Chapter 4 – Goodbye, My Love

Eyes glistened with tears, Irene looked at the only man she had ever loved. "Please, believe me. I didn't—"

"Do you think it’s fine for you to be touched by any man?" Sehun hissed. Never in her life had she heard Sehun sound so hurt, like someone had just ripped his heart apart.

"I can't believe you would say that." Tears started to stream down her cheeks. "You know me, I would never—"

"You are not Irene, at least not the one I know," Sehun stated, and her heart broke into pieces. "She would never throw herself to any man, let alone a man like him!" he roared.

"I would never throw myself to any man but you!" Irene cried. His words wrenched at her heart. Here she was in pain, being accused of doing something she would never want to do.

"You betrayed me." It was barely a whisper that left his mouth, his voice shaking. He wished she would just kill him rather than making him see her like this.

Her body trembled. How to explain to him? What exactly had happened? She only remembered Jinsa cornering her in front of the mirror before she woke up on her bed, . Had Jinsa taken advantage of her? No way.

Before Sehun could hear her response, a loud bang echoed, the door flung open. Soldiers ambushed the room, followed by Jun and Jinsa. They all looked at the mess before them and their princess lying on the bed, , in front of her warrior.

One of the soldiers held up his crossbow and fired it at Sehun. It pierced his stomach at the left side, and his painful scream filled the room as he fell onto the floor.

"No!" Irene screamed. She bent down beside him, only to find him wincing in extreme pain, blood on his stomach. "Hold on," she cried, hugging him. "What have you done?" she yelled at the people in the room, wondering why they had done that.

"We had a witness reporting that Sehun was trying to you," Jun answered. "We will take him, and he will be sentenced to death," he continued, and her heart almost stopped.

"N-no," came her shaky response. "It's not like that." It was all a trap, she knew it now.

"Then would you explain to me what occurred here? Don't you think we have enough proof?" Jun said matter-of-factly, his eyes piercing her. "Even though you love him, he has no right to do such a thing to you. He's just a filthy boy from a poor village. All that we've given him has made him blind. He has disobeyed and betrayed us and this kingdom, and he shall die." His voice was cold.

The soldiers in the room couldn't believe Sehun had done that. He had always been a faithful and loyal warrior for the kingdom. However, they knew now his yearning for Irene had destroyed him.

"Tie him up and burn him at the north of the castle, so that everybody can see what will become of them should they betray this kingdom," Jun commanded.

"No!" Irene held onto Sehun, but the soldiers took him away from her and dragged him out the door. They would do what they had been told. Kill him. She ran after them, but the other soldiers blocked her way. She couldn’t believe they had taken him away from her forever.

Jinsa watched what happened right before his eyes and couldn’t hold back his wicked smile. Everything just went so beautifully and according to plan. 

Irene sensed this and stormed toward him. "It was you-" she cried, eyes filled with tears and hatred. "You're such a filthy person, you bastard." Never in her life had she said such words to a person.

Jinsa just laughed, and when she tried to hurt him, he caught her hand. "Calm down, my dear. We still have some things to settle. For both of us." He smirked in victory.

The soldiers dragged Sehun by his feet out of the castle, and the people in hallway gasped in shock. Ye Ryung, who was amongst the people, rose. "Wait! What is happening?" She ran after the soldiers. "What are you doing to Sehun?"

"Get away, Ma'am." One of the soldiers blocked her way. "This is an order from King Jun. Your son has committed a sin, and he has to pay for it with his life."

"If you want to kill him, you'll have to kill me first," Ye Ryung cried, trying to break away. "You will not take away my son!" she stated as people in the hall watched the scene, shaking their heads in shame.

"Aunt Ye Ryung." A hand grabbed her arm as she began to lose her energy. She looked up, only to find Chanyeol looking at her with worry.

The soldiers strode across the hallway toward the back of the castle, gone with her only son being dragged like an animal, wounded and hopeless. She crashed onto the floor, sobbing hard before staring up at Chanyeol hopelessly. "Please…Sehun.." were the only words that left before she went unconscious.

Sehun felt his body being dragged outside the castle. The ground made harsh contact with his head and backbone. He had lost so much blood but tried his best to keep conscious. An incredible pain struck his wounded stomach, just as painful as his heart.

Would he die this way? He thought he would die protecting Irene --it was the best way he could have ever thought of-- while dying in her arms wouldn't be so bad either.

But not this way. Not when he was afraid she would still be in danger, when he had accused her of betraying him without even trying to listen to her.

The soldiers halted and put Sehun aside. Some of them prepared the equipment to tie him on the pole they always used for traitors, while the others gathered branches to make the fire. No. He would not die here like all the traitors had.

"That went quite well," one of the soldiers whispered to another. "Once this is finished, we can take what belongs to us just like the deal. With that much of money, we'll never have to work again for the rest of our lives. The king promised."

Sehun’s eyes slowly opened. What? The king? Which king?

"I can't wait to get this over with. I've never like this place ever since King Jinsa put us here a year ago," the other one muttered. "And it's all been for today, the big day." He smirked.

"And King Jun was more than happy. He must've hated that warrior a lot." His friend snickered.

"You nailed your part as the witness. King Jinsa must have been yearning for the princess. No wonder, she's delicious. If it wasn’t for the plan, I would've tasted her for myself." They both laughed.

Sehun clenched his teeth, his fists shaking with rage. How dare you.

"Too bad for him he didn't manage to use her yet. That stupid warrior came too early, but he was still stupid enough that it was easy for him to be manipulated."

Now, Sehun did feel stupid. Finding Irene in such condition had made him completely lose his mind that he hadn't even bothered to think it was a trap. He cursed at himself. Would she ever forgive him for this? He must have hurt her badly with his words.

One thing for sure: he wouldn’t forgive them. He wouldn’t show them any mercy for trying to take advantage of her and hurting her. They had to pay for all the tears she had shed.

"But now all the folks he wished to get rid of are gone. Damn, I envy—" before the soldier could finish his words, Sehun broke his neck from behind with extreme force, and he fell to the ground. Dead.

His friend drew out a sword and aimed it at Sehun, who expertly pushed it down with his palm. He kicked it out of the soldier's hand, caught it and slashed the soldier without mercy, sending him to the ground.

By then, around 20 other soldiers had come, and all drew out their swords to attack Sehun. They were all true soldiers just trying to do their duty and were not involved in the plan. If he had to fight them, he would have to spill innocent blood. They were his friends. At least, they used to be.

"Listen to me," Sehun growled. "We don't have to do this. This is all a trap."

"Knock it off, Sehun," one of them spat. "I always knew it, the way you stared at the princess. How dare you try to take advantage of her, and we all witnessed it tonight."

"You've been fooled."

"Shut up!" They went at him, leaving him no choice but to battle with them. He blocked their attacks one by one and tried to make the wounds on their fleshes as less as possible, so he wouldn't have to kill them.

He was outnumbered –he knew it— but the late King Yong Jae hadn't given him the title of warrior for nothing. He could take them down with just one sword, and they knew it. Yet they had the upper hand, because he was wounded.

Sehun ducked as a soldier attacked him with his sword. They realized Sehun already had half of them down by then, and they went mad. One of them screamed in pain as Sehun stabbed him on the shoulder, sending him down.

Sehun turned around to block another attack and sent his opponent's sword out of his grip to the ground, but another soldier approached him from behind. He quickly turned around again to block the sword with his own, but a pair of arms grabbed him from behind. One arm throttled him on the neck, and the other— to his horror— circled around his wounded stomach. The pain struck him, and he groaned.

He struggled to break free from the arms holding him and almost lost his balance,