June 12, 2019
“Ouch!”
Something fast and strong pushed me down and I landed on the ground helpless. There was barely anytime to scream. My attacker climbed on top of me. A shooting pain spread throughout my spine and all I could see was blinding white. There was no gap for me to take as I was overtaken by my opponent pressing against me.
I realized my opponent was a man while he tried to cover my mouth. His body was pressed down hard against me so there was barely any place for me to move except for my arms and legs. I couldn’t breathe.
“Agh, ah!” But there was no use. My whole body froze in fear and I closed my eyes.
Am I going to die like this? This is so unfair. I always had an unhappy life. I had died in a strange way before and now it’s going to be my fate to get murdered in a small village unable to do anything! Oh, how I wish I could see His Majesty just once more! No, twice more!
If there is any God out there, then curse this man right here! Look into my eyes and see if I’m bluffing! I can’t die like this. I can’t die until I see the Emperor’s face again!
I squeezed my eyes in despair. If I’m going to die, I’m going to pour out all my resentment into this man. “Uh…”
Under the moonlight, I was able to see the eyes of my attacker. My blood turned cold when I finally realized who it was.
“…? …Your …Majesty?” All my strength left my body.
The Emperor loosened his grip on me, but didn’t fully let me go.
God, I take back what I said earlier even if I’ll have to die a second time. This handsome face must not die before my hundredth, no my thousandth death. Please forgive my thoughtless words when I thought I was going to die.
Unlike my alarmed state, the Emperor was calm. He peered down at my face without speaking. A great, pure moonlight shone down behind him. With the moonlight behind his expressionless face, he almost seemed doll-like.
In the meantime, I regretted how my heart couldn’t calm down. My breath was caught in my throat before his handsome face. The Emperor’s sword was aimed at my neck. Occasionally, the eerie sharpness of the blade touched my neck. Excluding the Emperor, when a normal person dies, the world goes on and no one can do anything about it. I may be stupid, but I didn’t want to die like this.
I mustered as much bravery as I could and spoke, “You- Your Majesty, my name is Diana Gundal…”
“…” The Emperor didn’t respond but I couldn’t give up.
“Your Majesty, I am the daughter of Lord Gundal…”
“…”
The Emperor remained silent until he said, “The bouquet of flowers…”
He still stared at me. I didn’t know what he was thinking and I couldn’t think of what else to say. With no way to prove my identity, I gave up the thought of living and started to feel pathetic. No, I’m not done watching this handsome face. Think Dana! If I die right now, I won’t be able to see his face in the future. Let’s use every wrinkle of my brain and preserve my innocent heart.
I widened my eyes and stared harder at the Emperor. I blinked. Agh this isn’t the time for blinking. The Emperor’s hostile aura changed after seeing the glint in my eyes and his eyes shook slightly.
“…Ah,” a short sigh of recognition flew from his mouth.
What? My eyes swelled from that small reaction.
After a long while, the Emperor opened his mouth again. “…burning frog?”
…Wait, what?
“…you know the flaming frog egg?” I tried to understand what he said in desperation. The Emperor remained silent.
“…I’m a human being.”
“Yes?” He ignored my gibberish and asked someone who just ran in. I couldn’t see what he was looking at because it was behind me. My body was stiff like a rock. I finally turned my gaze and looked up.
His guards were breathing hard from running and peered down at me.
“Looks right.” One of them nodded his head vigorously. I don’t know what this flaming egg was about but it seems like the Emperor and his men knew what it was. I started to think I was safe.
“Why is the lord’s daughter hunting in the mountain in the middle of the night? With a sword.”
…Well nevermind.
The sword at my neck wasn’t removed, in fact it seemed to inched closer to me.
“Hey, hey hey hey hey I was looking for my sheep.” If I didn’t answer straight away my throat would get it. My mind was confused but I was able to tell the truth.
“The lord’s daughter is here in the middle of the night looking for a sheep with a sword…?” One of the guards tried to summarize the situation.
