3

Interrupting her, Mother HyunYi walked toward the door, stopping MiSun from entering further. 

“MiSun, I’ll take the water and towels from you now. Thank you, dear…” Then quickly setting the basin and towels to the side, Mother HyunYi began to usher MiSun out the door,  

“Lady SooAh was just about to fall asleep. Thank you for your help, but you can go to bed now.”

MiSun’s curiosity over the baby was getting the best of her. Those eyes! She just had to see the baby before she left, “Oh but halmeoni, I still haven’t held the baby!” 

“There will be plenty of time for that later, MiSun. Have a good night.” And with one final push, MiSun was out the room and the door was closed shut. 

Turning to the couple, the old woman’s eyes grew more frightened. Deep inside Mother HyunYi just knew that MiSun had noticed something strange. While she was certain that the young beta didn’t understand what it meant, her over the top curiosity to see the child and her chatty nature made MiSun an unseeming but very real threat. Gossipping was the maids’ favorite pastime, and they were known to spread news around the palace and to the surrounding manors in less than an hour. If MiSun had even hinted that there was something strange about the child, the entire royal family as well as the nobility would be made aware by dawn. 

“I’m so sorry, my lord and lady. But I’m sure you and your child will not survive to see another day if you don’t escape immediately. Get as far away as you can. Follow the violet trees within the Black Forest. Keep the stones safe. Change your bandages, Lady SooAh, as often as you can. There’s no time to waste. Go!”

"Where are they?” The cold voice sent shivers down the old woman’s spine and raised the hairs on the back of her neck.

HyunYi had been dragged into this cellar hours ago. Just as she’d feared, it hadn’t taken long for a rumor to spread about the Park’s new son. And it was only a matter of time, once the Parks were found missing, that the royal guards would come to find her instead. Somewhere behind her she could hear MiSun whimpering in the darkness. She must be exhausted after all the screaming she did. “I DIDN’T KNOW! I’M SORRY! PLEASE!!”

HyunYi turned toward the alpha before her: The Royal Chief Advisor, Lee SangHa. 

HyunYi knew him well; she had even helped deliver him all those years ago! He was a man of absolutes--black and white, life and death, and duty above all else, with no room for in-betweens. HyunYi could smell the fury rolling off of him, a metallic stench that made her nose burn.

 “You’re despicable” was Mother HyunYi’s only response.

“I’m only doing my job, HyunYi-ssi.”

“Is your job to threaten children and old women?”

“My job is to protect my king and my country, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY! I do what I have to do, what is expected of me, just like my father before me, and gods willing, like my son will do when I’m gone! It’s not always an easy job, but I take pride in carrying out my duty. Now I’m going to tell you this HyunYi-ssi, you WILL tell me where the Parks have escaped, or I will have to exercise my duty on you . Do you understand?” 

MiSun had begun crying again. The smell of her fear mixed with the stench of SangHa’s anger was almost suffocating the old woman. HyunYi knew that no matter what she said, at this point, she would not make it out of this room alive. Concealing the omega male and also helping the Parks escape would only be construed as treason. But this scenario had played out in her mind for decades. This moment was something she had been preparing herself to endure ever since she delivered that tiny omega male all those years ago. How long had it been now? Almost 30 years? It was actually the second blonde haired, blue eyed omega male she had seen. The Park’s son was her third. 

The first came when she was just an apprentice midwife at 12 or 13 years old. She had only caught a small glimpse of the child before being instructed to leave the room. Putting no thought into it at all, she left, and when she returned a few hours later, she was told that the baby had unexpectedly passed away. She was heartbroken for the parents, but she had been taught that these types of losses were a part of life and she would do better to guard her heart going forward. 

The thought that they had delivered a male omega never entered her mind until several decades later when, in her 40’s, she delivered a male omega all on her own to a common family who lived in the village. Usually villagers took care of their own during births, but this mother had experienced some strange symptoms during her pregnancy and HyunYi’s assistance was requested for the birth. 

HyunYi would never forget her shock when the baby was born with a full head of silver hair. She remembered the gasps from the other women in the room and how the mother didn’t even dare to hold or touch the baby until she was urged and almost physically forced to nurse him.  HyunYi left the mother and child that night with a heavy heart. By then she had learned more about male omegas and the folklore that surrounded them. Through stories and songs, the people had been taught to fear male omegas. Honestly, she feared the thought of them as well, but her job was to do everything she could to ensure that both mother and child survived the birthing process, and that’s what she did! 

^^^To be continue...^^^

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