Chapter Text
Curses, the word itself makes someone tremble with fear. Curses are the words that have the most devastating effects if they fall from the tongue of the innocent hearted people who have been wronged to a point of them being unrecognisable. The curses when uttered by the pure hearted person comes into immediate effect, as was the law implemented by the goddess of justice named Orphella.
Rose, by the definition of pure hearted person, was considered the most pure woman in the kingdom of Oceania. From the moment she was born to the point she was married off to the nobleman of the Oceania, her tales of kindness and bravity rang out throughout the enormous kingdom. Being the daughter of the right hand of the king of the Oceania, she had mastered the skills of war and weapons alongside with the politics despite it being looked down upon by many.
She had been a diplomat in many wars with her father, and that’s how she met her now husband. Having been for several strategies preparation alongside him made the man harbour some romantic feelings for the woman and that is how he appeared at the doorsteps of Rose’s family’s townhouse with his family and an alliance was struck between the two most influential families after the family of the king.
The wedding was a grand affair as it was the very first wedding for the two families as Rose was the eldest of her two siblings and Hyunjin was oldest amongst his two siblings. The wedding lasted for five days with countless rituals from both their respective cultures and people from far away kingdoms travelled to witness the affair that was claimed to be even more grander than the king’s wedding itself.
But when there is an existence of kindness, cruelty isn’t far behind. Rose may have been celebrated by some but she was also hated by many. Her being the peaceful diplomat responsible for many peaceful treaties for the kingdom was looked down upon by many other nobels, but the king or rather the crown prince was adamant on having her in the army as she was the most skillful amongst the other diplomats, and because the crown prince had his eyes lingering on Rose despite being promised to other woman.
Women were either in awe of Rose or envious of her, for many reasons. Ranging from being an independent person to marrying into the third most powerful family in the kingdom, and joining two most powerful families in an alliance that even the king became insecure after noticing how much power they held. He was afraid of the effects of their alliance, and since his son had yet to give an heir to the throne, his insecurity increased and so did his indulgence in the dark ways to gain power and he was willing to go to any length to keep him and his family in the power.
The chilly winds of winter disappeared and something warm started to settle in, signalling the onset of the spring in the kingdom. The flowers bloomed, the leaves started to appear on the naked trees and the cherry blossoms made everything look more beautiful. Spring was Rose’s favourite season of the year as it reminds her of the youth she shares with her husband, and how he brings her flowers or cherry blossoms for her every time he visits the town centre when they are at home.
This spring however was more special than the last five springs they had spent together, as this time they were informed that they have a small babe coming into their life, and by the next winter they will have a babe that would look like them and the two families found themselves happy over this joyous news. Rose was over the moon when she was told that she was going to be a mother.
The chirps of the birds was what stirred Rose and her husband from their deep slumber. Their house was still silent as the servants had yet to be alerted that the master and mistress of the house had woken up from their sleep. Rose loved the silent company of her husband as she stayed where she was, with her head on her husband’s chest, who softly stroked Rose’s exposed shoulder. “Good morning, my love.” His good morning greetings still made Rose’s heart race like a silly girl in her teens with her crush.
“Good morning, sweetheart.” She mumbled, hiding her sleepy smile into her husband’s chest. “How are you feeling? Any sickness?” The question became a norm after finding out that Rose was with a baby and he had to make sure she was feeling just fine.
“I am feeling perfectly fine, Yeobo. Just because I am with child, does not mean I am going to be sick every five seconds of the day.” Rose smiled in a way that made her husband’s eyes sparkle. His cheeks were dusted pink and the blush travelled all over to his nose. “Hyunjin-ah, you look pretty when you blush.” Rose gave him a blinding smile.
Rose squealed a little when Hyunjin tightened his arms around Rose’s waist and brought her impossibly closer to him until her chest was flushed against his and his lips hovered over his wife’s lips and placed them on her lips, stealing a soft and tender kiss. Something about the kiss made Rose giddy with happiness and she wished she could just stay right there, in this moment enjoying the comforting presence of her husband and live their life just like how it was going on.
