royal blood

11 | a first suspect.

taeyong had never visited the palace before. he looked around the empty hallways and dark rooms, not too surprised to see the atmosphere surrounding the palace. a few maids were walking around, whispering something into eachother's ears as they passed by taeyong.

he slowly made his way to what seemed to be a dining room. he slowly opened the door to it, revealing wendy, who's eyes were red and cheeks full of tears, reading a few letters. the door made a noise as it was being opened, making wendy look up. she wiped off her tears, getting up to greet taeyong.

" it is wonderful to see you here, mr. lee. " wendy covered her sad face with what attempted to be a bright smile, but ultimately failed to do so. " i am sorry to greet you in such a strange way, but please, take a seat and let's talk. " she pointed to the chair opposite of hers, as taeyong nodded.

" i wanted to stop by yesterday, but something came up and i had to go faster to work and spend more time .. it was quite the struggle to figure out my free time tomorrow. " taeyong let out a small sigh, as wendy slowly nodded. she took the letters away from taeyong's sight, before she cleared her throat.

" i wanted you to come today because i might have actually found what could be our first suspect. " wendy told taeyong, who's eyes widened. " i have received some information from someone i was told not to reveal the actual identity of, but she gave me a few of doyoung's letters. i am not sure where she got them, but what i can confirm is that these are his letters. "

" and .. ? who is this suspect ? " taeyong asked, clearly curious to see what wendy thought was the killer. suddently, wendy got up. she put down a few portraits of a man who was a little too familiar to taeyong, before he quickly realised who it was. " do you think baron sicheng is the one behind his highness' death ? "

" yes. " wendy replied in a cold tone. " i saw him at brother's funeral. he was smoking a cigarette, mr. lee ! a cigarette ! " she raised her voice, as taeyong was taken aback by her reaction. " he is evil, and he must be punished for his crimes ! we just need to find enough clues to prove that he was the murderer. "

" we should start off with the basic information — where was baron sicheng when his highness died ? " taeyong asked, as he explained to wendy how they should work. " we will take everyone and question them, to make it seem like everyone is a suspect, not just baron sicheng. i am a journalist, and i can clearly tell who is lying. "

" you are very right, mr. lee. " wendy nodded, as she sat back down. " my sister is currently in peleria, on a royal tour. when she is to return, i will write a letter to you. we will start the questioning as soon as i am able to bring everyone into the palace. " she smiled to taeyong, who agreed.

" it must be very hard for you, your majesty. " taeyong let out a sigh, " i have gone to work and heard that you and his highness were closer than you were with her highness yeri. " he told wendy, who slowly nodded. " i have heard that you two were very, very close. " he let out a laugh, as wendy tried hiding her smile.

" yes, we were very close. " wendy looked down, as her smile slowly faded away. " he was the only one that made me feel included in the royal family. as the only bastard child, i was always ignored and made fun of. however, doyoung really made me feel included and loved in this hell of a family. "

taeyong looked down. it was clear to him that wendy was not too happy with what he had said. to him, it was possible that doyoung and wendy had been very close to eachother, but to others, it was a sign that they might've loved eachother more than siblings, that wendy was the one doyoung had wanted to marry.

" i do not understand why people were so angry surrouding my brother. " wendy let out a sigh, before taeyong slowly looked back up. " he is criticized for everything he does, and he .. he struggled so much without telling anyone else. he chose to go through it alone and suffer more in the end. " a small tear escaped wendy's eye, as she wiped it off.

taeyong suddently thought about mark. did he also struggle in his final moments ? he had never imagined or thought about mark's feelings and images as he was dying, but wendy's statement had made him think about it. mark never complained about feeling sad or lonely, but taeyong never asked either.

" what you said got to my heart, your majesty. " taeyong said, as a fear tears dropped on his cheeks. " i can feel your pain, i can imagine how hard was it for you when you found him dead. " he said, as a sudden sob escaped his mouth. " i never got to see my brother afted he died, i only got to see his casket during his funeral. "

he continued crying, as wendy got up. she pulled him into a hug, as taeyong covered his face. he hid his face with his hands, as wendy pat his back. suddently, taeyong looked up to wendy, as the two chose to look at eachother for a few minutes. everything was so, so quiet.

" mr. lee, your brother should surely be given justice as well, and we will somehow figure that out as well. " wendy continued to pat his back, as taeyong continued nodding. " you must've loved your brother so much. i can not figure out how you were able to go through it. " she whispered into taeyong's ear, as he let out a small sigh.

" he was killed in fetin. " taeyong suddently said, " his name was mark. he was a journalist that wanted to show the people of hlorrendin what life in peleria was actually like. " he said, as wendy handed him a tissue. " i think that he might have been killed in a shoot-out caused by the army, but what if he was killed on purpose ? "

" mr. lee, we will find out one day what went down in fetin. " wendy said, as taeyong got up. " you should leave and rest. you have gone through a lot. we will talk once again when you are ready. " she pulled taeyong into another small hug, as he nodded.

taeyong slowly walked away. wendy watched him, as she remained in the dining room. her head was filled with questions, about sicheng, about taeyong and his brother. fetin. his brother was killed in a fetin, a place where sicheng's father ruled as the secone governor. sicheng was a general in the pelerian and hlorrendian army.

could sicheng be the one behind everything ? was he that evil, more evil than a simple nickname of tyrant ? was he the heart of evil ? who was actually baron sicheng of peleria and what were his intentions ? he had been a friend to doyoung for his whole life, but did he ever care for doyoung ?

—

sicheng and yeri looked at the portraits displayed in the hallway of the palace of peleria. jungwoo was once again busy to help yeri around, and sicheng offered to take yeri around the hallways of what was known as the gold palace.

yeri knew that peleria was the richest county in hlorrendin. there were six counties across the small kingdom — peleria, nirest, withermoor, rugraine, besanlon and halisea. ceham was located in nirest, a rather small county where the industry was not so developed.

while nirest represented the fun, the bright roaring twenties and future of the kingdom, peleria was the place where the better future had to be secured. people were dying for their county to become a safer place, and yeri probably went around a city where ashes and lifeless bodies were hidden behind gates and streets.

" these are all of the pelerian kings. " sicheng said, " as soon as they pass away, their portraits are placed on this beautiful hallway. however, it is just the heir that is celebrated in peleria. middle sons or daughters, youngest sons or daughters are seen as a sin of this world, people who exist only to live in the shadows of our oldest sibling.

yeri looked at sicheng, who spoke in a tone that clearly showed his sadness. the both of them were not lucky enough to become the heirs and were seen as useless. yeri was seen as just a pretty princess and sicheng as a tyrant, a man who loved to murder and destroy.

" i have always wondered why you get called a tyrant. i am aware that you are a general in the army, so you must be called because of that reason. " yeri let out a laugh, as sicheng raised his eyebrow. he shaked his head, as yeri widened her eyes. " no ? "

" i actually do not feel well when human lives are lost. " sicheng said, " i might be a general in the army, but i have never participated in an anti-revolutionary movement, to go out and shoot innocent people who are asking for normal human rights. " he let out a sigh, " i can not make decisions, but if i was to become the baron, i would stop these. "

" i didn't expect to hear that answer from you, sicheng. " yeri tried to cover her small smile, " i saw you dancing, i saw you smiling, and now i hear that you care about human lives. " she said, as her cheeks felt like they were burning. sicheng let out a laugh, " you are quite the gentleman, i must say. "

—