As Yiming led the way to my room, he rambled on and on about things in the palace that I had to do and avoid doing. He told me about places where I was allowed to go and not, and said that the place that I had to avoid the most was the emperor's chambers, because I could even get executed if I was caught there without direct permission from the emperor himself.
Most of what he said went by me, of course, because all I could think about was how my life took this turn. I wanted to get answers and ended up with more questions.
"Mr. Yiming, what did you mean when you talked about 'enchantment' earlier?" I asked, interrupting Yiming with whatever he was saying.
Yiming looked back at me with irritation. "Don't call me that! Just call me Big Brother."
Disgusted, I cringed. "No way. I'd rather just call you by your name then."
Yiming looked sad, "Fine, whatever you want. Just remember to call me 'Captain' when we're in front of the others. I am technically your captain."
I raised my eyebrows. "You? A captain?" The thought of this headless chicken leading the emperor's special forces made me wonder how the emperor was even still alive.
Yiming looked like I stabbed him in the heart. "Don't look so surprised! I am quite good at what I do, I'll have you know!"
Then, he cleared his throat. "Anyway, back to your question."
Finally, someone who actually backtracked and answered my questions. I needed to remember this and make use of this person.
"Enchantment can mean many things, but the emporer generally enchants people by making them believe what he wants them to," Yiming continued. "Say, for example, he wants you to believe that you are a frog. He can enchant you to believe that and you will suddenly start hopping around on all fours shouting 'ribbit-ribbit'."
That terrified me. Lijun had that kind of power?
Seeing my expression, Yiming laughed. "Don't worry, little house cat. He doesn't do it to mess with people," Yiming's eyes suddenly got a scary look in them, "Except if you get on his bad side. He can enchant you to cut open your own chest and rip out your own heart."
"Okay. Don't get on the emperor's bad side. Noted," I exclaimed in a trembling voice.
Yiming's goofy smile returned as if he hadn't just said the most terrifying thing. "He can also make people forget things he wants them to."
"What?" I stopped in my tracks.
Yiming blinked, turning around to face me, "What's the matter?"
"Can he make an entire world forget a person's existance?"
Yiming burst out laughing. "No way! He isn't a fricking god, for crying out loud! He only has a certain amount of power bestowed upon him by the gods. He is still human, though."
We started walking again. I was glad that Lijun didn't possess that amount of power. Because if he had the kind of power to erase an entire person's existance from a world... That would mean he could erase me from my world. And why would he want to do that?
But... does that mean that someone else from this world could do such a thing? Who could be behind it all then?
"As you must have heard earlier, I asked Lijun if he would be alright. That was because enchantment takes a toll on his body," Yiming explained. "Especially if he has to enchant an entire body of people. It makes him tired and he gets extreme migraines."
"That sounds horrible," I admitted. With great power there was always a cost.
Yiming nodded, "It is. But he recovers quickly since he has supernatural healing capabilities."
I remembered something from earlier. "Wait, didn't you say Lijun's - I mean Emperor Lijun's - enchantment can't work on you? How come?"
Yiming's mouth twisted into a sly grin, "Oh yes. That is because I am special."
"Special? Are there many 'special' people?"
Yiming shook his head, looking proud. "Not at all. I am the only one."
My eyes narrowed, "What makes YOU so special?"
He put his index finger to his lips, "That is a secret."
Then, he skipped along into a corridor leading to a courtyard area with a gigantic tree in the middle. The ground around the tree had the greenest grass with pink flowers littered all over it from the tree. Under the tree sat a young man, focusing intensely on an open wooden book in his hands. The strangest thing about this scene, however, was his long straight white hair spilling over his broad shoulders. It was the same color as the full moon hanging in the sky.
Yiming turned my head towards himself, "No, no, no, no. Don't you swoon over Attendant Weixian. He's boring. He always has his nose in books, and never speaks more than three words." Captain Yiming narrowed his eyes at Attendant Weixian, and mumbled, "Yet the court ladies all swoon over him. How ridiculous." He took hold of my arm and dragged me along.
I stole a final glance at Weixian, only to find him looking straight at me with a confused frown. I could now see his stark blue eyes, and they were unlike any eyes I have ever seen before.
Yiming tugged me hard, almost causing me to trip. "Hey! I said no swooning!"
We entered another corridor and passed by several doors until we stopped at the door right at the end. Yiming opened it and a cloud of dust blasted into our faces.
Both of us coughed and waved dust out of our faces.
"Welcome *cough* to your room! The best room in the palace," Yiming said sarcastically. The room was covered in what appeared to be years and years of dust and cobwebs. It wasn't very large - it contained only a simple small bed, a desk, a dresser and a big round window with a seat under it.
"How inviting," I coughed.
Yiming lit some laps in the room and then stepped out of it and pointed down the corridor, "Someone will bring you fresh bedsheets and some clothes in a minute. The maids will be here in the morning to give this place a proper cleaning."
"Okay, thank you Mr. Yi - I mean Captain," I said.
Yiming nodded, satisfied, "Well, then. I shall leave you to it then. I'll wake you at sunrise for your first lesson and then I'll introduce you to the others."
I nodded, "Alright."
