" Bring the masked assasin to me", said the Queen , Han jum twirled the tea in his cup then he dropped it on the table , " the masked assasin is someone of value to Gwengochan, she can't just be handed over like that,...", said Han jum cunningly , the Queen leaned closer , she knew she could not argue or act as a Queen in this situation, she couldn't be superior at this moment for she will be the one at the loosing end , " so ,..., what do you want in exchange of the masked assasin ", asked the Queen , Han jums lips curled up in a smile , " I am giving you something valuable without hesitation so I hope you can do the same for me .....", said Han jum , his tone sounding authoritative and cocky , the Queen didn't like it she wanted to kill him but he had something she needed from him and she felt like whatever he was going to ask for was going to be something that will be a good part of the palace , Han jum lazily looked at the Queen , his eyes were eerie and dead serious, " the phoenix stone", he said frankly, the Queens eyes widened, she was right whatever he wanted to ask for was a big part of the palace , the phoenix stone was a big part of the palace , handing it over will put the whole palace in danger , but having Eun Chen will put her at a greater advantage, no one had to know that the phoenix stone wasn't in the relics room, she will tell her guards to replace it with a fake one for now and after she had achieved what she had desired she will end Han jum and the phoenix stone will be back in her possession, she nodded, " I will hand over the phoenix stone when Eun Chen is handed over me" . Han jum smiled sipping his tea, " so when do you need get?", asked Han jum ," by dawn tomorrow she should be here", said the Queen Han jum nodded, " very well your Highness".
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Seugh min barged into his mother's chambers , his mother was flipping through a book , she looked up at Seugh min who was still wearing mourning clothes , " we have buried your father, there is no need to keep wearing those clothes", the Queen said bluntly, " you buried father immediately, you already made the decision of the throne , you said you have caught Eun Chen and her accomplice and you are going to execute them Infront of the people, you even cut off one of your officials tongues ...., what are you doing mother? ", asked Seugh min,you could tell that he was worried, the Queen heaved roughly closing her book, " Min yu is in a vegetative state, you are not ready for Kingship , the throne cannot be left empty and the official had a loose tongue I had to cut it off so that the official could respect me and not treat me like a joke, Eun Chen and her accomplice have been caught and will be executed in four days , good thing that you are even here , I have picked up some brides for you from each noble family of Gwengochan, you c....", " MOTHER!!!!", yelled Seugh min interrupting his mother , the Queen was surprised at his sudden yell , " you buried father without finding out how he died , you didn't even mourn when father died", said Seugh min in sheer anger.
The Queen stood up coming near her son, " there was no time to mourn, I am doing all this for the future of Gwengochan, as the Queen I can't cry now", she said . Seugh min scoffed , " you say you had no time to mourn, it was pretty clear that you were happy that father died and Min yu being in a vegetative state, isn't it your fault?, if you didn't intent to kill Lee Kwon with poison this would have...", he was immediately interrupted when a hard slap landed on his face making him to stagger , the Queen immediately clenched her first as a gasp escaped from her mouth ,it sounded remorseful like she didn't mean it , " Seugh m.....", " at least pretend you care , rushing through all these processes, Min yu is still in a vegetative state, Lee Kwon is still missing , at least pretend you care huh,....", said Seugh min ,his voice cracking, " you know I can't do that Seugh min, I can't pretend I care for that bastard, you know I can't do that ", said the Queen trying to hold unto Seugh min,but Seugh min didn't let her touch him , " I have no plans of marrying whoever you choose for me , it will be for your own benefit anyway , you don't care about any of us", saying that Seugh min left the Queens chambers , the Queen stood there not moving, they didn't understand that she was doing this for them, so even though they ended up hating her ,she didn't care.
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It was already morning , Eun Chen didn't sleep she feared that once she slept she would never wake up , one of Han jums men came near her , they had trained together but she didn't care to ask him for anything, " you left the clan and ended up falling in love with your enemy, I don't know whether to call that foolishness or bravery, knowing the consequences you still pushed through", said her ex comrade but Eun Chen didn't answer him nor did she look at him , " you are under my mercy now , so you have to answer me when I ask you something , aren't you hungry, aren't you thirsty?...", he said arrogantly with a sly grin on his face , he was mocking her, Eun Chen scoffed when she heard what he said, she looked up at the man who was speaking to her giving him this dark smile , " I am not under your mercy you fool, if I was still a general you won't dare to talk to me like this, I won't even have noticed you untill now , that is how insignificant you are , Han jum is still keeping me alive because I am useful eventhough I commited the biggest offense that is meant to get me killed immediately, but all of you,.....", she said scanning through the man , " all of you would have ended up dead immediately without any trial if you had commited the same offense I did ", she said as she laughed darkly, immediately she said that her ex comrade tugged at her hair, anger flared up in his eyes , " you whore ,....., I will permanently shut that mouth of yours ", he said bringing out his dagger in an attempt to hurt Eun Chen, but Eun Chen was quick as she grabbed it before it was stabbed to her throat , grabbing it by the edge she felt the sharp end of the steel cut through her skin , her hands seeping out blood , her face in it's usual stoic expression not showing that she was in pain, her eyes cold and emotionless, she was still at the disadvantage with all her wounds and her drained energy , she was using her last bit of strength and a resilient mind to stop the dagger , she aggressively let it go , it was so sudden that the man staggered to stop himself from falling , " if you kill me , you will also get killed by the supreme leader so choose wisely, my life or your life", he clenched his jaw, he knew the supreme leader valued Eun Chen more than all of them combined , killing her will mean he dies , he immediately retreated leaving her in her space , Eun Chen looked opened her hand , a small pen knife on her bloodied hand , she sighed , she had managed to grab it from belt while he had attempted to satb her, she knew that she wasn't going to get out of here alive , at least even if she dies she still has her dignity, she will die while fighting.
