It was a thatched house, one which reeked of reckless abandonment yet had a touch of life.

Chanting incomprehensible words, a woman in her mid-twenties danced to inaudible tune. With face painted a deep hue of white chalk and red paint right below her left eyes, her fringes of hair cascaded freely on her lower back creating a fearsome feeling of a teenage ghost. She wasn't what is to be considered beautiful but her stamina was commendable. For such a dirty hut, her white placid gown was immaculately clean with the only dent being a black spot that could be narrowed down to be a black rose.

Few minutes into chanting and dancing, she stopped suddenly and knelt, her voluminous hair tumbling down her face.

"What do you see, great one?" a woman whose presence almost seemed nonexistent asked with quivering lips.

She had never regarded anyone younger than her talk more of a mere peasant shaman, yet she trembled at the sight of this shaman.

Rumour had it she was half-blind, probably the red painted one saying it was exchanged for the gift of prophecy.

Alas, the shaman spoke in a guttural voice, one akin to the voice of her gods.

"Generations before, phoenixes came from highly ranked households due to thirst for power and greed. However, the prophecy spoke of a young lady with a heart of gold, beauty unparalleled, unchallenged and never seen before, her skills and wit would be one to be feared.

Stratagems will be played out on her yet she would remain unconquered.

Legend spoke of her with reverence and as a mystical gem that would break the tradition. Not just take the crown but also, the heart."

Fears forgotten momentarily, manners and composition lost for a millisecond, her hands slammed on the wooden table sitting before her; a furniture which looked decent to the rest of the ones in the hut.

"Not just take the crown but the heart? Whose heart, the dragon's heart? How dare you utter such absurdity?"

With a sharp flip of her hair, her scary face was revealed sharply staring her, it seemed her soul was being sucked out"

"You dare call me a charlatan, or rather you believe I serve a false god?"

For a split second, she had almost forgotten who she was dealing with, fortunately, she repented of her misdeed.

"Forgive me great one, for a moment I was overwhelmed with ills. Why would the great heavens speak of such woman with reverence, she's nothing but a bewitching seductress who would reap where she did not sow!" she lamented with face crying of unfairness.

"I see a woman who would replace the shadows with wondrous light ," was the shamans quiet reply.

The lady dropped some gold coins grudgingly and stood to depart but was shocked further by further revelations.

"Neither allow her to compete with her nor persuade her into being an enemy" the guttural voice returned.

"Pardon?" the lady muttered.

"Your daughter's fortune allows her to win just once. It can only be in her absence as she will never contend with her might when she returns."

"How did you know who I am?" she meekly asked, her heart racing like a speed car.

"I existed right before your birth," the guttural voice responded once as a piercing scream escaped from the shaman's voice. The spirits seems to have left.

Gathering up of what was left from her ego, she left. The revelation weighed down on her as she boarded her palanquin.

At first, she had come to see how soon her Seo-yun would birth a son, rather she was shaken with a prophecy that she might never be the phoenix.

Seo-yun had made mention of the emperor's secret woman but she had dismissed it as a mere fling. Men would always be men was her thought until her husband shunned her from strutting with arrogance as the would-be emperor's mother-in-law. The seat may not become theirs as there was an obstacle, he lamented.

Thankfully there is still hope and she will make use of her last chance.

She had to do something, and very fast.

"Oh my poor baby, why does heaven make you work as twice despite being thrown everything at your doorstep!"

"My poor child," she soliloquies as she took a bumpy ride home.

...

As he sat on top of his dragon throne, he reminisced back to the fun old days when they would stroll on the snow and spend every moment together. She would follow along to all the playdates, throw snow balls with him and have all the funs a couple could have in winter.

It wasn't game without her here but he had to get his work done leaving the unknown to the unknown. State affairs had to go on without a hick but this is definitely the last time he's ever losing her; if she's found that is.

Thinking about how she might be suffering, his almond-shaped eyes swelled with tears.

Remembering the session he was in, he swiped off the tears with the dignity of an emperor then raised himself to leave to his training ground. His glamorous dragon robe swept across the red carpet with such dignity men were awestruck

"Dismiss!" he adjoined the meeting with one sentence brimming with might.

Filing out of the room, his chief eunuch announced his departure with the customary words and tone.

He has to focus hard on the present lest he wither in despair he thought to himself.

...

Myung OK beamed with satisfaction when she knew her captor had gone out.

On her right side, east of the building, was a door barely concealed from her eagle eye. A landscape drawing of an evergreen thick forest bereft of any other representation except of a young girl whose hair was tied in a ponytail, hung somewhat loosely on the wall.

The young girl stood gazing at the forest, her right hand held a novel; probably a folktale. Dressed in a pink garb, her existence was like a flower in a pond. Explicit portrayal of her was extremely beautiful as it gave life to the desolate forest just like sun in winter.

Grabbing her perfect decoy, she headed for the door. Admiration of the painting can wait she reminded herself.

Myung OK gently slide the portrait open to reveal a world of pure arts. If the first painting that graced her visage was beautiful then what graced her visage inside the room was absolutely breathtaking; paradise on earth!

She became spellbound and almost got lost in the world. She explored every inch of room, admiring the abundance of knick-knacks and spellbinding artworks. As she reached the top of the swirling staircase which seemed to hold the highlight of the piece, her eyes were instantly drawn to the oak door that failed to match the rest of the art decor.

Without even thinking, she felt compelled to turn the wooden handle. At first, it was thrilling to find a door that opens up to another world, but at the moment, it was more challenging to open a rickety door that refused to budge.

Pheeew!

It's getting interesting.

She loves to be challenged and this was getting exciting for her, as she removed her hidden chopsticks from her socks, she heard the clatter of broken plates.

Coincidentally, the door opened by itself which was unexpected and unappreciated as she had to leave immediately.

Running back to the room she was left in, her childish innocence returned just as her hands grabbed the novel which was brought as a decoy. The door opened to reveal broken shards of what used to be a ceramic plate with a young charismatic man holding unto a fresh set of plates.

The childish innocence in her eyes turned into feigned surprise and disapproval.

"Where is my Oppa?" she blinked adorably .

"My master left the base for an important matter," he replied softly, completely mesmerized by her beauty but soon collected himself with her piercing scream.

"I won't eat without my brother!" she humphed stubbornly.

"Forget the beauty, I think there's nothing attractive about a mentally deranged woman who calls her kidnapper, brother," he reasoned in his mind.