Stolen Ch 5 part 3

“You wicked bastards.”

The Emperor’s hand lifted the goblet overflowing with wine, and the wine soaked his hand.

“How dare you plot treason.”

The Emperor had just returned from the shaman’s temple.

He was now anxious because of what the shaman had said.

“The other twin is still alive. He will return shortly, Your Majesty.”

The shaman was a powerful shaman.

Her words had never been wrong.

That was why the emperor had spared Sadok for now.

If it had been any other time, Sadok would have already been beheaded.

He dared to plot treason and resist him.

He would have killed him ten times over, but he had to let him live because he hid the twin that had disappeared.

Actually, he could have killed Sadok several times by now. He could have killed him when he had killed Sadok’s wife, but he couldn’t until he found the twin.

If Sadok died, there would be no way to know where the twin was.

One of the twins.

The one who would one day kill him and come take his place.

He must find that boy and kill him.

“If I cut off each of your fingers one by one, how long do you think you’ll last?”

Now all he could do is torture him.

He had to find where the twin was, even if it meant cutting off all of his fingers and toes.

He wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly until he killed the bastard.

He was born with his blood, but he was destined to kill him.

That boy isn’t my child.

He had killed all his other children, so if he killed this one, he could live on the throne as the emperor forever.

Up until now, he had killed all those who coveted or eyed his position.

He killed his children, he killed his brothers, and he killed his father.

He could kill them all.

As long as he could keep this spot.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed at the door.

“Who is it?!”

The Emperor shouted out.

The door opened, and the shaman appeared.

“Is something wrong?”

He had just seen her a little while ago, so what had happened for her to come here?

Whenever the shaman came to see him, the Emperor became terrified.

He was afraid something ominous would happen again.

It is scary and difficult to protect what one has.

Everyone from all sides was trying to take what he had, so he had to be more cruel than anyone to keep what he had in his hands.

“Why are you here…”

Suddenly…

The shaman stumbled inside and immediately collapsed.

Only then did the Emperor notice that the shaman’s entire body was covered in blood.

The shaman was already dead.

And then a man came inside, stepping on the blood that the shaman had spilled on the floor.

It was the Crown Prince.

“Y-You’re…”

This couldn’t be.

Just this morning, he had checked on the Crown Prince’s rotting body at the Geunhwajeon.

But how did the Crown Prince, a rotting corpse, come in here looking so healthy?

“Y-You’re… You’re…”

That was not the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince was dead.

Then was it the Crown Prince’s ghost?

If not his ghost…

“It can’t be…”

The Emperor was terrified.

The prophecy he had been hearing for over twenty years lingered in his ears.

”One of the twins will kill Your Majesty and take your place.”

One of the twins.

The twin who had disappeared long ago.

“Do you remember my name?”

The man who came inside spoke in a gloomy voice.

“You’re, you’re…”

The man smiled bitterly as he approached the Emperor, whose face was pale, the goblet shaking in his hand.

“My name is Heewon.”

Yes. That was his name.

It was the name of the boy who had disappeared. Heewon.

“It’s the name you gave me, but I guess you don’t remember it.”

It was the name of the bastard who would kill him. Heewon.

“My little brother is dead.”

The man slowly approached the emperor and showed him what was in his hand.

It was a knife.

The Emperor remembered that knife.

It was the knife he had given the court lady who was sent to kill the bloody lump wrapped in blankets long ago.

The man was holding that knife now.

“Rakwon is dead, Imperial Father.”

“I-I made sure a bastard like y-you…”

The Emperor dropped his goblet and shouted out.

“Is anyone out there?! There is a traitor in here! A traitor!”

But no matter how much he shouted, no one came running.

“Imperial Father.”

The man went right up to the Emperor and brought the blade of the knife up to the Emperor’s neck.

The Emperor let out a low cry as the blade pressed up against his neck.

“I didn’t want to meet you like this, but it is what it is. I am going to send you off like this.”

Those were his last words.

The man stabbed the Emperor in the neck with the knife.

The man straightened up and watched the red blood spurt out as the Emperor’s face turned ashen.

Then he wiped the blood that had splattered onto his face with the back of his hand.

Looking at the dying Emperor’s face, the man suddenly had a thought.

The Emperor’s face looked a lot like his own.

No, the Emperor’s greed was no different from his own.

The Emperor could not give up his greed for the throne and killed countless people to protect it, but he could not let go of Yi-ryung, so he killed his father with his own hands in order to have her.

They were the same.

In the end, it was all the same. Killing others for something they held dear.

He had no intention of justifying his actions.

This was not for the greater good but for personal greed.

It was a personal choice he made in order to live with her.

The reason he had blood on his hands was entirely for her.

So he was not a hero.

He was just a wretched man who wanted to steal his brother’s life to live with her.

* * *

A few days later, after the snow had stopped, Ja-in, who had been injured, was able to get up and walk. Suddenly, a guest came to the house where Yi-ryung and the man lived together.

