16 fall down. (1)

"Ring-a-ring o' roses,

A pocket full of posies,

A-tishoo! A-tishoo!

We all fall down."

While the adults had conversations and continued a more serious meeting at the Kang Palace, the children had been taken outside to a calm pond and tree-filled area to play.

I hung out with the other kids who were all much older than me. There was the seven-year-old Mung Bae (Mung Do Hyun's granddaughter), the five-year-old Kang Ara (Kang Wook's granddaughter), the eight-year-old Kang Beom Seok (the grandson of the head of the Seo faction), and the six-year-old Kang Chul (who was the grandson of the head of the Dong faction).

And now we were all singing along to nursery rhymes, I didn't hate ring-a-ring-of roses, in fact, it was my favourite rhyme. It was greatly inspired by the bubonic plague and a lot of death is tied into those lyrics. Oh, I would love to one day be such a terror on society that children would sing nursery rhymes about me. I'd love it if the fear I caused would be remembered for a lifetime.

That was my one regret from my previous life, no one would remember my crimes; many of my murders had been claimed by other killers over the years. Many times I was so thorough that I never left any traces of my victims, that the people simply ended up as missing with no case built around them.

The failings of the police and justice system made it easy for my legacy to be lost.

How satisfied must Jack the Ripper be? He had his name so loved by history and he got away with everything, it's really the goal of all anonymous killers.

In this life I wanted to put on a show like the fictional Hannibal Lecter, I would display my victims like art.

"He's like a little doll!" Kang Chul poked my cheeks, he loomed over me with his chubby dumb-looking face, his shadow blocked the sun and distracted me from my thoughts.

I glanced up at him, "You're blocking my sunshine."

"Oh sorry" Kang Chul moved aside and then continued to poke my cheeks, "Guys his skin is so soft!"

Kang Ara and Mung Bae shyly approached me, they both grabbed one hand and squeezed my fingers, "His hands are so soft" they both squealed.

For a good while, I was hugged by the children and treated like some precious toy, the only one that didn't do this was Kang Beom Seok, who watched me from a distance with curious eyes.

"Why did you pick the White Cloth?" he asked.

Kang Ara stopped hugging me, "Yeah why did you pick the white cloth, how did you know it was so special?"

I shrugged my small shoulders, "I just picked it, there was no deeper meaning."

"Wow, you really are special, there were all those shiny things and you picked something so dull" Kang Chul laughed.

Kang Ara hit the back of Chul's head, "Dummy, he's smarter than us because he picked the thing that wasn't shiny, didn't you hear what the family head said? He's the first child in to have picked the cloth, he has a bright future ahead of him."

"When I had my Doljabi I picked the pen" Ara said proudly.

"I picked the sword, a man's got to have a sword" Kang Chul chimed in.

Kang Beom Seok gently added, "I chose Lady Justice."

"It's so cool that we all picked different choices, and when we grow up we'll all be heads of our factions in the family!" Kang Ara danced with joy at the thought.

"Ha, are you dumb?" Kang Chul sneered, "There's no way you'll be the next head of the Buk faction, not once has there ever been a girl who's become head of a faction. You may get a business or two but you're not getting a title. It'll probably go to your cousin, the teenager what's his-face. Plus everyone knows Kang Ho is an illegitimate child, you're more likely to get a position than he is."

Kang Ara's face turned red with anger at Chul's words, "You're wrong, I'll be the first female head of a faction! I'll prove everyone wrong!"

Chul sneered again, "Yeah sure you will"

"I WILL!!!"

"Now, now, calm down you two" Mung Bae intervened and stood between them, "You shouldn't argue in front of a baby, plus Kang Ara isn't wrong, who knows what the future may hold, she may be the First female faction head in Kang Family history. In the Mung family my great grandmother broke stereotypes by becoming the first female leader, my grandad always reminds me that I can do anything just like my Great Grandmother." Mung Bae smiled warmly at Kang Ara, "So don't give up we could both end up being heads of our families."

Kang Ara's tear-filled eyes quickly turned hopeful and she jumped up and down with excitement, "You hear that!" she yelled, "I'll be the next head of the Buk faction!" she jumped into Mung Bae's arms and hugged her tightly, "You're the best Unnie!"

I watched this whole fiasco from the sidelines, it was like a scene from some shitty soap opera, I rolled my eyes. Youth. It seemed so sweet and innocent, but when they grow up they'll be hit with the reality, the obstacles, and the drawbacks. Sure they might both become female heads but it definitely wouldn't be a walk in the park. I looked forward to seeing them struggle and lose their bright optimistic eyes.

