บท 6: Soft demeanour
My breath was caught in my throat, I struggled to form a coherent sentence before the man, who'd held me up against a brick wall, in a dark alley, much against my own will. The light that radiated off of the streetlamp illuminated his eyes.
Eyes, that bore a fierce fire within them.
His moist crusty fingers withdrew from sealing my lips and advanced to my throat, pinning me tighter as though he was scared that I may run away from his grasp.
His breath hit my shoulder as he dug his head into the crook of my neck, engulfing me.
Where did his scar go?
Hearing the drunken men pass by our alley, their lewd words spilling out their dirty mouth his the tall figure shadowed over me, camouflaging me under his own form. Once they'd passed, the strange man pulled away.
His face was the replica of the King.
He stood back, the weight of his torso being lifted Everything from his eyes to his chin, carbon copy of the King's.
"It's been a pleasure, your Highness." He mutters, the light falling over his entire face and for a second, I'm sure I've been dreaming.
If I hadn't been in my senses I would've believed the man before me was none other than The Crowned Head, Min Yun Ki.
But it wasn't him.
The black tuft of hair, the warm smile, the oil stained clothing, coal marks smothered over his cheeks.
An unkempt and poor form, it couldn't be him.
Feeling my knees shake under me, my mind was flooded with thoughts of all sorts. Was he a dupe? A con-artist? A kingpin of some sort? An Assassin who'd been sent after me?
"W-Who are you?" I ask, not being able to recognise the shaky tone, coming out of my throat.
I watch his shoulders slump, a feeling of dejection filling his eyes.
He walks towards my frail body, leaning into my shoulder.
"I'm the one who should've had you first." He mumbles in my ear, his hand caressing my arm, that grew goosebumps in response to his touch.
Leaning away, he looks into my eyes, trying to grasp the emotions I felt.
"What do you m-mean?" I stutter, placing my hands over his chest, creating a respectable distance between us.
Clicking his tongue, he steps away from me, running his hand through his greasy jet black hair, staring into the empty street, the howling of wolves settling into the midnight light.
His chest puffs out, a strained breath leaving his chest as I sink down to my feet, sliding against the wall.
My hands flatten over the gravel as I hide my head in between my legs.
Eyeing my form, he sits back against the wall opposite to me, legs sprawled open as he brings out a piece of paper, crumpled, from his pocket.
Looking up at him, he stares long and hard at the paper, biting down over his tongue as though he's trying to repress his anger.
Reaching forwards from where he sat, he slid the piece of paper in my direction, face down.
"l-I wasn't meaning to meet you like this, at the onset of midnight but the way Y-Yun Ki rushed with things, I wasn't able to see you earlier. He's quite the cunning bastard, Kim Soo Jin." He speaks, softly, pointing towards the piece of paper.
Grabbing it with shaking hands, I turn it over, wiping the soil that had stained it. Brushing that aside, my heart leaps out of my chest.
My mind refuses to acknowledge what I'm seeing on the piece of paper.
It's a family portrait.
With the deceased Monarch Min II, his Queen, their eldest son Late Seokmin and a pair of twins who stood next to each other in the centre.
"We're brothers, Soojin." His voice causes me to flinch, my grip over the picture tightening.
My body shakes, the pit of my stomach fills with an ominous premonition.
All this while, the Kingdom had kept the news of the twins from its masses.
In the public eye, there were 2 heirs to the throne-The eldest, Min Seokmin, who'd been martyred at the hands of the rival kingdom and his younger brother Min Yun Ki, who'd be currently ruling.
"B-But." I struggled with words, my tongue felt numb.
Letting out a frustrated growl, he continued.
"I know what you're thinking, Soojin. Why hadn't the Kingdom revealed me? The truth is that, I was always known to the public but it was him, my younger brother, the Ruling Monarch, the supposed Min Yun Ki, who'd been hid for years, kept away from the public eye. Soojin, before I proceed to tell you any of this, I want a promise of your discretion. I trust you because I know your current..well, circumstance. I feel your emotions, I know how it feels to have something snatched from you, unjustly."
