Soojin was perplexed.

Her life was slowly leaking past her clutches, like sand and all she could do was watch it pour out of her grasp, helplessly.

She felt incapacitated.

The feeling of your heart beating so fast that you can feel it in your throat, like a prominent beating.

A feeling that has your palms coating in a sheen of sweat, when your chest rumbles and legs quiver in the livid fear of having something snatched from you, without your cooperation.

What should she do? She thought as she ran her eyes over the letter.

Over the rouge stained letter, jotted down using her brother's blood as ink.

The brim of her eyes were filled with tears, hot streaming heavy droplets that trickled down her cheeks and yet she was familiar with the chord of isolation and unjust means.

Her vision felt blurry and if she lifted her head, she was sure she'd feel dizzy, almost as though her world was rocking back and forth.

He'd kill Yun Ki if she didn't leave.

If she didn't run out to his calling arms.

The last thing she wanted was to loose what she and Yun Ki had garnered over the past few weeks, fighting past adversity, overcoming hurdles, one at a time and yet, together.

She missed the feeling of his hands in hers, clutching her palm so hard, she felt as though she had someone she could fall back on.

She could fall back and there'd be arms that'd catch her before she could touch the cold hard ground.

'I don't have any other option, I should tell Yun Ki...' Soojin thinks to herself.

They'd get over this together, as always, right?

Wrong.

Because just as Soojin was running out of her chamber, opening the doors to leave her room, she was met with Areum.

Areum, who had her arms crossed over chest and was blocking her path, like an unmovable rock.

She'd met eyes with Soojin's distraught form, her runny eyeliner and a note she'd clutched behind her back as soon as she'd seen Areum outside her room.

A part of Areum felt satisfied, oddly satisfied as she watched Soojin's face twist in fright.

She watched her paling skin, her moist eyes as she couldn't even meet eyes with Areum.

"Move aside." Soojin mumbles, in a hushed tone, waiting for Areum to step aside and allow her to prod over to Yun Ki's room.

Areum watches Soojin struggle, without a word.

Soojin's eyebrows scrunch up, in confusion.

"Did you fail to hear me out the first time? Move aside, at once..." Soojin commands, in a bolder voice, gaining composure.

Areum lets out a tiny chuckle in response as her shoulders shake, with every loud ghost of air that leads past her lungs.

"Daebi-Mama, should I move aside and allow you to assassinate The Crowned King, yourself?" She questions, wickedly.

Soojin's heart drops and she feels a big lump form in her throat.

"Wh-What might you mean?" She asks.

Areum looks around the empty corridor before she walks straight ahead, causing Soojin to stumble back into her chamber, followed by Areum who shuts the door behind her.

"I thought you were wiser, Daebi-Mama..The letter that has the blood draining off of your face has Jeonha's fate sealed in it.." She responds.

Soojin's fist clamps around the letter, nails tearing into it as she grits her teeth.

"You-You're involved in this...too?" She asks, in a distraught tone.

Areum walks towards Soojin, circling past her to seat herself over Soojin's Royal Bed.

She looks back up at Soojin.

"It's enjoyable, really...watching you look so desperate..so..scared, almost.." She taunts.

Soojin dashes towards Areum and hasty hands grab at her collar, hurling Areum to her feet.

"You dirty wench...why would you do this? Why would you do this to Jeonha?" Soojin questions, shaking Areum by her collar.

Areum does nothing and throws her head back, laughing, heartily.

She grabs Soojin's wrists, peeling her hands off of her.

"I'm doing this to save him, Daebi-Mama...save him from you, the dark cloud of oppression, the reason he's lost everything he once had and loved...His mother, me..all because he decided to pick up a girl from the streets, whom he pitied." She spits, nails digging into Soojin's skin, drawing blood.

"D-Do you even know Yun Ki, at all, Areum?" Soojin asks, teeth making a hissing sound as blood pours out of the crescent shaped indents scattered along her wrist.

The dampened sound of blood hitting the marble floor fills the room, as Areum re-adjusts her collar.

"Trust me, Soojin..I've known him far longer than you have on your 3-day getaway. Believe me, you're intriguing only for a while..Once Yun Ki looses interest in you, you're going to end up as someone just like me..you're going to end up like someone you'd demeaned the day Yun Ki lost his mother...Do you remember what you'd said to me that day, dear 'Queen'?.. You'll be reduced to a Consort, whom he'd call to get comforted when his younger, better looking second Queen takes a break from being used all day.." Areum smirks, tracing a nail along Soojin's face, a red stripe of Soojin's blood staining her face.

"H-He's changed, Areum...He doesn't run away from his responsibilities.. We're in love." Soojin cries, burying her face in her hands.

Areum places a hand over her shoulders, comfortingly.

"Years ago, another girl had cried the same way as you, Soojin. She lives the life of a barren Consort, whose had her dignity, her fertility snatched from her.." Areum whispers.

"..And love, you say? Love's a feeling..don't worry about it, it'll wean off soon enough." She says.

Soojin shakes her head.

"I-I need to tell him..I need to tell him who's troubling me..Yun Ki can do anything. He-He's strong, he's powerful..He's promised to protect me and himself."

A scoff is heard.

"Don't worry about Yun Ki..I'll keep him protected, Mama..You are the only one who can save him..If you don't leave the Palace by Dawn, the Kingdom will rise to the news of a beheaded King...you wouldn't want that, would you?" Areum coaxes.

"I-I love him. I don't want to lea-leave.."

"But you'll have to, if you truly do love him enough to see him alive."

"I had dreamt of a future with him, we'd planned out our children...He'll be heartbroken if he finds me gone.."

"Dreams are a figment of one's own imagination, Mama..He would be devastated for a while but, he'll move past this..as will you.."