“Promise me that you will get rid of that girl.”

            “I promise. No one would dare disobey my orders if I command it.”

            “You better mean it. If I see that girl’s face anywhere within me, I will burn this kingdom to the ground. I refuse to spare her even if she is just a baby.”

            “If we openly have that brat put to death, the people will rebel. You know how much they loved her mother.”

            “I don’t care what the people think! Aren’t these people idiots for believing the lie that we are good people?! I thought you once told me no one will remember her?”

            “The myths state that but no one knows how it works.”

            Yoohyeon bolts up awake by the unusual dream of her horrid father and his Queen. She knew they hated her but she never thought they hated her to the point they wanted to kill her the moment she was born. The one thing that bothered her is why the Queen seems insistent on her death. That wasn’t the only thing that caught her attention in that dream, her mother was mentioned along with that cursed sword Kingmaker.

            Letting out a weary sigh, she turns to glance at the sleeping figure next to her. Fearing he would be cold, Yoohyeon removes her cloak to place on her brother. She wasn’t sure how long this search will last; it has only been a day when Jungkook’s mother suddenly sent them away. Yoohyeon didn’t want to go on this search in some unknown lands when she and Jungkook planned to sneak into the Royal Palace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Before they were sent away Yoohyeon notice some of their half-siblings were missing. Yoohyeon always held a deep hatred against the Royal Family especially her father, the King, for abandoning her and many others in this village. She heard rumors from some villagers that her father saw his abandoned children as useless and the Royal Children in the Royal Palace are all from his most favored women.

            “If he didn’t want any of us, no one asked him to sleep around with so many different women.”

            The Royal Family always held a parade of sorts where they come out and be charitable towards their people. Everyone else saw it as charitable but the Royal Family just want to boast of their high status. They wanted everyone to see they will always be above while anyone who isn’t a part of them will always be beneath them. Yoohyeon let out a low scoff as she walked away from the parade.

            Yoohyeon was just minding her own business as she walked a secret path towards her home. She was only 13 when she found this path with one of her older half-siblings. Although they kept it to themselves, it seems they weren’t the only ones who know of this path.

Yoohyeon wasn’t afraid of the Queen but she found herself frozen in her spot as the Queen stared at her. The Queen made a hand gesture towards her and two of the maids by her side came and held onto Yoohyeon’s wrists.

“Just the little brat I was looking for.”

“This little brat is not little nor am I qualified to be called a brat, Your Majesty,” Yoohyeon said through clenched teeth in anger.

“Yet here you are in front of me, speaking like one and behaving like one.”

“You surprised me, Your Majesty,” Yoohyeon answered back with masked politeness laced with anger. “I wanted to take a quick shortcut home and I didn’t expect to see you there just as I was getting out.”

The Queen got closer to Yoohyeon and lifted a hand to tilt Yoohyeon’s chin upwards. Turning Yoohyeon’s face from side to side, she let out a “tsk”.

“How old are you now, my dear?” The Queen asked as she let go of Yoohyeon’s chin and wiped her hand with a handkerchief.

“22, Your Majesty.”

“Ah, the same age your mother was when she had you. How fascinating!” The Queen exclaimed in a matter of fact tone.

Yoohyeon didn’t expect to hear anything about her mother since she was little no one mentioned her mother. Some of the people she talked to told her they know she has a mother except they can’t remember anything about her or what her name was. It was as if the moment Yoohyeon was born, her mother ceases to exist in the world. Many believed that is why the King chose to abandon Yoohyeon, maybe seeing the daughter his beloved gave birth to serves as a reminder of her demise.

“You knew…my mother, Your Majesty?” Yoohyeon asked hesitantly.

Even with the veil covering her face, Yoohyeon can feel the coldness of the Queen’s glare. It was a glare of hatred but Yoohyeon didn’t understand what did she do to deserve that kind of glare. After a few minutes of complete silence with the sounds of the parade still in the background from a distance, the Queen spoke,

“In a way, I did know her. We were very…very close.”

Yoohyeon felt a shiver ran through her body at the mention of the word ‘close’.