At that moment she saw Han jum coming , all her comrades bowed down to their supreme leader , he came to her , this mischievous smile plastered on his face , she knew he was up to something and that something was not good before she could make do of what was about to happen she felt something pierce her neck and she immediately blacked out, Han jum gave a satisfied smile looking over at his men , he gestured for them to come over which they did , " put a sack over her head , there is a carriage waiting outside ", they all knew too well not to question him , they all bowed down their heads in response to what he had told them to do.
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Seugh min helped Ina pack some of her things in a box as in stood at a distance watching as Seugh min packed some of her things in a bag , he had made the decision for them to leave and he was going to introduce her to the Queen , that thought of the Queen knowing about her and Seugh min made her queasy , she rubbed her stomach lightly, Seugh min caught this moment as he quickly went to her, " are you okay , does your stomach hurt", he asked as he softly placed his hand on her stomach , Ina shook her head, " it's not,...., I just feel uncertain about this , with everything happening in the palace right now do you think your mother will be happy if she sees that you are together with me , a maid for the fact, she will.....", " I'm not expecting my mother to give us her approval , I'm just letting her know that I am withdrawing from my royal duties ", said Seugh min with a soft smile as he was about to continue packing Ina bag but was held by her.
" Seugh min looked back at her , her eyes full of guilt , " Ina,...", " Seugh min , I'm sorry,....,I'm sorry for putting you in this situation, you are in a very difficult position right now and I don't want it to be because of me that you are making all these decisions ", Seugh min broke in a soft smile ,cupping her face gently he leaned in and softly gave her a kiss on her lips and then he pulled her in and hugged her , " it's something I should have done , it is something I have to do ", he said softly pulling away, " for you and our child , this isn't a situation Ina , I want our child to grow up in a peaceful and safe environment where he will never have to worry about death , I want is to live an ordinary and peaceful life, a life away from the palace", he said softly caressing her cheek, saying that he brought out a tiny sack , opening it he brought out two jade rings , " Ina looked surprised, looking down at the ring , then looking up at him before she could say anything Seugh min took her hand and wore the jade ring on her finger then he wore his.
Ina looked at Seugh min , her eyes full of disbelief, " Seugh min , are you serious right now , are we now together for real?", she said , tears rolling down her face , Seugh min smiled , " you are officially my woman , you are my wife , family , lover, best friend and comforter, even in my next life , I choose you and only you,.....,I love you Ina , I love you so much that I want to spend the rest of my life with you", he said caressing her cheek, his eyes full of emotions, his voice cracking, the intensity of his words touched Ina greatly, she hugged him , Seugh min hugged her back tighter , no words could express how happy they both were , Ina buried her head on Seugh min chest, " I love you too more than you can imagine ,....", he said carresing her softly on her back , they knew from now on things won't be easy , they knew that their lives will be over turned with the decision they had made but they were ready to face it on so far they had each other , everything will be okay.
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Eun Chen slowly opened her eyes , it was still hazy and she couldn't really tell where she was , her eye sight was still foggy , all she could see was the bright moonlight that shone from a barred window , she felt her head on something hard and someone was caressing her head, for some strange reason it felt so comforting and relieving , it felt like the days she was comforted in the arms of her mother , but it couldn't be her , her mother was dead but if it was indeed her mother that means she must be dead , she smiled softly at that thought , if she was dead that meant that the torture was over , she never thought that death could be blissful if being comforted like this , a comfort she didn't deserve for she had too much blood on her hands , she didn't deserve this comfort , was her mother not ashamed and angry at her ,her once beloved daughter was a ravage monster . As her vision began to clear she took insight of the moldy walls, floors and the moonlight, she felt her head resting on something hard and her other body was on the floor, only her head head was elevated on something hard, the caressing felt more real, so she wasn't dead, then who was with her?, she raised her head up and met the eyes of the one person she had prayed so desperately for, not expecting her prayers to be answered but here he was , Lee Kwon was here right now , " if this is a dream , then I don't want to wake up", she said in a muttered voice