Eps 2 : The Promise of Death

For a week, storms and lightning have seemed to continue to decorate the sky of Joseon for a week. Rainfall is so high, making anyone feel reluctant to be outdoors.

In one corner of the palace, a group of palace maids and eunuchs appeared to be stepping in the rain. The group of palace servants apparently moved to follow someone who walked right in front of them. A man in a dark blue robe with silver yarn embroidery forms a dragon that adorns both shoulders, back, and chest.

Water splashes are occasionally seen when special shoes with a matching color step on puddles. Heavy rain tonight did not make it difficult for the man to step quickly without caring if the clothes he was wearing were almost soaked.

The man slightly tilted his head when the building silhouette that became his destination was quite visible. Without wasting time, the man accelerated his steps so that he could arrive immediately. Until, when he was right on the veranda of the building, the voice of his loyal servant made him look a little back.

"Your Highness, shouldn't we bring your dry clothes?"

The man turned back slightly before finally returning to look straight at the main entrance of the building. "No need. I will just waste time. Besides, I won't get sick just because I didn't change clothes.

After giving the answer, he went back further. Two servants, standing in front of the door, immediately opened it for him. The man immediately entered the room alone.

...

The soothing aromatherapy smells softly in the room. The warm and comfortable atmosphere was felt when in the room. This is clearly inversely proportional to the piercing cold that can be felt outside in a rainstorm that has been raging since the afternoon.

Sitting in the middle of the room, with his half-wet blue royal robe, the Crown Prince Yeongan, met his father, who was so suddenly in the middle of the storm. Usually, the Crown Prince Yeongan will just ignore the sudden call from his father. But this time, the man couldn't. It's all due to the shocking message given by Eunuch Min, his father's loyal servant, about the condition of King Seongwoon.

It had been almost two minutes since Yeongan had just sat silent near the futon where his father's weak body was lying. With a flat face, the Crown Prince Yeongan did not intend to say anything to his father.

"Are you going to stay cold to me, Baek-a?"

The voice of King Seongwoon broke the silence in the room. The highlight of the man approaching the fifteens was seen wistfully when staring at the face of his eldest son. Not only was highlighting sad, but there was also a hint of sadness and longing in King Seongwoon's eyes.

The figure of King Seongwoon's old son was once missed; the Crown Prince Yeongan is so cheerful and always excited. And if you remember all the changes that occurred in Yeongan, King Seongwoon felt stalled. because he has a hand in removing all of Crown Prince Yeongan's joy and enthusiasm.

The Crown Prince Yeongan raised his face slightly and focused his obsidian on his father's face. Again, the dark iris did not appear to have expression ripples. The crown prince Yeongan seemed to want to punish his father through changes in his attitude.

"I feel there is nothing to fix in my attitude, Your Majesty," he said.

A long sigh was heard from King Seongwoon. The man understood that he could not change anything that had happened. Everything had happened, and there was nothing that could be done by the old man in order to restore everything he had taken away from the life of his son. In fact, the heart of King Seongwoon was increasingly sick when he heard the Crown Prince of Yeongan no longer wanted to call him "father."

A bitter smile appeared on King Seongwoon's old face as he realized he was a father who was bad for the Crown Prince of Yeongan. His old bead observed the handsome face from his only son once more.

"I'm really deserve your cold attitude, Baek-a. I realize that I'm not a good father for you. I snatched all the laughter and happiness that you have and replaced them with a variety of suffering. It is appropriate that I no longer complain about when you will stop being cold to me after six years have passed," murmured King Seongwoon more to himself.

Crown Prince Yeongan remained unmoved in his place. His heart seemed to have frozen, not once feeling sorry to hear the murmur of the father, who was laden with sadness. The iris still stared flat and coldly. Not only that, his lips remained stuck at all. He did not want to say a word to comment on the murmur of his father's longing.

"Alright, because there is nothing I can change about you. So let's just go straight to my main goal of calling you here, Baek-a," King Seongwoon paused for a moment because of the cough that attacked his throat.

It took a few minutes until the cough subsided a little. After being convinced that he would no longer cough, King Seongwoon continued his conversation with the Crown Prince Yeongan.

"Baek-a, as you saw yourself. My time in this world has run out. I realized I left a son who could behave so coldly, even to his father, which made me feel worried. I ... uhuuk ... uhuukk.... "

King Seongwoon coughed again. Seeing his father so exhausted just talking to him, Crown Prince Yeongan shifted his body to be closer to the futon where his father was lying down. Not only that, the crown prince of Yeongan even leaned a little to make it easier for King Seongwoon to speak softly.

"Please talk, Your Majesty. I will listen."

King Seongwoon raised his hands and gripped the front of the royal robe of the Crown Prince Yeongan. His eyes gave a sharp gaze full of requests to the two obsidians of his son.

"Can't you forget the six-year incident, Baek-a? I even ignored the petition of officials who asked for an investigation into the death of your wife, The Crown Princess Shin! Because I know, you're the culprit!"

The grip on the front robe of Yeongan is getting stronger with every word that King Seongwoon is struggling to say. King Seongwoon hopes that his actions will make the Crown Prince Yeongan realize all his bad behavior. The King tried to restore his son's previous attitude.

