Kingdom of Corea, Winter of 1994

Lee Rim is shown opening a sword from it's case placed in the trophy room. He unsheathes it partially and the words, 'The sky and the ground help the earth balance, defeat the bad and make things just' is seen inscribed in the sword. 

"Isn't that the same sword, You were carrying ?" Jeong Tae Eul asked turning to the King who looked intrigued at the screen now.

Frowning at his non response Tae Eul looked around and noticed everyone were wearing the same expression, except Yeong who looked like he was too bored to be there. Even her detective brain couldn't find anything on his face to give away of what he was thinking. The Kingdom of Corea did have good bodyguards she supposed. Signing she turned to look at the screen.

A man comes up behind him and says, "The King is in Cheonjongo [1]"

"Let's go, what I need is over there".

"This is the night that changed my life" Lee Gon told aloud making everyone look at him.

Shin Jae looked away as the flower symbol in the screen was mocking him by repeatedly playing on his mind to listen to what that King was saying.

The guard is shot down and Lee Rim and his followers walk towards Cheonjongo through the long corridor. Rows of King's paintings are shown, and blood splatters onto them.

Seung-Ah gasped as the body fell, she had grown listening about the night of the treason but she didn't think it was this gruesome. Na-ri who was beside her was clenching her hands on her lap.

While Wook looked worriedly at Eun Ah, thinking that seeing this might be too much for her. It could remind her of that...night.

The King is putting the pipe back into the case and locking it carefully when he hears shooting noise and sees his guards being shot down. This is Emperor Lee Ho.

Lee Rim's people invade the room and shoot all the people surrounding the king and have him at gunpoint.

"How did he acquire this many followers?" Lee Gon mumbled, he still could not find out, how that many people betrayed his father.

"We can do a thorough research once again Your Highness, when we return" Yeong said as the King nodded at him.

"You..." Lee Ho starts.

"Yes. They are helping me, Your Highness" Lee Rim says coming out of the shadows.

"You know I never understood all the villains ability to speak in a dramatic tones" Eun Seob said to others trying to disperse the tense atmosphere they are in.

"I think they are born with it" Eun Ah replied surprising everyone. She had been kind of a recluse except to explain things ever since she met them.

Wook gave a wink at her when everyone turned to look at her. Lee Gon gave a smile to Eun Ah at her interacting with everyone. 

"Brother, what are you doing?"

"Not good things" Shin Jae mumbled.

Lee Rim snarkily scoffs and says, "Do you still not know what I'm about to do?"

"Don't do this" Lee Ho urges, "Put that sword down, this is treason."

Lee Rim with blood all over of him unsheathes the sword and says "To you, it might be nothing but treason. But I picked up this sword to gain something even bigger."

"What is it that you're so willing to kill for? Do you not fear the punishment of the skies?" the King asks.

"It would be nice if everyone fears the power of the gods" Na-ri replied.

Shin Jae turned towards her and said indicating Tae Eul and him, "Then we would be out of a job." Jeong Tae Eul nodded at this as Shin Jae brushed shoulders with her.

Lee Gon wanted to behead that man for that.

Hearing this Lee Rim walks up to him, leaving behind shoe prints of blood and says mockingly, "The punishment of the skies? I plan to become the very being who gives punishment from the skies, Your Majesty. Brother, God never created humans. It was the weak who created God."

He then shoves the sword right into the body of his brother and then pulls it off mercilessly without any regrets, blood splashing on his face.

"Father....." Lee Gon whispered clutching his chest.

The King falls down dying while Lee Rim tosses the sword on the ground with a clang before snatching the keys for the box containing the flute.

Various expressions can be seen around the seating area. Tears flowed down Lee Gon's face and Yeong was sporting a worried expression as he kept looking at His Majesty.

All the girls closed their eyes except Jeong Tae Eul who was looking critically at the culprit that killed Lee Gon's father.

Lee Rim takes the flute and looks at it while a little boy enters the room blood coating his feet and his pajama bottoms. He looks at the room, at his uncle and cries out "Father" when he notices his father's almost dead on the ground.