Ja-in, who had been sweeping the snow piled up in the yard with a broom, discovered the guest through the fence and shouted out. Yi-ryung had been lighting a fire in the brazier when she heard this, and she ran out of the room, barefoot.

Yi-ryung thought the man had returned.

But the man who opened the gate of the fence was not him. It was her father, Sadok.

“Father!”

Yi-ryung ran and hugged her father.

Her father’s face was haggard, but he did not seem to be injured.

Her father brought quite a few people with him, including a palanquin.

Although she knew that the palanquin was meant to take her away, Yi-ryung was more curious about something else.

“What about him?”

The person Yi-ryung was asking about was Dochi, that man.

The man who disappeared without saying a word had not yet returned.

The man disappeared, leaving behind only the luggage he had not finished moving.

There was still some medicine that the man had not yet finished brewing.

There were traces of him all over the house, but he was missing.

And now her father had come to take her away.

The man did not return, but her father brought a palanquin and was asking her to return with him.

“What about my husband? I can’t leave until he returns, Father.”

She knew what her father was thinking and what he had planned when sending her here. But regardless of his plans, she had become that man’s wife.

They were not a fake couple, married in name only. They had become a real married couple by sharing their bodies.

But where did that man go after leaving her behind?

She had to wait until he came back.

“Child…”

“I will stay here until my husband returns.”

She was satisfied to see that her father was safe.

“My lady…”

Although she saw her servant Eunah wiping away her tears behind Sadok, Yi-ryung’s heart remained firm.

She was going to wait for that man here.

That was all she could do.

There were still so many things that Yi-ryung didn’t know how to do.

She didn’t know how to do the laundry or cook.

But there was one thing she knew how to do.

She could trust in that man and wait.

And she intended to do just that.

“Child, the new emperor will ascend the throne. You are the fiancée of His Highness the Crown Prince, so you must go to the Palace…”

“No, Father. No. My husband…”

Ja-in had told her everything.

Yi-ryung heard from Ja-in about the man she had taken as her husband.

He was the Crown Prince’s older twin brother.

The man was said to be the Crown Prince’s twin brother whom her father had hidden long ago.

Ja-in said that her father hid him because he had the same face as the Crown Prince and made him live under the name ‘Dochi’.

Although she was engaged to be married to the Crown Prince, her father’s plan was for her to live as that man’s wife if necessary.

But now her father was back alive.

That meant that even though the rebellion appeared to have failed, it was actually a success.

If the rebellion was successful, she must leave this place and become the Crown Prince’s wife.

If the rebellion was successful, her father would live, but she would have to separate from the man. If the rebellion failed, her father would die, and she would be able to continue living with the man.

That’s how it was planned from the beginning.

She should have been happy, but tears welled up in her eyes.

Did the man leave after hearing the rebellion was successful?

Did he leave her behind?

They had decided to stay together, but did he end up leaving on his own?

Is that why he hadn’t come back yet?

“Child, get into the palanquin.”

“No. No, Father.”

Yi-ryung took a step back.

“I want to wait here…”

She wanted to wait even though she knew he probably wouldn’t come back.

No, she needed to wait.

She promised to comb his hair again and shave his beard.

There were still a lot of things she hadn’t done with that man.

So she needed to wait here.

Suddenly, the people standing outside the fence stepped back, and a man walked through the fence.

Yi-ryung knew that face.

It had been a long time since she’d last seen it, but she hadn’t forgotten it.

It was the Crown Prince.

Crown Prince Rakwon. Her fiancé.

Yi-ryung swallowed her tears as she watched him approach her.

If they were twins, that meant the man would have looked just like him.

She finally understood why the man didn’t cut his beard and why he was pretending to be mute. Yi-ryung took another step back as she watched the Crown Prince walk towards her.

“Yi-ryung.”

When the Crown Prince called her name, Yi-ryung trembled.

His voice was low and heavy.

“Let’s go together.”

The Crown Prince held out his hand.

His outstretched right hand was wrapped in bandages.

Did he hurt his hand?

Yi-ryung slowly lifted her eyes and looked at the man’s head.

His short hair was tied up with a red ribbon.

A red ribbon with yellow embroidery.

The moment she saw this, Yi-ryung burst into tears.

The tears she had been holding back burst out all at once, and Yi-ryung finally began to sob out loud.

It was a sob that she had been holding back for several days.

Yi-ryung, who had held back her tears several times, believing that she shouldn’t cry and that the man would come back, finally burst into tears.

No one knew why she was crying.

Only the man knew why she was crying.

The man knelt down in front of Yi-ryung as she sobbed and silently stroked her hair.

He would occasionally mutter in a soft voice, ‘If you cry like that, your throat will get sore.’

He spoke in a voice only Yi-ryung could hear. It was as affectionate as she had imagined it would be. It was just as she’d thought it would sound.

It was a warm, affectionate voice.