Cheondeokjeon

Throne Room

"The king has entered." Eunuch Kim announced to the room. Court Physician Hong bowed to So as he made his way to the throne, giving the royal physician level gaze. "Pyeha, first I must give you this letter from Royal Physician Yi. He wrote down his confession and gave the contents to me, telling me to give it the king upon his death." He showed the letter, holding it with two hands. Eunuch Kim took the letter from him, handing it over to Baek Ah with a bow. "Secondly, Pyeha, I must address the matter of Lady Hae's health."

"What about her health?" So frowned down at the man.

Physician Hong blanched, continuing. "Pyeha, I will do all that I can for her, but her heart is not strong. Her health has taken a toll over the years. Her knee was not allowed to heal properly and she has held too much pain inside her heart that it has cause some damage."

Clenching his fists, dread filled So at the thought of losing Hae Soo. "Will she live?" He demanded, frowning down at the man.

"Yea, Pyeha, Lady Hae will live as long as there is not too many burdens placed on her heart." Physician Hong bowed to So, his eyes lowered. "She must not suffer too much stress and worry."

"No one outside this room must know about her heart condition." So commanded, a cold chill filled the air.

"Yea, Pyeha." Echoed throughout the chamber. So remained quiet after Physician Hong left the throne room. Contemplative, Baek Ah studied his brother as the news of Hae Soo's heart condition cast a serious shadow over the happy tidings as he laid Physician Yi's confession in front of him. So opened it up, reading the contents while pondering the situation, his eyes narrowing. "Order the arrest of Court Lady Chae Ryung immediately."

Baek Ah quickly wrote out the warrant. "Eunuch Kim, please call in the captain of the guard." The elderly man bowed, rushing for the door, then returning with the captain. The guard bowed before So. "Arrest Court Lady Chae Ryung at once." So handed the decree to Eunch Kim who handed it over to guard who hurried out.

"Will you tell her the news, Pyeha? You know how attached Soo is to the girl." Baek Ah asked.

So frowned, thinking about the girl who Soo had taken lashes for so many years ago. "Soo will be hurt by this news, but I will explain it to her. Until the minute of Chae Ryung's execution, I will not allow this girl to be tortured for information. I will visit her myself once she is incarcerated, I believe that will be enough to cause her to give over the information she has to implicate our brothers." So informed his younger brother.

"I want to know immediately the name of any person who requests an audience with Soo. I don't want anyone upsetting her during this delicate time. If anything happens to her or the baby..." His hand crumbled the report as a terrible rage filling him. "They will answer to me."

"What should we do with the information he gave implicating our sister in the attempted poisoning of Crown Prince Wang Mu?" Baek Ah inquired as So handed the rumbled paper to him. So smirked as the younger prince carefully refolded the confession. "I will keep that bit of information quiet until it is time to weld that blade."

"What of our ninth brother? How will you deal with him?" Baek Ah frowned as So stepped down from the throne.

"I have my plans for him." So said as Eunuch Kim hurried ahead to open the doors. "Not even Hae Soo can keep him alive." So turned bid his brother a good evening and headed across the courtyard for the observatory to find Choi Ji Mong.

Observation Tower

Ji Mong wandered around a silent room that used to be filled with laughter of Taejo's young sons. Stepping onto the balcony, he watched So cross to the entrance of the tower. The sound of the king's boots on each step echoed through the chamber.

So halted at the top of the stairs as memories flooded back of Soo running up the steps, face bright as she declared she could take off his mask. Their lives changed within that innocent act of friendship. She removed not just his mask, but revealed them all that day, he mused.

"You wished to see me alone, Ji Mong." So said as Ji Mong bowed before him.

The older man turned back to the night sky with a heavy heart. "You do know she will not survive, Pyeha." Ji Mong reflected on the heavens. "Her time here is nearly done. She was not meant to be a queen."

