The duke held his wife in his arms as they sat on the common room sofa. Kim Namwoon quietly poured a cup of tea, handing it to his mother. "Everything is going to be alright," Hades assured. He tightened his hold on his wife's hand as he took in her tender, anxious state.
"I know but..," she glared at the tea cup in her hands. "What if he hates me now?"
While the duke didn't want to entertain such a thought, he understood how she felt. Hades had restlessly pondered over whether to show his son the article, not knowing whether it was the right decision or not. But he had thought it was best to do it then, so his sons wouldn't stumble upon the information themselves and have more of a reason to question their parents. At least this way he could reveal it on his own terms.
Nevertheless, it didn't make it any less painful, seeing the initial devastation on his son's face, and seeing his wife suffering so much right now. But he knew he was doing everything to support her right now. From all the years he's been together with his wife, he learned that these emotions had to manifest in full before they could be worked through.
"That's impossible...Kim Dokja doesn't hate you; he only needs some time to himself process everything. He'll be back before you know it, and when he does, we'll be right here to give him whatever he needs." The duke softly kissed the tears off his wife's face and took the teacup from her clenched hands. "For now, you need to rest," he said firmly.
Kim Namwoon wasn't sure what to make of the situation. Maybe this was petty of him to think, but for a second he wondered if he could really look at his brother the same as before, knowing what he did now. How would this affect
the family? Could they go on treating each other the same way? He shook the thoughts out of his head, feeling guilty for even allowing them to enter his mind. No, his brother would always be his brother, trivial things like blood didn't matter! It didn't change all the time they'd spent together. What he needed to do now was focus on the present, he shouldn't be brooding while his parents were so anxious.
"Mother, father, please go to your chambers for now and calm yourselves down. If hyung returns while you're still in there I'll make sure to be here and give him whatever help he needs!" Kim Namwoon stated with a confident smile. Persephone turned to her son; her eyes slightly widened. But they turned misty again and she pulled her son in close, thanking him for his understanding. Hades, much more withheld in his affection for his children, simply squeezed Namwoon's arm gently, nodding in appreciation. His son returned it with a nod of his own.
Gently pulling his wife out of the room, Hades guided Persephone's arm to hook through his own, overlaying his hand over hers. Just before the two left the room though, Persephone stopped walking and looked back at Kim Namwoon, a small smile finally gracing her face once more.
"My son, I just want you to know, you're our miracle too, never forget that."
-----
Kim Dokja was panting , his legs felt like jelly from running for so long. The assassins wouldn't let up, just when he would get to a place where he felt safe, he would hear their footsteps once more. He had injured his left arm from running through the trees and shrubs, but luckily that was the worst of his injuries. His body was covered in scrapes,cuts and bruises from the brush, along with the arrows that they had started firing. All he could see were trees and plants, not landmarks whatsoever, leaving him lost in the forest all over again.
The dead maid, the revelation about his birth, and now this?!
Dokja knew he couldn't keep going for much longer, his body was screaming for rest. He started looking in every direction for somewhere to hide. Spotting a large tree surrounded by a large pool of dried leaves, he rushed to lay down at the base of the tree and covered himself with the leaves from head to toe.
He held his breath and stayed deathly still when the assassin burst through the foliage into the area. Their footsteps slowed down, lingering around the tree.
"Damn it...he can't have gone that far from here, split up and search the area!" one of them barked out. His companions grunted in understanding, and Kim Dokja heard their feet moving away.
Waiting until the coast was clear, he started moving to get himself up, but stopped as a sudden rustle revealed one of the assassins had remained in the area. The assassin started slowly advancing to him, and Dokja was at their mercy.
Just one poorly misplaced leaf and he would be killed. His anxiety coming to a climax, Dokja burst out of the leaves and lunged toward the assassin. They balked in surprise, allowing Dokja to tackle them to the ground. When he saw them tighten their grip on their knife, Dokja tried desperately to wrestle it away from them, grabbing it by the blade.
Dokja could feel the tip slicing through his skin, seeing blood seeping from his clenched fists. Despite the pain, he didn't relent and kneed the assassin in the stomach. They groaned in pain, and unwittingly let it go. Turning the blade toward the assassin's body and placing his right hand on the butt of the knife, Dokja plunged it into the assassin's heart.
