The Lotus Of East Palace
Chapter 7 (Shuu)

"We'll keep running, Shuu. We can go back to the Orient, or hide in Westeria. I don't care as long as we can get out of here." Kaze.

I agree with him, especially in the hiding part of Westeria. I feel that returning to the Orient is not a wise choice for now, or at any time in the future. To be honest, I never wanted to go back to the Orient.

"We don't actually need to run. We're not the culprit." I said while panting. Water Dragons do not like to run. Flying, maybe. Swimming, definitely. But running, especially as a human being who has lived in the Palace since birth, is definitely not my favorite activity.

Kaze's different. As he ran, he was as if he was fusing with a cold wind that slapped his face. He was also gasping, his breathing was short, his heart was racing fast as my heart—we could feel each other's heartbeats as if we shared the same heart. But Kaze looked happy even though she was still frightened. His face that had been pale for a few days due to lack of sunlight and was always tense when he was near Prince Yi, there was now a reddish pseudo hue on both of his cheeks. Makes his face look like fresh peaches.

"But we are witnesses! We are living witnesses. Evil people can twist the facts and accuse us of being murderers. We can find our King and Queen. Or wherever it's important we have to go far." He insisted.

I'll follow him wherever he wants to go.

Kaze held my hand very tightly. And without that I would still follow him, running as fast as I could to compensate. We are two people with one heart and one soul, and I will never be far away from her, nor will Kaze be far away from me. Not after we met a few years ago.

I was eleven at the time but I had already entered the Water Palace. Though the previous Water Dragon—aku in the previous life—Huang Hui Jun who is my grandfather, just entered the Water Palace at the age of twenty years after marriage. As a member of the Huang Clan, I was arguably on par with the princes in the Orient. I have my own rights. I am allowed to enter the Water Palace whenever I want, provided that when the Emperor needs me, for war or just to destroy his enemies, I am prepared and trained. But I insist on getting into the Water Palace as soon as possible.

Ever since I was born, the Huang Clan already knew that I was the reincarnation of my grandfather, that I was an Aquinier that existed in legends. I was still the son of my father and mother, but when they entered my room, they were obliged to knock on the door first, get permission from me, then enter while bowing and bowing. My parents are obliged to treat me with respect. When there is a day of celebration, my extended family, the Huang Clan both old and newborn, will gather in my house to prostrate before me and beg my blessings. I am a god who lives in the body of a child for all of them. I am considered holy, holy and perfect. I was just a normal kid like all the other kids.

When my brothers or children my age played together, I was not allowed to join them. When I'm tired of staying home and studying all day, I can't complain. Once I complained and sighed, everyone looked scared and begged for forgiveness as if they had just committed a sin. He said, if the Water Dragon complains, or is angry, or sad or feels any emotion, the Yaozhi river will overflow and flood the entire city, or the East Sea will spill over half the empire.

That's why I entered the Water Palace early. But after being treated like a God, as soon as I entered the Water Palace, I met a little girl of the Ilbon tribe who hit my hand just because I preceded her to take a cake at my first arrival banquet. Actually, it was my fault. I should have let him first take the cake because he's a guest at the Water Palace. But I'm used to taking precedence in anything so I forget that basic manners.

"You grew up in a chicken coop, huh?" He snapped at me with the typical Ilbon tribal accent. Her voice was so loud that my ears that were used to hearing people speak softly and politely to me almost bled.

The little girl was very disrespectful. He said he was too rough— I believe he came from the interior or the village where the poor live. The taste of dress is not as elegant as the women of the Jung— tribe, she always wears a brightly colored kimono that is striking and a variety of gems in her hair that is silver. And I'm not used to all that. So on the first day of our meeting at the Water Palace, of course, we had a fight.

When I was just about to flood the Water Palace by blowing up the lake, the little girl had already first brought in a typhoon and destroyed a part of the roof of the Water Palace. I still remember how afterwards the servants and guards of the Wind Palace bowed before us and offered prayers of salvation as if our quarrel was the beginning of the destruction of the empire. So we stopped fighting and fighting for their cause. After that, I was asked to evacuate first at the Wind Palace while the Water Palace was repaired. More precisely, they were begging me while prostrating.

Because of the many months of living together in the Wind Palace, we began to get to know each other and quickly became familiar. Not only because we are Twin Dragons, not only because if one experiences pain then the other feels pain, too, but only with Kaze can I become an ordinary human not some kind of god or a deadly weapon. When the roof of the Water Palace was finished being repaired, it felt like I wanted to make another ruin so that I could be allowed to stay in the Wind Palace. Kaze found out that desire just from once the lyrics on my grim face. With a jaily smile, he pretended to have a fight with me and returned to ravage most of the Wind Palace with his hurricane wind. That way, he was the one who was evacuated to the Water Palace with me.

