" Are you sure you didn't see her", asked Lee Kwon worriedly , " no,....., young master, by the time I had come back she was already gone", said Maidservant Park, Lee Kwon heaved, where could she have Eun off to, " it's okay , go inside I will look for her", said Lee Kwon , Maidservant Park bowed her head before she went inside , " she knows her situation, why would she be wandering off alone by herself,...", as the last sentence went out from his lips he saw a shadowy figure at a distance emerging from the darkness , he squinted his eyes gripping the smooth cut wood in his hand , he was ready to approach the figure but as it became clearer , he knew who it was , he slowly lowered his stick as Min yu approached him with Eun Chen in his arms , his coat draped over her and a handkerchief tied loosely around her neck. Lee Kwon slowly walked towards Min yu , he had this feeling that he had found out the truth, that Sora was the masked assasin Eun Chen and he had deceived him all this time by harboring a masked assasin , but for some odd reason he didn't feel scared , all he wanted to say was something like , " oh....., you found out , sorry I wanted to tell you sooner but I never got the chance ", something that would come out smooth yet not think of him as a traitor but he was suddenly taken aback when Min yu gave him Eun Chen , Lee Kwon securely tucked her in making her feel balanced as she rested her head on his chest , once again he felt that unrelenting power surging through every vain in his body, he suddenly felt invincible just like in the garden , he softly grasped Eun Chen by her arm tucking her in more , he stood there waiting for Min yu to say something, he should just say something, anything, " put some medicine on her wound, after that come outside and let's have a drink, saying that he turned around and sat on the built in log on the ground where the fire was lit, Lee Kwon stood there for a while looking at Min yu as he just stared blankly at the fire crackling, he heaved as he took Eun Chen inside.
Resting her gently on the blanket , he quickly went over to the cupboards in search of medicine and ointment, after finding it he went over to Eun Chen , she looked pale , beads of sweat ran across her face , Lee Kwon placed his hand in her forehead and she was hot, his eyes scanned to her chest as gently and as respectfully as he could, he moved her robe a little to the side , the spiral marks were dark red, so dark that the red almost looked like black, he became worried remembering what she had said the last time this happened , he knew that time was running out that if he didn't do something that she may actually die , he carefully stroked her hair , he had to remove the spiral marks as soon as possible.
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" You know I don't drink right and besides tomorrow is the duel so I can't drink", said Lee Kwon sitting on a completely different log beside his brother Min yu but Min yu just stared at the fire taking in the dewy air, the silence being interrupted by the cackling fire, Lee Kwon constantly looked at his brother expecting him to say something but he didn't say anything, the tension becoming thicker , Lee Kwon couldn't bear the silence anymore , clasping his palms together, " you won't ,...., ask me why I did it", said Lee Kwon, looking at his brother who didn't look at him, that cold shivering silence still remained , Lee Kwon heaved , " fine,...., you can ignore me all you want but in this case if I could go back and do it again, I will do it a million times over , before you hand me out for punishment let me get the spiral marks off Eun Chen's chest and then let her go,....., I know what I am asking for is so outra....", he was interrupted when he heard a snicker coming from Min yu, Lee Kwon was surprised seeing his brother laughing at the fragile situation, "you ,...., you are laughing!", said Lee Kwon surprised, Min yu looked at him and tilted his head, " why,...?, it's just funny how you are trying to explain yourself when I haven't even asked anything", said Min yu finally settling back to a normal position, " and it's funny how both of you are so similar, how you have the same thoughts is overwhelming", said Min yu with a soft smile on his face.
" Min yu ,.....", " you know ,..., there was a time I pitied you , how isolated you were, how mother treated you and how father never stood up for you, so I thought,....., since I pity him, let me stay with him not as a brother but as a friend,but I never stood up for you when you were accused of something you did not do , when you were whipped , I still pitied you ....., it wasn't some few years back that I realized , wait he's my brother , I am older than him , he is not my friend but he is my brother, whether blood or half, isolated or known, he is still my brother, so I must protect him,...", saying that he turned to Lee Kwon who looked like he wanted to tear up, " but I feel like I have been doing it the wrong way all this while , I never asked what you wanted, I always felt you were okay because of how non challant you were, I never looked into your eyes to see the hidden emotions ,...., so don't blame yourself , I don't blame you too....", said Min yu stretching his neck, Lee Kwon bent his head in a sign of remorse , his eyes clouded with tears, " Min yu ..., you and Seugh min have been the people I could always confide in , it didn't matter if I was a bastard child or not , you still treated me like I was your brother and I really appreciate that but,......., if you are expecting an apology from me ,...., I can't give you that because that will mean that I am not being sincere ", said Lee Kwon seriously as he looked at Min yu, Min yu sighed , " I was never expecting an apology from you, instead I will apologize in advance,.....", said Min yu getting up , Lee Kwon who looked confused also stood up with him, Min yu looked at the house then he looked at Lee Kwon with a smile , " you didn't ask me how I knew where you were staying", said Min yu, Lee Kwon tilted his head quizzically ,it was true , how did he know about this place , his thoughts had been so disorganized that he didn't even ask , Lee Kwon gave Min yu this unknowing look which was asking how he knew , " when I was still receiving training to become the next ruler of the country, I felt too much burden was weighing me down, I asked myself questions like , will I be a good ruler?, will I die in the front lines during war?,..., one day I followed dad here, turns out that after he built this house he usually came here to think, it was a coincidence how we both found this place so peaceful,....", said Min yu with a smile , for the first time you could see how peaceful and happy he was, that expression that had left him for a very long time , under the moonlight sky and the star gazed night , it was indeed peaceful and beautiful.
