The Wicked King and the Fairy Princess

Chapter 2/Jeong Yunho's Interlude

Oro, turchese, amaranto
Corallo, smeraldo e caffè
La bimba in quel cielo d'oriente
Vide la vita e l'amore che c'è

_Il terzo fuochista - Tosca

~°~

Fairy Kingdom of Aurora

Goodness, courage, mercy.
Jeong Yunho, the Fairy Prince, was all this and more.

Heir to the noble lineage of the Fairies and 35th successor to the throne of the Fairy Kingdom of Aurora, as a child he was instructed by his parents, Oberon Hojun and Titania Minyoung, to become the next ruler.

Praised and loved by the entire Fae population, he had spent part of his life knowing and understanding the needs of his people, proving on several occasions that he possessed a pure and humble heart despite the social difference and noble blood in his veins.

Studying day and night, he had known the outside world through old and yellowed books, often covered with a thread of dust but which in his infant's eyes revealed stories that were both magnificent and terrible at the same time.
In his innocent mind everything was marvelous and astonishing, a continuous dance of grandiose events. He had lived multiple lives identifying himself with those of valiant heroes and great rulers, wishing with all of himself to be able to follow those same footsteps someday not too far away.

But with the growth came the realization that the world was not only composed of knights in shining armor and wise rulers, but also of something much darker and deeper, something that brought pain and death without any distinction: Evil.

The first time he had experienced the horrors of evil he was only 10 years old.

He had gone out early on a beautiful summer morning with Hongjoong, a very dear friend and faithful companion, supervised by Master Yujin. The task of that lesson was focused on the distinction of the various plants for medicinal or poisonous use.

The small expedition was supposed to end shortly before sunset, allowing the two young students the time necessary to collect the samples and document their research; at the same time master Yujin took advantage of the situation to show the boys how to orient themselves and survive in a forest.

Starting from recognizing the footprints of various animals, passing through how to improvise a makeshift shelter and how to move undisturbed among the trees, Yunho and Hongjoong were experiencing one of the happiest and most peaceful day of their childhood.

Moving near the border with Utopia's Kingdom a strange, unpleasant and acrid smell had spread into the air and Hongjoong noticed it, turning to their mentor to express his doubt.

"Master Yujin, what is this sickening smell?"

Yujin had already smelled it for an hour and had chosen to remain alert rather than interrupt their lesson; but as they approached the territory of the men that disgusting stench increased.
He furrowed his eyebrows doubtfully, recognizing it but failing to associate it with anything definite.
Then when Prince Yunho cried out in despair, a sense of cold and terror squeezed him to the pit of his stomach, leading him to reach the young Fae in a flutter of wings.

A gruesome scene presented itself before them: hanging from the wrists to a large oak tree was the slaughtered body of a fairy.
His clothes were soaked with blood that had leaked copiously from the gash in his throat; several infected cuts and now full of larvae were scattered all over the corpse; one of his eyes was missing, indicating that the crows had already begun to feast on the carcass; the rancid smell of putrefaction plagued the air making it almost dense, unbreathable.
But what shocked the three fairies most were the deep furrows on his back, a clear sign that his wings had been violently ripped off. It was now clear that before his throat was slit he had been cruelly tortured.

The young Fae could not hold back the gagging and tears, feeling violated to the core by the gruesome and brutal sight before their eyes.
Yujin clenched his fists until his nails stuck in the palms of his hands, clenching his jaw and suppressing a cry of anger: first he had to bring the boys back to safety in the faeburgh, he didn't know if the executioners were still around there and he didn't want to take risks of any kind. He took deep breaths, pushing the bile down his throat and grabbing Yunho and Hongjoong by the arms, dragging them away from the place.
As soon as they reached a distance that he considered safe, he ordered his students to drink some water to compose themselves, trying to calm them as best he could.

"Now we will quickly go home, then we will send a team to recover the body. Rest assured, as long as you are with me nothing bad will happen to you."

Hongjoong and Yunho nodded without seeming reassured by the master's words: that day would remain indelibly engraved in their minds.

Once back within the city walls, Yujin entrusted the boys to Titania's care, retiring to Oberon's private study to discuss the serious matter.

It was known that the wings of the fairies were invisible and intangible to the eyes of humans but thanks to old spells and specific potions it was possible to show them to the non-magical.
The extirpation of the wings was already a traumatic experience itself, which could lead the victim to go mad or die from pain; it was used as an extreme punishment for those Fae who had committed unspeakable and unforgivable crimes, but had been banned for at least a couple of generations.

Hojun and Yujin were extremely worried, but they didn't know where to start the investigation, where to look for a culprit.
The day after the discovery of the body, they sent a well-trained team to retrieve it, in order to examine it and grant it a proper burial.
During the rest of the week they were able to trace his identity: he was a young Fae who had moved to live in Utopia's Kingdom; the boy was supposed to visit his parents, but he never made it to the family home.
There was no trace of the killers but the suspicion that they were traffickers of magical body parts was very strong: only such individuals could be the perpetrators of such a horrendous murder.

Archiving the case as a tragic murder, the entire Fairy Kingdom of Aurora remained in mourning for 3 days, to allow those who wanted to pay their last respects to the innocent.

Hongjoong and Yunho stood watching the continuation of the affair on the sidelines, but when it was declared that it was only a serious murder by traffickers, the prince was not at all convinced.
That story was strange and some pieces did not fit the big picture: why take only the wings and not the blood and eyes? Why not get rid of the body rather than leave it on display, as if it were a warning?
Yunho could not rest easy and had exposed his impressions to his mentor and father, but both preferred to believe that it was a unique and isolated case. Yunho decided to silence the questions in his soul, trying to trust the judgment of those who had more experience than him.
However, the worm of uncertainty continued to inhabit his mind and when two months later dozens of other bodies were found on the edge of the kingdom killed in the same way, the prince realized that he should insist on his convictions, because perhaps he could have saved the victims who came after the first.

The entire Fairy Kingdom of Aurora was troubled and deeply wounded on the day of the coronation of the new king of Utopia's Kingdom: dressed completely in black and with a cold and cruel look, the child king marched to his throne stepping on a carpet made of fairies' wings.

In that precise instant Prince Yunho remembered all the stories he had read and how men became heroes because they had always an antagonist to fight; it was then that Jeong Yunho, Fairy Prince and 35th heir to the throne of the Fairy Kingdom of Aurora, swore that he would become the one who would kill the Evil King, Song Mingi.