A SEALED FATE: Emeralds and Blood (BTS)

The Execution of a Former Lady

Hi, sorry this is such a short chapter! I decided to write a mini one because a) i actually forgot that i wanted this scene to go into the last one lol and b) You guys were so so patient while waiting for chapter 29 that I just wanted to drop another short update on y'all ♥

You had seen so much death. Before your journey to the castle, you had watched countless people in your village either starve or freeze to death. Some even died of dehydration, or were murdered by another villager over an extra slice of moldy bread.

You had been surrounded by death for years leading up to your decision to finally find work at the castle. Then, when you finally made it there, you were surrounded by even more.

Lady Pyke, Rae, Abel, Kassie, Samuel, James, Martha, Cain, the Queen...nine people who's deaths you had directly caused, all in less than a year. Now, you were about to witness one more.

You would think that after seeing so many lives lost, you would be able to handle the pain and guilt. Theoretically, you should be a pro by now, right? A mini Taehyung in training. Well that was wrong.

Watching Lady Woong cry in the center of the room as she awaited her death was heartbreaking. You were seated directly across from the six princes who all looked quite pleased with the situation that the shaking lady was in.

Your heart ached for her as she pleaded for mercy. Tears streamed down her face from behind the silk blindfold that she wore, no doubt a way to stop her from realizing that you were attending.

You could already hear Hoseok's thought process; Blindfold Lady Woong so that she couldn't recognize you. If she didn't recognize you, then she couldn't create a mess by accusing you in front of the entire royal court, along with other lesser rank nobles.

Looking up at the painted ceiling, you tried to drown out her wailing. Please, if there is truly a higher power up there...welcome her into whatever your heaven may be. You prayed, your hands clasped in your lap.

All around you, guests chatted excitedly. No one in the room had witnessed an execution for the murder of the King or Queen, let alone both. This was monumental to them, and no doubt the sick and twisted parts of themselves were excited to see what would happen to the poor girl.

Maybe it was actually a blessing for Lady Woong to not be able to see. The large circular room was built with rows upon rows of stands, all which surrounded a decently sized ring in the middle, which was lowered enough that a victim wouldn't be able to easily climb out. It resembled a coliseum.

Even though she was given the blindfold because the princes no doubt didn't want to handle any excess trouble, Lady Woong was given that small bit of mercy. She didn't have to see all of the people sitting around her, smiling with glee over her death due to a crime that she did not commit.

The room was silenced when a tall, slender man strode through the doors and blew a long note on his golden horn. "All stand! Your Royal Highness, King Namjoon, has arrived!" He said loudly, his chest puffed out. He quickly stood to the side, and a moment later Namjoon strode through the doors.

Everyone around you stood and bowed. Lady Woong's cries fell off into whimpers as Namjoon's footsteps grew closer and closer to the ring. Your heart felt heavy. You knew what it was like to feel hunted, to feel terrified of what was to come at the hands of the tall King.

Namjoon stood at the edge of the ring, and cleared his throat. "Today, we will witness the execution of former Lady and fiance of Prince Seokjin, Dasom Woong!" He spoke loud and clear. At the sound of her name, the crowd began to boo and curse at the shaking young woman.

Namjoon held his hand up, and the crowd fell silent again. "Her crime, we all know. She murdered my mother and father, the King and Queen of Erydia. For this, she will be shown no mercy." His voice grew rough. "She is a traitor, both to my brother and the Kingdom. Even worse, she lied afterwards."

Namjoon's gaze fell onto you as he continued to speak. "Liars have no place in Erydia's castle. I will personally punish anyone who dares to do so from here on out." He finished. You tried to push back a shudder and averted your eyes, the stump where your pinky used to be suddenly throbbing.

"Now, Dasom Woong. Do you have any final words?" Namjoon asked, fixing his burning stare onto the dark-haired woman. "Not that I think you deserve them...however, every damned soul deserves a chance to speak one last time."

Dasom turned towards the King and clasped her hands together. At her movement, the rope that held her wrists together shifted slightly and revealed the torn skin underneath. The crowd laughed at her pain as she whimpered.

"Namjoon-Your Highness-please! I swear I didn't do it! It-" She was cut off by the executioner who was stationed close by, who slapped her harshly.

"The King does not wish to hear another lie from your mouth, wench." He said, an inhumane amount of contempt dripping from his voice. "If you wish to utter another word, then be sure that it is the truth."

Lady Woong took a deep, shuddering breath as a fresh wave of tears fell down her face from behind her blindfold. "Y-your Highness...Please have mercy...I-I promise I'll leave the K-kingdom!" She bowed her head deeply until the touched the hard marble underneath her. "Please!"

Namjoon was silent for a moment, his jaw clenched. Finally, he spoke again. "My mother probably asked for mercy too while you stabbed her to death...but you did not give it to her. Why should I give it to you?" He murmured. Despite the quiet tone of his voice, the entire room heard.

Every single person in the room leaned forward in anticipation as Namjoon smiled calmly at the sobbing woman. "Dasom Woong. You always wanted to be Queen, and because of your overwhelming desire my mother is now dead." He said, pulling out a familiar looking dagger from his belt.

"Now you will suffer the same death that she did, with the same dagger too." He tossed the weapon into the ring, and the executioner quickly caught it. Namjoon ignored her pleas as Dasom was pushed onto her back.

"Everyone!" Namjoon called to the crowd. "This is how the Queen was killed! You will now watch her get her justice, through this blade!" His eyes locked onto yours once again, his gaze smoldering. There were a million emotions running through his expression, none of which you could identify quick enough. Then, he looked down to the executioner and nodded.

The executioner quickly cut Dasom's bindings and climbed on top of her before she could run. With a sickening feeling in your stomach, you realized that they wanted to watch her struggle for her life. He raised the dagger high over his head, and time seemed to slow tremendously for a moment.

The women next to you were smiling gleefully, their eyes flashing with excitement. The men on your other side were practically feral at the view of her bust that they were getting, making your skin crawl with disgust.

The crowd was beginning to chant, "Kill her!, Kill her!" as Dasom let out one final, long wail that made your hair stand up straight. You wanted to reach out and stop everything, put yourself in her place to atone for everything that you had caused.

But as soon as you lifted your hand an inch off of your lap, the executioner brought the dagger down, hard. Dasom's wail was cut short as she choked out a small spurt of blood. She barely had a chance to process what had happened however.

The executioner brought down the dagger again and again and again, the room filling with the stench of blood and death. The crowd around you yelled in delight and surged towards the scene, bloodlust and adrenaline rushing through them.

You tried to push away however, covering the lower half of your face with your gloved hand. You turned away from the horrid sight and found yourself staring straight at the seven brothers, who all wore similar expressions.

It was a cross between victorious and smug, a way of telling you that they had won. It was another tactic to make you want to give up; you knew that they would make sure that you were too terrified to disobey again.

You turned away from them again and tried to block out everything around you. Atheed, I swear on everything holy-If you don't make sure that your plan succeeds, then I'll kill you myself!

The Spring ball couldn't come soon enough...