“…Yeah.” That was exactly right, but I knew it sounded strange. I looked to the side. I mean it was true that I’m the lord’s daughter, I was looking for a sheep that was lost in a mountain, and I kept a sword with me for safety. It made sense if you look at Gundal’s geographical situation, but this was still something unusual for a lady. An aristocratic lady wandering along in the mountain at night and silencing her footsteps…
Sweat was dripping from my back. This was a situation that could easily be mistaken as an assassin trying to kill the Emperor. There was no way out. I started sweating even more. There were no hidden cameras in this world. I wasn’t doing this to prank anyone. I couldn’t plan this even if I tried. My neck is really going to fly.
My face turned pale. “I can’t use a sword!”
“From they way you walk you seem to know how to defend yourself.”
I seem to know… Why is the situation getting worse? The Emperor’s misunderstanding continued.
“Gundal trains both men and women.”
“We live close to barbarians, we cannot help it…”
“A sword is different to me.”
He stared at me and talked to the Royal Guard. My pleas were thoroughly ignored.
I was getting impatient because the Emperor didn’t comment anything about my explanation. I felt the urge to spit out any possible reason I could think of.
“Really! I’m looking for sheep oh god! I handsome! Young daughter, look!” I meant to say was the Emperor is handsome, but screwed it up. The sentence that came from my mouth was destroyed by my horrible grammar.
“…”
“Excuse me, Your Majesty…?”
The Emperor stopped talking with his guard at my cry. He didn’t move or say anything. Even though I spoke oddly, I didn’t say anything too strange that casted more doubt. I panicked with spit in my mouth and looked at the Emperor. I’m a good person! You can’t not see this! Look into my eyes! The Emperor watched my bulging eyes and waving arms.
The blade hurled towards me.
I freaked out and didn’t even notice it with my eyes. No, who would throw a knife at someone who begs you so earnestly? There wasn’t even a warning… That was terrible of the Emperor to do, no doubt.
I had looked over his biography and on the other side of the Emperor’s reputation you would hear words like ‘merciless’, ‘cruel’, ‘stubborn’, ‘bloody’, and so on. The rumors usually came from how he fights and treats others. I never thought I would end up in this situation with the Emperor; I felt like he would always be as far away as a distant country. Who could have predicted that this day would come.
The blade that hurled towards me, stopped before reaching my neck.
“…!”
I completely froze and stopped breathing. I was afraid the Emperor’s sword would start moving again.
“…”
I could barely breathe or even move. He stared at me for a long time, his eyes piercing through me. His blue eyes were so marvelously clear that even though it was very dark at night, they shine like a reflection on a lake. Even in this situation with a sword aimed at my throat, it was a wonderful and beautiful sight. My once frozen eyes felt relieved. If you see something so beautiful, you would smile without knowing it and that’s exactly what I did.
The tip of the Emperor’s sword trembled momentarily. No one saw it, and I didn’t even feel it, but the Emperor shook. He released a short breath and whispered something. He slowly stood up straight and the blade slowly moved away.
“…Your Majesty?” The Royal Guard, who stood nearby, wondered. Most rumors about the cruelty and wrath of the Emperor were true. In particular, there was no point of asking for forgiveness in the presence of the Emperor of this country. Even from my standpoint, I was doubting what I’m seeing.
The Emperor was becoming less and less composed. But it was still a surprise for the Royal Guard to see the Emperor aim to slice with his sword but not land a hit. He stood up to his full height and looked down at me who was still on the floor.
“Her identity is certain. She is not a trained assassin.”
The Royal Guard didn’t linger on his words and bowed his head. “We’re ready to go.”
I tried to speak, “…Yo.” However, I couldn’t speak or get up properly. I wanted to wake myself up and run away, but my body wasn’t listening to me.
The Emperor and all the members of the Royal Guard were looking down at me. ‘What is she doing?’ were the thoughts seen from their eyes. I was both ashamed and mad. The Emperor glanced at me as he stood by his guards. One of the men approached me and held out his hand.
