.eighty one.

-

"Yo is the new king and he has always disliked us. We need to get out of here before he tries to do something against our family."

-

Jung didn't hear from his brother for months. 

The queen was careful not to mention him in the palace and he never visited again, which the fourteenth prince assumed was for safety reasons. With just a few days before Eun's twenty fourth birthday came around, Prince Jung received a letter at the military base from none other than Park Hak Soon. He tore open the letter with excitement and quickly started to read what it said. It had clearly not been written by her, since she had lost her sight years ago, and also because he knew her writing. This had not been written by her hand. He thought that she had probably gotten her sister Soon Deok to help her with it. But it had actually been his own sister, Princess Yeon Hwa, who had written the letter for the genera's daughter. It had also been the princess herself who had made sure the letter got delivered to the fourteenth prince. 

Dearest Jung, the letter began. Jung felt his heart beat madly against his chest at her choice of words for him. He was a bit surprised and disappointed in himself that she still had such an effect on him. She could literally ask him to do absolutely anything, and he would submit without question. I write to you today in the wake of my beloved husband's upcoming twenty fourth birthday. At the mention of Eun, Jung felt his heart drop, and at the same time he was filled with a rage.

Of course she would bring up Eun. It was what she always seemed to do. It was like she always tried to push her relationship in his face to make him understand that what they once had was over. She was over it, but he didn't know if he would ever get over it.

It has been six long years that you two have been resentful of each other. I would like for that to come to an end. You two were once so close, and I know Eun would still hold you in high esteem if you two could reconcile your differences. It would mean absolutely the entire world if you could come to the dinner party I will be organizing for my husband. Life is too short, too fleeting, and can change at any moment. Don't let any more time pass up with your heart full of poison against your brother. If you will not do it for yourself, or for him, please consider doing it for me. If you have ever cared about me, please fix this situation with Eun and make things right. I will await your presence.

All the best, Park Hak Soon.

Jung felt himself rolling his eyes, not at her, but at the fact that she wanted them to reconcile. The fourteenth prince thought that it would never happen. He certainly didn't feel like he was wrong. It was Eun who had to apologize for taking Hak Soon from him, knowing that he loved her, and knowing all the pain he would inflict on his younger brother.

At the same time, a flood of memories came rushing into his mind. He was twenty one now, Eun twenty three. They had already been at each other's throats for six long years. Ever since they were both teenagers. Perhaps it really was time to leave the past in the past. Hak Soon loved Eun now and there was nothing Jung could do about it. They were married already and had children of their own. He, Baek-ah, Han, and Eun had been so close growing up. He felt a prick in his chest at the realization that the four had basically gone their separate ways. Han and Eun had gotten married, Baek-ah was following a music career now that their father had passed away, and Jung had joined the military. 

Jung didn't know that his other three brothers were still rather close. Eun and Han saw each other every single day, while Baek-ah visited them at least once a week. The only one that was now out of the loop was Jung. 

As the day finally came around, Minji had arranged for her husband to hardly lift a finger. She brought him breakfast in bed, then they had lunch together with the children down by the lake. When they returned home, she had the family surprise him. Minji had whispered a question to Yeon Hwa, asking her if the fourteenth prince had shown up. The princess informed the general's daughter that he wasn't there, and Minji felt  a great sense of disappointment. She had really thought Jung would show up. 

With Mu in power and no other threats on her life, or Jung's, she really thought she could reason with him into reconciling with Eun. She tried to have a good time at the party and show her husband a good time as well. But in the back of her mind it still bothered her. After six years, Jung was still so hurt that he hadn't even shown up to Eun's birthday celebration. But the other brothers had attended, as they cared about the tenth prince and it was an important day for him. Eun was able to catch on quickly that something was wrong, but he didn't ask her until they were alone in their bedroom that night.

Minji tried to play it off as nothing, and then proceeded to give him his final present of the night. 

-

Several months passed before Jung heard from his brother again. It was a week before the storming of the palace was planned. He had informed Jung of the time and date of when it would happen. And as the day came around, Jung felt a huge weight of guilt on his shoulders. Mu was his brother and there he was, leading a troop of soldiers who would overthrow him that afternoon. With the help of Yeon Hwa, they were let into the palace and were informed of the perfect time to strike--when Mu was in the bath.

The only other person in the room had been Hae Soo, and her eyes widened in horror as Yo entered the room, the prince who they all thought was dead. Then there was a flash of disappointment in her eyes as she caught a glimpse of Jung there too.

Yo instructed two soldiers who hold Hae Soo back, while the others got the palace guards out of the way. Mu watched with widened eyes, as though he were seeing things, and tried to hurry out of the bath. But he was too weak and Yo was faster than him. The third prince walked to the edge of the pool and pushed his brother in, grabbing him by the head and dunking him in the bath water, not letting him emerge. Mu attempted to struggle, while Hae Soo begged for Yo to spare him. She begged for the third prince to let him live. 

