Without uttering a word, the prince raised his sword and stabbed the old man in his shoulders, making him shriek and wail in pain. Seo-Joon pulled out his sword and was about to stab the old man again, when an arrow hit him followed by another, both burying deep into his chest.
Seo-Joon was forced down on his knees, he looked at where the arrow came from and saw a lone masked archer. Do-Yung got up and picked up his sword. He arrogantly walked to the prince "You should have killed me when you had the chance" he shouted as he drove his sword into the prince's chest.
He pulled his sword raised it above his head with two hands and said "I will find your little brother and I will carve him alive! I will deliver him to your father in pieces just so I can see him go mad!"
"NEVER!" the crowned prince shouted and with every bit of strength he had left, he swung his sword at the old man, cutting him deep in the throat. Do-Yung dropped his sword and quickly clasped his bleeding neck, he gurgled and wheezed, before falling face first on the ground dead.
The prince stood up, broke the arrows buried in his chest, and with the last of his strength charged at the lone archer. The masked man started to shoot his arrows at the prince, despite being hit two more times, Seo-Joon managed to go near enough to slash the man in the neck. The man fell to the ground motionless.
Seo-Joon, staggers back to his wife, he knelt beside her body, before lying down by his wife. Young-Sik brushed Eun-Ae's hand from covering his eyes. He quickly ran out of his hiding place to his brother's side. "Brother, are you all right? You're fine aren't you" he asked his brother
Seo-Joon gazed at his youngest brother with a mix of affection and exasperation. "What are you still doing here? You're such a stubborn little rascal," he chuckled.
"Come on, get up! We need to head to grandfather's house to help father." Tears welled in Young-Sik's eyes as he struggled to lift his brother.
"Just go ahead without me. I'm really tired and could use a nap," Seo-Joon replied, gently running his fingers through Young-Sik's hair.
"This isn't the time for jokes! You need to get up and join us so you can get better. Please, brother, stand up!" Young-Sik pleaded desperately.
"It's heartbreaking, young one, that you've had to witness the passing of those close to you at such an early age." Seo-Joon coughed, his voice strained from the injuries he sustained. "Don't forget the promise you made to me. You must remain strong, no matter the challenges. Protect ourfamily and dedicate yourself to your responsibilities with all your heart."
Tears streamed freely from the young prince's eyes as he nodded to his brother's request. Eun-Ae watched from a short distance; she wiped her face of the tears that rolled from her eyes.
"My time is near my dear brother, you must leave this place, hurry before more of them arrive," Seo-Joon told his brother, he strained as he tried to reach for Princess Yoo-Na's hand. Young-Sik took the hands of the crowned princess and placed them within reach of his brother.
"NO! I can't just walk away from you! You need to take your place as king after our father," Young-Sik wept, heartbroken at the thought of losing his brother.
"I'm not destined for the throne; my role is to protect the one who will be," Seo-Joon coughed, struggling to breathe. "I love you, my brother. I wish for you to grow into a man of wisdom, bravery, and honor." With that, Seo-Joon closed his eyes, and no matter how fiercely Young-Sik shook him, the prince remained silent and still.
Young-Sik embraced his brother as he cried and mourned for the people he lost. Eun-Ae looked around nervously, and she went to the young prince's side "Your Highness …someone bad might come, we must go now, we have no choice but to leave"
But Young-Sik refuses to leave, he clung to his brother. Out of desperation, Eun-Ae was forced to drag the prince away, she covered his mouth to prevent him from screaming. The children once again disappeared into the thick vegetation.
Moments later, the masked archer, opened his eyes, he took off the mask, it was Lim Do-Yun. He quickly felt the wound in his neck, he concluded that the prince might already be weakened, which explains why his wound was not deep enough to be fatal.
He slowly got up, then he remembered something, he frantically looked around till his eyes found his father. He ran and knelt by the old man's side, picked him up, and cradled his lifeless body, Do-Yun howled in anger.
He gently placed his father on the ground before striding over to Prince Seo-Joon's lifeless form. With a primal snarl, he confronted the fallen prince. He grabbed the prince's arm and dragged him toward the cliff's edge. Breathing heavily, he unleashed a flurry of kicks at the corpse, and when exhaustion set in, he decided to throw the dead prince into the raging waters below. Before he could push Seo-Joon, she saw something underneath the prince's garments. He took the pendant and watched it glisten in the palm of his hands. "I hope you don't mind; I will be taking this as my trophy…your Highness"
He placed the prince's plaque inside his robes and kicked the prince over the edge. Do-Yun observed as the body plummeted into the turbulent river below, where the currents rushed toward sharp rocks. A wicked grin spread across his face as he declared, "You'll be shredded to pieces, and may you vanish forever."
He then heard the sound of marching footsteps heading in his direction. He went back to his father's body, picked up his father's sword, and aimed at whoever came near him. Do-Yun dropped the sword, when he saw it was the King followed by his soldiers.
