CHAPTER I

The Immortals of Joohyun Bae

“Seja-Jeoha (Crown prince)! Jeoha (your majesty)! Where are you?” the 16-year-old crown prince, Lee Young-Bae, crouched behind a pillar of the minister’s pavilion. Hiding from his court-ladies and eunuchs, Lee Young-Bae held his palm over his mouth to mute the childish giggle that threatened to escape and reveal his position to the panicked servants.

Peeking from the pillar, Young-Bae saw the head eunuch order the palace guards and other court ladies to search the princes’ pavilion and the royal garden. Young-Bae smirked, confident that it would take a bit of time before they figured out that Young-Bae was not fooling around in the garden or with his brothers—well, he actually was fooling around in the sense that he was enjoying making his eunuchs and attendants panic, but still, for Young-Bae what he was doing was a matter of importance.

Dropping on all fours, Goryeo’s future king crawled from the pillar where he hid towards one of the windows of the minister’s pavilion, he intended to use the structure of the pavilion to hide from his searching servants and get to Geunjeongjeon hall—the most important room in all of Gyeongbok palace, for it was where the King’s throne was located, it was also where the most important Altar was built—and that is what Young-Bae is after, as the crown-prince and future king, Young-Bae felt the need to see the Altar and to pray for his future reign.

It was a request he had already asked of his father, Lee Jun-Young—the current King, but his father had turned him down and reprimanded Young-Bae not to be hasty to become a king. The King’s exact words were, “The Altar is a place for Kings, and you my son is not yet King. You are not yet ready, go and pray to the priests’ altar, pray, so that the Sky God would grant you freedom and sovereignty in your reign.”

Young-Bae understood the first part of his father’s sentence, yes, he is still young and is not yet the King, but what he didn’t understand is why his father would ask Young-Bae to pray to another altar when Kings should pray at the Monarch’s Altar. It is well known to scholars and ministers that the greatest kings to ever rule Goryeo were devout worshippers who’d spend a long amount of time inside the Monarch’s Altar—in fact, Young-Bae’s teachers advised the crown prince to pray at the Altar for the success of his reign and for the safety of Goryeo. It was with that intention that Young-Bae asked his father to allow him access to the Altar, just so he could pray and ask for blessing—but his father denied his request, it boggled Young-Bae’s young mind. Surely his father is not so selfish not to share the Altar that belongs to Monarchs? Isn’t Young-Bae a monarch? So, shouldn’t he, as crown-prince, be allowed to pray at the Altar built for him to pray in? Why must he go to the priests’ altar and pray there?

Young-Bae pushed his musings to the back of his mind as he approached the hall of the Kings—it was a place where the former and past Kings’ thrones, paintings, and ashes were stored and kept—One day, should his father pass, he too would be added to that hall, Young-Bae too, knows that this hall would be his final resting space. Taking a step inside the hall of the Kings, Young-Bae took off his headgear to show his respect, kneeling down, he bowed, his forehead touching the floor as he greeted Goryeo’s past kings.

Young-Bae stood up and proceeded to head to his original destination. The hall of the Kings was just one of the rooms directly connected to the Altar of the monarchs— Young-Bae figured if his father will not allow him passage from the throne room, then Young-Bae would just use another door.

He admired each throne that he passed, remembering the words of his teacher, “Seja-Joha, the hall of the Kings is the final resting place for all kings. It is also called the hall of veneration for this is where we will pay our respect and remember how each monarch reigned. Each throne belongs to a king, with their portrait hanging over the throne and a chest beside it. From the first King Lee Taejo, to your grandfather, King Lee Sunjong, there is a total of 40 portraits and 40 chests, for the past 40 kings,” Young-Bae n had asked then, “What is inside the chest?”

Hearing the words of his teacher as he traversed through the hall, “Each chest contains the most precious and most important belongings of late kings, it may be their most valuable weapon, jewelleries, letters, anything really. But no one is allowed to open or even touch the chests. Remember prince Young-Bae, the hall of veneration is a place for respect, even you my crown prince cannot open the chests belonging to previous kings.”

As the crown prince passed each portrait of the Kings, he found himself rooted where he stood, Young-Bae hadn’t noticed it before. In the succession of the kings, there was a single throne that was scorched black, it was mangled and broken. Taking a step further to inspect, Young-Bae flinched as he saw that there was no portrait that showed what the king who owned the throne looked like—Who owned that throne?

