Secret of the Two Kings (89 CHAPTERS - ON HOLD)

제 13 부

The eclipse was not only seen in the palace. The temporary blanket of faint darkness spread throughout the entire kingdom. While Dae Wong's horse was galloping quickly towards the palace, he pulled the halters abruptly, making the horse twitched upwards, whinnying. He was bewitched by the total devouring of the moon's shadow to the once bright sun.

"Oh no! What is happening? The eclipse... No!"

Undeniably, the sight of the total solar eclipse was captivating, but he did not let the evil thing ruin his goal—to report everything he had discovered to the King. He whipped his horse more eagerly and moved rapidly to the palace.

~~•~~

Apparently, not all people in whole Silla were disturbed by the occurrence of the eclipse. Those people who did not hear the King's prediction were mesmerized by its strange beauty, worrying nothing about it.

As Jung Min's palanquin traveled closer to the palace, one of the hwarangs escorting the palanquin reported the occurrence of the eclipse. Lady Seo opened a window and looked at the skies.

"My eyes cannot believe this. It is so majestic!"

"What is it?" Jung Min looked through the window out of curiosity.

"Young Lord, it's the solar eclipse. The sun was devoured by the moon temporarily. After some moments, the moon will go away, and everything will go back to normal again."

Jung Min stared at the sky in awe. "It is beautiful, yet terrifying. What does that mean?"

"I do not know, Young Lord. Only Heaven knows. However, there are some legends about it that I know. According to some old hearsay, it has the power to enchant you with its beauty in exchange for your eyesight."

Jung Min flinched at what he had heard. "You mean I will be blind?"

"Probably. On the other note, the people of Balhae believed that it was a curse to the mortals brought upon by one of their goddesses who became broken-hearted because she was betrayed by her mortal lover... There was much folklore about the eclipse. It depends on you what to believe on." Lady Seo said, her voice sounded like an eager matron telling bedtime stories to kids.

"Those were fascinating stories," he uttered, going back to his small bed inside the palanquin.

~~•~~

Everyone panicked as they saw the sun being eaten by the moon's shadow. All the people were shocked and horrified at the same time. The King's promise was broken, and the kingdom would start to suffer from different disasters from the Heavens. Many people were disappointed with the King. A lot of them cried loudly, wailed, and shouted. It was a devastating moment for all of the people who had hoped and put their trust in the King. With just a blink of an eye, their hopes and dreams were shattered.

"Sire, what are we going to do now? The eclipse has happened. This kingdom is going to suffer now!" a farmer shouted.

A lot of people wanted to go to the King and burst their anger at him. Tension started to build up. It was a full-tilt insanity. Some group of men attempted to go near the King to attack him but were blocked by the hwarangs. The military formed their own human walls as they pushed the raging mob away. Many people did not mind the hwarangs, blocking the King. More and more men tried to attack. It was like an angry wave trying to devour the shore. When the hwarangs could not handle the insurmountable number of the angry mob, they pulled their swords and pointed it to the attackers.

"No! Stop!" the King shouted. The crowd stopped and silence fell.

"I do not wish anybody to get hurt."