The palace door opened , the two guards holding Eun Chen hand by hand as Eun Chen struggled to get off from their grip, reaching a certain point , they threw her across the floor like a rag doll, they were dead once she gets out of here, she groaned in pain due to how she was thrown on the floor, she raised her head slowly seeing the Queen seated , the King was also seated, and to her greatest surprise she saw Lee Yeo who was standing beside the Queen , the Queen smiled but you could tell it was not sincere, Eun Chen slowly knelt down still looking at Lee Yeon in surprise, " lady Lee Yeon, Her Majesty, your Highness....."she said bowing her head, then she looked up again at Lee Yeon, but all she met was eyes of disgust and hatred, "Lady Lee Ye.....",before she could finish that sentence Lee Yeon walked towards her and landed her a hard slap, panting heavily, clenching her first, Eun Chen slowly turned her head meeting the gaze of Lee Yeon , now that she was physically weak a slap felt more like a punch, " Lady.....", but she was interrupted again by a resounding slap which echoed across the vast halls of the court room, the slap was so hard that it had bruised her cheek, and cracked her neck, her cheek appeared a swollen and bloody red, " enough Lee Yeon,...., you will deal with your business with her later , I brought her here for my own use, go home now , my guards will escort you off the gates to your carriage", said the Queen looking at Eun Chen whose head was facing down to the floor, Lee Yeon glared at her and angrily left with the guards escorting her out .
The Queen stood up from her throne walking towards where Eun Chen knelt down, Eun Chen raised her head up meeting the wicked gaze of her enemy, she clenched her first as the Queen gave her a wicked smile , " I won't be at around the bush here,..., Lee Kwon, the quiet and studious bastard who never interfered with the palace rules , who never talked back suddenly started showing his ridiculous traits , the time he started exhibitingsuch behavior matches the time you came here, a maid who wasn't trained or selected by the King or Queen suddenly showed up , you lied of your background, no merchant from outside and inside Gwengochan knows a deceitful maid named so ra", said the Queen , Eun Chen heaved , she knew the Queen wanted something from her, if she knew her identity she won't be alive by now , " what do you want to know?, you clearly don't care about my origin, you want something from me that is why I am still in your presence , that is why you are still speaking to me like this", said Eun Chen, the Queen smirked as she began laughing , " you are sharp tongued just like your young master, he has become so daring these days,....", she said coming closer to Eun Chen but this time she had a deep frown on her face , " then..., tell me who is training your young master, if he had no one in mind to train him, he wouldn't have asked to duel for his birthright, that means he has someone that is training him,...so , who is it", asked the Queen , Eun Chen sighed and then all of a sudden she burst into laughter, if she was going to die without killing the King and Queen, she could at least destroy their ego, the King stood up from his throne , the court ladies and guards all looked at her in surprise , the Queen stood there clenching her first , Eun Chen stopped laughing looking up at Queen, " sadly ....., I can't provide any information of what my young master has been up to, eventhough you see I am a loyal servant you know, I am not the type to just run my mouth on my master activities to someone who doesn't even consider him a son...", as soon as she finished saying that the Queen slapped her hard and grabbed her forcefully by the hair smiling maniacally, the King approached her, holding her wrist, " that is enough , just let her....", but the Queen nudged his hand off her wrist, turning back and looking at her husband, " why ....., you don't like how I am behaving now, am I embarrassing you...huh.....or,.....", she said tightening get grasp on Eun Chen hair as she looked at her then the King, " do you like this maid?, have you slept with her?, are you having another bastard.....", said the Queen, her smile slowly dying down as she glared at her husband " ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING AROUND HUH ....?", she yelled in anger, her voice so fierce and her tightening siezed to stop , allt he guards and court ladies bowed their head , anytime the Queen was int his kind of state no one dared to speak not look up , the King heaved in frustration, she always brought back the past, he shook his head as he walked away. " Why can't you answer the question huh...., coward", she said shifting back her attention to Eun Chen , she forcefully ungrasped her hand from her hair some strands intertwined in her fingers , she looked over at the guards , " take her to the cold room, torture her till she speaks ", said the Queen, the guards bowed their heads holding Eun Chen by her arm, she didn't fight it , she just followed them , she knew this may be her end.
************************************************
Lee Kwon was walking along, a wooden box in his hand wrapped in a navy blue ribbon, he smiled along , he didn't know what she would say about this gift , he knew she won't be emotional , she was different and at the same time very unpredictable, " young master Kwon, young master Kwon....", yelled Maidservant Park, as she ran , obviously out of breath , stopping right at his tracks , " oh...., Maidservant Park.....", he said looking at her , she was trying to say something but at the same time she was trying to catch her breath, " So.....,So....,So ra ", Lee Kwon tilted his head, " So ra, what happened to So ra ", asked Lee Kwon , " So ra, the Queen took her ", she said panting , Lee kwons smile faded , his heart stopped for a minute , the box in his hand fell , without asking what happened he bolted, he ran while Maidservant Park was still panting , " young master wait ...", she yelled attempting to stand up but she took in a second to catch her breath.