His words bear a conviction and his eyes hold pain, the kind of pain I'd seen in my eyes.
Starting to get pulled into his words, I find my head complying, reacting before my heart does and I motion for him to proceed.
"On the Dawn of 7th of March, my mother gave birth to twins. I was born 7 minutes before him. Growing up, we were attached at the hip, felt the same things and looked out for each other but as we aged, we grew into different personalities. He was starting to become selfish, had started developing an aggression of sorts, his mood swings, his outbursts were growing out of hand and he'd even gone to the extent of harming one of the many women who looked after us. Back when him and I were receiving training in swordsmanship, he'd lost a round to the Master's son. Perhaps feeling inferior before someone who wasn't even from the Royal bloodline, it took a toll on his ego. Taking matters into his own hands, he attacked the Master's son late at night, jumping him in his sleep. Fired by his fury, he slit his throat and left the boy to bleed to death. Our Master, Park JinYoung, was revered and respected by our Father and we'd been sent under his guidance at the tender age of 11. Finding his son dead, he confronted my brother, only to be met by remorseless eyes and a shameless demeanour.
Banishing him from the academy, he was sent back the Palace, where Father belittled him the court and punished him by running a blade down his right eye, marking him as someone who'd never make it as the King, for he now owned an ominous scar, the mark of cowardice, that'd stay plastered over his face, forever. He'd been removed from the Royal family, disowned and locked in a servant quarter as an exile for 14 years. Father had ensured not a word leaked out and about this matter." He spoke, fiddling with his fingers, that bore callouses, raising the material of his sleeve to reveal a dagger like wound all around his wrist, as though he'd had his skin stitched up there.
He laughed, nervously, watching me store at his lesions.
"It's okay, you can look. That's nowhere near to the scar that's placed over my heart." He mumbles, running a thumb over his forearm, tracing the cut.
"Do you know what it feels like a have had a dagger drawn through your chest, Soojin?" He asks, looking into my icy eyes.
An unsaid silence settles in between us, two strangers gaining comfort through words.
"Yun Ki, if that's the name he is going by, is the kind of man who can go to the greatest lengths just to achieve something he's set his mind on. He wanted the throne, he claimed it, he wanted you and he betrothed you. He doesn't care who he hurts in the process. That's how he's always been, aloof and peculiar. Father saw me and Seokmin Hyung as his two pillars of strength, we'd trained well and we'd stick to the norms and traditions upheld in the domain. But when Father and Hyung lost their lives in the battle, there was a shift in the air. Mother who'd loved Yun Ki as he was the youngest heir, remained his number one supporter. She believed a man like me, wouldn't be fit as King for I lacked the ruthless spirit a King needed to possess. She had my brother released, whose heart had become so turbid that he was just looking for an opportunity to kill. He had pent up frustration within him, anger that needed an outlet and that outlet was me. He took me to the outskirts at/he Kingdom and made sure I was disposed off, for good. I'd like to think it was the blessings of Father that kept me alive that night, Soojin. My twin brother, the one I loved to death,
who's pain I felt personally, wanted me dead... for the throne. He was so obsessed with the idea of oppression that he along with my very own mother, stole my identity..." He trails off.
"S-So, does that mean you're..?"
"Yes, Soojin. I am Min Yun Ki, the rightful heir of Baekmin." He completes.
His eyes are glossy and his lower lip quivers with the declaration.
My heart clenches for him as he's someone who's been denied his rights, been oppressed all this while.
There's something that feels far personal about him and my mind fills with disgust towards the man who's had me in his clutches, manipulating me.
"I want to help you.." A meek voice jumps out of my throat, causing his pupils to shake, fervently.
"I'm willing to do anything to get you the justice you require." I mumble, staring at the purple blemishes the King's clutch had left over my forearm.
"W-We, We're both the same. One of us has not had the chance to fight while the other settles through a compromise. I want to fight back, for the righteousness of the Reign we call home, Yun Ki..l want to fight back for you.." I complete, staring at his wide eyes, until a smile tugs on his lips.
