Chapter 132 - A Villain Or A Hero?

Orea nearly yelped when Sunye said that but somehow managed to compose herself. Sunye knew? She knew about the existence of two Kim San's? That was supposed to be a closely guarded secret!

"But you just said it was a secret," she pointed out, hiding her nervousness. "How did you find out?"

"I didn't find out about the tradition until much later," Sunye admitted. "My dad told me about the tradition after we escaped the coup. But when I was living in the palace, I noticed that the Crown Prince had a dual personality."

"Meaning?"

Sunye took a deep breath and thought back to the memories of the two Kim San's. "They looked almost the same because of their shared genes," she recalled. "To the point that they almost looked like twins but there were some differences. San, the boy I was friends with, liked to part his hair on the right while the other boy, whom I called by his full name Kim San, always brushed it back. San's eyes were more of an almond shape while Kim San had rounder eyes. Also, their table manners were slightly different. It wasn't noticeable but San never touched his peas while Kim San would eat whatever was given to him."

"But the biggest difference was the way they addressed others," Sunye went on. "San was unreadable. His thoughts, his feelings were all bottled up but he smiled a lot. Kim San on the other hand was more volatile. He did not burst into anger or anything but sometimes when things didn't go the way he wanted, his face would contort in anger. San didn't do that."

"When I started to notice these things, it became easier to tell them apart," she stated. 

"Why did they look so similar?" Orea asked. "And how did this system work?"

"Dad told me that the Emperors used to conceive the princes around the same time with their Empresses and Concubines," Sunye explained. "Sometimes on the same night. The Emperors used to have several wives and concubines so when they impregnated a few women around the same time, the chances of having a son were higher. One wife or concubine could have only one son."

"What if a daughter was born?" Orea asked.

"They were raised in a separate household," Sunye sighed. "Girls weren't given the right to rule because if a Princess was named as Empress, then upon marriage, her husband would be given the title of an Emperor. She would be outranked."

"So only male heirs were prepared for the throne. To make sure that there were spares, the Emperor had to go through this tradition."

"But why were they given the same name and identity?" Orea demanded. "That's a cruel life! Not having your own identity or even existence…"

"To protect the Crown Prince and the monarchy from enemies," Sunye stated. "Many times, the Crown Princes were killed by other factions to gain power. If the enemies found out that there was a spare, then they would kill all the Princes together. Which is why several of the Emperor's sons were given the same name, had similar appearances, made to wear the same clothes and basically live a shared life. Suppose if the enemy killed one Kim San, the other Kim San would secretly take his place and that would confuse the enemies more. It was a tactic to protect the throne. The boys could die for all they cared for as long as the spares or shadows were available."

"But even with one father, they had different mothers!" Orea pointed out. "The boys would end up looking different someday!"

"Well, not anyone can become an Empress or concubine," Sunye said. "There were criteria."

"Criteria?"

Sunye nodded. "Yes," she said. "Number one, the women have to belong to high nobility. Two, they must all share similar features. Dark hair, fair skin, similar figures and no diseases. The women in the Emperor's harem all had these similar features. So when a son is born to them, it's easier for the palace officials to make the boys look similar in public. Sometimes, they used makeup and prosthetics on them but mostly they relied on their similar looks. These boys were trained from a young age to become the Crown Prince so that someday, they'll be able to kill their brothers for the throne. It was a sort of brainwashing and a very systematic one."

"When the boys hit ten years old," she went on. "They were sent off to different boarding schools under their shared identity. The schools were informed of how to train these boys and when they became adults, they had to return to the country and…"

Sunye trailed off, not elaborating on the killing part anymore. Orea was deep in thought. If Sunye, who was a child back then, could figure out this highly kept secret then who else knew about it? What if the Prime Minister knew?

"The last Emperor had only one wife and a concubine," Sunye revealed. "And both of them were sisters."

"Woah!" Orea feigned surprise. She already knew this part from SD but was curious to know it all from Sunye's point of view. "This was a common practice? One guy impregnating two sisters?"

"Yes," Sunye replied. "Either sisters or similar looking first cousins. Either way, the babies would turn out to look similar in appearance thanks to the shared genes. But this also created a power politics amongst the women. All of them want their own children to ascend the throne even if it meant plotting and killing."

"So there was discord among the sisters?" 

"I've only heard rumors," Sunye admitted. "The Empress who was San's mother. She wasn't happy with the fact her sister was being favored by the Emperor. In fact, the Empress was afraid the Emperor would officially have Kim San announced as the Crown Prince and toss San aside to die."

"That's just messed up," Orea muttered.

"It is," Sunye said in a bitter tone. "Sometimes, I feel that the coup was the right thing to do. A monarchy built on blood can neve survive. Pitting brothers against each other and that too for what? A rotten chair which will bring them nothing but misery!"

Orea shifted uncomfortably in her spot. "So," she began. "San was left behind in the coup?"

"San...San saved me that night," Sunye stated. "When I was running around, looking for him, one of the attackers found me and was about to kill me. But out of nowhere, San shot the man dead. He was only a child and yet, he was forced to pick up a gun to protect me! His usually solemn eyes were lit with a cold fury which I've never seen before."

She looked at Orea with a sad smile. "That was the day when he was forced to grow up," she said softly. "That's the day when I learnt that whenever his loved ones will be in danger, San wouldn't hesitate to kill others. Sometimes I wish I had his courage…"

"And the other one?" Orea asked, engrossed in the tale. "The other Kim San? Didn't he come to help you?"

"When I was running around in the castle, I saw a group of guards escorting him out," Sunye said in a flat tone. "His eyes briefly met mine but I didn't stop for him. I was busy searching for San."

That rat bastard! Orea cursed Lee Jonghyun in her head. Sunye reached over to touch her cheek.

"And that was the biggest difference between them," she said. "One will kill to protect. The other will shut his eyes to the danger around him as long as he's not affected."

She paused before adding, "Just like SD will kill to protect us."

That made Orea giggle a little. "The guy prefers to be called a villain!" she snickered. "Trying to burn down the world for his own goals."

"A villain who'll destroy the world for love," Sunye said. "Is better than a hero who'll sacrifice people to save the world."

Orea took a deep breath and nodded in agreement. She was glad that she had this talk with Sunye because after hearing about the cruel traditions SD was forced to follow in his childhood, her resolve to take down the Company and its plans had strengthened. The monarchy SD was going to rebuild would be free from such barbaric practices and redirect the nation towards prosperity and not towards its demise.

"Thank sis," she said in a grateful tone. "I think I know what to do now. I like Myung but there are things much greater than our feelings. And I really want to see this war till the end."

She grasped Sunye's palm. Sunye smiled back and said, "Just don't get hurt, alright? I really want to see you and SD survive this war."

"We're not going to die," Orea promised. "That's not in our plans at all. We're very cowardly. Which is why instead of dying, we'd choose to complete our goals. And you better stay with us till the end as well."

Sunye smirked and replied, "Gladly."