“What kind of close is she talking about?! Is she insinuating my mother and her…? No. There’s no way my mother was that kind of woman.”

“There’s no need to feel disgusted, my dear. I’m sure you know the number one rule in your father’s harem is that all the women need to learn to share,” The Queen said in a teasing manner with a hand over as if she is politely laughing. “Of course, that rule doesn’t apply to the King, he is the only one allowed to decide if he wants to share or if he can only have one woman.”

That did nothing to ease Yoohyeon’s worries about what kind of person her mother might have been. Nor did it explain the relationship her mother might have once had with the King and the Queen. It only made her feel disgusted with how the Royal Family handles their bedroom problems. Yoohyeon is glad she and her abandoned half-siblings will never have to deal with that kind of problem.

“I should be going, I wouldn’t want everyone at the parade to think I got lost or abducted,” The Queen said after gesturing her maids to unhand Yoohyeon.

Yoohyeon rubbed her wrists, noticing a light bruise forming from being held tightly. She hoped her sleeves are long enough to cover it otherwise she would be worrying Auntie Jeon with how she got the bruises. Seeing the Queen and her maids are still there, Yoohyeon chose to not say anything and walked away. She didn’t care if the Queen gets offended, she just wanted to get away from her. Just as Yoohyeon is a distance away, a figure in the shadows walked out and went up to the Queen.

“Mother!” A male voice called out. “Are you done?”

“Did everything go smoothly during the parade?” The Queen asked as she caresses her son’s face. “No one suspects anything?”

“Nope. We managed to get things done quickly and quietly.”

“Excellent. Now, all we need to do is wait for her to take the bait and storm into the Royal Palace.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Auntie Jeon knew how much Yoohyeon and Jungkook wanted to find their missing siblings. But the Royal Palace is no normal place where you can get out alive if you sneak in. She made sure what she prepared for the two is in the sack she left with them. Before pushing the boat to drift away, Auntie Jeon planted a kiss on the foreheads of both Yoohyeon and Jungkook. She felt a bit of guilt for doing this to them especially towards Yoohyeon.

“I sorry, Yoohyeon,” Auntie Jeon sniffled. “Let Auntie be selfish for this one thing I want you to do for Jungkook.”

As she watched the boat drifted away, she let out a sob. Repeatedly saying, “I’m sorry, Yoohyeon.” After her sobs died down, she washed her tears away and began walking away. Auntie Jeon arrived at the Royal Palace with blood on her sword and the bodies of two dead Royal Palace guards. As more armed guards came to surround her, Auntie Jeon threw her sword down.

“I want to see the King and the Queen.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Noona! How much further until we get there?” Jungkook whined. “It has only been a day and we haven’t found anything yet.”

Yoohyeon looks at the map Auntie Jeon left with them with confusion. She felt the map is misleading because it seems they have been walking in the same spot over and over. There should be a cave just a mile away from where they are standing. Jungkook had earlier suggested Yoohyeon go find it herself while he waits for her but she refused. They were in an unfamiliar land and she can’t bear to leave him alone, she didn’t want to have to lose another sibling just like with the others.

“Stop whining and help me look,” Yoohyeon said, holding her hand out for Jungkook to hold. “We need to hurry before it gets dark. We don’t want a repeat of yesterday where we wasted the morning and afternoon just searching.”

The two continued their search and found themselves in the same situation as yesterday. Exasperated, Yoohyeon wanted to rip the map to pieces, she could only crumple it in anger. Jungkook hugged Yoohyeon to calm her and took the map out of her hands and uncrumpled it. As he studied the map on the ground, Jungkook felt something magical within his head. “Noona. Noona, I think I got it.”

Seeing her brother being excited, Yoohyeon kept quiet while he explained what is on his mind. “What is it?”

“We’ve been searching since the morning and afternoon, right? Maybe this time we try searching for it at night.”

Yoohyeon thought about it and realize Jungkook makes a good point. The map they have indicates where the cave is but not when they will see it. With evening slowly becoming night, Yoohyeon and Jungkook decide to wait out at where the cave should be. Hopefully, it will appear when night comes.

