The Lotus Of East Palace
Chapter 27 (Elias)

I never thought I'd be reunited with my ex-boyfriend after thirteen years.

Xavier said that unbeknownst to anyone, the Empress often went to Dong-gung every Saturday night and week until late at night to get drunk. At first Xavier himself did not realize that the woman was the Orient Empress because she had come alone, without her guards, and was dressed like a commoner.

"You know who else the powerful woman who often roams the suburbs dressed as a commoner is?"

I don't even have to think for long, "Elle?"

"really. But in any case it will be difficult to get rid of innate habits from birth. Elle could not even leave her noble accent, her way of walking or her way of holding a glass. When I saw the woman, I was sure she was a noble. So I found out about him."

"How?"

"I asked Kaze and Shuu. They immediately recognized him as Lee Sae-Byeok, Empress of the Orient."

"So that's your goal to open a winery on the edge of town like this?"

"The nobles like to seek their own pleasure by coming to a place like this without being noticed by anyone, far from being exhausted in the Palace."

"Lordes like you and Elle."

"You too. You often go to the suburbs to avoid arranged marriages, don't you?"

I can't argue with him.

Two weeks later, after all the preparations were done, Xavier handed Dong-gung over to me because he and the Queen had to immediately return to Nordhalbinsel. Now it's just me in Dong-gung. My last task before returning to Nordhalbinsel was to find Commander Wu and Tania Welsh—dad and grandmother Yeon-Hwa—by approaching the drunken Empress Orient, holding her captive, erasing her memory, and by, then return it to the palace after I finish taking Yeon-Hwa away from the Jade Palace and thwarting her marriage to the Emperor.

I deliberately wore my official uniform which I usually only wore when there was an official event at Nordhalbinsel Palace. I am currently General Elias Winterthur, heir to Grand Duke Winterthur, his former lover thirteen years ago.

He sat in the corner of the room, aloof, trying to be invisible to anyone. Empty bottles of wine were neatly lined up on his desk. Danika has always had a habit of organizing everything neatly and regularly. He's the kind of person who doesn't like to see things fall apart.

So why is his life like this now? If he goes to this place often, doesn't that mean his life isn't good enough?

I walked slowly towards him. There is no one around now. All customers have gone home. Actually, I kicked them all out by saying that we closed early today.

"Hello, Danika." I said as I sat on the chair next to him.

Danika looked surprised. He looked up, narrowed his eyes to look at me. Then widened his eyes when he finally recognized me. "For the Dragons! Are you that?" Ask. How surprising, he spoke my language. I learned Orient language to talk to him. "Are you really Elias Winterthur?"

The way of speaking is still the same. Even his face still looked very young like a teenager. She still looks like the Danika I knew thirteen years ago. And inevitably it opens up old wounds for me.

I used to really like this woman. He once filled my mind and heart. But not anymore.

"true." I answered, showing off a smile. Elle once forbade me to smile in front of the Lady at a party because she said I was considered to be teasing them if I smiled.

Danika smiled back at me. And it feels like we went back thirteen years. "It's been a long time since we've met."

"Yes, it's been thirteen years. If it's not wrong then you just leave without saying anything. Know that now you're married and become the Empress."

"Sorry..." Said. Seems really sorry.

"That's it, it's over." I said as I poured wine for him. I can't get drunk so I don't drink. "How's it been all this time? Are you happier now?"

Danika was silent for a moment before answering. He looked dreamy, "No. I'm not happy at all." His words were a bit vague as he was already very drunk. He wouldn't have revealed his secret to me if he hadn't been drunk. His eyes turned red, and in an instant, his tears spilled. "My husband doesn't want me. He ignored me during our eight-year marriage. Our parents wanted me to give them offspring, they kept urging me. But Haru doesn't even think I exist."

She's really crying right now. And it made me feel unbearable to her. I remembered the unhappy Elle during her stay at the Palace. But at least Elle had Dylan in her life, she once felt loved and wanted by someone. And Xavier never really ignored Elle. In fact, I think they might have had a different ending if Elle had never known Dylan and learned to accept and love Xavier.

