A/n: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! :)))

(The Woods, Songak)

~Yo's POV~

I was furious. The plan that my mother and I had concocted was supposed to be perfect. Flawless. And indeed everything was going to plan, but then the person behind the mask was not the Crown Prince. He had swapped roles with the wolf dog; that was why the attack had failed and now I had to clean up the damned mess by offing the assassins we'd hired. The Crown Prince knew to get our 4th brother to take his place as the Fang Xiang Shi, which means he must have received intelligence somehow of our plot. Something must've leaked. Especially now that my father the King's Majesty is alarmed, it'd be even more difficult to get the Crown Prince out of the way.

Our failure was already unexpected, and now, what did we have here? A boy, not a day older than 15, popping up in the middle of nowhere when I was swiftly cleaning up our mess just then. Although he tried to hide from me, I could deduce that from his angle he must've been able to see everything. I therefore needed a backup plan. One of my options, however, was to kill this boy so he couldn't blab what he saw to anybody else.

He whimpered in fear and dropped to his knees helplessly, begging me to spare him. With his trembling voice and innocent face, I was almost tempted, but too bad for him I'd never known mercy. I wouldn't take that risk and allow him to expose what I'd done. It would be much easier to just swing my sword and decapitate him. I wouldn't even blink. I could do it right here right now. Nobody else was around to watch me do it this time...right?

Or perhaps my plan would once again be thwarted. Two sets of rapid footsteps, loud and clear, were nearby. I looked around but did not give the boy an opportunity to escape. The tip of my blade was still digging into his neck, and I needed only to apply just a little bit more pressure to draw blood.

"Over there!" I heard one of the approachers, a female, exclaim worriedly. "That way!"

"Is that him?" The accompanying male asked urgently.

Both of these voices sounded incredibly familiar. The boy was quicker to recognize them though.

"Hyeong-ah!" He shouted with all his might. "I'm here, nui!"

I put off getting angry at him for drawing attention as the disbelief has dawned on me like a slap to the face: 'Hyeong-ah'?! Out of all people, my Hyeong-ah?

And what did the boy call her? His sister?

Right, my Hyeong did have two brothers. This boy in front of me must be the younger one.

"Geolsang! Geolsang!" Hyeong was yelling hysterically, running toward us as quickly as she could, the man right behind her. Once she came close enough I could see that yes it was the Hyeong that I knew. My eyes widened slightly, in shock, but I quickly frowned to ensconce my surprise with disapproval, a sentiment that only grew stronger when I found out that she was accompanied by her betrothed, my 14th brother Jung.

Hyeong was equally stunned to see me. Actually, no, she was petrified. Whenever she saw me, she'd greet me with one of her best smiles. But this time she looked aghast and glanced between me and her brother.

"What's going on?" She asked, beside herself with worry. "Your Highness, please don't hurt my brother," she cried hoarsely. "Please, just let him go. He didn't do anything wrong; he just got lost! I promise!"

Actually she didn't need to ask; I had already retracted my arm and let my sword point at the ground, simply because I didn't want her to see me take a life. She was already so scared that she must be close to hyperventilating as her heavy breathing was all that I could hear. I remained focused on her while my 14th brother dashed to help the boy up. Jung said something too, probably attesting for the boy's innocence, but I wasn't paying attention. My sight was on Hyeong and she was a blubbering mess. I'd never seen her like this before and I didn't know what to do to remedy this.

"Hyeong-ah," I uttered uneasily. "It's alright. I won't hurt him."

I walked up to her and turned to face her properly, but that had allowed her to see the side of my face that blood was splashed onto when the assassins I hired were offed in front of me. It must've been why she screamed and scrambled backward once she saw my blood-covered face. The angle at which the moonlight hit me must have only made me look even more murderous and ghastly. Instinctively and in response, I took a few steps toward her, which only made her more frightened.

"Hyeong-ah, it's me," I said awkwardly, but I didn't think that helped.

"Stay away from her! Don't you dare hurt her, you murderer!" The boy bellowed at me. I scowled at him in umbrage. He sure had guts as soon as I withdrew my weapon.

"Murderer," Hyeong repeated, a whimper at first, not very audible. "Murderer?!" She raised her voice this time, sounding both appalled and horrified. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"3rd brother, whose blood is that?" Jung spoke up and pointed at my sword. He was calmer than the others but of course no less concerned. He just didn't feel that threatened by me and therefore did not freak out. He was confused but wasn't afraid of me. "What have you done?"

