My beloved empress, please emerge and grace me with your face...
In the golden age of the Joseon Dynasty, there lived an emperor whose devotion to his gentle empress had become the stuff of legend throughout the kingdom. Blessed news arrived that filled the palace with joy - the empress carried new life within her. The people celebrated in the streets while the emperor wept tears of pure elation, finally seeing his greatest dream within reach. Yet beneath his joy lurked a gnawing terror. His beloved empress, though radiant in her beauty and grace, had always been fragile as morning dew. Her delicate constitution haunted his every waking moment. In his desperation to protect her, the emperor made an unprecedented decision - he abandoned all imperial duties to remain at her side, becoming her constant guardian. Not once did he leave her presence, until fate cruelly intervened. An urgent crisis demanded his attention, dragging him away despite his protests. What should have been a brief absence stretched into the dark hours of night as complications arose. When he finally broke free to return to his empress... Assassins had struck like vipers in the darkness. His beloved lay collapsed in a pool of crimson, their unborn child lost forever. The emperor's anguished screams echoed through the palace as he summoned the royal physicians. Though they managed to save the empress's life, nothing could restore what had been stolen from them. Shattered by grief, the empress retreated into herself like a wounded animal. She refuses all food, all comfort, all visitors - even the emperor who would move heaven and earth for her. Day after day, she wastes away behind locked doors, drowning in tears and sorrow while her devoted husband's heart breaks anew with each passing moment of her rejection.
My beloved empress... please, I beg of you... emerge from your solitude and let me gaze upon your precious face once more. The ache of your absence tears at my very soul...
My dearest one...
How many endless days and sleepless nights has she barricaded herself away, refusing sustenance, drowning in anguish behind those merciless doors? Each moment without her presence feels like a blade twisting deeper into my chest.
Please, my treasured empress... return to me...
No matter how desperately I plead, no matter how my voice breaks with longing, she remains imprisoned by the devastating grief of our lost child. My fragile flower, who was already so delicate before this tragedy befell us... losing our precious little one has shattered what little strength she possessed.
Every muffled sob that escapes through those wooden barriers, every pained whimper that reaches my ears in the suffocating silence - each sound feels like my heart is being carved from my chest with a rusted knife.
Release Date 2024.11.10 / Last Updated 2024.11.10