You were currently writing some notes down in your notebook about what had happened today. You wanted to make sure you kept track of the days you spent at the palace and how you felt. It would be a good keepsake for you in the future after you left or retired, and also something good for the next generations of your family to read in order to know you and their family's past a little better. As you finished up writing, you stored the quill back into the ink pot and decided to close your notebook after you returned from the market as the ink may still be drying up.

The night sky was dark, yet the stars so far away continued to sparkle like the gems on a wealthy woman's neck. You had been waiting patiently for the emperor's supposed 'best knight'. You drummed your fingers on the table, and just before you could get up and find something new to do, you heard tapping on your window. You quickly look over to the big, glass window. You could see your reflection in it as well as the outdoors. the plants danced in the evening breeze, and the moonlight gave you the ability to see the faint outline of a knight.

His dark hair seemed to bleed into the night sky, and as you inspected him you realised that he was still wearing the same clothing as to when you first met him. His sky blue and pearly white yukata seemed to be made out of very fine material, however since he was the emperor's first knight it only made sense.

You stumble to grab your satchel, the same old one that you had brought with you from home. Yes, it wasn't the best but it was still your favourite, especially since it had meaning to you. As you wrapped the satchel around your body, you ensured that the bag of golden coins that you prepared was inside the satchel, where you had put it earlier. Now that you were all ready, you hurried to your balcony and opened the door.

As you did, the strikingly good figure of the knight stood in the door frame, causing you to stumble back. He examined your room before stating, "Your room is very feminine and cute. Who would've known there was such a thing as a cute stalker?" He pondered before looking down at you. You proceeded to shyly look back up at him, or at least, you looked at the parts of the blindfold where his eyes were meant to be.

"Follow me, we can go now." You say, doing an action with your hand as if telling him to follow after you to the other door that led out to the hallway. However, he shook his head and leaned against the door frame.

"I'm the one taking you to the market, and I'll let you know that what I'm doing might not be completely legal." He says, before tilting his head to the other side of the door frame in order to look at the stars.

"I hope you know that if we get caught, we may be killed or banished to the oceans. However, that won't happen. Since I'm the one escorting you. Now, don't be silly. We're not going to be able to sneak out easily through the main gate. We're going out the secret exit at the back." The knight tells you, before flashing you a cheeky grin and grabbing your wrist. Before you could even do anything as much as react to what he just said, he drags you along with him to the edge of your balcony.

Frightened, you grab the edge of the banister in order to prevent yourself from falling forwards with the knight as he simply leaped over the banister. However, he paused and quickly grabbed the banister, his feet gripping onto the thin edge, in order to keep himself from falling. He crouches down to your level and seems to inspect your face. "I thought you were brave. Why so shy, little flower?" He asks seriously, staring you straight in the face. Or at least, you imagined that was what he was doing from behind the blindfold.

"You just jumped off a balcony! Are you insanely suicidal, first knight? I have not lost all my strings with humanity to find it logical to just jump off a balcony!" You exclaim, your heart beating quickly from the near-death experience.

"You need to trust me." He states. You stare at his face, flustered yet cross with him. "How can I do that?" You bite back, only for your question to be answered by the man wrapping his arms around you.

You blush deeply and don't hug back, surprised by the sudden gesture of affection from somebody as mysteriously cold as him. However, you could just sense the smirk on his lips.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, I've not fallen for you just yet." He whispers into your ear as he falls backwards, holding you tightly in his arms. You scream loudly and hide your face in his chest as you could feel your body free-falling. One of his arms let go of you, only making you hold tighter onto his clothing. However, as soon as you hit the ground you couldn't feel the impact, and the rush of wind against your skin had stopped. You opened you eyes slowly.

He had caught your fall by folding onto the branch of a tree. You both hung from it, as his other hand was wrapped around you. He lets go of the branch before you both fall just one foot until you hit the ground. He lets go of your waist and smugly turns around, signalling you to follow after him.

Still held absolutely confused by what had just happened it took you a while to process everything before running after the knight. He led you through a couple of bushes through a secluded part of the palace garden and began to crawl through some of the thicker bushes. You felt like children pretending to be on an amazing adventure, crawling through bushes and climbing, or more like falling, on trees.

