Narrator
"WHY WONT YOU FIGHT BACK!?!" Young Lee yelled.
Master Lee always thought she'd feel a bit cathartic the moment she avenged her family's murder. She thought she'd feel a sense of justice...,
But instead she was left with nothing but guilt.
- Queen Lee -
I couldn't do it.
"FIGHT BACK!!!" I ordered again.
Y/n just stared at me with those soft eyes and awaited their punishment.
"WHY WON'T YOU FIGHT BACK?!?" I yelled in pure rage.
I couldn't stand the sight of Y/n just standing there with their arms open. It was like as if they were awaiting their punishment.
"FIGHT BACCCKKK!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"If getting revenge has been your whole life's goal, then who am I to stop you from finding a new way of living," Y/n calmly responded.
Their response just drove me over the edge.
"You're so arrooggannt!!" I lifted my sword over my shoulder and charged at Y/n.
This was it.
This was the moment I had been waiting for my whole life.
I had befriended Y/n when we were kids for this specific moment. I had made sure to make Y/n believe that we were friends, that our bloodlines didn't matter, that there was no reason to think that I hated them....
I had purposely made arrangements for Y/n and I to across paths as kids...
But now that it was time to reveal the real reason I was here...
I couldn't do it.
I couldn't kill my best friend.
"AAARRGGGHHH!!!" I swung my sword over my shoulder...
Watching as Y/n just stood there.
- Servant Y/n -
If revenge was what Master Lee sought out then who was I to stop her.
My father had mercilessly killed the entire royal family over a rice scarcity. His entire family was starving and he did what he thought was right.
Murder is a sin...
But any true parent would go to hell and back to ensure the health and wellbeing of their children.
The only reason Master Lee survived was because she was merely a child. The same age I was at the time... and my father... he couldn't bring himself to kill a mere child.
After my father's arrest, my whole family was to be executed in front of the whole kingdom....
And they were.
The only reason I was spared was because....
Master Lee personally walked up to hold my hand before my execution, I was the last to be executed, and forgave me for my family's sins.
That's how Hyein became the Queen. That's how we became best friends. That's how we bonded of the deaths of our families.
I always wondered why Master Lee was so kind to me, why she never showed any resentment over what my father did, but I knew one day she'd break...
And today was that day.
I held my head up high and lifted my arms ready to be crucified.
I watched as Hyein lifted her sword and waited for the strike of her sharp sword to reach my body.
*THUMP*
I heard the clash of metal, but it wasn't against my body.
I watched a smoke of dirty dispersed in front of my eyes...
And I found Master Lee crying on her knees, with her sword speared into the ground.
"MASTER!" The palace staff ran up to aid Master Lee.
"I HATE YOU!!!" Hyein suddenly yelled at me.
"I FUCKING HATE YOU!!" She pounced on me and we both fell back into the ground.
"I HATE YOU SO FUCKING MUCH!!" She started hitting me over and over again.
"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO BECOME MY BEST FRIEND?! WHY DID I HAVE TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU?!!" Master Lee continued to hit me.
I froze for a moment, trying to process what she had just said.
"Your Majesty!!" The palace staff managed to get Hyein off of me.
For the next few days, I was held prisoner.
Not in the traditional way. I wasn't locked in a cell or anything, but I couldn't leave the palace grounds. I was fed once a day and was not allowed to go anywhere without a guard.
I wasn't even allowed to get near Master Lee.
Which was hard because Master Lee roamed the grounds of the palace often.
Sometimes, we'd cross paths and I was forced to keep my head down. I was instructed to never look at the Queen again, unless I wanted to die.
Still, that didn't stop me from looking at her from a distance. It didn't stop me from wondering what it was that she was thinking about.
"Will she strike again?"
"Am I spared?"
"Were we ever really friends?
Or did she just use me?"
It was hard to tell why I was spared, but maybe Hyein wasn't as powerful driven as I thought.
Maybe Hyein wasn't the mirror image of all the royals before her.
I never liked to disrespect history, but I always wondered why my father felt so driven to murder over a simple bowl of rice.
"Servenat Y/n!" A palace maid suddenly yelled at me.
"Yes?" I bowed respectfully.
I had been working as a palace staff since I was a child.
Hyein had been kind and considerate enough to know that no one would ever accept me in the kingdom. So, she offered to keep me in the palace as long as I became her servant by the age of 12.
I was given the same education as Master Lee.
We studied together, played together, we even dreamed of a better world together....
But as time went by,
Hyein and I could no longer deny our place in life.
Hyein was The Young Queen, Young Master, of the kingdom....
And I was a mere servant.
"The Queen would like for you to deliver this!" The maid handed me a simple tray of food.