Young-Bae stared at the throne before the empty one and saw the portrait of King Lee Gun, the king who reformed Goryeo’s marriage system so he could marry more concubines—this led to a civil war between his sons who fought for the throne, which caused a great famine to befall on the people and left Goryeo in a state of disarray, oddly enough, Young-Bae’s scholars never did teach him how the monarchy recovered from that, shifting his gaze to the throne succeeding the empty one. Young-Bae saw the scared visage of King Lee Sun, he was one of the most devout worshippers of the Altar, his reign albeit lacklustre, was one of the most peaceful times Goryeo experienced, again Young-Bae’s scholars didn’t tell him how Lee Sun was crowned. How did Goryeo fix the mess King Lee Gun left? How so that in King Lee Sun’s reign, everything was already peaceful?

The crowned prince scrunched his brows, his gaze returning to the scorched throne, who owned this throne? who reigned after the polygamous King Lee Gun and before the meek Lee Sun? Young-Bae has read and heard nothing about this scorched throne, taking a step closer, with his hand outstretched, the chair’s mangled texture was the last thing Lee Young-Bae felt before he crashed to the ground and lost his consciousness.

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Young-Bae twitched as he felt thorns crawl up around his body, he tried to get up from where he was laying, but the roots tied him to the ground, disoriented, he pulled against the binds around his hand, and with great effort he was able to free his hands, but before he could move to untie his calves and ankles— Young-Bae felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, he sat frozen on a 4-meter clearing in the middle of what seemed to be a forest in Goryeo. Young-Bae turned his head slowly to the direction of the sound and saw something he feared, a massive tiger with blood red eyes prowled towards him, Young-Bae immediately tried to find any sort of weapon, and once he didn’t, panic rushed through—the young crown prince scrambled off the ground and slipped as his ankles were still tied, he shakingly untied his binds as the tiger opened its mouth in a silent roar before it lunged towards Young-Bae. Fortunately, Young-Bae was able to avoid the tiger’s bite but he wasn’t able to avoid its claws, with newfound pain on his sides, Young-Bae desperately tried to crawl away from the mongering beast.

Roar! Young-Bae flinched and curled up on the floor as he heard the tiger roar ferociously, nothing made sense, Young-Bae couldn’t remember anything, no matter how hard he tried, he didn’t know how he found himself in a forest in the middle of the night, with no light and no sign of life—well except for the tiger currently quiet behind him—wait, the tiger is silent?

Young-Bae turned around and breathed in relief at the absence of the beast, he will not anymore ask how and why the tiger that seemed so hungry is nowhere to be found—instead Young-Bae picked himself up from the floor and tried to figure out how to get out of the life-forsaken forest.

Young-Bae had been running around the forest for what he guessed was 4 hours, hoping to find any landmark or river so that he could figure out where he was and how to get back to his palace, his servants must’ve noticed his absence and his father must’ve been notified—surely the royal guards are already looking for him. He had to make sure to be found alive, which was why Young-Bae desperately wanted to find any source of water.

Young-Bae took of his crown prince robes, as its heaviness was tiring Young-Bae even more than he already was, slumping against a tree, the crown prince tried to calm his beating heart and catch his breath when he heard falling water—wait, water? Falling?—a waterfall!

With renewed vigour, Young-Bae sped off from where he was slouching towards the sound of the water fall, approaching the clearing and seeing the waterfall would’ve been such a wonderous sight with the way the moon’s dim light was reflected on the water—but Young-Bae was pulled under the water by a force he did not see or feel. Moving his arms and kicking his feet upwards didn’t seem to do Young-Bae any good, in-fact, it seems as if he was sinking further—he was trying his best to hold his breathe, but even with his years of training as a crown-prince, Young-Bae’s physique couldn’t save him from how he was drowning. Slowly losing his consciousness, one last thing caught Young-Bae’s attention, squinting his eyes, Young-Bae saw a hand extended towards him, feeling his hope renew, he grabbed the hand, only to be faced with a drowned, pale corpse, whose eyes were open but dull and lifeless— Young-Bae didn’t know if he could scream underwater, but that was what he did.

