Hierarchy || Nakamoto Yuta

22

I shake my head and laugh as the salty tears enter my mouth. Just yesterday, I was happy with my life, it felt as if everything was fine but now I have to kill Woobin before my messenger kills him.

I have three days to decide what to do and it definitely isn't an easy decision. My heart yearns to tell a soul about the letter but I don't know who to trust. There are several eyes in the palace and one mistake can cost me many lives.

I find comfort in staying in my room, I avoid everyone and ask for my meals in the room. I tell my Head Maid to refrain anyone from coming inside. They were odd requests but they gave me time to think.

I pace around in my room as I feel my chest clawing at my heart. I take a deep breath and force myself to stay calm. Blinking away my tears, I hastily open the door and make my way towards the courtyard.

The sight of the still water and peony trees calm me down as I close my eyes and breath, in and out, I keep on breathing softly until I feel a presence behind me.

"I'm worried," He whispers and I feel sadness in his voice, "how can I help you?"

"You can't," I bite my lip to avoid myself from crying again as I stare at the flower petals that fly around, "There are some demons that I have to fight myself."

"I understand," he nods as he takes a step forward and stands next to me, "I am sorry if this feels rushed but Siwon wants us to meet, he says that time is running short."

I force myself to avoid Woobin's gaze because I know one look in my eyes and he'll unveil all my secrets, "I want to meet him, I feel like it's time."

"I have to go," I bow towards Woobin as I turn around but his fingers grab my wrist and stop me.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asks me softly and I face the other way as I close my eyes tightly, "Won't you tell me what's wrong?"

"It's not you, Woobin," I remove his hand from my wrist and give him a small smile, he deserves that much, "I'll tell you soon, don't worry."

"I don't want to lose you again," his voice calls out from behind, "I'll go insane if that happens."

"You won't," I tell him as a tear escapes my eye, "you'll never lose me." but I think I'll lose you.

                                       x x x

I heave a breath as I stand outside Woobin's room.

"I need a minute," I tell Hyunjin who bows at me.

I nod at him after I steady my breath and he opens the door. I clutch the hem of my skirt tightly as I walk towards the table and lower my head.

My gaze lingers on Woobin before I stare at the new face that's staring back at me.

"Siwon," I find myself mumbling, "I don't know how to thank you for everything."

"Stay alive and healthy, that's enough for me." He smiles at me as I take a seat next to Eunwoo.

"Tell her what you told us." Woobin's harsh tone cuts the silence and I finally look at him. He looks like a King right now, he looks like this is what he was born to do.

"There's a revolutionary group who's trying to dethrone Woobin," Siwon's sympathising gaze lands on Woobin as he continues, "They claim to serve your father and they're really powerful. They've corrupted half of our people and we don't know how to differentiate between the loyal and disloyal ones."

they claim to serve my father, these are the same people who are threatening me.

My mind feels dizzy as I nod, "What do we do? Is there any way to negotiate with them?"

"You can't negotiate with killers," Jinheung speaks up, "They won't stop until they get what they want."

"They're after the crown," Eunwoo sighs as he clenches his fist, "They want to take over the throne."

"I thought you wanted the crown too," I blurt out and my eyes widen when I realise how harsh my words sounded, "I mean, that's what Father told me before he sent me here."

"That's what we're trying to depict from our actions," Eunwoo's hollow voice echoes and I realise how hurt he would've been from my words, "The Kingdom is crumbing from all four sides and after the death of father, the rebels are fighting for the throne more intensely."

"I still don't understand why I was sent here," I look around the room, hoping for an answer, "Do I fight or do I act as a spy?"

The four men exchange silent words through their eyes and at that moment, I feel extremely left out.

Siwon coughs as he straightens his back, "You're here because we need you, you're here because there's no King without a Queen."

My eyes widen as I shift my attention towards Woobin who looks back at me with a closed off expression and I wish I could read his mind because I want to know what he's thinking about. I want to know if he's happy right now because I am not.

x x x

Hey guys, how have you been?
I'm sorry for the extremely late update but school started and I don't get time to write. I'll update once a week, probably on Saturdays but I'll try to update more than once too.

Thank you so much for reading, I can't believe I'm about to hit 7k :')