Cinderella's Fate | 🤍 seongjoong 🤍

Chapter 52

Narrator's POV

It had been three days since the palace announcement about Seonghwa.

    Three painfully long days filled with news reports, speculation, and whispers travelling through the streets like wildfire. His name was everywhere, painted in headlines and rumours. Words like "traitor" and "spy" were thrown around without refrain. Someone had even leaked Seonghwa's house number, which meant the stepbrothers had been in hiding, as people kept trashing their place.

Yeosang hadn't slept properly since.

    He lay on the floor of their living room, eyes fixed on the muted TV screen, where a looped news segment showed blurry images of Seonghwa being carried through a palace hallway.

Wooyoung walked into the living room, phone in hand. "Still nothing." He looked defeated.

"No answer?" Yeosang asked, even though he already knew the reply.

"Nope. Called twice. Texted four times." He threw the phone on the couch. "She's still ghosting us."

    It was starting to feel like their mother had vanished just before the moment the prince's name hit the news, along with Seonghwa's capture.

    The day she left, she said it was a trip to meet her friends, and that had happened the same day Jongho and San came to the house to investigate. But that had been more than a week ago. Since then, after hearing the news about Seonghwa, they'd tried calling and texting her—but not a single response. Just silence.

"She said she didn't want us calling her when she was busy," Yeosang muttered. 

    He didn't know what to do any more, especially in a situation like this. Admitting that she was purposely ignoring them—because she didn't care about their stepbrother—was a hard pill to swallow.

"Yeah, well, she also said she'd be home after three days, and so far we've had nothing but radio silence," Wooyoung shot back. "Something's off. I don't care if she's mad. This is weird."

Yeosang slowly stood from where he'd been lying. "I didn't think it would get to this."

Wooyoung raised an eyebrow. "You're thinking what I'm thinking?"

Yeosang nodded. "Jongho."

"And San. Don't forget my future husband in this," Wooyoung said, already grabbing his jacket. "Let's go storm the palace."

Yeosang hesitated at the door. 

"Storm might be a strong word. We could just call him in advance, he did give us his number."

"But then he wouldn't invite me, and come on, it's practically tradition at this point."

    The journey was short, with Wooyoung singing cheerfully just to keep the nerves away. If he were at home, he would've attempted to bake cakes, and probably burn a few, just to stay distracted.

Yeosang's head was blank. He was doing everything he could to block out the chaos.

   When they arrived at the palace gates, it was clear from the start that they weren't getting in. Two guards stood firmly in front of the main entrance, their expressions as unshakeable as the steel they wore.

"State your business," one of them said.

"We need to speak to Officer Jongho," Yeosang replied calmly. "It's urgent."