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Opposite to Young-Bae’s expectations, back in Gyeongbok palace, everything was peaceful, no royal guards were in search, the eunuchs and court ladies who were desperate in looking for the crown prince were ordered to retreat back to their quarters and to stay silent about the matter. From the eyes of an outsider it would seem just like any night in the palace.

However, the truth could be seen in the private chambers of King Jun-Young, where the King along with his wife—Queen Ga-Eun, his brother—prince Yunho, and their mother—Queen-Dowager Hyegyeong were talking about the missing crown prince Lee Young-Bae.

“Jun-Young, I am asking you to save your son! Please!” Queen Ga-Eun pleaded from where she sat to her husband, they all knew who had the crown prince, there was no one else who would dare abduct a monarch other than her.

“Jungjeon (Queen), calm down, Mistress will return Young-Bae to us,” The Queen Dowager tried to calm the younger queen, but it was naught—for Queen Ga-Eun has always been afraid of the immortal woman that controlled the royal family.

“What right does she have to take my son? He is still young! It is too early for him to know the truth! Too early to be taken away from me! My son!” Queen Ga-Eun cried out, feeling helpless, as her tears silenced the calming words of the Queen Dowager and broke the heart of the puppet king even further.

When Ga-Eun was married to Jun-Young as a crown princess, she did not know that the royal family were under the control of an immortal demon, she did not know, and she was so happy—until Jun-Young was abducted just before his coronation, and just like now, Jun-Young’s disappearance had been ignored and brushed aside, no matter how much she pleaded. It was a fortnight after when Jun-Young had returned, and the brave and dream-filled crown prince she loved was replaced by a scared, haunted, and submissive king. Ga-Eun knew, that the Mistress—Bae Joohyun, took monarchs as she saw fit, and when they returned, they were never the same… it was as if she has killed them without actually ending their life.

“Mama (Your majesty), please, lower your voice, they might hear your words. Be careful of what you say, there are consequences…” The brother of the king, Lee Yunho pleaded, should Ga-Eun incur the wrath of the Altar, his brother might just find himself Queen-less.

Although Yunho’s words were intended to pacify the queen, it only served to resolve her fear fuelled wrath, “Is it not enough that we have chains around our necks?! That even our words are not ours to say?!”

Queen Ga-Eun glared at her silent husband and stood up from where she sat, “At our wedding, you promised me love and happiness in this marriage! Well King Jun-Young! I neither feel loved nor am I happy, everyday has been a constant part to play! I am no queen—just a puppet for the public! You have taken away my freedom, and tonight, with your inaction, you have killed my son.”

King Jun-Young sat helplessly as he watched his Queen walk out of his private quarters, wincing as the door was almost slammed out of its place by Ga-Eun’s tempered exit.

“Do not mind the Queen my son, she is just like any mother, she is worried for Young-bae, but we know that even if Young-bae is still young. He has a good heart. He will pass the test.” The Queen-Dowager, Hyegyeong talked to her first-born son, who now bore the curse of the crown. Unlike Ga-Eun, Hyegyeong was chosen as Queen at the behest of the Mistress, which explained her more hospitable attitude towards the Mistress that occupied the Altar of the Monarchs. Hyegyeong owed the altar her Queenship, no matter the fact that she is another puppet, at least she was still in a position of power—even if the power was both limited and borrowed.

King Jun-Young nodded at the words of his mother; however, he was hiding his displeasure at his mother’s words and attitude, he would rather have her express hate towards the altar than be another meek sheep praying at its feet. “Get your rest Daebi-mama (Queen-Dowager), all we can do is wait on Young-Bae’s return.”

“Goodnight my King, you as well Yunho, rest soon.” Hyegyeong rose from her seat and bowed to show her respect to her son, the king. Turning around, Hyegyeong didn’t miss the hostility she felt from her two sons just because she gave the Altar support instead of displeasure.

Once both the King and his brother were sure that their mother was out of earshot, Prince Yunho turned his attention to the King and lowered his voice, “Have you gone to the altar?”

Jun-Young shook his head, “Mistress Bae has not called for me. I know that she’s not at the altar, she’s probably taking part in the ritual.”

“Ritual? You mean the test that the Altar gives to crown princes?” Yunho asked, as a prince not in line of the throne, he never was concerned with the test that is given to all crown prince’