001. Scented Candles & Bitter Rivalry

A beautiful young boy of about 13 years sits on his bed in his room, all alone. 

He would love to step out of his room, or at least open the windows and view the outside world from there.

Born as a hermaphrodite (an intersex), all Lee Min-Su ever wanted was to be seen and accepted as a normal human being too, and not as an abomination that should not have been allowed to come into being.

Tonight is the lantern festival; it would've been nice if he could see those floating lights up in the sky, like Okeon (a servant of theirs) has been telling him about, from his windows at least.

But his father forbids even that.

Minsoo's family is doing everything possible to keep his existence a secret from the rest of the world. 

Not that it was an official crime to be born different, but then, that would cast a dark shadow on their darling daughter Minseo's future prospects.

*****

"Take these candles to my cousin, Lady Youngmi. Tell her that it's a peace offering from me. Make sure to convince her to accept them, but don't let anyone see you giving them to her. Have you heard?" 16-year-old Lee Minseo said to her maid.

"Yes, aggashi (miss/my lady)."

Minseo smirked. "Now, Youngmi a. Let's see who will win this war."

***

"Do-ryeon-nim (young master). A very hushed voice called from behind his door. "Do-ryeon-nim. Do-ryeon-nim."

Lee Min-Su woke up to the familiar hushed calls of his servant-friend, Okeon. Well, not his personal servant. He doesn't have any. 

Only random servants attend to him because his family does not want them to get attached to him and help him escape from his room.

Okeon is the only odd one out. She is his older sister's servant, who was made to serve him once. 

And from then on, she started to come and see him whenever she was free to tell him stories about the interesting outside world. 

"Okeon?" Lee Minsoo asked in a similarly hushed voice. He was very happy to hear his older friend's voice. 

They both don't want to be caught communicating, which is why they're speaking in low voices.

"Yes, do-ryeon-nim, it's me. Can I come in?"

"Hm." 

Okeon quietly entered after making sure that no one had seen her.

"Do-ryeon-nim, why are your eyes so red and puffy?"

Just as expected, Okeon could tell that he cried himself to sleep again.

Having to stay locked inside and alone was hellish on its own, but not being allowed to see the sky for days was very tumultuous for the young master.

Before she had met him, the poor boy used to think that this was how every other kid, including his sister, was raised, but Okeon told him otherwise. 

So nowadays, Minsoo feels more miserable for himself and a lot lonelier when he compares the stories that Okeon tells him about other kids his age to his own sad, monotonous life.

"I brought these cookies for you, do-ryeon-nim. Here, taste them and see."

Right then, they heard her name being called. It was Minseo, Minsoo's older sister.

"Okeon, a! Okeon, a!!"

"I have to go now, but I'll come and see you when I get the chance again, okay?" She said and placed the three wrapped cookies into Min-Su's hand and left as she waved at him.

"Okay." Minsoo responded. Her presence made him a bit better emotionally, as compared to yesterday.

He couldn't tell the time, but he was sure that it's already a new day.

***

"Aggashi. You called for me?"

"Yes. Where were you that I had to scream my lungs out calling for you? Hurry up and follow me." Minseo said and started walking towards the main gate.

Okeon rushed to catch up.

"A...aggashi, where are we going this early morning? You haven't even had your bath yet.

Minseo didn't bother to slow down or turn to her servant as she spoke. "It's morning already, and no one has been sent from second uncle's house to deliver the news. I have to go and see for myself if my plan was successful."

Okeon wasn't following what she was saying, so she asked. "What plan are you talking about, aggashi? And what news are you expecting from your second uncle's house?"

"It's none of your business. Just shut up and follow me."

**********************************************

It is very chaotic in the royal infirmary this early morning as the physicians and the nurses were running helter-skelter.

One court official in his red robe stopped a nurse to ask about what was going on. "What is all this about? Why are you all running around as if you have some serious medical emergency?"