When recalling all that, we had already turned into Water Dragons and Wind Dragons. I was swimming in the Tygriss ocean and Kaze was flying in the Nordhalbinsel sky. All of a sudden, my heart hurt so much that I thought something might happen to Kaze. So I swam to the surface of the water.

"What's that?" Ask Kaze. He's not the one who got hurt.

"You feel that too?"

Kaze growling. Lightning was snatching in the sky. Soon the storm will come.

I know the reason.

"Earithar... Earth Dragon..." Whisper Kaze.

"I know."

I can't express the taste well. Obviously, I feel sad and angry. And it seems that the myths in the Orient are true. As the Water Dragon began to feel such emotions, the waves rolled high, sweeping away the entire city that was on the seafront. I don't know which city was affected at the time, I don't even care. Our sister has been killed. Someone or maybe some people killed him.

I can only hope that the Great Fire Dragon in life now has enough self-control to stem its flames so as not to scorch the entire land. Maybe he could control himself if only our Queen was by his side. Only our Queen can silence her power and calm her overflowing fire. May the words of Queen Eleanor be true that our King and Queen have met in this life.

"We must find our King and Queen immediately." My speech.

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

Days later, we finally decided to hide in Westeria. It was the safest place to hide. I fused with the ocean and Kaze fused with the wind. That's how we passed through the gate of Westeria—which I forgot his name—as well as their tight security.

One problem. We both don't speak Western. And Westernians are reluctant to learn any other language other than their own.

In Westernia, we don't have to hide. We can walk among the hustle of the city without covering our faces because no one knows us. At first it was all fun. We used the small amount of money we had brought to stay a few days at the inn. We covered our grief at the death of our sister by walking in the heart of Westernia, filled with warmth, the laughter of the people around, and colorful flowers. After a long time in Nordhalbinsel with cold temperatures, we were finally able to take off our coats and enjoy a warm spring in Westeria. Although not as warm as the spring air in the Orient, Westeria is enough to treat our longing for sunlight.

"I'm hungry." Kaze said after a long time we were just walking around looking at the various shops and roadside stalls. We're out of money now.

"We don't have any money. We can't buy food."

Kaze then took off one of the ruby jeweled flops that were in her hair. "We're selling this to buy one of the pastries there."

I looked in the direction Kaze pointed. A roadside stall selling a variety of pastries in mini sizes. The smell of butter from a distance made my stomach rumble. But then my gaze returned to Kaze's hairpin. If we sell it, it should be enough money to buy a house and living expenses for a few years—if we do not spend as much as we usually do in the Palace.

I'm thinking hard. Where can we sell such high-priced jewelry without reaping suspicion? And how can we sell it at a reasonable price? The people of Westeria probably would not know that the hairpin was considered sacred in the Orient because it had been worn by the Wind Dragon for generations. The hairpin was first given by an Orient Emperor from several hundred years ago to the first Wind Dragon he met. And I'm sure the price is very high if we sell it in Orient. We can't negotiate a price here because we don't understand Westeria. We could have been deceived when it was the only treasure we had brought that could have kept us alive without returning to the Orient.

"We have to keep that hairpin." I finally said. Kaze immediately nodded in agreement and hurriedly kept the flops in his pocket. I knew that it was his favorite hairpin and he didn't actually want to sell it. Perhaps it was the soul of the Wind Dragon in the past that made him greatly appreciate that hairpin.

"But I'm so hungry." Kaze.

I can't bear to see it that way. "Wait a minute here. I'll be back with food soon." I told him. Kaze complied and sat quietly in a chair near the city's central fountain.

I am the Water Dragon. I come from the highly respected Huang Clan. I never steal, and I never will. This isn't stealing. I'll pay for it later. But not now.

The center of Westeria City was a place that did not exist anywhere in this world. The road is made of natural stones that have been formed so as not to make people who walk feel difficulty. In some places, green grasses grew like tapestries where the Westerians held their seats and enjoyed the sunny weather with the nearby people under the shade of flower trees that I did not know their name, he said, while eating the food they bought at some stalls. The most amazing thing, even though it was the center of the city, a huge river that branched out as if dividing the streets into sections. Along the clear river, there, people opened food and beverage stalls and provided seating so their customers could sit near the river while enjoying the food and drinks they had already bought. One of the stalls on the riverbank was a pastry stall that was appointed by Kaze.

I picked up some pastry while the seller was busy serving the buyer. And after the seller looked back, towards his pastry-pastry, I was away from the creek while carrying some slightly wet Pastry. Kaze thanked him and immediately devoured the pastries. I couldn't help but smile every time I saw her eating so voraciously.

