"How would you know about the hatred in my heart? What I lost from my belly was my own flesh and blood." That was the very last thing that I remembered saying in the palace before I took the very poison that was placed right in front of me to get myself out of that palace and get myself embroiled in more schemes and scandals. If everyone in the Third Prince's harem or even everyone in the palace wanted to get rid of me, then I would allow it, but never quietly, not after what these people owed my late father and my brother for that matter. "My Lady; I can see that the servant has positioned himself in the hallway that connects your chambers to The Mistress Nam's old ones." "And who could even think to use those quarters as a hidden space unless they had permission from its previous owner? But I can see that after all of this time, she finally chose a good opportunity to make her move, as if trying to kill me with the horse wasn't good enough." "But whether she is able enough all depends on you, My Lady." "If I suppress her anymore, she will jus try to kill me over and over again; the more I survive the more her desperation will grow and swallow her whole. So I want you to go outside and just wait to capture him after I do the deed myself.i shall watch her dig this grave for herself due to her own blind jealousy."
"Young Mistress! Please do not do this! It is too dangerous! And what if it harms you in any way? Doesn't The Lord Nam want to start a family with you? What if you damage yourself and then…" "I was already damaged from the moment that I was overcome with epilepsy due to my trauma and The Lord Nam is aware of this. If he wishes to delude himself into thinking that I can bear children after everything that he has seen me go through, then he will only end up upsetting himself even more." "What if he will take in concubines to…" "I told him. I warned him over and over again to leave me alone, that I was unable to become anyone's wife, that is why I ran away from him so much. And now…" "And now?" "And now he has put me in a position where I cannot bare to part from him, no matter what he does. I can share him with others but not women; not in this lifetime and not in the next ones either. And as for children…I already have the antidote to this poison, and I shall begin the treatment myself behind his back so that I can be fertile, no matter how painful it shall be. I owe him this much anyways, even I am really the one that he has chosen to settle down with in his life."
"Young Mistress Seo…" "Since our hallways are connected, I will have n means of escape if that servant is waiting for me. I never wanted to hurt anyone apart from those who made me and my brother orphans, but I shall not let anyone harm me either, no matter who it is, so I will simply lend them hands to fulfil their wishes and then hopefully they can stop thinking about harming me and my family. The Lord Nam was right once again, I should have just kept away from the palace after the deposition of The Third Princess Consort." "You will present Buddha with burrowed flowers whilst sacrificing yourself once again?" "If I am to act out a dramatic play after being banned from the palace now as I wished, I have to do it properly so that my extras stand no chance of surviving without my presence to keep them secured and alive." "And I will always stay by your side to rescue you when he cannot, Young Mistress Seo." "Thank you, Dae-Jung."
"…what happened to Seo Yeon? Is she ok? This is my fault for giving her such a harsh punishment!" "Forgive me Imperial Concubine Park, but only Seo Yeon's sprits are damaged. Fourthly, she didn't digest too much of the poison, and we came here on time and got it all out before it could seep into her blood. But tif I may ask you to look at the sides of her mouth, do you recognise something?" "Aren't those specific blisters associated with animal poisoning? Like rats? Moon-Bok?" "She is also feeling feverish, that is why she is currently sleeping with some medicines that I have given her, she will hopefully sweat it all out by tomorrow morning if everything goes my way." "Why is she twitching like that in her sleep? Doe she usually dream this much?" "It looks like it." "Moon-Bok, are you absolutely sure that what you say is the truth? This is the sister of Seo Hwi and the daughter of Seo Geom, who this kingdom owes their lives to many times over."
"Seo Yeon's pulse is similar to the sinking-onion image, which indicates that nothing severe has happened at all. But I have had a look into her dinner that was sent to her quarters…by The Mistress Nam. And since it was discovered early like I said, the effects are only skin and hair deep and not much else." "Are you implying that it was her own future sister-in-law who poisoned her like this?" "It is her own future sister-in-law who is the only one absent from her close circle of friends here in the palace, Imperial Concubine, that already makes her suspicious in my eyes, although you are welcome to carry out your own investigation. But for her to be poisoned as soon as she was banished from the palace is already a little excessive, do you no agree?"