The nurse was in a hurry, but this is a court official and a noble at that, so she still has to answer him by virtue of his status.

She first gave a small bow to the man before she spoke. "Yeong-gam (my lord/your excellency), what you said is correct. We really do have a medical emergency right now."

The man furrowed his brows. "What is the emergency about? Is the Queen Dowager okay?" He asked this because they all know that the old lady has not been feeling quite well lately.

"It is not about the Queen Dowager, yeong-gam. It's about the Crown Prince and the second Prince. They have both been poisoned.

The head physician, together with some of the other royal physicians, is already in the Eastern Palace (Donggung) attending to the princes. 

Their condition is very dire, so we're all here to help with whatever is needed, please."

The court official allowed her to leave after the explanation, as he too rushed to the royal court for the morning assembly.

That morning, the king had to cancel the assembly and go to Donggung in a hurry.

He called the head of investigations at the tribunal courts as well as the chief superintendent of the police force and ordered them to investigate everyone and everything in all two quarters of the princes and report their findings to him.

***************************************************

There was a large crowd by Minseo's uncle's house by the time that she and her servant got there. Minseo could hear the sound of people wailing from inside the house but she didn't bother to go into the house. Instead, she mixed with the crowd outside.

"What is going on here?" She asked no one in particular, but a young maiden chose to answer her.

"Lady Youngmi was pronounced dead just this morning. We heard it's poison, but we're not sure yet."

"Oh. The young miss is dead? Really? How? Why? She was too young to die such a tragic death." Minseo feigned anguish in her voice and gave a fake cry.

Okeon, on the other hand, was both confused and scared by the news. She was now joining two and two together. Now it all made sense.

She just became an accomplice to the murder of Lady Youngmi.

No. She gave the candles to Lady Youngmi, and so she is the murderer! Oh no!!!

Minseo secretly smiled to herself and tried to move out of the crowd to go back to her own house without being noticed.

But then, she saw some royal guards coming together with some police officials to her uncle's house, so she went back to hide among the crowd and listen to why they were there.

And that is when she realised her folly. 

From what she could hear, her cousin wasn't the only one who had used the scented candles that she had sent Okeon to give to her cousin, Youngmi!

No. That stupid wench had shared the candles with the princes!

And now she is just finding out that her beloved too is at death's door, fighting for his dear life.

"Oh goodness. What have I done?" Minseo blurted out.

She saw the royal guards leaving her uncle's house, but they had with them Youngmi's personal maid.

Minseo was about to leave when that servant pointed at her while saying something to the royal guards.

Minseo saw the guards also turned in her direction and started walking towards the crowd where she stood.

She made to leave, but then one of them shouted. "You there, wait right there. Don't move!"

She froze but only for a minute.

Out of guilt, fear, and disorientation, Minseo made a run for it, and by the time she knew it, she had created a good gap between her and those guards as she already had a good head start.

Not that she had much choice, Okeon followed suit as they ran through the stalls and alleys all the way through to the local market.

Minseo stopped running after a while to take in some air. 

Her abrupt stop made her young servant bump into her.

The fuming 16-year-old turned to her servant, who is of the same age as her.

"You stupid fool. Do you see what you've cost me?

I strictly told you not to let anyone see you giving them to her. My family and I would be doomed because of your stupidity.

You better stick to the new plan and pray that I come out of this unscathed; otherwise, I'll make sure to roast your head for the pigs to feed on."

"I'm sorry, aggashi (my lady). I swear, I made sure that Lady Youngmi was alone before I gave them to her. I didn't know that her servant would pop up out of nowhere." The servant, Okeon, said. 

"Then you should've collected the items back instead of leaving them with her after you were seen giving them to her!" 

Okeon bit her lower lip as she thought in her head. 'How would I have known of your wicked intentions?'

"Hurry up. I need to get to my father before the royal guards see me." Minseo said and made to run, but it was too late.