The queen turned red. "What are you talking about! That is the truth!" Sung Hoon and Ki Ha both arched their brow. Sung Hoon shook his head. "Really? You don't think that Father told everything that needed to be known?"
The queen paled in fear. "H... He w... wouldn't" Her voice cracked. Sung Hoon just stared at her. "Father might not have loved you like he loved my father but he still loved and thought highly of you. When he explained everything he did so because he wanted you to have a good life."
Sung Hoon's eyes saw some sadness. "That was the only time he and I had a father-son talk. He might have already known that he was going to die." Sung Hoon left silent. The queen stared at him in disbelief. "W... Why did he tell you?" She became more agitated and angry.
Sung Hoon pointed at Sung Joon. "Because of him. Father wanted me to take him in just as he had taken me. Father wanted me to 'reunite' the whole family. Do you know what is funny. I was planning on bringing him into the palace after I became king."
The queen gasped. "You're lying." Sung Hoon shook his head. "I wanted to fulfill Father's wishes. He would come to the palace while you leave. That was my plan but I didn't know that you would do something like this."
"Of course Father and I didn't know that you've brainwashed him to believe your lies. Father kept him a secret to keep him safe. Have you forget what Father has done for all the Intersex people?" Sung Hoon looked at the queen in disappointment.
Sung Joon looked at Sung Hoon in anger. "Stop bullying Mommy." Sung Hoon wanted to shake the boy. "You want to be King? Then stop acting like a baby!" Sung Hoon hissed at Sung Joon. Sung Joon's lip started to tremble.
"You created a mighty King." Sung Hoon looked at the queen with disgust. He looked at Sung Joon. "Don't you find it weird that you're named Sung Joon? The King was called Yi Beak. Shouldn't you be named Yi Joon instead?"
Sung Joon blinked a few times. He had never thought of it. "Why would your mother name you Sung Joon? None of the others have Sung in their names and we're not twins. So why would you mother, who loathes my father, name you nearly the same as me?"
Sung Joon opened and closed his mouth. He looked at his mother for answers but she stayed quiet. She even looked away from him. Sung Joon looked at the queen but she didn't look at him once. Instead she was rubbing her hands nervously.
Sung Hoon thought he would feel some gratification. He wanted to hurt the queen for kidnapping Jinwoon but even if Sung Joon was just a spoiled brat he wasn't sure if he should hurt the boy too. Sung Joon reminded him of himself.
When he first arrived in Namgyeong, he discovered that Intersex people were discriminated against. He was told many times to lie about his father. He felt like he was being just like all the servants and ministers who tormented him.
The queen let out a deep breath. She turned back towards them with a sneer on her face. "I'm different from that lowborn thing you called a father. I was meant to be queen. A man bearing a child is an abomination!"
Sung Hoon stared at the queen in shock. "What has my father ever done to you? How can you hate a dead man that much?" The queen glared at him before standing up. "You have to ask?! The king never saw me as his true mate!"
She had a mad look in her eyes. "I did everything he asked me but it was never enough. I could see how he would compare me to that..." The queen was breathing hard. She took a few steps towards Sung Hoon but the guards stopped her.
"I gave him only daughters. When he discovered you, he quickly brought you over to him but when my son was born, he sent him away! He never recognised Sung Joon as his son! Everything was about you!" Sung Hoon's face turned dark. 'She is really crazy.'
"The king even made you king! What is not hate about you and that thing!" Sung Hoon only felt pity for the queen. She had enjoyed the king's care for so many more years than his poor father. He had let her do whatever she wanted.
Even when the king knew that she and the Queen Dowager were bullying Sung Hoon, he had said nothing. Sung Hoon couldn't believe that she felt inferior towards a deceased person. He turned towards Sung Joon.
"It's really funny that your mother hates Intersex people. Isn't unusual that you only look at your mother and nothing like the late king. All the king's children look like him but you don't have any of his characteristics? Do you want to know why you were raised here instead of the palace?"
"Don't you dare!" The queen's face was dark. Sung Hoon smirked. "Sung Joon, has your mother ever explained this to you?" Sung Joon was looking from the queen to Sung Hoon. "Don't believe him! All he will tell you is lies!" The queen looked haunted.
Sung Joon frowned. "Why is mommy acting like this? It doesn't matter what he says. I know you would never lie." The queen didn't look relieved at all. Sung Hoon let out a soft laugh. "Do you want to know or not?" Sung Joon nodded. The queen's eyes grew big.
"No! Sung Hoon shut up! Don't say a word." The queen tried to reach Sung Joon and Sung Hoon. "Take her away. Keep her locked up until we leave." Two of the guards grabbed the queen by her arms and dragged her out of the room. Another two followed as a precaution.
They could hear the queen screaming while being dragged away. "Secure those four sentries apart from each other. The rest of you wait outside." Sung Hoon sent all the guards away. Sung Joon was shocked by the queen's extreme reaction.
Sung Hoon finally let go of his arm. "Let's sit down." Sung Joon walked towards the throne but Sung Hoon stopped him. "On the ground." Sung Joon looked appalling but Sung Hoon's glare made him sit down.
Jinwoon and Ki Ha sat down next to Sung Hoon, while the guards stayed standing. "What do you want to know first?" Sung Hoon looked at Sung Joon. Sung Joon gave him an arrogant stare. "Doesn't matter. I won't believe you anyway."
Sung Hoon shrugged. "Some of the things I'm going to tell you to many people and some are known by very few. When my father left, the king was told to get married as soon as possible and produce an heir."
The Queen Dowager decided that this time he had to marry someone she chose. She already had someone ready but that person never showed up for the selection. They later discovered that she had run away with someone else."
"In the end the queen was chosen because the other girls gave way to her. Many people were surprised because she is not from a mighty family. Still the Queen Dowager and the ministers approved the marriage."
"After a year, the first princess was born followed by another and another. The Queen Dowager was deeply disappointed. She even suggested for the king to take a second wife but after a few months a baby boy was born."
"But something didn't seem right. Do you know why?" Sung Joon looked unimpressed. Sung Hoon scoffed before continuing. "The king had been away for 5 months and you were born 5 months later, full term."
[All humans pregnancies are 40 weeks but Western countries follow the Gregorian calendar and consider it 9 months - in Asian they have the Lunar calendar; month 28 days and consider it 10 months]
Sung Hoon could see Sung Joon thinking. Jinwoon gasped. "How is that possible? Did she cheat?" Jinwoon couldn't keep the answer to himself. Sung Joon shot him a glare. "Mom... Mother would never do that!" Sung Hoon shook his head.
"She didn't cheat. She did something even more crazy. Intersex people are able to produce a offspring without fertilisation." Jinwoon and Sung Joon looked confused. Sung Hoon tried to explain to the two of them.
"It's a form of asexual reproduction in which an unfertilized egg develops into a new individual. It is a method in which a new individual developed without fertilization." Sung Joon, being young, still didn't understand but Jinwoon looked blown away.
Jinwoon looked at Sung Joon in amazement. Sung Joon looked irritated because he was the only one who still hadn't grasped it. "You know how children are made?' Sung Joon turned red before nodding. "Well the queen skipped the male and female part."
In a few seconds Sung Joon's face turned from a frown to a shock to disbelief. "Is not possible! First of all my mom... mother is not Intersex and second, she would never do that!" He jumped up in anger. "Sung Joon, why do you think that you were sent here?"
"The king didn't want people to hurt you. If you were really the true heir, why has the king never visited. Why has he and the queen kept you away from the palace? Your mother is the queen. Why should you stay here all this time?"