48 Yong-Sun.

"That was pleasant, wasn't it?" Lee Min Hyuk asks Bohoja, as they tie the strings of their robes.

Bohoja cracks his neck, face covered in sweat and chin dripping in arousal, as he wrings it and slumps on the chair.

He was exhausted, after all, he'd worked hard?

"Aish, my stamina is getting reduced over time.." He says, head rolled back, chest heaving.

"You're getting old, is all and out of practice.." Min Hyuk, nudges him, pouring before him a drink.

"Your father must be getting old, not me." Bohoja snaps.

Min Hyuk sits on the chair opposite him, fanning his bare chest.

"Yah! How long have we known each other? Don't go after my Father, you know it's a sensitive topic for me. Anyway, I hope I doused the fire in your loins for a while.." He speaks.

Bohoja's throat is dry and he raises a finger.

"On the contrary, I realised how much of a prized possession a virgin is.I now understand why they present before a deity, pure virginal blood. It felt good sliding into something tight and muscular than the usual loose walls I have to pretend to stretch into.." He laughs, placing a foot over the glass table.

Min Hyuk stares at Bohoja's stance and scrunches his nose.

"Badmouthing your fiancé, are you? Also, Royals don't rest their dirty feet on tables that carry food. Rule number 2121." He chimes, pushing Bohoja's leg off by his calf.

"You're forgetting something. I'm not the King, yet and the day I do become one, I'm going to walk over the squeaky clean marbled floor of my Palace, rubbing the dirt and grease covering my sole all against it, just for the fun of it. I'm going to set fire to Yun Ki's throne and get myself a new one made, purely out of diamond." He chimes, running a tongue over his teeth.

Min Hyuk mocks, "Don't be so delighted now. Not when you're not even close to achieving your dreams. As if Min Yun Ki would allow you to step into The Palace, while he's alive. Did you perhaps forget the day you were humiliated and kicked out of The Palace with your long tresses cut short?" He instigates.

Bohoja feels over the ends of his shoulder length black hair and remembers just how he'd been reduced to a speck of dust by his brother.

———Reminiscence———

"Get out of this Palace, Yong-sun. How could you think we'd allow you to stay in The Palace your Father build with his own hands, when you've sullied the honour of the Royal Family? Siding by you would mean rejoicing over the death of my Husband. You're a Traitor, a Renegade. Having a son like you has already been one of the biggest mistakes of my life. S-Should've had you killed once we'd heard your fate. Y-You're a blot of shame. H-How could you watch your Father getting killed and do nothing? You're as good as an Eunuch!!" His Mother screams in the Royal Court.

There stood Yong-sun, held by the Palace Guards, bent on his knees, head down.

"I'm sorry, Eomeonim. I-I was afraid of getting hurt." He speaks, remorselessly.

The Queen steps down and grabs the back of his head, tugging on his black mane, having him face her.

"Look at you, you've no remorse in these pitch black eyes. Y-You're as good as dead!" She cries, delivering a loud slap, one that echoes in the ears of the ministers stood on either sides, watching the scene.

"Sister-In-Law, control yourself. H-He's your own son!!" Minister Choi, Late Min II's brother speaks, stepping forward.

"I've not only lost my husband, the father of my children but, The Reign of Baekmin has lost their King..and it's all because of this cursed Incapacitated boy I'm forced to call my son. I cannot go easy on him. Not when he was right there watching his father get killed, that too, trying to save him! He died trying to save this absolute Coward! I'd rather he died than my Husband!" She wails, beating her chest as the immobile body of her late Husband laid at the end of the Hall.

"Seokmin hasn't returned, either. But I trust him, he is stronger than any enemy. H-He'll have to come back. He's sent from The God of Immortality. Seokmin will come and he'll take over the throne. They'll release him soon enough, won't they? W-What's taking him so long to arrive?" She screams at the Guards and clutches her chest, eyes rolling to the back of her head, succumbing to shock as she lands with a loud thump, delirium getting best of her.

The Palace women sprinkle water over her, cradling her feverish face, that burns in anguish.

"C-Chief Hong, g-go find out where Seokmin is.." She cries.

"Eomeonim, if something happens to Seokmin H-Hyung, will I get the throne?" Bohoja voices out, from his kneeled position as The Queen's heart throbs in rage.

"I-Is that all you care about? Is that all you've set your eyes on? When your own Hyung is out battling his life…" She voices out, half conscious, tears stinging her eyes and chest heavy from the loss.

"Frankly, I'm just preparing for the future of Baekmin, that's all I've been trained to do and that's where my intentions have laid, since day one. Father would've wanted it that way, as well..Wouldn't he? I am the only heir left.." He speaks, nonchalantly, straightening his posture on the carpet.

The Queen struggles to get up, just so she can smack the life out of her son, whose grown to be a snake.

"Y-Yong-Sun…" She mutters, feeling as though she's been stabbed in her chest, by her very own.

She shakes her head, violently.

"Y-You can never sit on this throne, not when I'm alive…" She yowls in discomfort.

"E-Even if I've to bring him out of exile, I will. As long as I'm alive, you shall never see day as The Monarch of Baekmin!"

———End of Reminiscence———

"Where are you lost? Remembering the moment you lost it all, because of your greed and lack of empathy?" Min Hyuk asks, snapping his fingers before Bohoja's glossy eyes.

He grits his teeth.

"That old lady! Father should've brought in another Wife for himself. The old hag still dresses herself as though she's living as a newly wed bride. I'll have her wrists tied to the dainty walls of the prison her imbecile son stayed in, 11 long years..I'll have her chewed down by starved Tigers, clawing at her body, waiting to relish her…" He seethes, balling his fists.

"Yun Ki has a lot of ego for someone who was stripped of the right to live.." Min Hyuk curses, chewing on an Marcona Almonds.

Bohoja nods his head.

"For someone who was turned into a prisoner in his own home and forced to breathe in mouldy air, he sure bears his pride over his chest…Fool!"

"Yah, spit away your anger and chew on these nuts. They've been imported from Spain." Min Hyuk speaks, nudging the bowl before Bohoja.

"By the way, Yong Sun sounds like a sad name and doesn't suit you one bit. What does it mean?" He asks.

Bohoja takes a bite of the almond head, moaning in response.

"It's a funny story. Some old senile priest named me that, hoping I'd live up to what it meant. Eomeonim was persistent I was named so… Aish, it doesn't match the aura I exude. In fact, makes me sound like some primeval man. They say I was born from the blood and sufferings of my ancestors. To avert the horoscopic premonitions, they named me Min Yong-Sun, which stands for eternal goodness. They thought naming me so would instil in me, qualities of grace and dignity. Little did they know I was a Dragon, waiting to breathe fire and shake the Reign with my monstrosity!" Bohoja laughs.

Min Hyuk grows curious.

"Say, you were responsible for sending Yun Ki to exile, right?" He asks, leaning forward.

"Let's just say, he took a fall for me. Like he was trained to do…My vulnerable shadow, he's been quite the dutiful brother when I look back at it… Unfortunately, I hate his guts or I would've gone softer, you know?" Bohoja smirks, causing Min Hyuk to laugh.

"You're quite the menace, aren't you?" He asks, nudging his shoulder.

Bohoja rubs his hands, in response.

He was what he was.