A butterfly-shaped hair ornament, sprinkled with red, white, and blue jewels gently swayed in the breeze. Gilded accessories made with all kinds of jewels gleamed. A braided, black ornamental wig styled with all sorts of ornaments and a red-eyed golden dragon hairpin rested on her head. Soft and luxurious red silk wrapped around her body embroidered with artificial flowers and butterflies in golden thread. Over it all, a thin, white see-through cloth lay.

Tears streamed down her pure face from her black eyes past her red lips and soaked her red and white clothes.

The sedan chair was full of the scent of delicate makeup and tears.

***

King Chung shook his head. Queen Yo clenched her small fist and said in a trembling voice, “Does she really have to go like this?”

“The Emperor wanted a princess with the surname meaning ‘a shining tree.’ Seriously.”

“… shining tree. ”

Mokhwa (木華) was close enough. Mokhwa was the surname of the orthodox royal family of the Hwa Kingdom. No collateral royal family members could use that character meaning Mok or ‘tree’ as their surname.

The amicable royal family of the Hwa Kingdom was full of young members. There were ten princes. Unfortunately, there was only one daughter.

There had been a long and secret correspondence between the Hwa Kingdom and the great empire of the Mok Kingdom. King Chung made great efforts both domestically and internationally to strengthen its power and create a comfortable kingdom. Before he realized his dream, he received a letter from the king of the great empire, the longtime protector of the Hwa Kingdom, a small and weak country. What was to come in the future was a golden chance, but it was also a big challenge to King Chung.

Now, the Mok Kingdom badly needed a princess who inherited the surname of Mokhwa.

The right path for the Hwa Kingdom was already set, which was to marry her off to the Mok Kingdom.

But the problem was the fragility of human beings.

The princess was King Chung and Quee Yo’s only precious daughter.

“Your Excellency, as you know, she is our only daughter.” The Queen said.

“Yeah, I don’t want to send her, either.”

King Chung’s voice trembled. Queen Yo’s face was filled with shock.

To her, the king was like heaven, the universe, and the giant presence that ruled over everything. However, he was also in deep agony, and he was as stressed as the queen because their only daughter had to leave for Mok Kingdom.

“I am so sorry I didn’t understand your intention…” the queen slurred finally.

While saying that, she burst into tears, venting her pent-up sorrow.

King Chung stroked her shoulders warmly and wrapped her in his arms.

“If we send her off this time, can we see her again?”

“I can’t guarantee it. I’m sorry.”

King Chung changed the topic.

Obviously, they would not see her again if the princess left for the great empire, the Mok Kingdom, but he could not frankly tell this to the queen because she couldn’t stand being separated from her daughter forever.

Of course, Queen Yo was already aware of it, but she initially felt the matter of sending her off to the Mok Kingdom was just too nonsensical because she didn’t want to believe it.

The king said he was so sorry that he could not answer his wife’s question.

Big teardrops fell from Queen Yo’s eyes.

The king sighed deeply, lamenting that he could not comfort her no matter how much he tried.

“That’s a lie,” said the skinny girl, who seemed a little over fifteen years old, to her nanny, stricken with fear. “That’s a lie! Are you kidding me, right? That’s so ridiculous, nanny. ”

While grumbling about it, she was about to burst into tears.

Her nanny comforted her with a somber face.

“Your Majesty, poor Princess.”

“Don’t say I’m pitiful, don’t look at me with a sad face like that!” This quiet girl screamed and then jumped into the nanny’s arms. “You’re lying, nanny. I can’t believe the king will send me off to a foreign country. The queen won’t let me go to a foreign country… ”

The girl wrapped in the nanny’s arms trembled so much.

At that moment, the royal eunuch called her from outside, “The King wants to see you, Princess Woorum.”

Now, the Mok Kingdom badly needed a princess who inherited the surname of Mokhwa.

The right path for the Hwa Kingdom was already set, which was to marry her off to the Mok Kingdom.

But the problem was the fragility of human beings.

The princess was King Chung and Quee Yo’s only precious daughter.

“Your Excellency, as you know, she is our only daughter.” The Queen said.

“Yeah, I don’t want to send her, either.”

King Chung’s voice trembled. Queen Yo’s face was filled with shock.

To her, the king was like heaven, the universe, and the giant presence that ruled over everything. However, he was also in deep agony, and he was as stressed as the queen because their only daughter had to leave for Mok Kingdom.

“I am so sorry I didn’t understand your intention…” the queen slurred finally.

