Chapter Text
“Please! I—I wish to speak with his Majesty!”
He lost everyone. So easily did they slip through his slim fingers and all he could do was sit helplessly on his knees, dirtying his extravagant robes.
“Your Majesty, rest if you are feeling unwell. I will not be accepting no as an answer.” It was instant for Yeosang, he was a frail thing despite his very strong personality. The sound his neck made when the noose had snapped it was sickeningly loud and haunted Seonghwa to the point of being unable to sleep.
“Let’s enjoy them together, your Majesty, they taste better fresh.” At Yeosang’s side, it had not been a painless death for Jongho who’s body was as strong as his will to live and protect his Majesty. His neck didn’t snap and, instead, the poor man was left to suffocate until his body went limp and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. It took minutes that felt like years for Seonghwa, possibly an eternity for Jongho.
Mingi… San… Seonghwa had lost every single one of them. He felt as though he were drowning, struggling desperately to swim up to the surface of his own pain and suffering. Why? Why did any of this happen? Yeosang and Jongho, Seonghwa had spent his entire life with them, they were his best friends, his brothers. Mingi and San, he wasn’t as close with them but he knew more than anyone that they were strong, brave, kind, gentle… they were not men that deserved to die.
And yet all that was left was Seonghwa. Why? How could this be?
The murky air felt heavy against his lungs with dread and despair, sticking to Seonghwa’s once porcelain skin in the form of thick grime and sweat. From head to toe, he could no longer be seen as the great empress of the golden Halazian Empire as his tears, like acid against his skin, stained his pale cheeks, dripping messily from his wobbling chin.
This wasn’t right, he didn’t belong in a cell, hidden away from his own empire while awaiting his time to run out.
What sinister deed could he have possibly been accused of to deserve such a fate? Sentenced to death? He who could not even hurt a mere insect? He who did not have a single evil bone in his frail body?
Seonghwa felt lost and humiliated, two emotions he’d grown used to over the years but both still hurt just the same as the first time he’d been subjected to them. He couldn’t understand what was happening or even why, he’d done everything he could to serve his husband and his empire, he was undeserving of such a bitter end. They all were.
“The emperor! I request an audience with the—I’m his wife! You can’t just keep me in here like this!”
His desperate cries went unheard once more. No one was concerned for him. The guards stood like statues on either side of the cell door, surely used to Seonghwa’s pleas by now.
He had been locked away in the cell for what felt like years, maybe months or even weeks, but was all but 10 days and nights. He was fed stale food, unfit for even a peasant to consume, and left to drink from the puddles of water that pooled in the back corner of his cell as they refused to give him any fresh, clean water. It didn’t mean a thing to him, he didn’t dare complain. If anything, he felt grateful to have been given at least that much when his beloved husband could have easily decided against giving him anything at all with what it was that he was being accused of.
Perhaps his Majesty didn’t believe those horrendous lies spread by that atrocious woman. Perhaps he was busy investigating to find out the truth? Yes, that had to be why Seonghwa was being denied his right to see his Majesty as his significant other. For Seonghwa’s sake, he was searching high and low for proof of his innocence, of course he was.
The bitter feeling in his chest wanted to push away his delusional thoughts but he took a deep, shaky breath, wiped his tears away with his trembling hands and tried his best to drown himself in those delusions. Seonghwa wouldn’t die, he wouldn’t be locked away forever, his beloved husband would come and save him. As he was going to ask once more for an audience with the emperor, his cell door was suddenly unlocked by one of the guards and held open. Confused, Seonghwa sat frozen, unable to move from his spot on the filthy concrete floor beneath him. He waited cautiously, unsure of what would happen should he attempt to leave on his own now that the door to his prison was wide open. If he were being released, he’s sure there would’ve been escorts standing on the other side waiting patiently for him. No, someone was coming.
“Look at you, hyung.”
Seonghwa felt a sinister chill course through his veins, the darker tone of what was once a very familiar voice striking him with a fear he had never known before. Very casually, as though he had all the time in the world to do whatever he pleased, Yunho helped himself to Seonghwa’s cell, his Majesty following closely behind him. Seonghwa wanted to feel relieved, he truly did, but something was very wrong about this picture. The way Yunho smirked wickedly and the empty, almost lifeless, stare in his Majesty’s eyes that made Seonghwa doubt that he was the same man he married all those years ago was too unfamiliar. Something was off. No, everything was so… so wrong.