Time to cue a lie, then. "Jung-ah, listen to me," I said sternly. Whenever I used this tone with any of my younger brothers, they'd listen carefully to every word I said. I didn't need Jung to fear me; I just needed him to hear me out. "Back there, in the arena, you saw what happened. The assassins were going for the Fang Xiang Shi. Their target was the Crown Prince. You saw it with your own eyes, didn't you, Jung?"

"They were trying to kill our brother Mu?" Jung questioned.

"They were low enough to try to do that, yes. I was so livid just now that once I had caught them, I killed them all. I know, I was rash; I shouldn't have executed them on impulse and I should've captured them and brought them back to the palace for interrogation and for the Crown Prince to decide what to do with them. But it slipped my mind because I was just so angry with them that I put them to death," I explained as smoothly as possible. "It was done in a fit of pique. I couldn't let them get away with it."

Jung hesitated for a moment but nodded and seemed to buy it. "But Lord Geolsang isn't one of them. He's innocent. Why did it look as if you were trying to kill him as well?"

"What was I supposed to think? How could I have known? He shouldn't be here, right?" I said gruffly, scoffing at the boy.

"He was supposed to be evacuated with his sister," Jung answered, glancing at Hyeong, "from the arena once the fighting broke out. He got lost when they were on the streets just now."

"Is that so?" I snarled at the boy. "Well, I hope you've learned your lesson, boy. Don't go wandering into the woods when you've no business here. You could've gotten yourself killed."

He eyed me in both repugnance and fear as he scuttled toward his sister. They huddled together behind Jung, who told me that he'd bring them back to Hyunhui Mansion. I had his reassurance that he'd bring Hyeong back to her residence safely, but I was both anxious and angry that I was seen. I made up a lie off the top of my head but it had only assuaged my worry in that moment as I needed to give Jung an excuse. He looked convinced, and I was sure my mother would vouch for me in case he had any doubts, but I wasn't sure how many others buy it. In the long run, there were many things that I needed to think about, and discuss with my mother. But I didn't know how I was going to do that when my mind was filled with images of Hyeong and how afraid of me she was. She could not handle this side of me. I never meant to let her see me armed and covered in my hired assassins' blood, but it was still me, and I was nothing but gentle to her. Yet one incident was enough to shatter and blacken whatever positive image she'd had of me. And I didn't know what this would mean for our relationship.

(Naklang Palace, Songak)

Mother had just finished her bath. When she saw me, she dismissed her maids so we could talk in private. I poured tea for both of us as she said, in displeasure, "everything was ruined because So got involved. We should've been congratulating you on becoming the new Crown Prince tonight."

"I've tied up our loose ends, neat and tidy. I've extirpated all of the assassins," I said in reassurance, deciding it was probably better to not tell Mother about the hiccup with the boy just now. I didn't want to put Mother in an even worse mood. So's involvement had already pissed her off and I wouldn't ever want to do anything to that effect. I needed to show that he and I were opposites. As long as I was in her favor, I'd be safe.

She pursed her lips in frustration. "The King will surely be delaying any plans to abdicate his throne for the time being. We wouldn't even have to do this if my attempt to poison the Crown Prince's food had worked. Not to mention the time I tried to..."

I had had a long, awful night and I honestly didn't have the energy to listen to her rant about her failed attempts in the past. It wasn't the first time and it might not be the last. Of course it wasn't going to be easy killing the Crown Prince. If it were, she'd probably have effortlessly succeeded the first time she tried, but she'd been trying for a long time.

But fine, if she wanted to rant then so be it. If it made her feel better then by all means she could go ahead and do it. I knew how frustrated she felt because we were on the same boat. It's just that she couldn't understand the additional layer of frustration I was feeling because I had Hyeong on my mind.

"Yo-ya!" Mother said sharply. "Are you even listening?!"

Right, she wasn't at all tired because she hadn't been going around dancing and fighting and chasing assassins.

"I apologize, Mother. Too much has happened today," I sighed. "Anyway, I am surprised that So stood in place of Mu," I commented. "Choi Jimong is also difficult to predict. The two of them most definitely have a relationship that no one knows about."

"It's just as Jung-ie said," Mother shook her head. "So must have learned martial arts. The Kangs would not have taught him. I need to know who he has met and what cards he has up his sleeve. Maybe if Choi Jimong is connected to this," she deduced and was surprised to come to conclude, "it could mean that the King is connected."

"However, I've heard that nobody in Shinju ever wants to go near him," I remarked. "Hold on. Actually, my uncle Wang Shikryeom is married to one of the Kangs. I'll contact him and query after whom So has been affiliating with. After all, we have confidence that our uncle is on our side."

She nodded warily. "Keep a closer eye on So. We should know what he is thinking in order to decide if we ought to chase him out or make him ours."