While saying that, she burst into tears, venting her pent-up sorrow.

King Chung stroked her shoulders warmly and wrapped her in his arms.

“If we send her off this time, can we see her again?”

“I can’t guarantee it. I’m sorry.”

King Chung changed the topic.

Obviously, they would not see her again if the princess left for the great empire, the Mok Kingdom, but he could not frankly tell this to the queen because she couldn’t stand being separated from her daughter forever.

Of course, Queen Yo was already aware of it, but she initially felt the matter of sending her off to the Mok Kingdom was just too nonsensical because she didn’t want to believe it.

The king said he was so sorry that he could not answer his wife’s question.

Big teardrops fell from Queen Yo’s eyes.

The king sighed deeply, lamenting that he could not comfort her no matter how much he tried.

“That’s a lie,” said the skinny girl, who seemed a little over fifteen years old, to her nanny, stricken with fear. “That’s a lie! Are you kidding me, right? That’s so ridiculous, nanny. ”

While grumbling about it, she was about to burst into tears.

Her nanny comforted her with a somber face.

“Your Majesty, poor Princess.”

“Don’t say I’m pitiful, don’t look at me with a sad face like that!” This quiet girl screamed and then jumped into the nanny’s arms. “You’re lying, nanny. I can’t believe the king will send me off to a foreign country. The queen won’t let me go to a foreign country… ”

The girl wrapped in the nanny’s arms trembled so much.

At that moment, the royal eunuch called her from outside, “The King wants to see you, Princess Woorum.”

Finally, the door of the sedan chair slowly opened. And she saw a man standing outside the sedan chair.

***

Read latest Chapters at Wuxia World.Site Only

The spacious residence was embellished much more lavishly than Woorum’s in the Hwa Kingdom. With golden and red cloth hung from the ceiling, it was studded with expensive ornaments everywhere. Ohyulje, the Emperor of the Mok Kingdom was seated in the deepest and highest place of that spacious residence. Seated right below Ohyulje was Empress Taeryong, and the man sitting with his head slightly down was the crowned prince of the Mok Kingdom.

“The Hwa Kingdom is becoming too strong for us to ignore it as a small country,” said Emperor Ohyulje.

How scared he was about his father’s low and stern voice in his childhood!

But the prince now grew up enough to hear his voice without batting an eye.

If he had not been bound by decorum, he would have been bold enough to look into his eyes.

Crowned Prince Bipaan had no fear of facing the emperor neither did he budge a bit before him.

“I heard she was a young girl,” said Bipaan.

...\~End of this Episode\~...

At that moment, Queen Taeryeong bowed a little forward and said, her eyes slanted upward, “No, she is not young. I hear she has just come of age, so she is old enough to get married, Prince Bipaan.”

With a little sigh, Bipaan asked his father, “Your Majesty, do you have a reason to get me only young girls for my wife?”

“Well, ‘young’ might be her defect, but you don’t have any reason to reject them because they’re young, right?” said the emperor.

Bipaan was silent because the emperor was right. Though they were young, it was favorable for him to have young royal concubines because they were daughters of those in important positions in the government and gave him connections to expanded his power on his path to take the throne.

The woman Crown Prince Bipaan had early on as his first crowned princess was the daughter of Taegongsin, the strongest vassal of the Mok Kingdom. And the woman, now confirmed as his new crowned princess, was the only daughter of the Hwa Kingdom, the neighboring country that had been expanding power steadily. The only concern he had about her as the crowned princess was that she might have been raised as a spoilt child, doted on by her elder brother and younger brothers. He had no intention to accept it even if she wanted to act like a baby. If she tried to, she would only have a hard time.

“I think I was narrow-minded. I would like to accept your decision gladly, Your Majesty.”

“Got it. You can leave now.”

“Yes.”

Bowing deeply to him, Bipaan stepped back and headed for his residence.

Several months passed after he discussed the matter with the emperor. He was reading a book in his residence in the East Palace.

“Your Majesty, crowned prince!” said the eunuch.

“What’s the matter?”

“The First Princess of the Hwa Kingdom has just arrived.”

When the eunuch conveyed the message, he closed the book. For the first time in several months, he thought about this woman from the Hwa Kingdom. She was a woman who came alone all the way down here to become his wife.

“Who greeted her?”

In fact, he had no intention to greet her in person from the beginning.

“I hear that the other crowned prince taking a stroll in the royal garden greeted her.”

“Ruhae?”