"That! That boy stole my pastry!"

My heart almost stopped. I did not dare to turn my head and immediately asked Kaze to run as fast as possible through the hustle of the city.

"You're stealing?" Ask Kaze.

"I borrow. I'll pay for it later."

"That stole his name!"

"You're starving."

"You're not an expert at stealing. Should've told me. I'm more skilled at it!"

"That's it. Better now we find a hiding place. Or a lonely place to change."

"This is downtown! Everywhere is crowded! We're not—“

'Look!'

Me and Kaze fell together. Someone tripped us. That person, whoever he is, has now stood before us with both hands folded in front of his chest and a displeased facial expression. He was holding the sword I knew he had used to stumble us. At first I thought we were in big trouble. We will be caught and no one can help us because no one understands our language. But then I saw the guy's face.

She's an Orient girl. I can't be wrong. Even though he was dressed like a Westerian, his face could not lie to us. And finally! Finally we found someone who could speak our language.

"Noona, please forgive us. Please let us go." I said in Orient language while blinking. As much as possible eliminate my style of speech that always sounds noble. Kaze often scoffs at my speaking style.

"Eonni, our mother in the village is very sick. Our father went nowhere with a young girl. We were starving, our mother had not eaten for a long time. We're forced to steal." Kaze added, He also as much as possible removes the typical logat of the Ilbon. Kaze has always been smart about this. I can't understand how he made up all of that in just a few seconds. The expression on his face undoubtedly made anyone who saw him would shed tears and a bag of money to give.

The Orient girl was obviously older than us which is why I called her 'noona' which in our language is used to refer to older women. He's probably four or five years older than me. His long, shiny black hair was tied to a ponytail. She wore a blouse and trousers that women commonly wear in Westeria— with a sword draped around her waist. In the Orient, there were no women wearing such clothes. Orient women always look graceful with long skirts. So it was strange to see an Orient woman wearing such clothes.

I'm following Kaze's play. Put on a face that hopefully looks sad.

Ha! Your noble face is completely unsuitable for this charade. Kaze protested. I refrained from replying to her nor cast a sharp glare at her.

We waited. The Orient girl might help us by explaining to the pastry salesman about 'our sick mother' or 'our father who ran away with the young girl'. Or maybe he'll pay for the pastry I took and maybe give us some money. At least he'll let us run away from the pastry salesman and the security guard who's close.

"Give it!" The command is in Orient language. As expected, he really is an Orient. From his accent, he was probably from the Han tribe. But the color of his eyes was not like those of the Han tribe. His eyes were like those of the Jung tribe.

With a heavy heart I handed him some pastry that we still had not eaten.

"Not this." He said, giving the pastry to me. Then he glanced towards Kaze. "You stole a hairpin. I saw it."

"I didn't steal the flip of—“

Before Kaze finished her sentence, the noona had already taken something from Kaze's clothing pocket. It was the Wind Dragon's hairpin.

"Where do two immigrant children who are so poor that they steal pastry from a roadside stall like you get hairpins like this? It must belong to an Orient noble. You stole it!”

"I swear I didn't steal it! That's mine!" Kaze is screaming. I looked around, worried that there were hurricanes or storm clouds that knew were present in the middle of this bright weather. But there's no. Kaze was already able to control her emotions well.

The Orient girl then reported us to the security guard. I don't understand what they're talking about because they use Westeria. I can only catch a few words I've learned in the Palace. Prison house. Son. and Mother. Also said 'sick'. I think the girl was explaining Kaze's story to the security guard.

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

I thought we'd be taken to jail and locked up there without anyone defending us. I thought that Orient girl would hand us over. Apparently not.

Thanks to the explanation from the Orient girl, we were not arrested. He even paid for the pastry I had taken. I swear I'll pay for it all later. I don't like being indebted like this.

The Orient girl then took us to her house. He lives with a blind Orient old man and an even older Westeria woman. She introduces herself as Lee Yeon-Hwa. As expected, he was from the Han tribe. I guess his eyes are black instead of gray as are those of the Han tribe because his father, the blind old man, was from the Jung tribe.

"So, who wants to tell you where you got these hairpins?" He asked after we were greeted and well-groomed by the friendly old grandmother in the house. The old grandmother didn't say much because she knew we didn't understand each other's languages, but she looked at us as if we were her long-lost grandchildren.

Do we lie or frankly? I asked Kaze.

If we're honest, will he believe?

So I tried to read all of them's minds. Reading the thoughts of Lee Yeon Hwa, her blind father and grandmother who did not resemble her at all.

Finally, I turned towards Kaze who had been waiting for my decision whether we should lie again or not. Show it all to Lee Yeon-Hwa. Show the face of the King and Queen. He might be able to help us.

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