Deep silence had fallen upon the house. The servants, with the exception of one who sat up in case their miss needs her , had all retired to rest.
Myung OK was in her room, lost. She had boasted once to her brother, the ability to remain unfazed in any situation and not be surprised. But it seemed it wasn't a truth.
The young boy, Soon, was the emperor?. The little boy she swore to kill was actually an emperor? What happened to being Choi sang-min's bastard? What happened to the sweet imagination of a revenge on the both of them?
Dear Lord, is this a joke?
At the moment she discovered he and the emperor were same people, she had ran aimlessly towards the palace gate. She needed to get out, her mind screamed. An escape will calm her internal turbulence caused by a discovery of what could kill.
Once outside the environment, she gasped for air. Her head hurt so badly she almost convulsed. What is this feeling of helplessness?.
She had taken the 2 hours journey home by foot. The air acted like a fan, fanning off the heat on her head and calming the tumultuous race of her heart.
When she arrived home, the sky was already dark she could barely see her own hands. The gathering awaiting her were dispersed when her mom saw her state.
In her room, she was restless. She politely dismissed her mom, then sat on the smooth floor , not her bed, for a period of time.
Though she longed for a rest, was still unable to sleep. She heard the clock strike eleven, twelve, one and two; still she was unable to sleep. Her thoughts wandered to what happened 6 years ago. The exact words spoken up against her, the lies and the betrayal. Her fever, the memory loss and all other pains she experienced.
What really happened that day?
By three o'clock, she laid on the floor, her eyes went out of her open window to watch the great flood of silvery light on the floor of the room.
She wondered why the moon chose at this moment to shine. Looking ruefully at the moonbeam, she asked it a rhetorical question.
"Do you also feel it's strange he's the emperor? I mean, your mortal enemy whom you planned lots of bad things for suddenly becomes the one man you cannot touch, what irony is this?". She laughed maniacally like a mad woman. The sound of the laughter reverberated inside the room and echoed down the hall due to the stillness of nature.
She stopped laughing and soon fell into another thought. Suddenly, like a lightning, a thought flashed to her.
Jae joon!
He knew all along, yet, he helped send her into the palace, refused a direct order to guard the emperor closely and had not divulged any single information to her.
Truth be told, things are getting clearer to her and she could make connections in confirmation that things don't seem right. Choi sang-min might have threatened the crown prince or worst still, made a deal with him. In conclusion, the bottom line was betraying her.
Jae joon and undeniably the fiery arrows are aware of the fact the baby monster she haunted was the emperor yet it was kept away from her . Why make it a mystery?
The next moment, she resolved within herself, to confront those she called her men but are using her to spy on the royal family. Who are they fooling?
Right from the moment they quickly agreed to affiliate themselves with such a young girl as her, she knew it wasn't for her but for themselves. Jae joon might have been a little different because they share a personal grudge against one person and needed the emperor's power to exterminate and diminish the former prime minister to extinction.
They would have just killed him but it would be an easy death. What better way to deal with a greedy politician than to make his political prospects futile? They would deny him of his power then watch him kill himself.
That is the perfect plan for a carnivorous beast like him.
Her emotions became calm when she made the decision, after all, Jae joon is the clue to the mystery.
The forceful beam of sunlight awoke her at noon of the next day. Humans and diurnal animals had already concluded their morning rituals and were half through with the day when she freshened up.
Her family members patiently awaited her and handed over breakfast or is it brunch, when she came.
She hastily had her brunch, attended to the matter that brought her home, then dragged Jae joon to the mountain of flowers as they call it.
"Why?", she asked in a very low voice that alerted Jae joon to the brewing of a terrible storm. For an unknown reason, he felt slightly afraid but couldn't remember what he had done wrong.
"Why what, my lady?", he braved himself to ask. It is a known fact their miss turns dangerous when her voice sounds indolent and extremely calm.
"You really don't know?", she chuckled softly as she waved her sleeves to reveal the neatly arranged acupuncture needles.