Bipaan’s eyebrows suddenly wiggled. Prince Ruhae was his antithesis. Ruhae had a completely different personality. He had no interest in the throne even though he rose to the position of crowned prince after defeating numerous crowned prince and prince candidates. He was a generous man who always smiled at even the commoners warmly. Although Bipaan didn’t like his actions, Ruhae was still the only favorite of Bipaan. Bipaan thought that as the third in line to the throne without any greed for the throne, Ruhae would be quite helpful to him.

“I feel relieved to know Ruhae greeted her.”

Bipaan opened the book again. His interest in the woman who would be his next crown princess disappeared instantly.

The sedan chair carrying Princess Woorum entered the main gate of the outer palace. A group of royal guards stood in front of the gate. In the center of them was Prince Ruhae and a royal attendant. Ruhae watched the sedan chair slow down as it came into the palace with a gentle smile on his lips.

‘The princess of the Hwa Kingdom is inside that sedan chair. As I hear, the Hwa Kingdom has only one royal princess. It looks like the king of Hwa Kingdom must have made a very difficult decision.’

The general who escorted the princess to the Mok Kingdom introduced himself to Ruhae. After greeting him, Ruhae approached the sedan chair. The sedan chair bearers opened its door gently.

“Thanks a lot for coming as far as this…”

When the door was opened, Ruhae smelled a young woman’s soft cosmetics mixed with her tears inside the sedan chair. Inside the chair was a small woman dressed in red silk clothes, with a white see-through linen covering her whole body. Her eyes were still filled with tears and her clothes were already soaked with tears.

At that moment, Ruhae was looking at her blankly, at a loss for words. This young woman soaked with tears already captivated his heart.

Escorted by Ruhae, Woorum arrived at the backyard of the outer palace. He showed her around the backyard to comfort her for a moment. Full of spring flowers, the backyard was so beautiful that Woorum briefly forgot her sorrow and smiled brightly. A couple of small birds flew around the yard, circled around Woorum and flew high into the sky. Woorum burst into innocent laughter like a child when she saw the birds. Standing at a distance from her, Ruhae watched walk around. When Woorum sat under a big tree in the backyard, he approached her, sat down beside her and asked, “May I have your name?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I should have introduced myself first to you,” she said, blushing. “My name is Woorum Mokhwa, the First Princess of King Chung of the Hwa Kingdom.”

“Woorum?”

“Yes, that’s right. My name consists of the character ‘woo’ meaning ‘rain,’ and ‘rum’ meaning ‘cold.’ So, it means cold rain.”

“Oh, is it because your name means cold rain that you shed so many tears?”

She blushed all the more at Ruhae’s joke. Did she recall her silly figure who kept shedding tears while she was coming a long journey here? She slightly hid her face with her sleeves.

“By the way, may I have your name, Prince?”

At her question, he was suddenly embarrassed and looked around.

Fortunately, there was only he and Woorum here. When she mentioned ‘Prince,’ she clearly referred to him. So, if someone with an evil intention had overheard this, both of them would have run into big trouble. That was the sorry state of the imperial family of the Mok Kingdom.

Ruhae hastily corrected her misunderstanding.

“I’m not a prince. I’m just one of the imperial family members.”

When he shook his hands, Woorum realized her mistake and hid her face again with her sleeves. She looked as if she were a child.

With a gentle smile he opened his mouth, “They call me Uljin Yu. Yu means ‘only,’ ‘Ul’ means a bird and ‘Jin’ means ‘save.’ Interesting, isn’t it?”

“Oh, I see. Then, does your name mean ‘saving a bird’?”

“Yeah, that’s right. It means ‘saving a bird. It’s a funny name.”

“Well, I think your name has great significance in that it means saving somebody. It’s far from funny. By the way, I hear they don’t analyze the meaning of one’s surname. Is that true?”

As if she was curious about it, Woorum asked. She asked many questions.

Standing with a blank face for a minute, he gave her a gentle smile. Likely, she thought that when he told her about his name Uljin Yu, she thought that his last name was Yu and his given name was Uljin. In fact, he told her that he was a member of the imperial family of the Mok Kingdom, but didn’t mention the surname of the royal family ‘Danmok,’ which caused her to misunderstand again.

He was about to correct her but stopped because he wanted to pull a prank. When he just kept smiling, Woorum tilted her head to one side and said, “Oh, my god, it’s my mistake…”

“I won’t tell anybody about this, so don’t worry.”

“Oh, thanks.”

