The Cruel Imperial Family Episode 5

[Episode 5] The Emperor's Deception and Distrust Blossom

 

"Look forward to it, Your Majesty, last night's hell is just beginning."

 

With a chilling and cruel whisper, Si-eun turned around without hesitation.

 

The golden ceremonial hues that brushed across the marble floor sharply cut through the still, as if the sound of a shrivelled echoed through the still, lifeless, stillness.

 

"This... You bitch like a lone wolf! How dare you show blood and threaten in front of His Majesty? Empress! You are truly insane! Stop! "Can't we stand there!" Min Si-eun!!!!

 

Emperor Yoo Jong-seok, now pale, screamed and shouted from behind, but Si-eun's dignified steps showed no wavering an inch.

 

After Secretary Han gave a dry bow with an icy expression, he followed Si-eun, and Kim Min-hyuk, the bodyguard who was leaving the royal chamber for the last time, turned his head and coldly looked down at Jong-seok and Ari, who were sitting on the floor.

 

Like a wild dog trained solely for slaughter and the safety of its lord, Jong-seok felt a chilling sensation rising up his spine, and at the moment he met those pitch-black eyes, he involuntarily gasped for breath.

 

Bang!

 

With the sound of the massive hall's gates closing with a heavy roar, the authority of the emperor, who had reigned arrogantly for 14 years, was shattered.

 

"Kyaaah! Get it out! Get it out of here right now! I'm telling you to get that terrible thing out of my sight right now!"

 

Only then did Shin Ari, regaining his senses, scream convulsively as he looked at the severed wrist of the Black Shadow squad leader inside the mother-of-pearl box.

 

The Emperor's chief secretary, with a pale face, hurriedly approached, covered the box, and dashed out as if being chased.

 

Inside the spacious and ornate room, only Jongseok, gasping for breath, and Ari, crawling across the floor in terror, remained.

 

"Damn it..." Your Majesty! Us. . That bitch, Jeo Min-si, has finally revealed her true colors. They are so brutally cutting off His Majesty's limbs and trying to kill us! "I must depose that terrifying bitch immediately!" Your Majesty!

 

It's noisy! Min Si-eun... this... this bitch!

 

Ari grabbed Jong-seok's pants leg and cried out desperately.

 

At those detestable tears and screams, Jong-seok ground his teeth.

 

 

The fear was soon transforming into intense anger and inferiority complex.

 

From the moment I stepped into the imperial palace at the age of 13, she was a woman who had only followed and obeyed me, stepping on her shadow.

 

That foolish Min Si-eun, who dared not even lift her head and always looked up to her with affectionate, sometimes begging gazes, dared to draw her sword against her, the emperor, claiming to be the master of the inner court.

 

Not only that, but he was also trying to manipulate my father, Chairman Min Hyun-seok, who held the lifeline of the Korean Empire's economy, to cut off and kill the imperial family's financial lifeline.

 

"How dare you intimidate me, being arrogant?" If you remove the shell of being the daughter of the Minseok Group, what would be left for me to dare insult Your Majesty? How dare you dare to me!

 

 

Jongseok, unable to contain his anger, roughly swept the tea on the table.

 

 

With a clanging sound of friction, top-quality white porcelain worth tens of millions of won scattered to the ground and shattered into pieces.

 

Panting heavily, Jong-seok roughly grabbed Ari's shoulder and helped her up.

 

"Ariya, don't be too afraid. If all they have is the vulgar money of capital, I have absolute power to legally control this great empire."

 

A vile and cunning light of deception appeared in Jong-seok's eyes.

 

"Tell them to secretly bring the Prime Minister into the palace immediately and summon all the imperial media controllers. If that old man, Min Hyun-seok, dares to start economic retaliation, we will thoroughly exploit it."

 

"What do you call it 'reverse use'?"

 

"The Minseok Group, which attempted to monopolize the 'Cultural Heritage Restoration Project,' a long-cherished project of the imperial family, faced opposition and failed. I will frame them as being oppressive with capital, but the people are inherently like dogs and pigs who loathe the tyranny of those who possess, especially those who are tyrannical." Once public opinion turns its back, that detestable empress will kneel down and kiss my instep to save her family, begging for forgiveness!

