royal blood

31 | in loving memory.

wendy stood by taeyong's grave, letting out a small sigh. she carefully placed the rose on it, a small smile appearing on her face. wendy continued to look at the photo placed on his grave, seeing his warm smile displayed on his face. it was the photo taeyong had to take once he became a journalist, one that he mentioned liking.

wendy slowly got up from the ground, as she waved a goodbye towards taeyong. to wendy, dead people were not really gone. they were watching from above and waiting to continue their life in the sky. they were still people, not lost souls of the dead, who were lost and helpless. they had guidance up there and were able to communicate with small gestures that mostly went unseen.

she left the graveyard, before thinking if she should also head to the royal one, to visit doyoung. it had been a long time since she visited her brother and talked to him about her life without him. that day, she wished to tell him that sooyoung had mentioned feeling small kicks in her stomach, meaning that his child was alive and well, waiting to be born into the world.

wendy felt sadness for the child, one who had to live without its father — an experience that wendy went through, but without her mother. she did not remember or ever see her own mother, the woman who carried her for nine months and experienced the pain of birthing her. in some ways, wendy was thankful she never met her, a woman who gave up her husband for an affair with the king.

however, doyoung's child was not going to meet a man that was going to love them more than anyone else. he never mentioned wanting children, but whenever he visited orphanages or schools, all children gathered around doyoung, who gave them fruits and biscuits, bringing smiles to their faces. they were always happy to see doyoung because of his kindness, because of his pure heart.

wendy continued to walk down the street, holding tightly onto her skirt as she stopped by the photo of doyoung infront of the police station. it was being taken down by a few men, who were trying their best not to break it. wendy quickly realised that the whole country was going to leave the mourning period for prince doyoung. four hard weeks had passed since her brother died.

wendy finally reached the royal graveyard, making her way to doyoung's grave. she smiled at the sight of a candle burning next to it, meaning that someone had been there not too long ago. wendy looked at her brother's photo, a boring portrait that showed what their father wanted to be seen of doyoung, instead of his warm expression that was full of love.

" oh, doyoung. " wendy sat on the rock next to doyoung's grave, " i have been wanting to talk to you for some time. how have you been ? i hope you are great up there, watching over us with a lot of appreciation. " she let out a laugh, as she then sighed, " i am scared that sooyoung is not feeling well inside of the palace, but she at least has seulgi, who can guide her. "

wendy stood for the next few minutes in complete silence. to her, it meant that doyoung was trying to give her an answer. sometimes, she heard the wind blowing, leaves falling on the ground or bikes passing by, making them up to be signs from him. this time, it seemed like nothing specific was happening around her, a thing that was quite shocking for seulgi.

" i have been missing you. " wendy continued, seeing as her brother was willing to listen to her, rather than attempt to communicate. " i am still trying to figure out who might have commited such a terrible crime and took you out of our lives, but so far, there have been no leads. " she rested her head on her palms, trying to think of another topic to talk about. " i still can not believe you will be a father. "

a small tear formed in wendy's eyes. she looked down, not wanting doyoung to see her crying. she wiped the tear off her face, looking back up, her eyes meeting one of a hooded figure's. wendy got up, as she could feel herself shaking. was this the mysterious person she needed to find ? standing in front of her was the main suspect of her brother's murder.

wendy got up. it was her moment to catch the criminal, deciding to run and catch the killer. however, the hooded figure had the same plan as her — running. the two both started running, quickly entering the busy street. wendy could not feel her legs anymore, seeing that they were getting closer to the palace.

" stay there, you murderer ! " she yelled in the middle of the street, slowing down. she could see that the hooded figure had also stopped, before remaining with its back turned to wendy. " are you not ashamed to show up at my brother's grave ?! after brutally murdering him ?! " she continued to ask, approaching the figure.

instead of running, the figure remained at the spot it stopped on. wendy grabbed it by the shoulder, turning around the person. she held him by the hood, taking it off, to reveal none other than sooyoung's carriage driver, nakamoto yuta. wendy widened her eyes, letting out a loud gasp.

" please, allow me to explain myself. " yuta began, " i am not a murderer, but i have stalked your brother for numerous days, maybe even a year. " he sighed, but wendy did not seem to be happy with the explanation. " could you come and sit down somewhere ? it is a long story. " he pointed to a table, as wendy nodded.

—

the two sat at the table, as yuta continued to look down. he could not face wendy, but he still needed to explain to wendy why he was doing such thing to doyoung. " it started almost a year ago, and i did not mean for it to last for a such long time .. " he sighed, as he finally looked up to wendy. " i was approached by sooyoung's father, who begged me to see where she spent her nights in. "

" i, accepting the request from her father, honestly thought that she was involved in shady businesses, but i was shocked to find that she was always going to a flower shop, sitting for ten minutes then heading to a motel. " yuta continued, as wendy raised her eyebrow. " when i walked over to the motel, i would see your brother walking into there. "

wendy widened her eyes, hearing yuta's story. it started to make sense to her, as doyoung would always leave the palace at night, without the knowledge of his parents. she nodded to yuta, who finally cracked a small smile. " i thought it was a coincidence, and that your brother was also having different .. affairs ? while that is what i believed at first, everything changed some time ago. "

" i missed your brother walking into the motel, so i simply assumed he did not come. then, i look into the window, trying to find sooyoung. " yuta said, as he waited for a few seconds to pass by before he continued, almost leaving wendy on a cliffhanger. " i saw your brother and sooyoung, they were holding eachother's hands and smiling at eachother. i wanted to know if there was an actual romance between them, so i followed his majesty around. "

" so, you did not murder him ? " wendy asked, as yuta shaked his head. " i am guessing that you also did not murder mr. lee taeyong. " she sighed, as yuta then fixed his grey hood. " since you did follow him all around the place, did you see who murdered him ? " she suddently asked, as yuta looked back at her.

" i did not see the person, but i happend to see something. the door to his majesty's villa was wide open, and a rose stood in front of the door frame. "

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