C9 Part2

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Although he could find someone to replace someone like Heon easily, there wasn’t a noble family who could replace the sheer number of soldiers under his command.

If Heon decided to resign from his post and leave the bamboo grove, it might alert the other emperors of foreign nations, who were all keeping an eye on SeoMoon and waiting to pounce at any opportunity. Although he was an uncomfortable subordinate to have, if he left when JaeHoon hadn’t yet found his proper footing in the political sphere, it would be a great opportunity for not only Ju but all the other foreign nations who wanted to attack.

“I must return to the Palace.”

Although he must stop Heon from giving up the bamboo grove, he also had to make preparations to block Heon’s rage if it was aimed at the Crown Prince and Consort Yu.

If he did not settle this matter properly, it would only begin a bloody war of revenge. The two’s reckless actions had turned into the worst case scenario.

“Your Majesty!”

The Emperor staggered as he exited the residence.

One of the two who had to pay the price was the lover to whom he had given his heart. And the other was the son who would inherit his throne.

‘How do I fix this?’

No matter how much he mulled over it, he could not find the answer he wanted.

* * *

Deep within an abyss, MoonWon couldn’t see anything. She looked up.

The sky was so blue that it looked strange. Left all alone in this world, MoonWon took in a deep breath.

She was probably exhausted.

MoonWon really liked the complete silence. Although the completely dark ground was a bit scary, if she just kept her eyes on the sky and moved forward, it wasn’t difficult at all.

“I’m sleepy.”

Her eyes gradually began to close. She wanted to look around some more, but her entire body felt like it was made of cotton soaked in water. She couldn’t lift a finger.

“Father?”

Letting out a strained breath, MoonWon saw a familiar figure. Her eyes followed the figure and began to well up with tears. Forcing herself to start moving, MoonWon began to run after it.

“Mother! Father!”

MoonWon had almost never seen the two of them standing together like that. And MoonWon hadn’t seen her mother in a long time.

“Father!”

She thought she was tired, but the moment she saw YongUn in front of her, MoonWon felt a surge of strength. If she lost them this time, she may never see them again.

When MoonWon drew closer, YongUn and his wife turned around.

Although they were walking and MoonWon was running, the distance between them remained the same.

“Wait for me!”

MoonWon’s skirts twisted around her legs, and she stumbled. However, she quickly got back up.

“Aah!”

She could no longer see the clear sky or the silent space. This was the last person who would believe her. She could not let him go.

She began running frantically once again, but she collapsed not long after.

“Father!”

YongUn stopped in his tracks at MoonWon’s scream. He gazed at MoonWon who had collapsed on the ground and smiled as he shook his head.

“Don’t go and leave me alone.”

The tears began to trickle down her cheeks. It was already so difficult and overwhelming now. How was she to continue enduring this all on her own?

She didn’t want to do it anymore.

If she had to struggle and endure it all again, she’d rather just give up.

“...Take me with you.”

YongUn gazed at MoonWon and shook his head once again.

When she saw YongUn turn around again and walk away, MoonWon got back up. The moment she tried to follow after YongUn, the ground shook beneath her feet and she fell back down again. The dark abyss returned, and the ground between YongUn and MoonWon split. Hot lava sloshed in the cracks and drew them further away from each other.

“Why is it always me? Why am I always the one who is left out?”

Why didn’t things ever go her way?!

However, despite her wishes, YongUn and MoonWon’s mother had completely disappeared.

MoonWon’s eyes continued to search for traces of YongUn. Then she looked back at the path she had taken.

She just wanted to give it all up now. She didn’t want anything, and she didn’t expect anything more.

Crouched on the ground, MoonWon gathered her legs together and buried her face against them.

* * *

“Yusun-nim! This is all a misunderstanding! This is unfair.”

Crying screams and shouts rang in the air of the bamboo grove. All the servants’ and slaves’ belongings were thrown outside. The soldiers’ hands were busy as they rummaged through every single item.

A soldier discovered something as he looked through a mountain of items and pointed at one of the servants. Suddenly, other men grabbed the servant by both arms and dragged them out.

“That…! That was just given to me for my birthday! That’s all! How could I dare to be careless when I am serving the Mistress?! Yusun-nim! This isn’t fair… Aagh!”

“Drag them away!”

“Yusun-nim!”

Yusun pursed her lips as the servant begged for their life.

She was to blame for allowing old friendships to influence her decision when she had been given the command to clean house. The more they searched for items sent by Consort Yu, the more they seemed to pop up.

Not only had they driven their true mistress to the edge of a cliff, they had also branded her as a criminal.

“Yusun-nim!”

“What are you doing?! I told you to drag them away immediately!”

None of Consort Yu’s people were to be left behind.

Although Heon hadn’t given her the order, from what she could gather from Junghwan’s letter, the situation was very dire.

“Don’t miss a single thing.”

The traitors had targeted their masters’ lives. It was possible that this would not end with merely their lives. Heon could go after the lives of their families as well.

“Yusun-nim! I’m sorry! Please save me!”

“Now is not the time to beg me for your lives! Why is it taking so long?! I told you to drag them away immediately!”

If they were going to beg for their lives like this, they should have acted properly from the start. In order to live, Yusun needed to eliminate every single trace of Consort Yu from the bamboo grove.

At Yusun’s shout, the soldiers moved quickly.

“Yusun-nim.”

“What about Yeori?”

“That is…”

Yeori had recovered just enough to be able to move with some difficulty. However, she did not leave MoonWon’s room. She begged that if she were to die, she’d do it in front of MoonWon and never left the room MoonWon used to occupy. She continued to cling onto that place and spent her days cleaning and tidying it.

“Has she made any other moves?”

“We’ve planted people to keep an eye on her, but it seems that she hasn’t done anything suspicious for now. All I’ve heard is that she continues to overwork herself despite her injuries. It seems that those who are keeping watch over her have tried to get her to stop, but she will not listen.”

By the time Yusun had realized what had happened to Yeori, it was too late.

Junghwan’s latest letter reported that he did not know when they’d return, and it sounded like the situation had not gotten any better.

Yusun did not know who was to blame for all this. However, she knew that she and the servants carried some culpability for being unaware of how serious this matter had gotten.

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