• Sowon keep an eye on your little sister okay ? asked her mother the queen. 

Sowon nodded before taking the hand of her two-year old sister. 

• Yes mommy. 

Her mother smiled before she let them go out of the castle’s big door. The majordomo was accompanying the two girls in the forest, like always. 

The six-year old Sowon had always behaved correctly. Never had she infringed a rule. But there was always this temptation to discover what was forbidden and so to misbehave. Even though it was for an innocent purpose - by mere curiosity - the forest wasn’t safe, for her to leave the protected zone. In fact, there was an area of the forest belonging to the royal family and so it was well guarded. But Sowon wanted to go beyond that limit in order to discover the wild zone. She was told that lots of creature were living there and so she wanted to see them with her own eyes. 

That desire, Sowon had kept it to her for a long time. She had never attempted to accomplish it. But this time, something caught her attention. A red light beyond the limit was tempting her to commit an infringement. And as if she was pushed by unknown and evil force she crossed the border and walked towards the beautiful but intriguing red light. 

And maybe all of this could have ended up well, if she hadn’t brought with her … her little sister. 

And Sowon remembered everything. The panic in the eyes of the majordomo when he finally found her lost in the forbidden area … and above all the pain in her parents’ eyes when she returned home … without her little sister. 

Sowon reopened her eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek as she was looking at the forest landscape through the window. Then she whispered with an heart-rending tone:

• I am sorry Yewon. 

Since that day, everything has changed for Sowon, her royal family and even the whole kingdom. Indeed, her father the king blamed their neighbor, the Snow kingdom - SinB’s kingdom - and declared war on them. The rest is history. That war -which lasted years - ended with the fall of the Snow kingdom and the death of Sowon’s parents. Even if the official war motivation given by the royal family was the alleged abduction of their youngest daughter by the Snow kingdom, the real reason was jealousy. In fact, the Snow kingdom had also a daughter - the same age as Sowon’s little sister - and to see the family so happy without any problem ... Plus, unless Sowon’s family, the royal family of the Snow kingdom was loved by their citizens. At the end of the day, they managed to end the fairytale after twelve years of war. The only survivor of this merciless massacre was the precious daughter aged of fifteen years old at that time. And no one seemed to know why her life has been spared. Maybe also because no one seemed to have seen her in real life and her existence became slowly only a rumor. 

Sowon took on the legacy of her parents without having ever questioned the reasons of the war. And now she was trying to find a solution to save her kingdom from whatever unknown threat. 

• My queen, we received another complain from a village. The inhabitants said that they didn’t have what to eat as the price of the meat was increasing. said a guard as he entered the room where Sowon was. 

Sowon didn’t respond to the guard. But deep inside, she had enough. It has been days now since the complaints' start and since then they have increased. It was always the same, the land was dying: no more fruits nor vegetables. Even the animals were disappearing. As a result, people were starving because they weren’t rich enough to buy the expensive rare food. Sowon is now distributing her personal stock but it won’t last long nor be enough for the whole kingdom. Hopefully, the problem was still concerning only a little part of it. But her advisers predict an expansion of the problem in the next days and weeks. Sowon was hopeless as she felt powerless facing up to that issue. 

To cope with the issue, Sowon is now willing to do anything. Even a thing she would have found crazy and unthinkable before. As a matter of fact, she headed towards the Castle’s cells. 

She demanded her guard to open one of the cells. She entered and was welcomed by an old woman - so old one would have wondered how it was possible to look that old and still be alive. Well, maybe because this woman isn’t an ordinary one. 

• Oh princess what are you doing here ? she said genuinely.

• I am not the princess anymore … I am your queen now.

• Oh look how you have grown up. said the woman with a smile as she looked at Sowon from head to toe. But she had a very malicious rictus. As if she knew way more than she seemed to. And of course she knew. It was even the reason why she ended up in the cell. 

• I guess you were finally proven that I was right. Too bad your parents are dead to see it. They are the ones who put me in that cell. resumed the old woman. 

• And they were right. You are only spreading false rumors. 

• Oh really ? Then, why are you here in front of me ? To remind me that I am a delusional witch who crazily claims she can predict the future ? 

Sowon sighed. She didn’t know why she went to see that woman. Maybe because she was hopeless so much that at that point she was willing to listen to anything even if it was totally surrealistic. 

• I don’t really know much about the reasons you are here, except what everybody says about you and that you've summed up very well in your previous statement. So now, I want to listen to your own version of the story. Tell me please. asked Sowon.

Even if she was hopeless, Sowon was really good at hiding it thanks to her personality. Being the queen, she had to keep her composure. If not, she would lose credibility and above all she wanted to show her people that she wasn’t her parents: that she was wiser and less cruel than them. She wanted her people to love her not to hate her. That’s why she was doing everything in her power to help them. She feared that the issue would worsen and in the process make her people topple her. 

• Your kingdom is dying but it has been the case since the first day your parents declared war and since then it had never stopped from dying. But, you know deep down the real reason is … you. You started everything and you still think about it everyday.

• What do you mean ? Sowon tone’s show she was afraid even if she didn’t want to.

• The loss of your sister because you surrendered to the appealing red light in the forest. That dark and evil magic trapped you and …

Sowon’s head started to hurt suddenly. The pain was unbearable. 

• ENOUGH ! she screamed and the old lady stopped talking but she knew Sowon wasn’t talking to her. 

• Oh poor you. Soon it will completely control your mind and ... consume you. she said with a worried tone. 

But Sowon had already left. In fact, she went upstairs and headed towards her private bathroom.

• Please stop … she begged while holding her head with her hands.

Tears fell down. She couldn’t even think about what the old lady said. And when the pain finally stopped it was as if she had never visited that woman. As if she couldn’t recall what she had told her. 

She left the bathroom and her room then she went to her office. She sat down on the luxurious seat and thought about what she could do for her people. Her mind was blank. She had to start from zero … again. She looked at the photo on the table beside her dad’s sword.

Her parents … and her little sister. Sowon wondered how she would have grown up, what she would have looked like … if she were still alive.  But then Sowon thought that her little sister’s honour had already been avenged with the Snow kingdom fall. And that now she was surely resting in peace with her parents. 

This mere thought helped Sowon to gain confidence. After all, she was ruling on her own and she survived the war. So what could ever stop her ? 

Suddenly a guard entered her office. 

• My queen I have some news about that girl. But they are not quite good. 

Sowon’s eyebrows furrowed, not by disappointment but confusion.

• Wait what ? Which girl ? she asked with a very honest tone. 

• The Snow kingdom princess ...

• SinB ? she asked surprised. Where is she ? she asked with a pretty innocent and joyful tone. 

• That’s the problem we couldn’t find her. Even with the specific description you had given us of her.

• But isn’t she in the dungeon ? Oh no last time I saw her was outside that night when the fire burned a part of the village. Wait, when did I tell you to search her ?

The guard looked at her with confusion. 

• Some days ago. You told us you wanted her alive and that we had to search the entire kingdom. And that if we fail we would be …

Suddenly some red stain spread on the floor as a body collapsed on the floor and its head rolled beside. 

The now blood-tainted sword regained its position beside the photo. 

• Killed, yes .. I clearly remember. said the now red-haired Sowon as she went back to her seat before adding: But now it is time for plan B. I will find you SinB. 

---------------

CHAPTER 10 done 

I hope the plot is clear even if it is complex. Feel free to ask me if you're confused about something though. 

Thanks 

xoxo