However, Seonghwa was desperate and his Majesty had finally answered his calls. What more could he ask for?
“Y—Your Imperial Majesty, please, you must believe me when I say that I am innocent. I beg of you—I would never lie to my emperor!”
A sharp chuckle drenched Seonghwa's frail body like a bucket of ice, he froze, turning his pleading gaze towards Yunho. His Majesty had not said anything, had not done anything, he didn't even seem to be looking at Seonghwa. It was more like he was looking through him, his mind in a daze. Yunho's eyes pained him. Although dancing upon his lips were laughs and chuckles, taunting words and the like, his eyes were so… broken. What had become of his husband? What had become of his brother-in-law without him even realizing it?
"Even now, he is all you care about. Have you no concern for yourself and the situation you are in now, your Majesty?" Yunho questioned, taking a step closer to the helpless empress.
Fear. Seonghwa was afraid. He couldn't move, his body refusing to do so, but he so desperately wanted to run away from Yunho that it made him physically sick. The palm of his dirtied hand came up to cover his mouth in a dire attempt to keep himself from dirtying the floor with his sickness. Yunho grinned, seemingly satisfied with his reaction.
"Seeing you like this fills me with great pity. You once stood so tall and beautifully, you were always so full of pride. I almost did not recognize you with how you are now." Yunho sighed, taking another step towards him. "Tell me… how did it all come to this?"
Seonghwa whimpered, shaking his head. He did not know, he had no idea. One moment, he was searching high and low for even an ounce of love from his husband. And the next, he was lost in a sea of blood and deceit, locked away in a filthy cell and awaiting his own death. All Seonghwa did was blink and the world around him was suddenly crumbling and turning to dust. What he did understand was that Yunho looked so utterly satisfied that it became glaringly obvious that he must have been at the center of it all. The mere thought, the realization, made Seonghwa's eyes wide in disbelief, his hand slowly falling to his lap.
"You… Yunho, what is all this? What have you done?"
Yunho shrugged as though Seonghwa had simply asked him what he had eaten for breakfast. He shrugged as though none of what was happening mattered to him in the slightest. He shrugged and Seonghwa's eyes welled up with tears, his heart shattering into a million pieces. Yunho took one look at Seonghwa and his eyebrows pinched together ever so slightly that he most likely didn't think Seonghwa would notice. It was only for a quick moment but Seonghwa definitely noticed. With one final sigh, Yunho approached Seonghwa, crouching down in front of him until their faces were only inches apart. He glared at Seonghwa, looked at him as though he were a disgusting stain on his perfectly white garments.
"You had to have seen this coming, Seonghwa, this was the only way our story could end." For the first time, Yunho addressed him by his first name, it did not please Seonghwa the way he always thought it would, not with the way his voice dripped venom so threateningly that he felt like he was suffocating. Yunho searched his eyes for answers but it appeared he couldn't find any. "Do you not have anything to say? Truly nothing at all?"
Seonghwa couldn't look away from Yunho's eyes, couldn't break free from the pain within them that seemed to seep into Seonghwa's skin.
"I'm sorry… " was all he could say.
It was not what Yunho wanted to hear. His eyes darkened as he looked down on Seonghwa. The young empress felt like scum under Yunho's sinister stare.
And then a sharp pain started from his chest before his entire body started to burn and ache, something hot and thick like lava dripping down his body and soaking into his already filthy clothes. Seonghwa didn't need to look, he already knew what had happened. The corners of Yunho's lips twisted into a disturbingly pleased smile but his eyes told a different story, they dripped with tears, with pain and regret. So much agony within them that Seonghwa could only see Yunho. For the very first time since his own wedding, Seonghwa could finally see Yunho and what he saw, he didn't think he would ever forget. Not even in death.
With shaking hands, Seonghwa reached up and cupped the poor man's face, using his thumbs to wipe away his tears which only served to smear dirt against his clean skin.
