"I can't resist temptation. That is my curse."
To be the future wife of the Grand Master of the Temple means a life of status, riches, and stability. It means you no longer have to pretend to be a boy, doing criminal acts to take care of your ailin...
Hoseok looked at the thin ledge of mountain below his feet, the only thing between him and a deathly drop into the capital city below. Night had fallen some time ago, the lanterns and torches decorating the streets in such a way that it looked as if it was partly on fire. He swallowed.
A small violet bird landed on his shoulder, its weight more than twenty horses. His knees shook and buckled, but he didn't fall.
He was at the top. He couldn't buckle.
If he buckled, the small sliver of mountain between him and the capital would collapse, killing and destroying everyone below.
That was his burden. It had always been his burden.
"You're still standing, little prince?" the bird chirped in his ear.
Hoseok shook under the bird's weight.
"Do you wish to see me fall?" he replied.
The bird ruffled its feathers. "If I wanted you to fall, I wouldn't have made this ledge."
Hoseok looked down at his feet. The dry, bare mountain ledge suddenly sprouted grass. He watched it bloom beneath him.
"Why do you torture me?" Hoseok said, now trembling not from the weight of the bird, but now from the weight of his own heart. "Why have you kept me alive when I bring no value to this world the way I am?"
His right knee gave out, and he dropped it to the ground. The bird did not leave his shoulder.
"Stand up," the bird commanded.
He kept his eyes on the city when he spoke.
"They'll find out who I am," he continued. "My disease. My weakness. My blood."
The bird nipped at his ear.
"Stand up," it commanded again.
"There is nothing in me that can rule over these people," he stuttered out. "I can't even rule over myself."
At this, the bird grew three times its regular size. It dug its claws into Hoseok's shoulders and flapped its massive wings, pulling Hoseok back up to stand to both his feet. The bird did not release his shoulders as it continued to speak.
"In my kingdom, all are equal," the bird said. "My hand can sweep the grandest of warriors to his grave, or pull the weakest from the depths of the sea. It is my decision. I make no mistakes."
Hoseok dropped his eyes from the city and to the ground beneath him. It continued to grow various leaves of grass, weeds, and even small flowers.
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"What's the point?" he asked. "Even if I do not destroy my kingdom by my own hand, there will be kings after me who will tear down what I have built."
