Everything about it was just gorgeous.

From what I've read, the palace in the northernmost part of Jedo Itirium was enormously huge. It boasted seventeen buildings, five towers where the guards were stationed, three small temples, thirty spacious gardens, five regulated greenhouses and eight other buildings solely used for managing the Imperial Palace.

It was where the emperor reigned and watched over his empire, indeed a monumental palace befitting an emperor who held the entire continent in his hands.

The garden where the emperor brought me to was Leslie's garden, which was located at the eastern end of the Imperial Palace. We followed the trail right behind the Emperor's palace and to my surprise, I found myself here in the garden that would've otherwise taken much longer to reach. The emperor must have led me here using a shortcut.

The emperor of a few generations past built Leslie's Garden for his favorite mistress, the Marquis of Leslie, to whom the garden was named after. It was peaceful and had a feminine touch. What the garden lacked in size greatly made up for the hefty amount of flowers that exuded a strong, distinct scent. It was the perfect place to personally enjoy the flowers season after season.

As I was scanning the bed of flora, a large tree blossomed with a bunch of white and small flowers hanging from one side of the garden caught my eye. I craned my neck up to look at it, and I realized I was staring at a lilac tree. That lilac tree. I almost jumped to my spot in excitement!

Seeing it with my own eyes was just exhilarating. Leslie Garden was also the place where the male lead confessed his feelings to the female lead. Since the novel centered mostly on the main character's plight and misery, this particular scene served as a breather, and it was by far the part I've enjoyed the most reading.

Under the beautiful lilac tree, the blossoms fluttered in their branches as the wind breezed by. Shy lovers with tinted cheeks sang about the love they had for each other. Despite struggling to escape his past, the male lead proposed to the woman and vowed to give her a bright, promising future. The female lead accepted his proposal in an instant with tears streaming down her cheeks.

That happened a week before the world met its tragic end.

I am swooning in the inside, giddy over the fact that I'm at the spot where the heartwarming scene took place. It was a dream come true for a fan like me. Although my face didn't show the excitement I was feeling, my eyes on the other hand were completely awestruck.

I never thought I'd see this place with my own eyes!

I stopped for a moment, eyes still trained on the lilac tree. The emperor followed my line of sight as he let go of my hand and walked his way towards it.

'What was he doing? This tree does not mean anything to him yet.'

As he neared the lilac tree, he broke a small branch that had a sparse amount of petals, twirling it between his fingers. The sight of the tyrant emperor with a flower branch on his hand was something I didn't expect to see. He then turned on his heel and walked towards me until we were face to face. He tucked the branch gently into my hair, making sure it wouldn't fall off and the strong scent of lilac tickled my nose.

His eyes drifted back and forth between my face and the flower branches. "I went to look at the tree myself since you seemed to like it so much, and I was right." He smiled softly, "Lily, you're way more beautiful than any flower."

Any person who was at the receiving end of such words would brighten red instantly, but I knew very well that phrase was not meant for me. I gently combed my hair with my fingers as I listened to him.

But a small branch tangled itself on my hair, and I pried it off my head, eyes tingling from the subtle pain. It ruined whatever mood we were enclosed in.

"Yes, you're more beautiful." He repeated once again, smiling even more brightly.

'I get it, thank you. But I'd like to see you and the female lead in your own element, and I couldn't wait to personally witness the sweet exchange between you two!' The novel was pretty dark, but the love they had for each other was real. Their love felt tangible to me when I first read it even though I haven't experienced being in a relationship yet.

Tears would instantly be shed once you read the part when the Emperor went crazy over the female character. Recalling the novel that I greatly enjoyed, I looked at him with admiration in my eyes.

If you just wait a bit longer, she will show up and from there you would speak of your undying love for each other under the lilac tree. I would be secretly hiding behind the bushes, watching one of my favorite scenes unfold with my own eyes and I wouldn't want to miss it for the world!

Too caught up with my own thoughts, I didn't realize I was staring at him openly and was only snapped out of my stupor when he pulled me in his embrace. "Don't move." He said.

'Huh? What's happening?'

Slightly on edge, he immediately moved his hand in one swift motion, landing by the side of my neck, and I heard a faint sound of something snapping into two from his closed fist.