.eighty three.

-

"Find the four traitors of my empire and bring them to me personally. I want to stare them in the face as they lay dying and know that I have won."

-

Yeon Hwa moved to the palace with her brother and mother once she became the third prince's betrothed, and as promised, he left his first wife for her. That meant that if he married the princess like he had promised, she would become the rightful queen of Goryeo. The first few days of her stay at that palace, she visited Minji at her home, but she was escorted there by guards. On the fourth day that she tried to visit, she was stopped by Yo on her way out. The guards had informed the king of everywhere she was going, and one of her stops was at a place he didn't like.

"I don't want you visiting them anymore." He stated with disdain as he regarded his younger brother and his wife. He had managed to stay updated during his almost two years in the forest, hiding out, and he knew they had a growing family. They had only been married six years and already had four children. Yo just thought everything they did was sickening. It seemed that whatever had happened between himself, the tenth prince, and his wife still irked him. He held a grudge against the two and it was something he would never forget. 

The princess immediately opened her mouth to protest. "I don't see why it would be an inconvenience for you. Eun is our brother, and Park Hak Soon has been my friend since childhood. You cannot take that from me." She wasn't going to accept his terms to easily. Yo liked to control people and he was starting to get a little to controlling with her as well. Ever since she had moved to the palace, he decided what time she got up, when they ate, even what she wore. Now he was telling her who she could and couldn't talk to. Yeon Hwa had always been used to doing what she wanted. Her mother and brother never told her no, and she was the king's favorite daughter. He always had to please her with whatever she wanted. Having someone tell her no for once made it like a challenge for her. 

His eyes were full of a deep hate and words seeping with greed as he explained to her. "The nobles say there's word around the village that Eun wants to take the throne from me. And he has a powerful family to back him up. Your precious brother, and his dumb wife, want to be king and queen of our nation. She wants to take the place that's rightfully yours. You shouldn't be so nice to them." He tried to persuade her with his words. As soon as Minji heard that Yeon Hwa was to be queen, and Yo's queen nonetheless, the general's daughter warned that it might not be such a good idea. Yo wasn't a good person and Minji feared he might try to hurt the princess. 

Now Yeon Hwa was starting to see that her friend was right. He wanted to keep her away from her friend and her brother, who she was fond of. But she wouldn't be swayed so easily. Yeon Hwa scoffed, laughing in Yo's face with amusement as though he had just told her a funny story. "Don't sit there and act like you don't know our brother Eun. He has never in his life wanted the throne. Why would he want it now? And Hak Soon isn't interested in the crown either. All they want is to live out the rest of their days peacefully, away from all this drama." The princess also knew that the young couple were thinking of opening up a toy store to sustain themselves, since they knew they could not live off the king's good grace forever. Especially now that Yo was in power.

"The nobles have suggested that I take care of this problem before it gets any bigger." He said, showing no type of emotion towards his brother. He didn't seem to feel bad at all. Yeon Hwa, on the other hand, widened her eyes at the meaning of his words. She felt her stomach drop as the next words left his mouth. "Tomorrow I will make an official announcement--Wang Eun, Wang Han, Park Hak Soon, and Park Soon Deok are all considered enemies of my empire. They are to be arrested and sentenced to a public execution in the courtyard of the palace. Their entire family as well. We will wipe away the seeds of betrayal with the elimination of their bloodline."

Yeon Hwa felt tears well up in her eyes. This was clearly just an excuse to get them out of the way. It was an excuse to kill off his brothers who would potentially fight him for the throne. But Han and Eun were the most innocent of his brothers, the least likely to take the throne from him. It was ridiculous for him to think that because they came from a powerful family they would take his seat as king.

The king laughed as he saw tears spill from her eyes.

"Don't tell me that hurts you." He teased with a booming laugh.

Her hand balled up into a fist by her side and she replied to him through gritted teeth. There was nothing she wanted more in that moment than to take a swing at him, and wipe that stupid smile off his face. "It hurts me because Eun and Han have done us no harm, they're our brothers. And Hak Soon has been my best friend. I can't just stand by and watch her die."

He scoffed, pointing out something that had once been true. "Don't try to come here and give me a lesson on morals. You're just as horrible as I am."

She knew that was true in some way. Maybe with the servants, or with people she disliked, like with Lady Hae's cousin. But with her brothers and her best friend it was a whole different story. She cared about them and didn't want any harm to come to them, especially since she spent so much time around them. She also thought about their children. That would leave six children without parents. It was unfair and they didn't deserve that fate.

Yet, she still tried to reason with him calmly. "I thought Jung said you had promised Hak Soon to him."

