Bethrothal Gift

Chapter 1

The Kim Emperor's twelfth year of rule.

Winter.

Snowflakes fluttered and fell outside the window.

The cold chill filled the air. The palace maids, wearing heavy winter clothes, swept the snow on the palace road as they occasionally rubbed their palms, blowing out cold breaths.

The accumulated ice and snow lowered the blossomed plum flowers' branches, covering them in a layer of frost.

It wasn't that much warmer inside the room, as the charcoal fire in the stove had long burned out. As if the cold had seeped through the joints between the bones, enough to make all four limbs rigidly cold.

A young man with a snow-white fox fur coat draped over his shoulders, sat by the window, and the originally hot tea he was holding was also cooled by the wind and snow pouring in from the opening. The fingers around the cup were slender and smooth as jade, with distinct joints, two features that made the hands very beautiful.

Jung Jae walked forward carefully. "Young Master, it's cold outside. Please allow this servant to close the window."

The young man turned his head upon hearing the request. His posture was upright and elegant, and his face was gorgeous.

Even Chou Tzu-Yu, the Princess of the Chou Empire, known to be the number one beauty of the seven lands, would be outshone when compared with the young man. An attractive appearance that could rival any gorgeous woman, yet fell short to that of a man's appearance.

Jimin smiled, "When the window is open, I can still see the wind and snow of my homeland. When it's closed, I won't be able to see it anymore."

His voice was soft and crystal clear as jade, with somewhat of a smile on his face. From any outsider's point of view, he was just a simple Young Master spending his leisure time admiring the snow.

Yet, Jung Jae's nose was stuffed up and he was on the verge of tears when hearing this.

The Park Empire had abundant snow. Young master Park must be feeling homesick.

But as a hostage in the Kim Empire, he feared that the Young master could never return home in this lifetime...

The Young master Park was only nineteen this year, but would waste the rest of his life in a foreign country.

Wiping the tears at the corner of his eyes with his finger, Jung Jae, choked with emotion, said, "Young master needs to take care of his body. If the Young master was to catch a old from the weather, this servant fears..."

Fears that the Kim Empire won't even consider summoning a medical officer for the Young master.

The Young master was a noble of the Park Empire, but had fallen to this position of hostage.

* * *

Today, the world was separated into seven empires: Kim, Park, Chou, Lee, Lim, Ryu and Jun. Each with its own independent regime and ruled by each respective emperor.

It had been twelve years since Emperor SeokJin ascended the throne of the Kim Empire at the tender age of nine. He was a brave warrior and a resourceful strategist, well known for his ambition and his cruelty. During his twelve years of rule, he declared nine wars, annexed countless cities, forced five out of six empires into submission, and was receiving annual tribute from those empires.

The weakest—the Jun Empire, was only one step away from total annihilation.

The strongest, the Park Empire, had crossed blades with the Kim Empire army for many years. While the other five empires had long fallen, only the Park Empire remained standing to this day.