Forbearance (4)

A tranquil afternoon. At last, he had acquired the quiet time he had long demanded after the tumultuous meeting. The quality time for himself was what he needed. Away from the clamor and strife.

When the grand concubine left him alone with Concubine Gi, the concubine soon followed after staying and giving him company for an hour. They had exchanged little information about themselves before they got to the topic where she introduced her clan's businesses and farms.

Although he was uncomfortable the whole time, Sungho discovered that Concubine Gi was the second cousin of the grand concubine and their grandfathers were siblings. From wood harvesting to iron mining, the Rang clan was known as the wealthiest clan in Duchy of Iseul. Yet they stood the fourth seat in the ranks of the clan.

They were both nobles from Iseul who was married off to King Im Seok. Due to the Duke having no daughter, he had to pick a suitable female in a family and their clan happened to be the one chosen.

Although they only needed one, two ladies from the clan were selected due to the sudden onset of a conflict. The conflict, what could it possibly be that forced them to choose two ladies?

Sitting at the table, Sungho embraced the quiet time to himself and brought a hand to his temple. If his conversation with Concubine Gi took a few more minutes, maybe the hammer that started banging on his head would have gone worse.

"Are you not feeling well, Your Highness?" Chun commented, her worry preceded in her voice. "You look so pale."

"I feel tired, that's all. I'm going to take a nap—" Before he could finish, Sungho was interrupted by ebony. As he stood from his seat, the pitch darkness blinded him without warning. Taking away the tiniest of light he could perceive.

Was it because he had moved around too much? He felt his blood ran down from his head; he thought his heart suddenly stopped beating. Although when the dimness of his vision went normal, he noticed that the static room soon swayed in a rush, drawing Sungho along the huge, intimidating wave.

In a coordinated movement, he found himself reaching out for something to hold onto, avoiding the concrete curve tangling, which was dragging him down again as the black hole temporarily preceded his sight. Thankfully, Chun was beside him when this happened.

"Your Highness!"

Chun tried to pick up his arm when Sungho's knees threatened to descend as they went weak. He was freezing, shivering while the ice-cold drops of sweat formed through his body.

"Sir—" Her call was clear when they reached his ears, pleading out for the soldier's help.

And right off the bat, firm arms pulled Sungho up from his back and his legs before bringing him, securing him close on the strong frame. "Court lady, fetch the old man." The soothing voice of the soldier rang in his hearings.

"You should rest." Daewon gently lowered him on his bed, releasing him from being cradled in his arms. And knowing Sungho was freezing cold, Daewon tucked him in his blanket. "The poison is still lingering in your body and you've been too active lately, Your Highness. You need to rest..."

The longer he listened to his modulated, appealing tone, Sungho found it gradually decreasing, fading before it was replaced by another voice. "Older brother, are you awake now?"

"Bro...ther?" Sungho answered the breathy call, which was speaking as if he was about to cry.

The waving room where he was supposed to be resting was nowhere to be seen. He discovered that he was being dragged by his tattered clothes, his body shoved the snow on the road they were taking. Tattered? How did his clothes end up being raggedy? Why was there snow?

In his disappointment, Sungho could not lift a muscle, his head was immobile as he looked at the trail of blood he was making. Blood? He was staining the pure white snow on the ground with the wine liquid from his disgusting injuries.

"Don't worry, older brother. I'll bring you back home. Father is waiting there. He'll treat your wounds. It's still not too late. You just need to stay your eyes open." The brittle voice that felt so much familiar to Sungho's ears sniffled.

"Leave me," he mouthed, Sungho softly wailed to the one whose tiny hands were struggling, pulling his back collar. But even when he waited for long, he received no answer other than heavy breaths and thin grunts.

His little brother continued to struggle without pause, except when they heard the howls reminding them of their death. Just a moment passed and the wolves started lurking around them, creeping and forming a circle. In a click of a tongue, one wolf decided to advance in their direction. To be more precise, to Sungho's position.

"Ah! No, older brother!" was the youngster's cries. "Stop it! Don't eat him!"

"Huk!" Without any energy to resist the strong bite of the wolf's jaw, Sungho could only squeal in pain and yelp in distress as its teeth dug deep on his skin.

He did not worry about dying though. Sungho was anxious more about the wolves that surrounded his little brother, on the urge to storm their way and devour him.