In fact, all of that was in vain. The Crown Prince Yeongan gripped King Seongwoon's hand. The iris shone sharply and gave a danger signal. Once again, the terrible aura felt real from the body of the Crown Prince Yeongan, making King Seongwoon choke and feel tight afterwards.

"It's not like that to beg me, His Majesty. You should kneel while tearing. How could you ask me to just forget about what happened six years ago, Your Majesty? I will never once forget your bad treatment of my mother. The woman, you are purposefully snapping goats to protect the throne," hissed Crown Prince Yeongan, both corners of her eyes welling up with tears as she remembered the bad incident.

"Yi Baek-a ..."

"No. I will never forget it. You also know if he was murdered by corrupt officials, but you remain silent. Then, isn't it all the same as I killed the crown princess Shin, whom you admire, with whom you also indirectly killed my mother? "

"Yi Baek-a, you don't understand, I ..."

"What do I not understand here, Your Majesty?"

Yeongan hissed in a tone of voice that was so cold it was accompanied by a grip that was also getting stronger.

"You snatched my mother and then killed her. After that, you married me to the daughter of one of the officials who clearly became one of the masterminds of my mother's murder. How can you be so cruel to me? I know who the officials are involved in my mother's removal and I know who is the mastermind behind all this. I'm no longer a naive teenager! "

Hearing the facts dropped by the Crown Prince Yeongan made the King of Seongwoon's heart suffocate. The old man's breath became shorter and more stagnant. His eyes were staring at the cold face of his only son.

"Yi Baek-a, what do you really want?"

"I want blood to be revealed with blood."

"You won't be able to do it!" said King Seongwoon, who was becoming increasingly exhausted.

Crown Prince Yeongan grinned and whispered something in his father's ears. A whisper that was able to make the heart of King Seongwoon stop beating right then and there. The king can only stare at the glance while exhaling his last breath in the world.

"I can do it because you have left calmly tonight, His Majesty," said Yeongan while laying his father's lifeless body. His obsidian was accompanied by hatred towards his father.

"I can do it because you have left calmly tonight, Your Majesty," said Yeongan while laying his father's lifeless body. His obsidian was accompanied by hatred towards his father.

As if to preach the news of the death of the king who had died, lightning immediately screamed in Joseon's night sky. That night, the news that the king had died spread throughout the palace.

...

Queen Park ran out of her room after hearing the news delivered by her personal servant. Tears quickly fell down to wet his pale cheeks. No matter if it was outdoors in the rain of a storm, Queen Park came out of the room without using footwear. Her heart was so broken when she found that her husband had left without her beside him.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Queen Park's sobs sounded heartbreaking.

She ran out to the veranda of his palace. However, her steps stopped when she saw several palace soldiers appeared to be on standby in all corners of her residence. Queen Park remained frozen in the midst of the unexpected situation.

In the midst of the sadness and shock she felt, Queen Park shouted angrily at the unreasonable treatment.

"What actually happened here?"

A palace guard, who is also the chairman of the troops, quickly stepped closer to Queen Park, who was still standing on the veranda of his palace. The eyes of the palace woman stared at the figure of the chairman of the troops who approached him and gave a greeting to him.

"Your Majesty, I apologize for your inconvenience. We were ordered by the Crown Prince to maintain and oversee your residence. You and the entire Palace Maid are not allowed to leave the central palace until tomorrow morning. "

"How can you act like this? I have to go to the main palace! I want to see the king right now."

Queen Park stepped out of the veranda and let the rain wet her body. The woman, who is none other than the stepmother of the Crown Prince Yeongan, is famous for her stubborn attitude. And that has been watched well by the palace soldiers. They remain on standby and block the steps of Queen Park.

"No, Your Majesty. You are not allowed to leave your residence. Not only you, but the whole royal family is not allowed to get out of their residence. All of this is an absolute command from His Highness the Crown Prince. "

Queen Park collapsed onto wet ground, unable to bear her shock any longer. She did not care that her dress would be dirty. At present, her mind is only filled with the face of her husband, who has gone. and realized the fact that he could not see her husband's face for the last time to make the tightness and pain in his chest increase. He was crying without being able to stop it again from his lips.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty !!! "

...

Immediately after receiving orders from his step mother and grandmother to keep vigil and maintain strict residence, the Crown Prince Yeongan directed the palace secretariat to summon all palace officials to the palace tonight.

All of the officials appeared to be neatly lined up in front of the main palace courtyard, paying their last respects to King Seongwoon. Eunuch Min, a loyal servant of Raja Seongwoon during his lifetime, was on the roof of the main palace while wagging the red robe of the king of Seongwoon, doing the tradition of Sangwibok—the ritual of releasing the King's soul.

Right in front of the door of the throne room, the Crown Prince had just finished paying his last respects to the father's stiff body. His terrible grin was again aware of the throne and all power had become his own.

Today, in the midst of a storm that hit Joseon, the sun with a dark aura has reigned to become the new ruler of Joseon. Nobody knows if anyone involved in the incident six years ago is still living in fear.

"Father, rest in peace. I'll make sure I become a leader who can protect the people better than you. Mother, I'm sorry for being late for six years, but starting today I promise to make anyone who makes your life suffer and takes your life feel the real suffering. I'll make sure everything happens."

As Crown Prince Yeongan finished saying his promise to his late parents, he bowed respectfully as a sign he would fulfill his promise.