“I will help you up, M’lady.”
“Oh… thank you… Ugh!”
He helped me up, which I was very grateful for, but I would’ve appreciated it more if he was a bit shorter. He gave me a piggyback ride but from his height I was afraid of falling and breaking my neck.
“Put me down, please!”
“Yes. But I feel like you’d have a hard time walking, M’lady.”
“I can walk!”
“Please just accept His Majesty’s kindness.” He called it kindness, but it sounded like a threat. At the voice of the guard, I lamented for my dwindling strength.
A cold calmness took over me. There was one thing more scary than the Emperor’s sword and that was my Mom’s back lashings. I snuck out at night to get back my lost sheep. If I don’t find it by the end of the night, I will get punished and that is as scary as facing the Emperor’s blade.
“Hey, sheep…” I timidly muttered. The group of guards turned towards the mountain slope. I looked at the Emperor.
The Emperor was looking somewhere in the bushes. He said without turning his head towards me, “I am hunting now and it is dangerous. I’ll give it back if I find it during my search. “
“…Yes.” I replied politely. What is His Majesty hunting anyway? Suddenly both the Emperor and the guard looked at me.
“…?” I expressed a questioningly look on top of the guard’s shoulders. It took only a few seconds after I found the reason. When the Emperor does you a favor, you shouldn’t respond with ‘yes’. I hurriedly tried to rectify that. “…Th-thanks, no, thank you, no I mean thank you, Your Majesty.”
…Ah, I screwed up.
I suddenly got tongue tied when I tried to correct myself. I bowed my head with the desire to bite my stupid tongue. Thankfully, the guard’s back was wide enough to cover me. The Emperor is the Emperor. Even a small mistake may not be forgiven and there were many people who never received his pardon.
The guard paid close attention to the Emperor. When he drops a word of punishment, they will enact immediately. However, the Emperor only turned his head and looked at me.
I turned my head towards the noise. The man who was holding me let out a short gasp.
After all, not a lot of people could say they saw the Emperor smile.
June 12, 2019
“Ouch!”
Something fast and strong pushed me down and I landed on the ground helpless. There was barely anytime to scream. My attacker climbed on top of me. A shooting pain spread throughout my spine and all I could see was blinding white. There was no gap for me to take as I was overtaken by my opponent pressing against me.
I realized my opponent was a man while he tried to cover my mouth. His body was pressed down hard against me so there was barely any place for me to move except for my arms and legs. I couldn’t breathe.
“Agh, ah!” But there was no use. My whole body froze in fear and I closed my eyes.
Am I going to die like this? This is so unfair. I always had an unhappy life. I had died in a strange way before and now it’s going to be my fate to get murdered in a small village unable to do anything! Oh, how I wish I could see His Majesty just once more! No, twice more!
If there is any God out there, then curse this man right here! Look into my eyes and see if I’m bluffing! I can’t die like this. I can’t die until I see the Emperor’s face again!
I squeezed my eyes in despair. If I’m going to die, I’m going to pour out all my resentment into this man. “Uh…”
Under the moonlight, I was able to see the eyes of my attacker. My blood turned cold when I finally realized who it was.
“…? …Your …Majesty?” All my strength left my body.
The Emperor loosened his grip on me, but didn’t fully let me go.
God, I take back what I said earlier even if I’ll have to die a second time. This handsome face must not die before my hundredth, no my thousandth death. Please forgive my thoughtless words when I thought I was going to die.
Unlike my alarmed state, the Emperor was calm. He peered down at my face without speaking. A great, pure moonlight shone down behind him. With the moonlight behind his expressionless face, he almost seemed doll-like.
In the meantime, I regretted how my heart couldn’t calm down. My breath was caught in my throat before his handsome face. The Emperor’s sword was aimed at my neck. Occasionally, the eerie sharpness of the blade touched my neck. Excluding the Emperor, when a normal person dies, the world goes on and no one can do anything about it. I may be stupid, but I didn’t want to die like this.
