Sunshine peeked in through the space where either side of the opaque curtains met. The darkness of bedtime was shunned away by the glorious rays of the sun which paved a path for the morning. The people's blessed God of The Sun had gifted them with yet another day to thrive in. You found it funny how people could change with time, fortune and place. The promised blessing of the new day filled you with excitement and anticipation for what was to come. The beautiful song of the birds from outside could not be heard within your new room, rather the only sound was the steady tempo of the clock on your bedside table. The sky blue clock ticked emotionlessly, however alarmed you with the need to wake up at the exact moment it's long hand hit the twelve.

The blaring sound of the alarm woke you up nearly instantly and caused you to fumble around in your soft, linen bed sheets before quickly stretching our the warm comfort of your bed, your hand being bit by the cold air, in the process of turning off the alarm. A shiver ran down your spine before you blinked several times, regaining your senses and memories in just a few moments. Your eyes widened with delight as you recalled your new life, your tiredness immediately banished away as you buzzed with joy.

Sitting up excitedly, you scanned your new bedroom, and working room in fact, with much hope for the future. As you hurried onto your feet, hitting the cold floor with your bare soles, you sprung up from your bed. Hastily, you made your bed before proceeding to pull the long and large curtains open, welcoming in the sunlight. Your lips could not help but form into a happy grin, looking out the window over the kingdom. However, you could only see so far away.

From this large and tall castle, you could not see the entirety of the kingdom. That was just how massive the kingdom was. Not to mention, all other lands have been conquered. So quickly and easily, with the most sneaky plans and victorious defeats, the people of Intuuin were tempted to call their dark and mysterious ruler the most successful emperor.

As you made your way to your wardrobe, you slipped off your night gown, made of fabulously soft and comfy, rich and purple silk off and slid it into one of the shelves in your wardrobe, ready to wear it again the next night. You scrambled through the contents of the wardrobe to find a lovely, warm white dress. It was decorated with frills, another layer of white translucent fabric upon the opaque one, and had a frilly mockneck collar with a loosely tied, large royal blue bow hanging from the neck area. Quite happy with your choice, you decided to put it on. The dress hugged your figure in all the perfect places and stopped at around mid calf area. It allowed you to move around easily, and the elastic bands at the end of the long sleeves kept the fairly long sleeves from going past your wrist and onto your hands, which would without a doubt interfere with your work. The dress was fairly practical and yet was still cute. Delightfully, you put on some ankle length white socks, followed by some fluffy and incredibly comfortable indoor slippers. After all, it was basic human decency in Intuuin to not wear outdoor shoes indoors.

You fixed yourself up and did what you had to do in your private bathroom before returning to your private room. You tapped your chin, unsure of what you had to do. We're you supposed to wait around until somebody came to assign you something to make? Thankfully, before too much of your time could be wasted, there came a knock on your door, followed by the all too familiar voice of Octavi.

"[Name] Fuyomui. Are you decent? I have been ordered to inform you formally on all the basics of palace life, the rules and on some simple etiquette. I have big news." Octavi's muffled voice says sternly and seriously from the other side of the large wooden door.

"Yes, I'm decent. You may come in, Sir Kirayo." You respond formally, smart enough to know that you two were not on the kind of terms where you could speak informally and carelessly. Besides, he was your superior.

Octavi's slender, pale fingers slide the left door open before he walks in, wearing the exact same outfit as he had been wearing yesterday. In fact, it seemed more like a uniform than it was an outfit. His cold, purple hues glazed over your figure, taking in your appearance before he began to speak in his usual, listless tone. "Good morrow, Fuyomui. Just call me Octavi, as we'll be working alongside eachother for quite a while. Anyway. The big news, is that the emperor wants to meet you himself. So, let me go over the etiquette and rules quickly, as you are due in his presence in just fifteen minutes. Is that alright with you, [Name]?" He questions, your name rolling off his tongue and into your ears like the most peaceful ocean wave.

You nod in response, preparing yourself for an entire lecture from Octavi as you stood perfectly still. "Good. You are not to look at the emperor directly unless he grants you permission. You are not to wear red, only the emperor may wear red. You are only to speak to the emperor if he asks you a question or is the first one to speak. You are to eat at the same pace at the emperor, not the other way around. You are to keep your head low and not even try to look past the translucent, red sheet that will separate the two of you." Octavi begins. Taking in all the information, you could already begin to take the hint. It seemed that it Yunoaiu, there was a lot of classism.

