Third person's POV

As soon as the next morning, Deputy Ma announced a public execution for Consort Mina based on her crime of treason by poisoning the great Queen. The news came out as a great shock to all the people across all 4 Kingdoms, as Consort Mina is well known for her kind and gentle nature, and most importantly, the more than magical love story between the Consort and the Queen has been and is still the talk in every household,

Meanwhile, inside the prison of the royal investigation Bureau, Consort Mina is staying very calm even after she heard the news. She knows she didn't do anything wrong, her mind is free of guilt and therefore even death won't scare her. Truth is, what makes her so calm on the outside is because.... she's dead inside. Mina's heart is broken into pieces with just the thought of never seeing Chaeyoung again, and that she doesn't even have a chance to say a proper farewell to her other half who she loves with all her whole being,

The prison guards have to follow the order of coming inside the prison cell and bringing Consort Mina to the execution ground, 'Your... Your Highness, please... let us escort... you.' These guards are almost in tears, as their hearts can't help but hurt badly, feeling very sorry for the ill fate of this kind and pretty Consort,

'No... kill me! Not Mina... not her!' Momo and JiHyo are standing in front of the Consort, trying to protect her despite the severe injury they have after that merciless torture,

'Momo unnie, JiHyo... this is my fate. Let me face it.' Mina calmly tells them, she doesn't want Momo and JiHyo to get into any other kind of trouble,

Momo and JiHyo turned around to look at Mina, tears are pouring out from their eyes. They want to protect Mina with everything they have but right now, they are literally powerless. Mina smiles gently while giving both of them a hug, 'Momo unnie, JiHyo... please take care of yourself.' She then slowly breaks the hug and steps to the door, but before stepping out, Mina turns back around once more, 'After my execution, I'm sure the antidote will show up. Once Her Majesty is awake, she will save you. And when you... see Her Majesty, please tell her that... I'm sorry, and that... I love her... I love her with all my heart.'

'No... Mina.... no....' Momo and JiHyo just cannot accept this result. They want to hold Mina back but the prison guards are holding them down,

'Don't hurt them.' Consort Mina pleads the guards,

'Yes.... Your Highness.' The guards bow their heads with full respect even though Mina is now a criminal who is on death sentence. They let go of Momo and JiHyo and proceeded to escort Mina out.

◇◇◇◇

On the other hand, since Consort Tzuyu and Head Court Lady Nayeon came back from the royal investigation Bureau until this day, they have been staying by the Queen's side. Consort Tzuyu is currently sitting on a chair right next to Chaeyoung's bed while her hands won't let go of Chaeyoung's unresponsive hand, 'Your Majesty, please wake up! I... I can't protect Consort Mina like how you told me to. I'm sorry.... Your Majesty, I just can't do this on my own.' The Consort speaks in tears, feeling very guilty that she can't keep Mina safe while The Queen is unconscious,

Right then, Minister of war JeongYeon hurriedly runs in, 'Your Highness... Your Highness!' She called Consort Tzuyu,

Tzuyu quickly wipes away her tears and stands up, facing JeongYeon, 'Yes, Minister.' She replied

'Your Highness, my soldiers just reported to me that the royal investigation Bureau has announced a public execution for Consort Mina today.' JeongYeon tells Tzuyu in a great state of worry,

'What? Deputy Ma... how dare he?' Consort Tzuyu is half shock, half angry. She bites her teeth real hard to think of a solution,

'Your Highness, should we ask for an urgent meeting with the government members to stop the execution?' Head Court Lady Nayeon suggests,

Tzuyu shakes her head, 'We don't have time for that, plus... the royal investigation Bureau's power is out of the government members's hands, especially with that signed indictment.' She then looks at the still unconscious Chaeyoung, 'Only Her Majesty can stop them now.'

At that moment, Chief Dahyun finally shows up. She walks in like a dead person, unawares of the current situation,

'Dahyun, where have you been last whole week?' JeongYeon asks her friend,

'I... I have been... investigating...' She answered without her soul,

JeongYeon holds onto Dahyun's shoulders and shakes common sense back into her, 'Dahyun, please focus. This is an emergency, Consort Mina is about to be executed.'