Danika was so dissolved in her cries. I hugged her, more because I couldn't see a woman crying. I patted her back slowly, easing her cries.

"They're gonna kill me, Elias. They're gonna kill me because Haru already has a concubine. If Haru likes her concubine, if her concubine can give her an heir then I'm of no use to them anymore."

I'll make sure that doesn't happen because I wouldn't even want Yeon-Hwa to marry Haru. I don't care if I'm being selfish. I don't care about using any cunning means to bring her back. Because I'm sure Yeon-Hwa won't marry Haru either. Because he's my soul mate and he should be with me.

"Why did you let her have a concubine? You are his wife. You Maharani. You should be able to reject all of the concubines so that no one gets elected. Don't let Haru choose his concubine over you."

"I didn't let him. I've threatened the concubine so she doesn't come near and sleep with Haru."

I took off my arms when I heard those words. "threatened him? How's it?"

Danika smiled as if what she was about to say was the most pleasant thing, "I tortured her father and grandmother and imprisoned them in the Jade Palace's land-carrying prison. His blind father had broken both legs so to stand he could not. I also ordered my men to whip her grandmother in front of her. I threatened to kill the two men if the concubine didn't follow my orders. Of course he finally obeyed me. He won't dare to mess around as long as I have his father and grandmother as captives."

"Are you going to let them go if he does everything you say?"

"Don't joke! Why would I let them go? I plan to kill them all. His grandmother then, then his father, and after he witnessed the death of his family, he would die. If I release her, she could report my actions to the Queen Mother."

My blood boils to hear him say all that. Is she really the girl I loved thirteen years ago? "You're going to kill them, even after he's done everything you've ordered?" Me, sure.

"He made my position as Empress in danger of dissolution, Elias! She, that concubine, could have gotten me killed just because of her existence."

I refrained from directly killing him right now. He could have said such a cruel thing casually. He could have planned to kill Yeon-Hwa and his family in front of me!

So I threw away everything I'd learned since I was a kid about manners and manners, about being kind, respecting women and not hurting women. As well as the main teaching in our family to never tease and play with the heart of women.

Because the woman in front of me right now is no longer the Danika I know. I no longer know him. He's the Orient Empress who would kidnap an old man and woman to torture and be a threat to my women and then kill them all. He's my enemy. He is also an enemy of my country. So I have reason enough to do what I'm going to do.

"Then come with me." I said while wiping her tears with my fingers. I deliberately linger putting my fingers on her face and gently caressing her cheeks which are now red. He looked surprised, but he did not dodge. "We can get out of here. I'll take you away from the Orient. We can start a new life, just you and me. We can go back to what we used to be, Danika."

Danika did not immediately reject my invitation, which means she considered it carefully. That means, he wants it. He looked hesitant before finally saying, "But my family is here."

I know that Danika's relationship with her family has not been so harmonious in the past. It's just an empty excuse. So I took advantage of her heartache on her family which had forced her to leave Nordhalbinsel and marry Haru. "Can't you leave them? Even after they let you live miserable in the Palace?"

"But—“

I knew I shouldn't have done this, I felt like I was betraying myself, but this was to convince Danika that she would willingly come with me. This is also what I did to save Yeon-Hwa and her family. So I stopped the excuses he was going to say with a single kiss on his lips. Danika looked so surprised that she could not say anything.

I knelt before him while holding both hands. I hated her so much that I felt like I could just break her hand in my hand. "I have a mansion in the northern border region, it is not as big as your palace here, but I dare guarantee you will be much happier there than continuing to live here. I'll make you happy."

I often saw it in my father's eyes when I saw my mother. Lately I saw it in Xavier's eyes when I saw that Queen he loved so much. I try to imitate that look. But it's hard if what I'm looking at is Danika. So I imagined Yeon-Hwa's face while looking at her. I let Danika sink into that look. Letting her be caught up in a false love.