Thankfully, ten minutes flew by like a breeze before Octavi had finally finished speaking and running over the basic etiquette of eating with the emperor and some palace rules. Now you had only just noticed, Octavi held a fairly thick, black book in his hands. He walked towards your desk and set it down on there before clearing his throat. "This is the rule book, full of all the guidelines you must follow. Break one, and you will be punished accordingly. If you are to disrespect or harm the emperor in any way, the punishment you receive may be fatal but will be carried out with no hesitation." Octavi finishes. His words made your heart skip a beat as you felt dread and anxiousness seep into your skin, taking over your body. Pursing your lips, you could only nod due to the fear your voice would come out embarrassingly weak or shaky due to how all the pressure of meeting the emperor made you feel.

"Let us go now then. It'll take several minutes to arrive at the private tearoom." Octavi says, before gesturing over to the door, "Ladies first." He mutters, waiting for you to leave the room first. Timidly and silently, you hurry out the room before you could waste too much time and possibly have your fear of seeing Octavi's bad side come true.

Octavi slides the door closed behind you before stepping in front of you and leading the way, the quick tempo of his polished heels tapping beautifully and perfectly with each step against the floor. You both walk in silence in the seemingly endless hallway within the palace walls, the silence deafening. However, before long he walked up a flight of stairs, which had a red carpet, with golden flowers embroidered into it. Curiously, you followed him. As you went up the stairs continuously, ignoring all other landings, you had finally stopped at the sixth floor.

Slightly out of breath, you could barely to get the energy to examine your surroundings. Everything on the sixth floor of the palace was grand. You also noticed that only on this floor, besides the stairs, there was a red carpet in the middle of each walkway, the detailing of gold much more dense and wealthy looking than those on the stairs however. "Be silent." Your superior, Octavi, orders before leading you to the left, past the dark grey walls and ceiling. The doors were all coated with golden detailing and gems of all sorts. Every now and again you would pass by a small table that would hold a large vase full to the brim with pure white and vicious red water lilies.

Octavi came to a halt in front of a circular door and cleared his throat before knocking upon it ever so gently, much gentler than he had done upon your own door. "Permission to enter, your majesty." Octavi asks, his voice still as serious as before but with a much more gentle undertone.

"Permission granted by the emperor." The voice of a guard echoed from inside. This made you raise your eyebrow, was the emperor a mute of some sort? Or was he too good to speak to anybody of a lower class than him?

Octavi proceeds to slide the door open gently before stepping inside with you following shortly after. Octavi closes the door behind the two of you as you take in your surroundings. The wall was a beautiful snowy white with magnolias carefully painted on, their stigmas all made of gold. The floor was a shiny and polished black marble with golden speckles in it, causing you to question how wealthy the kingdom actually was. As you looked straight ahead of you, your eyes spotted a red, translucent curtain hiding the figure of the emperor. It appeared that he was sitting at a large balcony that was on the other side of the curtain, appearing to be having breakfast. You could barely make out his figure, only able to see the outline of things thanks to the sun rays. At either side of the curtain were two guards, their uniforms much more tribal looking and decorated with emeralds to symbolise their high status among the ranks of the guards.

In front of you but before the curtain was a fairly small, wooden table that had white flowers painted upon it and a maroon, cushioned seat. On the table was a layout of traditional pastries, a tea set and a plate full of rice, boiled eggs, vegetables and seasoned fish. "Sit down at the small table." The guard instructs, before the other guard continues. "You may leave, Sir Octavi Kirayo."

Timidly, you sat down at the table, feeling very intimidated not only by the emperor but also by the guards. The guards were shockingly silent as the sound of birds singing outside and the occasional clink or sound of movement from the other side of the curtain filling your ears. As Octavi had taught you, you decided to keep your head down in fear that the emperor would notice that you were trying to catch a glance of him through the curtain.

"Greetings, my tailor." A silky smooth voice purred from the other side of the translucent curtain. Your eyes widened as you came to the realisation that the emperor himself was speaking to you. Each of his words rolled off his tongue lusciously like the sweetest venom and even his pronunciation of the very words made it obvious that he was of a higher class. Truly, the emperor was mysterious. In fact, his voice was fairly low and had a small growl to it. You were not sure what you had expected but you certainly didn't expect for his voice to be so intriguing and sweet.

