"Hello, Myeong Jo."

She got startled and turned around. There was a man wearing a hoodie. His entire face was hidden except for his smirking lips that were gaping at her.

"Who are you?! H-how did you get in here?" she asked.

The man laughed evilly. "So the rumour must be true. The Queen lost her memory."

He turned on the lights and revealed his face. Of course, Myeong Jo didn't know his face. The real wife would've figured it out already.

"So you don't remember me, do you?" he smirked.

She shook her head, her heart in her throat.

"Lee Joon is my name." he licked his lips.

His name made her completely frozen. This is the Lee Joon? The one who was crazily obsessed with the real wife? The one who once tried to kill her?

She took a step back until her back hit the closed door. Her breaths turned heavier.

"Oh no, no, don't be afraid of me. You know I'll never hurt you."

He sat on the edge of the bed and took a dagger out of his pocket. She couldn't even breathe at the sight of him sharpening the weapon slowly.

"So tell me. How've you been? Happy, I guess? With your husband."

She didn't reply.

"Wanna know how I have been? Horrible. Terribly horrible. Can you imagine a person living so many years under that dark stinky cell?!"

She didn't reply. But her hands were slowly working secretly. She was trying to reach the door lock without his knowledge.

"Spending 2 years in that same old room helped me to figure out to dig a hole under and escape. Also, I took a long time to think how can I get my revenge."

"R-revenge?" she pretended to ask.

Joon laughed like a maniac. "Yeah, revenge! I want to take revenge on you for making me suffer like this! I want to hurt you so badly, to destroy everything about you!"

He stood up from the bed. Her fingers trembled behind her back.

"Joon, please stop. Why don't you accept it? Why can't you move on? I will never love you no matter what you do so just stop your devilish actions." She shouted even though her voice cracked.

His lips raised into a smirk, chuckling a bit, "Seems like you still got that attitude, darling. However, you know what I planned? I figured out the most crucial thing that would hurt you most unlike any other."

He walked closer and leaned his face towards her. She moved her face to her side.

"Instead of hurting you........ I planned to hurt your precious human in the world. The one for whom you would do anything. The one for whom you left me. The one who made you forget about me completely from your mind. The one who's taking my place!" he yelled at her so closely.

Myeong Jo immediately knew who he was talking about. She looked directly into his sadistic eyes.

"You wouldn't-" she whimpered.

"Oh yes. Yes, I would. I even did." Suddenly he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the balcony.

He almost pushed her to the railing but she managed to hold herself back. He made her look down by holding her hair inside his grip. It hurt her but she was more confused and scared than being hurt. She gasped as he shoved her head off the railing so that she could take a look at the ground.

Almost everyone in the castle was out. Maybe she and Joon were the only ones left. The fire increased and it spread everywhere downstairs. So all the residents moved to the open air in front of the castle. She could see Jimin talking on the phone restlessly while Jungkook was holding Ji Eun's hand.

"See your husband there?" He pointed at him.

Then Lee Joon pulled out a remote from his other pocket and showed it to her. He pressed a button and a small green light blinked on Jimin's neck.

"See this red tiny button here? When I press it, your dear husband will be blown into pieces. Right in front of everyone and without anyone knowing!" He laughed louder.

Myeong Jo gasped in shock. Did he plant a bomb inside his jacket? Jimin could die anytime if this man just pressed the button.

"You are a monster! You bastard!" She screamed at him, trying to get out of his grip.

"I've always been a monster. Your ignorance and your attitude turned me into this heartless monster!" he dragged her back to their room and threw her on the floor.

Her head hit the table; causing it to bleed. Why does her head always have to hit? She touched her forehead, rubbing the wounded place.

She looked at Joon and begged "Joon, please don't be like this. Please not Jimin. Please I beg you, please don't hurt him..."

He smirked and kneeled in front of her. "Then darling, you are gonna have to come with me."

She widened her eyes. She, for a moment, actually forgot this man tried to rape her once in the past.

"We'll run away together and live far away. Only you and me. Then your husband will live."

"Joon, why are you so crazy? Nothing will work out between us! Why can't you understand the fact I will never love you?!"

"I don't care whether you love me or not! I just care about my pleasure now. I craved for you a long time ago. Now for an ignorant bitch like you, I will just keep you with me. Just to hurt you!"

There was no way to save herself. Jimin's life was at risk. This man could press the button any time he wanted. She needed to think carefully.

"All right, all right. I'll come with you."

Joon smirked and caressed her head. "Looks like only putting your husband at risk will make you obey me. You are so stupid, Myeong Jo."

She made eye contact with him and this time, she smirked at him. "No. You are wrong. I am not stupid."

Suddenly, she snatched the remote from his hand and kicked him in the face before running towards the door. She already opened the lock before so she just ran away from there.

Everything happened in a flash. Joon realized his stupidity.

"Min Myeong Jo!!!" screaming her name with the strongest anger inside his veins, he also ran behind her to catch her.

She ran through the hallways and made her way downstairs. To her surprise, the place was already on fire. She stopped at the last step of the stairs and gasped. Everything was burning and the poisonous smoke blurred her vision. She then made her way to the storeroom which was closer and untouched by the fire as of then.

