The Love They Never Had

Nam Seon-Ho was a bastard quarter noble-child to a man who had been controlled by the desire to walk amongst the higher class, like the many men and woman who jus didn't make the cut. Whether their reasons were due to not having the right social background, not having the right connections or lack of funds to bribe their way to the top, the temptation of having the power to control your own fate with your own money and trampling over the weaker class that reminded you of your worst possible self seemed to be worth the risk for most people, and Nam Jeon was certainly no exception. He was a man who lived off nothing else apart from jealousy which fuelled his greed and desire to become the man who would one day become the new emperor of our nation of Korea. But when he impregnated one of the many slaves that he had owned soon after his marriage to a noblewoman and he produced an illegitimate son that could never even hope to be in the same league as his own perfect legitimate son, Min-Ho. But owning concubines were a trend that Nam-Jeon just could not resist, and yet no other woman would actively approach him, due to his ever diabolical plots to kill everyone who stood in his way. From a man who rose up from working in the Royal Stables to a member of the Emperor's privy council, who knew what he did to get to that position? The truth was that Nam-Jeon despised his own low birth and did everything he could to claw his way into the palace, even the most despicable of things, just like most people. But his accomplishments didn't have the desired effects he wanted, and everyone in the palace despised him, even the Emperor himself.

As for his illegitimate son Seon-Ho, there was absolutely no chance for him to live a somewhat normal life amongst both the noble class and the common class since he was what they called 'a mixed breed' during the Goreyo Dynasty (918-1382). As concubines were usually the illegitimate daughters of noble and merchant families, his mother had little to no support at all when it came to raising the son that she never planned to have. She was given a small room in the grand house to raise her son with no freedom, little provisions and no rights at all. A concubine was a servant to the main wife, even more who if she was originally a slave in the first place. And the child of a concubine was a regarded as nothing more than a servant to the main children with no rights at all. By law, he was not supposed to take up his father's lineage, but upon the death of his older half brother a few years later when both brothers were playing together. And it was from that moment on that Seon-Ho lost everything; the only person who would pay him any attention and play with him as if they were equals, he lost his right to stay with his mother and he lost what little acknowledgment his father had for him. And that wasn't all; his father still have an heir, but in his cruelty, he also made sure that the entire village took up his opinion by blaming Seon-Ho for the death of his brother as fi he had planned it to take his place in their father's household at the tender age of 8 years old. Seon-Ho was not the only illegitimate child that existed in this kingdom, but he was by far the most hated and socially ostracised child that there ever had been. There wasn't any point in him leaving his father's home since nobody wanted anything to do with him at all, especially when his mother's corpse was found outside of their front gates the very next day. She was hanged like a common criminal even though she had committed no fault at all. She wasn't strong enough to protect him when he was snatched from her grasp to be raised by a cold-blooded man who prided himself in the illusion that he was the power behind the throne and that he wanted to breed the most perfect noble family that could rival the princes...

Not only was this boy publicly accused of being a fraud, he was also now labelled as a murderer, a greedy monster who wanted to break society's limits by taking what legally didn't belong to him. But now legally attached to the noble father who never wanted this low-born illegitimate son, Nam Seon-Ho's life was filled with nothing bur misery, over-competitiveness with people who didn't want to compete with him, achievements he had to surpass if he wanted to be able to breathe without something lodging itself in his airways. He also studied every single night to try to get into the palace, as he knew that sooner or later, his father would eventually use him to get his hands dirty in order to try to repair some of his bad reputation- or extend it. Even in the mansion where he was trapped, no one talked to him, no one looked out for him and no one raised the 8 year old boy, until his path crossed with the Seo siblings after their father's unjust public death in the town square that orphaned them and crippled Seo Yeon to be an epileptic for the next 10 years.

And then they all met Han Hui-Jee years later, the first pretty girl the boys had come across. She was fiercely independent, she was beautiful and she knew how to stand up for herself; what wasn't there to like about her? He thought he was in love, even though she made it perfectly clear that she had fallen for his only friend. He tried when he could to change her mind about him but after everything he was forced to do, she saw him as a monster, a sadist, a greedy man willing to do everything it takes to reach his goals which all stemmed from revenge aimed at his father. And that was when he realised; not only would she never change her mind about him, but that she didn't even want to. He couldn't help it if she didn't feel the same way about him; but to not care at all about her first love's only friend? That struck something in him, no matter how hard he tried to deny it. He wanted to be loved for the first time, he wanted to be a normal man who courted women...but nobody went near him, only because they despised his father.

Seo Yeon was the only daughter of the greatest swordsman in her dynasty; Seo Geom and the sister of Seo Hwi; Nam Seon-Ho's only friend after he helped bury their father. She was about 4 years younger than the boys and her epilepsy made it hard for her to leave her home but she was the most studios, knowledgeable and happy-go-lucky girl that Seon-Ho had ever known. She was young, cute, a little socially awkward and had a very obvious crush on him. He was sweet about it, but even though he had to placate both siblings, and she was the only girl he knew and grew up with. And there wasn't anyone around them to teach them all about the opposite sex, the rules of attraction and so on, so he couldn't help but watch her sometimes. I guess it started off as simple curiosity...but who could have know that the chain events that stated with Seon-Ho's accursed father would lead to wha would happen, that would bind all of them more closely than before...especially herself and the man she never thought could have liked her back, never mind...

One comes from a burning world of greed, ambition and desire in the face of loss and devastation. And the other, comes from a colourful world of life, sincerity and love, despite her own loss and obstacles that separate her from almost every single other woman in the nation in the 13th century of Korea. Will the misunderstandings in their lives lead them both down the path of self-destruction? Or will they both get a chance to not only turn their lives around, but the world around them side by side?