Vivid | Lee Minho

•Scene 8•

"Is that so?" you tried to steady yourself by grasping the folds of your dress, praying that your discomfort was not visible. Lightheaded, it felt like your head was floating. "You may speak your mind, then."

"My lady, there are those, in the smaller villages of Valorieve, who terrorize the citizens through senseless acts of murder and remain uncaught by the mayors' offices. Too frequently have we seen such cases. I have dedicated my entire life to advocating for tighter law enforcement, yet nothing seems to be changing. No suspects are being brought forth, and justice remains undelivered to many," he said, his ardent words fortified by a fiery tone.

You had no response to his speech other than a lame repetition. "I-Is that so?"

"My lady, I ask you to seek justice for us. Please, have someone investigate these reoccurring cases! One innocent person after the other has been lost to these monsters who still roam free." he presented the scroll he was carrying with him, and in it, you gleaned a long list of names. You could not tell if it was madness or anguish that glossed over his eyes when he explained, "In this paper is a list of suspects I have been compiling and investigating for the past two decades.

"My lady, I beseech you again. Please, take this information and bring these killers to justice!" he had dropped into another bow and your guards began to exchange dubious glances, sensing possible danger in his erratic behavior.

The man before you was not the same person you remembered, one who was gentle and soft-spoken. He had been the type too tender to hurt an insect, too forgiving to those who bumped into him in the streets. What happened to make him like this?

Despite the onslaught of memories that threatened to overwhelm you, you cleared your throat, gesturing for your guards to ease themselves. "This matter...seems to be deeply personal to you, Mister Yang."

"I'm afraid it is so, my lady," he admitted while righting himself, his gaze haunted. "The truth is that I have only begun my investigations out of a desire for vengeance. You see, my lady, I had lost my beloved to such murders twenty years ago.

"We...were to be engaged when, on the night before her twenty-first birthday, she was murdered in cold blood."

You were suddenly nauseous, so much so that each word you mustered tasted acrid. "My condolences...to you."

"Thank you, my lady," he said in a low voice, gritting his teeth as he started at the ground in frustration. "I understand that finding her killer may be nearly impossible by now but—I think I will be doing her justice if I could help protect others from reaching the same horrific fate. That is why I must ask Your Ladyship to seek justice for us."

Unstable.

Your breaths were coming too quickly.

"That...is truly h-honorable."

Was it?

You could no longer think clearly, for every thought in your head seemed to scream at you.

Why did he come here?

What happened to him?

Was this truly the same Jeongin you had known once upon a time?

Your mouth was moving, but you were not sure if what left it was intelligible speech.

"What...was your beloved's name?"

There was a response so muffled you thought it was spoken underwater. Or maybe you were the one underwater.

"Her name was—"

But you could not catch the rest before your world tipped over and you were engulfed in the darkness of the past and its ghosts.