The Cold Curse | MarkHyuck

Chapter 26:

Jisung came back to the palace, ready to work with the new royal council. He was the new king of the New Sun-Fire Kingdom and he knew that he's the head over everything in the kingdom. Jisung had several meetings with each batch of different royal officials.

This was the day when he first felt really exhausted.

Jisung didn't want to feel exhausted because once he does, they show up again. Those dark figures always show up everytime he tries to sleep. How many sleepless nights does he have? They were almost uncountable because every night, Jisung's condition grows worse.

But something prevented him thinking about those figures.

The man he bumped into earlier seemed really familiar to him but he just can't figure out who it is for some reason. He got up from his bed, frowning at the thoughts of that familiar face. He walked around the halls of his palace, looking at the paintings.

Since he has incredible intelligence, he had a "gut-feel" that the man he bumped into was somehow connected to him.

How did he figure it out? Simple. Haechan literally didn't apologize when he bumped to LITERALLY THE KING OF THE NEW SUN-FIRE KINGDOM. Jisung knew that the man knew him in a different way since he didn't show him any respect at all.

Then, he goes to the basement where the servants would go if they're working on something.

Jisung greets the servants, still keeping his approachable but deadly image. The servants who were currently cleaning dropped their materials, greeting Jisung. They were afraid that Jisung would kill or choke one of them again like before.

But Jisung didn't come down to do that.

Jisung knew that the old paintings of the old royal family were kept in there and some even included the loyal servants of the old times. Jisung looked around, observing every hanging painting at the halls of the basement.

"... Who's this?"
"That's your father when you were young, your majesty."

Jisung smiled at the painting, remembering the times when his father was still alive. Jisung misses him because he's the only piece of family he had over the years of being kept from the public. He admired and idolized whatever his father did because Jisung knew he owed something from him.

"I'm on top now, Father. Are you proud of me?"

Jisung asked as a tear made its way down his cheek. All he wanted to do was make his father proud of him. It was an emotional moment for him since he was already the king but his father was the one taken away from him.

That was until he turned to look at the side of the frame.

He recognized Haechan's "baby face" easily as he rolled his eyes, walking away until he realized something. The young Haechan looked exactly like the man he bumped into earlier. He went back to the painting to look at it closely.

It really was Haechan but the current Haechan just had lighter hair and blue eyes.

"Huh..."
"... Your majesty, is there something wrong?"
"Didn't we bump to this man earlier?"
"... I don't think that's possible, your majesty. The King already announced that he passed away years ago-"
"No. We have to find him."

Jisung disagrees at what the servant said. Nobody can really stop Jisung from being crazy over finding Haechan and killing him himself at this point. Jisung's really obsessed with the thought of being the powerful one in the royal family even if he's the "half-brother".

"This was the man I bumped into earlier. Only the facial structure changed since he matured through the years but this is really him. Haechan is alive."

Jisung announced to his servants loud and proud, wanting them to listen to him only. The only thing Jisung didn't know what to do is how to exactly find him. He can't really use this painting of Haechan as reference since the public will know that he's against the true prince.

He needed a good, convincing painter that can paint whatever facial trait he describes about the new appearance of Haechan.

"... Put up an announcement."
"Your majesty?"
"I said, put up an announcement."
"... For what, your majesty?"
"... A painter. I need a good, convincing painter who can paint anything I describe. Understand?"

Jisung asked everyone in the basement.

"Yes, your majesty."

They replied in unison as they started making posters, pasting them on the walls of the whole kingdom. Jisung watched their every move, making sure that they did their job correctly. However, the new royal council weren't aware of it and immediately alarmed Jisung about it.

"Your majesty, we weren't aware of the-"
"The posters? Oh, it's fine. I can do it all by myself."
"But we have to know the motif about this at least, your majesty. Don't forget that we, the new royal council, always has to know what's going on-"
"I want an accurate painting of myself. Is that too much to ask for?"
"... We apologize, your majesty."

The head of the new royal council bowed as they left the palace, not knowing that Jisung indeed lied to them. A few minutes later, a man appeared in front of the palace. That man was Dong Sicheng, one of the very few painters in the kingdom.

The knights alarmed the servants as one of them called Jisung.

"Your majesty, a painter has arrived."
"... Finally."

Jisung replied, immediately fixing himself and going downstairs. Jisung was known to be the youngest king to rule over one of the biggest kingdoms in Korea. Jisung lets the painter enter the palace, Sicheng not knowing that he's talking to a literal murderer.

"Have you brought some of your paintings? Just so I can check how accurate they look."
"... I didn't... but I did paint that painting behind you single handedly."

Sicheng says as Jisung looked behind him to see a huge, wall-sized painting of his father. Jisung was indeed amazed at how accurate it looked. Jisung saw Sicheng's name written at the bottom right corner of the painting as he sincerely apologized for not knowing.

"Oh, I apologize for not knowing-"
"It's alright, your majesty. That painting was from five years ago and I didn't have that much time to paint more... Although, I do have time now."
"That's fantastic. Now, I'll tell you the facial traits and you have to paint it as accurately as this. Is that clear?"
"Yes, your majesty."

Jisung started to describe Haechan's face as he listed every single detail of Haechan's facial traits way before the painter arrived. Of course, the painter had no idea why Jisung needed a painter to paint anyone except himself.

Sicheng finished the painting as he, then, recognized who he was painting.

"... I'm sorry but what is this for-"
"Don't ask."

Jisung sternly says, his caring tone quickly disappeared in a matter of seconds. Jisung paid the painter as he was about to leave the palace.

Suddenly, Sicheng's shoulder was stabbed with a small blade.

"Your majesty!-"
"You have some doubts, right? Well, those doubts are true and if you tell anyone about them... I will kill you."

Jisung reminds, putting immense fear in Sicheng's head. He lets go of him as Sicheng still bled with a small but deep wound. He definitely knew that something was up with the new king but he can't say anything or he'll end up dead.

Jisung is evil, even swearing to himself that he'll remain as the villain.