Two Worlds
Part One } Part Two
emperor cho seungyoun x y/n
angst, fluff
isekai au (travelling to another dimension)
You closed your eyes as you see the bloody trial happening in front. You heard his continuous screams as he plead for help. You wanted to help but you knew it will come with a price -- your life. You wanted to survive.
You looked at your surrounding and you see all the ladies and gentlemen inside the hall looking with no remorse. They looked at the execution with no fear.
Why am I even here?
Just two weeks ago, you were with your friends and family. You were studying for an upcoming exam but because of your dumb brain, you followed a seemingly glowing butterfly while you were on your backyard. As you were following it, you failed to realize that you were nearing a cliff. When you woke up, you were surrounded by unfamiliar people, with unfamiliar clothing.
“Who? Who are you? Where am I?”
Did I just spoke in a different language?!
“Where did you came from? And why are your clothes like that?”, a man asked. You thought that he was one of the elderly of the community.
“I came from --” Before you can even answer, a commanding voice echoed through the area.
“What’s with the commotion?”
One by one, they moved and made way for the young man. He looked at you for awhile and later held both of your hands and tied it.
“W-what are you doing?!”, you exclaimed.
“You don’t look like someone from here. Which kingdom sent you here?!”, he asked while forcibly pulling you.
“Huh? What are you talking about? What kingdom?!”
“Never mind. I’ll bring you to the emperor. You can be a threat to the kingdom.”
What is he talking about? Kingdom? Kingdoms do not exist anymore.
As you can remember from your history class, kingdoms existed a long time ago and even though there are still royal families in the present, they only hold a symbolic power.
He blindfolded you to make sure that you won’t see anything about the kingdom. You were carried by a horse while laying on your front. While you were being carried, everything started to sink in. You’re alone in an unfamiliar place and you’re suddenly accused as a spy from another kingdom. You were trembling as he brought you down.
“Are you trembling since you’ve been caught?”, he snickered.
You can’t speak and let him drag you. Passing by a plight of stairs, you entered a room. Based on the sound, the door may have been huge.
“Who’s that?”, a far more commanding voice said.
“Emperor, I caught this woman at the border. She did not look like someone from here. She might be a spy from another kingdom.”
“Remove her blindfold”, he commanded.
The man removed your blindfold and there you saw a man in the shadows. He was sitting on a chair and beside him was a woman. It was dark inside the room and you can’t clearly see their faces but you knew that they were trouble. The room was cold and quiet and you were sure that they were the reason for it.
“Who are you and who sent you here?”
Out of fear, you can’t move your mouth to speak. The man nudged you.
“I-I’m y/n. No one sent me here. I’m lost.”
“Hmm.. lost, huh?”
He stood up and step-by-step, he went closer to you. He looked down at you with such a cold stare.
“You look different. I haven’t met someone like you even in the other kingdoms.”
He gave some sort of signal to one of the maids in the room. She led you outside and took you to an empty room.
“Um.. where am I?”
“Miss, it seems that you really are lost. You are in Vitomia, the most powerful kingdom.”
Vitomia? I’ve never heard of that kingdom.
“Then why am I here in this room?”, you asked.
“The emperor instructed me to dress you up. You will be one of his queens.”
Huh? Queens? There’s only one queen, right?
“Why?”
She sighed, probably troubled with all your questions.
“Because you look different. The emperor have a total of 14 queens including you. The one sitting on the throne with him is also a queen. It depends on his decision who sits beside him.”
She removed your clothes one by one and pushed you to a tub.
“W-wait! I can do it alone!”, you said as you cover yourself.
“I’ll be punish if I’ll leave you. Let me do my task.”
Soon, you met the other queens. Some were nice but most were hostile towards you. They see you as another opponent for the seat beside the emperor. The highest position that a woman can get is being an empress. The emperor doesn’t have an empress which means that he has not met anyone suited for the role yet.