She smiled in the kiss, stroked Hyunjin’s cheek softly. “I love you. I really really love you.” She mumbled against his lips, making him laugh softly and nudge her nose with his. “I really love you too, my dear wife.” He said, his eyes sparkling more with happiness radiating from his face.
The morning was slow and Hyunjin demanded that Rose should bathe first before him and be ready for the day before him so he could make sure that nothing is amiss for her. Rose found it adorable, the protectiveness and the cute fussing over her daily routine. She always ends up laughing when Hyunjin enters his protective mode when Rose tries to do something.
They shared a silent breakfast after both of them were dressed in their respectful attire whilst discussing about their current issues and their solutions. Rose found the king’s recent erratic behaviour irritating as she was being excluded from multiple diplomatic missions she was supposed to handle and they were turning out worse than what she imagined them to be.
“I don’t understand the sudden increase in the revenues. This year it is ten times more than what it was last year, and it was really bad last year. They are shooting their own feet with this.” Rose scoffed as she bit into her toast that was laid in front of her. “I know. They even reduced the salary of the soldiers. They are risking a literal mutiny. I do not know what changed, but something did happen and it is making everyone fear for what’s to come.” Hyunjin added, shaking his head.
“I even heard from my mother that the king has been actively boycotting father and it has been creating lots of rift between the king’s privy council and the men loyal to my father. I am scared, Hyunjin-ah. Gods be great, but these are the signs of something worse coming.” Rose looked up from her tea, which made her feel queasy. Hyunjin was quick to abandon his breakfast as he heard the distress in his wife’s voice and was by her side laying a comforting hand on her shoulder and pulling her slightly against his body, making her put her toast back on the dish.
“You fret so much, my love. Gods will not let anything happen to this blessed land. And about the king, the gods will be the judge for whatever will happen to the now turned tyrant. You, my love, have to take care of yourself. Stress is not good for you or the babe. Leave it on us for now.” Hyunjin’s reassurance was soothing but the silent panic still had to leave Rose’s mind as she stayed in her husband’s arms and silently worried about the situation.
As the afternoon dawned, Rose found herself alone in her study, reading a scroll that was delivered by one of the mail men at noon. Rose was alone as Hyunjin was called into an emergency meeting that was held at the temple of Clement and Orphella, the god of mercy and the goddess of justice. It did not settle well with Rose that she was not invited to the meeting, but she knew better than questioning it so she decided to busy herself with reading letters from far away and reading texts of new gods.
She had quite attached herself to the god of success, Hiroto as her devotion to him was always praised by the god in the form of the success she faced in her years as a diplomat, which made her frown a little because now, not being included in meetings which required her was a sign of the god being angry at her or is there something more deeper and dangerous waiting for them.?
The afternoon was restless for her as she finished the boring scroll and stacked into the barrel of scrolls for further use and decided that she will be walking to the temple of justice and mercy herself because by now the meeting should have been ended and she could pay her homage to the gods whilst taking a walking through the town centre.
So she called upon her maid and made her bring out her emerald dress and help her dress in it. Rose did not share the same culture with Hyunjin, so their attire were never of the same culture but they tried their best to pick up each other’s culture. But right now, Rose didn’t feel like wearing Hanbok so she wore her favourite emerald that she got tailored after finding out about her pregnancy.
Once she was done getting ready in her clothes and the jewelleries were placed on her neck and ears, she set out to the town centre to buy offerings for the gods. The maids flocked around her as they excitedly walked around their mistress through the streets leading to the town centre. Rose cradled her small almost invisible bump as she entertained her maid’s train of thoughts.
“If it is a girl, my lady, what will be her name?” The question had an absolute answer because Rose had forgotten the amount of time she and Hyunjin discussed the baby names. She smiled softly as gazed at her belly and reminisced about the time that had flown by. “She will have two names. One from my culture, and another from her fathers. Celeste will be her name from my culture. And Bang Hyejin will be her name from her father’s culture.” Rose answered, looking at her maid who cooed at the names.
