Everyday was a struggle and it hurt to be alive before I had Yeon to myself. I had to numb my heart before in order to survive and living under my father's rule was simply exhausting and he made sure that I didn't fit in anywhere at all. And since mishap with my only best friend at the time, I waited each moment in that home for my life to be taken away from me. But now look at me; even if I did have 1000 dreams, plans and gaols, it really couldn't come into fruition without her at all; she was the missing piece in my heart and in my mind and she gave me so much in return for simply taking care of her and keeping her by my side at all times. Never could I have imagined that I would ever leave the office that my father put me in that I was grossly underprepared for at the time. But it was Yeon's intellect and her books that gave me more time to hone my detective skills which in turn helped me to track her everywhere that she went after she left my family's home. Never could I have imagined that I would be the one to take down certain members of The Royal Family when I was chasing her along the way, which surpassed my father's and even my brother's achievements tenfold with ever person that I put down. My own so=called 'half brother' couldn't even leave The Fifth Prince's residence without getting himself killed and I accomplished all of that when I was high on opium. The Second Prince wasn't much of a struggle at all and now I had less than a week to carry out my ultimate goal to bring The Third Prince back and into exile just as this stubborn and headstrong brat finally bought down her walls for me and finally confessed her love to me…but I couldn't say anything at all in return. I still wasn't completely free from the gripes of that addiction but I was suddenly starting to rely on it less out of nowhere…ever since I was able to consume my woman's food that seemed to help me. And the things that we talked about was only my work so far and even I was getting a little sick of it at this point. Yeon was right; after dealing with my sister=in=law, she had no other business in the palace other then dealing with other women that I hay have to have contact with in my future, although I was praying on my knees at this point that would never happen again. And even now I could't help but to feel guilty for the fact that I could not say it back to her, even when she was looking right at me. She had taken my words and even my breath away with those words and all I could do was to pull her across my legs and hold her until she fell asleep onto me like a small child who was too tired to eat her dinner. Just wait for this to be over Seo Yeon and I promise you that our marriage will be entirely different to what I have put you through so far. Ur marriage will be the start of our genuine lives together side my side, I can promise you that much at least and I…need to be sober when that happens.
"…about The Widow Nam's honorary titling along with her sister; I have instructions from The Lord Nam that the dead sister will get a much higher rank despite never being marred due to her loyalty, so don't you dare mix these up or he will punish us by flogging tenfold each and every time." "We have to know who to fawn on just to survive here now, it won't be easy at all." "That isn't the case; The Lord Nam is a straightforward man who does't mince his words at all. He will only punish us if we do something wrong, how is that unfair exactly? He already rid us of our corrupt leader and now we can all equally enjoy the spoils of our hard work." "I suppose that is true…let us not offend him so that we can also expand our knowledge as well, unlike The Senior Scholar who stifled us for so long."
******************
"My Lady…." "What? What is it now? Why hasn't anyone come to see me? Why hasn't anyone taken me out of this place? Didn't The Concubine Chung go down for my crimes as well? Why haven't I been proven innocent yet? And when can I get out of these maid robes?" "My Lady…our plans has failed. The people in The Astrology Department have not only denied our request for a good title…they were even flogged for suggesting such a thing…" "What? What did you just say? But didn't our bribe that we secured through The Lady work at all? She told us that she had high connections in all the departments in the palace! So what…what title did I get?" "My Lady, not only were you given a modest title….The Lord Nam seems to have given your suggested one…to your late sister…" WHAT! They were flowed for simply choosing a few nice names on my behalf? Is nobody allowed to be nice to me at all? Not even once! And what about my food? Why haven't they upgraded it yet? Didn't we sort that out with half of the bribe that we have received?" "My Lady…The Lord Nam has risen high above our heads here in the palace, and if he looks down upon us, then so does everyone else here I am afraid." "They have all abandoned me…one by one, all of them! And what…what is that horrible noise!" "My Lady, it is The Young Mistress Seo who has sent you a bird cage full of parrots to congratulate you on your promotion…" "Parrots? The bird that can talk? The bird has been tamed to say my promotion title over and over again! No! Take them out! Take them away! I hate them! I cannot be reminded about this for the rest of my life! And go! Tell The Lord Nam to come and see me…as I have a very important secret about his so=called fiancé that she will never tell him in the lifetime! Now go!" "But My Lady, you are an ill=omen now…would he really see you?" "Only he knows best about this ill=omen at all and what my misfortune truly is." "My Lady, it saddens me to hear about your self=contempt and self=degredation."