Yiming almost left but then turned back, "If you need anything, my room is at the start of the corridor."
"Thank you."
He nodded and tapped the door awkwardly, still standing there.
"Was there anything else?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Yiming shook his head, still fiddling by the door, "No, no. I'll go now..." He still stood there.
Suddenly someone cleared their throat hard behind him, causing Yiming to jump up in shock. He turned to look at the tall girl standing behind him. "Attendant Lingyue! Why do you always creep up on people like that! You disrespect your captain!"
"I apologise, Captain," Attendant Lingyue said. She didn't look sorry at all.
Attendant Lingyue had a bundle of fabric in her arms, which I supposed were my clothes and bedsheets. Her hair was cropped short, much like the men back in my world. She appeared rather stern in the upright way that she was standing. When she looked at me, however, she wore a beautiful smile, "Hello, there. I am Attendant Wen Lingyue. You can call me by my name if you wish."
"Nice to meet you," I greeted her back, returning her smile. "I am Zhang Meiyi."
Lingyue stepped past Yiming into the room. She coughed and looked around angrily, "If they knew we were getting another attendant, why is this room so gross."
Yiming cleared his throat, "Well, uh, they cleaned my room by mistake. Those maids..."
I guess Yiming was trying to make the situation as believable as possible. But he wasn't doing a very good job.
Lingyue, however, accepted his explanation to my surprise. "I guess they were swooning over my brother again."
My jaw dropped all the way to the floor. "You mean Attendant Weixian?"
Lingyue chuckled and nodded, "Yes, he is my brother, believe it or not. You must've seen him under the tree as you passed by."
I nodded, "I heard he was quite the bookworm."
Lingyue handed me the bundle, "Yes, he is. But he is good at everything, not just reading."
They looked nothing alike. Weixian had long white hair and blue eyes, while Jingyue had short black hair with dark eyes.
Guessing my confusion, Yiming chipped in, "They are the legendary fox twins. They were each possessed by the god of nature's precious foxes."
"The... what now?" I was left dazed, yet again. This world seemed more and more like a fantasy drama.
Yiming sighed, "The god of nature, Hualin, is one of the seven Great Gods. He rules over all of nature. He once had two sacred foxes that were most dear to him, a black fox and a white fox. But it is said that the god of enjoyment, Yule, accidently made them escape the Eternal Palace, and their spirits have roamed the world, unable to return. Eventually they decided to let their spirits possess a set of twins born to serve the emperor, as they saw that the emperor had traces of the Eternal Palace within him. Generations will pass, until the mortal lives of the twins fade out and they die, and then a new generation of twins would be born - each generation serving the emperor with their lives."
"Unbelievable," I muttered. I glanced at Lingyue, she didn't even look like a fox. "So, you are a... heavenly fox?"
Lingyue burst out laughing, "No, I only posses the spirit of one. I'm a human being. I'm just a bit stronger and more agile than the average person." Lingyue tilted her head to one side, "Do you not know any of the legends of the gods? That's strange, everyone learns of them since childhood."
I looked at Yiming, waiting for him to come up with an explanation to make Lingyue less suspicious of me.
As expected he jumped in, "Ah yes, that's right. Miss Meiyi suffers from memory loss."
"Ah, I understand," Lingyue said. "That is very unfortunate." She looked down at my clothes with a horrified expression, "What are you wearing? I have never seen clothes like these before. They are hideous."
I can't believe my fashion sense had been insulted like this twice in one evening. "I can't remember who dressed me, and why I'm dressed like this," I lied.
"You poor thing! Here, I brought you proper clothes for your position," she shuffled through the cloths on my lap and pulled out clothes similar to what she was wearing - a pair of pants and a long tunic that looked almost like a dress, made with light-weight white cloth. It had golden patterns embroidered on it, with a wide belt that went around your waist. Hers, however were a dark blueish color, similar to what I saw Weixian wearing earlier. Yiming also wore similar garb, but his were a deep scarlet, reminding me of the color of blood.
"Since you are still a trainee, you get the trainee uniform. But in my opinion, it's much prettier than mine and the other attendants'," Lingyue said with a pout. Her pout turned into a smile, however, and she placed a hand on my shoulder, "I'm so glad to have another girl on the team. I was so sick with all these men around."
"How many of you - us - are there?" I asked her.
"We are four. Five, if you add Captain Yiming," she answered. Her gentle smile was reassuring. "Don't worry, you'll get along well with all of us. We'll take great care of you. Oh, and my brother might be a bit... antisocial, but his heart is in the right place. Many mistake his distance and directness for rudeness, but he means no harm."
"I will keep that in mind," I responded. I wondered who the other two attendants was and if they were as nice as Lingyue.
"Alright, we will leave you to get some sleep now. See you in the morning," Lingyue said. Yiming also wished me goodnight and they left, sliding the door closed behind them.
The room was silent. The weight of my fatigue and sadness weighed heavily on my chest. I got dressed into the clothes that I was given and made my new bed.
I stared at it for a long time. I wondered if Kai was still sleeping soundly in our bed. No, his bed. There is no 'our' anymore. My existence had been completely erased. My heart ached at the thought of him lying alone in the bed that we once shared.
I got under the covers and cried myself to sleep.