.ninety three.

-

"I thought you might want these. This is all that was left of our brother after you murdered him and tossed him out like some kind of animal."

-

Han's contact in Japan never arrived to lead them to the supposed cottage and the eleventh prince began to think that it had been all just a scam. 

It was a common practice for thieves to do that in order to earn money fast. Promise a cottage hideaway somewhere for a high fee, and then run off with the money. But Han had just been so desperate to get the family out of Goryeo safely that he didn't investigate who he was dealing with or if they were trustworthy.

 At the very least, he was thankful that they had provided him with a boat that at least got them out of the country. To him, it was worth all the money he had spent. He was a prince and had lots of it after all. Their next step now was to find a nice place in the forest and build the cottage themselves. But he was just one person and he would need a lot of time to do it if he wanted to do it well. Soon Deok offered her help, but he assured her that it was most important to keep an eye on the children. There were six of them and if they were both working on building the cottage, the children might run into trouble.

For the first couple of days they slept on the beach while Han was hard at work. When he saw the dangers that were on the ground below, he thought of a different idea. He had found a big tree, with a big enough crevasse in between the branches that he could build a home in it. He quickly got to work on creating their house with the idea of being as far away from the dangers below as possible.

Soon Deok caught fish while the older kids watched the younger ones and cooked the food while her husband was somewhere in the forest, building their new home. Every now and then she'd pull something from her dress. 

It was a small sized painting Eun had gotten commissioned for Hak Soon on her birthday. A portrait of them, both eternally young and royal, with smiling faces. He had given it to his wife as a present for her on her twenty first birthday. Even though Hak Soon could no longer see, she loved those kinds of details. The fact that her husband treated her as though she were a fully able bodied person. She would always be grateful to him for that. 

Soon Deok had it now because Baek-ah had given it to her just before they parted towards Japan. He had gone back to the tenth prince's home to find everything was destroyed. But that small portrait remained intact on the ground. The thirteenth prince brought it back with him and planned to give it to his older brother before saying goodbye on the docks.

But Eun never arrived that day. 

The general's daughter now slept with the portrait clutched to her chest to provide herself with some comfort. She would never allow herself to forget them. And now, with this small token of their love, she would also never forget what they looked like. She would one day give it to the children as well, and she would have the portrait hung up in their new home. The three older children would have at least some memories of their parents. But she most felt bad for Eunji. She was merely and infant and would never actually meet her parents. Only in a portrait would she be able to see them.

-

The thirteens prince walked into the palace with purpose. There was a present for the king tucked away beneath the pocket of his royal gown. He was let into the throne room easily, and the guards bowed in respect for the twenty three year old prince. He was still unmarried, and had long passed the age of marriage as was the custom in their kingdom. But his father had died right when he turned eighteen. Then his older brother Mu didn't have the heart to force his soft spoken younger brother into a marriage with someone he wouldn't know. And Yo just didn't care enough to put the effort into finding him a bride. If Baek-ah were to find a woman, he would approve because his thirteenth brother was nothing of a threat to his throne.

No one would accept him as their king. And if the thirteenth prince wanted to spend the rest of his life alone, Yo also didn't have a problem with that. All he cared about now was that he was the king and he could do anything he wanted. 

The moment Baek-ah entered the throne room, he didn't even speak to the king. He merely reached into the pocket of his gown and pulled out the present he had for Yo. He tossed onto the ground at the king's feet what Yo quickly saw and identified as two bloodied arrows. They were cut in half, from having been taken out of the victim's body, and the stems were a deep red tint with the victim's blood. The king didn't have to think very hard to guess where those arrows had been.

They were the ones he used on his brother Eun just days earlier.

With a quiet and solemn tone, he said to his brother. "I thought you might want these. This is all that was left of our brother after you murdered him and tossed him out like some kind of animal." His words were full of venom and actually managed to sting at the King who sat on the throne before him. Yo wasn't one to feel remorse very often, but Eun's death had been emotionally draining for him.

Everyone seemed to see him and regard him as a monster. Even the nobles in the court seemed to judge him when he called them in for a meeting the next morning after the murders. Even them, who had been so encouraging when he proclaimed his younger brother a traitor of the kingdom. 

Yo was sometimes surprised with the hypocrisy of some people.

But even as he said this, Baek-ah knew the truth. He and Jung had waited until night fell on the second day after they were murdered. On the first night, Yo had guards set up in the field to keep watch on the bodies. He sent for them on the second morning when the guards started complaining that the bodies were starting to smell. And by that time, the king was sure no one would interfere and move the bodies. 

