The Lotus Of East Palace
Chapter 3 (Kaze)

The Northern Queen was not the Great Queen of Zhera. Not our Queen. And it turns out that our King is not here either. Strange, though our hunch is usually not wrong. Though I thought our King was in Nordhalbinsel.

Not without reason, of course. First, the Great Fire Dragon first descended to earth in this land, as she saved the desperate Zhera from the death of her husband and nearly committed suicide. Second, Nordlijk, their son, became the first king of Nordhalbinsel. And third, Shuu and I can feel it. It was as if there was something that attracted us to go to this Ice Country long ago. Even since we haven't been found by Torakka—the dragon trackers sent by empire—a few years ago.

In the Orient, the Emperor recruited people born with dragon eyes as Torakka— Dragon Trackers. The Torakkas were paid a large fee and guaranteed their lives. And if the owner of the dragon's eyes refuses to become Torakka, they will usually be destroyed. So, anyone would definitely prefer to be Torakka rather than die. Torakka is trained to master different languages and different types of martial arts and can use any weapon. They are all equal to warlords. Currently in the Orient there are only 3 Torakka people. They were all young girls from different tribes. Gyeoul of Han, Eri of Ilbon and Yi-Zhuo of Jung. I was found by Eri when I was five years old in my home, in a remote village on the top of Fuku mountain occupied by the poorest Ilbon Tribe people.

More precisely, my parents sold me. We are very poor. They can't even feed me. Because I was the only girl in the family, and because of the Orient's habit of putting their boys first, I was usually missed during the food ration division on the grounds that if I were fat, there would be no men to propose to me. Though I was very thin and probably almost died of malnutrition. So when Eri came to bring his army and told my parents that their youngest daughter was a Wind Dragon like the one in the legend, even though she did not believe in the legend, she said, my parents handed me over to Eri. Not out of fear for Eri with his red dragon eyes and his heavily armed troops, but because Eri brought one gold chest and said that my parents and five older brothers will be given abundant property and monthly allowance for life. They can enjoy a good life without hard work. Their lives would be guaranteed by the Emperor on the condition that they remove me from their lives and not tell anyone about this. My parents told everyone that their youngest daughter had died of malnutrition—the most common cause of death in my native place. Since then, I am no longer Kaze Yamazaki. I am Kaze, the Wind Dragon. Fu ryu. Aerinears. The Emperor's deadliest weapon.

After that I stayed at the Wind Palace. The palace used by the Wind Dragon is hereditary. The Wind Dragon, myself, was apparently constantly reincarnating. And an Orient Emperor kept finding me in any of my life. I don't really remember my past life, but I quickly adjusted to the luxuries I had in the Wind Palace.

I was treated like the Emperor's favorite daughter. The colorful fancy clothes, the gems that always adorn my hair, the good food I've never seen before. At first I thought this was real life. The life of luxury I deserve.

Shortly after, I began to be obliged to study. I learned a lot of things. Starting from cultural sciences, arts and languages, to serious ones such as politics, economics and most importantly, history. I studied my own history. Who I was in the past, who my brothers and sisters were, who my true King and Queen were. I finally asked one of the teachers who taught me, what's up north there? Why do I always feel like I want to go there? The same thing I asked my mother. My real mother, who after so many years of living in the Palace, I can no longer remember her face. All I remember is that my mother answered exactly as my teacher answered.

"In the north there is only an eternal ice field filled with evil witches, snow-white barbarians and their cruel and sharp-finged wolves."

So I stopped asking. I'm sure there's more to it than that.

Torakka Eri one day came to me at the Wind Palace. He doesn't come to me often, but I'm happy every time he comes. He is already like my own brother because we are from the same tribe, the Ilbon tribe. We speak the same language and love the same food. He brought word that the Water Palace was finally filled. He offered me to visit there to meet my twin brother in a past life. Aquiniers. Sui ry. Water Dragon.