It was a simple bowl of rice.
I furrowed my brows a bit confused.
Master Lee didn't eat such simple foods.
"Run along. She's waiting!" She maid shushed me away.
I hurriedly headed to The Royal dinning hall and found Mater Lee sitting at her usual table.
I bowed at her and slowly approached to serve her food.
"Sit!" She coldly ordered.
My eyes went wide.
It had been months since what happened.
Other than that, a peasant wasn't allowed to sit with a royal... unless it was their last day in the palace....
"Eat!" Hyein ordered.
I looked a her even more confused and she just gave me a cold look.
If you were ever asked to eat with a royal, it was your last meal ever.
I gulped and bowed, before taking a seat across from Master Lee.
"Enjoy your rice," Hyein smugly spoke.
It almost felt like she was mocking me.
- Master Lee -
I watched as Y/n slowly ate their peace offering.
I had realized that I was hard on Y/n for no reason. It wasn't their fault that their father murdered my family.
If my father had cared enough about the kingdom then everyone would have at least had rice to eat. Instead, my father hoarded all the kingdom rice for us to eat.
Such a selfish action caused him my family's life.
Whether a villain of the kingdom, or not, Y/n's dad still spared my life.
He may have done it so I could learn from my father's wrongs or maybe because he couldn't kill a soul that reminded him of his own child.
Either way, he wasn't as vile as other people made him seem.
"Go ahead. Eat," I tried to get Y/n to eat up.
Y/n kept on eating grain by grain with an odd expression on their faces.
"My father denied your family of rice. I won't ever do that to you or anyone else in this kingdom," I told Y/n to assure them I wasn't upset anymore.
"I don't understand," Y/n put their chopsticks down.
I took a deep breath, not knowing how else to explain myself.
"You didn't kill my family. You didn't do anything wrong, so I was harsh on you for no reason. I wanted to get revenge for what your father did, but I realized I can't take it out on you," I exhaled out.
"Or you just wouldn't know what to do with yourself after getting what you've wanted this whole time," Y/n coldly stated.
Y/n wasn't wrong.
Over the last few months, I thought about what would've happened if I did kill Y/n that day.
Would I have felt relieved? Guilty? Sorrow?
Would it change anything to get rid of the one person I feel closest to in this life?
"Marry me?" I spoke a random thought that came to mind.
I wasn't sure why I said that, but it felt like the right thing.
"Huh?!" Y/n looked more confused than before.
"Marry me," This time it was more like an order.
"Have you lost your mind?! First you want to kill me and now you wanna marry me?!" Y/n raised their voice at me.
If it was anybody else, I would have cut their tongue out, but it was Y/n so I didn't see it as disrespectful.
It was more like a friend trying to help me think things through.
It would be a lie if I said this wasn't the first time I had that thought. I had thought about it a lot. I even had reason to believe that it was a good idea.
"If you marry me, then the kingdom will know I'm for the people. I spared your life and now I'm asking for you to spare mine," I gave my reason.
In the recent years, The Kingdom had lost favor of me because of some promises I wasn't able to keep. It was only a matter of time before people began to trying to overthrow me and everyone in the palace.
The Kingdom would either be out for blood or penance.
"And why would I do that? Just because you spared my life doesn't mean that you haven't failed the rest of the kingdom. What does me marrying you even prove?" Y/n was getting agitated.
"It's shows The Kingdom that I have a heart. That I understand or have someone on my side that understands their struggles. Someone who will help me make better decisions for them," I sternly responded.
I was doing my best to not show emotion, but it really seemed like Y/n couldn't under my perspective.
"What exactly makes you think that The Kingdom will accept your decision to marry me. A commoner, a servant, someone who has to status or reputation?" Y/n was honestly asking all the right questions.
Luckily, I had thought of every answer at some point in my life.
"You do have stature. You were raised the same way I was. We have the same education, we know the same languages, we know all the rules, laws, and logistics of The Kingdom. The only difference between you and me, is that you know what it's like to be on the other side," I tried to get Y/n to see things my way.
- Servant Y/N -
I took a deep breath.
Master Lee's explanation made sense.
She was right. I was basically raised in royal standards. I knew everything Hyein knew, possibly even more, but I wasn't too sure about her proposal.
"If I agree, would I be able to fall in love with someone else? Could I marry someone else? Even if it's in secret?" I took a deep breath.
Master Lee's head dropped, as if disappointed, and lowly answer.... "yeah".
Truth was, I was in love with someone else.
"If a marriage to save face is what you need... then let's do it... but under one condition...," I spoke nervously.
"Anything," Hyein quickly answered.
"You can't fall in love with me."
-
-
-
-
-
-