Jonghyun was hitting the punching bag with all his might. Sweat dripped from his forehead, his torso glistening as he continued to punch the bag hard. His hair was drenched and his dark eyes were blank. His mind was elsewhere while the force of his punches equated to his state of mind. He kept on replaying the scene from the coffee shop…

…..

​​

"I like you, Sunye," he confessed. "Will you go out with me?"

Sunye was surprised by the sudden confession. She turned around, facing him directly with a confused look.

"What are you…" she began but Jonghyun stepped forward and hugged her. Sunye was taken aback, staying limp in her position. She was overwhelmed by his outburst of emotions. This was the closest they had been and she was unsure of what to do or say. So she remained in her spot, not moving.

"I admit that I recruited you because I've liked you for a long time," he went on. "I've followed how you handle your cases and I was awestruck. I felt that you're the only one in this world who could understand me…"

Sunye blinked at his words. She gently let go and faced him. He was troubled and possibly sad which led to him making such an impulsive confession. Judging by his eyes, she knew that he meant every word of it.

"I can't," she said in a gentle tone. Jonghyun sighed a little.

"I know my sudden confession caught you off guard," he remarked. "Honestly, I wasn't planning on doing this because I know you don't feel the same way about me now. I just wanted to let you know and try my luck. Maybe in the future, you'll see things differently-"

"You're getting me wrong," Sunye said. "It's not that I can't date you now because I don't have feelings for you. Rather, I can never date you because I have feelings for someone else and I don't think I can ever love another person the same way as I love him."

Jonghyun was taken aback by her brash words. She held no malice nor any bitterness but was rather saying it as if it was a fact. There was no other way for her to communicate. She only knew how to be honest with her words even if it hurt the other person in front of her.

"I know you're sad," she went on. "But it's better to be hurt now than pursue a relationship which can never happen. It's pointless, really."

He was silent, looking down. Unbeknownst to him, his fingers were clenched into fists while his mind was stormy with a strange rage. More than two decades had passed and he was still not her choice. Her heart was with Kim San, the other Kim San, who had been a constant reminder to Jonghyun that he would always be the second best. No matter what he did, Jonghyun was never able to secure a place in Sunye's heart.

Not then nor now.

She was about to leave when Jonghyun spoke up. "Who is he?" he asked. "Who is that person you're in love with?"

For a moment, her mind flashed the blue eyed demon who keeps on disrupting her life. But she shook it off and replied, "Someone who is lost. But I'm sure I'll find him someday."

With that, she left the cafe, leaving him alone once again.

….

His mind came back to reality. Jonghyun stopped punching the bag and laid on the floor, huffing and puffing. He was out of breath but he did not care. After being tormented by Sunye's refusal, his obsession with the Company had only grown. For years, he had pretended to be someone he was not, hiding his presence in the world. He was sent abroad before the war so that he could prepare to take over a legacy which may or may not be his birthright.

No! He told himself. The throne is my birthright! The Company is going to put me on it. And Sunye will be by my side when I take it back. If the Company can't give me my right, then I'll have to look for another way…

"Were you punching that bag or torturing it?"

Myung entered the gym to find his brother on the floor and the punching bag in disarray. Cotton was peeping out of it as if someone had constantly beaten it to a pulp.

"None of your business," Jonghyun muttered, getting up.

"Of course it is," Myung said sharply. "After all, my father bought it for his children. Seeing an outsider rip it apart like that makes this my business."

"Outsider?" Jonghyun questioned. "I was adopted by-"

"We both know that the PM must have adopted you for a reason," Myung said loudly. "You serve a purpose to him which only the two of you, and somehow Hyeri, is aware of. But that doesn't change the fact that you're an outsider."

Myung put his towel away and walked towards Jonghyun, who deliberately avoided his eye. Instead, he chose to take out a bottle of water from his duffel bag and pretended to drink it.

"I don't know what my father sees in you," Myung said with a hint of disgust. "But then again, the two of you seem to have the same villainish streak…"

Jonghyun glared at him. "Outsider or not," he stated. "I'm still your brother and I expect you to show me that respect."

"I don't want to," Myung said coolly. "You see, respect is given to those who are true to themselves. But you...you're a liar. You're lying to yourself and always hiding your real intentions. I can't respect a person like that."

Jonghyun snickered. They never shared a loving relationship because Myung was jealous of the attention Jonghyun received from the Prime Minister. Hyeri was aware of his status because she used to visit the palace with her father. It was easy to keep her under their control.

But Myung was born after the war. He did not know much about the palace or the monarchy. For him, Jonghyun was an outsider who was usurping his wealth and father's attention. It was a childish notion which Jonghyun found laughable.

"Be careful of what you say, little brother," Jonghyun warned. "You never know. You might have to kneel before me someday. And I might not feel very generous that time."

"I'd rather cut my legs and throw them into the river," Myung snorted. "The day people kneel to you will be a sad day indeed."

His words did not faze Jonghyun. He rolled his eyes and turned away to leave. Myung watched his 'brother' walk away. People would call him rude for being so disrespectful to Jonghyun but Myung knew him better than anyone. Behind the filial and obedient boy hid something more sinister. PM Lee was blind with power. Something about Jonghyun was making him keep the guy with him and that too in his own house.

But no matter how much Myung disliked Jonghyun, his father would not let him go. Jonghyun was his bargaining chip to achieve something greater. But what was it?

Jonghyun had just entered his room when his phone beeped. He picked it up and saw that it was an email from his mother. Quickly opening it, he read the contents and was shocked.

She had taken out all the information on the accounts he had sent her regarding Hyun's case and within a couple of days, she changed the whole nature of the transaction. This was going to turn the case around in a drastic way and possibly even acquit Hyun from his crimes. Prime Minister Lee would be a laughing stock and Hyun might get a chance to win the next election if the public opinion shifted in his direction.

"Unbelievable," he muttered. But now it was obvious that there was a crack in the Company. The Prime Minister and his mother were opposing each other while Jonghyun was their chip. He was the middle man who was carrying out their dirty deeds but that was not enough for him.

"This is perfect," he smirked and put the photo away. If Hyun was acquitted then he must also be prepared to reach out with an olive branch. The trial was going to take place the very next day and Jonghyun was looking forward to it.

But his heart ached upon thinking that Sunye would have to lose. She was going to bear the brunt of the Prime Minister if she lost but the Company would come after her if she won. Either way, she was in the most precarious situation and she was unaware of it.

I'll have to shift her focus away from the Company, he decided. The more she inched towards them, the more in danger she was.

….

Sunye entered her house and turned on the lights. She waited for SD to show up back at his palace but Orea said that he would not return that day and she would see him straight at the court. For some reason, it saddened Sunye that she would not see him before the trial.

Sighing loudly, she went straight to her study and unlocked her desk's drawer to take out the files on Hyun's case. She was sorting through the files in her desk when something fell out.

It was a legal document but quite old. The paper was stylized under the old laws of monarchy and there was a large seal from the Emperor's office which had their emblem, a pair of roses strung around a dove. The date on it was 20th Sept 19XX.

"I should keep it somewhere safer," she muttered. Taking the will in her hands, she put it away in her safe which was hidden behind the bookshelf. Locking it with the passcode, she kept it away securely.

It was the last possession her father had left her. "Whatever happens, don't let it get to the wrong hands," he had whispered. "Give it only to the real heir to the throne. He'll return one day to claim it…"

The real heir, huh? She wondered. "Where are you, Kim San?" she asked in dismay.