Regaining his composure, Yeong-ji let his gaze fall on Toshirou, who stood by his side.
"And I presume you were aware of this, Aosaki-kun?"
"Yes, I was. It was one of the only possible conclusions I could come down to, before learning the true nature of Hazel's ability directly from herself."
"How did you come to those conclusions?" Yeong-ji asked him.
"One, when I first arrived, I missed a very visible landmark in front of the eastern gates, two, the distortions in space I noticed when I first came into the palace, and three, me laying on Raynell's bed after the first encounter I had with Dae."
The last bit, caused Yeong-ji and Sung-nim to chuckle lightly.
"The books in your libraries told a different story from what I heard. While it is true that Thessalonica was the bone of contention, who misused it and who was the victim, were entirely misplaced. The history books said that Min-ji was the victim, which was true, at least at first."
"What do you mean by 'at first'?" Yeong-ji asked.
"In terms of who reigned superior, it was undoubtedly Min-ae. The Thessalonica that was given to them aided immensely in increasing their agriculture, trade, and commerce. There was no war between the two villages, to begin with. That was all fabricated. The truth, however, was that jealousy sprouted up in Min-ji, and they attacked Min-ae."
This revelation was shocking, to say the least. Both Yeong-ji and Sung-nim were astonished at this information.
"With careful planning and strategizing, they plundered Min-ae and killed off their lord two generations ago. So yeah, both you and Dae have no memories of that time. In your case, Yeong-ji, you have been fed lies upon lies, ever since the time of your grandfather till now."
"Am I supposed to believe that?" Yeong-ji asked, calmly.
"I'm afraid so," Toshirou replied.
The lord sunk into his chair in disappointment and tiredness. So in the end he was just a tool, a manipulated means to an end. He had been brought up in lies, from his birth till now. He wasn't just disappointed, he was ashamed of both his father and his ancestors. It took a stranger, an outsider, to open his eyes and free him of the burden of vengeance that had been passed on to him.
Sung-nim squeezed his hand again gently to comfort him, also feeling terrible at the actions her ancestors had taken.
"So to wrap it up, it has been a back-and-forth tussle for who gets the power of the Thessalonica. But needless to say, Min-ji was the one at fault. To top it off, the elders used Hazel's ability of Mind Manipulation to instigate even more strife between the two villages, including their people. That is why the rumours of your dethronement spread quickly in the city, plus it also allowed false images or in this case, false memories, to be created in their minds. An example would be Dae, who 'witnessed' the death of her daughter and saw her head on a stake."
"So that's what it was. You old bastards have really gotten on my last nerve."
Dae entered their midst, holding Raynell close to her by draping her arm over her shoulder. They strolled past the elders and climbed the steps of the higher platform, standing beside Sung-nim.
Wordlessly, she and Yeong-ji acknowledged the other and faced the rebellious old men once again.
"There's something I want to know." Yeong-ji spoke, "If our memories were altered, both Dae and the people, wouldn't it have been wise to get rid of the books that contained our true history?"
"Of course it would've." Toshirou cut in, bending to sit cross-legged on the carpeted floor, as his injuries greatly affected his stamina. "But I suspect that one of the elders present left it out on purpose. So,"— He asked the elders —"which one of you was it?"
"Our plans were flawless! We trust one another! No one of us would go behind the back of the other to disrupt our preparations!"
"It was I, my lord."
This statement, shut the mouths of the elders, rendering them unable to speak.
"B-Byung-joon? Wh-What did you say?" The elderly Byung-ho spoke in disbelief. "You did this?"
"Indeed, I did."
The elders were outraged by his response. They turned red in boiling anger as they lashed out harshly at Byung-joon, shouting out words of furious insults and libel.
"Silence!"
Yeong-ji's voice caused them to keep shut. Bringing his attention to the elder, he said with a soft voice,
"Is what you say true, elder Byung-joon? Why?"
"Because," the elder replied, "there was no one else who could stop us from enacting our evil desires apart from you. I have a lot of regrets in my life, Yeong-ji, but my biggest regret is lying to you. You were like a son to me, and no father would like to see his son perish to evil."
Yeong-ji had a pained expression written on his face. Even if the old man hadn't told him this, Byung-joon was the one elder he didn't want to confront, not in this way at least. When his father died, the only person, out of all his father's advisors, who was compassionate and kind, and consoled him on his father's death, was Byung-joon. He was, metaphorically speaking, a second father to him.
Yeong-ji let out a sad sigh. "Even if you did that, I still can't overlook the fact that these events did happen."
"I understand, my lord. I am ready to fully face the consequences of my actions." Byung-joon replied, bowing his head.
The remaining six elders were annoyed and furious, but they knew that nothing could be done anymore. They had been defeated, utterly so, and there was nothing either of them could do.
"But tell us this, Aosaki Toshirou, what are your intentions? Why did go so far for a village you have no connection to?" One of the elders, Byung-ho, asked.
"Why did I?" Toshirou, sitting on the floor, put his head in his palm, in a thinking fashion.
"I really don't know." He said, "I could have really just done what you wanted and all this would've been over with. But, I'll never forgive myself, if what I did would make my mother unhappy." His face held a sad, yet bittersweet demeanour.
His response surprised the people present, but no one said a word, including the guards and attendants, in addition to that which he spoke.
The elders cast their heads down in shame, their previous anger long forgotten.
Yeong-ji stood up from his throne, and walked down the steps, standing in front of the elders.
"For treason against the city, and for the unlawful possession of the Thessalonica, I, Yeong-ji Choi, by the power vested in me by our forefathers, hereby relinquish your fate to the hands of Aosaki Toshirou!" Yeong-ji stretched out his hands towards Toshirou, beckoning on him to come before them.
The winter blue-haired teen rose from the floor, walked over to them, and took a position beside Yeong-ji.
Sung-nim, Dae, and Raynell did not comment on the decision taken. Something like this was surely bound to happen.
"Yare, yare, I think I'm too young for this kind of thing," Toshirou said, being witty.
"Not at all." Replied Yeong-ji.
"Well, since you insisted, then I have no choice." He opened a blue portal in the air, a circle with symbols and markings on it, and drew out a plain double-edged sword from within it. His previous weapons, which consisted of a broadsword, a katana, and a wakizashi blade, had been destroyed in the battle before this event. On his way back, he spotted a sword that most likely belonged to a soldier, and requested that the medics pick it up for him.
Several emotions ran through his body as he examined the blade in front of the elders, but one emotion stuck out like a sore thumb from the others, the emotion... was wickedness.
With an evil smile etched on his face, a smile that showcased his depravity of mind in full display, a sudden fear gripped the old men and they began to tremble in fright. It was like they were seeing the devil himself.
Yeong-ji remained indifferent to the scene. He turned his back to them, and climbed the steps, sitting back down on his throne.
"You rotten old geezers," Toshirou said, depravedly, "you've caused me quite a bit of trouble. Sending people to kill me, harming my companions, manipulating history, making me waste more energy than I should have, trying to use me to attain your goals, you've got quite some nerve putting me through stress."
The elders were now visibly shaken. Toshirou raised his sword and stared them dead in the eye.
"The wages of sin... is death. Remember this as you all pass on to the afterlife together."
He let the sword come down. In one fell swoop, the elders were to be beheaded.
"Wouldn't you mind waiting a bit, Young man?"
An unknown voice called out, stopping the execution process.