It might have been an hour or later when Yoohyeon woke up to Jungkook nudging her. When she saw Jungkook pointing at a direction to the right, Yoohyeon felt opening wide in surprise and awe. They found the cave and it looks like it did appear at night.

“Do we both go in or…” Jungkook trailed off, looking unsure now that they found the cave.

Yoohyeon held onto his hand, “We go in together. There’s no way I’m leaving you out here alone. I always promise your mother I will protect you.”

With one hand, Yoohyeon petted Jungkook on the head. The gesture causing a faint dust of red that matched Jungkook’s hair to appear on his cheeks. He enjoyed being babied and loved by his older sister. Jungkook chooses to hold a torch from their campfire to guide their way inside while Yoohyeon navigates with her instincts.

Yoohyeon found it interesting how there’s no map for the inside of the cave. It made her question about how important Kingmaker must be to the Royal Family. Why make a map for finding its location when there’s no map for where it is hidden? The cave seems to be radiating ice-cold air even though it is spring and not winter. There also doesn’t seem to be any other paths except the one they’re walking in, nothing to the left or right it only goes straight.

“How long do you think it will be until we find the sword?” Jungkook asked, eyes wandering.

Yoohyeon didn’t reply as she stopped and stared ahead. Jungkook was going to question her until he saw what Yoohyeon is staring at. Ahead of where the two stood is a white throne possibly on a bed of dry ice since a white mist can be seen. On that throne is a figure who looks to be male in black clothing. The two siblings walked closer, quietly, hoping he is deeply asleep. They actually couldn’t tell if he is asleep due to the mask covering his face.

“Who is he?” Jungkook asked, holding the torch around the throne.

Something caught Yoohyeon’s eyes when the torch passed by the very bottom of the throne. “Jungkook. Move the torch over here. I thought I saw something.”

Jungkook shined the torch where Yoohyeon asked to. Yoohyeon bends down to brush off the dust on what looks to be a sign that reads “Kingmaker”. The two siblings look at one another in surprise.

“So, he is Kingmaker?” Jungkook asked, inching close to look at the figure on the throne. “But I thought Kingmaker is a sword unless this person is his owner. Or he could be the one who made him. If he made him, could he be our ancestor?”

Yoohyeon looks at the figure on the throne as Jungkook talked to himself. Even with the mask obscuring his features, Yoohyeon noted this man looked too young to be their ancestor. He looks like he might be close to their age, maybe a few years older. Yoohyeon found herself reaching out to touch the figure’s face. With how cold the place was, she assumed he would feel ice cold but he unusually felt warm.

The moment Yoohyeon removed her hand, the figure’s hand moved and grabbed onto her wrist. Yoohyeon didn’t scream but was surprised while Jungkook did scream, dropping the torch.

“We meant no harm! Please don’t hurt my sister!”

Even with Jungkook’s words, the figure didn’t let go of Yoohyeon’s wrist. Even when he slowly got up, he still held onto her. Yoohyeon expected to see Kingmaker but she saw nothing there was no sword nearby nor is the sword on this masked figure.

“Is he hiding Kingmaker somewhere?”

The masked figure continued staring at Yoohyeon, his head tilted side to side like he’s staring at her from different angles. Yoohyeon felt a bit more uncomfortable when he suddenly brought his hand to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear. To her, this is a romantic gesture a man does to a woman he wants to court. Before he might do something else like hug her or plant a kiss on her, Yoohyeon spoke up, “Where is Kingmaker? If you have it, please I need that sword.”

The masked figure still didn’t respond, his head tilted to the right.

Yoohyeon continued to speak, “My brother and I need it…We need it to help find our missing siblings. I-I heard Kingmaker can make anyone who wields him become the next ruler of the Velvet Kingdom.”

The masked figure let go of her wrist. Protectively, Jungkook rushed to push Yoohyeon behind him, afraid something bad or inappropriate might happen.

“Are you going to tell us who you are?” Jungkook asked. “You haven’t said a word since we found you.”