Silently, you decide to crawl after him, not wanting to annoy the person assisting you by complaining about every little thing as though you were a spoiled brat. You find that there was a small fault in the big, tall walls of the palace. You both slithered through it with ease, before finding yourselves in an extravagant yet barren street. The shops sold goods such as clocks, things that you wouldn't think to find people buying all the time. No wonder the street was so empty despite the shops still being open late into the night.

The young and accomplished knight led you down a few more streets just like the one you had just emerged to from the palace before reaching a large, wide road full to the brim with stalls and potential buyers floating like an ocean in between it all. The street had a reddish glow to it because of the red lanterns hung over the market. It was a truly lively place to be.

The knight turned to you and smiled gently. There's a stall that sells high end fabric. Don't be fooled by the fact that this place is a market, all the goods are from abroad and are incredibly expensive. We're in Yunoaiu after all, everything is deadly precious and rare. The people here only accept the best of the best, so here we are at the most expensive market you will see in any country you visit. It's called the merchant's night market. The stalls are only open at night so they don't block the road during the day, and also because the ships from abroad only arrive in the evening. So that's why the what is on the back of a silver coin?" He quizzes you, a smile on his face.

"The Yunoaiu Lighthouse? Since all the ships arrive at night, that must mean that the lighthouse is the only thing that is able to guide them to the docks." You respond, hoping that you were correct.

"Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Since you got the question right, I'll make sure the sea of people don't drown you." He responds, smiling his signature cheeky smile at you.

Meanwhile, back at the palace there was a meeting in session. Behind his usual, red translucent screen, the emperor sat on his second throne. The third general called Yun, the head of the foreign affairs office otherwise known as Liaon, the head officer of segment five named Darron, a head historian called Yui Lai and the third royal assistant, Genio, all sat at a wooden table. Two royal knights stood at either side of the red screen, as the men kept their head downs as the emperor announced the meeting to begin.

"Third General, Head of Foreign Affairs, Chief Officer of Segment Five, head Historian and third Royal Advisor, myself. I call you all to the merchant's night meeting." Genio states. He keeps his head bowed, as do all the other men. "The emperor has summoned us to discuss urgent matters. We bow our heads and say, 'long live the emperor.'"

"Long live the emperor." They all say in chorus, before another person behind the screen begins to speak.

"Second royal advisor is here to speak for the emperor, bless his holy voice. In this formal meeting, we will be using manners of the highest formality. You are not to look at the emperor or hear him speak, or you will be sentenced to banishment. The emperor rings the Wang bell to begin our meeting, all bless our nation's father." The second advisor speaks from behind the red screen.

The emperor gently picks up the bell put on the arm rest of his throne, softly rubbing his thumb over the red ribbon decorating it before proceeding to ring the bell.

The second royal assistant, otherwise known as Terence, places a wooden desk in front of the emperor before proceeding to place expensive parchment paper in front of the emperor. He also places a red ink bottle next to the paper, along with the large, red, royal quill before returning to his station, standing next to the table, making sure not to be too close to the emperor.

"You may now speak." Terence states, his hands behind his back in a proper manner as he stands as still as a statue.

"Your majesty, the black snake group members are not only becoming more sloppy with their attacks, but more violent as well. Recently, they have burnt down a brothel and murdered two prostitutes in this process. We were able to stop them from poisoning the main river by dumping toxic waste, and have the three culprits who tried to carry out this act in solitary confinement. We are waiting for your orders, your majesty." Yun states.

"If history has taught us anything, it is that the black snakes are a very deceitful group. Many times, we have been focusing on stopping them from hurting the people but we have forgotten to protect ourselves. They nearly managed to kill the late Princess Evaini when she was five by simply becoming a member of staff and poisoning her cup of tea. We must not just think one way, but both ways. We need to tackle all problems at once somehow." The historian follows off.

"We need a permanent solution. The black snakes keep returning. We need a plan that will surely abolish the group, or at least leave them with such small numbers that they can not do great damage to the kingdom." Genio adds on afterwards.