Min yu looked at him, " don't fight the duel , let me fight in your stead,.....", said Min yu his tone serious, Lee Kwon with one eyebrow raised shook him adamantly holding his shoulder, " we have talked about this ,..., I am not backing out now , not when I have come this far", " you want to get Eun Chen out of here right , you don't want her to get harmed , that will be impossible if you fight this duel, Lee Kwon,.....", said Min yu coming close to a reluctant Lee Kwon, " you won't be able to save Eun Chen if you participate in this duel, it's just a fact here , do whatever you please but you know that any option you choose will both lead to losses, you just have choose which is more important ,.....", said Min yu with an assuring smile. It was hard, it wasn't fair,..., it all came with a loss , at the end nothing was ever promised to him, it was his destiny, something that has been sorted out since he was born, he was never meant to gain nor was he ever meant to loose, he knew Eun Chen time was running out fat, he had to choose the duel or Eun Chen's life , the recognition he had craved his whole life , or the life of the masked assasin who he had grown to care about, the choice was his , Lee Kwon slowly looked up to Min yu as he came closer to Min yu, " read my eyes brother,...., once broiled in the past but never again", he said , his eyes full of determination and that stubbornness that had been with him for a very long time.
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Present day
At the end, the choice was not to be made , it was the event to unfold that determined the rummage of the day, the fierce galloping of a horse, the scorching hot sun, and the thirst for survival, it was all combined to a sense of worth , Eun Chen was balanced steadily on Lee Kwon to prevent her from falling, the dangerous galloping of a fierce horse and a determined bearer was all it took to reach the palace.
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Back at the palace
The Queen being escorted by the guards reached the chambers of her now deceased husband , she sighed as she clenched her jaw, no sign of sorrow in her, she nodded for the guards to open the door, they bowed slightly before doing so, she took a moment standing there , looking at the vast room of the dead King which didn't hold any memories of them, it just felt cold , the Queen elegantly took a step, then another step till she reached where her dead husband lay , lifeless and pale , she tilted her head as she bent down to his level , her hand reached over and softly stroked the Kings face , all the servants and guards turned away to give the Queen a moment with the deceased King, " you can rest now , you were a huge burden to my side anyway, now that you are gone there is no reason for the bastard son to live...", saying that she smiled wickedly , " she slowly lowered her head and gave the late King a kiss on his temple, then covered his face with a blanket signifying he was dead, standing up she slowly bowed down , " goodbye my knog, I hope we never meet in another life to come", she said turning over to her guards she spoke, " let the whole state know the King is dead , cause of death shouldn't be disclosed, the king will immediately be buried , only one day for the household to mourn", she said in such a straight forward manner, it was casual like she was just burying a servant and not her husband , she sounded so heartless, the guards bowed their head in response to the Queens request.
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Lee Kwon was pacing around waiting for Maidservant Park, Eun Chen who was palewas wrapped in a blanket and Lee Kwon gently sat her down so that her body will rest on the wall, he kept checking up on her, and the spiral marks on her chest was fim red but he was still worried. Finally a heavy panting , Maidservant Park came in, Lee Kwon sighed in relief as he hugged her which she quickly responded, " young master, Prince Min yu was right, the Queen had the sword poisoned ..... ", said Maidservant Park still panting , " what about Min yu,.....is he okay?, was he seriously injured...",asked Lee Kwon in a panic , " we haven't heard news yet if his condition, the palace had been closed so no one knows what is happening inside , the guards are heavily sedated so no need to worry about them,....", said Maidservant Park almost proud of herself but seeing Lee Kwon guilty and bitter expression her smile immediately died down , she softly patted his arm, " you know your brother is very strong, he knew what his mother was capable of that is why he ventured into this so I am sure he will be okay", said Maidservant Park assuringly, still bitter and guilty Lee Kwon nodded to give her that self assurance , Maidservant Park smiled sweetly as she handed Lee Kwon a jar, it had a pint of Min yu blood which could open the door, Lee Kwon nodded and looked over at Eun Chen, but,....., she wasn't there, Lee kwon eyes grew wide ,at that moment before he could react that Eun Chen was missing he felt something sharp pierce him at the back of his neck ,vhis whole body became stiff like it had been paralyzed as he fell limply to the floor , the whole place became blurry , he could hear Maidservant Park voice echoing his name but all he could think about was Eun Chen, he was so close , so near , in his last bit of blurred vision he saw numerous feet all Infront of him , he heard the echoing of his name from Maidservant Park, her voice echoing till it became more of a phantom and he finally succumbed to the darkness that was ready to envelop him in an endless space.