Di Lan stood frozen, the hand that had been muffling Jo Ri's mouth beginning to tremble violently. The shock didn't stem from the thunderous roar alone, but from the surreal scene that followed. Suddenly, the courtyard which was supposed to be drenched in his father's blood began to fill with strangers clad in bizarre attire: tight trousers, colorful shirts, and massive black machines balanced on their shoulders, their 'glass eyes' (cameras) pointed intently toward the window.
Jo Ri watched in disbelief as the King stood up with chilling indifference, wiping sweat from his brow. He took a transparent plastic bottle from one of the guards and drank clear water. There was no blood, no carnage, no death... it was all an elaborate 'illusion.' The soldiers, who only moments ago lay fallen as corpses or wounded men, began to rise as if waking from a dream or miraculously healed, dispersing through the area with utter apathy.
Strange lights suddenly flickered to life on the ceiling, and Jo Ri felt something suspicious dangling above them in the dark corridor. She looked up and gasped; it wasn't the aged wooden ceiling she expected, but a chaotic web of black wires and massive suspended lamps.
- Di Lan, Jo Ri whispered, her voice barely audible. 'Look up... we aren't in a palace. We are inside a giant box!
Before Di Lan could utter a single word, a hidden side door in the wall swung open. A man wearing bulky headsets burst in, shouting at them in sharp, modern Korean:
- You two! What are you doing here? Who gave you permission to leave the wardrobe trailer? The scene isn't finished yet! Get back to your places immediately!
The man grabbed Jo Ri's arm and jerked her toward him. This time, however, it wasn't the grasp of an infatuated prince it was the tug of a 'stranger' who saw her as nothing more than a prop. Jo Ri stole one last glance at Di Lan in his eyes, she saw the shattering of the old world and the creeping horror of the new. But Di Lan had not lost his spirit. He lunged forward, wrenching Jo Ri's hand from the man's grip. Pulling her firmly behind him, he stood his ground, facing the stranger with the defiant pride of a fallen king.
A King Unlike Any Other
The ultimate shock that the Crown Prince could not grasp was the "King's" sudden attention toward them; it was the final straw that shattered his reality. For the first time, his father called him without the title of Crown Prince:
- Di Lan! You're here?"
The King headed toward them, but his stride was anything but royal it was the heavy, weary gait of a man burdened by the world. In a strange, sharp, and modern tone completely stripped of the poise they once revered he barked at them:
- What are you children doing here? Di Lan! Jo Ri! What on earth brought you here now?
It was then that the Crown Prince heard the man beside them mutter:
- Director, that's the son of the actor, Shu Fu.
The two stood frozen, watching the "King" standing at a distance, enduring a humiliating reprimand from a stranger dressed in clothes they had never seen before. It was a scene far beyond their comprehension. Worse still was the King's repeated apologies and his submissive bowing to that stranger.
The King returned to them, his features grim and his voice laced with a broken, reproachful tone. 'Because of you, filming has ground to a halt! Now, are you just going to stand there? Or will you go and change your clothes?'
They remained speechless. Helplessly, the King continued,
- I'm going to change out of these robes and then I'll come back for you. Do not move from this spot.
He paused for a moment, fixing his son with a troubled gaze. 'You are in deep trouble, Di Lan... very deep trouble.'
As the King walked away, he pulled off his royal crown, clutching it carelessly in one hand as if it were a mere prop, while using the other to scratch his head with a bizarre, casual air. Di Lan watched him go in utter disbelief, his world crumbling. He turned to Jo Ri, and with a voice filled with chilling certainty, he whispered:
- Jo Ri... that is not the King.
The Fading of Thrones
Di Lan and Ju Ri stood frozen like wax statues, watching in utter bewilderment as the world swirled around them. Everyone moved with a frantic energy, like bees in a hive, carrying wires and machines, speaking in hurried tones they couldn't grasp.
The "King" returned, but he was no longer a King. He wore strange, simple clothes Di Lan had never seen. He stood before them, his patience wearing thin:
- Are you still standing here? Come on, let's go home. This day has been long enough.
As the man turned to walk away from the palace, Di Lan followed with trembling steps. He stopped and pointed toward the grand palace behind them, asking in a voice filled with hesitation and loss:
- Isn't... isn't that the palace behind us? Aren't we going back inside?
The man stopped and turned, giving him a cold, mocking look.
- Just because you're wearing prince's robes doesn't mean you're actually one of them, Di Lan!
He then shifted his disdainful gaze to Ju Ri and added: "What's with these costumes? Did you and her get into acting without telling me? It seems you two took the roles a bit too seriously."
The blood turned to ice in Di Lan's veins. He looked down at his gold-embroidered royal robes, then at Ju Ri's lavish gown. He shrugged his shoulders in total shock, staring at her face his expression silently screaming:
- Who are we? And what have they done to our world?
