Han jum looked at the phoenix stone, directing it to the sun , the sun reflected through the spiral marks , the once brilliant lavender colour was lost , he looked at it curiously, in order to attain the phoenix stone powers , either he kills someone he cares about using the red dragon sword , the phoenix stone must be on the lobe of the swordin other for everything to go well, another way he could attain the powers of the phoenix stone was through the spiral marks but he had sold Eun Chen to the Queen in exchange for the phoenix stone , he had no one he truly cared about , he sighed frustrated, he had to figure out something quick.
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Seugh min sat with his mother as they both ate breakfast, this was the first time they ate breakfast together since the Kings death and Min yus coma but you could clearly feel the tension in the room as the sat faraway from each other, the Queen cleared her throat , " I have talked to kne of the leaders of the Northern regions , he agreed on letting his daughter to ma...."," I am leaving the palace", said Seugh min abruptly cutting his mother off, the Queen tilted her head in confusion, " what..., what are you.....", " I am disowning my title , name and everything connected to the palace , if you don't want her father giving her off to an ordinary man and the Queen shall be named a liar, I suggest you grant my request", said Seugh min as he stood up, " you can't be serious Seugh min, we are this close, this close to getting why we want, close to making this country to our own liking", said the Queen, her voice trembling with disbelief, Seugh min scoffed at his mother's words , " what we want?,....., all this is what you want , you are the one that wants all this , I don't want it,....", said Seugh min, he looked over at Ina whose head was bowed and she stood at a distance, Seugh min heaved as he walked up to her and took her hand in his , the Queen looked at both of them confused then her face twisted as realization began to kick in, " d..., don't tell me....", Seugh min knelt down as Ina followed, still holding her hand in his , her head still bowed , " Ina is pregnant and I am the father, I am planning to marry her, I am not asking for your blessing nor am I asking for your permission, I am giving you my last bit of respect by telling you about me and Ina, and our child toge....", " why ,...., why a maid?, why is it always a maid?", the Queen questioned , her voice cold but at the same time it was almost silent, " I would never accept that filthy thing as my grandchild ...", " you can't call my child filthy, you don't want to accept our relationship I already know that but don't call my child and my wife filthy ", said Seugh min, his voice commanding , this was the first time he ever used that tone on his mother , she was taken aback by how he spoke to her , Seugh min took hold of Ina's tightly holding it in his as he raised both their intertwined hands in the air, " I love Ina and our unborn child very much, there is nothing you can do or say about it", said Seugh min as he stood up with Ina and turned around to leave with Ina , the Queen was furious , she took the bowl of steaming hot soup ready to toss it at Ina but Seugh min knowing what his mom was about to do he quickly shielded Ina with his body right on time for the ceramic bowl of hot soup hit his back rendering the ceramic bowl to break on Seugh min back and hot soup spilling on his back , Ina quickly turned to Seugh min, her face a mixture of fear and worry but Seugh min showed no reaction , " you are going to throw everything away just for a maid.....", the Queen said a mixture of hurt and anger in her voice.
" Seugh min.....", Ina called his name softly removing her hand from his as she shook her head but Seugh min took hold of her hand once more , he turned towards his mother and slowly bowed his head , " this is the last bit of respect I will be showing you and...., this is the last time you will be seeing me ", saying that Seugh min walked away with Ina, his hand still holding hers, " SEUGH MIN,..., COME BACK HERE, WE ARE NOT DONE TALKING", yelled the Queen but he just left not looking back , the door slammed behind them, as soon as the door slammed the Queen collapsed on the floor , her hands balled into a fist , not again , this wasn't going to happen again , the same mistake that happened twenty eight years ago , the same mistake won't happen again.
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Ina gently peeled of Seugh mins robe from his body revealing his bare back, the hot soup had left a huge burn scar at the center of his back , Ina felt so bad , if he had not shielded her he wouldn't have been scorched like this, she sighed while she dipped a piece of cloth inside cold water as she gently dabbed it on his burn, he twitched a little startling Ina , " does it hurt , it will be....."," it isn't hurting me , I did that purposely, your head seemed to be in the clouds ", said Seugh min fully turning to her , his upper body on full display, he smiled warmly taking ina's hand on his, " stop worrying, we are free now , no one is stopping is now ", said Seugh min, Ina smiled warmly softly caressing his cheek with her other hand, " you have sacrificed so much , your name , your title , and everything ,...., I feel like I have done nothing for you...", " you being here with our child is more than enough ", saying that he pulled her making her sit on his lap startling her as their faces were so close , Ina looked away as she tried to hide her reddened cheeks.