"You were there?" Jeong Tae Eul asked shocked turning to Lee Gon.

He shakes his father's body crying continuously," Father, Father! Father!" putting pressure on the King's wound to close the gushing wound.

Lee Rim looks at the young boy and says, "His Majesty has already..This is too bad. You're an orphan now, Your Highness."

Everyone looked on with tears in their eyes. Even Shin Jae couldn't believe that man had to see that kind of scene at such an young age.

Na-ri buried her face in Eun Seob-ah's shoulder, who was uncharacteristically quiet as he observed the screen.

The young Lee Gon rushes crying towards his uncle picking up the heavy sword on the ground with difficulty, while tears are flowing down the fallen body of King Lee Ho.

"Do you really think you can hurt me with it?" Lee Rim asked smirking.

"You were brave from such a young age, Your Majesty. I am proud to have you as a King" Seung-Ah said though her voice sounded a little hoarse to hear.

"I will try!" saying this the young prince swung the sword cutting the Manpasikjeok in half which Lee Rim placed defensively in front of him to protect him from the blow. The blood from the cut falls onto the pipe.

"This is treason. I order the Royal guards to arrest the traitor, Lee Rim. I deprive Prince Imperial Geum of his royal status and sentence him to maximum penalty in accordance with the national law" the young prince sentences Lee Rim.

"Everyone were on his side" Lee Gon said with utter devastation clearly displayed on his face.

"History repeating itself...What a joke" Eun Ah mumbled her eyes filled with downfallen tears.

"You sound like the crown prince for the first time in your life" the traitor replies to his nephew's words.

"He was always the Crown Prince" Yeong growled imagining different ways to kill the traitor in his mind.

The henchman comes towards the prince and clocks his gun at him, who is followed by all the followers of Lee Rim in pointing the gun at the Prince. "I am ready for your orders, sir" the henchman say to Lee Rim.

"How did he buy their loyalty so easily?" Lee Gon thought in his mind the images of backstabbing guards running rampant in his mind.

In the hallway, a mystery man comes up and grabs one of the dead men's guns.

"Who is that?" Jeong whispered tugging at the King's hand which was still clutched within her fingers.

Lee Gon smiled for the first time since the viewing started at the sight of the mystery man.

Inside the room, Lee Rim replies, "I will do it myself." He picks up the other half of the flute and pushes the Prince against the pillar and says, "I've waited all my life for this very moment. I hid my desires, gathered people to assist me, endured your foolish father and mine, and quietly waited for this day my entire life."

"All his life if he lived like that , it means that he didn't live at all" Wook said watching the screen intently.

Eun Seob-ah nodded and replied, "Revenge, greed and ambition is always one's own undoing." Eun Ah looked at Eun Seob sharply at that comment, her mind travelling one million thoughts per second.

He continued pressing the Prince's throat saying, "So how dare you..How dare a little kid like you, You useless powerless punk. How dare you mess this up." The Manpasikjeok was digging into the prince's throat coating it with his blood. Unable to fight of his uncle he passes out and falls down when the sound of glass dome breaking shifts Lee Rim's concentration.

Lee Gon held out a harsh breaths as he tried to loosen his collar, suddenly feeling the scar on his throat suffocating him.

Tae Eul started to whisper comforting thoughts to the King running her fingers through his hair. Yeong saw the scene in dumbfounded silence. The King was finally letting someone to touch him, maybe that woman was exactly what he needed in his life.

Everyone are shielding themselves from the glass that is falling down from the dome, when the mystery man comes walking inside the room alarms blaring all around the palace.

The men start to try and shoot the new intruder, but he is too fast for them and takes them out one by one. But the henchman gets hit in the shoulder protecting Lee Rim.He drops the one half of the flute which the Prince grabs it in a daze towards himself.

"That dome falling saved your life, but who is that man?" Shin Jae asked trying to act civil with everyone. If he was supposed to spend time surrounded by this group of people, he couldn't outright hate everyone.