“Oh she will be loved so thoroughly by you and sire, my lady. She is very lucky.” The maid said, sighing dreamily. “But what if the babe is a boy?” Other maid asked, making Rose look at her. “If the babe is a boy, then his name will be Christopher from my culture and from my husband’s culture Bang Chan.” Rose answered, and the maids gushed about it and Rose found it amusing.
“And what do you think they would be? A warrior like their father or diplomat like their mother?” one of the maids asked, and Rose shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever they might be when they grow up, I just want them to be honest, kind and loving and follow the path whatever feels right to them. Warrior, diplomat, artist, anything, I want them to be a kind human being.” Rose said, smiling and caressing her barely there bump.
The energy that the maids and Rose shared dimmed as the uneasiness crawled its way back to her chest and the silence of town centre. The maids looked around and they noticed how eerily quiet the town was, and how the people refused to meet the eyes of Rose and her companions. “Something has happened it seems, my lady.” The maid on her right whispered to her and Rose had to agree.
She approached the floral shop where the lady religiously ignored her and nervously fiddled with the flowers. “Ma’am, can you tell me what happened? This town centre has never been this silent.” The question was simple and it warranted an answer, but it went to deaf ears as the lady continued her nervous fidgeting and ignored Rose as she didn’t exist.
But Rose was a stubborn woman, if she wanted answers she would get it. “Ma’am, I need answers.” She pressed on, making the woman look at her. The woman started to shake visibly and tears slipped through her eyes and now Rose’s itch to know grew worse.
“My lady, My lady we tried. But they threatened us. The king, the crown prince, they will kill our families.” The lady sobbed, her eyes turning red from the tears and Rose’s eyes went wide. Rose knew that the king was a growing tyrant but this soon? This was unpredicted and Rose finally understood the silence. But the question was, why would the king and the crown prince threaten the town centre?
“They arrested and dragged your husband and your families to the temple of justice and mercy when they arrived in the town centre.” The sentence sent the cold shiver down her spine and Rose could not believe it, she refused to believe it because her family and Husband were the most loyal people this kingdom had ever had. Then why? She needed answers, and that’s what she did.
She took off on her feet, her skirts held tightly in her hands and ran in the direction of the temple which just became an irony for her. Her husbands and her families had never committed a felony or a treason to be dragged to the temple of justice. The tears fell freely as she kept running through the streets, her sandals biting into her legs because they were not made for running.
The heel of her sandal broke, sending her to the ground violently and she screamed as she collapsed on the ground but it was not going to stop her. She quickly discarded her bloody sandals and stood up shakily and ran barefoot to the temple. Small stones embed itselves in the sole of her feet. The maids were right behind her, trying to stop her and asked what happened but Rose had to be there, had to be at the temple because she knew something was wrong.
As soon as the temple came into view, she noticed the abnormal amount of soldiers standing near the gate and she knew that the king had done something. She ran faster and rushed to the door of the temples only to be stopped by the guards by holding her back.
“Unhand me this once. Let me go!” She screamed, trying to wiggle through the small gap but the guards were tough. “Fucking get out of my way you treacherous bastards. You are standing at the footstep of the temple of justice. Do you have no shame?” Rose growled, and using all her strength she pushed her way through the guards. She raced through the courtyard of the temple and ran straight to the doorstep of the temple, the guards shouting and screaming but that was not her problem and she wanted to be in the temple right at this moment.
The stench of blood and iron reached her nostrils, and she had to keep a hand on her mouth to keep herself from throwing up. The hall was quiet and there was nothing but hot red blood in the middle of the hall. There were bodies scattered on the floor, and a small gasp left her lips as her eyes fell on Hyunjin, the love of her life. She noticed a few people standing in the room, the king himself and his son stared at Rose in surprise because she was not evidently supposed to be here.
Rose walked further into the room and she noticed that the bodies that were strewn on the floor were the bodies of none other than her and the families. Her father, mother and her siblings were staring at the ceiling with empty glassy eyes, clearly dead. So were the parents and siblings of Hyunjin and hard realisation crashed into her. Her family and husband were murdered in the sanctuary of the supposed god of mercy and goddess of justice.
