The Love They Never Had: The Chase

Chapter 207: Downfall (Mollag)

"...It is just the matter of coinage right? Very well, i shall find a reason to bring up this topic at the next banquet and..." "Mother! What on earth are you saying right now? Our family has fallen out of favour and we haven't been invited to any banquets for months now! My personal business has been exposed and I am on the brink of being deposed from the Royal Family itself thanks to your bratty daughter that you failed to keep control of! I told you that you should have married her off long ago, and now look at what she has done to me! And all because she wants to chase after my husband's enemy!" "That girl! Honestly, I have absolutely no idea what she is thinking of...." "You know exactly what she wants! She wants my position, my crown and my husband! And she will bring him down if she cannot have him!" "Mother! That isn't true! I do truly love him! And if i do no return to his side right now, he will find his friend's sister and marry her immediately! And is hall become a spinster forever!" "Be quiet girl! Have you no shame for all of the trouble that you have caused us thus far!" "Mother! Forget her for a second and let u s focus on this coinage matter! It is a capital crime that is linked to uprising and rebellion!" "Calm down girl! Our glory days may be behind us, but The emperor is still indebted to us, and he cannot forget that, we will not let him. We took in his family members when their family were under siege years ago and we gave them an Empress and a Princess Consort from our own clan and we must not give this up. Even my own father died in battle t ensure that the current Emperor took the throne and my family was divided, this Royal Family owes us much more than we could ever do to them."

"What about me! Everyone knows how i feel about the Young Master Nam! But he only cares about that disabled orphan girl! He will marry her as soon as he finds her and he will never look at me again, especially after my sister exposed me for sleeping with my Royal Advisors! But how is she any better than me! I have never even met her yet and she is already responsible for my misery and humiliation!" "She is responsible for our downfall! Both of us mother!" "And whose fault is that! Who told you to go against her! Or her mother for that matter! She was just a defenceless ex-kisaeng who didn't have the power to so much sold her neighbours! This is all of your fault! You are the reason why your husband cherishes his son over you! You have been married for decades and you are still unable to capture your husband's heart! If you hadn't killed your husband's tutor's wife and made your husband have to kill Seo Geom, then you wouldn't be facing any of these difficulties at all! None of us would be facing the downfall that we are today!" "Mother! I was simply doing my husband a favour and helping him get rid of a powerful enemy..." "They were confidants, not enemies. Your husband has never forgiven himself for killing his tutor and leaving his children as orphans, that is why he keeps them close to him. And you? What about you? Does your husband treasure you? As mine does? No, he doesn't, because you both are victims of your own jealousies."
"But other! i shall become the joke of this capital if i do not marry him!" "And you will soon become a widow if you do, for your brother-in-law can easily kill him in his sleep once he does marry you." "But that orphan girl is anything but a Lady! She is blunt, rude and unruly!' "And yet she is far more competent enough to ruin us all from a distance without even having to report to anyone about your misdeeds! And do you know why that is? It is because she has people who are ready to risk their lives for her! But you? You have both betrayed everyone in your lives to get to where you are today and no-one wants you, not even your respective lovers!" "But mother!" "Hush now! I will talk to your father about this matter, but do not expect anything from it."

"And what about me mother? Who can we use to secure my footing in the palace and stick my by husband? What about...father's brother? My uncle?" "Your uncle is still living a hard life in poverty and exile it has been years since he wore new clothes and he barely gets by. He apparently stops eating at midday and always says indoors, he barely has any muscle to walk at all, which was his fault for making unreasonable demands. The lowly people under him were all in high places, he had countless treasures in his palace of a home, and his halls were filled with the best horses and the finest women who were taken against their will. He simply got too greedy and he was punished for it, so why are you asking about him now? He was a useless person back then and he has no use even now, unless you want to plead for his useless life and anger the Royal Family even more? Is that the best idea that you could possibly come up with? That is why i must speak to your husband myself and clear up this mess that you have made. But heed my word girls, do not provoke the Seo's anymore, unless you want to bring ruin to us all." "What do you mean?" "My goodness girl, are you really that uneducated? Haven't you noticed that Seo Yeon is the only person in this kingdom after her father who is always reluctant to enter the palace? And why do you think that is? Why do you think everything that your sister has done to her is now backfiring onto her?" "Do you mean..." "She has to have a solid level of suspicion to not want to climb up the social ranks, to not actively chase after the Prince's in hopes to secure a good marriage for herself or to even keep in contact with my son-in-law to promote her brother? She isn't interested in making or keeping connections in the palace, she doesn't attempt to mix with the other ladies of nobility and she never accompanies her brother when festivities take place here! She...she prefers the company of kisaengs, for goodness sake! She is more interested in reading and learning rather than keeping up with the lates fashion trends and she works instead of socialising! She doesn't even need to work anymore but she still does it! And if that wasn't enough, she has caught the eye of many officials in this palace, not to mention my daughter's husband!" "And that is exactly why I went after her! She should know her place and....Mother! Why did you slap me! How could you do that!" "Have you not heard a single word that I have just said! She doesn't want to be here! She isn't interested in my son-in-law in the least! You provoked her for your own baseless doubts and now look at what position we are all in because of her! Everyone in this entire kingdom knows that the only person she has ever loved is the rising star of the palace, so why not let them get on with it? The sooner they marry, the less that your husband can do about it, especially now that he is one move away from being disowned entirely!"

