Night time hit the Educational Institution near Hanyang Castle.
Soldiers stood all around with a stick on fire acting like a candle. Chang stood in the middle just standing looking at everybody. He finally said, "Tomorrow morning, your families, who were taken to the Investigation Bureau, will be beheaded. Continuing to serve me might put all of you in danger. Will you all stay loyal to me nevertheless??"
I see the captain soldier known as Yu Saeng walked away with a solemn face. The sun rises over the horizon and the man hops on a horse riding away slowly. I ran after the man through the woods.
When Yu Saeng stands near a cliff and puts his hand inside the fabric of his shirt and pulls out a book holding it in front of him.
He then says, "Come out."
I walked into the clearing and he looked at me.
"Why are you following me?" He asked me.
I see that the book he is holding is the king's patient journal.
"Just wanted to see if you were alright." I simply say back to Yu Saeng.
"My family is going to be beheaded. My wife and kid. And I can't do anything about it."
I thought for a second and said back, "Then let's change that. I will save them even if I end up in their place. You have my word."
He looked at me shocked and opened his mouth to say something but I quickly added, "You can't say anything to change my mind. Family is important. I lost all my family... I then learned that family doesn't have to be blood and I am still losing my family. I would do anything to protect them."
Yu Saeng held his arm out and I grabbed it getting on top of the horse. He raced the horse back to the camp.
"Get what you need." He simply said.
I got off the horse and ran to get my sickle. In the corner of my eye on a table I see two small knives. I quickly hid them in my clothing. I left and went back to Yu Saeng who is now changed in white clothes.
"Got what you need?" I said lowly so no one heard.
He nodded his head. We headed back to the horse. We got on and rode the horse to Joseon's market place. We stopped behind the market stalls.
While walking through the stalls, I see a lone arrow. I quickly grab it and walk with Yu Saeng to where all the commotion is taking place.
"Mom!" I hear a little boy yell. The little boy was getting dragged by a guard.
The woman ran and grabbed the little boy pulling her out of the man's grasp while yelling, "Please! Let him go!"
The man harshly grasps the woman and her kid.
Yu Saeng's breathing weakened.
I whispered, "That's your family."
He didn't say anything just looked at the commotion in front of him.
The little boy looked at him and cried, "Father." The mother quickly covered the kid's mouth so Yu Saeng wouldn't get caught.
Since nobody was paying attention, I grabbed the lady's arm which was also connected to the little boy's body and pulled her to Yu Saeng.
The guards start running towards us.
I yell to the family, "Run!!"
The family runs out of the scene.
I take my sickle out holding it by my side waiting for the guards to get near me.
'Nobody is getting this family.' I angrily thought.
I take out the first guard by cutting his throat. People then screamed and ran all over the place. The people getting executed were being held by guards.
Another guard came in front of me and I clashed my sickle with his sword and aimed my leg to kick him in the chest making his fall down on the ground.
A guard kicked me back but I held my footing up straight. My sickle fell to the ground. I took the arrow out and held it in my hand. I stab the guard in the neck. The blood ran out of the wound and the guard fell to the ground.
I hear movement behind me and I jump up in the air and twist myself slashing the guard behind me on the chest.
But my landing didn't stick. I fell to the ground.
'WHAT THE HECK! YOU NEED TO GET UP!!' I screamed in my thoughts.
A guard came over me and I kicked him in the face making the man's nose gush out blood. He fell backwards to the floor. When I got up off the ground, a guard stood in front of me. I lifted my arrow up and threw it at the man.
The man caught the arrow and threw it on the floor.
Another soldier got behind me and kicked me to the ground. Rope was tied to my hands and I was harshly lifted off the ground.
"Where did they go!" A guard yelled at me.
I let all the moisture come out as spit which landed on the man's face. The man backhanded me in the face.
The guard dragged me with the other people to the execution site. I wasn't even going to fight.
We make it to the Royal Commandery. The other people got tied up but I got thrown to the floor and kicked. I lift my eyes to see Cho Beompal. My eyes widened but I kept calm. He looked just as shocked as I did.
"Where are they!!" The guard yelled and kicked me again.
Drops of blood came out of my mouth. I spit it on the ground.
"You will die by my hands." I threatenedly promised while smiling.
He roughly grabbed me and tied my hands to a pole.
Cho Beompal looked at me sadly.
A guard walked up to Cho Beompal and whispered to him something. He looks at me and back at the soldier.
Cho Beompal pulls out a scroll and looks at all the people. The crying was easy to hear from the women and children. The men were silent.
I kept a brave face trying to reach for the small knife in my clothing. I kept grasping it but I couldn't really grab it.
Beompal reads off the scroll, "Dear people of Joseon. As soldiers who have pledged their loyalty..."
I grabbed it but I couldn't make anything suspicious so I yelled out, "Chang is of royal descent. Their loyalty goes to him as well!"
The guard pushed my head to the head hard and kept it there. Since the guard moved me, I was able to angle my hands to cut the rope, hidden from people's eyes.
