Chapter 5

I sighed and told her to come in. One of the court ladies who attended Sanya walked in quietly.

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"We're all set."

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The preparation was for the first night with Sanya. Of course, I'm not thinking of putting my hands on the child's body, but the fake flower decorations made my eyes narrow.

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"Are there any differences?"

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"There was no bruising, just a slight scar."

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After hearing those words, my eyes darkened. There are rules concerning the emperor's concubines and that is they are required to be under meticulous care even before being introduced. No, not just that, but I heard that Sanya is the youngest daughter who had been raised by some woman in the house. Nevertheless, the fact that the scar remains makes my chest feel tight.

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I bit my lips gently and stood up with a blank expression on my face.

"I'm going to her palace."

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I will go without saying anything. But I didn't realize that my thoughts which started with doubts are turning into compassion.

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(Sanya's pov)

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I stared blankly at the clear liquor that poured into the glass next to me. Right now I am letting the emperor do her own work. Except she stopped the pouring with a wave of her hand. I was about to give her some courtesy by asking 'how should I do this then?' but I just gave up. It's not like anyone else is here anyways and the emperor isn't cold-blooded enough to punish a child just like that.

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What should I do when I don't even drink? Maybe I'll just sit here and stare at it. The liquor bottle was decorated splendidly where it made it very interesting to look at. There are also some fruits, perfect for a late-night snack.

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Fruit, fruit, fruit…

Is that a dragon fruit? But the color of it is yellow. I squinted my eyes to see what kind of fruit it was, and the emperor spoke indifferently,

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"Eat."

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My eyes were wide open upon hearing that. Was she watching me? But I accepted it.

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The emperor was quite friendly towards Sanya. It could be from the guilt of her kneeling without knowing she was still a child, or the pity from after learning she was the youngest daughter of a women who lives locked up in a house. As a result, she showed proper affection towards Sanya.

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She may have not been loved because of the scar on her body, but she could also be a well-trained spy. In a way, it was cruel. After she met her end, the emperor found out that Sanya really was sincere in following her and just wanted to get out of her family.

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On the other hand…

"Sigh."

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My thoughts were cut off by the emperor's sigh and I came back to reality in a flash and shuddered. The emperor seemed embarrassed after seeing my reaction and said sweetly,

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"…I didn't mean to threaten you."

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Of course not. But you're probably thinking of ways on how to grill me in your head.

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I spoke calmly instead,

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"It's okay. I'm not sensitive."

I blinked. Uh, wait a minute. Come think of it, I have done something very rude. The emperor told me to eat, and I still haven't done that. I didn't even apologize.

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I glanced at her. You're not going to punish me for not apologizing? And as expected, she didn't. Instead, she moved her hand and started putting the fruits and sweets on the plate in front of me.

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"This is Yumil-gwa, this is… this…"

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I was embarrassed at the refreshments that were piling up on my plate, but she kept stacking them one on top of another until it was piled up like a mountain. She then clicked her tongue.

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"Eat."

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I looked like I was going to either laugh or cry. Thank you for the consideration, but there is no way I can finish all this. I knew what the first snack was that she mentioned, and it was the Yumil-gwa. I heard it was a traditional Korean sweet that takes a lot of effort to make, and I even remember seeing a very impressive video of it. But everything else was new to me.

I don't want to eat something I've never seen before. Sanya had a very tough diet, as she was starved many times before which made her body weak. So if I were to eat all of this in an hour, I'll surely get sick. But I can't help it when the emperor personally gave me all this, therefore, I picked up my chopsticks.

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The Yumil-gwa was the first thing she put on the plate, so it's all the way at the bottom.

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Okay. The goal is the Yumil-gwa. I should be able to get there by eating the rest.

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I was determined and picked up the first thing on top. It was purple and looked similar to a grape. I popped it in my mouth and chewed for a while. The seed that I felt reminded me of an orange. Slightly sweet, sour…

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Awk!

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"Cough!"

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I was surprised and coughed while trying to even my breathing. Thanks to that, bitter juice came out of my nose. I feel so embarrassed, but it hurts so much. I was covering my mouth to reduce the noise as much as possible, but then I heard something rattling and fell.

Crash-!

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Did something break?

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"Call a physician! There's poison – "

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"No!"

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I forgot my pain momentarily and held onto the emperor. She looked like she was about to run off and look for a doctor herself but paused when I touched her.

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"Poison. Cough. It's not poison. No. It's okay."

The emperor looked at me with desperate eyes and confirmed that there was no blood on my mouth nor my hands.

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"Then why…"

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I wanted to roll my eyes at her desperate face. What I ate was similar to grapes, but the taste was closer to grapefruits. However, it was a little more bitter than grapefruit, and it just didn't feel good to a child's taste buds. While I was thinking of how to summarize this, I heard an urgent step outside the door.

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"Your Majesty!"

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At that moment, the door swung wide open. A man with long hair rushed into the room. It almost felt like déjà vu. A similar situation happened yesterday too, of course the people who came at that time were very relaxed and arrogant, but now they're rushing in.

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I saw platinum blonde hair flying in front of me while I lowered my head slightly.

Uh.

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I forgot that I was in front of the emperor and looked up. All I saw was platinum blonde. That hair color should never appear in this situation, and the length was so long that it went past his waist.

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"Kwek!"

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Oh no.

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A kind court lady just killed herself.

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My jaw dropped, and I lowered my head because I was seeing red.

Did anyone see that? Did anyone even notice? I wish everyone could just look away. I really didn't want any more troubles, but then my eyes met his. My mind went blank. His face wasn't sculpture – like nor perfect, like described in the original, but he still rushed here after hearing the word poison.

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The thought that filled my mind the most was the fact that I saw his eyes. They were blood – red, and the pupils were as thin as that of a reptile. They were scary, but that wasn't the problem. That – that's the secret Mirina was trying to hide!

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"You dropped your blindfold."

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"…Thank you."

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He seemed to have calmed down after confirming the emperor's safety, unlike earlier when he rushed in.

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…I could also feel him sharpening a knife on the other hand.

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I saw it. We made eye contact.

Well, shit.