After a moment, Mu's body went limp in the water. Hae Soo had tears streaming down her face just as Wang So pushed past the soldiers, having heard the distraught cries of his beloved from down the hall. He looked to the bath water, saw his slain brother, then he looked to Hae Soo, Jung, and finally Yo. There was surprise flashed across his face, to which Yo responded with a smirk. So immediately drew out his sword and held it as a threat to Yo. He was quickly surrounded by soldiers, including Jung, who neither Hae Soo nor So knew he was being forced into complying with Yo. 

"Stand down." So threatened through gritted teeth. "Stand down now, or you will be considered just as much a traitor as he is."

Yo chuckled in amusement at his brother's words. "You stand down, dog. Or I will take the throne anyway and make everyone think it was your precious court lady who killed our brother."

So flashed a look in Hae Soo's direction once again. There were two soldiers gripping her arms, and he thought about his chances. He could take all of them on and possibly win. But the chances were small. It was more likely that if he tried to fight, Yo would hurt her. 

The third prince continued with a cruel demand, "Kneel before me and pledge yourself as my servant."

When So didn't budge, Yo gestured for Jung to move him. The fourteenth prince nodded and walked forward, an apologetic look in his eyes as he forced his older brother down onto his knees. So didn't fight back, hoping that his cooperation would spare his beloved. With his head lowered, and shoulders slumped, he finally agreed. "I will do whatever you wish, as long as you don't hurt Soo-yah." And in that moment Jung felt for his brother. His brother who he had never gotten along with. Now they were both the same--slaves of their brother Yo in order to spare the lives of the women they loved. 

"They did always say the wolf is loyal to one woman until his very death." Yo announced in utter amusement. "You really are a filthy animal."

-

The very first day that Yo became king, he had Eun and Park Hak Soon's wedding annulled. He had called Jung into the throne room, where he had already set himself up, and threw a scroll of paper onto the floor at his feet. As Jung unrolled them, he saw two official papers of their kingdom. One was the annulment of marriage between their tenth brother and the genera's daughter. The other was a document which stated that Park Hak Soon had been officially promised to him by the king. Jung didn't like the fact that it had been done in that way, like she was a piece of property and not a person. But a small part of him was overjoyed that she was now free.

They could be together now.

But Jung rolled up the documents and saved them in a pocket of his armor. He would have to meet up with her and ease her into things. He didn't want to overwhelm her by just showing up at her home one day and informing her that she was no longer married. Her marriage to Wang Eun no longer had any validity in Goryeo. She would never accept it, not at first at least. Jung would need to convince her that it was for the best and that she was promised to him now.

The news of Yo being alive, storming the palace, and overthrowing Wang Mu traveled around the country very quickly. By that afternoon, everyone knew that the third prince had killed his older brother and declared himself king. Minji felt anxiety in the pit of her stomach at the thought of him being king because he had never liked her, and he held resentment in his heart against Eun from the time that he defended her from him. 

Then there was the fact that Minji had been having a recurring nightmare in which Yo was king and he had her and Eun killed in the courtyard of the palace. There was so much hate in his eyes as he regarded them, as though they were his worst enemies. She thought those worries had been put to rest when it was known that Yo had perished after being thought a traitor. He was going to be arrested, but fought back, and ended up falling from the edge of a cliff. But now that he was alive and had taken over as king by betraying the kingdom, things seemed to be falling into place for him. 

That very same night, Minji went to her husband with sheer terror on her face. She had a bad feeling that if they remained in Goryeo, something horrible would happen. Taking his hand in both of hers, the twenty one year old begged, "Yo is the new king and he has always disliked us. We need to get out of here before he tries to do something against our family."

Eun tried to reassure her with soft words. "We have nothing to worry about, jagi."

But she shook her head frantically. "Please love. Please."

Seeing how terrified she was at the fact that Yo was king now, he decided that maybe she was right. He couldn't just sit by and hope that Yo would take no action against them just because they were brothers and grew up together. If he had been capable of murdering their brother Mu and leaving his corpse to rot outside the palace, Eun knew Yo could be capable of anything. 

He caressed her face gently, making her a promise. "If that is what you wish for, I will arrange for us to leave Goryeo with the family as soon as possible."

-

this is a highly filler chapter. but the good and sad stuff is finally coming up.

so i hope you guys stay tuned for that. i also hope that you all have enjoyed this story. i have been writing this story for ALMOST THREE YEARS ALREADY, and its finally coming to an end.

thank you to everyone who has been here from the start, and to everyone who joined along the way and stayed. it has meant the entire world to me. i feel a bit sad to end this book. but there will definitely be a sequel to this story, and another spin off i have been wwanting to write.

-clary