Soo-Won was at a crossroads. On one side: he cared deeply for King Il, his daughter and her bodyguard, but on the other… he cared about the people of the kingdom that had suffered years of corruption and poverty thanks to their King's rule.

Ever since his father's passing he had made it a life goal to continue on with his legacy. To remain informed of the Kingdom's state, the mood of its people, the plans of the powerful.

When he was little he had been told he had great leadership skills, the potential to mobilize people, become a great ruler. And it wasn't that he didn't believe it, he saw the impact he caused on the citizens, how easily it was for him to mingle around the castle's city. But thinking about the people he loved, and his desire to protect them more than anyone else stopped him from doing anything definitive that would disturb their peace.

The day Yu-Hon died was the day his dream future started cracking in front of his eyes. He was his hero, his idol, the person he aspired to be. And he was gone, just like that. "He died in the battlefield" they said. He knew that couldn't possibly be true. The King had forbidden wars, and his father couldn't possible fall in a simple conflict. It just wasn't possible.

Crack

Now he that lived alone just outside the city, away from the little family he had left and surrounded by nothing but servants, he was forced to raise himself. He was only nine years old, but he had to follow his father's footsteps, whatever that meant.

Yu-Hon had been content with just protecting his brother and the kingdom, not taking the position of ruler for himself, but visits to towns all around Kouka made Soo-won realize how wrong he had been in that. His father might've been able to protect the kingdom from outsiders' attacks, but that wasn't enough. The whole territory was filled with corrupt Lords and even generals that cared more about money than the welfare of their peers. Or at least, that was what his sources told him, he needed to see for himself. So, on his 16th birthday he decided to travel to parts of Kouka that weren't even on maps, towns abandoned by the King's care and the military. He went on a 'secret mission' not telling any higher up of his intentions so that no one could arrange anything if given the chance. And that's when he saw it: The poverty, the ill, the dying children, human trafficking, drugs… It was all too much to take in. It was all real, all true. He needed to make it better.

Crack

Soo-won then went back to his palace, gathered as much money as he could and when going back to the villages he visited: he gave it to the people. But what he witnessed then was going to be forever ingrained in his memory: they all fought each other for it, they killed for it, and only the strongest managed to survive. He witnessed children beaten to death just because they wanted money to feed someone they loved or even themselves.

After that, he never went back. He knew there was nothing he could do to make things better from a small scale. No matter how much money he gave, the corrupt system would still stand, and innocents would still die.

With a new-found determination in mind, he went to speak to his uncle. He knew King Il wasn't fond of change, of any type of disturbance to their peace, but something needed to be done. He told the King about the struggles of their people, but all he got in response was a saddened look of understanding and the words: "I can't do anything, it's for the best". He might've as well stabbed him with a rusty sword.

Crack

Still, if there was anything Soo-won wasn't: that was hopeless. Maybe the King wouldn't help, but perhaps in time he could convince him. And even then: he could become King himself. It was a big responsibility, but if Yona was to be Queen one day he wouldn't mind ruling alongside her. Hak would be with them too. Maybe his dream wasn't unreachable after all.

The general of the Wind Tribe didn't tire of telling him how he'd protect them when they ruled. He knew about the state of the country, and yet he respected their current King somehow. Soo-won had always admired him, aspired to be like him one day, and in this particular subject it was no different. He really wished he could blindly trust in their King the way Hak did, he wished he could waste precious time in trivialities, in weddings and birthdays. But current conflicts always came to mind. One specifically: the alliance between South Kai and the Fire Tribe. He knew that the moment they acted would be the downfall of the Kingdom.

Crack

Perhaps it was best for him to rule on his own. Keeping Yona and Hak by his side would only make their lives endangered; it would give enemies more chances to destroy him. He was determined to protect the kingdom, but those two made him weak and unpredictable. Maybe having a choice had been an illusion; the crossroads had been, from the start, a one way path he had already chosen.

Time was of the essence, and now at seventeen, he couldn't afford to let more innocent blood be spilled in favor of status quo. So he had to make a choice, and once again: he let everyone's future rest on the King's shoulders. If his last desperate attempt failed, he would have to follow a path he had long since started walking, but feared he might never be able to come back from.

As time passed, the support the King used to possess was being transferred to him, the generals seemed to appreciate his efforts to better the kingdom by acting, and his heritage was nothing to look down upon.

He had practically resigned himself to a life of solitude already, away from the ones he loved most, with his hands permanently stained with blood. But he had one more chance, one small hope to save himself, to save King Il. For two years he visited his uncle in the hopes he would give in and let him take the throne. It was desperate, and perhaps even hopeless, but he wasn't ready to carry all of that weight on his own. Hak and Yona trusted him with their lives as he did with them, could he really let himself lose that forever? Not without a fight. So he tried, he begged and pleaded, but to no avail. The King claimed he was "Just like your father" and since then limited his visits to the castle to the necessary minimum. Unless the occasion was special: his visits had to be shorter than a week.

Crack

And so, one fateful night of April, he gave King Il his last chance. His rejection still resonated in the air when he pierced his abdomen with his father's sword.

Crash

Now he was past the point of no return. No more utopian future with his loved ones, he served a higher purpose now: to better the Kingdom. And he wouldn't rest until he accomplished it. If he'd have to change their trust for hatred, he'd do it.

"Goodbye Hak, goodbye Yona." said a child-like voice at the back of his mind.

His dream was different now: to reach his goal and be killed by the hands of the people he betrayed. Only then would he be able to forgive himself and rest in peace.