Dahyun widens her eyes in shock, 'What? Why?'

JeongYeon and Nayeon explain the whole story to Dahyun, from how Consort Mina walked into the royal investigation Bureau by herself and somehow signed the indictment, to how right now, only the Queen can save her,

After listening to the story, something switched inside of Dahyun. Her eyes changed into determination, as if she had made a very important decision, as if... she's ready to let go of everything, 'How long do we have?' She asks,

'The execution will begin at the hour of the horse.' JeongYeon replied,

'We only have one hour.' Nayeon speaks in a heartbreaking tone,

Dahyun immediately walks out without another word,

'Dahyun? Dahyun!' Tzuyu, JeongYeon and Nayeon call her, not sure where the Chief is heading,

The Minister sighs deeply before turning to Consort Tzuyu, 'Your Highness, let me delay the execution with my soldiers.'

Tzuyu looks at JeongYeon intensely, 'That could be charged as.... treason. Are you sure, Minister?'

JeongYeon looks at her best friend Chaeyoung who is still in deep sleep, 'I can't imagine the pain Chaeyoung will have once she wakes up knowing her most Treasure is gone. I, as her best friend, won't stand still and watch that heart broken scene.'

Consort Tzuyu nods her head. At this moment, she is also willing to give her all, for the Queen who she loves, and for Mina, her now very close friend, 'I, as the Noble Consort, allow you to delay the execution. If you have to, stop it by all means. I will take all the responsibility afterwards.'

'Yes, Your Highness.' Minister JeongYeon heads out immediately.

◇◇◇◇

After leaving the Queen's palace, Chief Dahyun walks straight to Consort Sana's palace. She steps inside to face Sana right away without waiting for the guards's announcement,

Consort Sana and Chief Dahyun stare at each other for a while, as if the two are trying to read each other's soul,

'Leave! All of you!' The Chief commands while not taking away her dead stare,

All the guards and the maids glance at Consort Sana, and Sana nods her head at them, telling them to obey the Chief of royal guards. With that, everyone left, leaving Dahyun and Sana there in the main hall,

'Dahyun, are you just going to stand there and stare at me?' Sana uses informal language as soon as no one else is around,

Dahyun proceeds to slowly walk over and sit down opposite to the Consort at the tea table. She looks straight into Sana's eyes while taking in a big whiff with her nose, 'Of course, you burn rose extract for the room fragrance today.'

Consort Sana creases her brows, a little surprised at the topic that Dahyun just brought up, 'Yes, Dahyun. I love roses, you know that fact better than anyone else.'

Dahyun smiles bitterly, 'Of course I do. I come to your palace everyday and I know you burn rose extract for the room fragrance every single day of the year, except... that day, your birthday, about 2 weeks ago.'

Sana's eyes twitch as of that instant as if she just got busted. She quickly turns away to avoid Dahyun's eyes,

But the Chief just continues, 'Was it... Hollow flower extract that you burnt that day, Sana?'

Sana continues her silence,

Dahyun sighs sadly before concluding, 'You know Her Majesty would definitely spend the day with you on your birthday, so you burnt Hollow flower extract on that day, and Her Majesty unknowingly inhaled it. The Hollow flower extract in inhaling form, takes one week to go into effect, you combined it with the knowledge of how Her Majesty drinks her honey tea every day, and how much time she spends at Consort Mina's palace, then ultimately calculated out the exact day the extract would turn into poison, resulted in Her Majesty fell unconscious right at Consort Mina's palace.'

Sana stays quiet for a little more, then she stands up from her seat and takes a few steps away from Dahyun, as if she's wanting to run away from the truth. But as strong headed as she is, she then swallows her nervousness to defend herself, 'Dahyun, I don't know what you are talking about. I didn't do anything.'

