CHAPTER 38
Dohyun folded his arms, stepping closer to Muwon with uncharacteristic firmness.
"Come on, Muwon. Taeyang is still Sihyun's son. No matter what's happened, he has every right to see him."
Muwon's jaw tightened. His dark gaze burned with a storm of emotions.
"Right?"
His voice was low, heavy with pain.
"Do you forget what he almost did, Dohyun? What nearly happened to Taeyang because of him?"
The words lingered in the air, sharp and suffocating. Muwon's expression softened slightly, sadness creeping through the cracks in his stern composure. He lowered his voice, almost as if speaking to himself.
"I can't… I can't bear to lose either of them. Not Sihyun… and not Taeyang. That's why it's best this way."
Taejin, who had been silent until now, finally spoke, his tone calm but firm.
"Muwon, if you keep shutting Sihyun out like this… you're only making things worse. The distance will grow. And when it does, you'll regret it."
Muwon's lips parted, ready to retort, when a quiet voice broke the air.
"…I'm sorry."
The three men turned.
Sihyun stood a few steps away, his head slightly bowed, his hair catching the sunlight. Yuhyun lingered just behind him, his hand half-extended as if he'd tried to stop his brother but failed.
Sihyun refused to meet Muwon's eyes. His hands trembled at his sides as he forced the words out.
"I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble… for everything."
Muwon froze, torn between the ache in his chest and the unspoken fear in his heart.
At that moment, Taeyang looked up from his scroll, his wide eyes locking on the figure he'd been longing for.
"Dada—"
The word rose instinctively to his lips, but it caught in his throat. He clenched the quill in his little hand, realization dawning that this wasn't the right moment. So he bit it back, watching in silence as the fragile scene unfolded.
Sihyun's throat felt dry, but he forced himself to speak, his voice trembling.
"Muwon… please. Let me see him. Just for a moment."
He finally raised his eyes, black irises shimmering with a mix of desperation and guilt.
"I promise… it won't happen again. Whatever you fear—whatever I've done before—I won't let it happen. Not to Taeyang. Not ever again."
Yuhyun, standing close behind, bit his lip but said nothing, silently praying Muwon would listen.
Muwon's heart twisted at the sight of Sihyun's trembling figure. Every fiber of him screamed to close the distance, to erase everything with a single step and hold him the way he used to. He longed to forget—forget the nights of fear, forget the almost irreparable mistake, forget the danger that came with loving someone marked as Sihyun was.
But the fear clung like chains.
Sihyun was in his 20th mark phase. The air around him already seemed heavier, the faint thrum of unstable magic sparking beneath his skin. Anything could trigger it. One wrong moment, and the risk to Taeyang—or even to Sihyun himself—was too high.
Muwon's fingers curled into his robes as his thoughts tore him apart. I want to believe him… I want to trust him again. But what if trusting him means losing Taeyang? What if loving him means losing everything?
He opened his mouth, but no words came. His eyes lingered on Sihyun's, searching, aching, yet guarded.
And from a distance, Taeyang sat frozen at his desk, his small hands clutching the scroll, his heart pounding. His wide eyes shifted between the man he called "Papa" and the man he longed to call "Dada," sensing the storm between them but too afraid to speak.
Muwon's voice came out low, almost breaking under its own weight.
"I'm sorry, Sihyun… but I can't. This is for the best—for you, for me… for Taeyang."
The silence that followed felt like a blade. Dohyun's brows furrowed, disbelief clouding his expression. Taejin's mouth fell slightly open, stunned that Muwon could still be so unyielding after everything.
Sihyun's knees weakened, but he forced himself to stand, his chest tightening as though the very air was being stolen from him. His lips parted, but no words came—just the throb of his heart breaking piece by piece.
"Sihyun…"
Yuhyun couldn't bear it any longer. He stepped forward, his voice urgent, almost trembling.
"Muwon, please. Reconsider. Even if not today—set a day. Let him see Taeyang then. You know Taeyang wants to see his Dada too. You know it."
Muwon turned his gaze to Yuhyun, but his eyes were steady, resolute.
"That is my final decision."
The words struck like iron. He turned, his steps heavy but determined, heading back toward Taeyang.