I mustered as much bravery as I could and spoke, “You- Your Majesty, my name is Diana Gundal…”
“…” The Emperor didn’t respond but I couldn’t give up.
“Your Majesty, I am the daughter of Lord Gundal…”
“…”
The Emperor remained silent until he said, “The bouquet of flowers…”
He still stared at me. I didn’t know what he was thinking and I couldn’t think of what else to say. With no way to prove my identity, I gave up the thought of living and started to feel pathetic. No, I’m not done watching this handsome face. Think Dana! If I die right now, I won’t be able to see his face in the future. Let’s use every wrinkle of my brain and preserve my innocent heart.
I widened my eyes and stared harder at the Emperor. I blinked. Agh this isn’t the time for blinking. The Emperor’s hostile aura changed after seeing the glint in my eyes and his eyes shook slightly.
“…Ah,” a short sigh of recognition flew from his mouth.
What? My eyes swelled from that small reaction.
After a long while, the Emperor opened his mouth again. “…burning frog?”
…Wait, what?
“…you know the flaming frog egg?” I tried to understand what he said in desperation. The Emperor remained silent.
“…I’m a human being.”
“Yes?” He ignored my gibberish and asked someone who just ran in. I couldn’t see what he was looking at because it was behind me. My body was stiff like a rock. I finally turned my gaze and looked up.
His guards were breathing hard from running and peered down at me.
“Looks right.” One of them nodded his head vigorously. I don’t know what this flaming egg was about but it seems like the Emperor and his men knew what it was. I started to think I was safe.
“Why is the lord’s daughter hunting in the mountain in the middle of the night? With a sword.”
…Well nevermind.
The sword at my neck wasn’t removed, in fact it seemed to inched closer to me.
“Hey, hey hey hey hey I was looking for my sheep.” If I didn’t answer straight away my throat would get it. My mind was confused but I was able to tell the truth.
“The lord’s daughter is here in the middle of the night looking for a sheep with a sword…?” One of the guards tried to summarize the situation.
“…Yeah.” That was exactly right, but I knew it sounded strange. I looked to the side. I mean it was true that I’m the lord’s daughter, I was looking for a sheep that was lost in a mountain, and I kept a sword with me for safety. It made sense if you look at Gundal’s geographical situation, but this was still something unusual for a lady. An aristocratic lady wandering along in the mountain at night and silencing her footsteps…
Sweat was dripping from my back. This was a situation that could easily be mistaken as an assassin trying to kill the Emperor. There was no way out. I started sweating even more. There were no hidden cameras in this world. I wasn’t doing this to prank anyone. I couldn’t plan this even if I tried. My neck is really going to fly.
My face turned pale. “I can’t use a sword!”
“From they way you walk you seem to know how to defend yourself.”
I seem to know… Why is the situation getting worse? The Emperor’s misunderstanding continued.
“Gundal trains both men and women.”
“We live close to barbarians, we cannot help it…”
“A sword is different to me.”
He stared at me and talked to the Royal Guard. My pleas were thoroughly ignored.
I was getting impatient because the Emperor didn’t comment anything about my explanation. I felt the urge to spit out any possible reason I could think of.
“Really! I’m looking for sheep oh god! I handsome! Young daughter, look!” I meant to say was the Emperor is handsome, but screwed it up. The sentence that came from my mouth was destroyed by my horrible grammar.
“…”
“Excuse me, Your Majesty…?”
The Emperor stopped talking with his guard at my cry. He didn’t move or say anything. Even though I spoke oddly, I didn’t say anything too strange that casted more doubt. I panicked with spit in my mouth and looked at the Emperor. I’m a good person! You can’t not see this! Look into my eyes! The Emperor watched my bulging eyes and waving arms.
The blade hurled towards me.
I freaked out and didn’t even notice it with my eyes. No, who would throw a knife at someone who begs you so earnestly? There wasn’t even a warning… That was terrible of the Emperor to do, no doubt.