 

Only then did a relieved smile spread across Ari's pale lips.

 

However, in the breath that seeped through her red lips, a deeper hatred and murderous intent towards Si-eun coiled like a viper.

 

"How dare you, the arrogant Empress Min Si-eun, act all high and mighty in front of me?" "I will take everything you have and make sure to throw your noble face into the gutter."

 

At the same time, on the way back from the royal palace to the empress's hall, Si-eun, who had been standing upright and maintaining the dignified stride of a perfect empress, was helplessly bent and staggered as she rounded the corner of the empty corridor.

 

It was because the thread of reason, which had been holding on while drying the blood in the extreme tension, had loosened.

 

"Mama!"

 

Just before Si-eun's body fell onto the cold marble floor, a massive, solid, and scaldingly hot arm wrapped around her thin waist as if it would crush her.

 

It was Minhyuk, who had a male scent mixed with the familiar yet strong smell of rain.

 

He lifted her up urgently and with great care, as if he feared his lord's body touching the cold ground a hundred times more than his own body would be shattered.

 

"It's okay, just let it go, it was just a little, very dizzy."

 

Sieun tried to break free from Minhyuk's embrace, breathing faintly, but her legs wouldn't hold, and she collapsed back onto his broad, firm chest.

 

Minhyuk clenched his jaw firmly as he looked at Si-eun's pale face and the cold sweat beading on her white forehead.

 

A deep sense of self-reproach filled his eyes.

 

"I will call for the royal physician, his complexion is as clear as a sheet of paper."

 

"No, absolutely not. Don't call me."

 

"Mama!"

 

Sieun firmly gripped Minhyuk's collar and shook her head firmly.

 

"No, absolutely do not call her. If we were to call the royal physician, rumors that the Empress collapsed from shock immediately after returning from the royal chamber must not spread throughout the palace. Yoo Jong-seok is clearly the type to attack the media by packaging even that as my weakness and guilt." I can't show them even an inch of weakness.

 

Minhyuk's pitch-black eyes flickered painfully at Sieun's weak yet venomous whisper.

 

Why must such a delicate and fragile person, in the middle of such a hideous and cruel battlefield, shed blood alone without armor? Minhyuk's teeth ground with a sharp sound.

 

Secretary Han

 

Sieun called out softly, nestled in Minhyuk's arms.

 

Yes, please speak, Your Majesty.

 

"Go to your study immediately and contact Secretary Kim of the Queen Dowager through secret channels, telling him that the cabinet's movements are clearly unusual and to keep track of the Prime Minister's Office's movements in real-time. Your father has cut off the money supply and begun to choke him, so cornered Yoo Jong-seok will surely manipulate the media to stage a national fraud."

 

"I will keep that in mind, Your Majesty, I will immediately meet with the Queen Dowager."

 

Secretary Han quickly ducked down and disappeared into the darkness beyond the corridor.

 

A strange and heavy silence settled over the space of the two people left behind.

 

Minhyuk carefully held Si-eun in his arms and moved toward the deep inner chamber of the Empress's residence.

 

His embrace was safer than any sturdy fortress, and his heartbeat was being conveyed slowly but heavily to Si-eun's ears.

 

Upon arriving at the inner chamber of the Empress's residence, Minhyuk carefully laid Si-eun on the bed and, as if it were a habit, tried to take a step back.

 

As if atoneing for the impious time when the shadow of their lord had touched their noble form, Si-eun's white and slender hand urgently reached out toward him, who was bowing deeply.

 

Sieun firmly grabbed Minhyuk's sleeve as he tried to back down.

 

Minhyuk, you know.

 

Yes, Mama.

 

Si-eun's gaze lingered on Min-hyuk's left forearm.

 

Last night, during the desperate bloody battle with the Black Shadow Assassination Squad, and the deep wounds sustained during the raid on Shinari's secret annex to extract information,

 

Above the dark black bodyguard uniform, there was no clear sign, but through the gaps in the sleeves, red and sticky blood was visible.

 

Just moments ago, I had barely managed to stop the bleeding by forcibly lifting Si-eun's body, but the wound finally burst open again.

 

"You lied about not being hurt, didn't you? Blood is seeping out, isn't it? The wound has opened."

