Prostrate To The Monarch (Taekook) "Seeds of Hatred"

In the grand tapestry of life, a mother emerges as the fiercest protector for her child. She is a warrior willing to set the world ablaze and bathe in its ashes if it secures her child's safety.

No poison is too bitter for her to swallow if it brings joy to her child. She finds solace in dancing amidst her own ruins as long as her child is content.

Discipline may manifest as a slap, but any hand raised against her child faces her unyielding resistance.

While a child may sometimes forget to care for their mother, a true mother never forgets her duty. Through sickness and bedridden days, she rushes to her child's aid at the first call of pain.

Yet, not every woman who gives birth embodies the essence of motherhood. Throughout history, women have been portrayed in various forms, but their highest value is often seen in the role of a mother.

However, as I mentioned, not every woman can fulfill this sacred role.

‘She’, too, is not his mother. ‘She’ could never be.

Prince Yongwang’s heart knew no villainy; his desire was not the throne of a king but love and care at seventeen.

Cruelty transformed him from a seeker of peace into a reluctant monster, thrüst into a deadly game against his will. The throne was never his choice; circumstances forced him into a life he never sought.

All he yearned for was a tranquil existence, a wish denied by those who surrounded him.

He couldn't blame others when his own birth mother snatched away the innocent smile he longed for. His own mother, the architect of his lost childhood, propelled him towards death.

At just seventeen, a fragile age, she attempted every means to end his life. His mother, in the truest sense, proved to be a harvester of cruelty.

She orchestrated a symphony of pain, stealing his childhood innocence and guiding him toward the brink of death. Her attempts to extinguish his life at the tender age of seventeen echoed the profound betrayal of maternal love.

Yet, amidst the shadows of maternal malevolence, a beacon of solace emerged. A woman, not bound by blood but by a shared understanding of the human spirit, became the sanctuary he desperately sought.

In her comforting embrace, he found the warmth he yearned for, the love that eluded him in the twisted arms of his birth mother.

This woman, though never officially bestowed with the title, became the guardian of his heart, the one he silently referred to as his mother.

The word may have never slipped from his lips, but in the chambers of his heart, she held the sacred place reserved for those who provide solace and genuine affection.

Despite the scars left by his birth mother's cruelty, he discovered a semblance of peace in the unspoken bond with this compassionate soul, a bond stronger than blood ties could ever be.

The woman, the solace in his tumultuous existence, became another victim of his mother's cruelty.

The echoes of every latch in the room resonated with Yongwang’s screams, a desperate symphony of resistance against the forces that bound him.

His feeble attempts to break free from the soldiers who served his mother, the queen, proved futile. Weakness gripped him, rendering him powerless against the injustice unfolding before his eyes.

Lady Kang, the woman he held close to his heart as a mother, bore the brunt of his birth mother's wrath. Each lash inflicted upon her was a searing pain etched into Yongwang’s soul.

His heart screamed in silent agony as he witnessed the relentless flogging, an act that shredded the fragile peace he had found in Lady Kang's embrace.

The room, once a sanctuary, transformed into a chamber of anguish, resonating with the sounds of pain and despair.

Yongwang’s heart wrenched with each strike, his helplessness amplifying the torment.

In the clutches of his mother's soldiers, he could do nothing but endure the heart-wrenching spectacle, a cruel reminder that even the solace he discovered could be brutally snatched away by the one who gave him life.

Yongwang

Leave her!

He pleaded, tears streaming down his face, a river of anguish not just for himself but for Lady Kang as well.

Her eyes met his with a gaze full of care and affection, transcending the physical pain she endured.

Lady Kang's heart ached not for the lashes upon her own body but for the prince she nurtured like a delicate feather, now held brutally by his mother's soldiers.

A seed of hatred took root within Prince Yongwang's heart, nourished by each cruel strike inflicted upon Lady Kang.

With every whip that marked her body, a corresponding lash imprinted itself in his soul.

His eyes, once filled with innocence, now darkened as a malevolent force gestated within him.

The monster growing in his heart was not one born out of innate wickedness, but a consequence of the cruelty he witnessed and the pain he felt for the woman he considered his true mother.

The echoes of Lady Kang's suffering reverberated within him, forging a connection between the physical torment she endured and the burgeoning darkness in his own heart.