You were unsure whether or not to respond, it was the emperor after all. Octavi had taught you not to answer unless he directly asked you a question, however you felt like staying silent would be fairly rude. "Greetings, emperor." You respond, your voice awkwardly shaky and quiet with fear. He had the power to kill you in just a second. You had to be cautious with every word that you said.

"How have you been?" The emperor questioned as you kept looking down at your food, unsure if you'd be able to eat or not. However, the beautiful treats and wonderful smelling breakfast in front of you made you give in. You desperately wanted to give it all a taste. Was high class food as delicious as it was said to be?

"I've been wonderful. How about you?" You respond. One of the guards glanced over at you with concern as you said this, as though you had made an error in your words. You zip your lips shut, preparing yourself for the worst. If you were going to die today, then at least you should eat something delicious. You shake your head, your hungry stomach obviously doing no good to you or your focus.

"I've been quite well. I was impressed by the outfit you had made for me. My suitresses praised and thought highly of it last night." He says, his voice smooth as silk and as unique as every piece of embroidery to exist. You felt the need to respond but you were unsure if it was right for you to respond to the emperor just to keep the conversation flowing, as you definitely weren't high status enough to do so either ways.

"If I may ask, where ever did you attain those embroidery skills?" He questions, false curiosity hinting itself in his voice. You begin to think of an answer, unsure if you should fully tell the truth. Remembering who you were talking two, you decided that the truth was the best decision for you.

"My mother taught me the basics, however I made the skill my own with years and years of practise, your majesty." You reply before picking up one of the pastries and taking a large bite out of it. You felt the delicious definition of pure bliss meet with your taste buds, only plunging you with hunger for more. Slightly surprised, you continued to eat the pastry. You knew that high-class food was well spoken of but you did not know it was this delicious indeed. In fact, you thought you would discover it to be over rated but you were proven very wrong.

"Ah, that's lovely. Either ways, I have another outfit which I'd like you to make for me by.. next week, per say. Shall I give you the briefings?" He questions, aware of the rule where you could only answer if he asked you a question. You were tempted to just nod but you knew he would not be able to see you anyway.

"Yes, sir." You respond, before the emperor continues on. "Very well. I am to have yet another matchmaking session next week, however this time my grandmother desires it to be in a much more relaxed environment. We will be going outdoors instead and I'll be having tea with each of my suitresses by the beach. As you can imagine, it sometimes gets a bit tiring. I would like something not too harsh on the eyes but still rather high class and more focused on nature. Is that alright with you?" He finishes his request, the silence as he waits for your response seeming to beat you down.

"Yes, it is not a problem at all, your majesty." You respond before continuing to stuff your mouth full of delicious pastries and food. You made sure to be silent as you did this, not wanting to have a bad impression on the emperor. If he knew how starving you were by now, by the fact you haven't eaten in nearly two days now, maybe he wouldn't think of you as a low and starving beggar in your old life.

"Wonderful. Now that the most important matter has been taken care of, we may enjoy breakfast peacefully. Tell me, do you like your private quarters?" The emperor continues on the conversation, trying not to make it obvious he was only doing so to be polite.

You began to respond, "Very much so. My room is very lovely. I must thank you," You began your response. However, you perked your head up slightly as you heard shifting of clothing from the other side of the curtain. Soon enough, you heard footsteps. They were heavy but they sounded as light as feathers at the same time.

The sound, of what you now knew were the emperor's footfalls, slowly got louder and louder as though he was nearing you. Eyes wide with shock and fear, you immediately squeeze your eyes shut tightly and look down at your lap. Only just a few moments after you had snapped your vision to face directly downwards, you could see the ends of the red curtain being shifted away.

The silent and fairly curious emperor had made his way to the curtains to hold them open with his arm. As he did this, he looked down at your form. He examined all he could of you, as he couldn't see your face directly due to the rule of not being able to look at him. His sharp and narrow eyes nestled their gaze on your [H/C] locks, inspecting their cleanliness, colour and how the sun seemed to reflect beautifully off each strand. His orbs were as intriguing and mysterious as the blood red moon with the curiosity they once held in them faded away. Such a young man he was, however had no trace of childlike wonder, immaturity or playfulness in his look and posture whatsoever.

His long, jet black strands of hair framed his face and stopped around his tailbone, like a waterfall of the night. His skin contrasted with his hair, being a pale white like the pearls on a wealthy woman's neck. "A-And, I look forward to working with you, your majesty." You finish, your voice now quiet. Despite your best attempts of not doing so, your body could not help but twitch slightly with nervousness and intimidation. The emperor's aura was indeed mysterious and heavy.