On the second night, Jung and Baek-ah had snuck out of the palace together and retrieved the bodies. They had gone to General Park and his wife early in the day and asked them to meet them in the forest outside the palace. The General promised to be there and kept his word. Together, the four gave Eun and Hak Soon a proper burial, and mourned them in secret. They were not allowed to wear white, to celebrate their lives, and they weren't allowed to even cry for them in public. It was most difficult for the general, since he was in the public eye more, to have to contain his laments for his daughter's loss. 

At their makeshift funeral, Jung cried for Hak Soon and Eun. 

The fourteenth prince fell to his knees by their graves and begged with a shattered heart. "Forgive me for being such a terrible brother to you, hyung. But I just loved her so much." The tears streamed down his face as he cried out. "I was mad at you for years for taking Hak Soon from me, but that didn't mean I wished you to die. I wish I could have told you that. I wish you hadn't left thinking that I hated you."

Upon seeing his brother like that, Baek-ah knelt by his side and pulled him into his embrace. He tried hard to stabilize his voice so that he wouldn't start crying as well. "I think hyung knows that, Jung-ah. I think he knows that you loved him, even though he hurt you. And I think that he loved you too. I also think it was never his intention to hurt your feelings, but hyung always loved that girl too. I could tell."

Jung said nothing and continued crying into his brother's embrace.

-

It took about a month, almost nearing two months, for the eleventh prince to do it all by himself. But when he finished, he was proud with the results. He had built a house in a tree with a ladder to climb up, two bedrooms, and a sitting area. It had the essentials for them. Everything else they would need he would add as they went along. 

Han hadn't let anyone see the house for the entire month and had everyone close their eyes as he led them through the forest. When he finally let them open their eyes, Soon Deok and the children were impressed by what they saw. Using some tools that had been on the boat, he had managed to build a house by himself in about two months. The children quickly climbed the ladder that went up into the house and started having a look around. 

But Soon Deok slowly walked up the ladder in awe. Han climbed up the ladder with ease, with both infants securely strapped to his back to prevent them from falling and called down to her. "Get up here, jagi. Don't stay down there all by yourself."

Soon Deok climbed up into the house and was even more impressed. The house was empty, but her husband assured her he could build them furniture. Or he could always go find a village. There had to be one nearby, where they could go every so often and buy items that they needed.

With a new house, the eight of them sat in the empty sitting room, on the floor. They were all silent for a moment, until one of the twins spoke up. It was little Soo Hyun, who asked them the same question that Eunbi and Jinki had been asking for the past two months. "Now that we have a house to live in, will eomma and appa find us? Will they live here with us too?"

The eleventh prince shot his wife a look and she nodded, assuring him that it was time to tell them the truth. They would be as gentle as possible to try to make them understand. Prince Wang Han heaved a sigh, and ran a hand through his hair awkwardly. He didn't know how to start and he wanted to use the right words. They were only children and he understood them. All they wanted was to see their parents. "This is very complicated to explain, children. But I want you to be as understanding as possible."

The three pairs of watchful eyes of the older children watched him intently, awaiting his explanation. The twins were already five and were beginning to suspect that if their parents hadn't found them yet, then maybe something was wrong. Jinki was a little more oblivious, but he was hopeful that he would see them again.

Han heaved a sigh. "Your parents made a big sacrifice so that the rest of us could get out of Goryeo safely."

He paused when he couldn't find better words to explain it to them. That was when Soon Deok decided to step in. "What uncle Han means is that your parents can't be with us anymore. But they will always live in your memories. As long as you never forget them, they will always live in your hearts." Her eyes soon pooled up with tears, as did Han's.

The children started to weep as the realization hit them that they were no longer going to see their parents again. They had been happy by the beach with their aunt and uncle, enjoying what they thought was a vacation. They thought Eun and Hak Soon would soon join them and that they would be happy. How cruel of a reality it was to have to tell children that their parents were gone and would never return. They didn't even yet understand the concept of death and had already lost their parents to it.

Soon Deok and Han brought the kids into their arms to give them comfort. And Soon Deok remembered the portrait she carried around. 

As she pulled it out for everyone to see, she said to them. "I'm going to have this portrait hung up where you kids can always see it. So that you will always remember what your parents looked like and always hold them in your memories."

-

only about seven more updates for this story to end, everyone. i hope you have all liked it, and i hope you have a wonderful day.

like i mentioned, im going to start the sequel right away. so please stay tuned for that. and then im also going to try to start the spin off, and han's story as well. it would mean a lot if you all could read it and support me.

thank you.

-clary