For the days you have been in the kingdom, you have never sat beside him and you were thankful for that. You don’t want to be anywhere near that man. Some of the queens want to be him due to power, some were because of how he looks. You won’t deny that he’s handsome but his character is turn down. He was evil through and through.
As the bloody trial is happening, you looked at the emperor and you saw a small smile on his lips. He is enjoying the sight. What a horrible man.
The dark sky came and if you can find anything good about the kingdom, it’s the night sky. Stars were visible and the moon shines brightly, something that you can’t see well in the city. You wanted to see it better so you went outside the palace and sat in the garden. One thing good as a queen is you can roam around the palace freely as long as it’s not near to the emperor’s chamber and outside the gate.
The wind gently touched your skin. You removed your bun and let your hair float with the wind. Since you have stayed in this place, you have appreciated the silence. From all the screams that you hear every day, the silence brought by the dark made you calm and happy.
“What are you doing here?”
You stood up immediately. You knew who owns that voice.
“Emperor, I was just looking at the stars”, you said while looking at the ground.
“Raise your head.”
You breath out and slowly raised your head. It’s the first time that you saw him without his cloak, thick suit, and sword. He was dressed in a white long sleeve and black pants. He looked pure.
“You’re that woman who looks different. What’s your name again?”
“I’m y/n, your highness. I’ll get going then.”
You bowed and walked passed him.
“Where are you going?”
You stopped on your tracks and trembled.
“Uh.. I’m going to my room, your highness.”
Please. Please, just let me go to my room.
“Stay. Sit beside me.”
He was already seated when you turned around. You were mentally cursing. He was most evil person you know and now, you are beside him. Opposite from what you were feeling minutes ago, you are beyond uncomfortable. You can’t even appreciate the stars even though you are looking at it.
“Those stars, they are always aligned”, he muttered.
“Which stars?”, you asked.
“Those. They always form a line”, he said as he pointed at it.
Hmm.. Do they not know about the constellations? Am I that far in history? Or the discovery did not reach them yet?
“Your highness, that’s the cassiopeia. Beside it is the andromeda”, you said as you traced the lines connecting the stars.
You did not hear anything from him so you looked at him.
“How do you know that?”, he asked and by the tone of his voice, it was not simple question of curiosity. There was a hint of suspicion.
“Ah! I simply gave them names as I have also noticed the patterns before, your highness”, you hastily said.
“Hmm.. I did not expect that you are smart.
“Thank you for the compliment, your highness. I think that the night is getting cold. I should get inside”, you asked for permission.
He nod and you can finally get inside.
If only the emperor can be like that the whole time.. You almost forgot that he kills people out of pleasure every day.
The next morning, another trial will take place. You dressed up and went to the emperor’s hall. You’ve noticed that Victoria, the one who was sitting beside the emperor is now with the other queens. It only means that he will choose another person to be on the throne. You can tell the tension between the queens. Some were prepping their clothes while the others are preparing their best smiles.
What a pity.
One of the imperial guards announced his arrival. Everyone stood up to greet him. When he sat on his throne, the queens were eager to hear their name.
“Right, the queen for this day is...”
God, this is so dumb. Women for him are mere objects that can be owned and discarded in his command.
“y/n.”
You clapped along with the queens and looked at them to see who was chosen. They just looked back at you.
“Why are you looking--” “y/n, I have called your name”, the emperor announced.
“Ah! Right. I apologize, your highness.”
You climbed the stairs and sat beside him. Everyone was looking at you. It made you scared. Soon, an elderly woman was dragged inside the hall. Unlike the previously accused people, she was silent. She looked.. contented.
“Carry out the punishment”, the emperor announced.
The moment the ax was lifted in the air, you knew you can’t take it anymore especially when it’s an elderly woman. You were reminded of your grandmother back home. You held your arm chair tightly and closed your eyes. It was finished in a second. There were no cries or shouts. She accepted her fate.
Everyone left the hall after the trial except the two of you and his most trusted guard. The emperor instructed you to go down and stay at the end of the stairs.