"What about The Mistress Nam? Where is she at this very moment?" "It seems as though she is currently exchanging pleasantries with the woman who is suspected of trying to tamper with her horse. Seo Yeon is closely affiliated with The Chung Family after she helped the elder first sister to marry The Master Chung and help hm accept her children who are now the pride of that family, and yet none of them have showed up by her side either. But we have already caught someone suspicious who was lurking outside of Seo Yeon's hallways right when the incident occurred and he is currently awaiting your judgement inside The Mistress Nam's previous quarters…" "The quarters that are connected to this chamber?" "I am afraid so, My Lady." "So this was premeditated after all." "My Lady, this is the servant that we found lurking around when I arrived in these quarters along with my wife, and he currently reeks of the poison itself." "Which palace is he from? He does look vaguely familiar to me…" "My Lady, even I myself have spotted him with The Concubine Chung during the various festivities that they put on before her husband was called out into this war…" "What on earth could this poor girl done to offend the family that she has helped out time and time again. It is very fortunate for her and all of us that you discovered her condition so quickly, Moon-bok…" "My wife wanted to see how she was after what took place in the banquet tonight." "I have to personally write a letter of apology to her brother along with my condolences and some form of compensation for this to happen right under our noses. The Seo's and Chung's are politically at odds as well during this time, so The Concubine Chung must have made her move whilst she could. She has no idea that wha happened tonight just put an end to her entire family clan, and her own husband before he could make a single merit for himself."
I really wouldn't have known that I could be cruel and viscous to myself if it were not forced into situations that relied on my family's survival. And this was the memory that haunted me every single day since Moon-Bok and Hwa-Wol risked their lives to support me by transporting me back to my brother's luxurious and yet strange home that didn't suit him entirely and even he knew it. But he looked even more lost and lonely without his wife, who I was told always stayed by his side no matter where he went. He was even too adorably upset to even hold his son for too long who wad beginning to look more and more like her.
"I really wonder if you ever get this upset when we are parted brother, are do your affection solely rely on your wife now." "Shut up sister and just be grateful that I can still tolerate you after everything you have put yourself through." "So you don't love me anymore? Brother? Brother, look at me…" "I knew that I can always count on Seon-Ho to look after everyone when I can't, especially when it comes to you. And since he is crazy about you, then he can take care of a crazy person like yourself!" "Brother." "What is it now?" "Tell me you still love me. Tell me! Tell me, and I can help you arrange a romantic surprise for your wife when she returns." "Really? You will?" "Tell me you love me." "Sister!" "Brother! Tell me!" "Alright, alright…I love you. Now tell me what you have in mind?" "Leave me alone with my nephew for a day or two whilst you two explore the country; it is about time that you did so and it is perfectly ok for you to take breaks from the children, just not for too long." "Are you sure? What do you know about babies?" "Exactly how do you think I filled up my time in the brothel's? I always looked after the children when, I even tutored the older ones. I do know how to take care of a baby you know." "Well, if you are sure…I shall make the arrangements at once." I cheered him on by helping him pack his things whilst I was secretly dying inside every single second that I was away from my own man who aways had his eyes on me, always had his large hands on me and his perfectly plump lips near my neck or my ears to whisper naughty things into. Seon-H who had his eyes on me even when I woke up under his father's roof, Seon-Ho who was always ready to pounce on me when he was in the mood and Seon-Ho who already gave me the world over and over again. And now here I was; missing him with every fibre of my being with a body that only he could touch, only he could see and only he knew inside out. He knew what to do to get under my skin as I did him, how to get me angry enough to start obsessing about him as he did me and how to make me miss him like crazy, to the point where I was fantasising about what life would be like with him if the baby that I held in my arms were ours. Would he be has hands on as my brother and father was? Would he be willing to be more of a father then these ever-competitive men were? Would he love my children or would he exploit them as well? I wasn't completely blind to the many reasons why he chose me and stuck around after everything that we had been through together and separately. But would he…really love us? And still cherish even after I had given birth? Multiple times to the point where my body would change a lot. What then? Will he settle for sale concubines for he rest of his life? Or would he miss being with a woman eventually and start cheating on me? Good heavens, what no earth will I do? What shall I do? Should I go ahead with this marriage at all? But if I do not I risk loosing him forever and I couldn't let that happen! I was already going crazy as it was without him for just a day or 2, how could I survive the rest of my life without him?