Chapter 22

" Eogeum-Shi , is there a problem?", Yongsun spotted Shejin standing like a ghost from a distance so he ran to walked to him. A cloud of worry was dressed on Yongsun's face as he walked closer. It's like he could already tell the dismay manipulating Shejin's emotions.

Within seconds he reached Shejin who was frozen in place like a statue. He didn't seem to respond to Yongsun's call despite him being the prince.

He approached him from behind and he stood just a few feet from him. Yongsun's tone changed to a very lowerly one. Compared to the one that he already has , a this one was like he was calling a butterfly out of its cocoon. It was like he was trying to whisper with the attempt to nullify all other sounds and prioritize his own.

They were standing under a shaded passage but the heat of the day managed to crossover to them thanks to the currents of air. Even as this was the case, not a single current seemed to push their garments or hair, it just made the scenery more warm and accommodating.

Shejin who has the normal glass-like appearance looked like rust. As he stagnated there with Yongsun behind him, his whole face was dressed in an air of misery and pain like he had just witnessed an unspeakable injustice unfold. The desaturation of colours on his face was proportional to the drying of his lips and his eyes. Though he stood ventilating normally, most of the oxygen reaching his cells was diluted by a heavy component that had the ability to leave him drained and defeated. His orbs were seasoned by a deep shade of red making them appear to be very uncomfortable. The same hue extended to his nose but was invented upon reaching all neighboring sites leaving him looking like a bleached pool of water.

' who sounds like that? ', he asked himself over and over again such that when Yongsun spoke to him he could not even hear a single thing. His head was overfilled this a gnawing question that he felt he knew the answer to but can't seem to respond.

He placed his hand on his head as he felt the veins throbbing painfully. At the same time, the world beneath his feet began to turbinate. It was like he was riding on the waves of a raging sea and they were cooking a storm with his internal pressure as well as stability.

Shejin took a small step backwards and he immediately lost his balance. His whole weight plummeted backwards and he tried his utmost best to fight it but he still failed. In seconds his stability was compromised and his body was journeying for the ground

Before he could touch the earth , someone had already caught him and before he closed his eyes all he saw a purple gem sparkling brightly. He exhaled heavily as his head was still somersaulting on razor blades

" Mom , I don't like olives. They taste like grass and vinegar", a little boy spoke.

He was dressed from head to tone in light green garmets. His khotsin were print of a chrysanthemum branch and fruit in partial bloom colored in purple that the golden brown or rich dark- orange coat. The young boy didn't wear an overcoat to complete his look so he didn't add the cultural hat. However the rest of his look was complete with the baggy pants and translucent ribbon as well as a decorative figure belt.

As for his physique, there was nothing extra- ordinary about him. All children look the same until they reach their differentiation stage at puberty, where some become like pieces of perfection and others become contestants of subjective beauty. For example having inner beauty and others being beautiful when observed from a different angle or when one squints really hard. The seven year old's eyes were small, his teeth crocked and his voice was piercing.

" For the millionth time, these are not olives. It's just green dumplings and seaweed. It's good for you and has the essential nutrients. ", A lady answered impatiently.

Unlike her son, she was in complete attire. Her daisy shaped hair pieces, her red ruby hair pins and a spiraling silver shaped hair claw , all were perfectly added to her long hair that had been dyed light brown. Her makeup was very simple yet arguably heavy because it overemphasized features of her face like a jawbone, aegyo sal, lips and nose bridge. She looked half her age with that much contouring and definition to her nonetheless it blended naturally .

This lovely and youthful lady is a fan of looking gorgeous and so for her she was dressed in the finest clothes . Her elegant summer dressed shoes had an elevation at the heel for more height but they didn't look like she was standing or walking on a needle as the heel grew and descended towards the front like wedges. for jewelry, she wore a deed red Jade bangle and several flower rings. The tips of her fingers had been submerged in pink fluid so she looked like she had been holding mulberries or hairdye.

The mother and son duo were seating on an outdoor table and had a medium sized tray of cutlery laid on it. A small bowl of sugar was next to a bowl of porridge and a tea set. On a small platter were more green dumplings and seaweed salad plus kimchi with lemon curd.

Just the two of them were present but in a distant, people moved carefreely about their duties . From the surrounding of the scenery, one could tell that this was a location in the palace , probably around the courtyard as there are blurry pavilions and plants nearby . As for those people, they looked like they were wearing, imperial uniform and some were even carrying rods like the guards do.

The little boy remained on his pursuit to not eat. Seeing his mother wasn't backing down, he pronated and even hid under the table , getting his mother irritated. She called for him to get out saying she won't feed him desert capsules if he doesn't act right

" You always say that. But if I eat , you never give me the sweets. I am not eating those green things", he pouted underneath the table.

" Iseul, you do realize that you can't be acting like you own the place. I don't have any stand giving orders to the workers to go and find you expensive sweets. Your cousin has them because his daddy buys them. ",

" Then ask uncle to give me some. I am older than Yongsun , I should get more sweets. He doesn't even have some teeth ,is he going to inhale them in? ", He cried under the table.