A strangle scream escaped her lips and she found herself running towards her slain husband and fell to her knees in front of him. Tears streamed down her cheeks as sobs petered down her lips whilst she wrapped her arms around her dead husband’s body and cradled her close to her chest. The blood from Hyunjin’s body sipped into Rose’s clothes. Her shaky hand slowly stroked her husband’s cold cheek, and her sobs grew even louder.
“Wake up, Hyunjin. Please. Please do not leave me. I beg of you.” Rose cried, pleaded and all that are synonyms with it. Her lips quivered, hiding Hyunjin’s face in her arms and let out a scream of agony and mourning. He was gone, he was gone and there was nothing Rose could do to change it. Her families and her husband are dead, and there was nothing that she could change and it pierced through her soul.
Her eyes kept flickering between the members of her families, Hyunjin and the statue of the gods in the room, and she felt like shenwas going to die of this pain, of this sadness and she sobbed again as she tried to wipe the blood away from her husband’s face using the sleeves of her dress. This was not supposed to happen, Rose thought to herself. She hugged her husband close to her body again and hoped that maybe her agony would be answered by the god. Maybe then this sadness will end.
But then came the anger, the hot boiling anger as her red eyes snapped open and a piercing glare fell on Orphella, the goddess of justice and all she could feel was hatred and blood lust for the god. And then she turned her neck to look at the king and her son, who had no remorse on their faces, there was just smugness and cruelty and her eyes twitched. “Why did you do it? Why did you murder them?” The question fell from Rose’s lips, her voice was hoarse and rough.
The King kept mum as his son answered for him by stepping forward, walking through the dead bodies and sitting on his haunches, smiling wickedly. “Because they were a threat. And now the threat is no more, and I can have you. I always wanted you, but he stole something that was rightfully mine. You, my dear Rose, belong to me, and only me” The words made something in Rose steer, was it hatred or was it disgust? She couldn’t tell and she wasn’t interested in wanting the answers. She wanted all of them dead, every single one of them dead.
She glared at the crown prince, her hand was concealed under Hyunjin’s black hanbok. She could feel the hilt of the blade that was always preent on Hyunjin and she discreetly wrapped her hands around the hilt and gripped tightened on the hilt and her glare turned severe as she kept staring at the crown prince. “And do you think you have me now? You killed my husband and father of my unborn child. How can you even think of having me like that after murdering everyone I loved? You are delusional, your highness. I was never yours, and I do not belong to anyone but Hyunjin. He is my everything and I am his, never anyone else’s. I will always be his.” Rose spat, slowly dragging the dagger out of its confine, ready to strike.
The prince clicked his tongue, his fingers moved forward to tilt Rose’s chin towards himself and tilted his head. “It’s not a request, sweetheart. You don’t have a choice. You will do what I wish you to do. You will bear my children, and you will be my wife. This child of yours will have to die. Because you are mine and mine alone, nobody else’s.” The prince’s voice had a dangerous lilt to it and Rose knew she had to make a choice right now or it will be too late to make one later.
She had anger and hatred and she will use it to destroy this whole kingdom. Gods and goddesses are nothing without their loyal servants, and she will use it against them. She will destroy them. She looked at the prince with a piercing gaze, her eyes turning sharp, hatred swirled in her eyes. She unsheathed the blade from her husband’s clothes and quickly slashed at his throat without giving the man a chance to react.
The blood sprayed at her face, and the prince’s hands clutched at his throat and fell on his ass as he tried to save himself, but Rose was not done. As she watched the soldiers running to her, she stood up, pointing her blade wildly at them, in a way to keep them away from her. “Stay back. I am warning you, stay back. You do not want a curse of me, you sincerely do not want a curse being thrown at you!” Rose looked at the king who had gotten to his son and was now cradling his dead son and snarled.
The king raised his hand in a way to stop the soldiers, because curses are not something to be taken lightly. No matter how much he wanted to kill Rose right here and right now, he cannot risk getting cursed, especially not in the temple, even if the gods agreed to this.
Rose wildly looked at the pristine golden statues of Clement and Orphella, and the anger burned through her veins. “Today, a great injustice has taken place in the walls of this temple. A temple known for justice and mercy had watched a great injustice happen behind these walls today.” Rose spoke up, looking at everyone before staring at the statues.
