Hwan chuckled darkly, shoving Seong away. "You're a bit slow on the uptake, aren't you?"

  "Why are you doing this?" Seong shouted, his voice raw with fury. "Why kill the Emissaries?"

  The warmth of their earlier embrace had vanished, replaced by a chilling rage. Hwan remained nonchalant.

  "A few dead Emissaries and you're this worked up? Did the sky fall? Did lightning strike me down? They're a dime a dozen in Wicheong Palace. More reasons to kill them than keep them around, anyway."

  "And what reasons were those?" Seong demanded.

  "They saw me. And I prefer to remain unseen."

  Seong grabbed Hwan by the collar, his voice rising to a roar. "Are you out of your mind?! You killed all those people just for that?"

  Hwan merely blinked, his expression unchanged. They both knew that Seong's anger, his shouts and curses, were futile. Hwan wouldn't be swayed. It was a familiar dance, one they had repeated for over a decade. Yet, each time, they had found their way back to each other, their anger giving way to reconciliation. The familiarity of their conflict, the predictable pattern of their rage and forgiveness, filled Seong with a strange sense of longing, a longing that only intensified his despair. This time, there seemed to be no path towards reconciliation.

  Hwan sighed, pushing Seong's hands away. "What's the big deal? It's not like this is new. Is Wicheong Palace so boring these days that a little bloodshed throws you off? Those Emissaries are nothing compared to the people I've slaughtered at sea these past four years. Speaking of reasons, what's yours?"

  "My reason?"

  "Why are you here? You knew I was here, didn't you?"

  "Yes," Seong admitted. "I knew you were here."

  "And who else knows you came?"

  Seong remained silent. Hwan sneered. "Figured. If they knew, you wouldn't be here solo. So, spill it. Why'd you come looking for me?"

  "You knew I was here too," Seong repeated.

  "No, I didn't..."

  Seong cut him off. "Don't lie to me! I knew it was you the second I saw that ship. I felt you coming. And you're telling me you had no clue I was here?"

  Instead of denying it, Hwan looked away. Seong, his voice thick with frustration, pressed on, "Why’d you come alone? If you knew I'd be here, after four years of this, if you're just gonna treat me like this, why not bring your goons and finish me off right here? Hang my head on Wicheong's gates as a nice little souvenir!"

  "I don't need backup to take you down."

  "Then do it now. Perfect opportunity," Seong challenged.

  Hwan shrugged it off. "I'm a king, not some back-alley assassin. This ain't the place."

  "Stop kidding yourself," Seong spat. "Neither of us is a king. Until the people of Sunyahng open their gates, we're nothing."

  Hwan scoffed. "That's why you're not fit to rule. People opening gates? Dream on."

  "Dreamer or not, you lost your right to rule long ago. The moment you first shed blood, no one considered you a true Scion."

  Seong's words referred to the ancient law of the Wi royal family: a king shed no blood but that of the royal line. But to Hwan, it was a law of a fallen kingdom, a law that couldn't protect him, a law that couldn't restore Wi to its former glory. He yearned to shatter their shared hypocrisy, to expose the hollowness of their noble ideals.

  "And what about the blood on your hands?" he challenged, his voice dangerously calm.

  Seong's face paled. Even the slightest reminder of his past failings was enough to shatter his composure.

  "Keep clutching at your precious laws," Hwan sneered. "I'm dying to see how Wicheong Palace fares with you in charge."

  "What's your plan?" Seong asked. "Sticking with this piracy?"

  "I won't let the Wi legacy, a thousand years strong, die with you and Ryang," Hwan replied. "I'm taking Wicheong Palace back."

  Seong pitied Hwan's obsession with the Guardianship, just as Hwan pitied Seong's naivete.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  "Wicheong Palace isn't mine," Seong countered, a sad smile touching his lips. "You can't take back what never belongs to anyone. People remember what you did. You really think they'll follow you just because I'm gone?"

  "If they don't fall in line, I'll make them."

  "That arrogance is why Uncle gave up on you. Still not getting it?"

  "Gave up?" Hwan scoffed. "He didn't give up. He played you. He knew you weren't up to it, but he picked you anyway. Couldn't admit he messed up, so he lied to himself. And you're still playing along with that lie. You were the one who gave up."

  Hwan's eyes narrowed, his gaze piercing. He seemed determined to dredge up every painful memory. Seong, unable to bear his brother's scrutiny, looked away.

  "You chose Ryang and Seon," Hwan continued. "You could've saved everyone, but we both know you didn't have the strength, the courage. Who will you give up this time?"