I had looked over his biography and on the other side of the Emperor’s reputation you would hear words like ‘merciless’, ‘cruel’, ‘stubborn’, ‘bloody’, and so on. The rumors usually came from how he fights and treats others. I never thought I would end up in this situation with the Emperor; I felt like he would always be as far away as a distant country. Who could have predicted that this day would come.
The blade that hurled towards me, stopped before reaching my neck.
“…!”
I completely froze and stopped breathing. I was afraid the Emperor’s sword would start moving again.
“…”
I could barely breathe or even move. He stared at me for a long time, his eyes piercing through me. His blue eyes were so marvelously clear that even though it was very dark at night, they shine like a reflection on a lake. Even in this situation with a sword aimed at my throat, it was a wonderful and beautiful sight. My once frozen eyes felt relieved. If you see something so beautiful, you would smile without knowing it and that’s exactly what I did.
The tip of the Emperor’s sword trembled momentarily. No one saw it, and I didn’t even feel it, but the Emperor shook. He released a short breath and whispered something. He slowly stood up straight and the blade slowly moved away.
“…Your Majesty?” The Royal Guard, who stood nearby, wondered. Most rumors about the cruelty and wrath of the Emperor were true. In particular, there was no point of asking for forgiveness in the presence of the Emperor of this country. Even from my standpoint, I was doubting what I’m seeing.
The Emperor was becoming less and less composed. But it was still a surprise for the Royal Guard to see the Emperor aim to slice with his sword but not land a hit. He stood up to his full height and looked down at me who was still on the floor.
“Her identity is certain. She is not a trained assassin.”
The Royal Guard didn’t linger on his words and bowed his head. “We’re ready to go.”
I tried to speak, “…Yo.” However, I couldn’t speak or get up properly. I wanted to wake myself up and run away, but my body wasn’t listening to me.
The Emperor and all the members of the Royal Guard were looking down at me. ‘What is she doing?’ were the thoughts seen from their eyes. I was both ashamed and mad. The Emperor glanced at me as he stood by his guards. One of the men approached me and held out his hand.
“I will help you up, M’lady.”
“Oh… thank you… Ugh!”
He helped me up, which I was very grateful for, but I would’ve appreciated it more if he was a bit shorter. He gave me a piggyback ride but from his height I was afraid of falling and breaking my neck.
“Put me down, please!”
“Yes. But I feel like you’d have a hard time walking, M’lady.”
“I can walk!”
“Please just accept His Majesty’s kindness.” He called it kindness, but it sounded like a threat. At the voice of the guard, I lamented for my dwindling strength.
A cold calmness took over me. There was one thing more scary than the Emperor’s sword and that was my Mom’s back lashings. I snuck out at night to get back my lost sheep. If I don’t find it by the end of the night, I will get punished and that is as scary as facing the Emperor’s blade.
“Hey, sheep…” I timidly muttered. The group of guards turned towards the mountain slope. I looked at the Emperor.
The Emperor was looking somewhere in the bushes. He said without turning his head towards me, “I am hunting now and it is dangerous. I’ll give it back if I find it during my search. “
“…Yes.” I replied politely. What is His Majesty hunting anyway? Suddenly both the Emperor and the guard looked at me.
“…?” I expressed a questioningly look on top of the guard’s shoulders. It took only a few seconds after I found the reason. When the Emperor does you a favor, you shouldn’t respond with ‘yes’. I hurriedly tried to rectify that. “…Th-thanks, no, thank you, no I mean thank you, Your Majesty.”
…Ah, I screwed up.
I suddenly got tongue tied when I tried to correct myself. I bowed my head with the desire to bite my stupid tongue. Thankfully, the guard’s back was wide enough to cover me. The Emperor is the Emperor. Even a small mistake may not be forgiven and there were many people who never received his pardon.
The guard paid close attention to the Emperor. When he drops a word of punishment, they will enact immediately. However, the Emperor only turned his head and looked at me.
I turned my head towards the noise. The man who was holding me let out a short gasp.
After all, not a lot of people could say they saw the Emperor smile.
