royal blood | sim jaeyun ✓

thirty-one🩸

"No, no, no!" Jaeyun's voice broke as he clutched her close, his tears falling freely onto her face. "I didn't mean to....Miyeon, wake up! Please wake up!" His pleas echoed in the still air, but there was no response.

The snow fell heavier now, blanketing the world around them in a cold, suffocating silence. Each flake felt like a dagger against his skin as Jaeyun rocked her gently, his grief overwhelming.

He pressed his forehead to hers, his sobs wracking his body. "I promised to protect you... I promised I'd never hurt you... and I..." His voice faltered as guilt and despair clawed at his soul. "I've failed you."

In the distance, faint footsteps crunched against the snow as Heeseung and Jungwon approached. They stopped abruptly, their eyes widening in horror as they took in the sight of Jaeyun, broken and covered in Miyeon's blood, cradling her lifeless body.

"Jaeyun..." Heeseung began, his voice heavy with shock and sorrow, but no other words came.

Jaeyun didn't look up. He couldn't. All he could do was hold her closer, wishing against all reason for a miracle that wouldn't come.

Amidst the falling snow and the suffocating silence, hurried footsteps approached. Miyeon's parents, now freed by Heeseung and Jungwon, emerged from the shadows of the snowstorm. Their faces twisted with grief and fury as they took in the heartbreaking scene—Jaeyun, kneeling in the blood-stained snow, cradling Miyeon's lifeless body.

 "No! Miyeon!" Queen Jiwoo rushed forward, dropping to her knees beside her step-daughter. She cupped Miyeon's cold, pale face in her trembling hands, sobbing uncontrollably.

Her father, on the other hand, glared at Jaeyun with unrestrained rage. "You!" he bellowed, pointing an accusatory finger. "You killed her! You monster!" His voice shook with a mix of fury and heartbreak.

"No, it's not—" Jaeyun's voice cracked, but he was cut off.

"Don't you dare speak!" her father roared, stepping closer to Jaeyun, his hands clenched into fists. "You were supposed to protect her! And this is how you repay her love? By killing her?"

"I didn't—" Jaeyun tried again, his voice trembling, but Miyeon's mother's sobs drowned him out.

"You don't deserve to even say her name!" her father spat, his grief consuming him. "You've stolen her from us! From the world!"

Jaeyun lowered his head, tears streaming down his face as he cradled Miyeon's limp form. "I didn't mean to... I wasn't myself... I—I..."

"Excuses!" her father snarled. He turned to Heeseung and Jungwon, who stood behind him, their expressions heavy with guilt and sorrow. "Why didn't you stop him? You let him do this?"

"He was compelled," Jungwon finally said, his voice quiet but firm.

"What?" Miyeon's mother whispered, looking up from her daughter's face.