Starfall. |Lee Know

Thirty-Six

Dabin was on her knees, rubbing her hands together, looking at her whole family ahead of her while her tears streamed down. Changbin tried to pull her to her feet but she just pushed him away and continued pleading. Ahead of her, there was her mother, two sisters, and two brothers, all seated around the meeting table and looking at her weirdly as she poured her heart out.

"Get up this instance!" Her mother yelled firmly.

"I beg you," Dabin gasped for air to be able to breathe and talk. "Please, allow me to leave."

"This is not acceptable." King Hyunbin uttered.

"What do you think you are doing now?" Woobin yelled.

"Dabin," Eunbin talked a little softer than her brothers. "It's not appropriate and what you are asking for doesn't make sense."

"Why?" Rubin chuckled. "It's pretty obvious why she wants to leave." She looked down on Dabin who was still on her knees. "You seduced Prince Hwang, right? That's why he came here. That's why he asked for you and headed to your chambers right away."

"Shut up, Rubin." Changbin growled. "Stop talking nonsense."

"Disown me." Dabin almost yelled her words. "Take my title and position. I don't want them. I don't want to be here anymore." She looked at King Hyunbin. "I beg you, Your Majesty. That won't affect you in any way. I've always been forgotten. People will forget me again soon. I will live as silent as a dead and will never do anything that might hurt the name of our family."

Hyunbin went silent. He was thinking of her words. She was right after all. She lived as a ghost for all her life. She never brought harm to them. She had always been so obedient and the very few unfortunate events she was involved in, resulted in something better later.

"No." The former Queen stated. "You'll stay as you are supposed to be till we find you another spouse." She smirked. "And maybe Prince Hyunjin is a good one. What did you two talk about earlier?"

"Hell no!" Rubin yelled.

"I don't want a spouse," Dabin uttered more stoicly this time as she understood her mother's plan. She didn't want to let go of her so she could use her later and marry her off to a good family that would benefit them. "I want to leave this place. I want no titles or positions. I don't even want to be royal anymore. I don't want this life." Dabin stood to her feet, now looking at them with much hate. "I don't want to be part of this family or your twisted plans!" She clenched her fists. "I've never wanted anything or asked you anything for all of my life. Just this once, just for one time, I wanted something and I'm asking for something that's not even that hard for you to achieve."

"And that one thing you wanted brought all of us shame and disgrace!" Her mother snapped.

"How could my marriage to someone I chose bring you shame?" Dabin almost yelled.

"He's a criminal!" Her mother yelled.

"He's innocent and was framed into this." Dabin yelled back and the whole room fell silent. It was Dabin's first time ever to raise her voice that much. "You met him twice," She stepped closer to the meeting table, glaring at her mother. "Only twice, and in those meetings you were inspecting him as a possible business partner, not even as the man that was going to be your daughter's husband for the rest of her life. How could you assume he's someone capable of being a criminal?" She questioned, still yelling.

"So," Rubin scoffed. "You now want to leave to go after your forbidden love?"

Dabin curled her fists. "Shut the hell up." She uttered under her breath.

Rubin jolted and stood up. With wide strides, she walked to Dabin and yanked her shoulder to force Dabin to face her. "What did you just say?"

"I said," Dabin talked through her gritted teeth. "SHUT THE HELL UP!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. Immediately, Rubin lifted her right hand to slam Dabin's face, but Dabin was quick enough to see it coming and block it by grabbing Rubin's hand. "Don't you dare assault me! I'm done with you and your behavior of thinking you are something important or superior over others." Dabin let go of her hand and pushed her away. "I'm sick of your entitlement and your hunger for men's attention." She turned around to face the rest of her family and looked at them with disappointment and hate. "I'm sick of you and your fake image of a perfect family." She looked at her mother. Tears were silently streaming down her face. "And I'm sick of your controlling obsession. I'm sick of this palace, this family, and this whole life." She added and then turned around and walked away, leaving them behind her along with the tiniest of emotions or love she used to have for any of them.

She had the key. She got Hyunjin's very obvious hint. She was sure of where she could find her lover, but her family didn't let her go. They didn't allow her to be happy. They never cared about her happiness from the start.

Changbin had his fists clenching. He wanted nothing but to punch all of them. He didn't go after Dabin and let her be. He stood there facing his family. He was one step away from lashing out.

"One thing." He growled, looking at his older brother, King Hyunbin. "For all of her life, she asked for one thing, and you couldn't even think of it?"

"Changbin," Hyunbin sighed. "It's nonsense! How can we disown a royal member just like that?"

"I'm not fucking asking you to do a favor for a royal member!" Changbin yelled. "I'm not talking to the King right now. I'm talking to a freaking older brother who should've got the slightest of care or affection for his younger sister who needed his support!"

"Changbin!" The former Queen yelled. "How dare you talk to yo-"

"I'm not fucking talking to you, Mother!" He almost spat his words. "You should wake up from your delusions! You are not a queen anymore. You have no authority. You descended and let your son rule at the age of twenty so you should've stepped the hell back and let him be! You should've stopped controlling all of our lives and playing with them like soulless chess pieces! So, stay where you are and don't you think of getting involved. I'm talking to my brother and King! Not you."

"Changbin," Eunbin called and stood to her feet, walking up to her younger brother. "You should calm down. You are being very rude and disrespectful to Mother."

"And wasn't she rude to all of us?" Changbin scoffed and stood away from his sister. "Are you happy with your life, Eunbin?" He looked at his brother Woobin. "What about you? Did you ever want to join the army? At that young age when you were barely seventeen?" He then looked at Hyunbin. "And you? Are you enjoying being a fake king? An image that she's hiding behind? Don't you all think she had already played our lives as she wished? Don't you have any empathy for our little Dabin who wanted nothing but to be with the one her heart had chosen? Or do you all want her to end just as miserable as you are? Are you jealous of her? So you want her to be like you?"

"You've crossed many lines." His mother uttered through her gritted teeth.

"Just as you do, Mother." Changbin scoffed. "You don't know your limits as a former Queen." He looked at Hyunbin. "Do you even know how your wife, the RIGHTFUL Queen, is being treated inside this palace?" Changbin watched his brother's face darken. "Apologies, My King," He bowed down sarcastically. "But you had failed as a King, a husband, and an older brother." Changbin stepped back, throwing disgusted looks at them one by one. "You all had failed as a family. How do you rule people when you can't rule yourselves?"

He threw his question that he didn't ask to get an answer for, turned around, and then left them to rethink all they had done with their lives since the day the Late King passed away. Since the day Dabin was born.