  "I'm not giving up on anyone," Seong declared firmly.

  Hwan laughed, a harsh, mocking sound. "You won't have a choice."

  His words hit Seong like a cold prophecy. He turned back to face his brother, the fear in his eyes replaced by a steely resolve.

  "Don't touch Ryang or Seon," he warned. "Whatever you're planning, I'm stopping you."

  Hwan let out a harsh laugh. "If you're so tough, you should've drawn your sword the second you saw me. What do you think Ryang's gonna say when he finds out you knew I was alive? That you knew I was the one who tipped off the princess about House Myeonghyeon? Even Myeonghyeon Ryang, Mr. Loyalty himself, won't be able to swallow that. And neither will I. But you're not gonna tell them, are you?"

  Seong's resolve faltered. "I spent countless nights looking for you," he confessed, "staring at the horizon, praying you were alive. I didn't go through all that for this... this stupid squabble."

  "You still haven't answered my question," Hwan pressed. "Why are you here?"

  Seong remained silent.

  "If you've got nothing else to say, leave," Hwan demanded. "We might not be able to play nice, but we shouldn't make this any worse than it already is."

  "Is there anything worse than this?" Seong asked, his voice laced with despair.

  "Plenty," Hwan replied coldly.

  "What, you gonna kill me?"

  "If I have to. But not today."

  Hwan's words were ruthless, delivered without hesitation. But Seong clung to a desperate hope.

  "Is there really no way for us to fix this?" he asked.

  Hwan stared at him incredulously. "Are you for real?"

  "I want to try," Seong pleaded. "Before it's too late. I want to do something, anything..."

  Hwan stared at his brother, incredulous. Seong's persistent naivety filled him with a weary frustration. He paused, then spoke.

  "You're gonna be an uncle."

  Seong's eyes widened in surprise. "Yirahng's child?"

  Hwan simply nodded.

  "Congratulations," Seong offered awkwardly.

  "You get what that means?" Hwan asked.

  "What're you on about?"

  "It means you've got nothing left here," Hwan stated flatly. "No chances, no do-overs. 'Before it's too late'? It's already as bad as it gets. I have a partner, and soon, a child. They are my family now. You are my enemy. The Guardianship, the prophecy, the throne of Wi... I ain't giving any of it up to you. From the start, only one of us was meant to survive. Wicheong thinks it should've been you. They'll figure out they were wrong soon enough."

  "What're you trying to prove with all this hate?" Seong shot back. "Is the empty title of king really worth burning everything down for??"

  "Empty?" Hwan stepped closer, his face inches from Seong's. "You think that's all I want?"

  "Then what is it?" Seong demanded. "What delusion are you clinging to?"

  "You, of all people, should understand me."

  "I understand you more than anyone."

  "I'm not so sure anymore."

  Hwan turned away. Seong, unable to contain his emotions any longer, poured out his heart.

  "You ask why I came? I came 'cause I missed you. No matter what I went through, I needed to see you again. Every time I think about that night, I hate you so much I could kill you. But the thought of you being dead... it scared me to death. For four years, I've gone to sleep terrified every night."

  His voice cracked, thick with unshed tears. Hwan remained unmoved.

  "You really are an idiot."

  Seong's vulnerability was a threat, a weakness Hwan couldn't bear. He had faced death countless times, but never with such a visceral fear.

  "Leave," he ordered coldly. "And don't come back."

  "Hwan."

  "If you stay any longer, I won't let you leave alive."

  Hwan's voice, stripped of its usual mockery, was a chilling threat. But Seong stood his ground. In a swift motion, Hwan drew his sword, the blade pressed against Seong's throat. Seong didn't flinch. Hwan's eyes, filled with a terrifying intensity, seemed to bore into him. But he couldn't do it. He couldn't kill his brother. With a frustrated growl, he sheathed his sword.

  "You idiot."

  He turned to leave, but Seong's voice stopped him.

  "You're just gonna walk away? This is really it?"

  Hwan paused, his back still turned. "It's a better farewell than the last one, wouldn't you say?"

  "This can't be the end," Seong pleaded, his voice breaking. "Not like this..."

  Seong's raw grief was a dangerous crack in Hwan's carefully constructed defenses. He couldn't stay. He would shatter.

  "It's not the end," he said. "Next time we meet, one of us dies. That's the end. Not today."

  Seong yelled after Hwan, who was already walking away. "I'm not giving up on anyone! Not even you! You hear me? I'm not giving up on you!"

  There was no reply. The night swallowed Hwan's retreating figure, the heavy air, thick with unshed tears, silencing even the echoes of Seong's desperate cries.