Standing up, he dusts off his back that leaves behind a cloud of dust. Walking towards me, he advances his hand, to help me up. Our hands touch, heat radiates off of his skin and fills me with acceptance, a warmth I hadn't felt in a long time. Helping me up, we're eye to eye. "I don't want you feeling that I'm using you because, the reason I was wanting to meet you was to warn you about him. You haven't seen the worst of him just yet, Soojin. If he knew you were with me, he'll kill you."
Letting out an exhale, I express myself.
"He can't kill what's already dead. I died the day he brought me into his Palace as a whore."
3rd Person's POV-
"Where the hell could she have gone at this hour and how could a bunch of you imbeciles not have handled a woman? How dare you bend down before a woman?Worthless." Yun Ki spits in rage.
"She's no longer just a woman, your Majesty. She's the Queen Consort." Chief Hong breathes out.
After Soojin had left his chamber, Yun Ki had called in his favourite Concubine Mistress, who laid on his bed, stark naked, withering amidst the sheets.
Grabbing onto the fabric of the sheets, she moans out the Emperor's name.
Yun Ki looks behind him, letting out a frustrated sigh.
"Get out, now!" He screams as the woman scrambles for her clothes and rushes out, past the Chief staring at Yun Ki in disgust.
A flock of maidservants enter into the room.
"You're married now. Do you think it's royal of you to be copulating with these loose mistresses?" The Chief asks of him.
Clothing himself, he grabs his majestic golden mask.
"I don't remember asking a petty Chief to inquire in matters regarding what happens in my Royal chamber, amidst my sheets?" Yun Ki snarls.
Stomping out of his chamber, hot on his toes.
"Call the assembly, right this moment!" He shouts at the Chief who walked behind him, down the corridor.
Walking into his Court, he seats himself on his throne, staring down at the rows of guards that'd been summoned.
"Why didn't you stop her?" He asks.
"Y-Your Highness, T-The Queen a-asked us to let her go.. We were just following the hierarchy of orders." The chief of security, confesses.
Just then, the doors of the court open, welcoming Soojin, who enters past the guards, bowing down to the ministers, who'd been called for at the break of dawn.
Standing before the throne, she bows at her husband.
"Your Majesty." Soojin addresses.
Yun Ki stands up from his composed demeanour, staring at Soojin's emotionless eyes. Advancing down the steps, he stands before her, throwing the black stole she wore, aside, as it slides down the marble flooring.
"Where were you, all night, my Queen?" He ask, sarcasm dripping off of his tone as he circles her.
"—Perhaps, with your lover? Did you run away on our first night just so you could enjoy some pleasurable moments with your secret lover, my Queen?" Yun Ki mocks, before his men.
"He would've left some marks on you, wouldn't he? Your skin is just too delicate..grows red from the slightest touch..Let me probe you."
Gasps and whispers erupt amidst the assembly of Ministers and servants, who watched the scene.
Soojin, however, remains unmoved.
"Your Majesty, I don't think—" The Chief starts, but is shushed by Yun Ki's finger.
Fiddling with Soojin's blouse, he unbuttons them one by one, making her bust appear before his subjects.
Grabbing a hand full of her breast, he inspects around her torso, for marks, fingers toying with her erect buds.
"Why are you growing hard? Do you enjoy this, exhibitionism? Do you enjoy my ministers seeing you disrobed, your flesh on display, for them to feast on.." He mutters into Soojin's ear but loud enough for everyone to hear.
Bending down, he grasps onto the waistband on her long skirt, pooling them at her feet. Grabbing her thighs, he pries her legs open, trailing his hands around every crevice her body.
"Untouched, Reserved, only for me." Yun Ki snickers, trailing his hands up Soojin's body.
Resting his hands on her wide hips, he grabs the flesh there, kissing down her neck, lewd sounds of his wet kisses echoing in the Court.
"If you're done inspecting me, May I leave to my Chamber?" Soojin asks, a tear slipping down her eyes as her teeth grit in anger.
Flicking away the tear, aggressively, she walks out of the Court, bare, with her head held high- A scene, the Royal Painter begins to jot down in the pages of History.
Countdown to the Monarch's demise, had started.
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