8: Neglect

          Sena had no energy to spare after crying out all of the sadness and guilt. Her maids were surprisingly understanding. Sena knew that she had a daughter and a life to live with a loving husband. Happiness was just a breath away, but it seemed too far away for her.

          Her husband was the love of her life, but she couldn’t let go of the guilt she felt for letting her sister die in the palace. She later discovered that her father was the killer. She couldn’t live with herself. Her husband was only trying to protect her, but that didn’t stop these feelings of guilt.

         

          Sena sighed, “I need all of you to leave. I want some alone time. I just don’t feel like seeing anyone right now.” The maids began gathering at the door to follow their master’s order. Soon the room was silent and the only thing she could hear was herself breathing. She stood up slowly and walked over to the golden mirror atop her elegant dresser. She stared at the reflection in the mirror.

          She didn’t look like herself. It had been months since she took care of herself. She had given up on everything. While pondering over her thoughts, she noticed something moving behind her bedside curtains. Sena quickly pushed the curtains back to find her daughter curled up on the floor. She must’ve snuck in here but fell asleep after a while.

          The girl was so small and skinny. Something didn’t seem right. Sena quickly pulled up Yuna’s shirt to see the bruises on her body. Someone had been abusing her daughter from right under her nose. Why hadn’t she known? Sena held Yuna and gently laid her on the bed.

          In order to not wake her daughter, she called a maid that was standing outside of her bedroom. “I want you to gather all the maids and servants at once. I want them all to meet in my courtyard outside. I also want you to get Master Junho this instant. I don’t care what you have to do but get him there at once.” The maid could see how upset her master was. She was hardly ever angry with them, but something was different today.

          All the maids and servants stood in a straight line while facing their two masters. It had been a while since they all gathered together in the courtyard. Something must’ve happened. The only reason they would gather at the courtyard was if one of them had committed an offense. They were all worried. What could it be?

          Junho came barging in through the gate to Sena’s courtyard. While rushing in, he noticed his wife that had been locked in the room for months. He wasn’t planning on letting this quarrel of theirs to last so long, but time had flown by. He was busy with work and the fight between them has never been worse. She looked like she lost a lot of weight and her beautiful hands were now nothing but bones.

          He bit his lip in anger for his own stupidity. How could he let things go this far? She had given up on everything. He approached her cautiously. His wife hardly ever gathered the servants in the household. Something was up, “What’s wrong? Why have you gathered everyone here?”

          Sena hadn’t seen him in a while and he also looked haggard and worn out. “I noticed that someone has been harming our daughter. She’s covered with bruises and she looks smaller than most infants. I was shocked to find her in this state.” Junho hadn’t been visiting his daughter because he was caught up in his own world trying to figure out what had gone wrong? He was so clueless and stupid.

          He was furious after realizing someone had hurt his daughter. He looked through the crowd of servants, “Who was in charge of watching Yuna?” No one answered him in fear of being the target of his anger. “Don’t let me repeat myself. I want to know who?” One of the maids stepped forward and responded to his question, “Since Miss Yuna’s personal maid was sick, Yongju was assigned to watch over the young miss.”

          He didn’t recall ever buying a maid named Yongju. “I’ve never hired anyone named Yongju. Who is she?” The maid in question heard her name being called and immediately tried to escape. Since all the servants were lined up, it was easy to tell who was trying to escape. Junho didn’t even bother to ask the servants to grab her. He personally ran after her angrily.

          He caught her by the hair and pulled her to the front of the crowd. “Don’t even think about running away. What have you done to my daughter? Who are you?” The maid trembled after hearing him demand the truth. “I didn’t do anything! Please spare me!” He shouted, “Do I look stupid to you? I don’t remember hiring you, so who are you?”

          The maid began stuttering, “I…. I was given this position by the main maid in the household. She offered me the spot because the miss’s personal maid was sick. Please don’t hurt me. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

           He couldn’t stand liars and he could tell if someone was lying. It was a trick he learned from becoming a general. He had taken his fathers-in-law’s spot as the next general in order to protect Sena from losing everything. It was a struggle to become a general after growing up in a household filled with literary scholars. He was the eldest son in the Kim Household.

           The elders in his household were adamant about him taking over as the new minister in their country. They never expected that the eldest son would become the left prime minister instead of the right prime minister. They ended up giving that position to their second eldest son.

            Junho observed the maid that tried to get out of the situation desperately. She kept avoiding his eyes because she wasn’t telling him the full truth. Junho didn’t even bother asking her anymore. “Guards take her to the military prison on the eastern part of our residence. I want you to investigate this situation thoroughly and report back to me. Understood?” The guards immediately saluted the general, “Yes sir.” They grabbed the maid by her arms and dragged her to the prison.

          Junho faced Sena after a long time, “I’m sorry you had to go through this. I was too focused on work that I haven’t paying too much attention to what was going on at home. How is she?” Sena didn’t know how to approach Junho after quarreling with him for nearly 7 months. It had been a while.

          She kept looking down at her hands in hopes that Junho would just ignore her. He didn’t follow her expectations. He placed his hand on her chin and gently nudged her head towards his. He kissed her gently while whispering to her, “Let’s stop all this fighting. I’ve told you many times that I’m sorry. We have Yuna to be worried about. I’ve been so miserable without you. I can’t bear to see you like this. Please…”

           Sena decided then and there that she couldn’t let herself ruin this loving family. What would her sister think? She had always wanted for her to be happy, but she was spending all this time mourning. Would her sister approve of this? She wouldn’t. She would have wanted her to move on and live for her family.

           Sena organized her thoughts and spoke, “I forgive you for not telling me about my sister’s death. It wasn’t your fault. I just haven’t been okay since I found out. I feel so guilty. She wouldn’t have died like that if I weren’t so weak and powerless. If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t be together.”

          Junho caressed her back in hopes of easing her pain, “Sena, it wasn’t your fault either. Who would’ve known that your father was capable of killing his own blood? I’m sorry you had to go through all this without me. I should’ve been there for both you and Yuna.”

          Tears began pouring out of her eyes. He pulled her into his embrace to comfort her. She soaked his clothes with her tears and snot. It didn’t bother him at all. He brushed her hair lightly while kissing her hair. He missed this so much during the 7 months that they fought.