"Get back here! You ain't getting out of my hands!" Joon saw her and ran after her.

Myeong Jo did her utmost to sprint through the thick smoke. She could hardly see anything. She coughed as she struggled to catch her breath, but she continued running. She locked the door after arriving inside the huge storeroom where servants kept their preserved wood, irons, metals, and necessities.

There was a small window in there. So she took a ladder and climbed up to the window. The window was closed tight. She tried to open it, using her all energy.

Suddenly there was a bang on the door. "I know you are in there! Open up! You don't know what I'll do to you when I get inside! Open this door!"

Myeong Jo felt terror in her heart as she faced the possibility of losing her life. This was the first time she had ever felt this kind of fear. Her thoughts were unable to function properly within the cramped space. She had already breathed in a large amount of gas and was starting to feel lightheaded. Despite this, she persisted in trying to find an escape route.

She looked around and found a heavy object. She threw it against the window and with her every strength. It broke the window open, the glasses shattering everywhere.

Another cough burst out of her as she climbed up the ladder again and tried to squeeze her by through the small space.

On the other hand, the door broke open and Joon got inside. He saw her escaping through the window. He quickly took the ladder away, causing her to lose balance and half of her body was hanging now.

"You thought you could escape?! If you are going to die here, then I'll die with you. I'll make sure to drag you to hell with me!" He pulled her down by her legs.

She was struggling not to fall. Her upper body was almost out while her other lower part was hanging. And now Lee Joon was pulling her legs. She screamed and her leg kicked his face so he let go of her legs in pain.

Myeong Jo took the opportunity to finally drag her whole body up and fell outside, on the open ground. She was out of the castle.

She sighed in relief. Suddenly a thought punctured her head.

The remote!

She lost it inside the room while trying to escape. The remote was still in the room with Joon. It fell out of her hands when she fell outside.

Myeong Jo's heart raced as fear and shock coursed through her. Standing up, she quickly recognized her location - she was at the back of the castle. Meanwhile, Jimin and the others were gathered at the front gate, completely unaware of her absence.

So she ran. Ran to her fullest. Ran like the wind. Though her head was bleeding a lot, though her heart had inhaled injurious smoke, though her whole body was aching, she just ran. She didn't care if she died. The only fact that mattered to her was Jimin's life.

On the other hand, the others were outside the castle waiting for the fire department. Since it was nighttime, they were running late. Jimin kept calling them, urging them to hurry before the fire engulfed the entire palace. He was so preoccupied that he didn't even realize his wife didn't made it out of the burning castle this whole time.

"Hyung?" Jungkook called him. "Where is Noona?"

Jimin looked around, unable to spot his wife.

"That's right. I didn't see Unnie the whole time here," Ji Eun spoke.

"Hyung, she came with you, right?" Jungkook asked.

Jimin's heart leapt out of his body. "S-she said she was coming in a minute."

"But she was never here!" Ji Eun couldn't hold her panic.

All the household members looked at their royal family. They didn't see the Queen around. They were too busy talking about how the kitchen began the fire and how scared they were. No one even noticed their Queen was missing.

"Where is she? Is she inside?!" Jungkook shouted, looking at the castle.

"Jimin-ahhh!!"

There was a faint voice echoing in the air. Everyone present there heard it.

"Who was that?" a maid spoke.

"Jimin get away from there!!"

Their heads swivelled in all directions, trying to pinpoint the origin of the sound.

"Jimin! Move away!"

"Your Highness is there!" a male servant pointed his finger.

Everyone looked in that direction. It was true. The Queen was running towards them and yelling her heart out.

Jimin was relieved to see her, the thought of her inside the burning palace triggered him seriously. But she didn't look normal. What was she saying?

"There's a bomb! Get out of there!" Her voice was well heard this time but no one understood her clearly.

Jimin began running towards her. He knew something was wrong. Both of them were close to each other. He stopped when he saw her bleeding. His mind stopped processing at that moment.

Myeong Jo finally crashed into his body and held on to his jacket. Jimin held her arms, being surprised. She looked exhausted and barely stable. She tried to peel the jacket off him.

"Myeong Jo! What on earth are you doing?" He asked worriedly.

"Take it off! There's a bomb!" She yelled.

Jimin still couldn't understand her. Why would there be a bomb in his clothes and he wouldn't be aware of it? She crazily pulled the jacket, causing him to lose his balance.

"Stop! What are you doing?!"

"DIDN'T YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID? THERE'S A BOMB IN YOUR JACKET!"

Before he could know, she pulled the jacket out of his body. Then without wasting another second, she ran again towards the other direction.

Meanwhile, Joon just found the remote. The fire had spread inside that room as well. He knew he was going to die. He sat in a corner and admired the remote. In his last moments, he still laughed hopelessly.

"Dear Myeong Jo, thank you for making me suffer. For wasting my whole life. I'm sorry but I can't see you happy anymore. You don't deserve him. I was the only one for you! I hope you'll realize your life's greatest mistake after both me and your beloved husband is gone! Goodbye."

He pressed the button.

Before the fire could gobble his body, he heard a loud explosion and a heart-stopping bloody scream that filled the air. "MYEONG JO-AH!!"