.ninety five.
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"I just...I feel so much jealousy in my heart and I don't want to feel that. He's my brother, and I love him. But I just can't help but think that life has always been unfair to me. And just when something good comes our way, Soo Hyun gets the best part of it."
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fifteen years later in japan, after the events in the courtyard.
For fifteen years, prince Wang Han and Soon Deok managed to keep themselves and their family hidden from the rest of the world. They got by on vegetables and fruit they planted, animals they hunted in the forest, and Soon Deok taught the children how to read and write. About once a month, Han would go into the village in disguise. Even though they were in Japan, he didn't want to risk anyone recognizing him and word getting back to the king. But he'd go to the village to drop off and pick up letters that he'd write to his brother Baek-ah.
He knew that it was risky, but it was a way to keep updated on what was happening in the palace. The eleventh prince had learned that Yo's rule only lasted about three years. That was when the guilt had finally consumed him for murdering his younger brother Eun who was innocent the whole time. After Yo, So was the next one in line to take over the throne. Han had no problem with his brother So, and later wrote letters to him as well. But he head heard from Baek-ah that Yeon Hwa and So had gotten married and that she was going to bear him a child. With children of his own, and his brother's children to take care of, he knew Yeon Hwa would stop at nothing and get anyone out of the way to get her child on the throne.
So was king for ten years, yet Han did not move the family back to Goryeo. Soon Deok still did not trust that they would be safe there, and she had promised her sister that she would keep the children safe.
But Han was starting to think that maybe they should take the children back to their original home. He had heard from Baek-ah that So had gotten their homes rebuilt to look exactly as they were before that fateful day so long ago. And the children had never seen any other human beings other than each other, Han and Soon Deok. The two parent figures were starting to worry for their mental health and their thoughts. Since they only ever saw each other, Han was starting to see the way his daughter Hei Ran and nephew Jin Ki were just a little too close with one another.
In Goryeo it wasn't uncommon for two siblings to get married, let alone two cousins. But he didn't want that for hid daughter. He wanted to give her the possibility of choosing, seeing other people. In the jungles of Japan, they had no one else to interact with.
But after So's passing, Han put off their moving to Goryeo off once more. That was when So's son with Yeon Hwa took control of the throne. There were no other people in line for the crown now, other than Han, Jung, and Baek-ah. Han was hiding out in Japan, Jung had given up his prince title to spend his time in the military full time, and Baek-ah was not allowed to be king due to a law Yo had passed during his reign, where sons or daughters of fallen nations could not rise to the throne. Wook had passed away from an illness, and Won had been killed in prison for his crimes.
That only left So's son to take over. But he was just a little boy controlled by his mother. And his reign didn't last long anyway.
Two years into his reign the child passed away, as did his mother, and most other nobles of Goryeo due to an epidemic that spread through their nation. Han thought to himself that it was probably a punishment for them, to cleanse the royals because of what they did to Eun. Only Baek-ah and Jung survived. And since neither of them could be king, the thirteenth prince was quick to write his brother a letter.