His perfectly sculptured facial features held no emotion whatsoever as he replied in what you now assumed was his usual tone, "It is my pleasure. Please, pardon me. I only wish to be able to see my tailor. I find it fairly strange not knowing what you look like but I guarantee this is the only time my eyes will rest so willingly on your figure. I'm relieved you know the rules and etiquette of being around somebody such as myself. That will be all, Fuyomui. Do not let me down." He finishes, his tone of voice slowly becoming more icy cold with each passing second that he spoke. The seconds seemed to be hours as you cowered with fear, feeling no comfort at all in the emperor's powerful glare.

The emperor released the curtain and turned back around, making his way back to where he once sat down before. He took a mental note of your appearance and attitude towards meeting him for the first time, after all his grandmother asked herself what the new tailor was like. He did not want to disappoint his dearest grandmother of all people.

"Take your leave." The emperor demanded, his voice laced with no care for you whatsoever. After all, he had more important matters to attend to. Slowly, you raised your head and slowly opened your eyes, keeping your [E/C] orbs as far away from the curtain as you possibly could. This encounter had truly shaken you to your core, the emperor was obviously somebody not to mess with.

He was as dangerous as he was mystifying and bizarre. Nearly immediately, you stood up onto your feet, not giving a care if the guards would ridicule you for your mouse-like behaviour to that wild cat of an emperor. Silently yet expeditiously, you went out of the room, sliding the door and closing it behind you with little concern of the level of noise it would make.

As you left the room, before you could hurry down the hallway and stairs, back to the confines of your room, you halted at the sound of Octavi's voice. Your head whipped around as he began to speak, eyes consulting with one another.

"[Name] Fuyomui. Lovely to see that you made it out of that room alive. Either ways, inform me on what occurred, I could not hear a thing through these terribly thick walls." Octavi spoke, his voice cutting viciously through the silence. He had been standing right beside the door, his eyes interlocking with your youthly figure. His gaze broke away from you as he began moving forward, obviously leading you to someplace else. Either back to your room, which you very much hoped that he was, or some place else you had no knowledge of.

"It was.. stressful to say the least. His majesty was all the more intimidating and mysterious. He had gotten up, moved the curtain and stared at me for what had felt like decades and decades. He is frightening, dear god. Do not be disappointed, I did not look up at him. I still have not a clue what he looks like." You reply, your voice shaky as you were only just beginning to calm yourself down from the meeting.

"Ah, his majesty. He most likely did so just to intimidate you in order to enforce that you knew your place. He is one to be wise and knowledgeable in so many more ways than one. Soon, you will get used to his personality. He is not at all like Emperor Xin Yu, bless his soul," He muttered under his breath, as there was a rule of not being able to say the past emperor's name without saying so afterwards, "Who was much more cheerful and open. However, that only made Emperor Xin Yu, bless his soul, very weak. He was gullible as he was happy, he was as weak as he was generous and he was as wealthy as he was kind. It seems to me that Emperor Xin Yu, bless his soul, and the current emperor are polar opposites." Octavi explains, giving you some sort of comfort in order to help calm your nerves down at least slightly at the best.

"On another note, I've been wondering about something. If you're a famous, top-class tailor and fashion designer, why do you spend so much time here in the palace?" You question, following close behind Octavi like a duckling following mother goose.

"Ah, I'm actually the fifth assistant of the emperor. He was about six but only really spends time with the first two. Either ways, I'm required to stay in the palace at all times unless given direct orders to do so. I must be ready to assist the emperor whenever he needs me," He sighs deeply, "He rarely does though. So I tend to spend my time tailoring for the filthy rich." Octavi clarifies, deciding that you might as well know his true role if you would be spending quite a while together.

"I have to make another outfit for the emperor by next week. Please, wish me luck." You counter back, a large and nervous grin spreading on your lips.

He hums thoughtfully before nodding his head ever so slightly. "I wish you the best of luck. I trust that you will not disappoint me. If you do however, do not let us converse ever again." He contorts, a satisfied grin on his face.

You frown slightly, "Well, isn't that fairly rude?" You mumble under your breath, still loud enough for Octavi to hear. "My apologies, it is only the cold hard truth." He responds before leading you two down the stairs and back down the hallway you initially came up from.

As you both approach your room, he decides to pick up the conversation once again. "So, you get lunch in five hours and dinner seven hours after that. If you need any sort of snack, just call for a maid or butler and your desire shall be fulfilled." He informs you before halting in front of your bedroom door.

