That brings us to today, the day where Ren is visiting to see me perform a little dance based on what I’ve learnt and practiced so far. Although it was just a mock performance in my own palace without any special clothes or anything, I was still very nervous to perform in front of Ren. Then again, why did I bother learning these dances if I wouldn’t show Ren? “You don’t have to be so nervous,” Jeely teased me with a small laugh.We were waiting for Ren’s arrival which could be at any moment now. “I wish I am as confident as you are,” I replied with a shaky laugh of my own. A maid came in to announce Ren’s arrival before Ren came into the room. I prayed that he didn’t have such high expectations of me because he would be sorely disappointed. Somehow, I had convinced Jeely to perform the dance along with me. The idea that I had was that if I failed miserably then Ren could always look at Jeely and her beautiful dance instead. Then his trip here wouldn’t be totally wasted. “Crown pr
“Does she interest you, crown prince?” the eunuch asked, feeling a spring of hope in his chest. “Not at all. She’s still a kid no matter how much they’ve tried to dress her up. Why don’t you just send her back home?” Ren said, half with disgust. “But…that would be…” the eunuch whispered in shock. “Better yet…send all of them home…” Ren muttered darkly. “We absolutely cannot do that, crown prince. You do understand that these women are…” the eunuch said in a panic. “Political hostages…” Ren finished the sentence for the old man. The eunuch bowed, unable to come up with a suitable reply to Ren’s words. No matter what the crown prince said, there was no way that offerings to the capital could be returned. It would be utterly disrespectful, and it would be an utter disgrace to the girl in question. …The music came to a stop, and I posed for the final ending of the dance. I cannot believe that I live through that. Somehow, I had successfully reached the end of the dance without fal
When I looked up in surprise, I found that he was smiling a little at me. I wondered how he could read my mind when I realized that I had instinctively placed my hands on my stomach. Quickly, I yanked my hand away from my own belly. He’s getting it all wrong…but I don’t know how to tell him…It would be weird for me to tell him that I actually don’t want to get with child, right? I mean, I am supposed to be working hard to make a baby with Ren…and perhaps we are actually doing that…but…“Umm…” I said, not knowing what to say. “Oh…sorry if I embarrassed you. Please forgive me, My Lady. You just looked so worried that I thought…” the doctor apologized rapidly. “Oh no, that’s alright. You are right. I am a little worried about…conceiving…” I replied before offering him a tight smile. “Well, I am sure that there’s a lot of pressure on you. Please try not to stress and get enough rest. Stress can make it hard for you to get with child,” the doctor advised. I guess, I couldn’t ask him
The time he spent with his kind and loving mother. The peaceful days they spent together that she would shower him with love and care. That was all before his mother changed as the responsibility of being the empress ate at her and killed her slowly from the inside out. “I wish that you had never been born! It’s because of you that I’m stuck here…” his mother screamed at him. “Mother…” Ren whispered in shock. “Don’t call me that. Why did you have to be born? Why? Why did you have to be born?! Why?!” she screamed louder hysterically as she started to cry. “Mother…please stop…” the boy whispered. “Don’t touch me! Someone…is someone there? Take him away! Take him away from me!” the previous empress yelled as if crying desperately for help. The dream always ended the same with the little boy being pulled away by many maids from his mother. The boy sobbed and cried but in the end, he was taken to his room where he would be far away from his mother. Ren knew that while the boy was cry
I shook my head from side to side as I realized that I had gotten ahead of myself. Somehow, my mind had already assumed that Ren would allow me to go and that he would come along with me. That was clearly wistful thinking. It would delight me beyond description if we could go to the festival together, but I knew that the possibility of that happening was probably very slim. When I was about to arrive at my room, to my surprise, I ran into Ren. He didn’t send a message to me to tell me that he would be coming by, so I wasn’t expecting to see him tonight. “Rin, you’re back,” Ren greeted me as he came to my side and put an arm around my waist. “Yeah...I just got back. Were you waiting long?” I asked. “No, I just got here,” Ren replied. “I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight. You should have sent word in advance if you were going to drop by…” I said, sounding a little worried. “I wanted to surprise you,” Ren said with a small laugh. “Well, it worked. I am pleasantly surprised,” I a
“Umm…we don’t have plain commoner clothes here, My Lady,” the maid replied, sounding very apologetic. “Huh? But the other clothes that I have would stand out too much,” I said with worry. “We do have some clothes that might work. It won’t make you look like a plain commoner but perhaps a slightly wealthy commoner wouldn’t be so bad?” the maid suggested with a smile. Well, it wasn’t like I had a choice right now. I guess that would have to do. “Ok…let’s go with that,” I replied kindly. “Ok, My Lady. Please wait a moment while I prepare the right outfit for you,” the maid said before bowing to me. She left for a while and came back with what I supposed was the ‘wealthy commoner girl’ outfit. With the help of the other maids, she carefully dressed me in the outfit. After they were done with the clothes, they moved on to the jewelry. Although they helped me pick out more modest jewelry that what I normally wore, I still thought that it was a bit much. “Isn’t this a bit much?” I ask
“That’s to be expected. This festival was designed to bring in food, clothes, art, performance and various other things from many cities across the empire. So, it’s normal if you don’t know them all,” Ren replied casually. “Do you know them all?” I asked curiously. “No…but I do know most of them,” Ren replied with a grin. “Tell me…please…” I pleaded as I smiled sweetly at him. We walked around hand in hand and Ren pointed out and explained the various dishes to me. For a while, we forgot about buying anything to eat. Ren was busy explaining things to me, and I was busy listening to him. We walked around like that for a while until we almost reached the end of the first row of food stalls. Seeing that it would take forever for Ren to explain everything to me, I suggested that he recommend some food to me instead so that we could buy some and start eating. “This is so good. The flavor of these spices is so unique, I’ve never eaten anything like this before,” I complimented as I sta
Ren saw a horse that had gone wild charging further into the crowd, heading towards where he was standing, and he immediately understood the situation. There are so many people here, if that horse isn’t dealt with or brought under control many people will get hurt and some may even die. The horse will trample on many people and while they are in a panic, there will be a stampede in the crowd. He furrowed his brows as he thought hard about his next move. He should find Rin but at the same time he had to do something about that horse. His people are at risk and the harm is charging directly towards him.Stopping the horse would keep people safe and that also included Rin. Rin should not be badly hurt as long as she doesn’t encounter the wild horse. Without another thought, his body began moving towards the oncoming beast. Wait for me, Rin……Where am I? While being swept by the crowd I was somehow able to separate myself by stepping aside from the main path into a small alley. Peekin