Chapter 129: Gyeoljeong (Determination)

I followed Hwi out of that room before we both suffocated to death; he had been acting differently towards Hui-Jee ever since he got his sister back, and that wasn't all. I guess the war and after everything I had put him through had worn through his soft nature, and I was more sorry for that than anyone else. Myself and Hwi were like fire and water, and I need his mellowness to keep me balanced and calm me down. "What's going on with you?" "Why do you care? My sister is the one that you're obsessed with." I could hear the bitterness and slight resentment in his voice that took me by surprise until I found myself bursting out with laughter. It had been a long time since he pouted adorably to me like his, in fact I was only the day before the military exam that he was upset about something or another that made him always put like his sister would.

He used to be quite effeminate before the war, around me at least, and now he was acting more like how I used to be these days. "What? What are you laughing at?" "I'm laughing at how adorable you've become, you haven't pouted like a little girl for years now." "When do I have the time for it? I've got my rebellious sister on one hand, my obsessive best friend on her case on the other, I've got the prince on my back and I've got Hui-Jee pulling what is left of me!" "Hui-Jee is your problem, there is nothing I can do about that. But you know that I am more than willing to help you out with the rest." "Seon-Ho…" "You know tat I am right; you Seo's have a legacy to your name due to your father, and soon everyone will want to have a piece of Yeon to control you." "So what makes you any better off?" "I have the Emperor's ear, I am alone in the palace with my traitor of a father's name hanging around my head so no-one will initially want me on any side, and…" "Look, I have to ask you…what happened? Did something happen between you and my sister? Why are you suddenly the one chasing her around all over the damned village?" Because of our history, it was so awkward for me to admit my feelings to him in regards to his sister, but I was still determined to have her no matter what the costs were. "She makes me a better person, and look what you have turned into without her as well; a miserable and impatient man. Why are you being stubborn with this when you know that deep down you still cannot trust Yeon with anyone apart from myself?" "You know damned well why. I know you hold a grudge against her, the last thing she needs to go through is one of your psycho-babble bullshit. She deserves a life of comfort…" "Comfort? Yeon? You know damned well she will work until her dying day, but I can still provide her more comfort than anyone. And if you let me help you, I can channel my grudges into the person who deserves it the most; the prince himself…" "I…i cannot let go of my baby sister yet…I am nowhere near ready to let her go…" "You will always have a place in my home, I will never stop you from seeing your sister. And even myself once you get rid of your new royal best friend, I don't tend to share my toys, you know that." "Seon-Ho…" "Yes?" "What lines are you prepared to cross to keep Yeonnie safe? You need to back out now if you cannot…" "I am not afraid to cross you again to have her, I can tell you that much. Becuase if you keep prolonging this, I will make you be the one to give her to me either way." "Do you really love her that much?" I didn't dare answer him, but I needed to get this plan on track already and I want't about to wait anymore. I lead him to a drug den where he clearly needed to relax.

"Don't worry, I won't let you get addicted like I am, I won't do that to your loved ones, but you clearly need to relax before you do something stupid." "I'm not sure…" "you have a hundred different responsibilities pulling you down into this weird depression you have." "And you are one to talk to me about depression? Have you seen yourself lately? Don't think that I haven't noticed just because I haven't said anything…" "…or approached me? Or spoke to me about anything at all?" "You know the prince is watching my every move, I shouldn't even be this close to you." "I am aware of this; don't worry, this move that I'm pulling now can be used against me by the prince." "Then why…" "I know that you are not skilled in manipulation like I am and nowhere near on the level of the Prince. That life isn't for you, especially not after everything you have been through." "So what are you saying?" "It is my fault that you got involved with that bastard, and soon many other men will steal my father's idea to hold Yeon as hostage to make you pick a side since you are my only political opponent. In front of the palace and the village; we are enemies, but if I marry your sister, we are family and they cannot turn us against each other like puppets. Only Yeon can save us all, and if you care about me like you say that you do, I need her to survive in the palace and you know it." "And why would I place her there?" "Because she was the one who got me there in the first place. Would you believe me if I told you that I was willing to elope with her and give up my life goals in the palace before my father died? And then I was going to find you and reunite you both? But she put me back in the palace, so she should be the one to help me shoulder the responsibilities of my work, no matter how faired you are for her safety. I took damned care of her in your absence; no harm ever came to her and I can do it again."

