A Tweak In Time (KTH) •Ongoing•

▶ Prologue

'Lotus'

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎

"The Princess is entering! It's the hour of the snake!" The drums echoed in the hallways signalling that the beloved and high-ranking lady was now entering the court.

Men and women knelt down in respect as the woman passed by all of them, her hanbok grazing the ground lightly. The drummers beat their instruments once again and all of the people raised their heads up at last.

Her lady-in-waiting sat the nearest to the entrance as he bowed down to greet the lady due all honour.

"Your Highness," The young girl raised her head and placed her joint arms back to where they were before.

The lady nodded her head, signalling her to continue.

"His Highness has graced us with his presence and is currently waiting for your arrival at the Lotus Pavillion." She informed her with her eyelashes lowered.

"Father?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Sure thing Chae, I'll get going now." The girl named Chae bowed once again and made way for the princess to step on the lush carpet.

The drums rang once again signalling the departure of the soon-to-be-Queen.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎

Dew drops collected on the petals of the flower that is grown on the dirtiest water. Lotus. It signals that beauty isn't on the outside, it's inside what matters for the lovely flower thrived in a muddy puddle.

The wind gushed from the north, brushing through the wisps of grey hair and bringing them along with it. The pale sunlight flit through the leaves, glazing over the man who stood there firmly despite the pleasant weather alluring him to rest.

The princess stepped inside the pavilion, alerting the man about the presence of another human in the area. He turned around to be met with a piercing glare that she held, to the contrary of the humble gaze he had.

"You called for me, Father?" She knelt down and placed her hands in front of her face and rested her forehead on the joint hands before standing right back up.

"Yes, I requested for your appearance for I have an important matter that needs our attendance right away."

"Our?" The princess quirked up an question earning a smile from her father.

"Yes, our. The Grand Prince of the kingdom should be arriving here till next sunrise. I've asked the Queen Dowager about the formalities that needs to be fulfilled for the coronation to happen. The dream that I had when I first saw your face is now finally coming true." The man smiled, the wrinkles on his eyelids making them look extremely droopy.

"Coronation? What sort of coronation?"

"My dear, your marriage. You were betrothed to Grand prince Seonghyeon the Joseon Dynasty. Your brother will take on the title of Lee thereafter."

The princess was too stunned to speak. This piece of information had rendered her speechless to even think properly.

She was too young.

Too young.

"Father-"

"You don't have any say in this, Younggeum. The Grand Prince Seonghyeon will be titled the new king of the Dynasty and you'll be asked to be his Queen." The King's official was preparing to leave when the vulnerable lady in front of him felt her heart drop.

"N-No father please! I don't want to mar-" The lady fell down to his feet, begging for mercy to spare her life of difficulties.

"Hush my dear, this is the life you were entitled to be. Now you must obey my orders or I'll have to request an execution. This was not a command, but a royal order." The official brushed past the weeping lady, not caring of the dignity she once had now broken into pieces.

A maid slid open the door and placed her head on the floor, waiting for the asking to pass through. She was met with a sight of a raging old man and a crying young lady. Not knowing what to do, she shut her eyes close and pressed her palms on her ears.

"Father-" The princess quivered getting up with shaky legs. The man didn't stop nor look back but this word from her made him stop dead in his tracks.

There was absolutely no way to stop this from happening unless and until she chose the forbidden choice that no one presented it to her but it was still a choice and Younggeum was more than willing to choose it.

"Yo-You don't decide my life, I do. So I declare th-that," She gulped seeing all the eyes set on her, "I, Lee Younggeum, the only daughter of the head official of the royal court, refuses the royal order to marry the Grand Prince Seonghyeon. Hence, disobeying the King of the Joseon Dynasty."

Audible gasps erupted throughout the floor, all of them present there too shocked at the young lady's words.

"If you don't give a care about me, I'll make sure that nobody does that to you too."

"You imbecil-"

"Therefore, I'm taking my own life." And with that...

The daughter of the King's official jumped in the Lotus pond. Her sudden and unplanned death was mourned across the country.

Gone was the adorable princess that was loved by everyone.

What only left behind was, the cries and fears and the history of pain in the Dynasty that no one had warned them beforehand.

Bloodshed, tears, screams and horrible deaths is what lined up after.

But what stayed eternal, was the Lotus. Still enchanting everyone with it's beauty which once faced the nightmares of the past.

-THE BEGINNING-

"Time isn't in favour of anyone, it has its share of period, mood swings and ovulation."

-Kim Taehyung, A Tweak In Time