And that was the first time I met Shuu. Unlike me, Shuu was not discovered by a Torakka. He did come to the Water Palace because it was time.

Shuu is the son of a nobleman who comes from the Jung tribe. The same tribe as the Emperor. The Huang Clan, his clan, was one of the great clans that was close to the Emperor and meritorious to the empire. The Water Dragon had always been born among the men of the Huang Clan for hundreds of years. His predecessor was his own grandfather. When his grandfather died, Shuu was born. And everyone instantly knew that Shuu was a Water Dragon. She trained in her own luxurious home like the Palace, she was never separated from her parents and was promised to start serving when she was ready. That's why he only came to the Water Palace many years after I stayed in the Wind Palace.

We are Twin Dragons, but how far apart our fate is. Even so, we quickly became familiar. And I no longer feel alone. I feel like there's finally someone who really understands my whole heart. So I asked him, though,

"What's up north there?"

At first it was just a question of pleasantries after our training one afternoon.  Because I'm bored. Because he's quiet and I always have to ask questions to get him to talk a lot. Also because I want to know if she feels what I feel too.

"Our king." The answer is direct, full of conviction. He looked at me and I could see from the look in his eyes that he was serious about it. Our king is in the north. The Ice Country. The land of wolves and witches. "Someday we will meet him. Also with our Queen, and our sister, the Earth Dragon."

And that's why Shuu and I are pumping Prince Yi to take us to Nordhalbinsel. That is why we broadcast a false prophecy to Emperor Qin that he may allow Prince Yi to take us to the Ice Country. We want to meet our King and Queen.

Instead of meeting the Great Fire Dragon, we were met with the Ice Queen. Queen Eleanor is exactly what every man in any part of the world heralds. Beautiful is amazing. Like the Ice Goddess. But he looked more fragile and tired. It was not a lie that he was grieving.

"My husband recently passed away. I am still deeply saddened by the death of the man I love so much. I hope the prince understands if I haven't been able to answer your proposal." That was how he said in perfect Orient language when Prince Yi came and proposed marriage with him. This guy is always in a hurry. He did not learn from his failure in trying to attract the attention of Princess Eugene of Westeria.

But either because of her attractive beautiful face, her delicate words when saying those words in our language, her soft voice, or her calm and fragile manner, Prince Yi agreed. Men in the Orient love women who are calm, soft and seem weak. Women who need to be protected, who are helpless and cannot fight back. And the Queen managed to create that impression. Beyond a doubt, Prince Yi actually agreed to wait for her until the Queen stopped mourning her husband's death. Though I thought that he would immediately tell me and Shuu to create a storm to threaten the Queen because he introduced us as the Twin Dragons before Queen Eleanor.

I looked at Shuu beside me. He's looking down. Not because I was being polite, I realized, but because I was hiding a smile. No. gabe. He hides laughter. He rarely laughed.

Queen Eleanor is good at acting. Said.

We can telepathize. One of our many talents. I think it's more because we're Twin Dragons. But not only could Shuu telepathize with me, he could also read everyone's minds. He must have read Queen Eleanor's mind.

She lying?

It's not. He is grieving. But not for the death of King Xavier. He mourns the death of his mistress. The baby's real father.

A baby?

She's pregnant. I'm guessing no one noticed.

He's so skinny! His stomach is not yet enlarged. Anybody can guess.

One over.

Whahuh?

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

"How's Shuu?" The prince asked Shuu, finding out if the Queen was telling the truth, when we had been escorted to a mansion we would occupy during our time in Nordhalbinsel.

"The Queen is really very sad and still hasn't forgotten her love." Answer Shuu. The answer is not a lie at all. The Queen is still in mourning. He could not forget the people he loved. But it wasn't King Xavier in question.

"Poor woman. Too bad, even though sadness can erode her beauty. He seemed so sad that he forgot to eat."

Holy hooch! really Prince Yi...