The King, saw Minister Do-Yun guarding the body of the elder Lim "Minister of War, what has happened here?" Do-Yun knelt by his father's side, and lied to protect himself "Your Highness, forgive us…We failed to protect the royal family" he cried "We were too late and the rebels overwhelmed us, my father fought to the end protecting the crowned prince"
The King grabbed Do-Yun by his shoulders "What do you mean overwhelmed?" he then glanced at the dead body of his daughter-in-law "The prince where is the prince?" he screamed at Do-Yun
The younger Lim looked at the cliff where he threw the prince "He fought valiantly, like my father…and like my father he fell from the sheer numbers of the mountain bandits"
He then removed the torn shawl from his neck to reveal the wound. "I only survived, because they thought I was dead"
The King's legs buckled when he saw Princess Yoo-Na's body, he was about to fall had it not been for the soldiers that caught him. Another group of soldiers ran to the King and reported their unsettling discovery. "Your Highness…we found the Queen's caravan…no one was left alive"
This the King fell to the ground, despite being supported by his soldiers. He cried and wailed upon learning the fate of his beloved family. Do-Yun discreetly glared at the King and in his mind, he thought "The loss you experience is not enough, I will make sure that you will lose more than your family!"
The King then remembered something, he stood up and frantically looked around, when it seemed that he did not find what he was looking for, he quickly went to the soldiers who found the Queen's group. "The prince? Has anyone seen Prince Young-Sik?"
The soldier shook his head, and the other soldiers scattered around, looking for any signs of the young prince.
Do-Yun felt like he was doused by cold water when he remembered the youngest son of the King. He too scanned the area but was unable to find the young boy. "He was here, one of those peasants told me they saw the prince. Then if he's not here, that could only mean, he was able to escape death. I have to assume that he saw everything. He must be killed before he tells the King about our involvement"
"My King… I volunteer to lead a search party to find the prince" he said, offering his services to the King "And when I find him, I will carve out his heart and feed it to the dogs" he said to himself.
"No," The King said "You are grieving and hurt, tend to your wounds then tend to your father, he deserves to be remembered as a hero. The prince is my responsibility, he is my son"
Before he could protest, the King had already told some of the soldiers to carry the bodies of the Queen, the princess, and as well as of Minister Lim. Do-Yun no longer had any choice but to follow the King's order.
The moon quickly rose to the sky, and the children exhausted from the day's ordeal panted from running. While Eun-Ae catches her breath, Young-Sik keeps on crying. The little girl sat beside the prince and embraced him. "You need to stop crying Your Highness …you might get sick"
"They're all gone…they're all gone because I can't do anything for them," he said "They died because I was too weak and too scared to help them" the prince added, expressing his sentiments about the events that unfolded.
"It's not your fault, and there was nothing you could have done to help them," Eun-Ae said delicately, she did not want her words or the tone of her voice to become salt to the prince's wounds. "It's already dark, we need to take shelter and rest, Nyuong gum is still far"
Young-Sik, despite the tears nodded, he stood up and the pair continued to walk. When they passed some low-lying trees, Young-Sik's Outer robe, kept getting snagged with the branches. "Why don't you remove your robe? It keeps getting caught" Eun-Ae suggested
"No… don't you know, that a presentable look is part of being a prince?" Young-Sik explained to the little girl
"Who do you need to be presentable to?" Eun-Ae simply asked
The prince looked around and realized it was just the two of them, but being a prince, he still refused the reasonable suggestion. "It does not matter, I am a prince and I need to be presentable at all times"
Eun-Ae shrugged her shoulders "Suit yourself, but I'm telling you, if a tiger chases us and your clothes get caught again…Don't expect me to help you" She turned around and continued to walk
Young-Sik started to scan his surroundings, and when he heard the rustling leaves, he started to run after Eun-Ae, but his robes got caught again. "Hey…wait for me HEY!" he shouted as he tugged on his sleeves. Seeing that Eun-Ae was already far away, he took off his princely robes leaving only his inner garments, composed of a long-sleeved shirt and baggy pants, he then ran after the girl.
When he caught up with the girl, he walked beside her, he noticed the large wound on her right elbow. "Is your wound all healed up? Does it still hurt?"
Eun-ae looked at the wound on her right elbow "It's still healing, but it does not hurt that much" she said
The pair continued to walk some distance until they found a hollowed-out dead tree. Eun-Ae took a peek inside, she examined the hollow tree. "We can sleep here for the night" She crawled inside and positioned herself in the middle of the hollowed tree trunk.
Young-Sik peeked inside, his face instinctively showed disgust at the damp, smelly, and filthy tree trunk. "What are you waiting for? Come inside and sleep" Eun-Ae's voice echoed within the hallowed tree.
Having no choice because of fatigue and exhaustion, Young-Sik crawled inside and sat beside the little girl. Eun-Ae guided the prince's head onto her shoulders and embraced him. "What are you doing the prince asked?"
"Reminding you, that I am still here with you," She said, assuring him of her presence
The prince then raised his eyes to look at his friend and he asked a personal question "Eun-Ae…don't you have any family?"
"I was sold to be a court maid when I could even barely walk" She replied, not wanting to talk about her family, Eun-Ae insisted that they rest "It's going to be a long walk, let's go to sleep" The two children closed their eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.