So glared wary of the mysterious man who knew too much. He slowly felt a stirring in the back of his mind, another presence he hadn't acknowledged in a while. A deadly calm poured through him, one he had not felt in a long time. His eyesight shifted for a minute, then a cool smile formed on his lips. "I am here to make sure she returns in one piece." So retorted coldly. "Do not worry, Ji Mong, I will be there to save her this time."

Startled, Ji Mong backed away So, noticing the difference. "Who are you?"

So quirked a brow, a bitter laugh sounded as he said, "You were right about me back then, astronomer. However, this time the game is not yours to play. I will not let you dictate our lives. I won't let her die thinking I did not love her."

"That night in Seokyeon, I felt something was not right." Ji Mong said under his breath, then he turned on So, confusion turning to anger. "You came back for her, to change history for the kingmaker? Why? The goal has always been the throne. You should be married to Princess Yeonhwa by now."

"You are wrong, Ji Mong." The incarnation of Gwangjong stated as their eyes met. "I lived twenty-five years in deep sorrow, married to that woman, as you planned. Do you know what I found out over those years? The goal for me was never the throne, it was always Soo. Without her, life was meaningless. I might as well have been dead." He growled as the astronomer closed his eyes in pain.

"Do you think I wouldn't give anything to have saved my brother?" Ji Mong cried out. "But I didn't. I let history play out as it was meant to."

So stared hard at Ji Mong, dismissing his as he continued. "You gave me the way to find her. I don't know whether to hate you, kill you, or thank you." So spat out as he turned and strode to the top of the steps, then grounded out. "Do not blame Hae Soo for the choices we made within the palace. She is not at fault." So sighed, returning back to the present incarnation, as he gave the room a last glance. "Ji Mong, we would have met in the courtyard and slaughtered each other if not for her." He said, drained as he descended down the steps.

That night So stood outside the bars of a cell unmoved by the tears of the young woman Soo had trusted as a sister over the years. Chae Ryung trembled as Baek Ah laid the parchment and ink upon a make shift desk. "I don't understand..." She pleaded with Baek Ah, then dropped to her knees before So. "Pyeha, I would never harm Lady Hae."

"We know of your connection with Wang Won." Baek Ah revealed calmly. "You have until dawn to write out your confession to regicide and conspiracy to commit treason against the king. I will remain here until you are finished."

Defeated, Chae Ryung sat back on her knees. "What will happen to me?" She asked quietly.

"You will be quietly executed at dawn." The prince answered as she kept her eyes on So. "For the sake of Lady Hae, you will hang for your sins."

"Please, don't let her see me like this, Pyeha." Chae Ryung cried out as So began to walk away from the holding cell. Turning back, he met her eyes with a cold stare. "If I could make an example of you, I would. But I know how soft Lady Hae's heart is. She considered you her sister. A trusted friend and you betrayed her to the very end." He said unemotionally as the guard pulled her toward the desk. "All I do now is out of consideration for Lady Hae."

Cheondeokjeon

Throne Room - The next day

"Pyeha, Queen Hwangbo requests an audience." Eunuch Kim announced, bowing before So.

"Allow her entrance." So replied as he put down a decree. He watched his father's second queen make her way to the throne. And now the Hwangbo clan will make their move for the throne through my half-sister, he mused.

"Are you going to let Goryeo fall apart during your reign, Pyeha?" She inquired undiplomatically, raising a critical brow at him.

"Your concern is excessive." So leaned back on the throne, eyeing her speculatively.

"Your father worked hard to build this country." The queen chastised, pacing before him in frustration. "He sacrificed so much. He did so much to protect it. That is the only reason I worry." She gestured, trying to appeal to his sense of duty, then she halted as a shadow crossed her face. "That is why I cast my son out." She quietly informed him, then with a level gaze she stated. "And that is why I'm offering up my daughter."

With a calculated move, she approached the throne. Her eyes pinning So's as she carefully laid a blue silk wrapped book on the table before him. "That was written by Hae Soo. She writes words that no one knows. Seeing what she did in the Damiwon, she is not a normal girl."