'Do you know where I went last whole week?' Dahyun asks her with a very sad tone,

Sana turns around to look at the Chief with questioning eyes,

And Dahyun gives her the answer, 'I was investigating... It was hard, very hard, but I have found and arrested the physician who gave you the idea of the poison, as well as the merchant from Macedon who sold you the Hollow flower extract.'

Consort Sana stares at Dahyun for a little while, then she lets out the breath that she has been holding for quite a long time now. She also releases her fists, which she has been holding out of nervousness. Strange enough, she feels so relieved after Dahyun found out her crime, as if she has finally removed the stuffy mask that she has been wearing, as if she has put down the heavy weight on her shoulders. The truth is, keeping everything to herself has been unimaginably hard,

'Why Sana?... Why do you have to go this far?' The Chief asks in a heartbreaking tone, because more than anyone, she knows the moment everyone found out this truth, Sana won't be able to avoid a death sentence,

'I... just want to fight... a last battle.' Sana starts to speak truthfully while having her head down,

'Last battle? With Consort Mina?' Dahyun shakes her head, 'Sana, it isn't a battle when your opponent isn't fighting you...'

Consort Sana raises her head to look at Dahyun instantly, as if what the Chief just said is a dose of bitter medicine which she never knew she needs it. It's like she just received a splash of cold water straight onto her face,

'... Sana, Consort Mina barely fights back. Believe me, she's so kind and innocent that I have never heard a bad word about anyone coming out of her mouth. Sana, you have been fighting a one-sided battle, and... and it's just as pitiful as a one-sided love.'

Two drops of tears escaped Sana's eyes the moment she realised, no one else made her stays in this hell, but she is the one who created this hell that she's living in, 'I guess.... fighting with Consort Mina is just an excuse because I... I'm so sick and tired of my current situation. Just because I'm a Consort, I have to wait day and night for Her Majesty who doesn't love me anymore, while the real Sana's heart belongs to.... you, Kim Dahyun. But because you refuse to betray your friend, refuse to acknowledge your feelings for me, and that's why I'm stuck. I committed this huge crime because I want to break free, I want this situation to end, I... I want your attention...'

Dahyun steps over and pulls Sana into her arms, hugging her so tight, 'I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have avoided my own feelings, I should have fought harder for us. From now on, I won't leave you alone anymore. Whatever happens, we will face it together.'

Consort Sana is now sobbing hard, Dahyun's heartfelt words have touched her heart. Moreover, this is the first time ever that she gets to be the Chief's loving arms, and she feels safe, so safe that she isn't afraid to show her vulnerability,

Hugging each other for awhile, Dahyun slowly breaks the hug. She gently wipes the tears away from Sana's cheeks, 'Whatever the consequences of this crime will be, I will share it with you.'

Sana looks into Dahyun's eyes with so much love. At this point, she's ready to accept her fate, 'I will most likely get a death sentence.'

The Chief leans in and places a soothing kiss on the Consort's forehead, 'I will die with you.'

Sana smiles gently while reaching inside her sleeve pocket and hands to Dahyun the antidote, 'I don't want anymore regret before I die, and if Consort Mina dies because of my wrongful act, it would be my biggest regret. So please hurry, take this and awake Her Majesty. She's the only one who can save Consort Mina now.'

The Chief holds the antidote in her hand, 'Sana, wait for me. I will be back right after everything is settled.' She says before quickly runs out, heading straight back to the Queen's palace.

◇◇◇◇

Meanwhile, at the execution ground. The news of the Pure Consort is being executed because of the crime of poisoning the great Queen has spread like wild fire. Almost all the people in the whole capital city are here, surrounding the execution stage. Most of the people are still in disbelief after reading the displayed copy versions of the signed indictment because they all know how much the Queen and the Pure Consort love each other, and how many hardships the two had to overcome to be able to stay together. So the Consort poisoned her Queen seems to be something unbelievable,

Soon enough, Mina is brought out to the execution ground. The Consort's wrists are in chains, but she walks with her head held high. There's not a hint of fear displayed on that exceptionally beautiful face, as Mina has always believed, if she doesn't do anything wrong, there's nothing to be scared of,