Chariots of Light.. and Mirrors of Rage
They walked toward a lot filled with closed metallic carriages, gleaming in brilliant colors they had never seen. The "King" pulled a small object from his pocket and pointed it at the smallest carriage. Suddenly, a flash of light erupted from the vehicle and vanished, as if it had winked at them with an eye of light.
Di Lan stood frozen, his eyes wide before this silent iron beast. Ju Ri, consumed by wonder, began to circle the carriage, touching its cold surface, trying to discover where that magical light had hidden.
The "King" ignored their bewilderment, opened the door, and tucked himself inside. Then, he did something unbelievable the glass covering the side opening began to slide down on its own! He poked his head out:
- Aren't you getting in?
When they didn't move, he sighed in frustration, got out, and opened the back door for them.
- It seems this day isn't going to end well at all.
Di Lan gripped Ju Ri's hand firmly, as if holding onto the last thread of his old world, and they climbed into the carriage with suspicious steps. Once the "King" settled into the front seat, he turned to them with a face burning with rage:
- What is wrong with you two? What has truly happened to you?
Then his eyes fell on Di Lan's hand clutching Ju Ri's. He roared with doubled fury:
- What were you doing here? Were you planning to run away? Meeting behind our backs? Or are you acting in a drama and didn't tell me? I'm going insane! Because of you, I even lost my focus and forgot the lines I was supposed to perform in the scene!
He glared at them through a small mirror hanging above:
- Let go of her hand this instant before I kill you!
Shocked and terrified by this "King" whose soul seemed to have been replaced, Di Lan let go of her hand as if it were a burning coal.
Voices from the Box... and Cities of Perdition
The King clutched a small, flat, rectangular box in his hand. Pressing it while trembling with rage, he thrust his hand toward Di Lan and said in a biting tone, "A voice message from your mother!"
Suddenly, a voice emanated from that box a voice Di Lan's heart could never mistake. It was the Queen, but she sounded nothing like her usual, dignified self. Instead, her voice was a frantic scream:
- Di Lan! Have you lost your mind? What is this note you left in your room? Did you and Jo Ri actually get married?!
The voice cut off abruptly as if a spell had been broken, followed by the King's dry remark:
- She hung up. You're in massive trouble, Di Lan, and you'll have to find your own way out this time. Don't look to me for protection, because I won't save you. And where is your phone? Why is your mother calling me?!
They watched as the King fastened a black strap across his body. Then, he pressed a mysterious button, and the carriage let out a terrifying roar, lunging forward with a frenzied speed beyond anything they had ever witnessed in the fastest of stallions. The sheer force of the thrust threw Jo Ri and Di Lan backward, pinning them together once more, their breath coming in ragged gasps amidst the suffocating darkness.
As for Jo Ri, she curled into herself and pressed against the carriage door, leaning her face against the cold glass. She watched the outer world blur past the window with terrifying speed.
No sooner had the carriage breached the edge of the forest than the gates of hell or perhaps paradise swung wide before them. The road beneath was paved with a smooth black stone unlike anything they had ever seen. Before them loomed towering structures, dwellings stacked one atop another as if embracing the very heavens. Lights flooded the surroundings in every imaginable hue, and countless iron carriages halted and moved at the command of three magical orbs: red, orange, and green.
Jo Ri remained glued to the glass, her eyes gleaming with childlike wonder as she beheld this new world. The Crown Prince, however, watched the monolithic buildings with a burgeoning sense of insignificance. For the first time, fear of the unknown gnawed at his heart, until the carriage finally came to a halt before a massive structure a colossus containing entire worlds piled one above the other.
The Slipper of Truth.. and the Fall of Dignity
They climbed the stairs until they reached a wide, single-panel white wooden door. The "King" opened it quickly, ushering them inside while whispering frantically:
- I'm hiding in my room... you're on your own!
As they stepped in, the "Queen" appeared. But she wasn't the dignified figure Di Lan knew; she wore strange clothes, her hair was a mess, and exhaustion was etched into her face. The moment she saw Di Lan, she lost it. She tore off one of her slippers and lunged at him, raining blows upon him!
Di Lan stood frozen in shock, unable to move or defend himself. Ju Ri, with her usual courage, rushed to stand in front of him to shield him, but her aunt (the Queen) showed no mercy and kept hitting them both, screaming in a hoarse voice:
- Have you both lost your minds? How dare you get married without our consent? Do you even know how young you are? Do you think life is just a game?!
Di Lan and Ju Ri stood there under the barrage of blows, exchanging looks of utter despair. The world they once ruled had completely collapsed under the "slipper" of this furious woman.
From a Crown Prince carried on shoulders to a teenager hit with a slipper! How will Di Lan's pride survive this? Can he truly accept that his dignified Queen has turned into this frantic, exhausted woman?"
"A mysterious message was left in Di Lan's room. What did the 'modern' Di Lan write? Was he really planning to elope with Ju Ri, or is someone else pulling the strings of their fate?"