Seugh min stood there , those words kept echoing , those words he wished it was a lie, he wished at this point that his mother lied to him, he wished she ran away so in that way there will be a possibility that he would find her no matter where she was on this world he could find her , even in the smallest possibility he could find her but his mother who he thought he knew , who had become heartless in her process of hatred , he found himself believing her as much as he wanted it to be a lie he still believed her.
" She is just a maid, and the child is a bastard , we will erase everything, I will forget everything you said about abandoning your royal duties , the woman who bore all those thoughts in you is gone, just settle back to the life that is destined for you....", she sais caressing her son's face , " the daughter of the leader of the Northern region of Gwunjae island is coming tomorrow,..., she is a good woman from a good family, she has a good education, and she is also very beautiful, won't you want a life with her?", asked the Queen , Seugh min grasped his mother's hand to her shock,you could tell he was restraining himself because she was his mother but right now he didn't see her as a human being , she was empty , she had no soul and she had no heart , she was just his mother by name , by what he referred to someone who had given birth to him and they both shared blood, and then his heart gave out , a tear slipped from his eyes and then it came in streaks , he softly grasped his mother on both her shoulders, he was slightly panting as uncontrolled tears fell from his eyes , " just.....just tell me where she is, I won't ask if she is dead or alive , I just....I just want to know where she is...", said Seugh min, his voice breaking and his hands trembling , his mother grinned tilting her head sideways , " if I tell you where she is ....., you will have to marry the one I choose for you , can you do that for your dear mother?", Seugh min felt suffocated , his breath had become ragged as his head lazily dropped in frustration, exhaustion and sorrow , his grip on his mother shoulders tightened but his mother seemed unaffected, his mother was suffocating him, he slowly raised his head , his damp eyes met those of his mother as he nodded his head in reluctance , the Queen smiled as she removed Seugh min hands which clutched her shoulder which fell lifelessly at each side of his body as she embraced him but Seugh min didn't embrace her back, he felt repulsed by her now.
" You are my son,... , I love you and I just want the best for you...", saying that she pulled away from him , " she's at the forest , come back before dawn, I will be waiting", saying that she went back to her bed , she looked over at the musician and gestured for her to continue playing the gayageum(a Korean zither like instrument with twelve strings and it is played with your fingers), " come back before dawn we will all be waiting.....", she said with a smile on her face , Seugh min felt his body tremble with both anger, frustration, regret and pain, " you didn't feel anything?", the Queen raised her head up and looked at Seugh min curiously, " you didn't feel anything knowing that Ina was with child , knowing how much I love Ina , didn't you feel anything?, didn't you hesitate a bit when she pleaded with you ?, didn't you feel moved when she was in pain?", asked Seugh min , his voice cracking at every sentence, his time rough and ragged and his eyes shed insatiable amount of tears .
" I couldn't feel anything, she was not worthy to be felt sorry for..., she was... insignificant, anyone who bore a bastard is insignificant", said the Queen coldly, " the child wasn't a bastard , he had a father and that was me...."," any woman of low status who bore the child of one of royal blood, that child is considered a bastard", there was a long silence after the Queen had spoken, Seugh min wiped his tears away then he bowed down , bringing himself back up he met the eyes of his mother , it was soulless , it reflected on how he felt, his eyes were full of total resentment and pain, he finally turned and left his mother's chamber but this time he found himself running, he ran and ran not giving himself a chance to breathe, not pausing for a second and not looking back , his heart was heavy, it felt like any minute now he was going to collapse, and there he found himself screaming her name, " INA.....INA, INA!!!!!", Seugh min yelled , he looked disoriented, he wasn't in his right mind, his eyes were bloodshot red, he tried keeping the hopes that nothing had happened to her eventhough he knew that the terrifying deed had already been done , he was late but he hoped he wasn't , he began to sob as his pace quickened, his feet beating the sand beds below his feet, he called her name frantically, " INA.....INA, please , please be alive , INA...", he stopped at his tracks abruptly, his whole body went stiff, all he could see was total darkness at its bleak, his eyes welled up , it felt suffocating with the sight in front of him, he felt himself fall freely to the floor as his chest felt so tight and with all the emotions balled up he let out a vengeful and agonizing scream, he slowly stood up and approached the lifeless figure who lay peacefully at a distance, her body was pale and her blood was darkened which meant she had been dead for long, Seugh min walked slowly to her finally reaching her side, he collapsed to his knees , his hand not wanting to touch her but was craving to hold her but he knew he didn't deserve it , his eyes slowly scanned to her belly, the severe stab marks on her belly , her pale skin and her blood drenched dress, he didn't even deserve to hold her but he couldn't stop himself, he couldn't help but pull her lifeless and cold body towards himself as he began to sob, his body jerking uncontrollably as he sobbed .