"Let's fight", she said and unloaded them on her hands. "Give your best shot because this needles has been laced with poison".
His mouth opened but no word came forth. The human brain is quite tricky such that it can format on it's own.
"Master, what have I done?".
That sentence seemed to trigger her anger as she attacked with no warning.
"Who is your master?", she roared as she flew one of the needles at him, but like a fluid, he glided noiselessly away from it. At that moment, he knew she was enraged and out to draw some blood. He drew his swords on her but had no intention of hurting her.
She smiled wickedly when she saw him draw that sword. "That's more like it, traitor".
She attacked more aggressively, each needle spraying out of her hand in quick succession but he dodged them all and never attacked once.
"Why didn't you tell me who the emperor was?", she asked breathlessly when she saw him unhurt by none of the needles.
Jae joon who jumped up to escape one thrown at his legs stopped short when he heard her. She's found out?
The next needle stuck on his arm as he didn't dodge it. "It was all for you , master!".
He came closer, his left harm paralyzed but he wasn't deterred . "I have been investigating that case from six years ago", he dragged himself closer to her.
"What did you find out?", she asked finally.
" The chief of the prefecture office told me there was a threat as he heard the crown prince cry out about something. Since he didn't know who he was, he didn't pry into it so as not to offend Choi sang-min".
"You mean to tell me, a crown prince of a nation was threatened by a mere minister?"
"I am still investigating, I would have told you once the report was complete". The needle on his arm pricked him with pain, but at that moment he knew it wasn't poisoned.
Contemplation of everything fell in place in her mind but she still felt cheated.
"Let me ask you one thing", she said out of the blue. "Why didn't you tell me he was the emperor?".
Guiltily, he scratched his head. He already knew it won't be hidden forever but he hoped she would find out only when he had fixed the missing piece of the puzzle.
"You were bound to find out so I wanted it to be your personal discovery".
"You call me master yet you make decisions for me", she withdrew her needles, then turned her back on him.
"Where is the exact loyalty of the fiery arrows?... With me or with their mission?". Jae joon swore his allegiance to her but she laughed it off.
"Pose a question to the rest on my behalf... Am I really your master or your vessel?".
She neatly placed her needles on it's case as she left for the palace. She needs to resign from her post. There was no point in being there.
...
The emperor had already drawn a considerable amount of attention with his yesterday's action.
The news reached the dowager who opted to search for whatever he sought for on his behalf, but he disagreed with the arrangement and said it was nothing of importance.
"It's just a thief that stole from me, nothing else", he said nonchalantly as he fed the nunuberry who stuck to him as a glue.
"Dada, I want those!", she pointed at the red colored shrimp which looked mouthwatering and appetizing.
He smiled at her as he brought the shrimp to peel it but stopped. The meal they had at the restaurant refreshed itself in his memory. He pushed the shrimp away to escape the pain gnawing at him.
"Nari darling, Dada has some work to do. Let your Nana peel those for you". He quickly got up but the little fingers held tightly unto his robe.
"Dada, Nari wants to eat those you peeled", she pouted and her eyes turned watery with the feeling of being neglected.
He ruffled her hair as he gave his mother a cry of help look. He kissed her forehead then proceeded to leave amidst the cry of the little princess.
"Be good", he said to her and the tears ceased momentarily. Then, he left the palace.
At his palace, he saw his two trusted eunuchs investigating the task he left for them.
The palace is an entirely different country as he found not less than four hundred Kim. It seemed the whole palace now went by the family name Kim. They divided the list to two, male Kims were removed from the female ones, yet none of the females had a Yoona in them.
He discreetly ordered the chief female investigator to help search for her quietly.
The palace maids seemed to be thousands in number as the registers of court maids of different departments were too numerous.
He searched all the registers with his servants yet nothing popped out. It took them two days to look over all of it, yet the journey was fruitless.
On the fourth day, he found a Kim Yoona on the imperial lower servant's list but alas, when he went to seek her out, it was totally a different creature from his Yoona.