Episode 1 - I just wonder, Your Majesty. What were to happen if the people in the palace knew of your disgusting secret?

It was the year 1661 of the Hwangeum Dynasty. The current reigning emperor was known by name of Wallyung, unknown, however, by many that his real name was Lee Jin-hyuk, and he was the ninth emperor of the Arang Empire.

***

A heavy, thunderous rain poured from the dark sky, soaking deeply into the Emperor's silk robes as his cold, hard eyes bore into the woman kneeling before him.

"How can you do this to me, Empress Okjung?"

The Empress' lips trembled as she spoke, voice shaky and eyes glistening with tears. "I have offended your majesty!" she cried. "Please take my life!"

Frustrated, Wallyung whipped around and unsheathed the sword from the guard standing behind him.

His footsteps were slow as if he were stalking her as he approached her form with an unwavering gaze.

"Fine," he said with a breath, "I shall end your life."

His arm swung back, ready to strike when a scream from behind stopped him, and he turned to see the Queen Mother rushing to the scene, delicate hands carrying her silken dress.

With a distressed look in her eyes, Empress Okjung fell into the Queen Mother's embrace.

"Queen Mother," she wept, uncontrollable tears trickling down her eyes.

"What on earth is his majesty doing!" The Queen Mother screeched.

Wallyung threw his sword to the ground. "Turn back," he grumbled. "This has nothing to do with you."

He turned to the guards. "Take the Queen Mother back to the Moon Light palace. I shall deal with her later."

He then bowed slightly to the Queen Mother and proceeded to head back to his room, but a harsh grip kept him.

Looking back, he found the Empress gazing up at him with sorrowful, round eyes.

"Please, forgive me."

But her cry for forgiveness only faded into the pattering of the rain, lost within the murky puddles at his feet as he simply ignored her plea and continued to his quarters.

Once he reached the entrance, he stopped to take one last look behind him, watching as the two women bow their heads, then be escorted to the Moon Light Palace.

Somewhere within the moments of his daze, a voice spoke to him gently, urging him to enter the building before sickness would reach him, but like the stars hidden above sheets of opaque clouds, the words were lost.

After a few moments, he finally slid the door open and stepped into the Wongyeong Palace, and sat down behind the table with a hefty sigh escaping his lips.

At that moment, the monster that he had stored away had finally come out of hiding and bared its ugly teeth.

It was as if his heart had been torn into pieces.

No, the ache in his chest was more than a mere heartbreak- he felt like someone had driven a sharp dagger into his chest, cut out his heart, and left him to bleed until his blood was no more.

The weight of his emotions became too much and so the Emperor signaled to the court ladies and the inner officers to get out of his sight, wanting to now be left alone.

The more he thought about the incident, the heavier the weight on his heart grew and he felt like he was about to collapse.

All that he had suppressed, buried beneath the deepest, darkest corners of his very being since the coronation had been unlocked and unleashed to cause havoc in his heart. Tears started to pour like the heavy rain rapping on the windows- his breaths quick and shallow as the Emperor gasped for air, body riddled with panic.

Ever since he was young he had always felt he didn't deserve to be the reigning monarch of the Arang Empire. Even when they accepted him to rule, he still very much knew of his real worth. Oh, how he yearned for an escape from this treacherous life- to be freed from these shackles and start anew upon unfamiliar, though safe lands.

The Emperor, while still in his dismal state, heard footsteps slowly approaching the entrance to his palace, followed by the door sliding open.

"Your Majesty," Okjung called softly, voice unpleasant to his ears.

He looked up at her face with a bitter expression.

"How dare you appear in front of me," he growled, though the power in his voice had vanished and left him speaking weakly.

"Or have you already forgotten?"

Tears in her eyes, Empress Okjeong whimpered. "Are you going to leave me?"

Wallyung turned his head to the side, confused.

"Why is her majesty crying?"

"For committing such a horrendous crime! I have only just realized how true his majesty's love is for me."

He snickered incredulously and cast his gaze elsewhere, no longer able to put his eyes on her. "Love?" he spat.

"You dare to speak of 'love'? Are you even capable to understand such a concept? Giving and receiving love- no, loving one's husband? Is one such as yourself capable of doing so?"

"Your Maje-"

He continued.

"No, you do not. I am certain you do not even know how to do the simplest of things."

The Empress' eyes filled with anger as she glowered at him with gritted teeth.

"No, it is his majesty that does not understand what love is. I had someone who loved me dearly. He continued to show me kindness and compassion even after I married you. Yet, you talk as if you have done nothing wrong yourself!"

Wallyung quickly rose from the cushion, eyes narrowed in rage.

"What nonsense do you even speak of?"

"That our Emperor only sleeps with men!"

***

As if he had been struck by lightning, Wallyung flinched from the words that just flew out of her mouth.

The secret that he tried his absolute best at hiding for five years had been found out by the Empress.

Nausea churned in his stomach as his hands trembled, heart threatening to rise from his throat if he didn't fight to keep it down.

Overcome with a sense of anxiety, his body became numb and his face turned a ghostly white. His heart began to beat so loud that it emitted a deafening ringing in his ears.

Wallyung knew this would happen: that it would only be a matter of time before someone close to him discovered his secret.

No longer having the confidence to meet her hard stare, he sat on the cushion and slowly opened his mouth. His voice wobbled.

"How long have you known?"

No matter how much he denied it, there was no hiding the truth that she knew his ugly secret.

The silence between them made the knawing in his stomach worse.

Worry ran wild in his mind- a fear of being blackmailed or his precious secret being revealed adding more weight to the shackles that chained him to this hell.

The Empress's lips curled into a wicked grin. "I just wonder, Your Majesty. What were to happen if the people in the palace knew of your disgusting secret?"