Seugh min had always found her cute , when she blushed like that , when was it, when did he start liking her?, he never knew when he fell for her but he knew the time he couldn't stop thinking about her , her warm smile and her red cheeks which resonated with the sunset , it embraced him in the darkest time , just thinking about it warmed him a lot. They were leaving the palace tomorrow , leaving it for good , starting afresh in a new region, completely different from the life they had both lived , they will be husband and wife to each other and they are going to be parents to their unborn child, " do you think our child will be born on spring or in summer? ", asked Seugh min curiously, " why bother with seasons ?", asked Ina curiously, Seugh min shrugged , " if our child is born in the spring or summer season, he or she will look like you, she will have your smile and your red cheeks , therefore he or she will be as cute as you ", said Seugh min cuddling In a more in his arms as Ina couldn't help but smile , " you don't want our child to look like you?", asked Ina curiously, " I never wanted to have a child that looked like me , if I do it is fine , if it is you , it is likewise okay, I will cherish our child whether it is a boy or a girl , I will love and protect both you and my child even with my life ", said Seugh min , his words so sincere and his voice so warm that it pushed her to the bridges of tears.
" I will show you something before we leave", said Ina, Seugh min tilted his head curiously, " what do want to show me.....", asked Seugh min kissing her on her forehead, " it is a surprise , come around midnight at the palace garden, I will show you", said Ina as she got up from his lap , now he was more curious, " you can't show me now?", asked Seugh min curiously with a smile , " I still have some duties and I will have to pack something's so I won't have time to finish it up, so I want to show you when it is done , so midnight be there", said Ina, " duties?...., you don't have to continue with your duties since you will be leaving tomorrow ", Ina faced him , " the Queen hasn't said anything yet, her mokd is bad right now and she already hates me , I don't want her to dislike me more thinking I am using you as some kind of privilege not to do any work", said Ina , Seugh min smiled ,but he was still worried " don't go near her chambers , I fear she may do something, if you want to clean just clean the left annex of the palace where the Queen is unlikely to go, don't serve her personally, let another person do it alright ", said Seugh min, his voice soft yet authorative , Ina smiled , " yes I will...", she said about to leave but she stopped midway as she turned her back, her gaze soft , she walked up to Seugh min crossing her hands around his neck , she pulled him in and kissed him , pulling away Seugh min was taken aback by the sudden kiss , " what was that for?", asked Seugh min fluttered , " for..., being the best person I know , eventhough I may have been reluctant at times, I may have wanted to break things off multiple times but you stood firm, and you were brave in all.....", she heaved as she slowly looked up at Seugh min, her eyes full of love, it was warm and comforting , tears fell from both her eyes , " young master Lee Seugh min, the second son of the King and my soon to be dear husband ...., I love you with all my heart ...., in this life , the next life , the next next life , even in the after life , I will choose you, love you and cherish you". Seugh min pulled her close to himself hugging her , his eyes were teary , her emotional words could pierce ones heart , it could even weaken the strongest of men.
" I love you so much Ina , whether in this life , the next life, the next next life or even the after life , let's be together , I will cherish and protect you and our child for the rest of my life", saying that he pulled away, he carresed her shoulder softly , his eyes still teary but in yhe midst of it he could still smile , his hand left her shoulder and softly landed on her cheek , " my soon to be dear wife , let's grow old together and let's live happily", he said with a smile , they both smiled at each other , not knowing what was to come.
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Dear Husband, summer, winter, autumn and spring will pass us by, the seasons are beautiful , aren't they?, I remember when you first saw me , you said I felt like summer and looked like spring flowers , I never told you how you felt like , to me you were like autumn , you were warm and beautiful , the seasons will keep passing by my Husband , is there a way we could pause time and enjoy a bliss of the moment , a bliss of each other.
Dear Husband,eta grow old together , let's not stray away from each other no matter the situation , no matter how tough the obstacles may be , let's be together in our next life and let's be happy in every life.
( Inas last letter to Seugh min)
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" INA...,INA,INA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!", Seugh min yelled, he looked disoriented, his eyes were bloodshot red, he tried keeping the hope that nothing had happened to her , that she was okay , he called her name frantically,his clothes wet from sweat,his breaths heavy, " INA,....IN A, please, I....", he stopped at his tracks , his whole body went stiff , all he could see was total darkness at its bleak , his eyes welled up , it felt suffocating with the sight in front of him, he felt himself fall freely to the ground as his heart became heavy , his chest felt so tight and with all the emotions balled in , he let out a vengeful and agonizing cry.