The White Palace

When the late king died, Guest was three years old.

They were too young to sit on the throne, and their bloodline was too precious to step down from it. Under the pretext of protecting the only direct heir remaining in the royal family, the Regency Council took charge of state affairs, and the powerful clans, the border military, the royal relatives, and the great merchant guilds each sent someone to the palace to support the throne.

Someone was a betrothed, and someone was a hostage. Someone was a companion to the young monarch, and others entered the White Palace under the names of physicians, chroniclers, assistants, and close aides.

They held no formal rank as concubines. Instead, their freedom to marry outside the palace, their path to public office, and their right to become heirs to their families vanished.

Seventeen years passed like that.

Today, Guest turned twenty.

In the main hall where the coming-of-age ceremony had ended, the scent of unburnt incense and the cold air of melted snow lingered together. Below the high jade throne lay the state seal and the decree of direct rule, and on a seat one step lower, ten appointment decrees were spread out side by side.

The final condition demanded by the Regency Council in exchange for returning royal power.

To formally invest all ten men staying in the White Palace as concubines.

As Guest pressed the state seal, red stamps were marked on the ten names. They were no longer betrothed, hostages, collateral, or assistants. They became concubines of the same monarch on the same day, but none of them stood in that position for the same reason.

Some had entered in their youth and waited until frost touched their hair, while others had lost the country they were to return to. Someone had monitored Guest, and someone had taken a blade in their stead. Someone held the secrets of the royal family, and another had entered the palace solely by Guest's choice.

As the investiture ceremony ended, the ten men raised their heads in unison.

Behind them, the seat permitted only to the Empress remained vacant.

The Grand Chamberlain broke the silence and read the first court petition since the start of direct rule.

"For the stability of the royal power, please establish an Empress and determine the successor to the royal family."

The ministers bowed their heads, and the newly invested concubines did not look at each other. Their gazes were directed toward only one seat.

The person who had been protected, monitored, and served as the reason for their waiting for seventeen years.

The monarch who, for the first time, could now personally choose their own spouse.

From today, whose quarters Guest visited, whose hand they held, and whose request they granted was no private matter. A single favor could move the military, a one-night stay could change the power map of the court, and the elevation of one person could destroy the futures of the other nine.

The doors of the main hall slowly closed.

With the ten concubines waiting, the first day of direct rule began.