She gave up and she kneeled down to look at him.

As expected, her son was in tears. He was sobbing pitifully like he had been ousted from the family. His whole face was pink with colour and he looked helpless. He kept rubbing off the tears as he concealed his face with his hands. Though he cries easily, he doesn't like to show it especially to his mom who always calls him sassy. She is not being mean, its just that the little swan tears up more than three times his little cousin who is less than half his age.

" Seul-Ah, please don't cry. You know that we are family. Uncle treats you the same as Yongsun.It's just that Yongsun' s mommy is unwell and he is a little bit different from you. ",

" I know Yonnie' s mom is sick but why can't I be with Yongsun. Uncle does treat us differently. There is no way that will change", he spoke between his hands and he shed more tears.

The poor lady pulled him from underneath the table and he hugged him. Iseul is being extra but he is right. The king can never treat his nephew like his own son. With his wife being sick due to pregnancy at a late age, he is very much focused on his family and doesn't involve Iseul in things like before.

Back then , Iseul and Yongsun were always together. The king treated them like twins and Iseul treated Yongsun like his baby brother. He would carry him everywhere all the time and he would play with his hair the way girls do in storybooks. Whenever the king had a dinner he would call both of them to sit in his chair and he would feed them the nice food. Any outing is incomplete without the two boys and one is never the same without the other especially Yongsun who liked having Iseul round, always holding onto to his clothes.

When Iseul moved around the palace , Yongsun would always crawl behind him . He liked following him like a puppy no matter the distance even to the toilet. Iseul didn't care as he had someone to witness him talking endlessly despite Yongsun not hearing a word. At first it was like Yongsun was mute but it's just that Iseul was always speaking while Iseul just stared at him.

A funny thing that happened was that Yongsun only ever tried standing or walking when Iseul was around and he was stationery. Otherwise Yongsun would always crawling. The king even had to ask Iseul to stay still for a day to see if Yongsun would walk which he did. From the on , Iseul got a long rope that he tied to his waist and Yongsun would hold on while he slowly walked behind.

It was adorable the way Yongsun was trying to keep up with Iseul and Iseul didn't set an enormous pace to cover. Both seemed to keep each other into consideration when moving. One wasn't to fast and the other wasn't too slow. The other never walked far distances and the other never bored the journey by always crying. Nevertheless Yongsun fell asleep a lot of the time like a cat and that is when Iseul would carry him back to his room. Any work out like that for a baby is like moving mountains so Yongsun can literally just drop down and sleep while they are walking.

However less than two years later the queen got pregnant and became more sensitive. Her health seemed to deteriorate with how deep into the pregnancy she got. From occasion morning sicknesses to ritualistic trembling , sweating and nose bleeds. All her symptoms were serious but no doctor could cure it so they gave her some medication that was made weak since she was expecting. This just worried the king more. When he visits her , he doesn't want anyone or allow anyone in except his son. Yongsun can walk into the room but when Iseul attempted, the servants block him from doing so.

At meal time , when the king has the queen eating and Yongsun is invited, similarly if Iseul tried to join the servants pull him away and tell him to go and dine with someone else or his mom . Whenever Yongsun aimed to follow Iseul to some areas , the servants would stop him and the king never said or did anything about it. The reason they gave was that Yongsun shouldn't keep moving around as he might pick up diseases and give the queen.

Iseul 's mother was aware of the sideling and it hurt her to see Iseul have to play alone when Yongsun is with his mother or father. Little duckling would arrange stones in the garden all day when Yongsun was not around and he would refuse to eat saying he is waiting for Yongsun who unfortunately never came back and was just with his mother all night. Eventually Iseul ate the cold food and fell asleep.

Today was such a day that Yongsun was with his mother. Iseul surrendered bothering to go to the queen because the servants always restrain him. Moreover he overheard them gossip about how pestering he is. He adores being part of the family and feeling like he belongs but when they don't involve him like this , it hurts a lot.and when the king seems to forget about his nephew, Iseul can't help feeling like he was never one of them in the first place.

Seeing him bawling his eyes out, the mother felt bad for her son and she shamed herself for that reason. She can't even make her son happy since she is living off of handouts from the king. People envy her but it bruises her ego to be in this predicament of depending on a married man for everything. It is so crippling.

Her conscience consumed her as she clutched to her weeping son. She even tried to wipe his tears but Iseul would not show his face. Why he cries like that and why he hides under furniture and clothes when he laments will always be beyond her. But atleast she is the only one who ever witnesses her son being so emotional. Though it could invoke sadness to the onlooker, if anyone at the palace saw this , they would paint a mountain over a mole hill .

At one point they said that Iseul living in the palace was a bad thing and would cause ancestors trouble. They even said that the queen falling sick is the ancestors saying Iseul should leave or the palace would crumble. All types of nonsense has been formulated and it seems to get worse with every single day.