He looked at her with a gentle smile, reassuring her that she didn’t have to worry. He heard she came of age, but she looked much younger. How could such a young lady be the Crown Princess?

Crown Princess.

At that moment, he felt a sting in his heart, a sharp pain.

His face suddenly hardened.

“What the heck is this? Why?”

He put his hand on his heart. A moment ago, he felt a sharp pain in that spot.

“Are you okay?” she asked with a worried look.

When he suddenly had a gloomy expression, after smiling and chatting pleasantly with her until a moment ago, Woorum became worried about him. He looked at her with a blank face. Her eyes were wobbling. She couldn’t avoid his eyes.

Both of them felt awkward when their eyes met for a moment, but when he turned his eyes away, she could also feel relaxed.

“Let me escort you to your room. Please follow me,” said he with a rigid voice.

He stood up first and walked away. Though she tried to stand up and follow him, she found her legs wobbly. When he couldn’t hear her footsteps behind, he turned back.

Read latest Chapters at Wuxia World.Site Only

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Uljin Yu, my legs are…” she said feebly in a trembling voice.

“Were you injured?”

As she was sitting quietly while she was talking with him, so there was no possibility that she was injured. So, he quickly came to her, surprised at her trembling voice.

“I’m alright, but I can’t stand up because I can’t give strength to my legs.”

“I’m relieved to hear that you were not wounded. Please excuse me for a minute.

Even before she finished her stumbling words, he lifted her up in his arms.

“Good heavens!”

There are currently two countries that adopted the emperor system, or those countries called empires. The two countries are the Mok Kingdom, located in the southeastern part of the continental center, and the Ulyoung Kingdom, located in the northernmost part. As the Ulyoung Kingdom was located in the cold north, its influence on other countries was not very strong, despite the territory’s size. Though it was called an empire and treated equally as the Mok Kingdom, the dominant power of the continent was the Mok Kingdom. That’s why the Mok Kingdom was just an ordinary empire but a great empire.

As was often the case with those countries with great power, there was intense fighting among successors in the Mok Kingdom. In the reign of the deceased king, the fight to succeed the throne among successors was especially fierce, so all but one successor was killed. Everybody kept mum about it, saying they met a sudden death, but everyone was aware that some of them were killed by one another while others were killed by surviving successors.

The only survivor was the prince who had been 6th in line to the throne of the king. He gradually rose from sixth place and took the position of the crowned prince. He was none other than the present Emperor Ohyulje.

Some people said that the reason for the fierce fighting for the succession of the emperor was because there were so many princes in many separate palaces. In most countries, there was only the East Palace or the East and West Palace. In the Mok Kingdom, there were not only the East and West Palaces but also the South and North Palaces.

The ruler of East Palace was Crown Prince Bipaan. The West Palace was ruled by a prince who was second in line to the throne. The third prince ruled the South Place, and the fourth ruled the North Palace.

Emperor Ohyulje was the son of the previous king’s second wife, and later crowned as the prince to succeed the throne. And the current Crown Prince of the Mok Kingdom was the son of Emperor Ohyulje’s official wife, so he was the crown prince from the beginning.

Finally, the wedding day of Bipaan, the crowned prince of the Mok Kingdom came.

As the royal family’s last name was Danmok, meaning a ‘red tree’, the red color was considered sacred in the Mok Kingdom. The wedding dress was a colorful dress made of red silk.

The First Princess of the Hwa Kingdom was at a loss of what to do because of the weight of the red silk dress she put on.

“Nanny, this dress is too heavy. ”

“Don’t be a crybaby, Your Highness. You haven’t put on the outer dress yet. ”

“Can I put on more?”

She looked back at the nanny with a surprised look.

The nanny was tying a golden cloth around her waist.

“Don’t move. Let me wrap it around your body to stop it from loosening. ”

Woorum acted as instructed by the nanny because her tone was firm. When the nanny spoke so firmly, she would not accept her playing like a child no matter how much Woorum whined.

After she bound the tightly wrapped cloth over her body with a decorative belt on it, the nanny brought a red garment embroidered with golden flowers.

“The wedding clothes of the Mok Kingdom are truly gorgeous. The wedding dress of our country is so simple compared to this,” said the nanny.

The nanny kept marveling. Some palace maids, who were helping them near the palace wall, giggled at each other after overhearing the nanny saying that to Woorum.