"D—Do not mourn my death or re—regret the path you have chosen, Yunho." Seonghwa choked out as the dagger in his chest sank further. "Blame me. D—Despise me. Never for—forgive me, for I have failed you. Because of me, your innocent hands ha—have been dirtied. I'm so sorry… "
Because Seonghwa wasn't strong enough. Because he wasn't brave enough. All he ever wanted was to be seen by Hongjoong, his husband and the man he spent his entire life loving. So much so that he could not save him or Yunho, Yeosang and Jongho, or even San and Mingi. He couldn't even save himself. Seonghwa had failed them because he was selfish, because he was weak and blinded by love.
Yunho sobbed desperately, clinging to Seonghwa even as he kept his dagger plunged into Seonghwa's broken heart.
If only he could go back. If he could just start all over again, he would do it all differently. Just one chance was all he asked, one chance to change the outcome of this heartbreaking tale. He would suffer a million deaths for a single chance to do it all again.
He would rewrite the stars and do everything in his power to save them all. To give them the lives that they deserve, one that didn't end in bloodshed and misery.
Please. Please give me one last chance. I want… to save them!
Seonghwa could feel himself fading away, his eyes became heavy and his breathing was slow and shallow. He was dying. This was it.
Everything around him faded to black.
Wake up.
Seonghwa felt numb and weightless, as if he were slowly drifting down into a body of water.
Wake up. Your prayers have been answered.
There was a voice but Seonghwa could not make out what it was saying. It sounded muddy like his thoughts, nothing made any sense to him.
You haven't a single moment to waste. There will not be another chance.
He tried to open his eyes but they were so heavy that the mere effort exhausted him. He felt warm, so incredibly warm.
WAKE UP!
A loud gasp burned his throat as he sprung up in his bed, shocking the maid that came every morning to tidy his room and replace the flowers in all of the vases. He struggled to catch his breath, his wide eyes so full of panic and confusion frantically searching around for something but not quite knowing what exactly it was he was searching for.
As he tried desperately to catch his breath and calm himself down, slowly did all of his memories return. The death of everyone he held near and dear to his heart, the lies, his cell, Hongjoong cold, dead eyes… and Yunho. His pain, his suffering, his desperate cries as he buried the sharp blade of his dagger into Seonghwa's skin. He could remember it all.
Seonghwa was melting into a puddle of tears and sweat, his nails digging into the skin where the blade was as he could still feel the burning pain, still feel the heat from his own blood and the chill from his sweat. It hurt, everything was so painful. Seonghwa sobbed loudly, the maid was so concerned that she hurried out of the room with Yeosang's name bouncing off of her tongue. He gasped, his eyes widening.
Yeosang? Why would she call for…
When the door to his bedroom swung open once more, Seonghwa couldn't believe his eyes. Yeosang came rushing inside, finding his way to Seonghwa's side with ease. He sat himself on Seonghwa's bed and reached over to place the back of his cool hand against Seonghwa's sweaty forehead.
"My… your head is quite warm, your Highness. Are you feeling unwell?" Yeosang fussed, his eyes worried and a concerned frown hanging from his face.
Seonghwa couldn't bring himself to answer. All he could manage to do was stare in disbelief. Surely, this could not be true. Seonghwa had seen with his own eyes, he couldn't get that sickening sound out of his head, nor had he slept for many nights because of it. Yeosang was dead. Seonghwa knew that this was a fact. And, yet, there he was. He was alive and fretting over his health as he often did before that cruel day. Yeosang smelled sweet like honey and fresh flowers that bloomed after it rained. He kept himself neat and proper to ensure that he did not embarrass Seonghwa as he was in Yeosang's care and thus he represented Seonghwa. Yeosang was always at his best, he was perfect, he was kind, he was as strong willed as he was delicate and he had a brilliant mind that rivaled Seonghwa's own.
Yeosang died right before his eyes.
So how? How was he sitting there next to him, his brows dipped with worry and his sweet scent filling Seonghwa's nose and reminding him that he had lost his closest friend? He must've been imagining things. Perhaps Seonghwa was dreaming. Perhaps this was his afterlife.
"Your Highness, perhaps we should postpone the wedding until you are feeling better. I am sure his imperial Majesty would not mind."
The wedding? Seonghwa frowned, his head aching and his mind feeling too muddy to properly comprehend what was happening. What wedding was this… this person referring to?