The emperor picked up the royal quill with his thin and slender fingers and began to write. Terence looked over at the emperor, waiting until the quill was put back down, signalling that he was ready for Terence to read out what the emperor wished to say.

Meanwhile, Liaon, the head of foreign affairs decided to speak. "Their attacks have only been against the most powerful kingdoms. And by far, ours is the most powerful and they are trying to take that power. The black snakes believe in such foolish morals and will do anything to show their prowess by causing issues for such a reputable kingdom. Lately, they have been attacking brothels and farmers. They want to shorten our crops for the winter coming soon, my dear emperor. They want to put unrest in towns by burning down brothels and murdering women. We are lucky that they haven't started attacking schools just yet."

The emperor listens in on the conversation and continues to write while they speak, only putting down his quill after Liaon stopped talking. Terence gently picked up the parchment paper and read the glorious and breathtaking handwriting of the emperor in red ink.

The emperor says, 'The black snake group has caused issues for our empire is too long. It is time to take larger, more drastic measures to get rid the plague that is the black snakes from our empire. I believe it is only right that we run a thorough background check on all staff hired to be at the castle. We should hire private spies to try and join the Black Snake group and to be our ears on the whispers of the streets. If the black snake group is increasing in number, it means they are doing the best they can to gather criminals or those who can barely afford to live. The black snake group have power over our lower class, because we have been unable to give them the quality of life that they deserve. Taxes are low for the upper class, however for the lower class taxes mean that they may lose their home. If we can satisfy more of the lower class and in that process lower the amount of black snakes, then we will certainly benefit. If the lower class are easily able to join middle, they won't be as desperate for money that they wish to turn to the life of crime. It is my duty as the emperor of our nation to look after my people, and you are all right. It is time to get rid of the black snakes once and for all. Do any of you have requests on what we may possibly do?'" Terence reads out from the parchment paper before providing a new paper to his majesty and placing the used one into a red chest.

"We should monitor brothels for any suspicious activity. There's a rumour that anybody apart of the black snake group has a tattoo of a snake on their body. We could ask the prostitutes to check if such tattoo is on any of their clients. If they can report any suspicious persons, we can offer them a reward." Genio suggests, desperate to impress the emperor with good requests.

"No, we must hunt down the source of the problem. The leader of the black snakes and any possible heirs should be tracked down and killed on sight. If we do that, there will be nobody to lead them and the group will fall apart." Yun continues on after Genio.

Before Terence could even blink, the emperor had already written several sentences in yet still the neatest handwriting one could rest their eyes upon.

"I believe we should also hire spies for the emperor in the palace, to hear into or look into any suspicious people who have been hired." Genio says, opening up yet another suggestion for the emperor.

As the meeting continued on inside the palace with he utmost seriousness, you had a lighthearted and childlike smile gracing your cheeks. The knight who you had only met today walked through the crowd with ease, people parting the way for the handsome and tall man. Meanwhile, you followed close behind. It had never been so easy to get through a sea of people. When rice was running low and there were just as many people fighting for the last few bags from the farmer, including yourself, you had dreadfully been pushed our of the crowd as if you were a goldfish suffocating among the sharks.

"We're nearly there," He states, walking carelessly amongst the townspeople. Soon, he turned swiftly to the right and stopped in front of a large stall. You quickly scurried after the knight, desperate not to be swept away.

The stall was made out of mahogany and there were shelves around the inside of the stall full with fine silks and fabrics from faraway lands. There were boxes full of sewing kits and embroidery thread. It was a tailor's dream come true. Or at least, it seemed like a dream come true to you. A chubby man sat on a large, cushioned sofa behind the stall, several meters back. His collar was tight around the neck and his strawberry blonde hair was slicked back with much more gel than was needed. He had stripy red and yellow bow tie and his dress shirt was a cool white. He wore indigo coloured pants, and his outfit was finished off with golden, pointy-toed shoes. His servants appeared to be running the stall for him, with them fanning him and organising the fabrics.

However, as soon as he saw the two potential customers, the man's unbothered and sneering expression changed much too dangerously into one that was cheery and exciting.