“Well, I have seen it when Prince Mingung got married. At that time I really wish I had a chance to wear a fine white wedding dress… I wanted to wear it. ”

Her eyes were wet with tears when she said that because she missed her motherland at that moment. At the time, her brother, Prince Mingung’s, bride, the royal princess in a white wedding gown looked like a celestial maiden from the moon. The light, white cloth that was wrapped around her fluttered in the wind, and the long lower ends of her cloth made a gentle noise when she walked.

While she was carried away with such sentimental thoughts, she heard the nanny’s voice, “Your Highness, you have to put on the crown and cover your body with a red cloth.”

“Let us help you, too,” said the palace maids.

“Please sit down.”

The moment the nanny spoke, the maids quickly brought a cushion with a golden crown on it. When the nanny put the crown of gold and jewelry on her head, someone laid a red cloth on it. Though the fabric was thin, everything was blurry beyond the fabric.

“Nanny, I can’t see anything.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there to help you.”

“Nanny, nanny, where are you? Please hold my hand. ”

Woorum’s waving hands touched something warm.

What she touched were dry, big, bony hands.

“Nanny?”

When Woorum called the nanny comfortably, she heard many people sitting down and then singing together.

“Long live the crowned prince! We’re honored to see Your Majesty, the crown prince!”

Oh..Your Majesty, Crown Prince…

Woorum trembled slightly. While she was looking around without seeing much, confused about whether she should also lower her body, she saw the lower end of the nanny’s skirt as she bowed.

Right now, the person’s hand holding hers did not belong to the nanny. Who could it be?

She saw a black shadow through her red cloth.

“As the princess is late, I’ve come here in person.”

Woorum shuddered again at someone’s icy voice. His hands were so warm, but how could his voice be so cold?

Too embarrassed to say anything, she slightly lowered her head and opened her mouth.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I was late because of makeup… ”

“That’s fine with me. Let me lead you, so just be careful and follow me.”

“Yes, yes, will do.”

Even before she finished her words, Bipaan made his point then pulled her hand. Walking behind them were Bipaan’s secretary, a group of palace maids, Woorum’s nanny, and soldiers holding the red flag on both sides.

Woorum could not see ahead because she was wearing the red cloth, so she didn’t know such a large group was following her. If she had realized it, she would have freaked out.

When Bipaan and Woorum arrived at the entrance of the wedding hall, a loud bugle blared, and the musicians played. When Woorum jumped, surprised at the sound, Bipaan looked at her.

Woorum was a much smaller woman than expected. If Bipaan had not been told that she came of age, he would have thought she was a 15-year-old girl with a small figure. Though he never saw her face after she covered it with a cloth, he felt she might look like a young girl.

Bipaan bent his waist forward a bit and whispered in her ear, “Don’t tremble. As I have to let go of your hand, please watch my steps and follow me well. ”

“Yes… ”

Her small voice was trembling faintly. The sound of the musicians’ playing was no more heard in her ears. Bipaan let go of her hands, and Woorum looked down under the fabric of her long cloth in a tense mood. As the lower end of his clothes moved, she also began to move forward. She saw a blue butterfly embroidered on a dark red hem. She walked carefully, paying attention to the moving visibility of the butterfly.

Bipaan saw her trembling but pretended not to know. He was not generous enough to care about such a little girl.

Woorum and Bipaan were walking on red silk. In her mind, this silk seemed to be endless.

She didn’t know how the wedding ended. She was still nervous, sitting on the bed. Her hands were trembling, but she couldn’t stop it.

“Oh my god…”

Read latest Chapters at Wuxia World.Site Only

She let out a deep sigh. She breathed out loudly on purpose to relieve her tension, but she still trembled. The tension of the wedding ceremony did not subside easily for her.

She felt everything was like a dream. No wonder she came to the great empire, the Mok Kingdom, and got married to its crowned prince! What she could remember of the wedding ceremony while in a hazy state was the voice of the emperor that was cold like froth.

She thought that the crowned prince’s voice surely resembled the emperor.

The emperor’s cold, dignified voice was clearly etched in her mind, even though she was absent-minded as she was so tense.

“From now on, forget your former name as the first princess of the Hwa Kingdom, and live as the Crown Princess of the Mok Kingdom, caring about the security and well-being of the country. Do you get it, Crown Princess Kyosul?” the emperor said.

“Kyosul. ”

‘Kyo’ meaning beautiful and ‘sul’ meaning ‘autumn wind.’. That was the name that would replace Woorum. Woorum, no, Kyosul, was still covered with red cloth. She kept trembling without relieving her tension.

When would her husband Bipaan come to pick her up?