Almost every single person bows their heads as the Consort passes by where they are standing. Some have even sheded tears, feeling very sorry for an angel's ill fate,

The Consort is brought onto the execution stage, standing right in the middle of the stage, with an executioner already waiting there. About ten metres in front of the stage is an office table where Deputy Ma is sitting, with lots and lots of Bureau guards around him,

After checking the time, he looks at Mina, 'Consort Mina, any last word before your execution?' He talks as if he's doing her a favour,

Mina doesn't reply to him, instead she turns to her right side and kneels down. She then bows deep at the direction of the Queen's palace, 'Your Majesty, please... forgive me! I won't be able to take care of you like how I am supposed to do...' Only when she thinks about Chaeyoung, tears are starting to escape Mina's eyes, 'Please be healthy and be the greatest Queen for your people! I love you... now and forever.'

Right then, Minister JeongYeon arrived together with many of her war soldiers. She heads straight over and faces Deputy Ma, 'Deputy Ma, stop the execution right away.' She tells him,

Deputy Ma creases his brows seeing the amount of war soldiers JeongYeon brought, 'Minister JeongYeon, I'm following the law to execute a criminal, so you have no right to stop this execution. Also... I don't think you are allowed to have this many war soldiers walking in our capital with their weapons like this.'

'Consort Tzuyu, the government members and myself request a reinvestigation. We don't accept the indictment you showed us.' JeongYeon goes straight to the point,

Deputy Ma angrily slams onto the table, 'Since when the royal investigation Bureau has to wait for the government members's approval before proceeding with our job? The indictment is legit, and therefore no need for a reinvestigation.'

Murmurs start to break out among the crowd, first it's the shady indictment, now it's the outright refusal of reinvestigating, and people begin to have doubts with the royal investigation Bureau's judgement,

'Postpone the execution! Reinvestigate the case! People start to chant out loud, hoping to save the kind Consort that they grew to love,

'Stop them all!' Deputy Ma angrily commands his guards to use violence towards to chanting crowd,

'Do not harm the people of Castlemaine!' Minister JeongYeon yells at the guards while gesturing for her soldiers to draw weapons,

Chaos broke out, the guards are fighting with the soldiers who are trying to protect the citizens. Meanwhile, the citizens are chanting even louder, wanting to protect the Pure Consort.

◇◇◇◇

Back inside the palace, before Chief Dahyun entered Consort Sana's palace, she cleverly ordered for her guards to bring her horse over and wait outside. So as soon as she got the antidote, she jumped onto her horse and rode straight to the Queen's palace, ten times faster than running on foot,

Dahyun got off her horse and hurriedly ran inside, 'Your Highness, I have the antidote.' She tells Consort Tzuyu,

Consort Tzuyu and Head Court Lady Nayeon look at Dahyun in great surprise, 'The antidote? Where did you get it from?'

Dahyun hesitates for a moment, 'I... will tell you later. Let's wake up Her Majesty first. We don't have much time.'

The three then immediately helps the Queen to drink the antidote. And not long after, Chaeyoung slowly opens her eyes. She weakly scans the room, with the help of Tzuyu and Nayeon, she then sits up on her bed,

'Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Can you hear us?' They called,

The Queen shakes her head a few times to get her senses back, and as soon as she remembers what happened, she immediately looks around, 'Where's Mina? Where is she?'

'Your Majesty, please hurry! Consort Mina will be executed at the hour of the horse which is...' Consort Tzuyu tries to quickly explain the situation to the Queen,

Ding... ding... ding...

Right then, the bell rings. It's an announcement of the end of the hour of the snake,

Everyone's hearts almost stop beating, knowing the hour of the horse is now here,

On the other hand, the Queen doesn't care what situation it is, but hearing her Treasure is about to be executed, is enough to break her heart into pieces. No need for anymore information, the Queen drags her still sick body out of bed and heads straight to the door,

'Your Majesty, take my horse.' Dahyun helps the Queen to get onto her horse,

At this moment, all Chaeyoung has in mind is to save Mina. She's so determined, that her sick body somehow magically operates very well despite the two long weeks of no movement,

The Queen rides as fast as lighting, heading straight to the execution ground,

'Boom... boom... boom!'

