The lights in the Nam/Seo household were all of at this time of nighty, which was rather unusual since most of the children were grown up and were known to stay up quite late. The plants outside of the home hadn't been watered in a while, an dit was always only my aunt who paid attention to her precious plans since she has always dreamed of living a home with a garden for her children. I had lost count on the amount of times that I would play with those damned plants of hers so that she would pay attention to me when I needed it the most. My aunt was also known for her immaculate cleanliness, so to see even a patch of dirt on the floor that hadn't been swept up was really unlike her. Only a single day had passed is since I ran into my aunt and her daughter in the market stalls, so there couldn't have been much time since my uncle did something to his wife to keep her quiet so that he could figure out the situation between myself and his daughter. I had already made my way inside the home despite the huge amount of 'help' that had been recruited into the home. They all knew me and how close I was to my uncle, so they all let me in and lead me to Hyuk's chambers, who looked like he hadn't gotten a decent night's sleep in a while. "Cousin? What are you doing here? This late as well? Has Geom come with you?" "Are you kidding me? I just put the boy to sleep after feeding him because he threw a damned tantrum at his big age because he couldn't see me first?" "You cannot blame him you know, did you already forget how he practically followed you around everywhere and anywhere?" "He hasn't changed at all, has he?" You know that it was his idea to start going into the kingdom? He wanted to see his big brother from afar after being apart for so long." "And you? What were you doing in the kingdom, little cousin? Kudos to you for keeping your face covered by the way." "It comes with being a damned twin in this day and age, I know that my mother takes Hana outside only when she needs to be there for her business." "Your mother? How is she?" "She is under lock and key under my father once again for god only knows what." "You do not think that she is in any trouble, do you?' "She was crying her eyes out as soon as she returned home from the kingdom; she must have just been over-hysterical and my father must have given her something to relax; you know that he could never harm her, even if he does look like the type…" "Do you still keep your distance from him?" "How can I keep my distance from the man who educated me, housed me and clothed me?" "He is your father for goodness sake, what is so hard about it?" "I will not let him exploit me for his needs…not yet anyways. I have my own path in life for now." "Which is?" "Drawing out that damned wench that has had it in for my mother and ruined my father's life? He has his nephews to act like his little pawns in the meantime."
"Are you talking about my father's first girlfriend? Talk about a courtship gone wrong." "Exactly; I plan on using all of my contacts to lure myself into the palace where I can get close to her as possible without having to enter the palace until I absolutely need to, for my mother's sake. She would completely loose her head if she even heard rumours about me entering the palace even if it was a simple matter of formality." "I suppose that you have another reason from straying away from your father's path?" "He can use all of his contacts and pawns to do as he pleases, including my baby brother Geom. But I shall put my mother's wishes first before my father's since he has his own men to carry out his work fir him." "And what wish is that? Other than to get rid of that woman?" "My mother…wants rid of Confucius laws. For good. And I am going to make that happen, with your help of course." "Is that so? Well, that does sound intriguing indeed…and I assume this will take place when I have reached your fathers goal of becoming an army general?" "The thing is, I know that my father has thought about it also, but he is so damned obsessed with The Third Prince, and he has every right to do so since this Prince wants to wipe away the illegitimate people of this kingdom, which makes up approximately half of the kingdom, not that he seems to scare. Honestly, my parents have the same goal in mind, but have different methods of getting the job done." "Do you think your mother would seriously object to her husband going after The Third Prince?" "That man killed our grandfather and her precious father, of course she won't mind too much. But on an intellectual level and out of all of the other royals in that family, The Third Prince is a rival worthy of my father and he is the most feared, even now when he is under lock and key in the palace." "So it is fear of torture and nothing else? If he really is a match for your father and mine…he still must be something to be feared." "My poor mother; she misses her father every singe day, as does your own, but if she lost any of us in the process of getting revenge, she really just may loose her mind altogether. And I cannot let that happen; so this will be a slow process, but we will all get it done." "And your sister? What role will she have to play in this?" "She can't keep her big head out of anything even if it goes against my wishes but fret not, all of the villagers will have a role to play in this. I just need to keep studying no matter what and increase my reputation in the kingdom…" "And what better way of doing so than staying in the kingdom now?" "I do not think I can leave your broth behind yet, or he may come to resent all of us for leaving him behind here. Let us do this; I will help our your father as much as I can with his new passion project before I make myself at home in your abode, but I will need a favour from you." "Let me guess; access to the Imperial Library?" "My father train you well I see." "Very well, I shall see what I can do, but for now I need to see your mother; I will see you at breakfast tomorrow with my brother. And let us invite your sister and Bo-Geom, I reckon it is about time that we all started working together now." "Very well, see you tomorrow cousin."
I had yet to see Seo Hana and I had to admit that I thought that I had mastered my own body to have enough self-control, unlike myself in my youth, but thinking of her put in a state that I had never experienced before in my life. I myself had so any questions about her and what was going on between us since I could not stop thinking of her yet and the only person that could help me was indeed my aunt who was the glue that held everyone in the village together. I couldn't Jude hide away from her and I dare not to, not after everything that she has done for anyone, even if that meant incurring the wrath of her husband, who was just silently watching over his sleeping wife like a statue. Surely he must have heard me sneaking up behind him but he didn't even flinch or turn around to look at me. His entire focus was on his wife and even placed his sleeping son right next to his sleeping mother who seemed to be stuck in a deep slumber and nothing could wake her up. This was not good; I really needed to her wake up and I needed some time with her myself alone so that I could regain the peace of mind that she always gave me no matter which circumstances I found myself in. So I did the only thing that I found rational at the time, and I silently went back into my uncle's study where even his own children were rarely allowed to enter and I set a very small fire so that nothing would be damaged or burnt at all. But even I had to admit that I was a little shocked at what I found when I dared to rummage through his draws to find something that I could use to set the fire with. This man, this cold uncle of mine really did have an entire journal that was dedicated to the only woman that he had truly loved in this lifetime, and I thought that it was high time that my aunt saw it so that she knew what she was getting herself into with this so-called marriage of hers and the children that they had together. I wasn't completely blind to my aunt's insecurities in front of her own husband, I knew that must be why she allowed her daughter to be raised to be bolder and braver than she herself could ever be, just like she herself would be herself if she was not an orphan. She could have really been something and achieved greatness if her husband gave her some room to breathe; and it was becoming clear to me that she was willing to let her own daughter live that kind of life, and what bette parent could she ask for than a top military trainee?
The fire did it's work and my uncle was distracted enough for me to sneak into his bedchambers just as I managed to swipe the antidote for whatever it was that my uncle had given his wife. I handed over Hwan to his older brother who took him off of my hands without hesitation and I gave her the medication in small doses. But I was given enough time to get the deed done and I even placed myself next to her and I placed her hand on top of my head just like how she use to placate me or put me to sleep in my younger days. My poor aunt who had always lived her life treading on a very thin rope to attain every single goal that she had set up for herself. I was going to put an end to her misery soon and repair the emotional damage that her own husband had inflicted onto her amidst his own infatuation with the love of his life. That would surely give me some level of integrity with her and she will not completely write me off when I broached such a sensitive subject with the only woman who had ever understaff me thus far.