As much as I hated to admit it, I had finally understood that after all of these years, Hui-Jee was basically a victim of the schemes that had went on between the Seo's and myself. But she had entirely misunderstood the point and made it all about herself. Whereas everything we did for and against each other, it was all about survival. And no matter if we were friends or enemies at the time, we aways fought for each other's survival. But Yeon had always been a different matter from the start; it didn't matter to me if she had regained her memories at the time and hated me enough to betray me. I would still always fight for her life even if she betrayed me 100 times over. Yes, I admit that Hui-Jee had gotten caught up in this mess between us, but all she did was make everything worse. By the time she was done with me, Hwi understandably didn't have enough patience to put up with her antics when all he needed at the time was to be healed by his sister, as did i. She was the one who didn't have Yeon's never ending patience or understanding, and she most certainly didn't care enough about us to even deserve what she wanted. All she cared about was saving herself, and she had gotten what she wanted, so why the hell was she back here? To wreck the peace? To push my wife to leave me? Clearly, she didn't know how much Yeon loved me, so she could forget about that all together. And I didn't want to confront her without Hwi anymore, so I decided to just leave her to his mercy.
"Where are you going? Wait! Stop!" "I am going back to my wife and children who are probably waiting for me to return home." "So you are not going to tell me who Hwi's lover was? Not even now?" "Nope." "You owe me this!" "How?" "Why do you think I abandoned my hope of having a family with Hwi? Because he just simply didn't love me anymore. Because of you and the relationship that I had with you! Even if I bore him sons, we just couldn't make it work! That is why I fell into the arms of a Prince…." "…and so you got everything that you wanted; power, a husband, and a marriage that you could control. So why come back and ruin our peace? Why ruin everything that Hwi has worked for?" "Because I could not forget him, and I still do not know after 20 years who he fell in love with more than myself! After everything you both put me though and I was left waiting for 2 years, he just left me for somebody else." "In case you have forgotten, you left him because you were not a good woman you are the least maternal woman I have ever seen in my entire life, and instead of working on your relationship you just left to get a reaction out of him without thinking what it would do to him and his son's from his only legitimate marriage? Myself and my wife have helped him to raise his children whilst he worked himself to the bone to feed them and an entire village. Now, do the right thing for the first time in your entire life, do the right thing and leave before your so-called husband ruins the inheritance that your sons will have."
"That is exactly why I have come back, so that doesn't happen!" "Do you have any idea what you are talking about! Did my father-in-law not save your life? Are you not devoted to him as I am?" "This damned village took my away from my husband, and I will not let it become a burden on his sons that could have been mine! They have solid jobs at the palace and that is where their future will be…." "Don't even think about it! We all agreed that our children will inherit this land and serve the people who kept my father-in-law's memory alive! This village will become an idealistic land in which all other kingdoms should take note of! There will be no more labels of birthright, social circles or economical backgrounds! Women have every right to be educated and to find work just as men do! Every single child will have a right to an education, and the elderly will have all the provisions they need to retire easily!" "I will not let this place burden my children! Do you know how many years have went by and I haven't seen them! Because this village has been an enormous burden onto everyone's shoulders! The Third Prince will leave my children with a hefty inheritance in which they will never need to work again!" "You really don't know Hwi's sons, do you? They may work in the palace, but their hearts are here. You cannot just lash out by destroying their home! Why is it that to this day still, you are unable to think about anyone but yourself!"
I started to walk away again when I caught a glimpse of my twin daughters waiting outside of their home and waiting for me at the doorway like they always did. But they were on the laps of their older siblings who thrived more here than anywhere else that I have taken them. They had their big family here, they considered other villagers their equals and even Hwan toned down his antics when he was here. This village means everything to everyone, and I had to come up with a plan to prevent this land from turning into rubble, and fast.
"So how did your revenge plan work out on Yeon? Did you actually go through with it or not?" "That isn't any of your business! And stop bringing it up for goodness sake." "Did you do it? Or did you get stuck?" "Are you telling me that for the first time in your life, you didn't go through with what you planned?" "What exactly do you want to know?" "You planned for what happened to the Seo's, and you had a plan for me. For your beloved Yeon, did you go through your revenge on her? Or did she completely undo you?" "You have absolutely no idea what I have done to marry that woman and then get her to trust me afterwards, even after being with you." "So I was right; even after you did god knows what to her, you still managed to keep her by your side after all these years." "That is because she loves me; she loves me so much that she can put up with anything that I do to her. It doesn't matter if I use her, want her, need her to distance myself from her because she is mine to do as I please. She is mine, and she knows how to please a man in every regard, unlike someone else." "So is that why you left me? And Hwi gave up on me? To cheat on me with another lover?Because I couldn't do anything right at all? Or because I couldn't do anything exactly like Yeon did?" "Enough talk of the past now, my wife is waiting for me." "I know that every single moment of my presence here threatens this village that you all hold so much dearer than even myself. And if you do not want this place to burn to the ground with your entire family with it, then you will give me what I want!" "Which is?" "The name of the girl that Hwi has cheated on me with for all of these years? Before his wife? The name of the lover he had whilst he still had myself as a viable option as a bride? Just like he promised me!Who is this woman who is supposedly greater than myself, after everything I did for him and how long I waited for him to come back?"
I knew that this day would come one day, but I didn't know that it was literally going to cost me everything I had and more. There was a lot more than just my pride, my secret and my life on the line here, I had to think about everyone that had worked so hard to make this village what it was. And even if it meant that my longtime secret would be exposed and my life, my reputation and my hard work would be on the line then so be it. I had already lived a full life with my soulmate, and I had decided today to end everything before her memory deteriorated anymore and she forgot all about me and the long arduous journey we took together to create a life that we thought was impossible for us to achieve. So when I turned around to face the biggest mistake of my life, I didn't even hesitate to give her the answer to her constant obsession, because it was time for her to let Hwi go properly and let him return to the person that he had been in love with for years, even before he met her.