The masked figure reaches for the mask on his face and removes it, Yoohyeon did guess correctly that the masked figure is young in appearance. He had pale white skin with an almost light peach tone making him look more human. His eyes appear to be a deep blue color with a hint of purple when light shines on his eyes. His long lustrous black hair seems to have a purple shine to it. His lips are round and are a mix of red or pink which strangely reminds Yoohyeon of Jungkook’s hair color.

  “Let me guess,” The masked figure said, brushing away a strand of hair covering his eyes. “One of you wants to use Kingmaker to make someone else become the next King and Queen of Velvet Kingdom.”

Yoohyeon detected sarcasm in his voice, it made her wonder if someone before them did something similar.

“Did you not hear what my sister said?” Jungkook fired back with his cheeks puffed up in anger. “We need Kingmaker to help us find our missing siblings! We can worry about being the next rulers after we find them.”

“Can you tell us your name?” Yoohyeon cut in. She felt it was wrong to not ask him that since he just unmasked himself.

The masked figure looks at Yoohyeon with a smile, “I don’t need to introduce myself when you both already said my name.”

The two siblings both tilted their heads in confusion and turn to look at each other. Yoohyeon tried to sort out anything she said that could have been the masked figure’s name. Nothing came to mind until Yoohyeon remembered the name on the throne. She also remembered she and Jungkook had at least mention Kingmaker three times.

“You are Kingmaker?” Yoohyeon asked hesitantly.

Jungkook found it questionable and stated his opinion in a voice of disbelief, “That’s impossible! No human in existence can become a sword or be a sword! Unless you have some magic powers that enable you to do all that.”

“What makes you think I don’t know magic?”

Unsure but intrigued, Yoohyeon answered him with a question, “Are you telling us…you can turn into Kingmaker…with magic?”

Kingmaker nodded and with a snap of his fingers, he became a sword leaving the two siblings in awe. Yoohyeon felt a pull pulling her to get closer to Kingmaker, it was as if Yoohyeon is like a sailor being lured by a siren’s singing. The Kingmaker sword is a gorgeous looking weapon, the scabbard and the handle of the sword looks to be dark purple with a crisscross pattern. One thing that caught Yoohyeon’s eyes is a dangling object that looks like a flower charm hanging on the handle. The charm seems to invoke a sense of nostalgia in Yoohyeon as she stared at it.

“Have I seen this before?”

Yoohyeon wanted to reach out to touch the charm until Kingmaker turned back into his human form. Her hand up landing on Kingmaker’s chest and feeling embarrassed, she blushed before pulling it away. The blush didn’t go away when she noticed Kingmaker looked as if he enjoyed her touch.

“Since we now know you’re Kingmaker, are you going to help us?” Yoohyeon asked, still trying to get rid of the blush creeping on her face.

Kingmaker look between the two siblings, pointing at the two of them he stated,” Only one person can wield me. So, between the two of you who will be the one handling me, the pretty girl or the pretty boy?”

Yoohyeon’s face turned even redder and Jungkook blushed at being called “pretty boy”. Jungkook wanted to volunteer himself to wield Kingmaker because he wants to be the one to protect Yoohyeon this time. But Yoohyeon beat him to it when she grabbed onto Kingmaker’s wrist.

“I’ll do it.”

“Noona!” Jungkook shouted, upset. “You’ve always protected me all my life. Let me do the protecting for once.”

Yoohyeon, touched by her brother’s concern, held onto his hand, “Jungkook, I know you want to protect me but I made a promise to your mother that I will look out for you.”

She petted Jungkook on the head and kissed him on his forehead, “Besides, I’m your older sister and it’s my job to take care of you.”

Kingmaker watched the two siblings in silence, the look he had on his face was fascination. Only one person that wielded him shows concern for someone other than themselves. That person was Yoohyeon’s mother, Queen Sua, who wielded him to help her husband fight for the throne from his greedy relatives. The only difference right now is Queen Sua knew the consequence of wielding Kingmaker but it seems no one told Yoohyeon what will happen to her if she wields him.

Seeing how much Yoohyeon loves her younger brother makes Kingmaker want to tell her what will happen to her. But he didn’t want to tell it her with Jungkook around especially seeing how protective the boy is of his sister.

