Have you ever wanted something or someone so badly to the extent that you put in your all?
In fact, sometimes, it's even more than just your all.
Yet, right when it seemed like things were about to fall in place for you, some annoying stinker from out of nowhere just swoops in and takes all the fruit of your hard labour with little to no effort at all.
Do you realise just how annoying that would be for you?
Well, if you do, then you'll probably understand how 16-year-old Lee Minseo felt when her cousin snatched her beloved from her right under her nose.
"I want him." Minseo had said to herself the very first time that she laid eyes on him at her eldest uncle's house. The second prince.
Her heart knew then, even at that very young age of twelve years, that that was the man for her.
While others were busy fawning over the older brother, who is the crown prince, Minseo only had her eyes set on the younger one, Prince Kim Hyun Jun.
And as young as she was at that time, Minseo did everything she could to make sure that she would not remain invisible to the prince.
And pretty soon, she and her prince had gotten quite close.
Until, her second uncle got promoted just last year, and his daughter, Youngmi, started to visit the palace with him.
Minseo doesn't know how her cousin did it, but that witch got both princes to fall head over heels for her.
What annoyed her even more was that this cousin only had eyes for the older prince.
Yet, the then passive second prince changed. He actively courted and wooed her cousin, making Youngmi change her mind from the crown prince to his younger brother.
And so, they became rivals. Well, at least to Lee Minseo, they were.
She felt her heart crushed several times when the four of them—she and her cousin and the two princes—were conversing about random stuff, but all the second prince's attention was on her cousin and nothing else.
Minseo watched as her prince paid close attention to Youngmi and took care of her in every small way whenever they would meet.
Seeing how lovestruck he was for her cousin made Minseo start having evil thoughts.
The past few months have been torturous for her to see the lovey-dovey couple, and worse, her cousin wouldn't stop rubbing it in her face by telling her all about the things that the two of them did together in her absence, as if she wasn't suffering enough already.
And the last straw was when she showed her those matching couple's bracelets. One was on her wrist, while the second prince had the other one on his wrist too.
"Stay off the second prince; he is mine!" Minseo had warned.
"Oh, really? Then what about this?" Youngmi pulled up her sleeve to show off a beautiful jade bracelet.
Minseo's heart beats rapidly as she stares at it. She had seen the second prince wearing a similar one.
"I'm sure you've seen the one on his wrist, right? Well, if he is yours as you claim, why don't you show me your own then? Do you share any couple's items with him? Where is it?"
Youngmi paused and then moved her ears closer to Minseo's mouth, as if trying to listen, and before added. "I didn't think so. Hm."
She smirked at Minseo as she walked out on her.
Minseo felt like yanking her back by the hair and chopping her hand, which had the bracelet off, and taking the bracelet from her right there and then but she couldn't.
Out of sight, out of mind. If Youngmi is no longer alive, then maybe the prince would finally give her his full attention just like she deserves.
And hence, she planned this trick to end her cousin's life.
She had sent the candles as a peace offering, but in reality, she had intended to use it to eliminate her competition.
So here she is early this morning, to check the results of her handiwork, only for her to be arrested by the royal guards.
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In The Royal Palace...
Two eunuchs on each side of the court gate opened the doors wide as the king approached.
A eunuch then announced in a loud and clear voice. "Here comes his Majesty the King!"
All the ministers present steadied themselves as the king walked through the aisle in between them and ascended to his elevated throne.
"So, what did you find?" The king demanded, once he settled in his official seat. He was addressing both the head of investigations at the tribunal courts as well as the chief superintendent of the police force.
He and some of his top ministers were waiting for the report on the investigations concerning the princes.
Someone had dared to target not only one but two of his heirs. And whoever had such guts would pay dearly for it, not only with their own lives but also the lives of all their family members for this treasonous crime.
The chief superintendent was the one to answer him. "Your Majesty." He gave a deep bow to the king as a sign of respect before he continued.