There must be a way, she couldn't be gone, she couldn't leave him behind, no....., there was a way, he roughly cleaned his tears balancing Inas lifeless body on his lap, he could do something, he swiveled his hand in the air, a gust of air formed on his palm forming a ball of green energy which represented life, he raised her head a little as he continued sobbing, praying desperately in his heart that this will work, that there was a possibility it was going to work, the air was sucked into her mouth and then nose, praying desperately to the heavens as he waited , patiently waiting for her to wake up , to be alive but she didn't wake up, the breath he gave to her returned back in black , that meant she was dead. Seugh min shook his head in disbelief as he pulled her close to himself cuddling her, caressing her back as tears fell from his eyes as he repeatedly kept saying, " no, no, no", he wanted to be in denial, he buried his head in her neck as he sobbed , his heart felt like it could burst out of his chest, his sobs reflected on the pain, anger and regret he felt, " Ina....,Ina,Ina,....Ina, please.....please don't do this, please don't leave me , please", his futile pleas were put on deaf ears, that night was engulfed in the sorrow of one man, his love had died and whose soul and will to live was gone.
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Lee Kwon unwrapped the cloth on Eun Chens hand revealing her completely closed wound which had just left a streak on her hand, Lee Kwon heaved in satisfaction, it was surprising how even without any medicinal herbs her hand managed to heal leaving only a small mark, he knew it was the spiral mark doing but still it was just so phenomenal. " Is the spiral marks still weakening you?", asked Lee Kwon worriedly, Eun Chen scoffed, " eventhough I still feel weakened , there is nothing we can do as long as we are here", said Eun Chen. Lee Kwon nodded in agreement, it was true, as long as they were here there was nothing they could do, she could only get weaker and weaker with that spiral mark on her chest, " we will find a way out of here , we just need to wait for an opportunity", said Lee Kwon , at that moment they both heard the gates unlock , they both stood up abruptly in alert , Lee Kwon stood infront Eun Chen in a way to protect her.
Some guards came in as they stood infront of the cell, they looked over at the uncuffed chains on the floor then they looked at both Lee Kwon and Eun Chen, Lee Kwon used his hand to move Eun Chen more behind his back not letting any fragment of her to be seen , looking at both the guards with a cold yet daring expression, they began opening , the chains loosely fell to the floor as they opened the gates, Eun Chen and Lee Kwon backed away, " the Queen requests to see you young Master Lee Kwon ", said one of the guards, eventhough he was a prisoner they were still told to address him that way , it wasn't out of respect but it was that of mockery to show him that he was unworthy as a bastard son and is still unworthy and insignificant, eventhough he finally made it to the palace it was just a facade because he was locked up in the dungeon.
Eun Chen tugged at Lee Kwons robe , Lee Kwon looked at her as she shook her head in disagreement that he shouldn't go but Lee Kwon smiled softly and nodded assuring her that it will be okay, he nodded at the guards , " let's meet the Queen", he said.
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Lee Yeon was kneeling at the Queens feet, the royal officials were already there as the Queen sat on her throne, it all looked like they were waiting for someone , at that moment they heard the door open and behold the person they had been waiting for had arrived. Lee Kwon who was already dressed in new clothes, his face had already been washed and his hair had been packed in a bun, it looked like he had not been in the dungeon for the past three days, Lee Kwon was also confused, what was the Queen planning again?, why was he here and why did they clean him up?. The Queen stood up with a smile plastered on her face , Lee Yeon seeing Lee Kwon stood up, it looked like she had been crying. " It's your lucky day, Lee Yeon happened to find out that you were imprisoned for helping the assasin, she cried and begged me not to kill you, I felt so much sympathy that I agreed I won't kill you, she said she will share in the burden of you being a traitor", looking at how the assembly was quiet you could easily tell that the assembly knew he was the one that hid the masked assasin , they all have him condescending and gruesome looks of disgust, he wasn't affected by how they looked at him , he was already used to it, they gave him those looks even when he was known as the bastard son of the King, now he was nothing but a traitor so of course he will be looked down upon but he was surprised at what he just heard, what did she mean about sharing in the burden, recently Lee yeons father , the minister of public administration had his tongue cut off for speaking against the Queen, he was later beheaded and Lee Yeon had been affected by this, she was now known as the the daughter of the minister with an unlawful tongue, she had lost respect and people avoided her, she was already burdened enough, how was she planning to share in the burden , " Lee Yeon wants to marry you...", said the Queen as she said that Lee Yeon burst into tears.
Something wasn't right , knowing Lee Yeon she would never share in anyone's burden ,once you are problematic she will abandon you, her being with was that of rebellion and being blinded by her definition of love, what really was the Queen planning, " Lee Yeon...", " we can have the ceremony now, the rings has been bought, we don't have to do the ceremony, just put on the rings and share a cup of wine, you will both be declared husband and wife, so... shall we proceed with that", said the Queen with a sinister smile on her face.