7

 

The coronation took place the day after the king had died. It wasn't a solemn, grandiose event as most of the servants were still mourning over the loss of the previous king. Not to mention that apart from Myungeun, nobody believed that he would make an appropriate ruler for several reasons. First of all, he was young, he was only 18 years old. Secondly, he was never considered to be a royal member, so they didn't prepare him for the duties of a king. Everyone claimed that he wouldn't make it. He would wither away like a cherry blossom petal being destroyed by the stormy wind. Nevertheless, the coronation took place without any inconveniences and Kim Seokjin was now the king of Goryeo. Servants started to look at him in a different way and even his three younger brothers seemed to fear him as he was walking past them. They even crouched down before him without any kind of hesitation and tried to avert their eyes elsewhere but his face. Even though he was told that a single status wouldn't make a change and even if he was the king he wouldn't be treated differently, everything proved this theory wrong. Yet, he believed in those lies until he saw the opposite with his own eyes. Everyone acted like he was really a new person and it fuelled his will to make his father proud and unite the later three kingdoms. He seemed unstoppable and no one, not even Myungeun was able to snap him back to his senses. "Where are you going, Jin?" she inquired one afternoon – right after the coronation. She looked absolutely flawless in her beautiful hanbok which was made for the special occasion. She was wearing it the whole day, making it hard for him to concentrate. She looked lovely in pink and it reminded him of the times when he first said that she should wear more pink because the light colour really suits her. He was only 14 at that time and didn't care about such things as seduction or lust. However, now that the hormones were working in him, he sometimes wished that he hadn't said it all those years ago. "I am about to unite the later three kingdoms. It was my father's last wish which I ought to fulfil," he admitted right away and not until he said his plan out loud did it finally dawn on him that Myungeun didn't even know about the conversation between him and his father. At least not until he blurted it out himself. "Jin..." her voice trailed off and his name sounded so brittle. She was so shocked that couldn't even form words. That innocent boy who couldn't even kill a bug for the sake of his brothers' wishes wanted to rule over the later three kingdoms? Even though she knew that parents could really leave an impact on a child and its mind-set, especially in the royal families, could that lovely little Seokjin really change that much? As far as she knew, he never loved his father, so why would he want to fulfil his wish? Which wasn't just outrageous and absolutely bold but also dangerous. "I have to do it, Myungeun," he shook his head and it was more like he tried to convince himself, not the girl in front of him. "There's no other way that I could make my father proud." "You only do it because you want to make him proud?" she couldn't help but flinch at his choice of words. Since when did his father's words mean so much to him? Since when did his wish was primary, more important than the need of his kingdom's people and its prosperity? Since when did he care about his father? "No," the King answered fervently but his voice obviously shook a little. Myungeun looked puzzled and tried to scan him from eye to toe. He really looked more confident, more ready to be a king but it looked like he was fighting with himself. He wasn't in peace with his own mind and the hurtful sight bothered her. She never really saw him this way. "I also do it for the people of Goryeo. This is the only way we can make our name known and engraved into history. People will know who we were but only if we do what seemed impossible until now," he explained almost maniacally, totally immersed in his own words. The expression on his face was anything but scared. How could he change so much in one day? The question got Myungeun thinking. Seokjin was no