Chapter Text
Emperor Moon Byuls's father had left her a country in ruins. A country that was starving and had been starving for years now. He had died suddenly which left Byul in a position she thought she wouldn't have to be in for at least another 10 years. Yet here she was at 25 in charge of a country. Byul loved her country dearly, but she hated that she could not do anything to help it.
The thing that caused Moon Byul the Emperor of Elara even more despair was that she was cursed. A curse that had been passed from her father to her. The curse was the reason why she couldn't feed her people. Any land she claimed as hers would become barren. No crops would grow there, no flowers would bloom, and the trees would bare no fruit. Keeping livestock was extremely hard as there was nothing to feed them. The largest river in the country was running dry.
The only thing keeping the country alive was the gem mines. If they hadn't had those, the country would have perished years ago. The gems were the only thing that they could sell in exchange for food from the neighboring countries. Well, not all of them as some of them had their eye on Elara, because of the gems. They knew how weak the people were there. They knew it would be easy to invade if or more likely when they chose to invade.
Byul knew it was only a matter of time before she'd have to go out and fight for her country. She was an excellent knight. She'd been trained in sword fighting, archery, and hand-to-hand combat since she was 5. Her father had known that she'd have to take his place someday, so he made sure she could take on the responsibility in all its aspects. She had also learned multiple languages to be able to communicate and understand her allies and even enemies.
Elara hadn't always been barren. In Byul's childhood, it had been a beautiful lush land. She remembered running through meadows of wildflowers that overwhelmed all her senses. Her father would take her to the orchards to pluck the freshest and crispiest apples from the tree. The juice of those apples would drip down her chin, and to this day she missed that feeling and her father laughing at her shiny face, taking out a napkin and wiping her face clean.
The curse had come one day when her father had upset the wrong woman. Her family had been struggling to feed themselves as they were near the border with another country, and bandits kept coming over and stealing their crops. Her father had at first told her he couldn't do anything as they weren't from Elara, and arresting them could cause trouble with the neighboring country. Yet she would come back and ask for help over and over again, till Byul's father had given in and promised to send over some knights to stand guard at her family's fields to scare the bandits from coming back.
However, it was too late. The girls father had had enough and took matters into his own hands. He was old yet stubborn so he kept guard himself. One night the bandits came, the father tried to stop them, but being older and weaker he failed. There was a fight and the bandits ended up killing him. When Byul's father's knights had finally arrived, it was too late. It turned out that the woman asking for help had been a witch. When she sent the knights back to the king she had told them to give him a message.
The message was '' From now on all of your country will know what it is to starve. All of the lands belonging to you and all your successors will be barren. Anything you touch will rot. That is the curse you and your successors will have to live with for the rest of your lives thanks to your neglect.'' Her father had not believed any of it at first, however, in the next few weeks the news from all over the country began to travel to the Emperor's castle. The crops had started to wilt, the fruits were rotting at a fast rate, and the rivers dried up.
And the worst of it was that he could not eat anything, for as soon as he touched his food it would be ruined. This is what killed him in the end, he had basically starved to death. At first, he had tried to find the witch, but when they returned to her farm there was no one there and no one in the nearby village knew where they had gone. He had put a bounty out to find her. But nothing ever came of it. Seemed like she and her whole family had disappeared off the face of the earth.
Byul's father overwhelmed with guilt and inability to eat, had withered away in a few years. In his final days, he had been apologizing to her every time she had come to see him. He knew that curse would jump to her as soon as he passed away. He knew that she'd be the one who'd have to find a way to reverse the curse, she would be the one incapable of feeding herself properly.
On the night of her father's passing Byul had been by his side. She held his hand as he took his last breath. He had muttered his last '' I'm sorry. I love you. '' and passed away. Byul had shed a few tears. She had been watching him wither away for a long time so she had known this was coming. As Byul closed his eyes she had made a promise to bring Elara back to its glory one day.
She had felt the curse enter her. It was like nothing else she had felt before. It was this dark burning that entered her, it settled somewhere near her heart and nothing felt the same again.
That night Byul tried to eat for the first time after the curse had entered her and sure enough as soon as she touched a piece of bread it became moldy and unedible. She put it down and knew that her time had started to run out. Her father had figured out that the only thing he could eat was porridge or soups because they would go down fast. However, someone else had to feed him. Pride would stop him from letting someone feed him at first, but later when he became weaker, he gave in. Yet these porridges and soups could not provide enough sustenance to live a full healthy life.
This is what was to become of Byul. Thankfully she did not have the pride her father had and already had a person she trusted to feed her. Her maid Wheein, but Byul did not like to call her that because she had been her only friend since she was young. In fact Wheein was her best friend. She knew everything about Byul in return she knew everything about Wheein. Even though Wheein was her maid, Bul would treat her as her little sister as she was younger than her.
Wheein was with Byul when she tried to eat for the first time after her father's passing. She looked with concerned eyes as the bread changed from a soft fluffy loaf into a blue moldy hard lump. ''She wasn't lying, it really has passed to you! You know what this means.'' Wheein gave her a look.
'' I know, I know. But how do I know this will work? For all we know, we have been fed another bullshit story and I'll end up wasting me and my country's time chasing some fairy tale?'' Byul mused. She broke the moldy bread inspecting the inside of the now ruined loaf.
'' You have to try! We have no other options at the moment!'' Wheein sounded desperate. She did not want to watch her best friend wither away. Byul was the strongest person she knew, not just physically. She was not one of those royals that had been hand-fed everything. Byul's father did not want some fragile girl in a pretty dress to become the Emperor therefore he had made sure she was tough.
