In the quiet blinding darkness, a frail body lay, wheezing through its weak lungs, its withered hands and feet restrained onto the bed.

People watched her constantly, in fear and hope that she would slowly die, for watching over this still nearly dead body was a far better fate than to serve the kingdom outside the room, that had undergone a drastic change.

The figure on the bed wheezed.

I am the worst kind if mother any child would ask for as a parent, for I am a mother that hates her son.

My son has come to visit me again, but I have nothing left but distaste for him.

I hear the shuffle of his feet as he kneels by my bedside, the clasp of his fingers and his unsteady breath of yearning approval. I open my mouth and meet his hopeful eyes.

"Where is your brother?" His dark eyes shatter in response to my question, and the clench of his teeth could be heard loud and clear from where he knelt.

"Seunghyun is not here. He's dead." My eyes grow wide with horror, the breath in my chest rattling as I drew my frail body off the bedspread.

"Murder! Murder! Murderer!" The screams from my mouth are unholy, raw and piercing. His eyes darken to those kinds that I know the best, a mirror image of his father's eyes, menacing, threatening and horrifying.


"The Queen Mother is sick." The swish of his clothes that brushed against the floor fill my ears. "She has no idea to what she's saying."

"Yes, my king." My servants bow before this terrible son of mine, a sign of deference that horrifies me.

Where is my firstborn? The one that was supposed to sit on the throne as his birthright?

A guttural groan fills my mouth and spills over the edges, my wrinkling mouth swallowing and gasping.

"I have only come to inform you, Mother, that Seunghyun has died. In the process, the throne was abdicated to me."

"Killer." I can only groan. My son's eyes harden like dark onyx, glittering dangerously in the dark.

"And I am taking his wife, as my Queen." A malicious smile descends on his handsome face.

"As for the child in her womb, it will be taken care of, secretly. My firstborn will not be my brother's blood."

The door swings shut behind his back, and in the oppressive dark, I could only wheeze.

~~~~~
Jiyong strode down the corridors to the next chamber, his fists curled in anger from the meeting with his mother.

"Is she inside?" The beads on his clothes clicked together soothing as he turned to the guards standing outside the door. The men now and nod.

"All sharp things have been discarded for the safety of the crown princess." Jiyong grunts, pushing the doors open and stalking in, his breath catching in his throat as the beautiful view of a simply dressed girl, her dark hair falling to her waist, beautiful eyes sad as she sat beside the window. A beautiful pearl pin sat in the crown of her hair, the mark of a crown princess of their kingdom.

"Jiyong." Her lilting voice was soft but sad.

"Taeyeon." He breathed, reaching forward and crushing her to his chest, ignoring the burning fury of feeling her swollen stomach against his body.

"I am going to correct all this."

"Stop what you are doing, Jiyong." He turned incredulously at her suggestion, blind fury filling his face.

"Do you even hear what you are saying? "

"Stop this, Jiyong, you've killed my husband and taken the throne, what more do you want?" Jiyong cupped her face in his hands, breathing harshly down her neck.

"There was a time where we would have loved each other." His voice hitched. "Before everything. Before all this." His tone was bitter and filled with hate. "Before my brother came and snatched you away out of pretense to rile me."

Taeyeon trembled, her hands folding gently over her belly.

"That time has long passed, and I was never yours to begin with." She whispered. "The possibility of us passed when I was decreed the crown princess and promised as bride to your brother." She turned her face from his. " It passed when I gradually learned to understand your brother and came to love the wonderful man he was." Jiyong swept the things on the table to the ground and she flinched.

"That is all over! I killed him! And now, you are mine." He breathed, crushing his lips to hers in a punishing and bruising kiss. "My heart, has always belonged to you since the first time I laid eyes on you."

"But I was never yours to begin with!" Taeyeon's eyes filled with tears. "Jiyong, I have a husband, and a son. I was never yours."

"Had a husband!" Jiyong roared. "Had! I killed him, just for you. And your son.." Hi