"No mother! I will not allow it! I will never let him have her..." "Enough of this!" "Father? What are you doing here? Why aren't you with The Emperor to discuss the Young Master Nam!" "Because The Emperor hasn't even mentioned his name since the war was over and he failed to return to the capital! S what on earth can i possibly do about it!" "You are his son's father-in-law! He still has to give you some face! You can even ask him to grant him marriage to 2 people at the same time! I am willing to share him and..." "Ridiculous! Disgraceful! Do you see the way that you are sacrificing yourself for a man who has no interest in you at all!" "Father! How could you say such heartless words! How could you change so much! Do you...do you not love me anymore! Everyone sees me as a laughing stock, so how could you possibly abandon me now!" "You wretch of a woman! Only a few moves from you has brought about the downfall of ur entirely family and it's clan! But you do not care about that, do you! Listen to me girl, you cannot force a marriage to come about either! Or he shall resent you for the rest of your life, just how our son-in-law refuses to help us due to his resentment towards your own sister! And now I am being instigated to use my own power for survival, which will surely be criticised and used against me and this clan at some point in time! And now..." "What is it father?" "In order to preserve our clan; I will have to either marry off my youngest daughter or end the marriage of my eldest and relocate somewhere where we can start over again."
"NO! Never! i would rather hang myself than give up my husband! Let us see if he wants to force his own daughter-in-law's death in public!" "Enough! i have always let you do what you wanted and now i have spoiled you both into women with absolutely no backbone! Who will respect you if you always cry and wail whenever things do not go your way? If you do not respect yourself, then who will? Look at that Seo Yeon! She doesn't even kowtow to her elders and yet she is successful1 she was making a serious income with her embroidery business and has managed to bring down a powerful family from afar!"

"But husband....!" "And as for you, wife! You are expressly forbidden from contacting the Royal Family without me! After all of these years, your emotional blackmail about providing his family food will no longer hold up against The Emperor now, not when he is already hell-bent on deposing his son. Especially when we both know all of the for that you gave them was spoiled. It will no longer suffice for wealth and glory like it did in the past. And as for you daughter, you either marry or become a nun to save us all!" "No! I will never marry anyone apart from Nam Seon-Ho! And i will never live outside of the capital where the towns are poor and barren!" "Nonsense! If your uncle can survive there for decades, then why can't you!" "Because Seo Yeon and her family will ridicule me if i do so!" "Seo Yeon and her family will bring you down if you get too close to her man! And bring us all down with you because of it! But if you marry now, then no-one will dare to look down on you! I shall marry you off no matter what girl, so start packing up! We cannot refuse our new benefactors now, now when we have no other backers now! And if we preserve our power peacefully, then we can always make a comeback sooner rather than later when the world has forgotten that our family even exists! And when that times comes, everyone shall be envious of your marriage instead! Don't you see!"
"But father! If uncle was truly capable, then he wouldn't have ended up in exile and being suppressed for so many years!" "This is only a temporary solution like i said, if it were not for this family, then the current Emperor couldn't even touch the throne that he wears today. Our descendants have died fighting for his throne, so you have to do this for us." "And what about me father? What can i possibly do to keep my husband with me?" "There is only one thing that you can do, daughter; you have to supply him with as many woman as possible. It is our only hope now and it will give us the time we need to figure out a possible solution since the investigation into your brothel activities are as good as exposed already, and they will be as soon as they can relocate Seo Yeon." "No father, please do not make do this..." "Do not worry daughter, I shall try one last time to get an audience with The Emperor before you have to pull that last resort for your husband." "But what about father, mother?" "Don' you worry about him, what can he possibly do to me? Divorce me in our old age? Forget it. You shouldn't have provoked Yeon, but we cannot loose against her now."