royal blood

35 | a terrifying reveal.

" am i allowed to visit my friend in the palace ? i have already sent her a letter and she agreed to meet me. please, i would love for you to let me in. " irene held onto a bag full of fruits, as the two guards thought about her question. " she is my best friend, and it is weird not seeing her around .. "

" miss. park sooyoung is in the garden, with her maid and her majesty wendy. " one of the guards said, as he walked over to open the gates. irene widened her eyes, before bowing and smiling towards the two men. " the king and queen are not home, they have left for two days. you can stay for how much you would like. "

irene ran towards the entrance of the palace. she looked around the beautiful building, shocked to see that her best friend was living here. she opened the grand doors of the palace, seeing that maids were running around the hallways.

irene searched for the garden, before bumping into a man. she looked at him, realising that it was baron jungwoo. irene quickly tried to bow towards him, until she felt his hand on her shoulder. he was looking at her, confused by her actions.

" a beautiful lady like you should not bow for me. " jungwoo said with a laugh, as irene raised her eyebrow, surprised to see his rather flirtatious comment. " ah, ignore my comment. i am trying to be as nice as possible, but i seem to sound weird to you. " he let out a sigh, as irene tried to cover her smile.

" do not worry, i found your comment rather .. amusing ? no, that is not the right word. i can not seem to find an exact word for how i felt, but i am happy to see that you are being nice to me. " irene tried looking away from jungwoo, who calmly left his hand on her shoulder. " i am actually searching for the garden, my friend is there. "

" you must be miss. park's friend. " jungwoo smiled once again, as irene nodded. " let me show you where it is. they have been expecting you, actually. her majesty wendy has been walking around the palace, waiting for you to arrive. i can finally tell them that you are actually here. " he said, with a small laugh.

he and irene walked around the palace, as irene continued to be mesmerized by the beauty of the palace. a giant building full of artwork that dated back to the ancient times. irene wondered if doyoung was responsible for such things. somehow, irene remembered doyoung as a history lover, and his mark on her mind was still as clear as day.

the garden opened infront of irene, as she widened her eyes. a giant cherry tree was in the middle of the garden, as a few women were sitting around it, talking and enjoying the views of the garden itself. another building was behind the tree, from where three maids walked out with bowls full of biscuits.

" irene ! " sooyoung got up, heading towards her friend. the two women hugged eachother, as irene looked down, at sooyoung's stomach. she was still in a state of shock that sooyoung was actually pregnant with doyoung's child, especially after they experienced some of the worst moments in their lives.

to irene, sooyoung is a warrior. she handled losing her lover, not being accepted by the royal family and being stalked by a strange figure, all while she was carrying a child. she was a powerful woman, someone irene started to admire even more as the time passed by.

" how is the life in the palace ? it must be tiring sometimes, but .. is it worth it ? " irene asked, as sooyoung hesitated to answer. the two ignored the questions, before walking to the benches placed next to the tree. irene noticed princess wendy sitting down on one of them, reading a book. " your majesty. " she bowed, as wendy looked up with a smile.

" miss. bae irene, if i am not mistaken. we met on the train to ouverport, back when .. mr. lee happend to be alive. " wendy said, a small sigh escaping her mouth. " i actually badly wanted both of you to be here, since this announcement might come as a shock to you. " she cleared her throat, as both sooyoung and irene became confused. " i have caught the hooded figure. it was none other than mr. nakamoto yuta. "

sooyoung let out a loud gasp. she covered her mouth in shock, as irene was trying to realise what had just happend. was the hooded figure still the main suspect in the murder case ? such thing meant that yuta was, likely, the killer. irene tried to think of that, due to how she remembered yuta being a nice and reserved man.

" however, he is not the killer, as he was hired only to follow brother around. " wendy avoided saying some parts of yuta's confession, including the hiring made by sooyoung's father and discovery of the two lovers, as she considered them to be too harmful for sooyoung's current state. " he claimed to have seen brother in his final day, and, at some point, the door of the villa opened and a rose placed on the entrance. "

" roses .. doyoung loved to buy me roses. " sooyoung felt a shiver running down her spine, as irene held her friend tightly. both women were terrified to hear wendy's words, as it seemed like the killer was not as obvious as they had thought. " what a .. monster ! do they realise what they have done ? they destroyed a family ! "

" it was surely their plan, sooyoung. " irene replied, as sooyoung sat down on the bench, next to wendy. she wiped off tears that started to roll down her cheeks, as wendy pulled her into a hug. " i do not understand why the palace did not want to investigate his highness' murder. " she scoffed, " it is like they wanted him to be dead. "

" i have actually thought of that idea, but his parents argued that they would never do such thing to doyoung. " sooyoung replied, as wendy nodded. " i choose not to believe them, though. "

—

" look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it. " sicheng said, as he walked into the same room as yeri. she looked up from her book, as she let out a laugh. " dear princess, i love to associate quotes with you, and this one fits perfectly. " he put his hand on her shoulder.

" you happen to love quoting shakespeare, and i happen to love macbeth. " yeri replied, as she looked up to sicheng. " what brings you here ? i have yet to see someone else in this room. it is an old room, that has the oldest books in here. it is like they want to be hidden from the rest of the world. "

" some people do not appreciate real art. they think that old books are no special, and that newer ones represent the more beautiful side of literature. it is completely wrong, as the books from our past showcase the evolution of humanity and the hopes people had for our times. " sicheng said, taking out a book from the shelf. " i wonder if your brother saw this room. "

suddently, a note fell from the exact place sicheng took out the book from. both of them were scared by it, not able to understand what the note was doing there. sicheng picked it up, looking at it. he read the words on the paper, as he widened his eyes.

" he is after to kill me. he shall find me when i am alone and murder me in cold blood. if i die anytime soon, he killed me. he, the baron's son, is a murderer. he will not hesitate to murder you and your brother too, even if you three are siblings. sicheng, my dear friend, hide as much as you can. " sicheng read out loud, before dropping the note from his hands.

" brother must have written such thing. it is obvious he used to spend his time in here, a place full of old books. he loved old books, and must have hid this from us. " yeri took the note, as sicheng still remained in a state of shock. " then, why would he keep the note here ? "

" by this note, did he mean that one of my brothers is his murderer ? " sicheng asked, " no wonder. they are always talking about heirs and the throne and .. " he began, as yeri suddently widened her eyes. " but, for them to take the throne, they must get rid of jaehyun. "

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