The Love They Never Had: The Chase

Chapter 247: Ultimatum (Choehu Tongcheob)

"Why did you do that? Why did you just let her walk away like that? Why didn't you unleash your wrath upon her? You know what kind of person she is and how nobody can stop her, so why? You told me to be differential to her and to tell you my grievances upon your return, so what now? Had I disobeyed her orders, then she would have more reasons to impose more punishments upon me! And why do you always keep giving her absolute power over the harem again when you were about to depose her? It isn't like you are unaware of her cruelty, so why?" "Are you blaming me, my dear concubine?" "How could I possibly dare to do that to a son of the heavens? To a Prince?" "I swear to you that I will get revenge..." "Revenge! Why can't you just depose of her now! Before she rises back to power once again! The pain of loosing a child overtime may eventually fade, but how can I live anywhere near her again! You tell me! And what happens if you become sentimental over your past again?" "Please try to endure her until this plague is over, then I will depose of her. She is the only Royal member whose clan has survived these plagues, that is the only reason why she is still here, to protect everyone else, or I would have done away with her years ago!" "Why even bother to vy for your favour if your wife will just kill us all eventually? How many lives has she taken now?and how many of those were your unborn children? If I had just lived in obscurity, then I wouldn't have had to face a tragedy like this! And against such deadly forces! Our hate for each other will not subside even if she receives 'death from a thousand cuts'. I can no longer live as a concubine and dress myself up to please others with this inconsolable grief!" "My love...I am so sorry..." "Your Majesty, since we need to put up with her for the duration of this plague, I beg you to let me reside in a nunnery until then to help myself before I can serve you again!"

I could hear both my husband and his little slut arguing from outside of their door as if she was the only woman in history to have ever lost a child. Thankfully, it looks like my husband took my threats seriously since he did nothing more to me than confining me to my quarters, but I had my way to deal with that. But even with the death of the physician that was on my hands, I still needed to find a way to ensure my stay here even if this plague did manage to subside. I was waiting for Nam Seon-Ho to arrive upon my orders so that he could help me but an end to this witch and her accomplice and my husband could once again just focus on me again. And as for myself, it was pretty clear what I had to do now to save myself and resurrect my clan and bring us up once again in glory and wealth that were only second to my husband...
"Your Highness? You called upon me?" "Have you made contact with Seo Yeon?" "Yes I have, and I am here to report that she has absolutely no plans in meeting your husband to any Royal Family member to expose your crimes. Her treatment in the brothel has left her quite broken and her separation from her brother is just another heavy blow to her already fragile mental state. She is...very much how she was in her past when she had her fits...what is it? Why are you looking at me like that?" "It is because you have a rather unusual drive about you that I just cannot figure out at all. I understand my husband's ambitions, but I am not sure that even he is willing to sacrifice his closest people again and again like you have and still have them wrapped around your finger." "I have paid my debt to each and every person, and now I have nothing tying me down to my past. My father trained me to be the best that I can be and I still have his legacy to live upto, despite his crimes against the nation." "So you really have nothing to do with Seo Yeon at all?" "Your Highness, I have never made the girl any promises that she believes in." "But you have been with the girl, right? In ways that her brother would certainly disapprove of." "It is no secret that Seo Yeon is a bewitching little minx that hasn't let me breathe in peace ever since her little crush on me since our childhoods. I would have been married a long time ago to a worthy woman if she wasn't still hanging around me so much."

