SIX YEARS LATER

CROWN PRINCE YI SUN'S POV

The dark clouds loomed over Hanyang City, and grief could be sensed in the air of the royal palace as the great King Yi Yeon lay in his bed chamber, awaiting death. I sat by my father's bed with my mother beside me and the two royal consorts with my four female half-siblings behind us.

"How is he?" My mom asked as the royal physician checked my dad's pulse. He turned to her and sighed before shaking his head. Tears rolled down my mother's cheek as she watched her husband in pain while the royal consorts sobbed behind her. My shoulders slumped down as all I could do was watch. I hoped there was something I could do to bring my father back to his feet and make my mother's pain dissappear but the six year old me couldn't think of anything at that time.

"My Queen," the king coughed, stretching his hand out to her as she took it and moved closer to him with her tear-streaked face. "I'm sorry."

"Please don't apologize. You haven't done anything to be sorry for."

"I'm sorry for leaving you alone in this dangerous palace, for not keeping my word to watch our son grow up together. Please, forgive me." He coughed again.

"This is not your fault. Fate is just being cruel to us by taking you from us so early." She cried. He gazed at me, caressing his cheek.

"Promise me you will become a great king and take care of your mother."

With a great sense of responsibility in my heart, i answered, "I promise, Father."

He was the one keeping us safe in the palace, and with him gone, things might get a bit difficult for us because of the people who are after my position as the heir to the throne. I had think of how to survive, know who to trust in order to keep my position and protect my mother.

"Good boy." He smiled at me. My father placed his other hand on his chest as he coughed like something was stuck in his throat. All the veins in his neck could be seen and his eyes bulged out as he continued to cough.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty," they called as the court lady poured some water into his cup. The queen fed him the water which he spat out, staining the white sheets and floor with the water mixed with his blood.

"I'm sorry," he said with his blood-stained mouth before drawing his last breath.

The wailing from the king's room made everyone in the palace fall to their knees, crying in anguish. Holding onto my father's arm, I shook him as tears streamed down my face.

"Father, wake up. Please, don't leave us." I could feel my heart breaking into a million pieces at the thought of not seeing my father again.

He won't be there to watch me master the swordskills he thought me. He won't be there to beat Jeongseon Unnie in board game when she acts boastful about beating everyone. Just like that, he will be gone from our lives and there was nothing I could do about it.

My mother pulled me into her arms as she continued to cry. The physicians cleaned his body and covered it as my mother with me in her arms walked out along the royal consort. My mother held me by my arm as she dragged her legs to her palace when she was approached by my uncle, Prince Yi Yun.

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry for your loss." He bowed his head to mother.

"We were already expecting this for a while but why does it feel so painful?" She held her chest as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"The pain is inevitable when there is love between the both of you."

She sighed. "Have the ministers decided?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, but we need your approval to finalize everything."

"It's better I take care of this once and for all." She tightened her hold on me. "Let's go."

Prince Yi Yun led us to the grand hall where all the ministers were gathered, standing on each side of the room. They bowed their heads as we walked in.

"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness," they chorused We stood in front of the throne and my mother announced to them,

"King Yi Yun is no more."

They immediately fell to their knees and screamed in agony, "Your Majesty."

My mother clenched her fist on her skirt and controlled her tears. They stopped crying and stood up before she addressed them, "What was the final decision on the position of the king?"

The prime minister, Kim Dae Jung stepped forward and said, "We came to an agreement that the crown prince is too young to rule the country, so we suggested that Prince Yi Yun take over as regent until the Crown Prince Yi Sun comes of age and takes over the throne."

My mother glanced down at me and I nodded at her. Even at a young age, I was made to understand things that were beyond my knowledge which involved the politics of the royal palace. My father also made sure I was aware of the dangers and responsibility of being the heir to the most coveted position in the country.

Since my father is no more, I knew that the only people my mother and I could rely on was Prince Yi Yun and Prime Minister Kim Dae Young because they were the closest and most loyal subject to my father.

My mother turned back to them and agreed to their decision. They brought the written document for her to stamp with the king's royal seal, and she took the seal, placing it on the right bottom corner of the sheet as tears rolled down her cheeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sitting in the courtyard of my residence in a plain creamed colored outfit that I wore to perform the final rites for my father's burial, I put my head on my knee, sobbing at the loss of my father.

Since my father died three days ago, I couldn't bring myself to cry in front of everyone which made my mother worried about me. It was after I completed the rites that it registered in my little mind that I would never see my father again.

"Are you crying?" a voice said beside me and I glanced up at the prime minister's daughter, Kim Jungmyung, sitting beside me in an all-white outfit that she wore for my father's funeral.

Whenever she and her family visited the palace, my father would always tell me to be nice to her because she would be my queen when I took the throne after him. I followed my father's instructions which resulted in us being best friends.

"No." I wiped my tears with the back of my hand.

"You are a bad liar." She shook her head at me. "Are you crying because you miss him?"

"That's one of the reasons." I looked away from her, staring at the dark blue sky ahead of me.

"What's the other reason?" she continued.

"I'm crying because I'm scared that there's no one to protect me and my mother anymore."

"What do you mean? You have Prince Yi Yun, my father, and you also have me."

I turned to her with disbelief. "You? How can you protect me? You are a girl, so I should be the one protecting you."

"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't protect someone if I want to." She folded her hands. "You just wait and see, I will show you that I can protect someone too."

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