Lee Kwon heart had stopped beating , he wasn't thinking straight, he knew how the Queen was , how menancing, how vile and how cruel she could be , anything it was he hoped he wasn't late , the only reason he could think about for the Queen to take Eun Chen was that she found out who she truly was which he hoped wasn't the case .
************************************************
Eun Chen gasped for breath, they had locked her at the dungeon at the basement, it was dark and freezing , she cuddled her body into a ball as to conserve heat , her lips were cracked , her skin was pale , the dungeon had been securely shut but no guards were guarding it , they all stood at the closed entrance door upstairs, they of course couldn't stand the cold that is why they were upstairs , Eun Chen smiled through her clattering teeth , " they call this punishment,...., th....the....these ...royals are indeed pathetic", she said using her hands to rub against each other therefore producing heat , she placed her warmed up palms on her cheeks, she always thought she will die one day with a sword stabbed through her chest but this was more pathetic, who would have thought that the skilled masked assasin will die by being cold.
************************************************
Lee Kwon barged into the throne room , he was livid , the Queen and King who were already expecting this didn't show any surprise , " where is So ra , where did you keep her", asked Lee Kwon in anger , " wow....., you have really exceeded your boundaries , you seem to not know your place ", said the Queen with a wicked smile on her face , " I wouldn't have crossed the line if you hadn't crossed the line , now where is So ra ", asked Lee Kwon again, the Queen smirked standing up from her throne, " it seems that girl is more than just a maid to you, that is why she is being punished", said the Queen in a cold and serious voice , " Lee Yeon was really hurt by the fact that romance was blooming between you and that maid , I mean you have no shame ,..... , your engagement ended last year and now you moved on , not just to any girl but ...a maid, tsk, tsk", she said in amusement, " since when did you start caring about my personal affairs , and who are you to talk about shame ?, you have no right to tell me what I can and cannot do because you are not my mother, so don't cross the line", said Lee Kwon with a sneer expression, the Queens veins were popping out of anger , then she yelled, "IT'S YOU THET CROSSED THE LINE FROM THE MOMENT YOU WERE BORN , YOU WERE A TORMENT EATING RIGHT INTO MY FLESH", there was silence as no one dared to look up , Lee Kwon heaved in frustration looking up at the Queen in pity , " I wasn't the one that did this to you, you did this to yourself, if it is an apology you want then here", he said kneeling down then bowing his head to the floor, he raised his head up , his gaze still on the Queen, he then said the words , " I'm sorry for being born ", he said , the Queen smiled maniacally, " the damage had already been done , you are here still breathing, too much blood had been shed because of you",she said sitting back on her throne , " you can have her but after the duel, let's make a deal", said the Queen with a smirk .
He knew there was more to this,he knew she wasn't the type to negotiate in any way, " if you win this duel , I will let her go , but if you lose ,....., she dies ", saying that she laughed , this was how gruesome she was and the heavens knew how much he despised this woman, eventhough Eun Chen had trained him the hardest that she could , he wasn't confident in himself , " seeing how you aren't really confident in yourself...., I will give you another option, accept your defeat and failure, disown the royal name and never step into the palace then I will let her go , isn't that a more satisfying option", said the Queen expecting that Lee Kwon will pick the later , Lee heaved , " I guess you haven't noticed , I am not the same Lee Kwon that you tell what to do and comdemn, I have changed and I will show you , I am not giving up on myself , I made a promise to myself and someone else ", said Lee Kwon standing up his face settled in a frown glaring at her , " don't you dare lay a finger on her ", he said , " tsk,....., now you don't even tone down , who are you to give me any commands ", she said in anger , " if it seems like that then if it's a command ,obey, if it is a plea, show sympathy , if it's a threat then be cautious , I have no other words to say right now but I will tell you once again , keep your hands off her , this one is a threat ", he said and with that he stormed off. The Queen tightened her hands to a fist .
************************************************
Lee Kwon was hastily walking , his movements were menancing, his hand tightened to a ball, he was furious , but at the same time he was worried , worried about Eun Chen he knew the Queen , he knew that once you are her target , then there was no mercy for you, he knew he had to see her , he needed to get her out of wherever the Queen had held her captive and he needed someone's help, someone who was on his side , someone who had easy access to the palace.
He looked straight ahead, the answer was walking towards him, " Lee Kwon ,...why are you here, did the Queen and King summon you",asked Seugh min, Lee Kwon walked up to Seugh min, his face was serious, Seugh min looked at him curiously and in wonder, " why , what happened , did the Queen say something", asked Seugh min, but the only response he got from Lee Kwon was a shaken and worried voice , " help me".