"The princes disguised themselves last night and went out in secret to watch how the common people celebrated the lantern festival and floated their lanterns.
Court Lady Yoon said that the princes brought the candles with them from their outing and used them for the night in the Crown Prince's Quarters.
The second prince did not go back to his palace, but she had let them be because of the festivities, only for her to go and wake them up this morning to find them in that unfortunate state.
The Crown Prince's personal guard, who had followed them in secret, also reported that the candles were given to the second prince by Lady Youngmi, the Minister of Procurement's daughter." The chief supt. reported.
"Where is she? Did you take her to the prison grounds?" The king asked angrily. He had gone to check on his sons' conditions, and it doesn't look good at all.
The chief-in-command at the state tribunals answered the angry king after offering a deep bow. "Your Majesty, Lady Youngmi passed away this morning. The cause of death was determined to be the poison from the same candles."
"What?!" The king exclaimed. He lost his balance and was about to fall, but his long-time best friend, the prime minister, held him up so he wouldn't fall.
"Don't tell me that you stopped the investigations because she died? How about how she got those candles in the first place?
Those are rare items, so you should be able to trace them back to their source. Isn't that right?"
"Yes, my King. We were able to trace them to the source. Upon further investigation, it turns out that Lady Youngmi's cousin had gifted the candles to her after the two of them had made peace due to a previous squabble.
The said cousin is in our custody at the moment, but she keeps denying that it is not her and that she wants to speak with her parents." The chief supt. of police explained.
"Why does she want to speak with her parents? Were they the ones that made her poison my sons?"
The King started to think that this was not an accident, as he had started to think after hearing that the other girl had died.
"She says that it wasn't her and that it was her younger sister who sent her servant to take the candles to their cousin.
But Lady Youngmi's servant insists that this girl is an only child. So that is why she wants her parents to bring her dongsaeng to us.
We released her servant to go with some of our men to inform the parents about their daughter's case. Your Royal Majesty."
"You should've gone and had his parents arrested too before coming here to make a report. Where is the girl now? Take me to her." Said the king, as he got up from his seat.
The ministers tried to stop him. "Your majesty, she has been kept in the prison cells. It is too filthy for you to go there yourself. We can have them bring her to you instead. Please, my king."
"Fine. Go and bring her parents along with the dongsaeng and let me know immediately they arrive. Also, arrest the parents of the dead girl as well as that servant. Their daughter was the one who gave out the candles to the princes, after all."
"Yes! Your majesty." The officers all chorused and marched out of the court. Leaving the king and his ministers to continue with their assembly.
Prime Minister Lee Beom-Seok knew that the moment he had been dreading was near.
One court official of the West-faction stepped forward to address the issue. "My King, I heard that the accused is that favourite niece of the Prime Minister who has been coming into the royal palace with him.
Can he tell us then what he knows about this matter? There is no way that he didn't notice that his niece was hatching such a well-orchestrated plan, right?"
"Minister Oh, what are you implying? Are you trying to insinuate that our honourable prime minister is behind the incident?" A minister from the South-faction asked back.
"Minster Choi, do not put words into Minister Oh's mouth please." Another minister from the West-faction joined in.
And that is how the rest of the court continued. The West faction tried to pin the blame on the prime minister while the South faction came to his defence.
He himself is in hot water, but he remained quiet and composed as he observed the king while they were all waiting for his family members to come before they continued with the court session.
As the head of his family, the Prime Minister knows that his political rivals will use this case to smear his reputation further now that his family is implicated.
This news has come as a shock to him, as he doesn't know how his niece has come into that dangerous candle. Neither did he know that his brother has another child besides Lee Minseo.
He has to take a defensive stance for his family before his opponents use this chance to have him and his family annihilated.
But there is not much that he can do right now, as any attempt to try and defend his cousin or his niece could be used against him, making their situation rather worse.
All the power lies in the king's hands now. He will just have to wait and study the situation before he acts.
Today is going to be a very long day for the king and his cabinet. No one will be able to go home until this matter is dealt with.