The Emperor's Obsession

Chapter Twenty-Five || The Truth

The Great Palace, Xiang Empire, 1479
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No.
No, no, no.
There weren't any words to describe what he was feeling right now. He was shocked, confused, and angry at the same time. No, he wasn't angry. He was outraged. Jealousy began stabbing him from every direction, injecting him with its poison. Were Lihua and the prince having an affair? But that wasn't possible. They'd just met. They're strangers. Could it be 'love at first sight'? The emperor shook his head at the foolish thought. No, such a silly thing didn't exist in real life. Even if Lihua did mistake him as the prince, she would've called him "your highness", not "Shim". Maybe "Shim" was somebody else's name? But if it was, it was still a man's name—nickname. No woman's parents would be evil enough to name or call her that.
His confusion turned to frustration and his jealousy turned to fury. How dare she? How dare she, a married woman, start a relationship with his own brother? Maybe he was right about her. Maybe she really was just a whore who pretends to be all innocent and naive. But a part of him refused to believe that. Lihua didn't seem like the type to do such a thing. She must be really good at acting.. I can't believe I was deceived by her.. He thought, gritting his teeth and standing up, before storming out of the chamber. The bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes and the livid look on his face sent a shiver down everybody's spines as he passed by them.
"Where is my brother?!" He shouted, causing everyone to flinch.
"I-I-In the c-courtyard.. Your Majesty.." An eunuch stammered, unable to control his stuttering because of the amount of fear he felt.
The emperor made his way to the courtyard. His angry glare landed on the prince, whose back was turned to him as he peacefully walked, completely oblivious to the emperor's presence behind him. A strong gust of cold wind blew hard and whistled lowly, as though trying to warning everyone in the palace that something terrible was about to happen.
Emperor Hyeon growled slightly and approached him, reaching him in three long, powerful strides. The prince stopped walking when he heard footsteps behind him, and he slowly turned around to see who it was.
His fist made contact with his jaw.
Prince Daeshim was caught off guard. He fell to the ground with a groan of pain, his hand moving to his jaw. What the hell was going on? Why did the emperor hit him? What did he do? Before he knew it, the emperor had grabbed his clothing in his fists and yanked him close, glowering murderously at him. "You bastard!" He roared. "You son of a bitch!" And no, he wasn't cursing his own mother. The brothers came from the same father, but different mothers. The prince's mother died months after he was born. At the time, rumors had spread, claiming that Empress Jingfei was the one who poisoned her for the sake of power. But the rumors eventually died down as time passed, and the events were soon forgotten.
"Let me go you bastard! What the hell did I do?!" The prince yelled back, only to get hit again. And again. Blood slowly began to flow out of his nose, trickling down to his upper lip. The pain he felt was excruciating.
Everyone watched the two brothers in horror, frozen.
"What is going on between you and my wife, you piece of shit?!"
"What are you—"
"Don't you dare lie to me! I helped you. I saved you from those damn rebels and allowed you to stay here, and this is how you repay me?!"
"Nothing is going on between me and Lady Wu, you bastard!" Prince Daeshim snarled, clenching his jaw and hitting him using his fist with all his remaining strength. The emperor's grip loosened considerably and the prince used that to his advantage. He shoved him away and stood up, stumbling slightly.
"Is that so?" The emperor hissed, shakily standing up and wiping the blood from the small cut on his lower lip. "Why did she call you 'Shim' then?"

The prince froze.
It made his older brother smirk.
"I knew it.." Emperor Hyeon whispered, before growling and punching him again.
The prince grunted and dropped to the ground, his arms around his stomach and his body bent over from the sudden, intense pain. He felt like he was going to throw up. He was starting to feel light-headed, too. By now, every inch of his body was hurting. Badly. He didn't think he could take any more. Yes, he was a man and a prince too, but that didn't mean he was strong. In fact, his body was actually weak. It's always been weak. It was why he'd always been the 'weakling' or the 'black sheep' of the royal family. Becoming ill three or five times a month, avoiding training sessions, almost never winning fights.. He was told that he'd inherited this from his mother. His father was never proud of him. He'd always looked down on him.
"She.." He breathed out, ".. she and I.. were childhood.." he paused for a second, ".. friends.."
The emperor stopped as his brain registered those words.
"What?" He questioned in disbelief, before saying, "you're lying.."
"I.. am not.." The prince gasped slightly, closing his eyes tightly for a moment and taking a moment to breathe. ".. lying.."
Silence fell. Nobody spoke a word. The only sound was the whistling of the wind and the rustling of the trees.
Emperor Hyeon's jaw became tense, and he gestured for some eunuchs and maids to help the prince and escort him back to his chamber. Once they did, he returned to Lihua's chamber. God, if she ever found out that he had beat the prince up, she would hate him even more.
He didn't want that.
When he arrived there, she was still asleep, with Eun Soo looking after her.
"How is she?" He asked coldly.
She flinched and looked at him, before immediately bowing her head. "Her fever has not gone down, Your Majesty. I've called the physician and he could not figure out why." She said sadly.
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