Have you ever wanted something or someone so badly to the extent that you put in your all?
In fact, sometimes, it's even more than just your all.
Yet, right when it seemed like things were about to fall in place for you, some annoying stinker from out of nowhere just swoops in and takes all the fruit of your hard labour with little to no effort at all.
Do you realise just how annoying that would be for you?
Well, if you do, then you'll probably understand how 16-year-old Lee Minseo felt when her cousin snatched her beloved from her right under her nose.
"I want him." Minseo had said to herself the very first time that she laid eyes on him at her eldest uncle's house.
The crown prince, Kim Hyun Jun.
Her heart knew then, even at that very young age of twelve years, that that was the man for her.
And as young as she was at that time, she did everything she could to make sure that she would not remain invisible to the prince.
She started going to the palace with her big uncle whenever he had to attend court meetings, and pretty soon, her efforts paid off.
She got very close to her target as she wanted.
Everything was great until her second uncle got promoted just last year and his daughter, Youngmi, started to visit the palace with him.
Minseo doesn't know how her cousin did it, but that witch got both princes to fall head over heels for her.
What annoyed her even more was that this cousin only had eyes for the second prince.
But the then passive crown prince changed. He actively courted and wooed her cousin, making Youngmi change her mind from his younger brother to him instead.
And so, they became rivals. Well, at least to Lee Minseo, they were.
She felt her heart crushed several times when the four of them—she and her cousin and the two princes—would sometimes be chatting about random stuff, but then, all the crown prince's attention would be on Youngmi only.
For months, Minseo watched as her crush devoted himself to only her cousin.
Seeing how lovestruck he was for her cousin made Minseo start having evil thoughts.
The past few months have been torturous for her to see the lovey-dovey couple, and worse, her cousin wouldn't stop rubbing it in her face by telling her all about the things that the two of them did together in her absence, as if she wasn't suffering enough already.
But the last straw was when Youngmi showed her those matching couple's bracelets. One was on her wrist, while the crown prince had the other one on his wrist too.
Now Minseo had had it. She needed to do something about it.
"Stay off the crown prince; he is mine!" She had warned.
"Oh, really? Then what about this?" Youngmi pulled up her sleeve to show off a beautiful jade bracelet.
Minseo's heart beats rapidly as she stares at it. She had seen the crown prince wearing a similar one.
"I'm sure you've seen the one on his wrist, right? Well, if he is yours as you claim, why don't you show me your own then? Do you share any couple's items that you share with him? Where is it then?"
Youngmi paused and then moved her ears closer to Minseo's mouth. It was as if she's trying to listen. She then took a step back before adding. "I didn't think so. Hm."
She smirked at Minseo and then walked out on her.
Minseo felt like yanking her back by the hair and chopping her hand, which had the bracelet off, and taking the bracelet from her right there and then, but she couldn't.
Out of sight, out of mind. If Youngmi is no longer alive, then maybe her prince would finally give her his full attention just like she deserves.
And hence, she planned this trick to end her cousin's life.
She had sent the candles as a peace offering, but in reality, she had intended to use it to eliminate her competition.
So here she is, this early morning, to check the results of her handiwork.
There was a large crowd by the uncle's house by the time that she and Okeon got there.
Minseo could hear the sound of people wailing coming from inside the house, but she didn't bother to go in. Instead, she mixed with the crowd outside.
"What is going on here?" She asked no one in particular, but someone chose to answer her.
"Lady Youngmi was pronounced dead just this morning. We heard it's poison, but we're not sure yet."
"Oh. The young miss is dead? Really? How? Why? She was too young to die such a tragic death." Minseo feigned anguish in her voice and gave a fake cry.
Okeon, on the other hand, was both confused and scared by the news. She was joining two and two together. Now it all made sense.
She just became an accomplice to the murder of a noble.
No. She gave the candles to Lady Youngmi, and so she is the murderer! Oh no!!!
Lee Minseo secretly smiled to herself and tried to move out of the crowd to go back to her own house without being noticed.
But then, she saw some royal guards coming together with some police officials to her uncle's house, so she went back to hide among the crowd and listen to why they were there.
And that is when she realised her folly.
From what she could hear, her cousin wasn't the only one who had used the scented candles that she had sent Okeon to give to her.
No.
That stupid wench had shared the candles with the princes!
And now she is just finding out that her beloved is also at death's door, fighting for his dear life.
"Oh goodness. What have I done?" Minseo blurted out.
She saw the royal guards leaving her uncle's house, but they had with them Youngmi's personal maid.
Minseo was about to leave when that servant pointed at her while saying something to the royal guards.
She saw the guards also turned in her direction and started walking towards the crowd where she stood.
She made to leave, but then one of them shouted. "You there, wait right there. Don't move!"
Minseo froze but only for a minute.
Out of guilt, fear, and disorientation, she made a run for it, and by the time she knew it, she had created a good gap between her and those guards as she already had a good head start.
Not that she had much choice, Okeon followed suit as they both ran through the stalls and alleys all the way through to the local market.
Minseo stopped running after a while to take in some air.
"Huff, huff. Huff, huff." She panted.
Her abrupt stop made her young servant bump into her.
"Hah hah. Huff, huff." Okeon also panted.
The fuming 16-year-old turned to her servant, who is also of the same age as her. "You stupid fool. Do you see what you've cost me?
I strictly told you not to let anyone see you giving them to her. My family and I would be doomed because of your stupidity."
"I'm sorry, miss. I swear, I made sure that Lady Youngmi was alone before I gave them to her. I didn't know that her servant would pop up out of nowhere." Okeon explained.
"Then you should've collected the items back instead of leaving them with her after you were seen giving them to her!"
Okeon bit her lower lip as she thought in her head. 'How would I have known of your wicked intentions?'
"Hurry up. I need to get to my father before the guards see me.
You better stick to my new plan and pray that I come out of this unscathed; otherwise, I'll make sure to roast your head for the pigs to feed on." Minseo said and made to run, but it was too late.