The Girl of an Old Mansion

6. The Cursed Twins

Eight months later

The physician congratulated the Queen on the birth of the Prince and Princess, but the Queen was unsettled. Twins? She ordered the court ladies to summon Mi-sook right away.

Since Min-shi's prediction of the twins came true, the Queen was worried about the rest of it.

By now the King also had learned about the curse and felt hopeless and disappointed with what his Queen had done to the poor girl. Not even in his worst dream, had he ever thought of this.

"Are they really cursed?" The Queen asked in a weak voice.

Mi-sook nodded sadly, confirming that they indeed were cursed.

"The twins are cursed. But there is a last resort to this curse, but it comes with a price. Pardon me for what I'm about to say but I can remove the curse from one baby by transferring it to the other baby. But the one with the curse must be sacrificed for the wellbeing of the other."

The Queen and the King gasped at the thought of sacrificing one of their babies.

"I can understand your grief but you always wanted an heir for the throne anyway. You can lose both children, or have the crown prince, if I sacrifice the Princess."

"You have some audacity to even speak up about such a heinous act, you are lucky you have earned the Queen's favour, or else I would have had your head for that. No matter what happens I will not sacrifice my daughter," he bellowed before marching out of the room, fuming.

Mi-Sook turned to face the queen, the Queen was lost in thought, a sad expression resting on her face. She then looked at the Princess with much affection and kissed her forehead before handing over the little baby to Mi-sook. She asked her to sacrifice her daughter. With watery eyes and a pale face she said, "I'll convince the King somehow."

Mi-sook transferred the curse from the crown prince to his sister, and a small black mark etched itself onto her left hand.

"The baby needs to be burnt alive. The whole procedure requires the charm of a good wizard like Lord Yong."

Lord Yong was released from the prison. Mi-sook informed him of the royal birth and presented him with the matter of the curse, telling him to get rid of the cursed Princess in order to flourish the royal family.

"I can not do this. This is the result of your sin. Now you want me to settle down all the mess by killing an innocent child, your crime has turned the blessing of royal birth into a curse. Even if you threaten me with my life, I will not murder a child. I would rather happily die," Lord Yong said.

Mi-sook smirked and said, "Not following a Royal command is a treason. You've already committed the crime of betraying royal command and ended up being prisoned here. If you follow the orders, you'll be free and you'll no longer have to bear the disgrace of convicting treason. However, if you again chose to not adhere to the command you'll lose your beloved wife,"

"No! Please leave her. She is all I have in this world. Don't hurt her. I'll do...whatever you say," Lord Yong mumbled out, in fear of his beloved wife passing from him. The thought of him killing an innocent child filled his eyes with tears at the same time.

"I've never wished for anything in my life but today you coerced me to wish for something. I wish you die a painful death," Lord Yong uttered, looking at Mi-sook with his heavy-laden eyes, full of deep guilt and disgust.

Lord Yong prepared to perform the ritual, placing the princess inside a cradle of kindling. He looked at her beautiful and serene face for the last time. Unaware of the bitter reality, the poor baby was smiling.

He then set the kindling on fire. The helpless and an ill-starred baby could only cry, as she was engulfed by flames.

Lord Yong turned away as the fire and the baby's cries continued to grow.