attract the Crowned Prince attention then I can just go back to my poor village and return to my peaceful life once again. Since I was standing almost to the very back of the hall, I had time to observe the other women go first and prepare myself mentally.
“My name is Fan Misuki from the Kingdom of Azure Pearls. I will now demonstrate my nation’s traditional dance to Your Majesty and Your Highness,” a beautiful woman with wavy long hair and a curvy figure said sweetly.
I was astounded by the amount of beauty and talent gathered here within the hall. One after the other each woman introduced her name, showcased her beauty and then her talent. All the other women were clearly on a different beauty scale than me. It was clear that their nation had selected them based on their extraordinary beauty and talent. Dancing, singing, composing poetry, arranging flowers, and painting were just a few of the talents that the other women had chosen to put on display in order to please the two men of royalty standing before them.
“Bravo…amazing!” the Emperor complimented all of them as he clapped with joy. He was clearly enjoying himself.
From what I could tell from so far away where I was standing, the Crowned Prince had remained silent throughout the entire ordeal thus far. Perhaps he was hard to please. Even as a woman, I was very impressed by the beauty and talent of the other women who had already introduced themselves.
“You! You there! … What are you spacing out for? It’s your turn…quick!” I heard a man’s voice hissing at me as I turned to the side to face him. He quickly waved me to step forward.
It’s my turn already?!?! What should I do?! I’m going to embarrass myself in front of all these people.
--To be continued...
I hesitateda little before slowly walking forward towards the front of the hall where the other women stood when it was their turn. I felt my legs shaking and I kept my head and gaze down towards the floor.“Umm…My name is Rin Kamiya. I’m…from the Town of Amber Leaves…” I said in a soft and shaky voice before bowing low to keep my face hidden. Please, just let me go home already!“Speak louder, I couldn’t hear you,” to my surprise, the Crown Prince spoke for the first time since the introductions began.The atmosphere in the entire hall changed at the sound of his voice as everyone paid attention to the fact that the Crown Prince seemed to be finally showing his interest in what w
“Mister!Mister! Please wake up!” I started to shake his upper body as I called out to him in a loud voice.No good. He’s completely unconscious. I can’t carry him alone; I need to wake him up somehow. The best I could do with my much smaller body was to support him as he walked.Sorry about this, Mister! I shook his body with more force and slapped his face a little. Soon, to my relief, he started to stir and after blinking confusedly a couple of times, he seemed to have come to his senses.“Thank god! You’re awake…I think you’re injured. Can you get up? I’ll help support you…” I said with clear relief in my voice.
“What do you mean you can’t find the Crown Prince?” the Emperor scolded his advisor.“Your Majesty, despite looking all over the palace, no one is able to locate the Crown Prince,” the old advisor stated apologetically as he bowed low.“He went out again, didn’t he?” the Emperor said as he heaved a big sigh as rubbed his brows.“With the upcoming plan to attack the Town of Amber Leaves, the Crown Prince must have slipped out to scout out the town…” the old advisor replied in a weak voice full of dread and anxiety.“Why does he always do this?! Entering enemy’s land all alone. Always doing thin
Nowthat I was out of the bedroom, I headed for the bathroom to wash my face. My reflection in the mirror told me that I was quite dirty, and my face was a mess from the rough travelling. I must have looked quite unladylike in Ren’s eyes. Oh well, it’s not like we’ll ever meet again after he recovers and leaves this place. Then my life will return to how it was before.Since Ren was sleeping in my bed, I had to find someplace to sleep in the living room. My house was small so there was only one bedroom, a living room, a small kitchen, and a tiny bathroom. It was comfortably enough considering that I was living all alone. I wrapped a blanket around my body as I sat down on the chair. I’ll just sleep with my head resting on the dining table. I feel so exhausted from travelling to the village and from helping Ren on my way back.
By thetime I was back, Ren’s eyes were closed as he continued to battle his fever. Sorry Ren but I need to remove some of your clothes to wipe you with cool water, I apologized silently to Ren inside my head. I slowly reached out my hand and began disrobing him. This is for medical purposes, but this is my first time undressing a man, I couldn’t stop my hands from trembling slightly as I tugged and pulled at his top. Finally, I managed to completely remove his clothes from his upper body.I sucked in a breath as my eyes took in the sight before me. Thankfully, Ren still had his eyes closed otherwise he would have seen my shocked reaction. I knew that Ren was tall and much bigger than me, but I didn’t expect that beneath his clothing hid such a well sculptured and muscular body. I’ve never seen a man without a shirt on before, but I knew enough that a stand
“You’reawake?” I heard a man’s voice as I lazily woke up from my slumber. Where am I? When did I fall asleep?The display of muscles close to my face when I opened my eyes brought me quickly back to reality. I am suddenly reminded that I am still lying on top of Ren. I bolted up into a sitting position, as I pushed against his firm chest with the palms of my hand.“Ren! Are you feeling better?” I managed to ask in a panicked voice. That didn’t sound right at all.“Is that the first thing you think of after waking up in this position?” Ren teased me as he laughed merrily. Well, at least someone is feeling much better.Wait. My position? I looked down and realized that now I was straddling his hips. I felt blood rush to my face as it dawned on me how embarrassing this po
“Actually, on the same day that I was born my mother died giving birth to me and a mysterious disease infected many villagers. The Village Head and the villagers decided to place the blame on me for the cause of the epidemic that happened…” I told him in an emotionless voice.“That’s completely crazy! Blaming an epidemic on a newborn baby. I bet those people are really simple-minded, so they looked for whatever and whoever was the most convenient to blame,” Ren said in a dark tone.“I guess…” I replied vaguely with a sad smile. Perhaps they really were crazy but that is just how things are. Reality isn’t always so pretty after all. Ren’s reaction surely surprised me; usually people would take the side of the mass in order to avoid causing trouble for themselves. At least that was what I’ve experienced so it was a pleasa
Afterdinner, I tended to Ren’s wound. His fever was cured completely, and he seemed to be as fit as ever. The wound on his arm was healing faster than I expected thanks to the medicine and probably Ren’s natural speed of recovery. Ren seems to have a very healthy body.“Ren, I think you’ve pretty much recovered…so…” I started to say hesitantly. How do I say this, so it doesn’t seem like I’m chasing him away? All I wanted to do is tell him that his body is pretty much healed and there’s not much I can do for him as a doctor except helping to dress his wound. Dressing the wound wasn’t a hard thing and he could probably do it himself with ease soon as the bandages may not be required anymore because his wound had closed quite nicely.“Umm…what I’m saying is…if you want to continue on your travel t