"Yes, Mother," I said obediently.

"Do not forget," she added, steadfast and determined, "Goryeo must belong to one of my sons."

(The royal court, Songak)

~Chronicler's POV~

It was pretty late at night when Choi Jimong came to the Damiwon to inform Princess Yeonhwa and Lord Geolha that the guards had found the assassins' corpses and would look into the case. It meant it would be safe for Yeonhwa to return to her residence, and it'd naturally be Geolha's job to escort her, whether or not he liked it.

Calmly, he walked her back to Yeondeok Palace, neither of them saying anything on the way. It was until they were at her doorstep that he said solemnly, "I hope that you can think about what I've said just now, Your Highness. Otherwise, I'm afraid there's no way our courtship can continue."

He knew she wanted to keep him, for many reasons, but she couldn't do that and continue to disrespect him at the same time. She pursed her lips and then said seriously, "I always think about the things you say, Lord Geolha, even when it's what I consider to be nonsense."

"Is that true, Princess, or are you just trying to flatter me?" He asked boldly, and in disbelief.

She retorted without missing a beat, "would I really deign to do the latter?"

He shrugged. "I'll see you soon, Princess Yeonhwa. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, my Lord," she uttered and turned on her heel. Swiftly, he went home too. As he got close, he spotted the 14th Prince leaving Hyunhui Mansion, but His Highness had quickly left before Geolha could catch up. Anyway, it had been a long night. Making sure that his family members were all safe and sound, Geolha went to sleep.

(Hyunhui Mansion, Songak)

Geolsang was lectured by his parents that night, rebuked for running off thinking he would be good enough to join the royal guards, who had had years and years of training, in search of dozens of assassins who had had just as much training if not more. As a result, he got grounded.

Even though he wouldn't dare tell anybody what he really saw, he didn't know for sure that the 3rd Prince Yo wouldn't send someone after him to keep his mouth shut permanently. The more he thought about it, the more he felt the need to be able to protect and defend himself.

"Please let me go to Howon Palace," Geolsang begged his parents relentlessly. "I'm just going to get the 14th Prince to teach me martial arts. I do that every day. At least once I get better at martial arts I can protect myself. I promise I'm not going to go anywhere apart from His Highness' residence."

Very, very reluctantly, Lord An and Lady Choi had permitted it, but required either Geolha or Hyeong to be his 'babysitter' and escort at all times. As Geolha was supposed to go to Heunghwa Palace to meet with the Crown Prince to discuss last night's events, Hyeong agreed to go with Geolsang to Prince Jung's residence.

For a few days, pretty much Jung was the only one that Hyeong had wanted to see. The sense of protection and security that Hyeong had immediately felt when he ran into her in the woods that night — she never thought she had needed it. She continued to be plagued by nightmares of nonstop running and losing Geolsang, as well as the 3rd Prince Yo's bloodied face, and him ready to swing his sword to decapitate her brother. Not even Woljin could soothe her, but Jung could.

In all honesty, Hyeong had never expected to see the 3rd Prince in a vicious, murderous mode. To her, he was charming and gentle and nothing like the monster that he has presented himself to be, that haunting night in the forest. All she saw was that monster, and none of the Prince Yo that she was falling for. The only ever time she'd seen him get angry was when he was confronting her about her betrothal to Jung, but that wasn't even a fraction as scary as he was that night. She was traumatized and confused about her feelings, a troubling combination. Luckily, Jung's company could bring her comfort, so even though Geolsang didn't openly ask to go to Howon Palace, Hyeong still volunteered to bring him there.

For the whole week, Hyeong had been avoiding Prince Yo but he had come by Hyunhui Mansion to ask to see her. She was always with Jung in his residence instead, which Yo could've predicted. He even went to Howon Palace once or twice, but was politely turned down by his 14th brother as Jung knew that Hyeong did not wish to see the 3rd Prince.

"My Lady," said Woljin sadly and pleadingly as she helped Her Ladyship get dressed this morning. "Will Your Ladyship consider giving His Highness a chance? The 3rd Prince really wants to see you. And you used to always want to see him too."

Hyeong shook her head. She didn't think she could face him. She couldn't even recognize the person that he was when he was angry. She was unable to accept him as he was, or at least that part of him. She, too, wondered what this would mean for their relationship.

A/n: The title of this chapter is supposed to be referring to Yo's bad luck, first with failing to put Mu to death, next with failing to silence Geolsang permanently, and then with failing to get Hyeong back. Also the 'successive' was supposed to point to the change in the line of succession had Yo and Queen Yu been able to get rid of Mu. I really hope you guys liked this chapter! Please leave a review for me! Muah~ :*