And then—
"I didn't kill the late king!"
Sihyun's voice ripped through the study arena, sharp, desperate, shaking the walls of silence.
Muwon froze mid-step, his breath catching. Slowly, he turned his head back, his eyes narrowing as though he wasn't sure he'd heard right.
Sihyun's fists clenched at his sides, his chest rising and falling. His voice cracked, heavy with sorrow and pleading.
"I swear it, Muwon. I didn't kill him. No matter what they told you—no matter what you believed—I didn't!"
For a heartbeat, the world seemed to stop. Dohyun and Taejin exchanged quick, startled glances, their eyes wide. Yuhyun lowered his gaze, torn between relief that the truth was finally voiced and fear of how Muwon might react.
Muwon's heart thundered in his chest. That single claim rattled the chains of everything he thought he knew, threatening to shatter the fragile balance he'd been clinging to.
Taeyang, sense something had changed in the air—something heavy, something important.
Muwon stopped, his shoulders stiff, and then slowly turned back toward Sihyun. His steps were steady but heavy, each one echoing like a warning through the arena.
When he stood before him, his eyes were unreadable, dark with a storm he couldn't tame.
"Stop this, Sihyun,"
he said firmly, his voice low but sharp.
"Whatever you're trying to prove—my answer still remains the same. And no matter what you say, no one is going to believe you."
The words stung, piercing deeper than any chain could.
Then Muwon's gaze wavered, and he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. His next words were harsher, colder than he intended.
"And the way you're behaving… you're only making me believe you really did kill the late king."
The air went still.
Dohyun's mouth parted in shock. Taejin's brows shot up, his usually calm face breaking into a stunned glare. Even Yuhyun froze, his heart pounding as if lightning had struck before his eyes.
Sihyun lifted his head slowly, his eyes wide, his lips trembling as though the ground beneath him had vanished.
"…What?"
The word was soft, but it carried the weight of shattered trust.
His mind replayed Muwon's last statement over and over until the meaning dug deep into his chest. His breath grew uneven, his body shaking. Then, all at once, his voice rose, desperate, breaking through the silence like thunder.
"You think I killed him?!"
Muwon flinched at the sharpness of his tone, but Sihyun wasn't done. His voice trembled with rage and heartbreak as he stepped forward.
"After everything—are you really going to believe them over me?!"
The trio exchanged glances, all of them realizing the same truth at once: this wound was entirely Muwon's fault.
Sihyun's chest heaved, his eyes blazing with pain, ready to lash out again—but before he could, Muwon closed the distance and grabbed his shoulders firmly. His voice cracked as he whispered hoarsely:
"Sihyun… I'm sorry. Forgive me—I shouldn't have said that."
For the first time in a long while, the Crown king looked not like a ruler, but like a man terrified of losing someone he couldn't bear to let go.
Sihyun's smirk lingered, bitter and sharp as glass.
"You know what, Muwon?"
His voice dripped with venom.
"I really wish I had killed your father. But I didn't. Still… I'm glad he's gone. The king deserved to die—and rot in hell."
The room froze.
Yuhyun's eyes widened in horror, Dohyun's playful demeanor vanished into shock, and even Taejin—always the calmest—looked as though the ground had slipped beneath him.
Muwon's chest tightened, his breath hitching. His heart felt like it was being crushed, drowned in sorrow at Sihyun's words. For a moment, silence stretched, unbearable.
Then crack!
Muwon's hand came down hard against Sihyun's cheek.
The sound echoed through the arena like a thunderclap.
Sihyun staggered, his body giving way as he fell to the floor.
At the table, Taeyang gasped—his small hands clutching at the edge of his chair, his eyes wide with fear. He didn't understand, not fully, but the sight of his parents breaking apart in front of him shook him to his core.
"Papa…?"
His voice trembled, uncertain, searching.
Yuhyun's breath caught, his chest tightening with panic. Dohyun, torn between rushing to Sihyun or holding back. Taejin's jaw clenched, but even he seemed frozen, unable to process the violent fracture unraveling before them.
And in the middle of it all—Muwon stood over Sihyun, his hand still trembling from the strike, his own eyes filled not with anger but with unbearable grief.