The End Of The Tale

"Cheng Yunxi watched in despair, heart, and soul both fell into the depths of the sea. How it ended was very outrageous, but it didn't stop there. His wife, the person who believed in him from the very start, her faith also crumbled like how her tears poured out endlessly. What he'd done couldn't be forgiven for a mother like her, and so never spoke again to The King."

So Eun turned his head to the side and subtly lifted his hand to wipe his cheeks.

The storyteller seems to notice that small gesture and stopped talking, "Are you crying?"

Receiving what he'd expected, So Eun widened his eyes and shook his head, the elder just chuckled.

"It highly looks like the story could end up there, but no. And I'm quite surprised, that wasn't the people's reaction when they finished the book. Tell me what part of the story made you cry, after this." So Eun didn't deny it anymore and just emitted a 'hmph!'

The elder cleared his throat and continued, "Now what do you think of The King? What was his reason for just abandoning his son?" Instead of going back to where they left, So Eun knew he had other plans by that question alone, so he thought about it for a while.

"It's obvious. He doesn't want another catastrophe to happen. It just happens to be his son that needs to be killed to avoid it." His chin placed on his hand, he looked at the elder after staying quiet.

The look on his face didn't change, yet only showing up a small smile.

"Do you think what he did was right?" He didn't expect the question, but before he noticed it, he was already going back to the visions of Cheng Yunxi being devoured by his own remorse. He goes on and on, in the end, the only answer he felt came from his instinct. If one had to die to save thousands, there was no room for regrets, right?

He lifted his head and saw the elder was waiting. He almost whispered by notion.

"Yes."

Although the elder wouldn't ask why, So Eun couldn't help to seek why he'd said that. The answer was there, but he was sure he'd other reasons, and he prefers to keep it.

The winds seeped inside the window sill, touching the strands of his hair that fell on his forehead, aligning with his eyebrows.

"Then, what do you think of The Queen?" He casually muttered.

So Eun blinked. Maybe the answer to his question was simpler than he thought.

The Queen was one of them. She was one of those many who'd wanted to live. Choosing the people over his son, was like Cheng Yunxi. Choosing his son over the people was just a Mother, like Cheng Mei. Both had no other choices but decided on what they think is right.

"Being selfish like The Queen wasn't the right thing to do, at least to the eyes of the people. But to her, those thousands of lives were nothing compared to his only child. It was brave and foolish of her to choose her son, because why not? Like every other person who wishes for anything, she only wished for his life to be spared."

"And The King? He believed that was the right thing. Completely different beliefs had often caused so many disputes. At the very end, we had nothing better to do other than spew some words and leave it. Right and wrong were just around the corner, but humans were always a victim of their emotions, after looking in a holistic view, the final judgment wasn't as clear as before."

He was introduced to a whole new perspective which rendered him speechless. The elder, however, stood up in his seat and went back to his bookshelf. So Eun looked at him.

"The couple did fight after that, his wife had left him in his despair for a long time when she died of illness. And not only that, Cheng Yunxi didn't even have the chance to apologize to her. It was too late when he'd received the news, slowly tearing the last part of his being. Until the day had come for his death, he wishes for the prophecy of the red full moon to be true, because only then he wouldn't be tormented to die a worthless piece of a father, who regretted his existence and believed that the true curse that brought the bad luck to his family was him."

The elder turned the pages of a book and sat back again. He'd only read for a moment before noticing the child went silent for a long time.

"Don't get it to you that deep, besides, some of it wasn't true." That awakened So Eun and showed his betrayed expression at him.

"What? Some of it wasn't true? Then who did I even cry for? This is stupid." Lifting the back of his palm to wipe at his wet cheeks again, the elder laughed at him.

"The Red Full Moon and the calamity really happened ancient ages ago. The story of the Phantom was dedicated to that and it was also believed that the first Phantom existed in those times. But being born during the Red Full Moon wasn't possible, besides there were so many rumored appearances of the full moon but no one was entirely sure of the second arrival, aside from the calamity it first appeared on that was recorded in history books. The next and the second bloodied moon never reveal itself again."

"And so the readers were fuming because, at the death of The King, it doesn't end there. There goes the last page that was missing."

So Eun was left hanging and was dying to know, he stood and crossed his arms.

"It's a mess. There are so many questions, just why did someone rip it off?" He was pissed off too. But the elder in front of him lifted his eyebrows and looked at him knowingly.

"Haven't you thought of it? It's more likely that the person doesn't want them to find the answers." He smiled, and So Eun was even more pissed, he was about to give him a piece of mind when a knock from the door stopped him.

"Wang Elder, is the Young Master here?"