Emperor Min Yoongi ascends the throne with a vow to avenge the untimely death of his father. It is a promise that will take he and his consorts to battle through fire and water, and to bring back the dead on a quest for the truth of what happened on...
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I watched Hoseok step forward to speak to his people as if in a dream. I barely heard as he thanked them for their participation in the election, and thanked his opponents, Jong-In and Baekhyun, before wishing them all the best for the results. There was too many things running through my mind at that point in time to focus on what he was actually saying.
Seeing Baekhyun and Jong-In standing side by side had reminded me of the fact that I'd seen, or rather, heard the two of them together in the bar I'd entered from when I'd first set foot in Jeoggun several hours ago. I remembered too that Baekhyun had been the one to hire men of Jong-In's to go after Jungkook at fight club, and what Jungkook had said about Baekhyun's opinions on the monarchy. I felt as though I had all the clues I needed to piece together something complicated, but I couldn't step back from the picture far enough to see where each piece needed to go.
Seokjin glanced at me as I sighed, and I turned to meet his concerned gaze.
"What?" He muttered, as monotone as ever.
"I'm worried."
I didn't need to tell him what I was worried about, he knew. He nodded, just barely, and shook his head.
"Why are you here, Taemin?" He wondered. "I would have thought sending you alone into Jeoggun was not the smartest play. You are here alone, right?"
I nodded.
"I'd have to be outnumbered to be overpowered," I told him. "Outnumbered considerably. Nobody here owns a single piece of netherite, and they are not as capable as me in battle. As well as that, we've already lost too many of our own people. This was a task that couldn't be treated lightly, and we didn't want to trust it to anyone else."
"But still," he mused. "What made you risk your own life for it? What could possibly have convinced Yoongi it was a good idea? I know him a little better than you might think, Taemin-ah. Better than our brothers do, anyway. I am fairly confident in his good intentions regarding you. So... why?"
"That's not a question I'm sure I can answer," I mused. "I mean..." I paused, suddenly remembering Hajoon's words, and dramatic exit of the castle, and of our lives. "Someone did tell us recently they thought we needed to be more present rulers, and do more in this war for ourselves rather than delegating others to lose their lives on our behalf. And they were kinda right."
Seokjin was frowning thoughtfully.
"I think you may have been played, Tam," he stated. "Who was it that suggested this to you? Because I think you may have a rat in the works."
"It was Hajoon," I told him. "But he bailed on the whole operation as soon as he said that, he's not even part of the government anymore."
"Oh. That's interesting. Maybe I'm incorrect then," he said. "But he gave Yoongi bad advice, so perhaps it's good he has left. Yoongi ought to know better than to risk his queen, especially after what happened to his father's consorts."
