royal blood

48 | one win is a loss.

people can win after one's death. their hunger for wealth and fame feeds into the dead's legacy and they will steal it in no time. they are evil, soulless people and shall never be forgiven. they grab onto the dead's forever remaining life on earth and manage to destroy it, as they make it theirs.

such win for them is a loss for the rest of the world.

—

wendy stood infront of the small room she was supposed to meet jungwoo in. after reading through the letter he sent to her brother right before his death, wendy realised that jungwoo began an obsession with the princess, wanting a romantic relationship with her.

she was unsure of how to feel about the youngest baron. he was yeri's age, barely in his twenties, but his mind already seemed to be succesfully manipulated by a darker, more evil person. somehow, wendy felt bad for him, wanting the experience he would have in prison to change him as a person.

even if he was the one to physicially take taeyong's life, it was surely not him who wanted, who planned to do such thing. he was forced into it, told that he might even win because of the heinous crime he could commit. jungwoo easily fell into the trap, and decided to give it all, in hopes of a better future.

as wendy made her way in the small room, she noticed jungwoo immediately. his eyes fell on wendy, as she felt a sudden shiver run down on her spine. those eyes, ones that looked at her with love and appreciation at first, the eyes that made her feel warm at times, now scared wendy.

she took a seat infront of jungwoo, as his expression continued to remain the same — emotionless, as one would say. wendy never thought she would experience a day in her life in which jungwoo would not show a lovely smile and talk to wendy in a polite manner. now, it seemed like he did not want to see her there.

" you might not want me here, but i can tell you that i am not going to leave. i am going to sit here until i receive answers from you. " wendy said, carefully laying her hands on the purse she carried. " i have read the letter you sent to my brother days before his death, in which you expressed your love for me. i can not believe that the man who wrote that is now here, cuffed and hidden in a cell. "

" i am not going to give you any answers. " jungwoo sharply replied, shocking wendy with the way he talked to her. " the letter was a mistake i made. i regret writing it, because now i have to admit that i did love you. that i did see a future in which you and i were together, even if i would go against the rules, due to the age difference we have. " he let out a sigh, as wendy could not help but smile.

" oh, you will tell me everything you know. i do not care if you regret your confession, i do not care that you do not want me here. all i want to know is who murdered my brother. " wendy suddently said, as she kept her smile. jungwoo shaked his head once again, not wanting to talk to her. " you will have to admit. i have talked to the guards. they will allow me to stay as much as i want. "

" why do you care so much about doyoung ? " jungwoo asked, as a small scoff escaped his mouth. " you are the bastard child, he was not. it is weird how affectionate you two were to eachother, considering the fact that yeri was always pushed away by her brother. " as he let out a laugh, wendy could realise where he wanted to go to, and what he wanted to talk about. " almost as if .. you two were involved romantically. is that not strange, having siblings hold hands and spend eachother's nights in the bedroom of the other one ? "

" me and doyoung never slept in eachother's rooms. " wendy decided it would be best to lie, as it was rather strange for her to see doyoung in her room at times. " you are weird to assume that me and doyoung were in love, as we both know that it was not the case. you, you are quite a weird person, jungwoo. " she sighed, as jungwoo continued to laugh.

" you are very right, your majesty. obviously, why would doyoung look at you ? you did not fit his ideal woman, .. his fantasy, may i add. " jungwoo's words scared wendy, as he wanted to touch upon the subject of doyoung's past, one that the killer clearly knew. " he always had this weird obsession with young, lower class women. once, at the casino, he was hugging and talking to the woman who tried to shoot me. "

wendy widened her eyes. irene ? she was the one who tried to shoot jungwoo, after finding out about the crime he commited. now, doyoung's love life seemed like a pattern, all women being from lower classes. was it something doyoung liked ? it could be that he simply fell for their beauty and lovely personality, and the backround they came from was a simple coincidence, but it also could mean something else.

" your brother was truly a concerning person. i saw him when he was with my brother. he would whistle at young women around the street, whenever he would talk to actresses or to maids, he would place his hand on their backs without their permission. everything he did around women was strange and concerning. " jungwoo told wendy, who shaked her head.

" doyoung would never do such thing ! he was an angel of a man, and he never did anything wrong. " wendy tried defending him, but she was met with a laugh from jungwoo. " are you saying that he was that terrible ? he would do those things because they were from lower classes, not from noble backrounds ? " she asked, as jungwoo nodded.

" yes, my dear wendy, that is the exact answer. he was obsessed with them, he wanted to get as close as possible to women from rather low backrounds. it was like he could not find anyone else to love him, but them. " jungwoo replied, as wendy suddently looked down. " as for why he got killed, it had nothing to do with that. " he said, as wendy looked up again, knowing that it was the time to ask.

" why was my brother killed ? " she asked, looking straight into jungwoo's eyes. " i need to know, i live my days wanting to know the truth. at least tell me the reason, and i shall guess the one who did it. " she said, placing her hands on jungwoo's. " i will do anything to know. anything for you to tell me. "

" really, princess ? " jungwoo smiled, a grin appearing on his face. " if i gave you one clue about the killer, will you give me your love back ? " he asked, with a hopeful expression on his face. " will you wait for to get out of this hell, and live a happy life with me ? i promise to be a better man for you .. "

" yes, jungwoo, i will. " wendy suddently said, not hesitating to answer him. " i will do it. i will love you back and live my life with you. afterall, you have always been dear to me. you have always been someone lovely, but something changed in you, jungwoo. please, ignore the bad in your life and change back to the better you. "

" well, i am glad to know you think of me as a nice man. or, you thought of me as one. " jungwoo's cheeks turned red, as wendy let out a laugh. " you see, the person that did murder doyoung, they had a lot to win from killing him. love and attention, that is what they wanted. if doyoung was to die, then they would be loved by someone who had ignored them their whole life. " he said, as wendy's eyes widened.

one person fit the description jungwoo had given her. one person, that dreamnt her whole life to be loved, to be included into someone else's life. that person was none other than her younger sister, yeri.

—

yuta walked down the dark street. the moon lit up the dark sky, with the streets becoming empty as the hours passed by. yuta made his way towards the narrow street that lead to his house, feeling a shiver. he turned around, suddently thinking that he was being followed by someone.

suddently, he spotted a dark figure. yuta widened his eyes, now fearing for his life. he watched as the dark figure placed a letter down on the middle of the walkpath, confusing yuta. the figure then walked away, leaving yuta to go ahead and see for himself the letter that was left there. he took the letter, surprised to see who it was meant for.

" from : prince jaehyun of peleria, fetin.
to : crown prince doyoung of hlorrendin, ceham. "

—