"I'm pretty sure that you have a powerful wife waiting for you at home, no matter how much she stalks you." "she…is not my wife and she never will be." "Your concubine then or whatever" "No! You don't get it…she's not even my concubine. Legally…she's nothing at all…she's just…" "…someone you took in to make Yeon jealous?" I finished incredulously. I could barely recognise him to be honest, this was not the man I met when I met his best friend Hwi and this was most certainly not the man who pursued me as…as if it was expected of us. But looking at this man now and how angry he was getting that the woman he had never considered as anything more than a sister for a decade and had kept her at a fair distance for the entirety of her stay, was now so far away from him…he looked like he was a man possessed…

I do not really know why but in that moment I swore that I felt a tinge of…jealousy? From what I had witnessed they had barely got to spend any time together and he was already raging like a mad man when he had no rights to her at all…as for myself and Hwi…"you cannot be serious. You are using the girl who tortured my sister and you thought that would make her want to stay with you? And here you are, asking me to marry Yeon alongside that poisonous little…how on earth do you expect me to take you seriously when you want to take the most precious thing I have and do what exactly? Torture her with that witch around her because I hid my sister's true nature from you?" "You are really going to just leave her there? Penniless?" "Be quiet, you are inhaling opium for the first time and you're starting to panic." "Didn't you panic for the first time?" "I was completely numb when I first came here, and I have been numb ever since…" "Yeon left? So have I, to be honest." "I don't know what spell your brat of a sister put on me, but it's worked. And now you get to enjoy the irony of me chasing her around like she used to do to me."

*************************

"What on earth are you planning? Not just with my sister, but with the prince? The Emperor? The whole damned palace? I know you, and I know that you're only persistent when you are after something." "Killing the Prince is almost next to impossible, but I want him kicked out of the royal heirdom. Even if he does rebel against his own father, he cannot ignore that fact even after his father's death and neither the counsel that will support him. And even if he succeeds, the men who will want to pull him down will use that as an excuse to dethrone him. And if you want to be free of him, then you will help me with this, along with the men that you brought back from the army." "And then?" "Then my next target is the Emperor himself." "Have you lost your damned mind?" "He is the one who poisoned his own son against him, he is responsible for turning him into what he is, believe me I know that well. He will turn the rest of his sons just like him to go up against him and loose them all." "And then we will have no heirs to the throne?" "Not unless I get to the prices first; all of them." "And how are you planning that? What? What are you looking at me for?" "Which prince who is vying for the crown does not want to be taught by the son of the greatest swordsman of our time?" "You sneaky bastard, you already have mine and my sister's roles played out before you even formally asked for her hand." "If we don't go for them, hey will kill us all. And frankly, I don't want to face my father-in-law with his children's blood on my hands." "So you're doing this for my father as well?" "Why did you think that I helped you bury him? Or reached out to you after that? It was because of him as well, I have always admired him, I have just never talked about it with you." The Seo's were still sensitive to heir parent's death so I barely brought it up, but every word that I spoke was true. "He…my father would have liked you." "He would have been a much better father to me than my own one. But let's not talk about that anymore, just shut up for a few moments and get high."

This was a new experience for me and Seon-Ho was right, I didn't know how to let loose. That god-damned brat of a sister of mine had left huge a huge hole in my heart, and all I could think about was all of the different scenarios that she was entangled in and keeping from me. Deep down I knew in my heart that everything that Seon-Ho was saying was completely true. He was the only one I could trust wit my sister, he was the only one who could give her all the protection and comfort that she needed, but I was just conflicted between the both of them. My resentment for Seon-Ho was slowly disappearing, most especially when I saw for myself how much he took care of my only living family member and the absolute centre of my world. And from what I had seen before Yeon exposed his father and afterwards, he had actually made him a better man, in terms of work anyways. But he was walking around the village like a broken-hearted little boy who had just been abandoned by his mother all over again even though Yeon wasn't that far away.