Silence.

The always bustling city central was eerily silence. No one spoke; even the chirpings of birds were gone. Everyone stared at the bloodied Sung Im lying motionlessly on stage. The puddle of blood continued its process of spreading round the stage as if to stain the white floor red, forever etching the painful event onto it.

The only thing unchanged was the weather. Ironically, the sun was still doing its routine job by shining brightly. Clusters of white and fluffy clouds did little to block its strong rays. It was a nice weather, supposedly a good weather for picnic and enjoying outdoor activities.

Kim Jong Kook, their newly-appointed Royal King was calm, too calm. He stared expressionlessly at the dead girl. No one knew what he was thinking until he suddenly spoke up.

“Tell me.” Jong Kook commanded. “Tell me why are all of you so miserable that I’ve killed Cheon Sung Im to avenge my parents’ wrongful deaths? Aren’t you guys supposed to cheer at the fact that the demons are finally wiped out? Peace and stability will return!”

“Your Highness.” Joong Ki bravely stepped forward. “Cheon Sung Im was not the ultimate culprit. The peace and stability is exchanged with sacrifices which…”

Joong Ki choked on his sob as he stared at the corpse of the poor heroine. They had finally understood why Sung Im sacrificed. Sung Im knew she would be an outcast as she was a mixed blood. And even though if Jong Kook was to kill the Demon King, Sung Im would still be eliminated as she carried demon traits. Her relationship with the then Royal Prince would surely be severed. Sung Im did not want Jong Kook to drown in sorrow over her death nor want him to protect her and fought against the moral values. She did not want Jong Kook to face with a dilemma that was cruel for him to choose. Therefore, Sung Im helped him make a choice. She erased Jong Kook’s memories and willingly offered herself up the altar. In this way, Jong Kook would be able to lead the universe without guilt.

“Would you have let me and Sung Im together if all of you didn’t know Sung Im was such a noble girl who barely displayed her demon traits?” Jong Kook’s voice softened.

Jong Kook’s speech surprised the citizens.

“H-How… How did you…” Suk Jin wanted to question Jong Kook but he was too shock that he was unable to speak fluently.

Jong Kook walked down the stage and created an invisible barrier around it. He walked towards Suk Jin and Jae Suk who stared at him in awe.

“Suk Jin appa, Jae Suk appa…” Jong Kook called out, surprising them even further. “My memories are still intact and believe me, I still love Sung Im. I still love Ji Hyo. But I need to do something right. Hence, please give me some time to fix it good.”

The two fathers slowly nodded, placing their trust in Jong Kook. Upon receiving their approval, Jong Kook addressed the crowd once again. “Sung Im did erase our memories but she did not know that I had a duplicate copy…”

“I know all of you are confused now. I will let you know the whole story, the whole truth now. Though the barrier around the stage is invisible, the people on the stage would not be able to see through it. Hence, Sung Im will not know we are watching her right now…”

Seconds later, Sung Im began to stir on the stage despite being certified as dead earlier. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She opened her eyes and emitted an admired gasp. Sung Im saw herself lying on the green grass with flower bushes around her. Colourful butterflies were dancing around the many-coloured flowers. The sun was shining warmly behind the fluffy white clouds above the sky. It was as if she was in heaven.

But Sung Im didn’t know the beautiful scenery was staged by Jong Kook. She was not dead as Jong Kook had managed to seal her last breath with a kiss. He did it so quickly that no one had caught his small action. No one, even Sung Im herself; knew that she was still alive.

Sung Im stood up and inspected her injuries and was surprised to see her black suits replaced by a white, knee-length dress. Her fatal wound had disappeared, making her believed that she had indeed died and was in heaven at the moment. Never had she thought of a person like her with devil traits would be permitted to enter the holy ground.

Taking a deep breath of the refreshing scent, Sung Im danced around. Her untied long, black and wavy hair swayed beautifully to her movement. Chuckling happily, Sung Im skipped from one flower bush to another. Her lively smile enhanced her pretty face feature, making her looking as if an angel had descended.

Fairy Lizzy came into Sung Im’s sight with the late Royal King and Queen by her side. Sung Im immediately became solemn-looking and bowed to them.

“Good day, my Royal King and Queen. Sung Im has accomplished the mission en--”

“Accomplished? You mean you have completed the mission without fail?” The late Royal King questioned in an authoritative tone which Sung Im confirmed with a nod.

“But why are you here?” The late Royal Queen further inquired. “And why is Jong Kook back so early?”

“I… I…” Sung Im did not know how to explain. She never thought that she would meet the late Royal King and Queen in afterlife and hence she had yet to script her explanation. Sung Im realised her mistake for trying to create a protective coat over Jong Kook last night. The protective gear did nothing to veil his presence; instead it worsened and exposed his identity. Hence Sung Im had no choice but to bring him back. Sighing inwardly, Sung Im knew she should not have met Jong Kook at the shopping mall. It would not have lead to this. On another thought, maybe none of this would have happened if Sung Im did not idolise the young singer.

Fortunately, Fairy Lizzy came to her aid by narrating the whole event happened in the afternoon leading to Sung Im’s death.