The first round of execution drum sounds loudly, which can be heard by Chaeyoung who is riding in an inhuman speed,

At the execution ground, despite the chaos scene and how much the people are against him, Deputy Ma is determined to go ahead with the execution. Truth is, he has to get Consort Mina killed, or else, his evil crime will be exposed, 'It's quite late. Start the execution now!' He ordered. And that's when the first round of execution drum was sounded,

'No no no... stop!' Minister JeongYeon is fighting with all she got to get close to the execution stage. It's easier for war soldiers to kill than to fight while trying not to injure the opponents, that's why the fight is never ending. On top of that, she is being blocked by more and more guards who are gushing out from the Bureau in order to stop the chaos,

'Boom... Boom... Boom!' The second round of execution drum is sounded. At the third, that's when the executioner will strike his big curved dao at the Consort's neck,

And soon enough, 'Boom... Boom... Boom!' The last round of drum is sounded,

'Nooooooo... ' Chaeyoung screams out of her lungs. She is now about thirty metres away, still very far but she can see her Treasure who is kneeling on the execution stage, with the executioner is raising his big curved dao up in the air, about to strike down,

The Queen immediately reaches for the bow and arrow in bamboo tube which is hanging on the side of the horse. She lets go of the horse rein completely, and draws her arrow backwards. Everything depends on this arrow now, the Queen has to hit the bullseye with just one shot while riding on a horse in a speed of light. After taking a moment of intense aiming, Chaeyoung then shoots the arrow straight at the big dao in the executioner's hands, sending it flying on the air while the people who are present watching in great shock at the accuracy,

'It's Her Majesty! Her Majesty has arrived!' People are shouting in pure joy as if they see a God who comes to help in their darkest moment,

Mina immediately searches in the direction where everyone is looking, and there she sees her Queen, her saviour, her everything, 'Your Majesty.' She choked up in tears as of that instant,

Everyone immediately stopped fighting, they cleared out the way for their Queen, 'Your Majesty!' People kneel down while bowing their heads to greet the Queen,

As soon as she arrived at the scene, Chaeyoung got off her horse and walked straight to the execution stage,

'Your... Your Majesty.' The executioner is stuttering with cold sweats are dripping down from his forehead,

Without a word, the Queen kicks him real hard, sending him flying off the stage, 'How dare you raise your big dao at my wife?'

She then immediately draws her sword and cuts off the chains on both of Mina's wrists. Without wasting another second, she picks her Consort up onto her arms, carrying her like a baby, 'I'm sorry I took too long to come. But I'm here now, my Treasure don't be scared, huhm?!'

'Your Majesty.' Mina called out with so much love before placing her head into the crook of Chaeyoung's neck, where she feels the most safe,

Now that Mina is safely in her hold, Chaeyoung's life seems to flow again. She lets out the breath that she has been holding to calm down her worried heart before looking around for the very person who dared enough to put her Treasure through so much hardship. And as soon as she spotted him, her blood started to boil, 'Deputy Ma, how dare you?' She speaks with her gritted teeth,

Deputy Ma is now shaking in fear, but he is still trying to justify his actions, 'Your... Your Majesty, I... only follow the law to execute a... criminal. Consort Mina has signed... the indictment.' He furiously gestures for a guard to bring the indictment over and show it to the Queen,

After reading through the indictment, the Queen just gets even more angry, 'Insolent! How dare you to make such things up! Don't you think I know about my wife's allergy to man-made fragrance and body lotion? How could she poison me with it?' She yells,

'Ooohhhh...' The crowd gasped at this information. They glare at Deputy Ma angrily, so furious at the way he shamelessly made things up to frame the Consort,

Everything is now in the open, Deputy Ma broke out in cold sweat, 'Your... Your Majesty. Please... forgive me! Please spare... my life!' He starts begging,

But that doesn't reduce one bit of the Queen's anger, 'I won't kill you just yet because I will reinvestigate this whole case, and from you, I will find out the culprit who is behind you... But right now, for putting my wife through this unfair treatment, I will punish you to 50 strokes of flogging.'