Being the gentleman he is, he politely opens the door for you and timidly steps to the side, making way for you to actually enter. You smile thankfully and bow your head slightly, "Thank you, Octavi." You thank him before making your way into your room.

"Until we meet again, [Name]." Octavi responds, saying his farewells before quickly yet quietly closing the door behind you. As the door shut closed, you took in a deep breath. The pressure was beating you down but you still felt incredibly determined to do your best. Deciding to waste no time, you hurry over to your desk.

Taking a seat in your wooden chair which had a [F/C] faux fur throw on top of it, you immediately rummage through the drawers of the desk to find the things you needed. Before you got to work actually making the outfit, you'd have to make sure it was all planned out to the best outfit you possibly could.

You lay out a large sheet of parchment paper that takes up nearly the entire length of the desk, smoothing it our with your fingers to feel the dry and coarse material. From the conveniently placed pen pot that rested at the top left corner of your desk, you took out a beautiful looking quill of snowy white. Spotting a black ink pot directly next to the pen pot, you were delighted as everything was indeed conveniently placed for your comfort and efficiency.

You pauses for several moments, contemplating and mapping out the outfit out in your head. It was likely you would make several drafts and carry out your favourite one to completion. Once you had a thought of what you wanted to do in your head, you instantly submerged the quill's metallic new nib into the pit of black ink and then speedily began scribbling away on the paper. First, you took note of all the materials you would use and which colours would be best suited. You also took estimations of measurements for each component of the outfit. Once this step was complete, you drew a faceless figure onto the paper, the nib's black ink forming a beautiful river of darkness and a satisfying sound with each movement.

Despite the fact you were completely focused on the task of hand, you could not help but let your mind wander slightly at the thought of the emperor. Your first encounter was indeed quite the strange one. You definitely didn't expect the emperor to get so up close just to take a look at you. Silently, you mentally thanked Octavi for teaching you the basic rules you had to know. If he hadn't taught you so kindly then you probably would've been in jail by now, waiting in death row for a merciless public execution in some other district. After all, the wealthy people of Yunoaiu took no interest of finding entertainment in such grim things. They believed such entertainment was for lazy and lowly peasants who had nothing better to do and just simply couldn't afford a better lifestyle.

You began to wonder if the emperor even really wanted to be meeting all these suitresses. It was difficult to tell what the emperor felt was his voice was painfully monotone and held no clues of his emotions, making all the more unpredictable. Even if the first encounter was intimidating, it only made you even more curious about how he looked like. Due to the rule, you didn't get to set your [E/C] orbs upon the young man's figure. Not that looks really mattered either ways, you were just curious. Biting your lip slightly, you shake your head. You remembered, curiosity killed the cat. Besides, it wasn't your place to think about and want to see his appearance. It didn't even matter either way. You were just wasting your time away on childish curiosity as though you barely knew a thing like any other toddler in the kingdom.

Shaking all these thoughts about the one and only emperor from your mind, you divert your full attention back to your current task at hand - making the emperor's new outfit.

As you had been multitasking, you had finally completed sketching out the first outfit. Instead of just being a long tunic/robe, it rather had long pants of cool toned white that would have grey embroidery finely done onto it and a tunic made of pale sky blue on top with long sleeves that would drag out like bat wings and which the length would be up to mid calf, and would have white lace on the ends and finely done embroidery which would have a nature theme. By making the clothes lighter colours but not too bright that they would be harsh on the eyes, you would make the emperor comfortable in the heat, even if he had some personal servants of some sort to fan him, and would also make him looking fatally attractive in such a light-hearted and summer time setting. You had also decided to add a conical hat to top it off, which would have strands of gold made into it to make it all the more rich.

Satisfied, you continue drawing onto the next section of the parchment paper for your second idea. This time, it was the same style as the last one but without the hat and would instead have a colour theme of sunny yellow and pale olive with a painful heap of embroidery done onto it.

Besides, you had thought that perhaps pants were better for the occasion. Since the emperor would be at the beach, wearing pants would allow easier movement. However, you were unsure if he would actually be walking on the sand, would be carried by his soldiers to make a royal entrance or if he would simply only stay on some sort of pier, platform or some sort of firm platform.

Doing your head in, you continued to scribble away for the sake of the emperor and your new position. Perhaps this job would be as joyous and fun as it would be stressful.