A day ago( a night before the duel)
Min yu was walking in his personal courtyard in the middle of the night , taking in some fresh air , the moonlight as beautiful as the sunset constantly reminded him of what was going to happen the next day , he heaved , he had not seen Lee Kwon ever since he took sora , he won't lie , he had been wondering the kind of relationship they both had , it couldn't be just a maid and master relationship, at that moment while he was still thinking he saw a figure emerge from the darkness , he tilted his head a little , his hand clenched up on the handle of his sword as he slowly approached the said figure , "halt right there or die on the spot", he said in a commanding tone as he stepped closer to the shadow coming towards him , getting a closer look at the figure his eyes slightly widened in surprise, his sword still pointing at the figure," So ra .....", he said finally lowering his sword , " what are you....." , but before he could finish Eun Chen threw him a crimson pear which he caught , Min yu looked at Eun Chen curiously whose eyes still remained unfazed , he looked down on the crimson pear that was on his hand , slowly turning it to the other side , he saw something that looked like spiral marks branded on it, Min yu tilted his head in confusion , raising up his head to meet Eun Chens cold gaze , what is the meaning of this So ra....?", he asked clenching the pear in his hand , Eun Chen heaved and came closer to him, " you should get a hint of who I am with that pear on your hand, so then I don't have to be formal or casual with you", she said coming closer to Min yu who still looked at her confused, Eun Chen sighed as she removed her cloak, only her white robe remained, she heaved pulling her robe one sidedly revealing the dimly lit spiral marks on her chest no longer in it's brilliant white , Min yu eyes widened , " you must be surprised, and r...", Min yu immediately pulled out his sword placing the sharp edge on her neck, " shut up ,...I don't want to hear anything from you ", his tone held of strong disgust and a little hurt could be heard from his voice pressing the sharp sword more on her skin causing Eun Chen to extend her neck a little to at least reduce the contact , " if killing me is what you want,....you can do it after I say what I have to say , after that you can do with me whatever you want ", she said in a serious and sincere voice .
Min yu instead placed the sharp edge closer to her neck , his eyes held that of complete disgust and hatred , an emotion she had expected from him, " so...., how were you able to hide so we'll from us, you even had the audacity to work for my brother in disguise of a maid,...", " and why would I put up being a maid for that long if I could have killed you all while I had the chance , there were so much opportunities, think about it, the time we first met, at the forest, at the throne room, when you confronted me at Lee Kwons home and when we picked up pears ", she said coldly. Min yu eyes widened almost in shock and in a broken realization while looking at Eun Chen, " your lying,...my brother would have...."," me and Lee Kwon had an agreement, it was a loose and gain situation, he did his for desperation, I did mine for escape,.....but...", she paused, her eyes softened , " it's no longer about that", she said . Min yu couldn't believe anything he was hearing right now , his eyes met hers , it was filled with disbelief and a painful sense of betrayal, " so..., Lee Kwon knew who you were all along,.....", he said pained, not wanting to know the answer , not wanting to hear it, blood began seeping into his sword indicating that she had been cut, " yes.....", she said frankly seeing her blood on his sword he felt the need to end her life once and for all , but at the same time he felt the urge to put the sword down , his hand vibrating involuntarily, it all made absolute sense now , when they first met he remembered how Lee Kwon had acted that day , it was strange , even when they met at the relic fortress , Lee kwons belt being found in the forest , it couldn't be all some kind of coincidence, in his garden when he was carrying Eun Chen how he had covered her up , but why?...., why would he help her when he knew the consequences that awaited him once he was found out, he may even be killed , so why?..., he reluctantly removed the sword from her neck , his hand falling freely almost lifeless , his eyes full of questions, " why?....?", he muttered, " he felt abandoned .....", she said her voice almost low.
Min yu looked at her, what she was saying right now angered him even more, how would she knows him that well when she had met him not too long ago , " how does he feel abandoned, don't act like you are part of Lee Kwons life when you are nothing but a rogue assasin who deserves to be put to death ", said Min yu spitefully coming closer to Eun Chen who didn't bother to move as she stood a solid stance , Eun Chen eyes felt dead looking at him, it had that sight view that said I don't want to fight, " have you ....ever looked into his eyes", Min yu tilted his head quizzically at what she just said , she heaved knowing fully well that he hadn't, " that means you don't know your brother, you feel both of you are happy in your brotherly relationship , but you don't know how much he suffers ..", Min yu clenched his sword and then fiercely pointed it at her, " what do you know,...., just keep your mouth shut and follow me quietly, for reaving yourself tonight I will put in a good word for you so your death will be quick", he said roughly grabbing her by her arm, " you aren't even interested in what I have to say ", she said , this time in an almost yell of desperation as she tried to resist him , " you did a good job revealing yourself tonight , now it will be better to just end all these so that we could all live peaceful lives , let's end this your madness....", he said , " even if I die tonight more people will come after the royal family , I am not the only one , so whether you like it or not the royal family will still perish", she said in one breath, almost running out of breath , Min yu paused , he turned around and looked at her confused , his hand still held hers , " what do y...", " I'm not the only one who has who has the motive to kill off your family , there are so many others....., others thinking of more gruesome ways to end your bloodline", she said pulling her hand away from Min yu's grab , " they are willing to kill anyone in their way just to kill all of you ..", she said adamantly.
