The Tale of Bangtan Palace

Change Of Heart

The Spirit sat by the hall window, thinking. Each soul in Bangtan Palace had suffered enough. Was it truly time for him to end it all?

The Empress' eyes fluttered open to the excited chirping of Prince Jimin. She looked to her right to see the Emperor lying in the bed next to hers, smiling at his little brother.
"Jimin ssi..." She managed weakly.
Both brothers' heads turned to her. The Emperor smiled warmly, showing his bunny like teeth. Prince Jimin did as well, but a distant smile. One that raised concern in Hanyu's heart.
"Jimin ssi, how did the Emperor..."
He replied blandly and formally. "He will tell you himself." Then the left the room.
Hanyu called after him, but he didn't budge. For the first time since the night of their marriage, the Emperor and Empress were left together alone.
"So... Did you want to know?" The Emperor smiled again.
"Yes." She felt unsure of her answer, but did not want to create an awkward atmosphere.
As Jungkook narrated the incident, she felt more and more scared. She wanted to see Jimin, and called for him.
"He will not come, Your Majesty."
"What?"
"The Prince said he will not come."
The Emperor was shocked as well. He said, "I would also like to speak with him."
Within a matter of seconds, a smiling Jimin appeared at the door and walked straight past Hanyu to Jungkook.
"You called, Hyungnim?"
"Why didn't you come when... she called you?"
"Am I supposed to...?" Both the Emperor and Empress were shocked by his answer.
"Of course you are supposed to!!" They both replied in unison. Now it was Jimin's turn to be shocked.
Hanyu reached out her hand towards the Prince. And in that moment, the Prince saw the Emperor's lifeless body flash before his eyes. He took a step back.
"JIMINAH! YOU'RE SCARING ME! STOP IT!"
"There's nothing that I can stop. I don't love you anymore, Hanyu."
Her outstretched hand fell onto the bed, she felt her heart stop.
"I don't love you anymore." Jimin went on. "I don't know why, but when Hyungnim was dying I felt... Suffocated by you. You are the only reason he is like this. When you both were lying unconscious, it was like the Strength was asking me to make a choice: you or him. And every time I looked at you, you began to seem more and more responsible and far off. Like a stranger. The deeper I went into how I felt, the more your image faded away, and the more I begged for Hyungnim's life. Now that I look back, I never loved you, Hanyu. It was just an obsession, nothing more. And now it's an obsession I hate, I never want to feel ever again. It was all an illusion, a lie. I'm sorry."