Chapter 216 Dongxue Village Part 18

Wearing his heavy armor, his hands were soaked with sweat, and he was holding the hilt of the sword in his right hand, standing alone outside Doh's royal bedroom; the eighth king of Tanzang. After standing for a while, Doh's palace bedroom door opened, and a royal maid came out.

"Now you can enter His Highness's royal chamber," The maid said, stepping aside and letting Sukh walk in. She closed the door and stood guard.

Sukh walked to Doh's bedside and found that only his eunuch was left there. The eunuch was still standing beside him, wiping the sweat from Doh's forehead and constantly comforting Doh.

"Come closer," Doh said weakly, then began to cough violently. After spitting blood onto the white cloth prepared by the eunuch, he waved his hand away to Sukh. 

Sukh walked to the bed and knelt in front of Doh. Doh could barely keep his eyes open. "Your Majesty," Sukh said.

Doh lowered his eyes and looked at Sukh. When he saw Sukh's fair complex and handsome face, he understood why his only heir loved this lowly palace guard so much. He grabbed the eunuch's hand and sat up on the edge of the bed. He stared at Sukh for a while and said, "How is the situation outside this bedroom chamber?"

Sukh said, "General Han and the ministers are in the main hall with Prince Haneul. It seems that many ministers agree that General Han will inherit the throne before Prince Haneul comes of age."

Doh said, "Tell us, are the Bayarmaa families are those ministers who agreed to such conditions." 

Sukh looked down at the floor, then up at Doh, he said, "Yes, many Bayarmaa families agreed with General Han, Your Highness."

Doh laughed and said, "You see, no matter how much we love our subjects, when our time approaches, those subjects who have always claimed to be royal to us will not hesitate to attack us."

Sukh said, "Although many Bayarmaa families have sided with General Han, there are still a small number of Bayarmaa families who have not changed their royalties from His Highness."

Doh looked at Sukh and said, "What about you? Will you change sides, or will you serve us until we take our last breath?"

Sukh bent down, his forehead touching the shining marble floor, and he said firmly, "This royal subject will always belong to Your Majesty and Prince Haneul."

Doh said, "Leave us."

The eunuch bowed and quickly left Doh's bedroom chamber.

Doh looked at Sukh and said, "We know the relationship between you and the crown prince, and we can see that the crown prince has great feelings for you. Although at his age, he should have agreed to get married, but he refused." He stared at Sukh. "And you are the reason why the crown prince refused to marry. Tell us, are our words lies?"

Sukh swallowed his saliva and said, "No, Your Majesty."

Doh asked, "Tell us honestly, do you and the crown prince feel the same way?" Doh looked at Sukh, who was still kneeling on the floor, refusing to raise his head. "As long as you answer our questions truthfully, we will not punish you."

Sukh bit his lower lip and said, "Yes."

Doh said, "What do you think if the prince marry General Han's eldest daughter?"

"That...that would be a wise choice," Sukh said with trembling lips.​

Doh asked, "Please tell us your reasons?"

Sukh's heart ached because he knew he and Haneul could never be together due to their different status. He is just a low-level guard. Without Haneul's help, he would never be able to become a guard. He was an orphan and was raised by his uncle. His uncle's family is the poorest of all the Bayarmaa families, and the other families do not respect him or his uncle's family. Even after he became a palace guard, the other Bayarmaa families still looked down on him, calling him the Crown Prince's personal parasite.

Sukh held back his tears and said, "If the crown prince marries General Han's eldest daughter, the prince's position will be stable. General Han will give up the idea of ​​inheriting the throne before the prince comes of age."

Doh sighed and said, "Tell us honestly, do you love the prince?"

Sukh looked up at Doh and said, "Yes...but..."

Doh said, "But you also know that you and the prince cannot be together."

Sukh said, "This subject know where he should stand. Your Highness does not need to worry about this."

Doh asked, "Guard Bayarmaa, do you know why our five ancestors rose up against the evil king five hundred years ago?"

Sukh said, "This subject do not know."

Doh said, "This is because, the evil king was blinded by his concubines. Women and luxury were his downfall. He let his kingdom rot to satisfy his greed. His ears were covered by the sweet words of his concubines." Doh stood up from the bed and knelt in front of Sukh.

Sukh quickly stepped away from Doh, "Your Majesty..." He lowered his head to the floor. "Please stand up."