I kissed his hand. "Come with me to the north. Go back to the Ice Country." And freeze there until I decide what way to kill you. But I didn't say it.

"Do you still like me like you used to?"

Nah! Holy hooch! Don't dream!

"Yes." Yeah." Answer me as gently as possible. "I still love you so much. So come with me. Let go of everything that's burdening you." I stood up and reached out my hand to her, "Leave everything and start over with me."

Danika agreed.

I was shocked when I heard how naturally those words came out of my mouth. I swear before I've never seduced a woman let alone used this way. So I had absolutely no idea that I could do it.

Danika accepted my hand and I quickly took her teleporting to Xavier's mansion where Elle lived.

I've already met Elle to give you the health potion that Saintess Lucia gave me. We chatted for a while before I returned to the Orient. She looked so healthy, so surprising because the last time I saw her she looked so skinny and frail. Elle has also stated that she is willing to help me confine Danika with her magic.

I don't know exactly what magic Elle means, but she promises that Danika won't be able to escape.

I took Danika to my room and asked her to wait there while I went out to look for my twin sister. Elle quickly creates a magic room to trap the Empress.

"What is this magic?" My toot. I don't really understand magic. I can only teleport.

Elle smiled, "Just like I did General Leon. The difference is, General Leon has my magic power and King Zuidlijk's sword so he can be free on his own without my help. But the woman has neither. So this magic will lock her up for an indefinite time. If you want, he can stay there forever."

I noticed something was different from my twin sister. Perhaps his tone of voice sounded so haughty and cold. No. gabe. Elle was like that a long time ago. We were often mistaken for haughty and unfriendly by the other nobles just because of the way we talked. So I tried to observe him up close. Then I realized that from the side, from where I was standing right now, her irises that were supposed to be the same color as mine, now looked purple. Like our mother's eyes. Like the witches of the Grimoire Clan.

Those eyes were those of a witch who had once used black magic.

Elle looked at me. For a moment, he looked confused and dazed like a person who had just woken up. But now I see her irises are back in ice blue.

"It's not black magic, is it? You know, you're banned—“

"Black magic is prohibited if it is used to commit a crime. It's different if it's used for the good of this kingdom." Cut directly. I was about to argue again that whatever the reason our family should not use black magic. That our family, the Winterthur Clan, was for generations a black witch hunter. That black magic demands the sacrifice of human life. Its use will be covered with bloodlust and will not be satisfied by killing only one or two lives. But then Elle said the thing that made me unable to argue with her anymore, "I'm helping you save your soul mate, Elias. You just need to remember that."

...****************...

I didn't linger in that mansion. After Elle had locked up Danika, I immediately returned to the Jade Palace to free Commander Wu and Tania Welsh.

It wasn't hard for me to find the dungeon he was referring to. Danika says that she told her men to torture Tania and Commander Wu. Danika certainly did not want to dirty her hands with blood, so there must be something she asked to make sure both of them remained in prison and tortured them occasionally if needed. Xavier advised that no one should see me in the Jade Palace, so I changed my form into a wolf, ducked into hiding behind the bushes, and then watched the movements of the guards and workers in the Jade Palace.

Found her. A bodyguard and a waiter carrying food trays with suspicious movements to the park. I didn't follow them right away. I just observed from afar, then after making sure they had come back out, I entered through the same path as them earlier.

The dungeon was completely dark and narrow. I felt so tight as soon as I got inside. It's not like the Nordhalbinsel dungeon made by witches so the building is no different from a regular prison. Unlike Dong-gung's dungeon which was also created by Xavier—'s sorcerers, Dong-gung's dungeon looks more like the interior of the Palace than the basement. The Orient Emperor did not seem to have ordered witches when creating this dungeon so the shape of the walls was still rough and rocky and the atmosphere was really gripping.

I turned back into a human being so as not to surprise them. "Mrs Tania Welsh and Commander Wu?" I asked in Westeria as best I could.