"I don't know and that is the biggest mystery of my life" Lee Gon replied somewhat calming down giving a smile to his future Queen as he turned towards Shin Jae.

The King didn't mind that man that much except when he was around his woman.

"Emergency alert. There's an emergency in Cheonjongo. There is an emergency in Cheonjongo."

Lee Rim is frantically searching for the other half of the flute when the henchman replies, "Your Highness, we've lost too much time. You need to get out of here."

"It won't take long" he replies as he continues searching among the gun shooting that is taking place.

"Thank God, he didn't have the whole flute" Wook said to Eun Ah. She was trying to make calm herself down by taking deep breaths when she heard what Wook said. She shuddered to think what would have happened to the world if that was the case.

"Sir, you won't be able to escape once the Royal Guards get here" the henchman says to the distressed traitor. "Let's go right now" the traitor says finally.

"We're going to leave the palace right now!" the henchman yells to all the traitor's followers. Everyone leaves as the mystery man approaches the Prince.

"Your Highness, it doesn't look like a woman" Yeong said to his King who nodded confused at the screen.

 Yeong knew the King thought that the person was Lieutenant Jeong Tae Eul his whole life. But it wasn't, even Yeong was confused at that point. Who was the man? why does he look so familiar?

 The little Prince looks at the mystery man shooting as everyone starts exiting the room, extending a hand towards him. Snow falls down slowly as the mystery man goes up to the Prince and checks his pulse. 

"Emergency alert! All Royal Guards gear up and gather at Cheonjongo" can be heard over the radio walkie-talkie as the guards rush into the room.

"That person is the reason, I know you" Lee Gon said turning to look at Tae Eul who was looking at the man that was slowly making her feel things she hasn't ever felt in her life.

She her dry lips trying to not to stare at the King too much.

The mystery man stands to leave as the Prince in a daze grabs something from the man's pocket. The mystery man leaves, leaving behind a barely alive crown Prince. The object from the man's pocket is relieved to be an identity card of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency with the name Jeong Tae Eul.

"Woah ! This is like a fairy tale" Eun Seob-ah exclaimed with Na-ri nodding along with him.

Shin Jae's mouth turned sour at that thought, while Eun Ah couldn't help smile. This was the reason she existed after all.

The Next Morning

A man yells from the rooftop of the palace, "Come back to us, Your Majesty" waving a bloodied white cloth. The nation is in mourning.

A announcer voice is heard, "Last night, Prince Imperial Geum murdered King Lee Ho and fled. The spokesperson of the Royal Family announced that...."

 Everyone from buses to shops and everyone are wearing black, all the citizens.

"Your father was loved" Tae Eul said recovering from the shock of seeing her id card in 1994 just as the King explained to her before. That was the past and she couldn't help but think her earth is definitely becoming rounder by the minute.

Lee Gon smiled at her slightly and said, "Thank you."

A news reader is voice is heard as he says, "Prince Imperial Geum who is currently wanted for murder and treason will be stripped of his position."

The spokesperson of the Royal family says to the press, "So Crown Prince Lee Gon, the first in line to the throne of the Kingdom of Corea, will be crowned King. Second in line is Prince Inpyeong's eldest son, Prince Buyeong, Prince Lee Jong-in."

"He was the one who raised me, I am sure he will make you believe that the Earth is round" Lee Gon said leaning in close to Tae Eul as he watched various emotions pass across the Lieutenant's face.

Prince Lee Jong-in is seen getting off the plane, who is around mid 70's. Everyone is there to greet him from the palace and the government.

Eun Ah stared at the man her father called uncle, whose death was still mourned in her family. She was glad she could see him at least once even if it is just a video from the past.

No Ok Nam, the head court lady bows respectfully and says, "You're, Prince Buyeong."

"Is the Crown Prince awake yet? I heard his neck was severely injured."

"You know there was no official statement about an injury" Seung-Ah said to Na-ri.

"Really?"