Slowly he picked up the book and flipped through the pages then his eyes returned to hers with a hooded stare. Cocking a regal brow, he placed his hand on the book. "I want to thank you for the return of this book." He tilted his head mockingly. "And just because you and those around you cannot read the words written here, does not mean I cannot." A cool smile played about his lips as he pondered. "I wonder how it came to be in your possession."

"She has no background, Pyeha." Queen Hwangbo furiously accused, ignoring his query. "And she has many weaknesses."

"How fast you forget that she is the sixth cousin of Lady Hae Myung Hee, your daughter-in-law." So shot back equally as quick, his temper rising. "Now that the Hae clan is no longer powerful, you throw all they did for your family away."

"No!" She sucked in a ragged breath. "This girl..."

So raised his hand to stop her. "I don't easily throw people away. Lady Hae Soo has been my friend, my family, and my lover over the years. Do you think I do not thoroughly know this woman." His cold eyes fixed hers. "The day I have to marry your daughter is a day you and she will regret. Now, you may leave."

Bowing before So, Queen Hwangbo visibly shook as she turned, rushing out of the room.

Cheondeokjeon

Throne Room

Hae Soo burst through the doors, startling the eunuch. "Pyeha, how could you?" she cried out, frantic for her friend. "What had Chae Ryung done to deserve to be arrested?"

So motioned for the eunuchs and guards to leave the room as he pushed Chae Ryung's confession aside and descended from the throne to meet Soo, grasping her hands in his. "Soo-ya, please be calm, remember the baby. Chae Ryung admitted to her crimes." He soothed as he led her to sit down on the throne next to him. "I promise she was not tortured."

"When were you going to tell me?" She glared at him, frowning in confusion.

"I'm sorry. I was going to tell you tonight." He explained with a kiss at her temple. His eyes held hers as he explained. "Chae Ryung has been spying on you this whole time in the Damiwon. She told the ninth prince about us and the information got to Queen Hwangbo." Soo's eyes lit upon her journal as he handed her the book. "She also took your belongings to create suspicion that you were a foreign spy."

Soo fingered through the pages as a touch of dread filled her with doubt. "But, I'm not, you believe me..." She sought his eyes.

"Whatever you are, Soo-ya, I know you are not that. I believe you were sent here for me to love. You are my family and will always be a part of me."

"But this book..." She continued.

"One day you will tell me what is in the book." So said to quiet her fears. "I trust you."

She leaned into him, closing her eyes in relief, only to open them with concern. "What if she was forced to take them?" Soo searched So's face. "I cannot blame her for that."

"Soo, she holds some of the responsibility for preventing us from getting married." Bitterness filled So as he remembered the abuse Jeongjong put Soo through during the two years when he had left Songak. All the pain she went through chilled him. He lived for Woo Hee's messages informing him about her wellbeing. While he missed her like crazy, fear for her kept him away.

"Chae Ryung put the mercury into Mu's bath. She was sent to the Damiwon to keep us apart. I believe Won kept her there waiting for the right moment to cause you harm. I couldn't allow her to be around you now that you are with child. And, although, I have no need or reason to forgive her, I did not make an example out of her." He calmly explained as he smoothed back a strand of her hair which had fallen out of its braid, caressing her cheek.

He clasp her hands in his as he took a deep breath. "Hae Soo, Chae Ryung wanted me to let you know that she didn't want you to see her disgraced and exposed." Then he picked up an envelope from the table and handed it to her. "She wanted me to give this letter to you. I wasn't sure if I wanted you to read it, but I know it would be worse if I took that choice from you."

"What happened to her, Pyeha?" Soo blinked back the threatening tears that filled her eyes, she already knew the answer.

"I'm sorry, Soo-ya." So said into her hair as she buried her face against his chest, sobbing as his arms wrapped protectively around her.