“y/n, I am dismissing you as one of the queens”, he said.
Huh? Why?
“I don’t need a weakling for a queen. You can’t even stand blood in front of you. Get out of my palace.”
He must have seen me closing my eyes while on the trial but.. really? Yes! I’m free! But I should still show remorse or else, he’ll kill me.
“I apologize your highness for my weak heart. I would like to thank your grace for letting me stay in your palace. My stay here made me happy”, you said as you shed some tear.
“Let her out!”, he commanded his guard.
You were pushed outside the gate. The guard looked at you with such despise. It might be the first time this happened. You noticed the other queens laughing at you through the window.
These dumb asses must think that I’m miserable. I pity them.
You gave them the dirty finger and you laughed looking at their confused reaction. Of course, they don’t know what you meant. You ran away, far from the palace.
As you walked around for days, you realized that there are still good people in the kingdom. An old couple offered you a shelter when they saw you wandering around their area.They were nice and hospitable. They gave you warm food and clean water to drink. They reminded you of your parents. You stayed with them for a few days and soon bid goodbye. You have to go back to the border where you first opened your eyes.
Christina, the old lady, even shed a tear as you bid goodbye to them. They have mentioned that you remind them of their daughter. You may look different from her but you had the same attitude as her.
Your journey continued. You walked for another two days and you have finally reached your destination. The bread and water that the old couple had provided you made you survive the two days. You stayed at the area where you have arrived before. Since you were waiting in the open, one of the people who discovered you saw you.
“You’re that lady we have seen here, right? What happened to you?”, he asked.
“I was brought to the palace but was later released when they knew I was innocent”, you lied.
“I see. Then what are you doing here?”
“Uh.. I just want to see the place where I was found.”
He pondered for some time.
“But lady, you were not exactly found here. We found you on that forest, on the eastern-most part. We just brought you here since we don’t want you to leave there alone.”
“Really? Thank you for saying that Sir”, and you left.
You figured that there must be something in that forest. Maybe that is where you can go back. You arrived at the easternmost part at sunset. You don’t even know if you’ll see something but still waited.
After a few hours, you heard some rustling. You hid immediately and to your surprise, it’s the emperor and his guards. They might be roaming around the border to check on security. You continued hiding as you were afraid that he might change his mind and kill you.
When the moon was its highest point, there was a faintly glowing doorway on the biggest tree in that area.
“Is that the portal? Maybe that is where I came from?”
You rushed towards it, afraid that it might disappear.
“You! You’re y/n!”
You looked behind and the emperor was alone. You halted, a habit that you have learned while in the palace.
“What are you doing here?”, he asked after going down his horse.
“Uh, your highness, I have been exploring Vitomia since I was vanished from the palace.”
Looking at the tree, the portal’s glow became more faint. You don’t care about the emperor anymore. You have to run towards it. You turned your heel and rushed towards the portal. Before you entered, you heard the emperor shout your name.
When you gained consciousness, you felt pain all over your body. You opened your eyes and you’re back! It’s the same cliff where you fell.
“Yes! I’m back! Finally!”, you shouted for joy as you jumped around. You’ve heard voices after that. You closed your eyes as light was pointed at you.
“y/n? Mom! Sister is here!”
“Mina, is that you?”
“Yes”, she answered while crying. Sooner, you saw your parents and now, you can’t stop crying. You’ve missed them. They were also crying. They threw a rope to help you in climbing the cliff. As soon as you’re up, they gave you the warmest hug and kisses. While you were crying in the arms of your father, your sister grabbed your attention.
“Sis? .. Who’s that?”
“Hm?”
You followed the direction of her flashlight. You stumbled on your feet at what you saw.
“Why is he here?!”
It was the emperor.
a/n: finally! it’s the time for my official side character in my previous fics, seungyoun lol. part one is more of a background so expect the development in part two. hope you’ll support my second x1 series :)
