VOLUME LXXXVII: Masquerade ~ Tonight

Jun half expected them to be rolling around on the grass but luckily for him, that was not the case. Fully dressed, Hye was carefully pulling strands of hair from Jay’s face when he had so suddenly interrupted their moment together. She was about to braid Jae’s long beautiful hair when his presence caught them completely by surprise. Hye and Jae had not expected anyone to find them let alone Jun, the master of the castle.

When they were together, it was as if the rest of the world did not exist.

Jun just stood there looking at Hye and Jae. Neither of them could make out what he was thinking. His eyes were clouded, hiding his thoughts from their line of eyesight. Hye suddenly felt so shameful as if she was a child caught doing something naughty. He was like an older brother to her, of course she would feel this way, Hye persuaded herself. Jae, on the other hand, felt rather confused. Why was Ki here in the castle? Does he know the princess?

Jae finally brought the awkward silence to an end, “Ki…“ only to be interrupted by Jun.

“Do you love her?” Although random, it was a straight forward question but Jae found it difficult to tell his friend the answer.

“What do you mean by asking-“

“Answer me with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no.’ Do you love her?” Jun was getting impatient. The tone in his voice came off like a ticking bomb. If Jae didn’t answer, he would explode without any further warning.

“Yes.” Jae was able to breathe out.

In that split second, Jun had made up his mind. It was over. He would let go before anyone got hurt. Jun had done nothing but bring distress to her. Looking into Hye’s eyes made him realize that she would be better off with Jae, a man who could laugh, cry, and love at his own free will.

Hye loved him. That was what Jun saw.

She no longer possessed those blank doll eyes. They were now filled with human emotion. Jae had brought upon this change. He had freed her from the chains this damned castle had bound her with.

Everything will go as he had initially planned it. Hye will leave the castle with Jae and never return.

Hye and Jae felt like they should speak up but nothing seemed right to say. Hye wanted to ask why Jae was calling Jun by his brother’s name. Jae wanted to know why Ki asked such a question and what was the answer to him. They both never got the chance to ask.

“You…” He pointed to Jae.

“I want you to the princess out of the castle tonight. I am sure you will have no objections to that.”

Jun turned to Hye. She had grown more beautiful now that she had taken her mask off to reveal her true self to the world.

“Princess, you need not worry over the elders. They have already accepted along with your mother. All you need to do is give your consent to the marriage and you are free to go.”

“But Jun, what marriage are you talking about?” Her voice didn’t sound like her own.

“Our marriage… I know what you’re thinking and it is not like that at all. This is only to get you outside of the castle.” Jun sighed a little and turned his face down to his ed shirt. He clumsy fastened a few buttons before continuing coldly, “This marriage means nothing to me.”

“Ki, why are you-“

“Please don’t call me Ki. I am Jun Sun, the baron who over sees these lands and the castle at its heart.” Jun took a stiff bow, “Ki is my dead brother. May he be restless in his grave.”

Hye couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Had Jun changed so much to speak of his brother in such a way?

Jae couldn’t quite grasp the facts. If this was Jun… and Ki was his deceased brother than who really was his friend all these years…? Had he befriended a ghost? The Ki he knew looked exactly like the Jun standing tall in front of him but…

What was actually going on?

“Jae, is it? I overheard the princess calling you Jae.”

“Yes, my name is Jae Moon.”

“Please accept my apologies. You seem like a person I can entrust the princess to. Come with me to my study room and we will discuss the situation at hand and tonight’s hasty departure.” Jun spoke indifferently. He showed no signs of remembering Jae. They were now strangers.

Jun had casted all love and friendship to one side. He finally had his priorities straight.

Hye held on to Jae’s arm, afraid of losing him to Jun. Her hold loosened only when he smiled at her and whispered the words she longed to hear.

He would definitely come back for her and they could live with one another in peace. Hye and Jae’s new home would be a place without secrets, without pain, without phoniness. There would only be the two of them together forever.

--

“Is everything ready? Is the princess leaving tonight?”

“As you predicted, Jun has decided to send her away from the castle as soon as possible.”

“Excellent. This will be the final move, then checkmate. I will finally rid myself of that sickening place. Our souls shall be free at last.”

“Do you wish me to proceed as planned?”

“Yes, good man. Make sure there is no failure. This is our chance and we must succeed.”

“I will take my leave then, sir.”

The man with a four-leaf clover on his cheek stood up and left. The cloaked figure now sat alone in the corner of the pub.

“Ki,” he muttered to himself, “You have been too predictable up until now. Let us raise the stakes. Let us put our lives on the line for this last battle, the finale to our childish game of ‘house.’”

We will finally see each other again… won’t we, dear brother…

Sykotica Notes: We bought our metal filligree masks from here for a party. They're awesome. It came in the mail and reminded me about making a masquerade layout. The wife plans on buying another black tutu to go with the mask and I'm just N.O. I will ship it off to charity. Why do girls have so much clothes? They don't even wear them all. Rant of the day. Too much useless clothes and shoes. Back to the layout. Every ribbon picture out there seem to get cut off so I had to draw these out in Live Brush.