Deputy Ma bows his head repeatedly, 'Please, Your Majesty! Please... have some mercy!' He continues to beg,

But the Queen completely ignored him, 'Guards! Go ahead with the 50 strokes of flogging right now. After that, drag him into prison, awaiting trial.'

'Yes, Your Majesty.' The guards obey,

With that, Deputy Ma is brought onto the execution stage. The guards immediately bring out the cross shape chair and the big flogging stick. They then tie him down onto the flat chair and start with the punishment right away. Deputy Ma screams at every stroke that strikes down at his bottom. This is indeed a severe punishment for him, getting a public flogging despite his high status is something that has never happened before,

'Ahhhh.... ahhhh.... ahhhh...'

Screams continuingly coming out of Deputy Ma's mouth as his blood starts to soak his clothes around the bottom area, but no one really feels sorry for him. For creating false evidence, then using torture to force the suspect into admitting something they didn't do, people are now wondering how many have died wrongfully in his hands, therefore they believe he indeed deserves this punishment,

On the other hand, the innocent Princess has been hiding her face into the crook of the Queen's neck. Her body winces at the sound of painful screams, eventhough she knows the Deputy deserves this punishment, but her kind heart can't help and happen to feel a little sorry for him. However, she doesn't dare to say a word of pleading with the Queen because right from the moment the Queen picks her up into her arms, Mina can literally feels the heat of anger coming from Chaeyoung's body. So the Consort is just settled with hiding her face while her hand is gently and slowly caressing the Queen's chest to calm her down,

And of course, the Queen noticed her Treasure wincing her body at loud screams. She gently places a soothing kiss on the crown of Mina's head, 'My Treasure, we don't have to be here until the end of his punishment. I will take you back to your palace now, huhm?!'

Only then, Mina shows her face, 'Yes, Your Majesty.' She quickly answered, 'But... my sister Momo and JiHyo...' She reminds Chaeyoung about those two who are still in prison,

The Queen smiles gently at her, 'Minister JeongYeon has gone to prison to free them.'

The Consort heaves out a sigh of relief, 'That's great, that's...' Mina's body gave out, she fell unconscious right there on the Queen's arms, probably because of exhaustion and because she allowed her body to rest now that she's safe in Chaeyoung's protection,

'Mina... Mina...' The Queen worriedly called out. She immediately carried Mina to her horse, then rides straight back into the palace with the unconscious Mina sitting in front of her.

◇◇◇◇

Almost every single government members together with the Consorts and Concubines are kneeling on the floor of Consort Mina's room because they all can sense how angry the Queen still is with what happened. Eventhough everything happened too fast for them to react, but they still feel very guilty for not able to protect Mina when the Queen was in an unconscious state,

On the other hand, the Queen is sitting on a chair right next to Mina's bed, worriedly looking at her wife while the royal physician is checking on the girl. Of course, she notices that everyone is kneeling, but she's on fire right now, and that anger is showing by letting them all continue to kneel there,

The royal physician checks the pulse on the Consort's wrist for a while to see if there is any sickness that made her falls unconscious. He checked once, then he checked again to confirm, then he does some calculations with his fingers, then he immediately kneels down onto the floor,

'Why? What is happening to my Treasure? Is she alright?' The Queen is worried sick seeing the royal physician's action,

'Congratulations! Your Majesty!' The royal physician finally speaks up,

'Huh?' The Queen isn't sure what he is congratulating her about,

The royal physician looks up with the biggest smile on his face, 'Your Majesty, I detected... pregnancy pulse. After calculating, I'm certain that Her Highness is now 6 weeks pregnant.'

Bonus gift:

This is probably the only Michaeng related moment I could catch at Marvel Stadium. Mina on the screen is looking at Chaeyoung who is standing in the front 🥰