Everyone in the castle knew that he had wanted a son. Byul's mother had died in labor and he had not taken another wife because he had loved Byul's mother so much he could not stand the thought of replacing her. So her father had raised Byul as if she was his son. It was confusing for Byul at times. She had seen other rulers' daughters when they would come to visit. They wore big beautiful dresses, had clean soft hands and their hair was down in cascading waves.
And then there was Byul, always wearing pants, nails dirty, hands tough, hair in a tight ponytail. Her father had explained that the other girls were not to become Emperors so they did not have to learn all of the things she was. When Byul had asked why, her father explained that in their countries the Emperor's daughters go off to marry the sons of other Emperors to unite countries. That also confused Byul.
'' So who will I have to marry? Will they send some pretty girl to me? Or am I to marry another Emperor? Father, why is this so complicated?'' The 10-year-old Byul looked up at her father with inquiring eyes.
'' Oh my little girl, you always have all the questions don't you?'' He gave her a gentle smile and went to explain. '' You can not marry another girl. You see, two girls can not produce an heir therefore it would be a useless marriage. You must find a suitable man whose country you would want to unite with and continue the Moon legacy with a son and a daughter.''
This did not sit right with Byul. Why should she marry some man if she was an Emperor? She had the power, she knew how to fight better than any boy Byul had met, and she was starting to beat some of the younger knights. She was also scared of childbirth since it was what had killed her mother.
Byul's father could see the worry in her eyes and patted her shoulder '' You don't have to worry about that yet. Right now you have to worry about your lessons.'' And he pushed her back to where she had been training before he had come to check on her progress.
So many knights would push her around because she was the emperors daughter. They thought it was weird or even funny that this small young girl was there learning to hold a sword. That's how she had learned to have tough skin. She had to, otherwise, they'd think they could get to her with their words or actions.
Wheein had been there for a lot of that. She had become Byul's maid when she was ten. Byul had been fourteen and had recently had a growth spurt which made her look tall and laky next to tiny Wheein. Byul would tease her a lot because she didn't think Wheein was strong enough to carry out all the responsibilities. But Wheein would prove her wrong. Byul would grow to learn that Wheein may be small yet she was a force to be reckoned with. She could make the toughest of guards bent to her will. What Wheein wants Wheein gets.
Their friendship grew deeper as they grew and learned together. Because Byul did not want Wheein to lack in education, so Wheein would sit with her in lessons. At first, Wheein was reluctant '' This is not for me. I am not a royal.'' She would protest. But Byul also had her way, and if Byul asked her father for something he would give it to her. So that's how Wheein ended up getting the royal education.
But Wheein was a little more interested in the world of magic. Being raised outside the castle walls she had learned all about witches, enchantresses, werewolves, fairies, and anything else you could think of when it comes to magic. When they wouldn't be learning about geography, history, or language, Wheein would teach Byul about the tales she learned on the outside world. Byul loved the stories and sometimes would get restless and would want to go outside the castle walls and find these magical creatures.
After the curse Byul had almost become obsessed with witches. She had gathered all the sources they had in the library, yet it had been fruitless. There was nothing in their library on how to locate witches or remove curses.
Wheein had tried to gather any knowledge outside the castle walls but had also not been able to find anything that would help. Until one day she met a woman from a remote part of the country. She told Wheein about this tale that only a few people knew of. There was an Enchantress that had been put under a curse. She had been locked in a cave deep in an enchanted forest full of mysteries. The part of the story that intrigued Wheein the most was, that according to the tale, the person who would free the Enchantress from her cave would receive a wish from her.
That is how they had come to the conclusion that Byul should try to find and free this Enchantress. As much as Byul wanted to believe this she also did not want to put too much faith into a tale some old woman had fed to Wheein.
''But what if it's some weird plan to lure me into a forest to kill me?'' Byul asked with a raised eyebrow. Wheein raised her own ''Do you have a better plan?''
Byul shook her head and looked down at her hands. She really did not have any other options at the moment. She had to try something, she knew the timer had started for her.
'' Alright, alright but you'll have to remind me again what I have to do. There were so many steps.'' Byul cracked her neck, already tired after the night she had had.
'' I am coming with you. I'll tell you again when we get there.'' Byul had been trying to deter her from coming with her. But Wheein was determined so there would be nothing that would stop her. Someone would have to feed her and make sure she would take plenty of rests. Byul just shook her head. Wheein's determination really was no joke and she should know better by now.
'' Ok, fine. But you are not coming into the forest with me! I am not taking a no for an answer!'' Byul fixed Wheein with an intense stare. Wheein returned it. They were locked in this staring match for a while, but Wheein decided to give in because at least she'd be there to feed her.
'' Deal! And you better listen to me when I tell you to stop and eat!'' Wheein pointed a finger at Byul. '' Ok, mom!'' Byul stuck her tongue out at Wheein and stood up from the table.
'' We have a long journey ahead let's go to sleep so we can wake up early and prep everything we need.'' She went over to Wheein and kissed her on the top of her head. ''Goodnight my cute little pup.''
'' Stop being gross,'' Wheein complained even though she loved the affection. '' Goodnight Emperor.''
Byul was not sure how she felt about that yet. It was the first time someone called her that and it hit her right then that it really was true. The country was her responsibility now.
She could not fall asleep for a while, because so many thoughts were swimming through her head.
Once she finally fell asleep she dreamt of a figure bathed in sunlight with her back to Byul. She wanted to see her face, so she reached out to touch her shoulder. But as her fingers touched the other girls shoulder, Byul was woken up by Wheein knocking at her door.
What an odd dream Byul thought. And got ready for the day. What she didn't know was that the figure in her dreams had sensed her in her cave miles away. She knew Byul was coming and it excited her. She would wait for her arrival. Because it meant her freedom.