The Unknown History

40

Jungwon tightened his grip around his sword, panting tiredly. Sunoo had invited him to practise sword fighting. "Your Majesty, calm down. You'll kill me for real!" The nobleman said as he dropped his weapon and surrendered.

Sunoo dropped his sword before plopping himself on the ground. He placed both of his palms against his eyes as he sobbed. "I can't have an heir. Heejin can't get pregnant."

"Are you mad at her?"

"No," the king wiped his tears, "I'm mad at myself. It's all my fault. She was okay before we both got married. So what happened after a few months?"

Jungwon kneeled and patted Sunoo's back gently, "Everything happens for a reason, Your Majesty. You can still adopt a child and make him the heir to the throne. You can appoint concubines–"

"I don't want to appoint concubines. It'll break Heejin's heart."

"Your Majesty," Jungwon held both of the said man's shoulders, "The only thing to do now is to comfort Her Majesty. She must be devastated right now."

The King nodded as they both stood up. Jungwon was picking up his sword when a sudden pain was felt in his chest. He yelped and fell to the ground, breathing in and out heavily.

"Jungwon-ah!" Sunoo tried to help him, "Call the physician!"

The nobleman clenched the hem of Sunoo's sleeves, gasping for air. He then closed his eyes slowly as he fell into the darkness.

🌷

Yeonseo eyed Sunghoon as he calmly sipped on his fruit drink. She clasped her hands together and looked away, feeling bored and tired. He scoffed and placed his cup on the wooden table. "How's the child in your womb, princess? You have a few months left before giving birth."

"It's fine."

He knew she didn't want to have a conversation with him.

Soon, her drink was served. Her eyes widened when she saw a familiar flower her father used to tell her about.

"In the old days, the people usually use these flowers to poison people. It's easier since people don't recognise the small flower."

She stayed still in her seat, too speechless to find out the prince was planning to kill her too. Sunghoon calmly drank his juice before saying, "This is a special drink. I heard it's good for your health especially when you're pregnant. Jungwon has been drinking it and he's getting better."

"You gave this to Jungwon?" Her voice trembled. He nodded, "He likes it. He said it's pretty and his health is getting better too."

"Don't lie," she instantly stood up and strangled him, "You poisoned him! You monster! Killing Baekhee isn't enough and now you're trying to kill me and my husband?! What is the matter with you?!"

The palace guards around them came running, immediately pulling them away. The prince gasped for air before bursting into laughter.

"You're quite smart, aren't you? Who are you actually, Kim Yeonseo? You knew about the war, you know about the flowers," he stepped closer to her.

Her personal guard placed a hand in front of her to block him, "Your Highness, I do not know what happened, but Her Highness does not want to be close to you. We will go back to the palace now," he bowed before leading her away from the place.

🌷

Heejin sat still on her throne, eyeing the woman in front of her. The future concubine bowed to give her some respect, "Thank you for appointing me as the concubine, Your Majesty. I promise to make His Majesty happy and give him an heir."

She scoffed and looked away, "Your job is to just give an heir. He would not leave me for you."

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, for saying such things."

"If you'll excuse me, Concubine Jeong. I have somewhere else to be," She said before leaving the throne room. Concubine Jeong was the only woman she dreaded to see.

During her time as a noblewoman, Concubine Jeong was arrogant and selfish. When she first fell in love with Sunoo, she found out the concubine also had feelings for him not as a person, but for power and status.

The other concubine options couldn't be appointed since they were young and some were also infertile. She wanted someone who has the same age as hers and someone who Sunoo would probably not like.

"Your Majesty, how are you feeling? You know you don't have to appoint a concubine if you don't like it," her personal maid said.

Heejin smiled, "It's for Sunoo. My job is to give an heir and I failed. So I must find another way, even if it's appointing the woman that I hate the most."