Seonghwa wet his lips with his tongue, using his trembling hands to dry his eyes and cheeks and clearing his throat before attempting to speak.
"What… What day is this? How are you… you should not be here… "
Yeosang's frown deepened, even more worry evident in his gaze. "My, oh my. Have you forgotten what today is? After spending most of the night fussing, I am truly bewildered. It is your wedding day, your Highness. I knew you should not have stayed up so late into the night." He tutted, shaking his head in disapproval.
His… wedding day? Surely, not. Seonghwa had already lived through it once before. He was already married. As if to prove it to himself, Seonghwa held up his left hand, searching every inch of it for his wedding ring that he had never once taken off, not even to bathe. However, it was nowhere to be found. Afraid that he might have lost it in his sleep, he scrambled about, searching the sheets for it, but it was not there either. His eyes widened and he froze, taking a moment to truly sort through his thoughts and memories. Yeosang was sitting next to him, he was right there in front of his eyes despite having died many months prior. He took a look around the room and realized that it was his bedroom from his family's home, not the imperial palace. His wedding ring was nowhere to be found and if this living, breathing Yeosang was to be trusted then… it was supposedly his wedding day. The very day his life changed completely four years ago. His eyes widened even more if at all possible.
Give me one last chance. I want… to save them!
No. It couldn't be.
In a panic, Seonghwa scurried out of bed and practically flew across the room until he had reached his vanity. Shakily so, he hesitantly dared a look at himself in the mirror and he simply could not believe what he was seeing.
He looked so… young. So full of life. As though the years of stress and unjust treatment had not weighed heavily on him and taken a toll on his body. In fact, there was no evidence of anything like that shown in any part of his body. He checked his bare chest, but there was no proof that Yunho's dagger had ever pierced his skin or lodged itself into his heart. All that was left after all that had happened was a strange mark on his left shoulder, a small golden star that shimmered in the light. How strange.
It was like his past had been completely erased.
Or perhaps his past had never happened at all.
A second chance.
Seonghwa wanted to cry all over again and he allowed himself to do so. If this were truly happening then that meant Yeosang was really alive, that Jongho was as well, and San and Mingi. It meant Hongjoong had not fallen under Yunho's control yet and Yunho… he had yet to soil his hands, to walk down that dark path that he had chosen before. All of the bad that Seonghwa had to live through, none of it had happened yet. Everything was erased, a clean surface left behind.
Was he truly given a second chance?
"Your Highness? Seonghwa, please, I'm beginning to worry." Yeosang spoke softly to the older as he slowly approached him. "Tell me what I can do to help you. Say the word and it is done, my friend."
Seonghwa choked out a sob but these tears were fresh and full of joy. Joy because he wanted to believe that he was given the chance to start over again, joy because he had wanted to hear those words from Yeosang for what felt like too long, he missed his voice and his sweet scent, missed the way his words pretended that he was only starting to worry when he had, in fact, been worried the entire time. He missed Yeosang.
Happily so, Seonghwa did what he could to dry his face before pulling Yeosang into a warm embrace. "Forgive me, Yeosang. I'm so sorry, please forgive me." He mumbled, rubbing his nose into Yeosang's neck and breathing in deeply.
Hesitantly, the younger wrapped his frail arms around Seonghwa's small waist, rubbing soothing circles into his back.
"What are you apologizing for, Seonghwa?"
Seonghwa smiled and shook his head. "It does not matter now. Just know that I am sorry and I will do better this time."
"As you wish." Yeosang conceded. "So should I ask for the wedding to be postponed, your Highness?"
After taking another deep breath to calm himself, Seonghwa separated from Yeosang and took another look at his reflection. This was the Seonghwa from four years before his entire world fell apart. Four years ago on the very day he was meant to marry the emperor, Kim Hongjoong. On this day, his life changed for the worse but Seonghwa was not willing to allow things to unfold the same way they had in his previous life.
No, he was given another chance. A chance to change things, to save the people he held near and dear to his heart. The star on his shoulder was his proof and his promise to never repeat the mistakes he had made once before.
"There is no need, Yeosang. I could not possibly keep his imperial Majesty waiting."
Seonghwa would do things differently. He had to. For the sake of the empire and for the sake of his loved ones.
For Yunho, things would be different.