WHEN THE MARRIAGE COLLAPSE

nineteen - "It was his dream to become King."

"The minister's body was found in the bedroom closet, a sword stabbed in his chest. The money in the safe was stolen and his daughter was drowned in the bathtub. The wife fell down the stairs and there's a bullet on her forehead."

"How could Mr Kim do all that?" Yeonbyul asked in disbelief. Sunghoon sighed and put the pictures away, "To gain wealth and power. To let Haesun live in a comfortable environment."

"By killing innocent people? If he killed someone then he won't even hesitate to kill me. I must kill him first. I want to see him die with my own hands."

"Calm down, Your Majesty. If you act rashly then the plan will be ruined."

Yeonbyul thought for a while, leaning back against the chair, "You should investigate more to find proof. In the meantime, I'll try to find out Haesun's plans towards the King. It'll be easier to carry out the plan when she's weak and pregnant."

"Aren't you worried about the baby in her womb, Your Majesty?"

"I will not harm the baby. It's innocent. It's the mother that I'm after."

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Yeonbyul brushed her hair as she stared at herself in the mirror. Her bedroom door opened and Heeseung walked in, plopping himself on the bed. He spread his arms and legs before closing his eyes. She folded her arms and faced him, "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for you."

She sighed, "I'm not in the mood to play around."

He got up and frowned, "See? This is why I prefer Haesun over you. She listens to me and cares for me. Unlike you."

"So you chose her because she's easy?"

He rolled his eyes and laid back down. She opened the bedroom door and glared at him, "Get out."

Heeseung scoffed, "Since when are you rude to me? Didn't you say you wanted to try out for a baby? I'm all yours tonight. Hurry up, I have a meeting tomorrow."

Yeonbyul looked away, her anger was slowly rising in her. She clenched her fists, stopping herself from punching him in the face.

"I change my mind. Not now and never will. So if you'll excuse me, I need to get my beauty sleep. Get lost."

He glared at her before leaving the room. She slammed the door shut and plopped herself on the bed, cursing at him under her breath.

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Sunghoon walked around the palace, inhaling the fresh air scent. He stopped his tracks when he saw Yeonbyul squatting at the dock near the lake. She was talking to herself while feeding the fish. He smiled and watched her, admiring her beauty from afar. His heart pounded in his chest and his stomach produced hundreds of butterflies.

If only I could make you my Queen. But too bad that your heart belongs to Heeseung.

"Do you like her, Your Highness?" Hanseo approached him, looking at the Queen. He smiled, "Very much. But too bad her heart belongs to His Majesty, who doesn't even acknowledge her feelings towards him."

"It is sad. And His Majesty is quite dumb when it comes to her feelings. But who knows? Maybe Her Majesty likes you secretly? She never tells anyone about what she's thinking so it's a bit hard to predict her."

Sunghoon looked at her and smiled, "Any news?"

"The King of the West has come to see you, Your Highness. He and his wife are waiting in the guest lounge room. He wishes to see Her Majesty too."

"Thank you, Hanseo. Tell the King to wait for a minute. I'll go get Yeonbyul."

Yeonbyul walked into the guest lounge room, "It is nice to see you again, King Jake."

"Please, just call me by my name. We used to go to school together." The West King chuckled and faced Sunghoon, "Yah! After the ball ended, why didn't you come to visit me? My daughters have wished to see you again. You promised to take them ice skating."

Sunghoon chuckled as he sat down next to Yeonbyul, "I had a lot of things to settle. Tell your daughters that I'll take them to ice skate next week."

"What do you wish that you trouble yourself to come here, Jake?" Yeonbyul asked. She handed the plate of cookies to the King's wife, who was staring at it for a while.

"I have brought some proof of Mr Kim's crimes. I had my men investigated it and I, myself, am surprised by the results."

He handed her the file and she looked through it, seeing pictures of men and women with their time of death.

"These are all the people that he killed. Whether it was by poison, choking or stabbing. Notice how all of them were wealthy people who had power."

"Let's show this to the King then, " Jake's wife, Queen Soeun said. Yeonbyul smiled, "Let's not rush into things. My husband is madly in love with Mr Kim's daughter. Whatever proof we show him, he won't believe it. We must find another way to get revenge."

"We must reveal the proof to the people of the Kingdom. Then, if the King denies it when it is obvious to other people then-"

"They would tell him to step down from the throne, " Yeonbyul cut Sunghoon's sentence. The prince gulped and lowered his gaze.

"I do not want that. Heeseung worked hard to be the King of the South. I just want him to find out about the Kims' crimes. It's them that I'm after, not him. He's just blinded by his love towards the mistress."

Jake frowned, "I suggest that you should not be so weak, Yeonbyul. If you're weak like this, then the King will continue to use you as he please. This will make it easier for the mistress to bring you down."

Yeonbyul nodded, "I understand."

After a while, they finished their meeting. Yeonbyul and Sunghoon bid goodbyes to Jake and Soeun before exhaling heavily, "That was a long meeting."

She looked at Sunghoon, seeing him pout sulkily. She chuckled, "Is there something wrong?"

He faced her and held both of her shoulders, "Can you not care about the King? Why are you still concerned about him when he had broken your heart numerous times. He'll keep breaking your heart if you act like this."

"Sunghoon, are you okay-"

"I want you to care about me! Why can't you care about me like how you care about your husband? Your husband doesn't even like you back."

Her eyes widened as she stood there, speechless at what the prince said. He might have said it out of stress but it still took her by surprise. Sunghoon realised what he said without thinking and let go of her shoulders, "I should go back to my room."

"Yeah, me too..." she said before running away from the place, escaping from him.