 

"It's nothing special, just a slight brush against a beast's teeth. It will heal in a day or two and become a minor wound."

 

Take off your clothes.

 

"Your Majesty! How dare you, in front of your presence, with my humble self..."

 

 

Minhyuk was startled and stepped back abruptly, but Sieun's resolute and chilling gaze showed no sign of yielding.

 

She half-raised herself from the bed and stared straight at Minhyuk.

 

This is not just a simple concern, but an imperial order issued by the empress. "There is no cowardly lord who would stand by and watch the blood shed in place of my father to protect him for my sake, so take off your outer garment immediately."

 

In the end, Minhyuk unbuttoned the black uniform, stained with blood, one by one, with trembling, rough hands.

 

The wet outerwear fell heavily to the floor, and even the thin shirt was removed, revealing a muscular, beast-like upper body that was sturdy, muscular.

 

However, what took Si-eun's breath away was not his muscles but the numerous scars etched seamlessly on top of them.

 

The horrific traces of being cut by swords, burned by fire, and bitten by beasts, with flesh torn off as if torn apart by animals—it was Minhyuk's desperate history and blood-red badge of honor, who had endured death training for the past 15 years, giving up being human in the darkest shadow of the imperial family, solely to protect Si-eun.

 

And from the scarred shoulders to the elbows, the long, deeply torn skin was horribly gaping open, constantly vomiting red blood.

 

Si-eun hurriedly brought a first aid kit and knelt down beside Min-hyuk, who was kneeling under the bed.

 

It was an unconventional moment that could not even be imagined under the strict rules of the imperial family, where the empress of the world would kneel before a mere bodyguard and heal her wounds.

 

Whenever the white cotton, soaked in cold disinfectant, touched the torn wound, Minhyuk's massive body instinctively flinched.

 

An excruciating pain that scratched his nerves surged, but he clenched his lips until they were about to burst and didn't even let out a single groan.

 

Each time Si-eun's delicate and trembling hands tightly wrapped the white bandage, their hot and staggered breaths clashed and intertwined in the air, poignantly.

 

"Minhyuk, aren't you sick?"

 

Sieun tied the last knot of the bandage and asked softly in a moist voice.

 

"Compared to the pain of Your Majesty's heart being torn, the tearing of my skin is nothing more than an itching."

 

Sieun's fingertips momentarily paused in midair.

 

Minhyuk slowly raised his head to look into his deep eyes, filled with an intensely blind affection for Si-eun and a deep sorrow that he dared not even mention.

 

"You are truly foolish, never caring for your wounds since your days at the orphanage and only throwing your whole body into them for me."

 

Because my world began with Mama's salvation.

 

Minhyuk's voice was trembling terribly.

 

"Fifteen years ago, on that day, as I was dying like an animal in the muddy waters under torrential rain, the single white handkerchief Your Majesty handed me was the only rope and light that pulled me out from the depths of hell."

 

Minhyuk slowly and very carefully raised his rough hand and gently brushed the disheveled hair that had fallen over Si-eun's pale cheeks behind her ear.

 

It was a cautious touch that carried a forbidden affection that would require giving up one's life, something that could never be tolerated in the imperial court.

 

His calloused fingertips trembled slightly, almost touching Si-eun's cheek.

 

"Although my blood is red and base, and may defile Your Majesty's noble body, my heart is filled with nothing but a transparent and pure loyalty to Your Majesty." "Therefore, please do not try to bear all the burdens alone in this heavy and cruel battlefield. If Your Majesty must hide her unjust tears, I will be the deep shadow for you, and if you must stain them with blood, I will willingly become the sharpest sword in Your Majesty's hand."

 

Sieun's clear eyes trembled.

 

It was a breathtaking, complete comfort and absolute love that I had never received even once in the 14 years of blind obedience and devotion I had devoted to Jong-seok.

 

Sieun gripped Minhyuk's thick arm, wrapped in bandages, as if it were a lifeline, with both hands and slowly leaned her forehead against his broad shoulders as if collapsing.

 

Her slender shoulders trembled silently.

 

In this most splendid but cold imperial palace, only the two of them were completely relying on each other's warmth, swallowing tears of blood without tears together.