Beompal continues reciting, "to this country, their duty was to punish the traitor, Chang. However, they abandoned their duty and joined hands with the traitor in pursuit of their selfish greed."
I continued cutting the rope and I felt the rope slipping. I quickly grabbed it so it looked like I was still tied.
Beompal continued, "Thus, all families and relatives of the treacherous soldiers shall be executed. Even those helping the families--"
The people cried, "Please spare us."
I kept quiet still and smirked. My head was starting to hurt from how hard it is being pushed on the ground.
"But we didn't do anything wrong." I heard a lady cry.
Beompal yells, "This is a royal order. Let the beheading..."
The men holding the long blades were getting ready. I turned my head slightly and bit the man's hand hard spilling blood. The man screams.
Beompal fell to the floor not wanting to do it. He kept whispering something to himself. Footsteps were heard behind me and I knew who it was.
I let the ropes fall and stabbed the man holding me, killing him with my small knife.
Beompal runs to Chang and yells, "Your Royal Highness."
Chang then said, "You made the right choice."
Beompal looked like he wanted to cry. I start walking towards them.
Chang then says, "I will return to where I rightfully should be. Will you join hands with me?"
Beompal answers, "The Royal Commandery Division will be at Your Royal Highness' service."
He bowed followed by other people.
I bow my head at Chang.
"Untie these people now. They are guilty of nothing!" Chang says to the men.
The men start untying the people's ropes.
The man in the front, Officer Min, said, "Give me a sword. I, too, will go to the palace."
Officer Min was given a sword. Chang come up to me and grabs my arm pulling me up from my bowing position and walked away.
'I'm in trouble...'
When we were in a secluded area, he turned to face me and used his sleeve to clean my dirt filled face.
I couldn't help but think, 'Damn.. he looks good-looking in commoner clothing.'
"Why would you do that?" He said seriously.
"His family was going to die. I had to do something."
"What happened if you died?" He angrily said.
"Then I die but at least save them." I simply said knowing I was making Chang angry.
"Are you really careless about your life?" He angrily said.
I lowered my head and nodded.
He lifted my head and softly looked at me.
"I promised Lord Ahn Hyeon to protect you. I care that you're alive because..."
"I like you." We both said at the same time.
We both looked in each other's eyes. Like it was only us in this world. We moved closer to each other.
Chang whispers, "Stay with me."
I whisper back, "I will."
Then our lips met again just like that night.
After everything felt like fireworks, we pulled away.
I softly whisper, "Let's get back."
As I was about to walk away, Chang said, "Here."
I look back at him and see my sickle in his hands. I grab it and then grab his hand.
"Let's go." I said smiling.
We made it back to the people who were already waiting for Chang.
Walking through the streets, people start bowing down at Chang with me by his side. A man at the end of the street stood waiting for us.
He bowed down in front of Chang and lifted himself up from the ground handing Chang the patient journal that I saw with Yu Saeng.
He then said, "We have successfully subdued the soldiers from the entire Police Bureau. Now, we will escort Your Royal Highness to the palace."
We walked away heading to the palace. The place that almost killed me.
Soldiers opened a door for us leading us to men bowing down and an older man cried, "Your Royal Highness. Please spare our lives. All we did was obey the orders of Lord Cho Hakju and Her Majesty."
Followed by the men around lowly saying, "Please have mercy, Your Royal Highness."
The man lifted his head and said, "We will faithfully serve Your Royal Highness from now on. We have already disarmed the palace guards at all the gates. Please feel free to enter."
We walk past the men heading through another set of double doors which was also opened for us. Chang took the lead but I was very close next to him. We walked up the stairs to the entrance of the palace where Her Majesty sat at the throne looking high and mighty, holding a baby in her arms.
My anger boiled.
'That's Muyeong's baby.'
We stood quiet and didn't say anything waiting for Her Majesty to say something.
"You are back." She said without looking at us.
She looked up for a second and her eyes widened a little in recognition when she saw me.
"The girl who couldn't do anything right.." As she said those words, my hand tightened its grip on my sickle.
Chang grabs my hand to calm me down and keeps his head facing Her Majesty.
Her Majesty looks at Chang's and I's hand connected and looks back down at the baby. She then said, "Have you been away for so long that you forgot how to respect your mother?"
Chang calmly replies, "You are not my mother."
Her Majesty chuckles and looks up fully saying, "You still do not know your filial duties towards your mother."
"Step down from the throne. The throne does not belong to you." Chang said.
"Do you think you can make the people of this kingdom serve you by doing this? You are wrong. Son, you are a criminal of high treason who decapitated his father with his own hands. Now the throne belongs to my child, who is the deceased king's son." Her Majesty said.
I grip Changs hand.
"Is that child truly the deceased king's son?" I said trying to stay calm.
Officer Min then said, "Why is it that pregnant women were gathered at Naeseonjae? Also, why did Your Majesty kill those pregnant women and baby girls?"
Her Majesty's eye twitches knowing that she is going to lose.
