Her Poison His cure: Behind The Mask

Grief affects everyone’s life at one point or the other and certainly has affected mine. Father’s burial ceremony had been conducted two day ago. Now I had to learn how to deal with his death.

Father will continue to be in our memory. He was remembered as a great king by his ministers and people. He was the king that was with them in their suffering day and was also the same king that saved them from their predicament. Even if it was at the expense of another person’s life. He still does his duty as a king; it is something he must do as a king. That is what I failed to realize when he was alive.

I now understand that father just did his duty as the king. It is such a pity I failed to know that before his death. In distress and dismay I understood that far from hating him, I was injecting suffering inside the poor soul.

King Kang Byeon In is truly a savior to his people. A great sage king that would be forever remembered in our heart, mine especially.

Currently I was with my mother in her chamber together with Kang hwan. We are still in our mourning clothes; a white gown and a white trousers and robe for men.

I used to think my parents lacked love between them since their marriage is for a political reason but it was now I know that was wrong. I thought my father only respected my mother as the mother of his children. Now I see how deep they both love each other.

Mother has refused to talk to anyone after father’s burial. There was no colour in her face; It was white; Not like another woman white, but a white to make a body sick, a white to make a body flesh crawl. I am afraid she might hurt herself at this rate. She refused to eat and we barely managed to feed her little food.

I am in her room to urge her to eat like I have been doing since yesterday and she has been showing an objection as always but I won’t give up as well.

I took a spoonful of rice and took it to her mouth but she refused to open up.

“Mother please at least manage to eat a little. Besides, if it hurts, don’t hold it in, pour it all out.”

My younger brother said beside me. Upon hearing that, Mother looked at him. Her intention was to manage a smile at him but she ended up bursting into tears. My brother is right. Instead of trying to hold the pain in, why not cry, shout, and slap it out.

I took a deep breath and gazed up at Kang hwan who gave me the look to keep trying. I squared my shoulder before going to sit beside her. However, Mother couldn’t be bothered with what we were saying. She can’t believe her beloved husband is gone forever. Who can understand her; Of course No one. They all believe naturally her husband’s time is up.

Tears wail down her cheek. She choked between a small but clear sob.

“Mother please….” I mumbled silently.

“Crying like this won’t bring father back, rather you should stay strong for us.”

Queen shin bu young at the moment realized she still has a duty to fulfil. Her Son will soon take the throne, She needs to be there for him and his younger brother and sister.

Mother looks dazed for a moment and I keep wondering what she is thinking about. After some seconds she looks up at me with watery eyes.

“I will eat” she said and collected the spoon from my hand. She draws the bowl of rice closer and scoop some into the spoon before taking it to her mouth.

She chewed the rice forcefully. One would have known she is having a difficult time eating the food. Tears rolled down her cheek but she still continued eating regardless of it.

She was bent on not eating some second ago and I don’t know why she suddenly changed her mind but I don’t care as well. All that matters is that she is eating as I want.

★★

Prince Kang Sohyun walked majestically into the throne room, straight to the throne seat and sat on it.

All ministers bow their heads courteously and raise them after making sure he is seated.

Even though his father died. He knew his duty as the crown prince. He must not show weakness. If he does, his subordinate will also have an excuse to show weakness.

Irrespective of his father’s death, he needs to be strong for the people. That is what his father would also want.

“The king’s death is a great loss to the country which everyone is aware of but we can’t let our loss sabotage our duty. We need to ensure that the late king lineage isn’t destroyed and for that to happen I will really need all of you help”

“I hope you provide your full support to me,” he added.

“We will provide our full support to Your Royal Highness” The minister chorused.

The prince nodded and squared his shoulder. He knows a big load now lay on his shoulder. He has to do his duty like his late father had always told him.

“Finance minister. Allowed all nation that are interested in trading with buyeo go ahead”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness. Should we also include Goguryeo” the man who is presumed to be the finance minister said.

“If they want to, let them trade with us but I bet they won’t even want to”

Goguryeo kingdom was situated in the far Eastern West of Buyeo kingdom. As the boundary expansion of Goguryeo kingdom started many nations accepted the suzerainty of the great emperor of Goguryeo, Yanmyeong. It’s still a surprise that they haven’t come after the kingdom of Buyeo but sooner or later they Know that is certainly going to happen.

Suddenly One of the eunuchs walks in toward the prince. He bowed courteously when he stopped in front of him.

“Your royal highness. Envoy from Goguryeo are here”

“Gorguyeo sent a messenger,” The prince asked. Surprise clouding his face. Aren’t they just talking about them right now?.

