Unmasking Souls

The Worst Kind of Torture

Author's Note: 

Angst. Heavy angst. 

Plus, a cliffhanger.

You've been warned. 

If you could stomach Tainted Salvation and this, I think you're mentally strong, hahah. 

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Agony had never felt worse than that. Sitting together in Jin Dae Goon's bedroom, watching the small body breathed faintly, his face pale, trying desperately not to think about what would happen if he didn't survive.

The emperor had turned into a statue. He hadn't moved for hours, sitting beside his son, his eyes fixed to the little chest, watching it raising up and down, a prove that he was still alive, but barely.

Lady Jeon's face was washed with never ending tears. Her son was her universe. Jin had left her womb when he was born, but the connection had never faded. As all mothers hoped, she wished she was the one suffering instead of him. If you got closer with her, you'd hear one sentence that she kept repeating since she entered the room.

"Save him......please save him......" uttered one thousand times, even more.

Go Eun sat silently beside her husband. She couldn't say much to ease the situation, her heart went to the parents who were watching their son fighting a battle to stay or leave this earth.

Min Ho had arrived a couple of hours before midnight, bringing as many guards as he could, straight to the crown prince's chamber, his wife following close behind him.

The emperor couldn't even bring himself to say anything, too engulfed in grief.

They stood face to face, sharing no words to greet each other.

But Min Ho could see the question clearly in his brother's eyes, he heard it loud and clear as if Jung Jae was yelling the question at him.

"Min Ho-yah, what if my son died?"

Min Ho had bowed formally to him before he found the physician and attacked him with his questions.

"How is Jin?"

"What have you done to save him?"

"How long will it take until he wakes up?"

"What do you mean about "wait and see"? You have to save him! Do you wish to die?"

"I don't care what it takes. Jin has to survive, do you get it?"

The physician was an experienced, wise man. He answered all of Min Ho's emotional enquiries placidly, as clearly as he could.

The young prince was in a state of wondering between life and death.

He was in a coma. If he survived the next few days, he would survive this incident.

If he didn't, then it meant that his time on this earth had been cut short.

The physicians gave the prince everything that he could to help him, which was acupuncture therapy for the last four hours and feeding him medicine, though he was unconscious and they had to hold him in a sitting position.

For the moment, there was nothing else they could do except to wait.

And pray.

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"Go rest in your palace. It's cleaned already" Jung Jae urged Min Ho before dawn.

Min Ho agreed and led the way, Go Eun and their guards following behind him.