WHEN THE MARRIAGE COLLAPSE

thirty-six - "Mother."

[ edited ]

┌─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┐
three months later...
└─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┘

After the divorce ceremony, Yeonbyul immediately packed her bags and got out of the North Kingdom. She didn't care about the coronation anymore. She couldn't find a reason to stay when she was not the Queen anymore. Her court ladies, Ms Han and Hanseo were excused from their jobs since they didn't have to help the Queen anymore. After that, the three of them broke contact.

Yeonbyul bought a house near the eastern border. She sold her father's house and lived somewhere that it was hard for people to find her. The other reason was she wanted to meet her mother but she was not ready. So getting a house near the eastern border was easy since it was near to the East Kingdom, where her mother and stepfather were living.

Sunghoon became the King of the North and until now, he still refuses when there were ministers who introduced their daughters to him. He wanted Yeonbyul only and he won't give up until he finds her.

Heeseung was becoming busier day by day since he doesn't have a Queen Consort to help him. Haesun was taking lessons every day, preparing for the wedding and the ceremony to appoint her as the next Queen Consort. Her baby bump became bigger and bigger and she was happy that the child turned out to be a boy. It was easier for him to ascend to the throne.

ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ
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┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩
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Yeonbyul drove the car to a house and stopped at the driveway. Her stepfather waited for her at the entrance door, carrying his new child. She got out of the vehicle and took off her sunglasses, frowning at the sight of him. She didn't expect him to be at home.

"Good morning, Yeonbyul," he greeted happily, trying to cheer up the mood. She eyed the baby, "How old is he?"

"He just turned one."

She rolled her eyes and went into the house, seeing her mother cooking in the kitchen. Her half-blood siblings were running around playfully, playing freeze and tag.

"You're here?" Her mother asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. She sat on the living room couch, staring at her nails. Her half-blood sister approached her, "Can you do my hair, Your Majesty?"

She frowned at the title but sighed as she knew the family didn't know about her divorce. That was the reason why she came to the house in the first place. She took the hair tie and motioned for the kid to sit down. She tied her hair into a ponytail and the kid jumped around happily, "Dad! Her Majesty tied my hair!"

Yeonbyul felt guilty. She hated her mother's new family. But seeing how her half-blood siblings were so excited to meet her, trying to build a relationship with her. The person she should hate was the parents, not the kids. They did nothing wrong.

"The food's ready," her mother approached, wiping her hands with a cloth.

She poked at her food, feeling no appetite coming. Her mother gave her a slice of chicken, "Eat, Your Majesty. I'm sure you haven't had any meal before coming here."

"Stop with the titles. I'm divorced."

The family looked at her in shock before her stepfather picked up the kids, "Okay, children. Let's play video games upstairs."

After they left, her mother widened her eyes, "What happened?"

"You might think I was happy living with Heeseung. Well, of course, because I had a crush on him ever since I was young. But he was cold to me and at some point, I couldn't take it anymore. So we got a divorce."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

The air became tensed and awkward. None of them started a conversation. Yeonbyul wanted to share her life and miseries with her mother. She wanted her mother to comfort her, give her some advice and all. She laughed at herself for being stupid. Her mother wouldn't do that.

"If you have something to share or that something is bothering you, do tell me. I don't want to see you getting hurt."

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, "It disgusts me."

"What?"

"It disgusts me how I've grown to become like you. I look like you and now, I act like you. During my marriage with Heeseung, I fell in love with another man. And I was so scared of loving him because I realised that I'm becoming like you. You left dad for another guy. And I thought if I didn't leave Heeseung, I wouldn't be like you. And I couldn't care less about getting hurt alone. But it was suffocating."

"Yeonbyul-ah–"

"Mr Kim killed dad. And now his daughter is going to be the next Queen Consort for Heeseung. I wanted to get revenge so bad but then I realised, I'm the bad guy all along. I killed a person and I'm not sure if it was by accident or not anymore. Mr Kim's face kept haunting me until now. Haesun tried to kill me and Heeseung didn't even believe me. And I'm sure you're surprised to hear this one because you thought I had a happy marriage with him. I was suffering, mom. Where were you when I needed you?"

"You're not a bad person, Yeonbyul. I believe you wanted the best for Heeseung and you wanted to protect him even though you know he won't do the same to you. When we're in love, we tend to do everything to protect the person we love and we tend to even cross the line to stop the person who's going to harm our loved ones."

Yeonbyul couldn't stop her tears from appearing. She sobbed quietly and lowered her gaze, ashamed at herself for crying in front of her mother.

"What happened between your dad and me was mainly my fault. Your dad was kind, polite, the man of women's dreams. And I was lucky that I had him as my husband. But it was my fault that I fell out of love. Your stepfather had my heart and I couldn't make your father miserable anymore. Your father deserves someone better. We got a divorce and I left him with you because I knew you were the only strength he had to keep him going. And I believe you both would do better without me and look at you now, all beautiful and successful."

"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you make me hate you? You know hating a person hurts me a lot. Every time I remember you, it makes my blood boil and I kept asking why did I even exist."

Her mother sobbed and held her hand, "I'm sorry that you have to go through all of this. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner."

She got up and hugged her daughter tightly, comforting her.