Chapter 126: Seo Yeon

When I had returned to the palace, Seon-Ho had completely and utterly lost his mind as well as Hyo-Sonn when they saw how close Hyun-Ki was to me. Since coming to the palace the girl was bullied by everyone around her so she hadn't gotten a chance to make a move against me apart from spreading lies about me to make people despise me, and even that didn't work. We were close friends once indeed but her obsession had blinded her and she wasn't even worth my time to be honest. But now here she was trying to sabotage every chore I got, break everything that was entrusted to me from his concubines who strangely got along with me. We all knew his sexuality and they were only used for image and no one could dispute 'my courtship' with the army general so they knew I was not in danger of joining his harem. They could all tell what was going on with myself and Hyo-Sonn, so they knew something was wrong when I couldn't carry out my chores to the best of my ability, which was rare. She was still being bullied so there was not much for me to do; they saw her attempts to discredit me and they took out their own frustrations onto her. Hyo-Sonn was still so blinded to her jealousy that not even Hyun-Ki could calm her down. She still got very excited when he talked to her, but whenever he mentioned my name to her she would throw the biggest tantrum I had ever seen and she even tried to attack me in public! She took on far more punishments than she should have but she still didn't learn her lesson at all. In the end she was sent down to the department of hard labour os she couldn't touch me at all, although Chun-Ae had worked her way to the Queen's side bewilderedly so nobody could touch her.

Things got worse when Hyun-Ki waited for me after my every chore, he insisted on buying my lunch from me by tasing me to expensive restaurants and he even had a carriage waiting for me at the of the day. Seon-Ho was always in a bad mood and soon enough I had al of his servants running to me telling me about his cruel behaviour that mirrored his father's. In the end I had no choice but to confront him myself when he was at his worst; drunk and sloppy. He took one look at me and scooped me in his arms, and no matter how hard I tried to free myself from him I couldn't. He held me so tightly that I thought I was going to suffocate before I had even opened my mouth, but before I could even get a singe word out Chun-Ae had burst through the door with a look of thunder.

My interactions with her had been fairly unpleasant in the palace; from the first day on my job she had tried recruit everyone who worked with us to go against me, but when both Prince's started interacting with me that didn't happen. Instead I had gained everyone's respect form our connections and my hard work and soon enough I found myself as one of the most known people in the palace without even trying, although I was still to be Bang-Gan's lady-in-waiting. There was no promotion for me whatsoever...unless I was willing to become a concubine and no way was that going to happen. She tried to mess with me in all ways possible...and as soon as Seon-Ho's made his intentions clear to me the Queen didn't like me much either and recruited Chun-Ae to her side as soon as she could to torture me on the her behalf. But thankfully both Princes helped me out enough to block any face to face meetings she called me for. Chun-Ae wasn't an outstanding servant at all, in fact she never was she prided herself into serving the Nam's, then in the palace and now by the Queen's side when she possessed no talent, nor skill nor influence. Even the Queen and the rest of her ladies mocked her whenever they had the chance but both her and Hyo-Sonn had not done anything extensive to harm me yet no matter how hard they tried; they only deluded themselves in the imaginary power they held now that they were working in the palace. But now here she was in front of me; trying to rip her imaginary man off of me while he kept me in his grasp and trying to rip my clothes off of me. She grabbed my by my hair and Seon-Ho still drunk, finally noticed what was going on and he threw her off of me with a single move, picked her up from the floor literally threw her out of his office before giving her the loudest lecture I had heard in my life. I tried to run away but he caught me by my arm and threw me back inside before the servants saw me and ordered his own servants to drag he out of the palace. She lost all composure then and practically begged him on her knees to take her back before hurling abuse at me.

The moment she mentioned my name he actually slapped her so hard it stunned everyone into silence. He barked for his orders to be carried out before he untried his sight on me. He smiled crudely before locking his office and practically throwing against the wall. I had never been so terrified...yet so connected to him in all of my life, even when he was at his worst. We were both sorting through our raging emotions that were not settling down any time soon. He didn't scare me, not really; it was how far he could go that scared me as I felt his hands go to the right places that I hd missed so much. Every touch of his completely melted me into him every time as he asked me what my presence in his office meant. I tried to tell him that he had to stop abusing his servants in between his...affection before whirling me around and catching my face in his hands. He told me that he would do anything I asked of him as long as I came back to him and surrendered as soon as possible. We hadn't been intimate for a long time and it was clearly taking a toll on him...on the both of us. But when another servant came bursting in without knocking and I saw the expensive jewellery on her neck again I retuned to my senses and pushed him off me as I made my escape.