"Welcome to Polleli's Perfect Fabrics! I'm Polleli Percy, feel free to just call me Polleli. Is there any specific type of fabric you are looking for? Or a sewing kit perhaps? They are 20% off for this week only!" Polleli, the owner of the stand exclaimed cheerily. He seemed very positive and as he stepped up to the booth, an air of invitation he brought with him drew you in. The short man was barely just five feet tall but held his nose upwards with a high and snooty pride.

"I'm looking for a crimson red, translucent fabric or perhaps silk will do. Suitable for a finishing touch such as a scarf around the arms. I'm the emperor's personal tailor and I require the best quality of fabric you can offer me." You state, speaking in a matter-of-fact way and looking at the man straight in the face.

He gasps, "My! You are the talk of the business, dear! Many designers and tailors are wanting to meet you, and we're hoping to see you at a certain royal ball. Either ways! Enough with the small talk, you must be such a busy woman," He smiles at you sweetly before turning around and shouting, "PATRICIA! GET ME FABRICS NUMBER 447 AND 924!" He yells at the top of his lungs, especially since it was hard to hear one another as the market was bustling with loud chatters and sales pitches.

"Somebody is a fan of you, say, can I get your autograph?" The knight whispers to you, bending down slightly towards your ear. He chuckles slightly white near your ear, causing a chill to run down your spine. While Polleli turns around, the knight swiftly stood up straight once again with a straight face, as though he had never even moved in the first place.

A female servant dashed speedily towards Polleli with two rolls of fabric in her arms. Polleli takes the fabrics and places them on his booth table.From a small wooden box under the table, he takes out two small samples that matched with the fabric. "There are the two fabrics that I believe will be to the emperor's taste. They are my finest red fabrics that match what you said you wanted, so please, feel free to inspect the samples," He offers you.

You caressed the two samples in either hand and decided to go with the translucent one after all. "I'll go with the translucent one in my left hand, it goes better with the outfit I've made. I'll take a full roll. Your fabric certainly is of high quality, I'll be sure to buy some more fabrics when I have more time." You tell Polleli.

Overjoyed, Polleli smiles at you, "Very well then. I'll get the fabric ready for you to take." He says before turning around and shouting once again, "PATRICIA! BRING A FULL ROLL OF 447!" He yells viciously.

The cheeky knight standing next to you let out a small snicker at the shopkeeper as you got your money ready. The same servant as before emerges from behind some shelves of fabric, carrying a fresh roll of the fabric you had chosen. Polleli takes the fabric and wraps it himself in indigo coloured tissue paper before wrapping it securely shut with a golden ribbon. He then places it forward and states his price, "That'll be 14 golden coins, please."

You take out fourteen coins from your satchel and place them on the table. He smiles cheerfully to you before retreating back to his sofa, not seeming to pay mind to you anymore now that you were a customer who he had managed to sell to.

The knight takes the roll in his arms. It was fairly heavy and you could tell just by how thick it was. However, he seemed to carry it with ease. "Shall we walk back?" He asks you, a small smile on his face.

However, before you could even answer, he began leading the way to back to the palace. With a delighted smile, you follow after him. "How shall I transfer the payment for your services today then?" You ask.

"Well, I've been thinking about that and have decided to give you a discount. If you give me a goodnight kiss on the cheek, I'll agree to let it slide for 100% off, or if you rather, for free. What do you say?" He asks you, turning the corner and leading you back to the quieter streets that you had both once emerged from.

You choke slightly on your air before debating it in your head. If you were going to save up money, there was no way you could spend 1,000 golden coins just because the best knight in the kingdom lead you outside of the palace and back inside for 25 minutes. As you thought of your reply, the knight bends down slightly to get on level with your lips. He tilts his head and grins happily, his cheek several inches away from your face.

Pouting childishly, you peck his cheek shyly, your soft lips pressing against his delicate, pale skin. "Thank you, royal tailor." He says, standing up straight once again and now walking alongside you towards the palace.

"I'm sure we'll meet again soon. Don't be surprised if I drop by for a visit once in a while, you're the only person in this palace who actually catches my interest." He says, looking at you in the eyes through the blindfold, his rosy lips curved into a smaller, more genuine smile now.