Fall, undeniably is the best season of all. A season of love, beautiful foliage and snuggling.
It was in this feeling of fall went a young girl from her beautiful courtyard to the imperial garden. The birds had started migrating due to the falling temperature, leaves striped themselves from tree yet the indescribable feeling to explore wasn't curtailed.
She was in a half daze, her eyes dreamy with brightness, her heart beat with a thud of excitement. Fall is her favorite season.
Guards nodded as she flashed her I.D, she didn't know what it is but the desire to visit overwhelmed her.
Last night, she had a repetition of her familiar dream, yet, the face was hidden from her.The garden scene seemed clearer yet the face of the male protagonist was not seen. She wondered why.
Stories of the imperial garden as the paradise on earth was rampant; the cool breeze was praised, the beautiful scenery to die for. The general mention of ambience was tantalizing and worth experiencing.
At the entrance leading to it, she unbelievably noticed guards weren't posted, it looked desolated and lonely. It was almost sundown and the nocturnal animals had began their animation and songs. Absence of guards made it eerily quiet yet she edged on.
She went in to the overwhelming beauty of nature in it's fullest, a soft smile broke out from her lips curving it upward, her dimples were explicitly expressed. Exhaled air slowly swarm out of her mouth in a lovely attitude resembling a painting.
A soft breeze waltzed over her, ruffling her hair in an erotic manner in semblance of a romantic movie. Her gown of pink coloration and blue flowers danced to the breeze ever lovingly .Everything spoke of romance .
She's to return home for a matter yet the longing of quietude overcame the desire to leave. The well stamped permit was held tightly in her arms as she nodded in agreement of her most innate desire.
She walked further to the thick of it in admiration. Everything was as she had dreamed and painted in her mind.
"So beautiful", she moaned in ecstasy, her voice sounded like that of a goddess.
Maybe, it's the presence of another or what human called instinct, her eyes flew to the opposite direction in revelation of well sculptured back. The clothing covering it was red and had an embroidery of a cat or so she thought.
Slowly, the back turned upon her to reveal another embroidered cat. She took a first step closer and the robe took few steps closer like one hallucinating.
At that moment, the dragon was envisioned. The dragon?. Only one man known as the man among men is entitled to the robe in the whole of Shu.
The emperor!
That, which we call heart, one belonging to her, jumped up in a strangled excitement. Fear of a heart attack didn't dissuade the crazy organ. Self-control was thrown to the wind as she daringly took a step closer, then, she felt the dragon pause in hesitation.
For the first time, she willed herself to see this dragon that brought her to the palace.
Her heart skipped a beat, the eyes with which she gazed at him was doubted. She must be hallucinating for this is unreal.
The moment his eyes saw a pink dressed girl, his joy knew no bounds. She's always in his thoughts and sometimes is a welcoming distraction. Many a time, he visits the garden to daydream about her but she'd never been this visible. The pink dress was customized for her in his mind as she wears it so well.
Carefully, he took a step to get a glimpse. He walked slowly in fear she might disappear before a little glimpse, and stopped short when her face materialized.
In his break time if there is any, he always painted what she would look like, but none of the painting was any close to this dream he's envisioning. This pink dressed lady was somewhat her; astonishingly ravishing, incredibly matured and elegantly well poised.
The true definition of what society termed a fine lady.
If it was a dream, vision, or imagination, he hoped to be closer to her even if it's all in his head.
He walked closer, same shaped eyes.
Closer, same nose ... still straight and moderately long.
Closer, same lips but fuller and pinker, devoid of any painting. Same way he remembered it.
He went closer to her and saw her beautiful eyes widened in shock and confusion. The beauty was too mesmerizing he hoped to bring her to a hug and never wake up, but his impulse was out of control as he found himself bending to have a taste of that lip. Only one woman had the power to make him yearn.
She woke up from her daze and saw it wasn't a trick of the eyes but real or was she really hallucinating?. Everything about this dragon was undeniably familiar but a little bit matured with the stubble and taller too.
She felt him edge closer, bend down upon her but his gaze was dreamy, and soon, in her daze , she felt him kiss her. In that kiss, she felt his pain, a longing so consuming, and struggle of a wearied heart who wore his pain so well.