“Why don’t you wait outside for me while I talk to him,” Yoohyeon said.

Jungkook didn’t want to leave Yoohyeon alone with Kingmaker. But since Yoohyeon needs Kingmaker to help them, he will do it because he also knows they need to still search for their missing siblings. With slight hesitation he walks out of the cave, keeping his eyes on Yoohyeon as he left.

“You and your brother seem to care for each other,” Kingmaker said with his hand on his chin.

“Um…is there a problem with us caring for each other?” Yoohyeon questioned in an offended tone.

“No. No problem. It’s just very rare to finally see one who cares for each other,” Kingmaker replied with a smile. “You and your brother don’t know this but you come from a family known for betrayal people who outlive their usefulness. Almost every member I encounter use me for their desire to rule the world.”

Yoohyeon didn’t look surprised because she did feel their family was like that. Well, only the Royal Family members but not the ones who have been abandoned. She’s glad that she and her other siblings are nothing like everyone else.

“There’s something I know you’re not telling me,” Yoohyeon said, her expression solemn. “I had a dream of my father and that woman; they mention something about being forgotten. So, I want you to tell me the truth, will something happen to me if I decide to wield you?”

Kingmaker was surprised Yoohyeon figured it out just from a dream she had. Some people only learned the truth after using him. However, Kingmaker secretly kept that information to himself because he wanted to see who is worthy to wield him. He felt Queen Sua was worthy except she didn’t realize she chose the wrong person to help. Looking at Yoohyeon right now, he felt she might be the only one who is truly worthy of being his master and wielder for life.

“You’re right,” Kingmaker said. “Except the one thing everyone doesn’t realize is that being forgotten isn’t just from wielding the sword. It’s from how much blood I absorb when I am being used.”

“Blood?”

“Yes, blood. Even if the person wielding me is pure of heart, they can be forgotten for just how much they use me to kill.”

“Was that what happen to my mother?” Yoohyeon asked, in a broken sounded tone, on the verge of tears. “Did she kill a lot of people…and that’s why…no one remembers her?”

Kingmaker wipes away Yoohyeon’s tears then pulls her into his arms. While Kingmaker is not the kind who offers comfort to someone, he can’t help but want to comfort Yoohyeon. He believes all his humanity went away when he learned how to turn into a sword but it seems not all of it was gone.

 “All I can tell you is this,” Kingmaker said, caressing Yoohyeon’s hair. “Your mother trusted the wrong people, people who used her for their advantage. But I believe she knew what she was doing because she was very confident when she wielded me.”

Yoohyeon felt the desire for revenge surged through her once more. This time it was even more than when she learned her siblings disappeared. Even if it means getting rid of the Royal Family and taking their throne, she needs to do it. She needs to stop their evil ways from spreading and hurting more people. But the first thing she needs to deal with is what Kingmaker told her if the sword absorbs too much blood.

Removing herself from Kingmaker’s embrace, Yoohyeon wiped her tears away. She thought for a few minutes before speaking, “Since you are the sword and you have magic, are you able…are you able to change what you can do?”

“If you’re asking if I can change the outcome of using me, you might not like what I have to do for that to happen.”

“Tell me! I don’t care what the consequences are.” Yoohyeon anxiously said, gripping onto Kingmaker’s arm. “I need to protect the people important to me. Even if I die trying…I still need to protect them especially my brother.”

Kingmaker looked away in hesitation before turning back to look at Yoohyeon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoohyeon was glad she and Jungkook were able to rescue their missing siblings along with Auntie Jeon from the Royal Palace. Before she confronted the Royal Family, she made sure Jungkook took everyone to safety. Unbeknownst to Jungkook, Yoohyeon cast a spell to knock him out once he got everyone to their home. She didn’t want him to witness what she is going to do to the Royal Family. It was better for him to still think of her as the older sister watching out for him rather than the monster who will destroy their evil family.