Now that I thought about it, Mung Bae had been a main character in Overcoming Obstacles. She was Song Jae's love interest. They met while abroad, fell in love, she learnt about his traumatic past and brought him into the Mung family and helped him get ready for his grand revenge.

In the original storyline, Kang Ho and Mung Bae had never even met in their childhoods. Interesting.

Eventually, the meeting in the hall ended. As Mung Bae was being taken away by members of the Mung family, she hugged me tightly, and said: "I promise we'll hang out in the future soon."

All the children seemed pretty much enamoured with me and made promises to soon hang and play with each other.

When my family came, Kang Seung and Joon-Ki gave me heartfelt hugs and congratulated me on my Doljabi, but then seconds later they both left. Apparently, they had to go overseas for some kind of business event. Madame Kang uncharacteristically gave me a small smile and said, "At least you're not entirely useless" before also leaving me there.

In the end, the one I went home with, was Yong Myeong. I expected her to glare at me or mutter some curses under her breath, but she was surprisingly well- mannered all the way home. Even when we got into the car and Min Ho drove us to the mansion, she didn't say a word.

When we got to the estate Min Ho was about to take me to my nursery, but then she stopped him. "Don't worry, I'll take him to his nursery, I want to play with him. He did such a good job today and I feel bad for not being a good Mother, I want us to bond more. So leave us alone, Min Ho." She said this with the most gentle and sweetest of smiles, but she didn't fool me.

I felt excitement run down my spine, what on earth was she up to?

Min Ho hesitated for a bit, but he couldn't disobey her, and he gently handed me over, "Do you want any of the servants on stand by near the nursery?"

"No Min Ho, I don't want anyone near by. If there is even a single servant within even five metres of the nursery they will be fired, I will check cameras later."

Min Ho looked uneasy but he still agreed and disappeared from Yong Myeong's sight.

She carried me up the stairs and to my nursery calmly with that fake smile wrapped on her face, and all the while my heart was pounding, my mind was racing. What was she going to do?

The door closed behind us.

She threw me onto the floor immediately like I was something dirty. My head was saved by the plushies I fell into, but my small soft body still felt sore.

"Who do you think you are, huh!? WHO ARE YOU TO HUMILIATE ME AND MY LEGITIMATE CHILD!" she held her bulging pregnant stomach, "Do you think you're worth anything, you are nothing. YOU ARE THE SAME AS YOUR WORTHLESS MOTHER, DON'T THINK YOU'RE ANYTHING MORE THAN NOTHING!"

"Pffft" I couldn't help it, the chuckles just escaped from my lips.

"Huh, are you laughing?" She looked so confused.

"I mean...is this it? Is this all you do, just throw people around and yell, hahaha I was just...you know I was just expecting more."

Her face turned so red that I could see the veins on her forehead pulsing, she practically ran at me and kicked me. The flat part of her heeled shoe knocked the wind out of my small body.

"YOU'RE A LITTLE DEMON! WHAT DO YOU KNOW! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME!?"

She continued to stomp on me vigorously but I could still tell she was holding back a little bit. She was also making sure to only hit me in places that wouldn't be seen. No matter how angry she was, she was careful.

When she finally calmed down, I felt bruises across my chest and stomach, but I still snorted deliriously, "Come on Myeong, is that really it? Is this all that your hate comes to, is there no urge to kill, are you that pathetic?"

She looked at me with fear and disgust, "You really are a revolting little shit, aren't you? Stop looking at me like that, STOP!"

She grabbed one of the plushie pillows and crouched down on to her knees above me. I knew what she was going to do even before she did it. She put the pillow over my face and pressed down.

As she suffocated me, I remembered my childhood as Daniel Slade, that first night with Father Johnson had been similar to this.

My body spasmed and convulsed, I fought for breath, my small hands grasped and clawed at the pillow and scratched at Yong Myeong's wrists. I heard a loud ringing in my ears.

Was this it? Was I going to leave this world so quickly. My heart thudded...but then the pressure stopped.

Yong Myeong was gasping loudly with a panicked look. The realisation had slammed into her like a brick, and her consciousness made her fear what she had done. She grabbed her face and muttered, "What did I do, what have I done?"

She ran out of my nursery in a blind panic, and I heard her heels running on the stairs...and then, I heard her scream. A shrill "AHHHHH" filled the mansion.

And then the sound of thudding, "bang, bang, bang" and then silence.