Yeon Hwa knew about Jung's involvement in Yo getting the throne. She heard that he had done it in exchange for Yo to spare Hak Soon's life. But as soon as Yo was on the throne, he annulled Eun's marriage to her and promised her to Jung as a reward for his help. How was he to take that away from him so quickly and so easily? 

Again, the king seemed to find the situation amusing. "This was my plan from the start." He admitted to her. "I tricked Jung into helping me. But that woman and our brother need to die. Jung will find someone else if he tries hard enough."

-

The king called for a gathering of all the nobles, and a few of the princes. All princes that lived nearby minus Han and Eun. Baek-ak and So had been surprised when they didn't see their brothers there, but they did not question it. '

Yo entered the throne room with Yeon Hwa by his side. She was not yet his queen, nor his wife, but he was already treating her that way. The princess had been happy with her new life at first. But as she learned of the horrible things that Yo planned to do, she was starting to regret her decision of staying loyal to him. Yo sat at the throne and Yeon Hwa stood by his side. There was a moment of silence in the air before the king spoke.

"I have gathered you here today to inform you of my intentions to arrest and sentence to death Wang Han, Wang Eun, Park Hak Soon, and Park Soon Deok."

The fourteenth prince immediately protested, taking a step forward out of line. His brothers were equally in shock, but he was the only one who had to say anything about it. "You can't do that. She has done nothing wrong, and you have already promised her to me. If you do that, you have broken your word."

A smirk lined on Yo's lips. It seemed like every word that was tumbling from his mouth was a lie and he knew it. But he was the king and everyone in that room would have to agree with his decision. They were merely there to hear his intentions, not to give any input about it. "She is a traitor of our empire. She and her husband are conspiring to take my throne."

"I think his majesty does the right thing in killing off those who oppose him." One of the nobles in the room spoke up. 

Another person who was in the room was general park, and a few pairs of eyes fell upon him. They were his daughters after all, and he was being told in front of everyone that they were to be killed. He knew neither of his daughters held any greed in their hearts, and he knew Yo was lying. But there was no way anyone would believe him. All he could do was to stand there and listen. Then he would probably go back to his home and try to hash out a quick escape plot so that his daughters and his grandchildren would be safe.

Jung shot the noble a death glare. "I know for a fact Park Hak Soon is innocent."

At that, there were murmurs heard in the throne room. Everyone talked about how vehemently the fourteenth prince was defending the general's daughter. Some murmured that they were probably having an affair since he seemed to be still in love with her after six years since their engagement broke off. Some even went as far as to talk about how maybe her children were not the tenth prince's, but Jung's. The general heard all of the comments and grinded his teeth together in anger. He wanted to scream and reprimand everyone for soiling his little Hak Soon's honor with their words.

"Wolf dog." Yo started to bark out a command, not even calling him by his real name. Wang So stepped forward begrudgingly and bowed his head out of a respect that he did not feel towards his brother. Hae Soo was still under Yo's threat, and as long as she was, the fourth prince would follow his brother's orders. "I will send for a troop to storm their home tonight. But Han has extensive military training and might manage to hide from them. Find the four traitors of my empire and bring them to me personally. I want to stare them in the face as they lay dying and know that I have won."

So gave a nod of his head in compliance and moved to leave the throne room immediately, if only to show that he would give them no time to escape. But deep in the back of his mind, Wang So knew that he could never really go through with it. Once he found his brothers and their family, he was going to help them out of the country. Then he would try to hide Hae Soo somewhere in the country side. He couldn't just stand by and watch his brothers die, but he also couldn't let anything happen to his beloved.

As he passed her, Hae Soo stepped in So's way and grabbed a hold of his arm. There were tears brimming her eyes because she had been there bringing the king tea and snacks for the meeting. But he had purposefully arranged for her to be there because he knew that Hae Soo and Hak Soon were good friends. He wanted her to see that he was all powerful and could do what he wanted, including killing off innocent people if he so wished. 

"Please...be merciful with them. They are your younger brothers, and she is my best friend. They have done nothing wrong." She was subtly trying to hint to him not to end their lives, but to spare them and help them escape. So only looked at her, expression unreadable, and he left the throne room without a word. He had to make it seem like he was going to carry out his orders. He had to, for her sake. 

There was a collective sense of sadness between Hae Soo, the other princes, and Yeon Hwa. They all knew the very last time they would see their two brothers would be in the courtyard of the palace, as they were slain for the whole country to see.

-

another update for you all.

i will try to post another one today, and keep the updates rolling on a consistent basis until the story ends. obviously now eun and minji aren't being mentioned as much, but its because i have to mention a lot of context stuff that has nothing to do with them. so please bear with me.

we will see our main characters once again, and i anticipate that they will have a few more cute and romantic moments together.

thank you for reading!

-clary