I had just finished up my plan just as soon as my sister had stopped messing around with my ex-lover right in front of my quarters and I was utterly exhausted after my 'poisoning'. But as usual, all I could think about was my baby sister and how she was holding up against the man who was going to become her enemy until she married him. all I could think about was my baby sister and how she was holding up in the Nam mansion all by herself. Was she eating the right foods? Did she have any more fits in my absence? Was Seon-Ho really taking care of her as I would? He always teased me about how much I adored her but now I found myself praying that he paid very close attention to how I took care of her because I wasn't going to accept anything less. And as for myself, I was busy with my men in helping them transport the punished concubines out of the palace whilst missing my own family, especially my wife who was out of my sight currently and I hated it. I had no one to force meals down my mouth or help me when I was in bed and I couldn't move from a hard day's work as a blacksmith. And I had absolutely no-one to talk to or make me laugh or comfort me like Yeon used to all of the time after she brought me my milk. I was aware that my relationship with my sister was unlike most other siblings, but raising her myself was something that I never could have predicted not to mention the bond we have. We used to fight all the time for my father's affections that always seemed to fall onto my sister but as soon as he was taken from us I had to deal with my sister's love for me which were so much more than I could have ever anticipated and now I was struggling to live without her talks, her foods, her hugs before bed and her tending to me as if I was the most important person in the world to her. That was Yeon's charm; in a world where everyone had there own motives to improve their social status, Yeon was 100% genuine and she knew to how to care for people in a way that felt like she truly cared. I put it down to my father being very vocal about the little education she got before his demise. I knew that our father was planning to have us enrol in school properly, but like so many plans he had for us it never got to happen.
"The water is too cold Yeonnie." "Ok, I will heat it up now." "But I am cold." "I will give you my blanket." "Yeonnie." "Yes brother?" "Is my milk ready?" "Almost." "Yeonnie?" "Yes?" "I need a massage." "Yes your highness, ok your highness, is there anything else that you need your highness?" "Come to bed, it is cold here on my own." "Who else is going to take care of you if I am next to you? You need to cut your nails by the way I am sick of being scratched by you in our sleep." She really did take good care of me and gave me the attention that nobody else could, not even Seon-Ho. Girls were just different and so loveable that I now began to understand why men who didn't have women in their lives acted the way they did and treated women they way that they did.
"…I will marry Yeon and give her every luxury that you could not. I will have the best doctors treat her for her entire life if need be but I will not be without her either. All you need to do is to agree to my terms ad I promise you that I will never keep her from you. And I will never let Yeon get hurt, no matter what I have to sacrifice." I still had my best friend's words tossing and turning over in my mind. Since when…what on earth…my sister? It wasn't bad enough that he stole her from me and now he wanted to marry her? He always evaded the topic of marriage and ever took it seriously but now what? Had something happened between them? Why did he pursue Yeon when she had no memories of us at all? Would he really take advantage of her like that? They had a sibling relationship at leats from what I remembered so what could have possible happened for Seon-Ho to change this much? He talked like he owned her and as if he already had their futures planned…
No, no I still had doubts about his intentions since I knew that he was just probably drowning in guilt for what he had to do to me and was just probably trying to make up for it through Yeon because he knows how much she means to me. Yes, that was the only explanation that I could think of…but it still didn't explain why he just let me hit him like that when he always took the opportunity to fight me back. It didn't explain why his voice…changed like that when he spoke about her. He had no reason for his voice to get soft at all…
My memories then took me back to the days where i was Nam-Jeon's man and keeping a distance from my sister for her own survival. I was always in the Ihwaru brothel where my own lover was most likely waiting for me like she claimed she did every single night when she wasn't avoiding the customers that came in for the other prostitutes. She was a stone-headed girl and was the only other good thing in my life that I had right now but because of the situation I was dealing with I could nor bring her anywhere near Nam-Jeon's sight and make her a victim in his schemes as well. So I have been avoiding her ever since she found out that I did not die in the war but I could not help but to occasionally check in on her when she wasn't watching and see which fool had the courage to approach her and think that they had a chance with her. But what I was not expecting was to once again see Seon-Ho barging his way through like he had hot colas up his ass. He couldn't stop shaking his leg so I knew that he was upset about something and kept downing his drinks as if they were water. So he did manage to work on his alcohol intake whilst I was slaving around for his father and risking my life every single day by going the most notorious's prince's trust before I was to do away with him.
"My Lord, welcome back…" "Be gone! Leave me alone and do not seek me out ever again!" "But My Lord…" "Did you not hear me! Go away and find some other man to leech on." "But we…all of our memories…" "Why do women like you always exaggerate such issues? We only drank together, nothing more happened and nothing ever will." "But I thought that you liked us…" "I do not like anyone. You were the one who all flocked to me as soon as I got a job in the palace. Now leave!" "Well well, now that you are engaged, you certainly know when to cut your losses. She is a nobleman's daughter, no?" "She is a stupid woman of a decadent noble family and it is entirely my misfortune to be stuck with her! But I am illegitimate so I have no choice or say in the matter." "So you can take us out of here and keep us as concubines right?"
Seon-Ho always had a flock of women starting at him but never approaching him due to his social status and it wasn't uncommon for men to start drinking at brothel's like we both planned to after the military exam. But also could not miss the way that my best friend's face recoiled in horror when these girls touched him, he almost looked like he had been burned alive in acid or something. He looked like he was having a panic attack before he ran outside to get some air and he nearly caught me spying on him. "Please no, god no, do not take her away from me, please god do not take her away from me. Do not let my father harm her or let her leave my sight, please god." I could hear him whispering just as Hui-Jee approached him. But now I wondered who he was talking about, her or my sister?
"…Husband? Are you feeling better? I have come here with your meal, and your antidote…" "Where is my son?" "Bo-Geom is watching him and i cannot seem to take him away from her. She is already quite attached to him already under Concubine Park's watch." "And my sister?" "She is asleep in her bed, i just put her down myself." "do not indulge her when she is sulking like a child like this. Just brush her off as she is not one to throw tantrums often." "Yes husband..." "Why aren't you wearing the silver outfit that i like? Or coal?" "You can make all the demands that you please once you are back home with your family." "forgive me wife, for dragging you all the way here when you were not healed properly…." "I am fine now husband thanks to your friend Moon-Bok. we really do owe him so much and his wife, and we should do something for them..." "i will figure all of that out later; come closer and let me see you up close…." "Control yourself husband, we are not at home right now..." "So you finally brought that antidote with you?" "Yes husband, we can go home after tomorrow if everything goes to plan." "And the concubines?" "They are safe and will reunite with there families before returning your father's village. We can even put them in charge of the embroidery business for us if we wish to…." "And what is Seon-ho up to?" "Husband, do not be angry when you hear about this, because nobody is more upset about this than him, but…."
"….Have you all lost your minds! what are you thinking of!" "He has no choice husband, you know him better than anyone that he wouldn't do this if he had a choice…." "Does my sister know about this? Because she will need a plan for herself after this...as will I…" "They will be busy with their own affairs, whilst we deal with the Nam Clan once and for al before relocating to your father's village, where you shall become the Village Chief and honouring your father by…." "by giving him plenty of grandchildren as possible…" "Husband! Control yourself!" "I cannot, not when you are dressed like that!" "Then take your antidote so that we can start trying again...." "Wife! Can we really?" "…after 3 months time, i should be fully healed again so that we can start trying for children once again." "I love you wife, you have no idea how much…"