The story ended but the Royal King and Queen did not utter a single word. Sung Im was anxious as she did not know what they were thinking. But then she reassured herself that the royal couple should be pleased with the end result as the Royal Prince had managed to claim the throne with much ease.

“Sung Im…” The Queen called out suddenly with a sad expression. “Do you know what I was thinking when I despatched my army to rescue you from the Demon King?”

Surprised at the sudden change of subject, Sung Im could only shake her head wordlessly while fidgeting nervously.

“Your mother and I were a pair of very good friends, so much so that we were like close sisters.” The Queen continued. “We made a pact when she was pregnant with you. I told her that I wanted her daughter to be my daughter-in-law. She initially rejected as she reasoned that you would be carrying half of the demon traits which was not permitted in the universe. She was an understanding lady just like you. She hated to upset the balance and stability even though she did not regret being married to her lover of another side. But then I managed to convince her with much effort.”

“That fateful day remained as the pain in my heart. It was filled with sorrow and regrets.” The Queen touched her chest where it seemed that it was still bleeding with grief. “It was too late for me to foresee the tragedy. I did not manage to save your mother… All I had rescued was just a baby girl barely one day old… I tried… I tried to compensate by loving you with all my might.”

The Queen began to sob, her shoulders heaving violently. Sung Im hesitantly walked up to her and gave her a hug. She signalled to the Queen that she understood. Sung Im had never once blamed the motherly caring Queen for her effort in raising her which she knew it was a tough task.

But the Queen insisted to continue. “I introduced you to my son and I knew he had fallen in love with you at first sight. I was so happy to know that I was one step closer to having you as my daughter-in-law. But life was cruel to you. You did nothing wrong and yet you was condemned just because you carried the demon blood. For years, I did everything I can to make the citizens accept you… However, my hard work was in vain, only Kang Gary, Ha Dong Hoon and Lee Kwang Soo hesitantly befriended you.”

The Queen paused to choke back a sob. The King took the initiative to continue the story for her. “My wife had another vision when Jong Kook turned ten years old. It was the vision of him, me and my wife being dead and the whole universe was taken over by the Demon King. Upon waking up from her sleep, she dashed frantically into my study room to tell me her prediction. And… That was when you unintentionally heard it… That was when you dashed in crying… That was when you vowed to protect our son, the Royal Prince… That was when you volunteered to take part in our rescue plan without any hesitation…”

Taking some time to recompose himself, the King continued. “Knowing that we could not alter the future too much, our initial plan was to send Jong Kook to alternate universe. But the clever you had pointed out that the Demon King would still be hot on his pursuit, determined to kill our son even after eliminating us. For weeks, the three of us thought of various methods hoping it would be foolproof enough to trick the Demon King. Over the period, we held several secret meetings at nights to avoid arousing Jong Kook’s suspicion. At long last, I thought of staging a fake death which we cheered at the idea… But here came the problem, who will be the ‘murderer’? Who can we entrust the mission?”

The Queen held both of Sung Im’s hands and looked appreciatively at her. “Sung Im, you were the one who volunteered… We rejected as it was too inhumanely for you to bear the consequences… Though we trusted you as both of us knew you loved Jong Kook deeply that you were willing to sacrifice even at the expense of being wrongly accused, we could not bear to let you face it alone.”

“My Royal King and Queen, both of you don’t have to feel so apologetic to me. It was the correct and only choice available. I was the most suitable candidate. No one would doubt me; no one would ever doubt my reason of murdering the Royal Prince as I’m a half-de---”

“No, Sung Im, you are not! You are a half-angel, send to protect Jong Kook!” The Queen quickly shushed her.

The crowd was totally shaken with shock. Indeed, they had unknowingly followed accordingly to the script predicted by Sung Im. They were deeply remorse for wronging the innocent girl.

“But Sung Im, you have failed us!” The King roared suddenly in anger making Sung Im jerking with surprise. “Our plan was to let Jong Kook return to this universe ten years later. And you were to unleash his power locked in the necklace by us. He would then have a duet with the Demon King which we were confident that Jong Kook would do us proud by emerging as the winner. But why? Why did you erase his precious memories with you? Why did you let him kill you?”

Tears flowed down Sung Im’s angelic face. “I’m… I’m sorry, my Royal King and Queen… I know… I know that I can’t have a future with Jong Kook because of my origin. And I know that Jong Kook won’t have the heart to kill me nor would he let others do it. I don’t want him to go against the citizens of the universe just to protect me, a half-blooded demon. My love for him is so much even though my wish is simple – Jong Kook being alive, healthy and happy. Hence I merely want him to lead the universe without feeling remorse or sadness. He would be happier without me…”

By now, the crowd was crying along with the Royal King and Queen. Suk Jin and Jae Suk though crying understood fully and were very proud of their capable adopted daughter. Joong Ki, Gary and Dong Hoon were silently tearing too. Kwang Soo was crying and slapping his face to punish himself for accusing and bullying his innocent friend years ago.

Jong Kook, though his eyes were reddened, was satisfied at the response of his people. He knew his parents’ plan had worked perfectly.

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Hi everyone! I apologise for the extremely long wait! *bow*
I'm back with a much longer chapter as promise! And the storyline will gradually shift to a lighter tone ^_~

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