I fell in love with Queen Eleanor. I suppose. Shuu continued my words.

"Maybe you better take advantage of this moment, Your Majesty." I said. Floating is one of my talents. Not as a Wind Dragon, but as myself. "You can fill his empty heart. Invite him to eat together. Women who are grieving like that are usually more easily withered with attention. While waiting for him to overcome his pain, you can approach him slowly."

"Then if you've managed to lure him in, you can marry him and become King. And Nordhalbinsel will fall into your hands." Shuu added after understanding what my plan was.

Instead of making us monsters and scaring the Queen, it is much safer if we take this approach. After all, Prince Yi was already enamored of the Queen's charm. That way, the Queen will have plenty of time until King Xavier actually returns and we won't have to bring a storm and threaten these innocent people.

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

The mansion we occupied was indeed not as luxurious and as spacious as the Main Palace. But it's amazingly big. The floor is a shiny marble like glass. Like ice. The ceiling was painted with clouds and the blue sky was supported by tall thin pillars of gold. The people sent by the Queen said that this mansion was one of the many mansions belonging to the late King Xavier.

Prince Yi was kept in close contact with our soldiers. Shuu and I were not needed in the meeting, so we decided to go around exploring this beautiful place.

The walls of the hallway were filled with paintings of faces we did not recognize. But they have more or less one thing in common. Snow-white skin and charcoal-black hair. Not all were black-haired, some were blond, but the majority of the former King of Nordhalbinsel had black hair. I suspect it is a characteristic of the Nordhalbinsel royal family. But then Shuu reminded me of something.

"That's the hallmark of King Nordlijk. His skin is snow white. Even more pale. Her hair was dark black, but her eyes were as red as fire."

"Like his father. Nordlijk is very similar to our King. The Great Fire Dragon in his human form." Add me.

"Like this guy. Whoever he is." Shuu said then. His gaze was fixed on the painting before him.

I immediately approached him, away from the painting of one of the former Kings of Nordhalbinsel who had eyes as dark as the void. Right next to the painting was the painting Shuu was observing. I understand why he was so stunned to see the painting.

That is our King. I may not have mistaken. His face was exactly like a thousand years ago. The difference was that instead of the fire-red eyes he should have, his eyes were as bright green as the emerald gems that were on one of the crowns of Emperor Qin.

At the sight of the painting, my heart skipped a beat until it hurt like hell. The entire cell in my body was as if it was screaming to kneel before his painting. I couldn't take my eyes off the painting. The pair of emerald eyes seemed to be looking at me directly, when it was just a painting.

"It's a shame he died young." Said someone who had just come up with an extremely lousy Orient language. The northern log cannot be removed. Not suitable for our language. It was the interpreter sent by Queen Eleanor to help us during our stay at this mansion. I don't remember his name. She was a woman of about forty years of age or so. "He was the most beautiful among the kings of earlier times. Everyone thinks so. I agree."

"He who?" I speak Nordhalbinsel as much as I can. I can't use Nordhalbinsel, I'm just more passive. If I listen to people talk, I can understand what they mean. But if I have to use their language, I cannot use formal language. Their language is difficult and there are too many vowels and letters that do not need to be read or the way they are pronounced is different depending on the context of the sentence. Really troublesome language.

The translator looked at me. I don't know what that look means. Is he offended that I don't use formal language? Or am I talking wrong?

But then he smiled. Sad smile. I glanced towards Shuu to explain the contents of that person's mind.

Gee whiz... Shuu.

Wh why? Do you know who was in the painting?

But it wasn't Shuu who answered my question. The translator, this time in his own language knowing we understood the language, while still nailing his gaze to the emerald-eyed man in the painting, said softly, "He is the late King Xavier. He died before he could be crowned King, but since his wife, Queen Eleanor was already crowned, he was automatically already King."

Therehewas. King Xavier is our King. The Great Fire Dragon. Shuu added.

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