As soon as I saw my dear father dead in the embrace of his sister and brother-in-law, I could only collapse onto the floor in complete shock. In that one moment I had completely broken apart and was undone, so much so that I was terrified to touch any one of them in case I did anymore damage. My father had turned around to embrace his sister, whilst my uncle held them both in his arms as if he meant to take them all with him to their next lives. And although I loved my uncle and father dearly, all I could focus on was the only mother that I had ever known before my brother married our cousin and after my own mother fell ill. My lovely aunt who smelled like cherries, my aunt who refused to put me down as a baby and always took me everywhere with her unlike other mothers who kept their babies at home until they were at least 5 years old. She loved me the most because my father was so utterly precious to her and she spoiled me with everything that she possible could every time she saw me. She fed me until I could barely move anymore, she always filled my arms with too many clothes and necessities, and she was forever lecturing my father about my opportunities in the kingdom. My aunt supported me in becoming the next chief in the village, but she wanted me to have my experiences in the city and thought it was best that I only inherit the village after my marriage. It was her who used her connections to secure me an inconspicuous place in the palace, it was her who offered me a small management role in her embroidery business so I had some learnings of taking care of my father's businesses since Chul only cared about the military and it was her that I could go to for anything and everything at all. I experienced warmth, loss, sorrow and happiness in her arms as everyone would gather around me and smother me with so much love that I really didn't need anything else at all. I never asked anyone for anything as it was all given to me before I even had to say a word. My aunt would give me the moon and the stars if I had asked for it…and now she was gone. Forever.
And my uncle, myst precious uncle who loved me as his own and supported me in every single decision I had made. He was my mentor, my role model in the palace, and my home as far as I was concerned. He wasn't as soft as my father was, but he taught me how to be a man and he always gave me more than I needed. He was a part of my father and therefore a part of myself and I knew that Chul was going to need my support in his grief. In fact, I hand't told anybody this yet because I wanted to surprise my uncle in particular, but I had been thinking about enrolling in the army myself just to put a smile on my uncle's face after everything he had done for me. I was going to ask him to personally teach me weaponry as he did with Hyuk and Chul, I was going to make him proud of me as he was with Chul and I was going to bring himself and my father the glory they should have originally celebrated if their birthrights didn't get in the way of their success.
But my father, my beloved father that had settled into the hearts of everyone that he met, who had a much bigger reputation that any damned prince in the palace, and was even capable of bringing out world peace if he was given a chance. My poor father with too many burdens on his back from the moment that he was orphaned, my father who gave the clothes off of his back to anyone who needed it, and my father who deserved to retire in peace with his grandchildren surrounding him with my sister-in-law tending to his every need and spoiling him like he always did. Was this the death that he deserved? Did any of them deserve this? Why? Didn't they already lead such exhausting lives in the palace? And barely got away with their lives?
I could only turn to that wretched concubine in anger as she actually had the nerve to talk back to my older brother as if he owed her the world. My aunt's and uncle's care for us both went so bone deep, that I never again thought about this woman potentially coming after my father or even needed to. I didn't even recognise her when she first came here to this village when she started ranting and raving about of nowhere. She was pretty indeed, but she was nowhere near as beautiful as my aunt Yeon or my other aunt Hwa-Wol who was actually her best friend from the brothel that they grew up in. felt nothing at all when I looked at her, which made my rage a lot roe justified. So after I cried my eyes out, I could only reach towards my father for the last time and grab the large keys of the village building and so forth that he always kept in his inner robes and keep them close to me before turning onto her.
"Chul, Hwan, take this vile woman and lock her up for now until we decide what to do with her." "Geom? Geom! You cannot do this to me! To us! I am your mother! I promise you Geom, that I didn't kill anyone! It was your uncle! He was the one who…" "SHUT YOUR MOUTH! AND DO NOT BRING UP HIS NAME UPON YOUR FILTHY LIPS EVER AGAIN!" "I am telling you that he did this! He was the one who killed them all, including himself! I did nothing wrong! It wasn't me!" I didn't even have the strength to carry on arguing with her, and I didn't even have to. Before I knew it, all of the villagers had woken up to the extreme devastating news of our parents death, and my father's best friend's wife; our aunt Hwa-Wol had come out of nowhere. She took one look at the dead bodies before she turned onto my so-called mother, and slapped her so hard that she fell onto the gourd and almost passed out from the shock.
"You…you really did it, didn't you! You finally killed the men who didn't love you, and you murdered the woman that they originally belonged to. Even after you left us all for a damned Prince, you still were not satisfied, were you? You never have been content and you never will be, will you?" "it wasn't me Hwa-Wol, it wasn't me…." "My daughter comes into this home all of the time! If she was here, would you have killed her as well? On the order of the damned prince who almost killed us all!" "IT WASN'T ME! WHY ISN'T ANYONE LISTENING TO ME! I didn't kill my husband!" "You're husband is in the palace in case you haven't noticed!" My poor aunt could only say so much before she fell onto the floor and starting grieving herself. But soon, everyone wanted to see the bodies of our parents and our home could only hold so many people. So all of the elderly men came together to cary out the bodies of our parents whilst myself and Chul handled our 'mother' appropriately before Hyuk and Hwan could get to her. Hwan was easy to handle but not even Chul could stop Hyuk when he got angry, only his father could reign him in…and now he was gone.