Aunt Hye took Crown Prince Taehyung’s empty teacup out of his hands and set it aside. She wrapped her hands around his and gave him a forced smile.

“Taehyung, don’t worry. Grandpa will be all right soon.”

“But this time it’s really bad. Why? Why does Grandpa get sick like this? One minute he is fine and then the next he is suffering.” Taehyung asked begging for an answer.

Aunt Hye listened to her nephew express his worries and afterwards patted his hands to calm him down. “You are right and I believe everything you said…but your Grandpa has been going through this all his life. As your Aunty, I’m his daughter, I have seen it happen too.”

“Isn’t there anyone else that can help him? Chief Medicine Jung is always tending to Grandpa but why hasn’t he recovered? Aunt Hye, can’t you come back to the palace and take care of Grandpa?”

Aunt Hye shook her head and sighed. She would love to go back to the palace to love her father who is the King and ruler of Goguryeo, but she knew she couldn’t. Her only brother, who at the time was the Crown Prince, and his young wife had passed during the flooding of the Yellow River; and since then, Aunt Hye had been away. The death of her brother bestowed the Crown Prince title to his son, Taehyung, and although he was only in his early twenties he had been strictly learning politics since he was young.

Grandma Soyi opened her eyes and coughed. She slowly helped herself up and reached for the cold cup of tea on her bed stand. A small letter was pinned down by the cup. She had been asleep for days that her tea had gone cold. Without reading the note, she knew her granddaughter had written it. She was sure all the excuses in the note had to do with her granddaughter going to Mt. JingShen, despite her constant warnings.

Her granddaughter was strong minded and would do anything for her. She was grateful to have her granddaughter, but it worried her even more when she thought about her granddaughter being alone, without her. At the elderly age of hers, she was still paying for the consequences of her past but she couldn’t figure out how to explain it to her ambitious granddaughter, the only grandchild she had.

Grandma Soyi knew you would’ve had a hard time understanding her if she were to explain why she forbade you to go to Mt. JingShen. She prayed you would just listen to her, but as expected, you were gone on your own will.

Abruptly, her chest began to pound of pain again and she knew she wasn’t the only one. The other person suffering the pain was King Taemusin. The only time she was in pain was when he was. She clutched her chest and slowly breathed. Their sickness was ongoing, sometimes worse than others. They both knew the cure. But he was the King and she, a commoner.

A sudden