A man spoke up, "The Minister of War is right. I, too, have been doubting it for quite some time. We must arrest the royal physicians and Your Majesty's court ladies to find out the truth."
"How dare you doubt the legitimacy of my child!" Her Majesty yells.
I raise my voice, "You took someone else's child! Stop lying when we know the truth!"
"Learn your place stupid child."
Chang spoke up, "The reason I am trying to oust you is not because you are a Haewon Cho, nor is it because I desire the throne. You've neglected the responsibilities and duties that come with the throne. 'The people worship food like god, and the King must serve those people like god.' That is why I am trying to oust you."
Chang let go of my hand and pulled out his sword then says, "Now, make your decision."
Her Majesty chuckles again thinking this whole thing is funny.
'We got the upper hand.'
"Will you step down of your own accord? Or will you be dragged down from the throne like a dog?" Chang asked.
Mer Majesty smirkily said, "Was beheading your own father not enough for you? Will you even kill your mother and brother now? Go ahead and try. I am not leaving the throne. I will not even budge."
A man said, "It is unnecessary to dirty Your Royal Highness' hands with blood. Do not be concerned. I will bring the seal and make her issue a royal edict to announce your enthronement." The two men walked away.
She smirks again.
I loudly whisper, "Coward.."
Her smile quickly wipes away.
"The only coward I see is you. You left your parents to die. They died screaming. You did nothing." Her Majesty says.
I sharply say, "You took me from my home. Burning it down and killing my parents. I served under you and you gave me punishment. Leaving me to die when you threw my body down a river stream."
Screaming was heard behind us.
'Why is it every time I think we will win... something has to mess it up.'
We turn around and I pull out my sickle. The people outside pulled out their swords and faced it towards the door.
Chang turns around and asks, "What on earth have you been plotting?"
"If I cannot have it, no one else can have it." She says.
Seobi runs through the doors screaming, "The plague has broken out! The plauge has broken out!!"
The men turn around. Chang and I ran to Seobi. Seobi falls down to a bow saying, "The plague has broken out from the Queen's Palace."
Women screaming was heard through the walls.
Chang yells, "Lock up all the gates at the palace!"
The men moved quickly and shut all the gates.
"My Lord, what is happening? How could the plague break out here?" A man asks.
Chang yells, "That is not important now. We do not have time. Be they noblemen or high-ranking officers, aim for their heads, regardless of their rank. We must kill every single person who has caught the plague! Understood?"
An echo of, "Yes, Your Royal Highness!" was heard.
I run with Chang down the steps out of the one open gate followed by Yeongshin, Officer Min, and a few other men.
We ran killing as many monsters as we could. Beompal, Officer Min and two other men ran somehwere else. The remaining men stood in the open ground killing as many monsters as we could.
Chang stabs his sword through a monster's chest getting it stuck. Before another could get Chang, I slice it's head off.
An arrow zooms past my head killing a monster that was about to get me. I look to see that Officer Min saved me.
I see Beompal get knocked to the ground. I ran to him killing any monster getting in my way. I stab my sickle through the monster's mouth letting the monster drop pints of blood on Beompal's face.
Yeongshin used his knife to finish the monster off. I pull my sickle out of the monster's mouth. Yeongshin pulls Beompal up off the ground with me trying not to laugh at how funny he looked with all that blood on him.
A growl was heard heading towards us.
'Great more monsters...'
Yeongshin and Officer Min shot the two monsters. We ran out of that area running to another area where more monsters ran around.
We start killing the monsters. I slice a monster's neck with my sickle.
My white clothing colored blooding with dirt.
I tried staying near Chang but it was near impossible from the amount of monsters in our way. A monster knocks me off my feet, I hold it up. My other hand tries to find my other hidden knife to which I grab the hilt of it and stab the monster's head.
I pushed the monster away but another monster took its place. I tried to stab it but I couldn't find the right angle. A gun shot rings through the air and the monster I'm holding up falls limp. I pushed the monster off of me just to see Yeongshin standing near me.
With all the monsters down, we run back to regroup with each other.
Beompal breathes heavily and asks, "Do you think we killed them all?"
Nobody said anything. Everything was quiet. No more screaming. Till a man runs through the gate holding it closed with his body.
The man yells, "Please! Your Royal Highness must escape! Please escape at once!" The door breaks a bit leaving a monster to have its head sticking out and screeching. The man stabs his neck with his sword killing himself.
We all readied our weapons.
I look at Beompal and said, "You just had to say something."
Yeongshin says, "There are too many of them."
The monsters broke the gate leaving the door to trample over the man who killed himself.
'You died for nothing. You could've still fought.'
I quickly grab Chang's arm and yell, "Hurry, lets go!"
I ran ahead with Chang following me with the other men including the monsters running after us. Leading them to a clear open area. The men go to close the gate but stop when Beompal puts his hand through to grab something and closes it when Beompal gets his sword.
We face our weapons up waiting for a plan and for the monsters to get through.
The day falling to night makes things a bit harder to see.
'Damn! You need to make it out alive.'