Doh coughed heavily and said, "Listen to what we have to say. Our knees have never bowed to anyone except heaven and the previous king and now... you. We ask you to help the Crown Prince until the end of his life or the end of your life. We ask you to save the people of Tanzang. We want you to promise us that you will never enter the palace as the crown prince's male concubine. Your presence in the harem will ruin the prince's future and Tanzang Kingdom."

Sukh raised his head and saw the dying old king kneeling on the ground in front of him. He stepped forward and helped the old king up. "I swear to heaven, I, Sukh Bayarmaa, will never enter the crown prince's harem. I will spend my days outside the palace, protecting our southern borders."

Doh said, "Promises are all empty words. Those ministers in the royal hall also said the same to us, but look at them now. They have abandoned us." He picked up the small dagger at his waist and cut the palm of his right hand. "A blood oath."

Sukh looked at Doh, Doh's hand had been cut and blood had begun to drip on the ground. "Your Majesty," Sukh murmured.

Doh said, "Only with a blood oath can we feel at ease. If one day you renege your words, may heaven strike your parents' graves, burn their souls, and let them never be at peace."

Sukh pushed up the guard of the sword and cut his right palm. Sukh reached out to Doh, and Doh quickly grabbed Sukh's bleeding hand with his bleeding hand.

"We will not be too ruthless to you, because we know what kind of attitude the prince has towards you," Doh said. "We will not prohibit the love between you and the prince, but you must remember your promise to us. If one day the prince hurts others because of you, you must do everything you can to prevent the prince from destroying the kingdom and his good name." 

Sukh took his hand away from Doh's and fell to his knees. "I, Sukh Bayarmaa, swear to heaven that I will always serve the crown prince as a soldier and will never enter the crown prince's harem. If I break my promise to the eighth king of Tanzang, may heaven strike my parents' graves, may their souls never rest in peace. If one day, the prince does something unimaginable for me and brings disaster to Tanzang kingdom, I will end my life to avoid a greater disaster."

Doh sighed, put his hand on Sukh's shoulder, and helped Sukh up. "With the promise of your blood, we can rest in peace," he said, thunder booming in the distance. "Looks like heaven had witness our blood oath." He looked at Sukh. "Guard Bayarmaa, it looks like it's going to rain." He began to cough violently. "You can go, we want to rest."

The coughing echoed in Sukh's ear, the coughing growing louder as he felt wet drops falling on his face. He slowly opened his eyes and woke up from his dream. He looked up at the evening sky and saw dark clouds covering the trees where he and Haneul had taken refuge. He looked down at his lap and saw that Haneul was coughing violently.

"Your Highness," Sukh said, trying to wake Haneul. "Your Highness..." He touched Haneul's forehead and found that Haneul had a high fever. Since he had no medical training, he had no idea what he needed to do. "Your Highness... wake up. It's starting to rain. We need to find another shelter."

"My love... leave me here and you can go," Haneul said weakly, then cruelly shifted into the fetal position. "I am no longer King of Tanzang. I don't even have a title. A foolish king like me deserved to be banished from his kingdom."

"Get up," Sukh pulled Haneul to sit down. "Climb onto my back. There should be a cave on that mountain. You can't stay out in the rain, or your fever will get worse."

Haneul climbed onto Sukh's back, and Sukh began to carry Haneul toward the mountain in front of them. "My love... among the million and million people in Tanzang, at my loneliest hours, you are the only one who is still standing by my side," Haneul said weakly. "Tell me, what reward do you want?" He chuckled. "Kiss or myself? Right now, I have nothing of value except a kiss and myself. So, tell me which one you prefer?"

"I want you to get better and take back your kingdom and your title," Sukh said breathlessly. "This is also what His Majesty wants."

Haneul chuckled, then began to cough. "Easier said than done," Haneul said, feeling a little ridiculous. "I'm not that ambitious. My love, since I'm no longer the king, let's find a quiet cave in a secluded mountain and live our lives. To me, that sounds better to me than ruling a kingdom and having those stupid minions blocking all my paths for letting you into my harem." 

"You and I both know this is impossible," Sukh said sadly. "So, let me become a soldier and serve in defense of your kingdom instead of serving you in the palace."

Haneul wrapped his arms tightly around Sukh's neck and said weakly, "My love, one day, when I take back my kingdom, I will place you higher than anyone else in this land. No matter where I stand, you will stand beside me and be my equal."