*********************
"My Lady, have you heard about the ill=fate of The Widow Nam? And her honorary title…." "Just as expected; Seo Yeon has managed to ye again turn the tables and struck both her and myself with low ranking titles despite our statuses. And she did this specially to let us know that we can never be favoured as a main wife is in this lifetime; we shall always be ranked and equal to less to concubines no matter what we do from now on. Such a devious trick in one move, I d wonder how she gets away with such evil tricks all of the damned time…" "My Lady, I thought that you told me this girl was an orphan? A disabled one at that? How is it possible that she can wield so much power in the palace?" "Myself and Seo Yeon have never differed in status at all; we only differed in the fact that she knew who her father was and I still do not to this day. She was lucky enough to have a father who's title and achievements surpassed him even in death and that is what she is clinging onto for dear life. And as for the man she stole from me, this is also how she managed to do it." "My Lady?" "There is nothing more dangerous to a greedy, powerful and ambitious man than an equally greedy, powerful and ambitious woman to match. That is what she used to bind him to her and as for her little running away act; distance makes the heart grow fonder and it can easily make a man who had nothing all the more obsessed with her."
"So through the honorary name, she is telling you that you do not deserve it at all?" "To say that the words were picked out throughly by The Astrology Department made her hide her crime. She will never let me have the spousal title, no matter what it is. And as for the widow, she is but a lowly maid with very little education and wealth to her name at all, so she was never going to be granted something grand in the first place. Are you still giving her the nourishing soup that I am sending over for her?" "Yes My Lady, with all of the vital medical herbs as well." "This place seems like an icehouse since I was banished from the palace and from the touch of my man who confessed his love to me all of those years ago. I have to earn the favour that I deserve the right way, I have been helping her because I have expectations from her as she was close to him once."
"And what about the matter of Seo Hwi and that book in his home?" "My Lady, I have been trying my best to stir up the court about the rumour at least since there is no longer any physical evidence, but we have have proof that is was one of those 3 men who personally handed it over to him to establish their close ties together…" "If I cannot have Seo Hwi, then I shall not let anybody have him at all, and I would like to see the dark emotions that his best friend went though all over again when he realises that he cannot save Seo Hwi once again. Seo Yeon will surely blame him for her brother's death and abandon him much faster than I have anticipated…and he will have nobody but myself in this cruel and lonely world." "My Lady, what about Seo Hwi?" "Find a way to plant a whole collection of those books in his home through a servant of theirs, and then frame him with some recent letters between himself and The Third Prince to seal his betray to The Emperor through deception. Anyone whoo lies to The Emperor will die if finds proof to counteract Seo Hwi's claims that he has cut off contact with The Third Prince years ago. 'The Prince has rules better than his predecessors and easily defeated his enemies as he was away from heaven's rule', this is what we shall put in those letters. And the following words 'The Prince should have his tomb placed right next to his father's to show his might'. Everyone will think that Seo Hwi is showing his compassion towards his former master by keeping these in his home and even sympathy towards The Emperor's brothers as it was his sister's idea to show mercy onto their children who are currently residing in the palace now under her care."
"What if anyone else has suspicions, My Lady?" "Duty and favour come before close friendships and personal relationships; everyone knows that The Lord Nam as sacrificed him once and he should have no problem doing it again, despite his obsession with his sister." "But what if nothing happens at all? As a precaution?" "The Emperor has been weary of his officials lately since half of them sided with The Third Prince. He hates those to sympathise with his son and he only needs an excuse to wipe them all away from his court in the palace, especially newly=promoted officials who embrace disloyal intentions. He holds The Lord Nam in high regard and he will even go as far as to hold Seo Yeon between him and his ambitions if he really has to." "They are said to be wed soon." "They have been saying that for years and they still haven't done anything; that just shows you how dedicated he is to his so=called finace and all the more proof that he is just exploiting her, he cannot marry someone he does not love at all. I know him best; under that stone cold heart of his, he is a romantic after all, despite having no one love him for all of his life…apart from me and only me."