All of Wallyung's strength to fight had been sucked out of him, and his eyes remained locked on the wooden table before him. "What are you going to do with it now?"

The Empress made way towards him, elegantly lowering herself to sit in front of where he twiddled his thumbs nervously, gaze still fixated on his form as her hands extended across the table. Her sinister grin sent chills down his spine.

She sneered. "Ha! Your Majesty, are you unable to meet my gaze? Your precious wife?"

"N-no?"

"It seems you are, you son of a bi-"

His hands slammed on the table, and he diverted his glare directly towards her as a wash of outrage overcame him.

"How dare you curse at your Emperor!"

Unfazed by his outburst, she said, "Are you familiar with the phrase: thou shan't judge upon a single gander? A lovely saying and quite fitting for you, Your Majesty."

The Emperor glared at her for a long moment before storming to the garden, unable to look at her for a second more.

The merciless rain drenched his expensive robes, weighing his figure even more so, but he didn't care.

Not for the thunder that boomed high above his head, nor for the chills that shook his bones.

That moment was his as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, captivated by the music of endless raindrops falling to the ground.

How joyous it would be to live so happy, called by a different name as a different person at a different home.

Here, where 'home' was, it was more than clear that not a single soul could hear his cries from the inside- not one caring if his heart were to stop beating on this very Earth. I just want to go far away from here, he thought.

As he ambled around the garden with his hands behind his back, the cold kiss of the rain somehow felt refreshing, almost like a cure to remove all the pain and pressure that accumulated in his racing mind.

"Please, let the rain Gods wash away all my pain," he mumbled to no one but himself.

As a child would, Wallyung stuck out his tongue to taste the rain. Each droplet cascaded down the length of his tongue and into his throat.

Then, the Emperor tossed aside whatever ate at his nerves and spun with his arms out wide. Suddenly, as if a war had broken out in the sky, the rain fell even heavier and a harsh wind rattled the windows.

Despite it all, however, he could only manage to smile, the desire to fully be immersed at this moment in time stronger than his need to be under a roof.

Once more, the Emperor closed his eyes and sunk his knees into a pool of water at his feet, murmuring prayers of meditation as his surroundings slowly slipped away from him.

But the stillness did not last long, for the door of his palace sliding open interrupted his minute of peace.

When his eyes snapped open, two legs stood before him and he looked up to see that they belonged to the Queen Mother.

From afar, Wallyung could hear the front open a second time, and he turned around, spotting Okjeong now coming their way. Palm dragging down his face, he muttered breathlessly and with evident agitation in his voice.

"This bitch too."

The Queen Mother screeched. "What has become of you, Wallyung? Why must you act like such a child?"

"Like a child?" he sighed.

"Am I not clear enough, boy? Yes, you petulant child! What country has a child ruling their kingdom?" she scoffed.

"Even your cousin, King Sokchon of Choson, mocks you! Oh, dear, this poor country having a child as an emperor. If you are unfit to rule, then do not doubt for a single moment that he will not come and take this kingdom from your hands!"

He rolled his eyes. "Show me some respect, mother."

"No, my respect shall only be shown to a true Emperor. Standing in front of me is not an Emperor but a child!"

Behind him, Okjung's footsteps gradually got louder as she closed the distance between them.

"Queen Mother," she said so sweetly he was surprised his mother's teeth didn't rot. "What brings you here in this treacherous downpour? Hurry, before you fall ill."

"My poor child." His mother's scowl twisted into one of fondness. "Oh, how my heart aches for you; marrying a child like my son must be exhausting."

The look of love on his mother's face was unfamiliar to him, opposite of the feelings she must hold for him as the endearing glint in her eyes was directed only towards his wife.

She looked at her like how a mother ought to at their daughters, but the same couldn't be said for the emperor.

All he knew when she looked at him was the disappointment he was to her- an expression she didn't bother to hide.

When his patience had run thin, Wallyung turned on his heel and hurried back to the palace.

"And just where do you think you are going?" The Queen Mother shouted at his back.

Looking over his shoulder, he stared at the two women- his dearest mother and the woman bound to him by marriage, and the longer he stared the stronger the desire to flee grew. Finally, his tightly pressed lips separated to open again.

"Far away from you people!"

***

***

Hours later, on that one spring evening, where a chilled breeze caressed his skin and an infinite ink had blanketed across the empty night sky- moon hung high by its lonesome.

The front door of the Wongyeonggung house creaked open, and, carrying a small bag, Wallyung muttered to himself as he gazed up at the clouds and sighed. "Not even the gods seem to be on my side tonight."

He crept down the stairs and headed for the stable, the loud and irritating music of cicadas playing all around him, though he knew it would be best to ignore it; his main priority was to run away from the palace.

A horse jumped onto its hind legs in surprise when Wallyung swung the door wide open and scared it awake from its sleep, and the startled creature whined loudly at his presence, its cry echoing across the stable.

Worried the guards would hear, Wallyung rushed to its side to calm it down with a soothing stroke along its long face.

"Poor horse," the Emperor cooed. "Did I frighten you?"

He pulled an apple from his bag and the horse shook its head, nose humming as it took it between its teeth, and Wallyung heaved himself up onto the saddle.

Gripping the reins tightly, the two left the stable and quietly snuck up to the main gate.

"Your majesty?"

Wallyung stilled.

"Where are you going at this time of night?"

Wallyung craned his neck to look down at the guard staring up at him curiously, heart picking up as he tried to respond as calmly as possible.

"I simply need a moment to myself. No need to worry yourself."

The guard bowed his head and let him through.

With white-knuckles and slightly trembling hands, Wallyung slapped the reins and the horse took off into the distance, the sky his only guidance as the thumping of hooves beat alongside his heavy heart, figure molding into the darkness and the shackles behind him.