After a moment of taking in all these information that had been provided to hi. , he was still in deep disbelief, " you are my enemy,...., do you think I believe...."," I am not expecting you to believe anything I say , it's an information I was not willing to share , I would rather see all of you perish than for you to live another day having feasts , clamoring elegantly , walking another day under the sun ,...., it's painful to watch all that , she said coldly , Min yu jaw clenched hearing the words she said , " does Lee Kwon know you are here ", he finally asked , " no", she answered frankly, " what is your motive for sharing this information knowing fully well you are going to get killed", asked min yu curiously, Eun Chen scoffed , " I am dying by two things ,....my clan or,.....", she slightly pulled her robewhich showed the dimly lit spiral marks , " or this ,....., if I'm lucky , its by your sword, but I would rather not die by your sword,...", she said coming close to Min yu, " you are here because you are worried about Lee Kwon ,...., ", " and what do you care, wasn't it you gain to loose situation, you were the one who encouraged him to this duel ", he said moving closer to her, " believe me or not, head that mindset even before we met, he just wanted a master since all masters were banned from teaching him martial arts , seeing me was an opportunity ",looking up at Min yu, " I deeply care about Lee Kwon ", she said softly , Min yu was taken aback by what she said, but he wasn't surprised, he shouldn't be surprised, the action he had seen , he knew that she really cared about him, they cared about each other , he couldn't tell if she was actually deceiving him , but the way she spoke right now you could tell, " the duel is tomorrow, its pretty obvious what will happen ,...., the Queen won't let Lee Kwon go scot free, eventhough he triumphs at the end , the Queen will get him killed ", said Eun Chen , " Lee Kwon is an adult,he can think for himself"," remember when you cornered me at the garden , weren't you worried that something will happen to Lee Kwon, you know your mother better than me.....", saud Eun Chen almost desperate, " weren't you the one that wanted him to duel ....", said Min yu annoyed and frustrated , " right now,...., eventhough he thinks he is ready , with my weakened strength I didn't reach my full potential in teaching him, with your limited time and busy schedule you couldn't also teach him properly,...., he is still clumsy and isn't ready", said Eun Chen , her voice quivering, her blood slowly stained her cloth, " fight in his place ..."," what are you.....", " do one more bad deed , help him fight and I will write down all the members of my clan who plan to kill your family, I will also turn myself in", saying that, at that moment her chest began to ache just like the time in the garden , immense heat spread across her body , her legs became weak as she fell to her knees , gasping for breath , her hand on her chest , Min yu looked at her alarmly as he quickly went over to her, grabbing her by her shoulder , " what is wrong with you , why are you suddenly acting like this ", his voice was full of worry.
Eun Chen raised her head, her weakened eyes meeting his , she parted her robe slightly revealing the spiral marks , it had turned bloody red, she gave a cold smile , " guess I am dying from this then....", she said weakly before passing out on Min yu chest, Min yu remained stiff for a while not knowing what to do , the woman he had been determined to kill all this while had been here all along , his brother had been helping her all along deceiving everyone , right now she was here, vulnerable, weak , helpless , he clenched his fist , so why couldn't he kill her while she was in front of him , his hand shook fervently looking at the wound he had inflicted on her neck, her body was cold , her wound still oozing out blood , he quickly reached out for his handkerchief in his sword saddle and placed it on her wound as gentle as possible , could he have chosen the later?, gazing at her pale face , going back to everything she had said , it was a fact that she despised the royal family , but eventhough he didn't want to believe it he knew she really cared for Lee kwo , she believed in him more than he, she had defended him when people had doubted him including himself, would Lee Kwon had ever confronted her if he had made it known that he was always by his side?, would he have decided to choose an assasin over his own brother if ge knew he was always by his side eventhough he never did openly, he couldn't imagine how lonely he felt , he couldn't imagine the kind of resentment he had harbored deep within him to finally take the risk, the risk that could ultimately get him executed, was he that hurt that he sought help from an enemy of the state?, and the traitor tends to understand him more than the people that had lived with him for the past twenty years. " Would I have known what he was passing through ,..., if I had looked into his eyes only for a day".