They look thin and pale. Commander Wu was now sitting weakly on the ground in the cell. His legs were still bleeding, no one had bandaged his wound after breaking his leg. Tania Welsh was unconscious. How could Danika do all this to them.

"Who are you?" Asked Commander Wu in a very slow voice. He certainly didn't see me. I forgot he was blind.

"I'm your daughter's friend. I came here to save you."

"My daughter! Is my daughter still alive? Please tell me that my Yeon-Hwa is still alive. You'd better kill me if my daughter's gone. He's the only reason I'm alive."

"Yeon-Hwa is alive. Be calm. You don't have to worry, I'll take care of him and bring you together soon." I said. I then teleported to get into their confinement. "Please hold my hand, Commander Wu."

He did not ask how I could know that he was Commander Wu. Nor did he try to avoid or suspect me. It means he is too desperate. He doesn't have much choice. If he remained in the dungeon, he would only be tortured to death without really knowing when to be reunited with his daughter. So he complied with my request.

I teleported them to the Wisteria Palace for treatment and protection from Queen Eugene.

...****************...

As Xavier said, I mustn't be seen because people might recognize me. They would probably recognize Grand Duke Winterthur's son from the Eternal Winter Country who was in conflict with Orient, instead, especially with our family's hereditary characteristics— icy blue eyes that no one in this world has. But they would definitely not recognize a wolf with snow-white fur. They might be scared, noisy, panicking and chasing me or trying to kill me, but one thing is for sure they won't recognize me as Elias Winterthur.

So I wandered around looking for Yeon-Hwa with my serious form, utilizing my keen sense of smell. But when I turned into a wolf, something felt new and different. Somehow I can find out where he is. I memorized its scent more than anything in the world. It was as if my entire body was being pulled by an alien gravity that was pointing just at him. A pull that I can't fight as hard as I try. I'm pretty sure he's in the Jade Palace right now.

In the Emperor's room. Why is Yeon-Hwa in Haru's room these nights?

I immediately teleported into the Emperor's room. Yeon-Hwa is there. The whole cell in this wolf's body was hot as soon as I saw it. The smell was so intoxicatingly sweet, it made me forget myself. I want to kneel to him. I wanted to worship him and make him my god. I want him to kill me and bring me back to life. I think I can destroy the whole world for him. What magic is this? What kind of madness is this?

I knew Emperor Haru was there, I saw him from the corner of my eye, but I could only look at Yeon-Hwa as if he was just there. It was as if this entire world and its contents meant nothing. I can feel it. Our soul mate bond is getting stronger. I didn't know it was going to be this bad, so scary and thrilling, but I loved it. I can't be like this. This is not a good time. I should wake up and take her away from this place.

Yeon-Hwa quickly ascend! I said.

Yeon-Hwa will be able to hear it because she's my soul mate.

I'm sure that Yeon-Hwa heard it, but she still looks so shocked that she didn't move in the slightest.

Yeon-Hwa! Hurry up we don't have much time!

I immediately lowered my head, lowering my body to the floor to make it easier for him to climb onto my back. Yeon-Hwa starts to wake up from her shock and rises. Then I took her teleporting before Haru also came to her senses from her shock.

...****************...

I took him far away to the coastal region, on an island not far from the Orient mainland. There was no one on the island so we would be safe for a while before we continued our journey back to Nordhalbinsel. Yeon-Hwa needs a break tonight because she looks tired.

"I'll marry him." He said while I was still preparing the bonfire.

My hands stopped moving hearing those words. "Who?"

"Loe. I'm getting married to Haru tomorrow. I'll be his concubine then he'll make me the Empress of the Orient."

"Your flair is not funny at all. You're bouncing. Take a break, I don't think you've been sleeping well lately."

"I'm not kidding. I seriously. I will marry him and then become the Empress."

I know Yeon-Hwa is serious about her words. It was evident at the strong determination that radiated in his eyes. But I can't—I don't want—assuming he's really serious.