"Describe it to me." "Excuse me?" "Forgive me for this awkward request, but it has been a very long time since I have had the pleasure of serving my husband, and I miss it now more than ever. Describe it to me, and I will pick a woman who suits you the most for marriage." "Thank you, Your Highness. Very well, she..." "Describe it to me from the beginning, how your days will be and how you like to be served." This was a very awkward question for me to answer, and it was taking my memories back to the days where she lived under my father's roof and I used to come home where Yeon was waiting for me in her regular clothes that irritated me; what I wouldn't give to come home to Yeon in the best clothes and doused in the best perfume and wearing the best makeup with her arms wide open for me...she was in my thoughts even when I just tried to focus on work. But instead my mind was on the woman that I longed to truly marry; and even though I was burning to touch her I could at least feast my eyes on her as I thought about all the possibilities we could carry out as a married couple. I kept in mind the words that she told me the las time that I was in her quarters and I was giving it some serious thought...but as much as I wanted to just leave everything behind, I still had to protect Hwi...and take apart my father's plan. I knew that no matter what my desires were that I couldn't continue to fool Yeon like I had been doing so far; if I had any hope of Yeon not detesting me or leaving me I knew that I had to return her memories and brother to her and give her some time to think things through before we reunited again. I couldn't deny my fear but I already had a feeling deep down that she would forgive me...she would give me a chance like no-one else had done before and lead me into a brand new like that I could live on my own terms. And when I was done with my work, I went to my bedroom where Yeon had already lit the fire and the sleepy incense sticks that had really improved the quality of my sleep and even had another tea waiting for me which was infused with chamomile flowers that allowed me to get at least a few hours of decent sleep unlike before her stay here. She was just about to leave before I used her down next to me and I lay in her lap as I knew my father would be engaged with the work for a few hours at least so I had Yeon to myself.
"You should get some sleep." "I don't want you to leave." "Then I will stay here and tidy up your table for you." "You are the only person that I trust to cleanly bedroom, do a good job and I will try to see you when I can." "You have your fiancé here My Lord, you should not be thinking about me at all." "You shouldn't have teased me when you touched me like that. There is no going back now." "What do you mean?" "You are the one that I should be marrying, not that little girl." The silence that followed was almost deafening and I resorted to childish tricks to make her talk to me like throwing small things in her direction until she couldn't take it anymore. "You're father already agreed to marry me off..." "Do not even think about it." "Will you stand up to your father about it? And break off your own very advantageous..." "I will take you from here the minute my father finds someone for you and I will have a chance to leave that girl behind. I wouldn't marry her even if I was given all the opportunities in the world and risk loosing my sanity." "And where will you hide me?" "Who said anything about hiding you?" "Then what do you mean to do with me?" "Do not question me like that if you cannot take the answer." I replied with a sinister smile as I began to wildly imagine everything I can do to her. "Talk to me seriously, stop joking with me." "Why do you always do that?" "What do I do?" "You deflect everything like you cannot believe what is going on between us?" "There is nothing going on..." "You keep thinking that until I cover you with a red veil, because I will not exhaust myself trying to convince you. You can believe what you want until I am able to prove myself, but listen to me and listen to me well. I will not tolerate another man skulking around you when you are my person, so if you even think about entertaining other men then I will make your life miserable until you return to your senses." "Why do you always do that?" "Do what?" "Talk to me and act as if you own me." "Because I do. And do not bother fighting this; I only need your word to break off this engagement." "And what if I refuse? This woman can give you everything that you want..." "Like I said I will not risk my sanity for a few gains, no matter what the benefits are."

"I will not let you marry an epileptic..." the minute she said that word I got really angry that I threw the entire tea set that she laid down besides me as soon as I entered this room a few minutes ago close to her enough to scare her but not harm her. I had long forgotten about those dated fits that tortured her to no end but as time was passing us by her presence in my home was becoming more and more precious to me as my life outside the palace was putting me in such a bad place that I could no longer focus on anything. In fact I had not even told Yeon that I had started going to opium dens to relieve myself of the pain that I was constantly in when she wasn't around me to lessen the guilt that I had towards her brother, the anger I felt constantly towards my father who threatened Yeon's life every single day even with the concubines interference and the pressure I had at work now that my father publicly humiliated me at my own expense with his blatant nepotism. And the worst thing that was I knew for damned sure if if could just confide in Yeon properly, she could ease all of my burdens. It was hard to look her everyday, to want to cross those boundaries with the only person you were comfortable with enough to give what was left of my heart to her, and yet she was the biggest victim in my father's scheme. And the only way I could protect her was to stay as close to her as I could whilst I was dying to take her away from the misery I had to live in and plan for her reunion with he brother who could potentially take her away from me for good. But we were so deep in this that keeping her at a distance was not only futile now, but it could push me right over the edge and turn me into a person who could easily take what I waned without giving Yeon the respect that she so badly deserved.

I was still thinking about it all when the servant I had hired to stay close to her had the nerve to come into my room without permission and immediately start tending to Yeon in front of me. If it were not for the fact that Yeon was looking at me in shock, I would have had him whipped for coming anywhere near her in my presence. "Yeonnie! Are you ok..." "What did you just call her? Look at me when I'm talking to you!" "I..I..." "Nobody calls her that expect for myself and..." I almost exposed her brother to her for the first time, that was how angry I was. "And who? Seon-Ho?" "Get out, the pair of you!" "Why are you getting angry at me for? I haven't done anything!" "You heard me, just leave me alone! And take this dog of a servant with you!" "Fine! I will! And I will leave you alone with your fiancé!" Yeon getting angry was honestly the funniest thing I had seen for a while because she wasn't very good at it at all, even when she was angry all she did was threaten me, which just told me that she was slowly but surely surrendering to me already. "You do that, you leave me alone with the so-called woman who can give me everything you can't and you see what happens. Now leave me alone and let's see how far you get with this penniless servant." I was just still slightly high from the opium and I was angry at myself to almost letting Hwi slip out of my mouth, but since Yeon felt big enough to threaten me, then I could not wait to see what she would be willing to do to hurt me. Because it was nothing compared to what I could do to her and she knew it before she walked out in anger and slammed the door behind her. "Master....she is crying..." "Don't you think I know that!" "But..." "She is only crying over me, which I would much rather prefer than her crying over somebody else. She loves me, she is just frustrated by the situation that my father has put her in. I want you to continue your so-called friendship with her and keep her brother at bay. And bring the concubine to me and tell her to bring her zither. And if you ever come to her again in my presence then I will whip you until you bleed."
"...So that is what it is like to be that close to someone, it gives you peace of mind, doesn't it? It is no wonder why I possess none at all...."