"Yes, I am just understanding how paranoid this must have made him" Seung-Ah glancing at the other side of the couch.

"Who?" Na-ri asked noticing Seung-Ah gaze was not on the King.

"Jo Yeong, of course. Seeing his loved one in pain like that...and all."

"So they both are...?" Na-ri asked her face clearing conveying the shock she felt upon hearing her doppelganger's words. She thought that the King and her Unnie[2] were close. And it was weird imagining someone with Eun Seob-ah's face with a man.

Wook let out a disgusted scoff on hearing his mother's and her doppelganger's words thinking, "His father and his...interested person's father, UGH!."

"I am sorry to say this, but asking about the Crown Prince's state in the current situation could lead to misunderstandings."

"Whether I mention him or not, people will gossip about me. What about Lee Rim's whereabouts?"

"Everything is politics" Eun Ah replied not noticing the turmoil Wook was in.

"The Royal guards and the police are investigating together."The roads, airports, forests are all checked by the Royal guards.

"They closed off all the roads right away, if he is still in Busan, I'm sure they will find him."

"I hope so too, but he seems to have thoroughly prepared for this. I believe he would have thought of an escape plan first."

"All villains sometimes end up as a genius" Shin Jae said watching how the Kingdom of Corea guards did investigation just like they did in the Republic of Corea but couldn't find the culprit.

"Their overconfidence is also the reason they end up getting caught" Jeong Tae Eul replied remembering the first clip they saw in the interrogation room.

Lee Rim is seen running through the bamboo stumbling with the broken flute in his hand. However rain and thunder appears  as Lee Rim stares at the flute. Thunder claps, flute sound is heard as pillars appear. In-between the pillars the space starts to crack like a mirror.

"He went through the portal, that's how he survived that day" Lee Gon said seeing the evidence right in front of his eyes.

"But wasn't he shot down by the Royal guards" Seung-Ah asked the King of her world ignoring the angry eyes the handsome bodyguard was directing at her for directly speaking to the King. This was not a normal occurrence so the formalities can be avoided right? she thought to herself.

Seeing that Yeong was frustrated more than useful, Lee Gon swiftly replied to the doppelganger of the cafe owner he met in the Republic, "Even I don't know, but maybe we can discover the answer here."

Republic of Korea, Winter of 1994

Lee Rim appears on the streets of Seoul with muddied appearance. Things look the same, yet different as he looks around confused though no one is looking at him weirdly.

"Wow! Seoul looks so much different" Eun Ah said looking at in wonder which was soon gone by the appearance of the traitor. Wook smiled looking at his Princess.

"Republic of Korea?" he wonders as he looks at the newspapers when a man knocks onto him. The man stands up to curse at Lee Rim for hitting him when he pulls away on recognizing Lee Rim.

The man is the King Lee Ho of the Republic of Korea, who appears to be a common man.

"Wow, everyone has a doppelganger then!" Eun Seob-ah yelled in wonder.

Lee Rim on seeing him says, "I know you. Do you know me too?

"What are you talking about? What...How did you..."

"Am I your older half-brother?"

"Then Lee Rim also would have a doppelganger" Shin Jae said making everyone think for a moment.

"That was the reason he was not caught by the police in the Republic before we started our investigation" Tae Eul-iee said surprised, her face twisting in grimace thinking of how many people he would have to have killed seeing Lee Gon's doppelganger was not in her world.

"When were you not? How in the world are you walking around like this? How can this happen?." Lee Rim pushes him as the doppelganger of the king looks at the traitor's legs in amazement. He pulls out the pipe and looks around and says in amazement, "I was right 'Republic of Korea'?"

And looking at the man on the ground Lee Rim asks, "So, where is your brother right now?"

"So he assumes the identity of his doppelganger fooling everyone for over a decade" Lee Gon replied darkly his mind coming to the startling realization.

 

 

 

 

[1] Cheonjongo - the library or the king's room or the room where valuable treasure is kept.

[2] Unnie - Korean words for older women called by girls.