“I call upon Horus, Erinyes, and all the gods and goddesses of vengeance, I call upon you to hear me! I command you to curse this entire kingdom with nothing but plague and sickness and disasters. I command you to never have mercy on them. Put my words into the curse, for you have promised us that!” Rose exclaimed, looking up at the statues of two gods that Rose will never forgive.
“And I curse the king and his son, who conspired with these two fakes in murdering my family! I curse them to be reborn again and again and again, until I am not reborn again. I will come back, and I will take my vengeance. You will be reborn, and you will suffer throughout your rebirth. Your son will always die the way he died today and you will live on to be of old age, suffering through it. This is my curse. And gods will have to listen to this.” Rose’s voice echoed throughout the temple.
The entire surrounding went silent, no sound of birds or wind, it was as if nothing existed in that moment. King looked up, horrified and ready to beg for his life. A thunder crackled to life, and it was a sign, a sign from the gods that the curse has been put to place and Rose’s words will turn true. It further horrified the king as he looked at Rose, and the gods in the temple.
“This curse can never be broken. It can never be broken. It will only break when I have my vengeance. That is your blood on my hands. And these two gods will have to fight me. They will have to drop their divine power and fight this mortal since they stayed silent whilst they killed my family. This is the curse I curse you with, Clement and Orphella. You will become powerless when I will take a rebirth. You will not retain your power forever.” Rose shouted, her eyes burning and another sound of thunder crackled and the room was filled with murmurs and whispers that will carry on for centuries.
Rose’s eyes filled with tears as she gazed at her dead family and husband before raising her dagger and driving it straight into her heart, piercing right through it. The sharp pain overtook her body, her vision swam for a second as the blood oozed out of the wound she self inflicted on herself. She fell to her knees, her eyes still trained at her husband when she fell. Her sobs petered out and eventually her heart stopped and she took her last breath before the darkness took over.
The words of the curse had spread over the whole town, making people tremble with fear and a sense of doom settled over them. They knew that this curse would come true as it had been uttered by Rose, the one woman in this kingdom who had done no wrong, and always tried to do right by her responsibility. They knew what the king had done was nothing but cruelty and will be the cause of their downfall.
The first year after the death of the Cromwell and Bang family, the village saw the worst drought the kingdom has ever gone through, even though their kingdom was surrounded by the water. The drought brought death in its wake as the children had started to drop off like flies and the kingdom was left to mourn the deaths.
So many left this kingdom and moved to another kingdom due to the disasters that were going to happen because of the curse that has quite very much taken place and they do not wish to be victims of further disaster.
The king had officially taken ill, his body rotting away slowly as the effect of an unknown plague ravaged the streets of the Kingdom of Oceania. The people slowly rot away as the kingdom slowly withered away into nothing but dust as no other kingdom makes a move to help out Oceania, as the words of the curse spread throughout the world.
The whatever remaining population of Oceania begged the gods to have mercy on them, they even held a vigil for Rose, asking for her forgiveness but nothing worked. The Oceania slowly disappeared and in the end the kingdom disappeared and only whispers and the ruins remained, and it remained inhabitable from that point of the life.
Curses, true to the words and its nature, created havoc and disaster, and the king slowly withered away, his flesh rotting and his eyes sunken deep. The king, despite all the illness he was inflicted with, lived to an old age despite asking for mercy. But even Clement, the god of Mercy, couldn’t do anything for his most devoted servant. He, himself, was down looked by the gods in the kingdom of heaven because he broke the code that was set up after the very infamous incident that took place.
The King died the most painful death he could ever imagine, and his last word being “ Accept my sincere apologies, Rose. ” But Rose’s curse was unbreakable and nothing could ever change that. KIng was scared, rightfully so, of the continuation of his rebirths until Rose is reborn again. But no worries can stop the curse from ravaging his life.
The kingdom of Oceania disappeared from the history as it was never inhabited ever again, it became inhabitable to a point of no life. The cycle of the curse will continue until Rose is born again and takes her rightful revenge.