My heart was like a glass that had just been slammed and I was walking on top of the shards. It's just words, it hasn't happened yet, I can still prevent it, so why does it feel like this? But I can't show it. She doesn't know who she is yet, doesn't know what she is to me. And I don't think it's the right time to talk about it. I don't want to tell him. I wanted her to feel it too and finally realized that we were created to be together.

"You want to be the Empress that way? I thought you didn't want to."

"If I become Empress, I can guarantee Orient won't attack your kingdom. You will not be involved in any war. You can live quietly." Said.

If what he meant by living a quiet life was to live without himself by my side and to see him marry another man, then I better not live quietly forever. I'd rather live in endless warfare if that's what I have to do to defend it.

I now walked up to him, forgetting the new campfire I was about to make. "You even call Nordhalbinsel my kingdom like you don't live and work there. It's also your house, Yeon-Hwa. That's your kingdom too. You're a part of us."

Yeon-Hwa shakes her head in disagreement. "No, General—“

"Not a General."

"Generic..." He said my name. It's just one simple word. Just one name that everyone I know is called. But when he called it, it was no longer a name. It was a spell that could make me completely his. Yeon-Hwa continued, "I was never a part of you northerners. I may claim to be a Westerian because I was born and raised there. But my blood is pure Orient. I am the last surviving descendant of Emperor Lee. I'm an Orient man."

Very slowly and carefully, I placed both my hands on her shoulders. Yeon-Hwa looks up at me. Our eyes met and it felt like time stopped. I could see my whole world spinning in his eyes. "Tell me, who threatened you to say that? Was it Emperor Haru? Empress Sae-Byeok? Justsaytheword. I can kill those who dare to threaten you."

"These words are mine. I wasn't threatened by anyone." And I know he's telling the truth.

"You're not—“

"I can protect everyone like this. I'll be powerful enough to protect my own family."

"I can protect your family. I've freed your father and grandmother. They are now under the protection of Queen Eugene. If you're willing, I'll deploy my army to make sure no one can touch them. I can protect them. I can protect you."

Yeon-Hwa raises her hand to touch the hand on her shoulder. "Elias, our relationship is only a professional one. General and ordinary soldier. We serve the same king. But that's all. Don't you? You don't have to do all that."

"I don't have to. But I want to. I want to protect you and your family. I want you to count on me."

"Why?"

Because you're my long-awaited soul mate. Because I was created for you and you were created for me. Because I love you. Because you're everything to me.

I should have told her all that, but I didn't. I want Yeon-Hwa to realize it first before I tell you. I don't want the bond between us to be the fate imposed on him. I'm getting very greedy now. I want him to understand his feelings, I want him to realize it and then love me completely. Because I know Yeon-Hwa isn't the one who's just going to believe in fate.

"Because that's how a boss should be. Protecting its members well." Reply finally.

Yeon-Hwa nodded in agreement. But he looked down, avoiding my gaze.

"I like you." Said. He looked back at me, this time his eyes reddened as if holding back tears. "Really, for days in the Jade Palace I thought of you. I miss you and I've been waiting for you all that time. I wish you'd come and take me away. But then I hope you never come so you don't have to feel hard and burdened by me. I think I'd be a lot calmer if you weren't worried about me. I don't understand why I feel all that, I can't control my own feelings. You may say that I do not deserve it, because in Nordhalbinsel, I am only a commoner while you are the heir to the Grand Duke. I don't care about our very different social classes. I'm just trying to be honest because maybe this is the last time. I will marry Haru no matter what you say because that way, I can protect everyone I care about."

"Yeon-Hwa, I—“

"Please don't say anything about my statement just now. I'm it's okay. I just wanted to say it. If you have the same feelings as me, you will definitely understand the path I chose. I've chosen to protect your kingdom, everyone you know there and yourself. And if you don't feel the same way, then just ignore my words. Assume I never said anything so that my statements wouldn't burden you."

I can understand it. But I don't want to let go either. I want to stay with him no matter what the decision is.

"All right..." I said. "I understand you, Yeon-Hwa. So take my hand, I'll accompany you back to the Jade Palace."

...****************...