Faceless King, Hidden Princess (COMPLETED)

Episode 3

My brother, Pa-Oh and I were back in the tea shop later. "Are you saying you lost your bracelet?" Pa-Oh asked. Jinheung got into a close sword fight with another man when he was looking for Aro. The man was one of the guys who we saw last night laying on the road who we thought was dead. He must have heard my brother say that he killed the person but took it the wrong way and tried to get revenge. My brother put down his drink after taking a sip and with an innocent look on his face, he held up his left arm, and showed the empty spot where the bracelet once sat.

"The bracelet signifies that you're the king." Pa-Oh panicked. "If they say I am not the King because I do not have it, I will not have to worry." My brother said calmly. "I deserve to be struck dead." Pa-Oh said, holding his head. I slammed my cup down on the table and looked at him like he was crazy. He jumped at my sudden movement and so did my brother. My brother lay a hand on mine that was now on the table in a fist, which I had made subconsciously. I relaxed my hand again. Pa-Oh kept rambling to himself. "I did not protect you properly. I deserve to die."

"If you die, what will happen to us?" I shot at him, tensing up again, and my brother's hand tightened on mine, signalling that he needed me to chill. I sighed. I don't think either of us would be alive if Pa-Oh wasn't with us. Like yes we can fight, but I genuinely think that he is most of the reason why we're alive. "If my Mother does not reveal that I am the King nor that she is a Princess, keeping her hidden forever, no one will know who we are." My brother added. "Must you do this?" Pa-Oh asked.

"What?" We asked together. What was he talking about? "Must you scare me?" He answered. My brother looked at him like he was crazy. I won't lie. So did I. We don't deliberately put ourselves in danger...
My brother picked up a sugar cube and acted like he was going to throw it at Pa-Oh, making him flinch. Then he laughed a bit. "Do you know why the King doesn't show his face?" A voice behind us said, and we turned to see some strangers talking.

"I hear he is an eunuch, and the biggest moron in the world." I grabbed a sugar cube and was ready to throw it the two men but my arm was grabbed. I looked up at my brother. He had stopped smiling. He shook his head, and I sighed. I noticed sadness in his eyes. Not sadness, but, guilt..regret.  What they said next made him stop looking at them, and look at the table and with a look of utter defeat in his eyes. "That must be why the Queen has to do everything. My fear is that the moron will show up one day, and try to act like the King." Pa-Oh stood up, angry and ready to fight. I was fidgeting with a metal spoon now. I wouldn't hesitate to throw it and hit the two of them right between the eyes. My brother looked at the both of us. "What? Neither of you can do anything anyway." He spoke. He was right. Pa-Oh answered. "I shall kill them."

My brother smiled sadly. "I wish I were a eunuch and a moron." "Your Majesty." Pa-Oh started but my brother was lost in thought before he spoke again. "That's correct. Hiding cannot become a habit." It was like he said it to himself but to us as well. He looked so angry and betrayed. The both of us hated being treated like this. I mean, I'm not even her biological child, so in a weird twisted way I know why she is ashamed of showing me to the world, but as for him, I can't imagine how he feels.

My brother told me about a tradition that happens in Silla every year on this birthday. There's a parade. The Queen is carried on a big chair, and there's one following her where he is supposed to sit, but he's hidden so what's the point. We're standing in the crowd watching her go by right now.

"There are too many people here." Pa-Oh said to Jinheung, slight panic evident in his tone. "Who would even think that the King would be walking around on his birthday." 'Being young and weak is not a sin'. But not anymore." My brother said, staring at the empty throne that he should be sitting on. 

"I'm joining Hwarang. Are you with me?" He asked, suddenly looking at me. "You don't even have to ask." I smiled. 

He didn't come to play anymore. He's ready to fight, and so am I. 

We went to the tea shop and stopped when we ran into the owner Pi Joo-Ki. When he saw us he turned around and tapped the man he was with. He looked slightly scared as he called for this man to look at us, gesturing his eyes in our direction and making weird faces. The man turned to look at us.

"We're here to see Master Wihwa." My brother spoke directly. He brought us to another room and my brother paced around as I leaned on the wall and the man sat down. The man was waiting for Jinheung to start talking or even me, and so he noticed and stopped pacing. "I heard we must meet Master Wihwa to join Hwarang."

"The proper man is to introduce yourself first." The man told him. "Why do our names matter? Just called me Jidwi and call my sister Harin." I have to hand it to him, he's quick to think on his feet. I guess that what happens when it comes to being hidden and deserted by your own mother from a young age. You start needing to fend for yourself and do things you wouldn't think of. 

"Master Jidwi and Miss Harin, whose children are you?" He asked. "There is no need to say. Our family is a mess." I scoffed a bit. Mess wouldn't even begin to describe it. "But telling family stories is not what we're here for." I added. 

"Your names are fake, and your family is a mess. You cannot prove your identity, and yet you want to become a Hwarang." The man concluded, looking at my brother and I. 

"You see, we studied in the West. So we don't know anything about here. I hear you are gathering young men. I need to join in order to survive at least on the connections made. Forgive me for my informal speech. They do not have any sense of respect out there." I had to hold back a laugh from the sarcasm that was dripping from my brother's mouth. 

"You will use Hwarang to make connections...." The man responded. "What?" My brother asked. "Is that bad?"

"Tell me the truth." The man stood up. "Or get lost." No this is not what we need. We need to get into this, if it's the last thing we do. "The truth?" My brother repeated. "Do you want the whole truth? Or the half truth?" I asked first. 

"Let me hear the half truth first. What is your half truth for wanting to be a Hwarang?"

"My sister and I wish to drag down the star of that gaudy parade. The Queen." He finished with fierce eyes. "You want to drag down the Queen?" The man asked. "I thought you had that much guts. Is that not why you planned to create this?" My brother asked, folding his arms.

"What can you do just by dragging down the Queen. Is merely wreaking havoc your half truth? You must be mistaken. You too my love, you're a woman. I am not trying to ruin Silla, but change it. I have zero desire to let either of you into Hwarang, so get lost." He finished.

My brother had his arms still folded, and he walked out of the room silently after giving the man a suspicious glare. I followed my brother silently after glaring slightly at the man too.

"Is that it? You're just going to let him have the last word?" I asked my brother, shocked that he was giving up that easily. This wasn't like him at all. 

"No my dear sister, we're trying again tomorrow." That's what I thought.