Inside the room where important discussions take place, two figures are sitting in a long table. One is a male and the other is a female. The male is the Emperor of He Empire while the female is the lady called White death.
"It is my fortune to have you as my bodyguard. With your abilities, my personal protection is completely secured. There is just something that bothers me Lady Shin, why do you offer your services to me? Have you perhaps, fallen in love to me?" the emperor shamelessly asked the lady in front of him. Only in front of this lady this side of him appears. The lady looked at her with a trace of gentleness in her eyes.
"Your majesty has a godly appearance. I doubt if there is a lady in this kingdom that has not yet fallen in your charms. But I have spent most of my days wandering outside the region with my father your majesty. What I want to do, I am clear about it. I want to protect my father with my life. Since he had joined my mother and brother in the painless realm I can no longer protect him. But because you are the father of this empire your majesty, it is reasonable for me to protect you as well." as soon as lady finished saying her words, the face of the emperor looks complicated. Does this girl see me like her father? I'm the same age as her! He secretly asked his own self .
"That's great! I will mark your words in my mind Lady Shin that you shall protect me with your life. This precious life of mine is in your hands from now on. Keep this." the emperor told her and gives her a jade token. He saw her pondering about what he said but still accepted the token without examining it. She just places the jade casually in her pocket. The emperor keenly observed her action.
If the lady had checked the item carefully she would definitely not accept such token. For this kind of item, there are only two tokens that exist in the He Empire and one of it is owned by the emperor. It can be said that the token she just accepted is for the empress. It was but the token for the empire's rulers. The emperor just confers the lady an authority that she is not even aware of! As for why the emperor gave the lady such treasure and not telling the lady about it, only he knows the reason concerning this decision.
"Your majesty, how many shadow guards do you have?" not knowing what she just placed in her pocket, the lady casually asked the emperor about his existing guards.
"There are five." he answered with satisfactory look in his eyes.
"Are they all here your majesty?" she wondered while gazing at each of the corner of the room.
"Three of them are here, the two have given few instructions that needs urgency to comply." the emperor responded.
"Then I will take responsibility of your security during day time your majesty. The shadows at night?" she proposed. The emperor nods his head in agreement.
"Hmmnn... I'll still require you to occupy the room next to where I sleep. This is not negotiable." the emperor commanded.
"I won't also argue with your arrangement as it's easier to carry my job in this way as well your majesty." the lady complied without giving much thought of what the emperor has commanded.
"That's good. Transfer your things later. For now, you shall start your duty. The shadows have been dismissed." the emperor informed her. All shadows with in the vicinity left immediately without making any noise. She nods her head and did not ask questions anymore.
The two silently walk out together in the room. The emperor went to his imperial court with Ye Shin tailing behind him. As he sits his imperial chair, the place is very noisy. A series of reports can be heard from his ministers.
"Your majesty! The audacity of Qing Empire! They have clearly looked down upon us your highness. This empire has sent a princess for you! Are these people think that your majesty is lacking of fine ladies in your empire?" the minister who's the loudest in the room exclaimed. He is very angry when he learned about it because he also plans to marry one of his daughters to the emperor.
"This is clearly an insult to our noble ladies your majesty!" another minister complained.
"The Qing princess has not yet arrived. Let us not talk about it. Instead there will be a celebration tonight for our victory against the barbarians. I came here to invite all of my ministers. Let's forget about our worries tonight and just celebrate." the emperor told them while glancing at his body guard. The ministers were too bothered about the arrival of the Qing Empire's princess that they did not even notice the figure standing behind the emperor.
"Long live your majesty! Long live for thousands of years!" the minister said in chorus.
" My loyal ministers, you may now go." the emperor then dismissed his ministers and they all gradually dispersed out the imperial court.
"What do you think of the Emperor Qing's motive?" the emperor asked his new bodyguard for her opinion once the ministers were out.
"The Qing Empire is ambitious. If you want to maintain peace from two kingdoms, you need to accept the princess otherwise it can be considered as an insult and they might use this as an opportunity to declare a war, your majesty." the lady replied.
"This empire is obviously bullying me!" he complained.
"They can bully you because there is a room for them to bully, your majesty. After all you are in the right age. It is time for you to find your empress. Once this position is filled in, no one can bully you." the lady summarized the root of his problem.
"What do you think I should do?" the emperor asked.
"Your majesty is joking. What you should do, I think you have made proper arrangements already. As for me, I can give few advice but this may not be appropriate for the situation." the lady calmly stated.
"Whether it is appropriate, I will be the judge. Come, what advice can you give?" the emperor urges her.
"The lady of our Sword Cultivator Clan your majesty is-" Ye Shin started saying but was immediately cut off by the emperor.
"No! She is not suitable in the position." the emperor firmly said.
"She is young and her temperament can be educated your majesty. Besides her, I cannot think of anyone else your majesty. There might be other noble ladies but I have not also known a single one of them." Ye Shin defended.
"Your advice is indeed worthless! Nevermind, you will see my arrangements later on. Let's go." he said with a little disappointment in his tone. Then the emperor conceded asking to the lady and walks back to his study room.