All Jungkook will see once he wakes up is Yoohyeon sitting on the throne holding a bloodstained Kingmaker. What scares Jungkook is how the throne room is empty, there were no bodies of anyone in the Royal Palace. Whatever it was Yoohyeon did to them, she made it like they never existed in the world. When Jungkook wanted to ask Yoohyeon about what she did, she only told him,

“I made sure they will never bother us again.”

Yoohyeon brought Jungkook to a private area that the King and the Queen kept hidden from others. It was the room that Yoohyeon saw them in from her dream, it also happens to be the room Queen Sua once lived in. The room was darkened with a few lanterns around to give it a dim look. Jungkook noticed the room seems empty as in there’s no one in the room but he seems to be hearing voices in the room. If the room is empty then where are the voices coming from?

In the darkest part of the room, there is a golden dollhouse. No lantern was needed in this area due to the golden paint looking as if it is glowing. As they got closer, Jungkook realizes the voices are coming from the dollhouse. The moment Jungkook heard the voices, a chill ran through his body. He felt another one when he saw the moving dolls within the dollhouse.

“Noona, are these dolls real?” Jungkook asked, peering at the dolls.

Yoohyeon held the lantern in her hand above the dollhouse to give them a better look. Upon closer inspection, Jungkook notices one doll look very familiar all of them looked familiar. The doll he was staring at is the Queen, sitting on a throne with a scowl on her face.

“I felt it was fair to give them this kind of fate,” Yoohyeon said. “To them, everyone else is a toy they can trample on and use. Then they get rid of them when they outlive their usefulness.”

“What about Kingmaker?” Jungkook asked, noticing the charm on Kingmaker’s sword is now a bracelet on Yoohyeon’s wrist. “I don’t think I have seen him around.”

Leaving the dollhouse alone, the two siblings head out of the room. As they are walking away, from the dollhouse on the throne, the Queen looked at the two siblings with deep hatred. Yoohyeon feeling the murderous look turned to look back at the dollhouse. She shot a mocking smile towards the Queen as if she’s saying, “I won.”

Yoohyeon leads Jungkook to the throne room, along the way she recounted her conversation with Kingmaker in the cave to him. For every moment Jungkook wanted to speak, Yoohyeon stopped him from talking. She wanted him to listen to it to the very end. Kingmaker, in his sword form, transformed into his human form as they reached the throne. Jungkook looked upset as he stared at him because he didn’t like what Yoohyeon needed to do to make sure she would never be erased from history.

“You’re a good guy, Kingmaker,” Jungkook said. “But I don’t like what my sister has to do for this.”

Kingmaker sighed, “It was the only method I know so far. I don’t even know if a different one exists but this one is the only way. Otherwise, you and everyone else won’t even remember Yoohyeon.”

The method Kingmaker suggested for Yoohyeon involves using the blood of her enemies to be absorbed into the sword. Then she would need to pierce her own heart so her blood runs through the sword. This method is meant to be repeated many times but because Yoohyeon might die from it, Kingmaker used a spell to bind Yoohyeon's heart to his heart. With both their hearts connected, it means Yoohyeon will be an undying mortal who will only die if Kingmaker is ever destroyed.

Authors' Note

I feel like the picture I'm going to post is a super easy hint to what drama I'm watching. But I wonder if anyone can figure out what drama it is and the character's name.

Some things I omitted/changed from the story:

There was supposed to be a big fight scene in the Royal Palace but I decided to cut that scene since I felt it would make the story too long if I kept it.

The missing siblings and Auntie Jeon were dead in my first idea but I changed that part to make it that they are found and rescued.

The Queen was originally written to be Yoohyeon’s birth mother. She wanted to get rid of her because Yoohyeon reminded her of her sister, Queen Sua, her number one rival.

Yoohyeon was meant to die after wielding Kingmaker. She sacrifices herself to make sure Jungkook wouldn’t suffer if he chooses to wield Kingmaker.

Kingmaker was given an ability to take the form of someone the wielder is close to. In my first idea, he was using Jungkook’s face. But I thought it might lean onto so I chose to cut that idea out.

Kingmaker doesn't transform, he is the scabbard, meaning Yoohyeon is supposed to pull the sword out of his body. If anyone ever has seen or read "Utena", that's what I was going for.