She saw him stop and widen his eyes in a freaking shock.
"You are real?", he said , his eyes almost bulging from it's socket.
He had been lost in his thoughts and what he thought an imagination, to be able to differentiate what is real from unreal. As he drew the sweet face nearer to his and kissed it as though nothing but death could part them. He stopped suddenly, for those lips were real meat and succulent, nothing close to imagination.
The moisture he felt prompted him to open his eyes to find hers fixed on him, and they were filled with half-wondering and complete wistful reproach.
The question of shock had barely left his mouth when he saw her turn around fiercely, her luscious back on him.
"Soon?", She called out. He heard her tremble in trepidation.
It really was her. The lovely childhood sweetheart, whom he had turned the whole world upside for, but never found, is right before him. But how is she here.
"Yoona?", he called softly and her shoulders shook in a violent quiet sob. It really was him. Myung OK is how she's addressed here. He's the only one familiar with that name in this palace.
At that moment, there was no doubt it was her. No one would dare address an emperor by his name, only that girl he had longed for would do such. No! she's now a lady.
The feeling of excitement almost drove him mad that he didn't know when she disappeared.
He chased after her, he ran in different directions but there was no sign of her.Great! He has lost her on finding her again.
For the first time, he regretted dismissing his guards and most importantly shadow guards for they would have pinpointed the direction she went to. But wait, if there were guards she would have been denied entrance as he was nesting there.
He ran towards the farthest entrance, an opposite direction of where she came from, and the place he deposited his guards. They saw their emperor's frantic expression, perfect contrast to his usual collected self and drew their swords, their eyes trained behind him for any possible attacker.
"Chief eunuch!", he roared like a wounded wolf who just lost his mate.
"Ye... Yes Your Majesty", the man stammered.
"I want the register of palace maids that got admitted this year. Wait!", he cried in remembrance.
"She liked cooking. Get me the list of all kitchen palace maids admitted this year and possibly last year". The urgency of the tone urged them to bow in acknowledgement and made to scamper away but they were stopped.
"I am going there myself... You", he pointed at the darkness and a man appeared. "Run to the royal kitchen, Inform their chief courtmaid. I want all the register and ladies lined before me when I arrive".
"My lord, I'm not meant to be seen. I'm a shadow guard", he protested righteously.
"But you are the fastest", the emperor growled, a feeling of impatience almost made him lose control.
"Forgive me, my lord", he said, and like a wind he disappeared with the perfect velocity.
The entourage joined in the footsteps of their master who was half-walking, half-running and practically half-flying.
They arrived to find ladies lined up before them. His dignity was gone as he gazed upon them in a searching manner.
For some of them, it was a first time seeing the emperor and the result was an intense blushing of crimson. The cause of the heat was unaware of his crime as he graced them with his intense eyes and inhuman beauty. The bold ones dared to wink at him for more attention but he was averse and numb to such looks.
"Is that all the ladies?", he impatiently asked the mistress of the house.
"No, your Majesty", she said respectfully and went on to explain some were outside the palace at the moment.
He took from her the registers and rummaged through it's content for the familiar name that plagued his night. He flipped through every page carefully, read line from line carefully but there was no Kim Yoona anywhere.
He went back in time, leafed through those admitted before his coronation and even from the time they lost contact, yet, nothing was documented under that name.
Dejectedly, he left for that garden in hope she might return but no one was there. Night had came yet he sat in darkness to replay what happened that evening. This time, his shadow guards lurked in the darkness.
He tried to put all the memories of that scene in one play but the occasional cries of crickets and nocturnal animals distracted him. He stood up once when he saw what appeared to be the shape of her but found it a shadow of one of the short trees.
Painful as it might be, he remembered that he had betrayed her once and the memory of that might act as a repellent, sending her away from him.
Was he to blame though but he blamed himself still.
She won't return he believes. As time went by, the assertion of that discovery sank deeper into his guts instinct. The servants were already commanded to retire early so nobody dared beg him to retire.
At the wee hours of the morning, frozen by cold and beaten by mist, he returned a disappointed man.