“Yes Your Royal Highness”

The ministers had a surprise look on their face. Everyone was perplexed in shock, wondering why Gorguyeo kingdom sent a messenger. No one could guess what the kingdom of Goguryeo is upto. Are they here to ask them to surrender as well or are they here to console them for the loss of their king, like how other nations had been doing.

“Where are they now?” the prince asked.

“They are at the royal hall door” the eunuchs whose head is still bowed replied.

“So close like that”

When a messenger is coming from a kingdom. The other kingdom would have been alert of their visit but how come they didn’t Know about Goguryeo visit, that is what pondered the crown prince.

“Your royal highness. We can’t keep them waiting for too long” one of the ministers chimed in.

“You are right. Let them in”

“Yes Your Royal Highness” the eunuch bowed and went to carry out the order.

Almost immediately Five men entered the room. They Walk toward the prince with a stoic expression. They stop in front of him and join both hands together before bowing their heads. ” Did we meet you in good health, Your Highness? ” the one who was the leader greeted him.

“Welcome. What brings you all the way here” the crown prince asked

“Our Emperor heard about the death of king Kang Byeon In and sent a condolences visit.”

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Atleast Emperor of Goguryeo didn’t ask them to surrender to their suzerainty. But little did they know that was just a minor taste of what the goguryeo will demand from them.

“Thank you for coming,” the crown prince replied.

“My Emperor will like to form an alliance with the crown prince of Buyeo and proposed a peace settlement”

The crown prince looked at him surprisedly. Why isn’t he getting one surprise after the other? First it was their unexpected visit, now they want to form an alliance. Why would the emperor of Goguryeo want to make a peace settlement with buyeo?. Both kingdoms aren’t on good terms nor are they on bad terms with each other. They are just on their own without invading each other’s boundaries but buyeo know sooner or later the goguryeo will soon try to conquer them. He never expected this peace treaty he is hearing from the envoy.

The leader collected a scroll on one of the men behind him and opened it.

Everyone looks at him wondering what was written in the scroll.Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

“This is a handwritten letter from our emperor himself,” he said, holding the scroll up.

“Read it” the crown prince ordered.

“I, Yanmyeong, the emperor of Goguryeo, offer my condolences to the crown prince of Buyeo for the loss of their king. For over a decade now, neither Gorguyeo nor buyeo had invaded each other’s territory. Our relationship is unknown to the neighboring kingdom who are wondering if we are hostile toward each other or on good terms. I didn’t consider Buyeo an enemy state. For this reason I want to form an alliance with buyeo and show the other nations my everlasting power and harmony.

Yangmeong,

Emperor of Goguryeo”

The envoy after finishing reading the royal message scroll it up and bow to the crown prince.

The expression on the crown prince is not pleasing at all. How dare the emperor of Goguryeo address him like that. What did he mean by his everlasting power and harmony?. Is he belittling buyeo kingdom because their king just passed away or expecting them to accept the alliance at this ridiculous letter. Little did he know that, that not all until the envoy drop the final bomb.

“My Emperor also propose a royal marriage with buyeo”

“What did you mean?” one of the ministers finally spoke.

“Princess Suk hand had been asked in marriage”

The crown prince’s expression darkened. It was his overlooked letter before but now he is asking for his sister’s hand in marriage. He will never release his sister to that monster’s king; He will never hand over his sister to king Yangmeong.

He isn’t a human being or rather not known to the people if he was a human being or not. Rumour has it that he is the most ruthless king ever in history. He killed for fun and waged war as a hobby. No one knows what he looks like, Not even his own Queen, not to talk of the ministers. He knows to use his mask making it impossible for the people to know the face behind the mask, but behind that mask is a monster you won’t want to wake.

At the thought of releasing his sister to king Yangmeong made his blood boil greatly in anger. His shoulder tense and he stood up abruptly from his seat. With his hands trembling with anger he pointed a finger toward the leader of the envoy and shouted savagely.

“What did the king of goguryeo take me for?. He must think lowly of us but let him know that we aren’t to be underestimated. I will never accept his ridiculous marriage and peace settlement” his body was shaking with anger as he said all those words.

“You’ve crossed the line. How can you talk to His Majesty like this” one of the messenger replies trying to show support for his king.

“Go back and deliver my words to your king. My sister will never marry him. I will be expecting what he has to do about it.”

The leader of the messenger breathed out in anger. Together with the rest they stormed out of the royal hall without bothering to pay their respect to the crown prince.