I still had my homeless issue, but luckily myself and Hyun-Ki had become close enough that I had began to reside in his family home whilst I moved out of the gaya home and was practically homeless. His family was kind to me, in fact they were overly kind once they found out who my father and brother was and had started piling me with gifts and taking me under their wing. They had assigned me servants, gifted me clothes and accessories whilst I still evaded Seon-Ho, although I began to feel his stalking to the fullest effect for the next month as he realised how badly he had hurt me. I found him waiting for me in every room I went to, in the market and in Ihwaru although we couldn't speak to each other at all. I even found him waiting for me in my new room drenched in the rain. The minute he held me in his gaze again I was completely trapped as he walked up to me and start tracing my features with his fingers just as I had an incessant servant of the family repeatedly call for me to come down for dinner. He looked...dangerously empty, dangerously thin...and evil as he took me right there and then as I had to chase the servants away who were starting to crowd around my door wondering why I hadn't left my room yet. I tried to wrestle him off of me but he was no longer gentle and patient with me, but that was my fault. I had clearly indulged him way too much as he completed held me ins gross again my will and proceeded to do whatever he wanted to me as if I still belonged to him!

But then...nothing. He had disappeared from the palace just as Bang-Won had come back and I was really to make my move to be closer to him without becoming his concubine.

But fate had other plans for me as one day myself and Hyun-Ki had found ourselves locked in his office after hours. He had invited me over after my shift to his office to look over some scrolls I used to be interested in before my memory loss when all of a sudden we heard the door slam behind us along with another colleague of his. The men tried to break the doors down but they found it blocked by big solid objects, and so we found ourselves locked in for an entire day no matter how hard or long we shouted for help. I had a bad feeling as we all woke up the next day to servants breaking down our door and we were all being hauled to Seon-Ho's office where Hyo-Sonn was waiting for us in hysterics and screaming about some imaginary affair we were having. I took one look at Seon-Ho who I hadn't seen for almost another month as he...smirked at me? He waked towards me and got right into my face before whispering that I should make the right choice before dragging all 3 of us for a private audience with the King and Queen to be charge for our crime. Apparently there were witnesses to my 'sneaking into the minister's office late at night; witnesses who were all his servants. I looked up at him in shock as he literary tore the clothes apart from m skin and pinned me against the wall as he held me, touched me and loved me right there and then before climbing down the window just in time for the servant to open my door which he had secured when he entered the room.

But now Hyo-Sonn was accusing me of adultery in front of the King and Queen whilst Seon-Ho just watched with an evil grin on his face. He wasn't even trying to defend me at all; it was only when the Queen tried to implicate her punishment on me that was when he had stepped in...and accused poor Hyun-Ki of seducing me! In front of the royal family! The King even looked sympathetic to him before he actually had Seon-Ho hand out our punishments! I could't believe this jerk was using his power to bully me when I hand't even done anything to him from the start! That bastard had the nerve to assure the King that he would call my brother to the palace to implement my punishment! At this point I had no choice but to beg to be forgiven of my crime to everyone present, even Hyo-Sonn who tried to make out that I had stolen her man who was in trying to court her! But nobody believed Hyun-Ki, never mind myself. And that's when Seon-Ho dealt me the final blow; he would let all of us go as he returned a stunned Hyun-Ki to Hyo-Sonn...and that he would take me as his bride as my only saving grace! I almost collapsed onto the ground as the begged the King for permission! Everyone was stunned into silence! No-one could believe that he was begging to be united with a low-born, even the King tied to dissuade him. But the only replied that he would consider it as the Queen pushed for the idea, hoping I would disgrace him with my low background and humiliate him, not knowing that he had already planned all of this! I almost passed out when the King replied that they would discuss this further later on...and I was being dragged back to the gaya home I had left with a miserable Hyun-Ki shouting for me. In fact, I think I has passed out due to shock, a the fact that I hadn't eaten for a whole day.

When I woke up in the bed of the gaya home alone I quickly snuck out as quietly as I could; around this time he should still be in the palace so I had to escape as quickly as I could...only to realise that I had left something important behind.