The assassin tried flailing around and yelled out in pain. Panicked at the thought that the other assassins would return to the area, Dokja covered their mouth with his hand, using his other hand to add pressure to the blade. The body beneath him trembled and sputtered before suddenly stopping. The adrenaline running through his body wouldn't let him stay still, or even think about what he'd just done.
Hoping they had died for good, Dokja extracted the knife from the body and turned to flee again, with the other pursuers undoubtedly still nearby.
---
It's getting dark outside as the sun began setting, with owls and crows beginning to cry out. Kim Dokja wanted to believe that the assassins had given up on chasing him, after several hours of playing cat and mouse with them.
Hanging low in some tall grass, he didn't see any signs of human life around him, so he started going to a different area, hoping to find his way out of the forest.
His family was probably searching for him, and he wanted nothing more than to return to them already. He huffed in slight amusement, thinking about how frantic they'd be once they found out what had happened to him. Though, he felt a bit guilty, knowing he'd walked out of his home after he'd just had a tumultuous conversation with the duke and duchess. He hoped they weren't too worried about him.
"Po?" Kim Dokja was startled back to reality when something spoke up next to him abruptly. Turning to his side, he instantly recognized Popo and tackled into his chest in relief.
"Popo! Thank god you're here!" he murmured and pulled away. He felt bad he couldn't play with Popo this time around, but he needed to be somewhere else, "Popo can you take me to just outside the forest?"
"Po!...popo?" Popo asked, looking at Dokja's wounds. Dokja shook his head at Popo.
"I'm ok don't worry...I'll just treat it later when I get home." Popo nodded hesitantly and turned around for Dokja to mount his back. The trip was short as they bounced their way through the forest once again,
but Dokja relaxed into Popo's softness and closed his eyes, thankful knowing he was finally safe. He felt the air on his body rocking him to sleep but woke as Popo announced their arrival. Getting off his back, Dokja could see the manor from where they stood. He turned to Popo and placed his palm over Popo's head.
"Tell Biyoo and Griffin that I said hi, ok?"
"Po!"
He smiled and waved goodbye to Popo, as he walked off. Though after a bit when Dokja looked back at the forest entrance, he could still see Popo standing there, watching him from the forest edge and waving.
----
The assassins broke out in a cold sweat as they faced the man in front of them. The man hadn't yet acknowledged their presence, instead analyzing the documents on his desk and signing papers. Nevertheless, they could sense his sour mood.
"Tell me what happened." the man ordered as he continued to write, not even glancing up. The male assassin leader stepped forward took a deep breath,
"We managed to injure Sir Kim----."
"Injure?" The writing ceased as the man pinned down the assassin with his eyes. The assassin barely concealed his flinch, feeling a bead of sweat rolling down his neck.
The leader's lips were trembling as he continued , "We didn't have an opportunity to capture him, he fled through the forest and hid himself away from us,". The assassin was no longer able to look his master in the eyes.
"He hid from you?" The man finally put down his pen and clasped his hands together, leaning forward in his seat.
"Yes, sir."
The man put his hand on his chin, thinking. The infamous Kim Dokja had taken great joy in mangling the bodies of his assassins before, but now he just hid from them? Why would the Underworld heir choose to flee instead of facing his pursuers, he had too much pride to do something like that. That person was undoubtedly planning something, it's impossible for people like Kim Dokja to just change overnight.
"Besides hiding, did he do anything else?"
The leader nodded. "Yes, he killed one of our companions. We found him with a single stab to the heart.," The man raised his eyebrows, staring blankly at them. Kim Dokja had only killed one assassin, and in such a merciful way—what did this mean?
The assassins bowed and left as soon as the man waved them away."Your highness, what if Sir Kim Dokja really did change—"his personal knight tried saying.
"No, don't be naïve and fall for his tricks,". He gazed back at the paper. The knight shut his mouth and looked down, frowning. At the same time, the room's doors opened, a girl standing at the entrance. Even with her tied up pigtails,
she looked just like her older brother. The knight bowed and greeted the girl as she walked to her brother's desk.
"Greetings Your Highness, Princess Yoo Mia"